The potential for development and development of an entrepreneurial spirit in theyounger generation is still not optimal. This is because the level of education of mostaudiences is high school (SMA) who have never received debriefing about entrepreneurship.The aim of community service is to see the students' abilities for themselves through selfconcept,entrepreneurial interest, entrepreneurial traits, own skills, abilities and backgroundthat determine what type of business will be pioneered. Then there needs to be an effort tofoster an entrepreneurial spirit through an inside-out approach. Inside-out approach. TheInside-out approach means initiating something (including making changes) from yourself,not from outside parties. The variables used are self-concept, entrepreneurial interest andentrepreneurial characteristics. Data were obtained through pretest and post testquestionnaires distributed to students. The results show Pretest is done on the variables ofself-concept, entrepreneurial interest and entrepreneurial characteristics. The results ofpretest-variable business interests showed an average of 65.08%. Based on scoreinterpretation criteria, it can be concluded that students' self-concept towardsentrepreneurship is strong. The pretestminate results of entrepreneurship show an average of90.08%. Based on the score interpretation criteria, it was concluded that students'entrepreneurial interest in entrepreneurship was very strong. Post test results onentrepreneurship shows an average of 91.52%. Based on the score interpretation criteria, itwas concluded that students' entrepreneurial interest in entrepreneurship was very strong. Theresults of the pre test entrepreneurial characteristics show that the average of Nikai is 77.26%.The post test results showed an average value of 77.78%. Based on the interpretation criteriathe score is concluded that the characteristics of students' entrepreneurship towardsentrepreneurs are strong. The results of the post test did not show results that were notsignificantly different from the results of the pre-test. The inside-out approach is a reflectionof the attitude of proactivity, which is to make oneself as a person who is empowered (at thesame time responsible) in creating a positive influence on the surrounding environment. Thisinside-out approach is very good in developing students personally to become independententrepreneurs in the future.


A practical protocol for a photocatalyzed alkyl-Heck-like reaction of unactivated alkyl bromides and different alkenes promoted by dinuclear gold photoredox catalysis in the presence of an inorganic base is reported. Primary, secondary, and tertiary unactivated alkyl bromides with β-hydrogen can be applied. Esters, aldehydes, ketones, nitriles, alcohols, heterocycles, alkynes, alkenes, ethers, and halogen moieties are all well tolerated. In addition to 1,1-diarylalkenes, silylenolethers and enamides can also be applied, which further increases the synthetic potential of the reaction. The mild reaction conditions, broad substrate scope, and an excellent functional-group tolerance deliver an ideal tool for synthetic chemists that can even be used for challenging late-stage modifications of complex natural products.


The intensity of the 1993 Old Topanga Fire raised many concerns about the recovery and response of the coast live oak trees (Quercus agrifolia) and their understory vegetation. Preliminary information on the status of the trees 6 months post-fire has been previously reported. This report provides follow up assessment of the condition of the 90 trees in the original study and assesses the recovery of their understory vegetation over the 8 years since the burn. This long-term study documenting the recovery of coast live oak communities in three different locations (open riparian, ridgeline and valley riparian) illustrates the recovery potential under various conditions and burn frequency histories.


It is February 2011 and Brian France, CEO of NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), is facing a crisis. In the last five years, attendance at weekend NASCAR races has fallen 22 percent and television viewership has declined 30 percent. Key marketing sponsors have recently left the sport. At the same time, the U.S. economy was only beginning to recover from an economic recession that had an adverse impact on the sport of auto racing as a whole. Some leaders within NASCAR counseled Brian that these trends in attendance, viewership, and sponsorship stemmed from the recession and that NASCAR should continue with business as usual. But Brian sensed that the industry needed fundamental change and that he, as CEO of NASCAR, was the one that must lead this change.

With Brian at the helm, NASCAR embarked on an unprecedented amount of qualitative and quantitative research to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the entire industry. At the center of this research was the NASCAR consumer. Highly engaged, enthusiastic consumers were at the heart of an industry business model that had been successful for decades. But in 2011, marketing within all of NASCAR needed to transform, as it was clear that consumers were disengaging with the sport.

As the consumer research results unfold, Brian and leaders within NASCAR must make tough choices and set priorities. The case focuses on four key areas in which decisions need to be made by NASCAR leadership: digital marketing and social media, targeting the next-generation NASCAR consumer, enhancing the star power of NASCAR drivers, and enhancing the consumer experience at NASCAR events. Focus group videos offer students a customer-centric deep-dive into these challenges.

At its heart, this is a case about great leadership and transforming marketing throughout an entire industry. A wrap-up video from CEO Brian France summarizes how NASCAR executives tackled the difficult questions posed in the case.

Understand how deep consumer engagement is at the heart of a successful marketing ecosystem

Analyze focus group videos to understand the needs of today's consumer

Prioritize the market segments that should be cultivated as the next-generation consumer

Understand how differing incentives within an industry are at the heart of many marketing problems

Analyze a complex set of problems and set and manage priorities

Understand the importance of leadership in a time of crisis


Abstract Objectives: Percutaneous ablation is an expanding, minimally invasive approach for small- to medium-sized renal masses. The purpose of this study is to review safety, and mid-term efficacy of percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) for Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) treatment using a high power microwave system. Methods and materials: Institutional database research identified 50 consecutive patients with a single lesion resembling renal cell carcinoma in CT and MRI who underwent percutaneous microwave ablation using a high power microwave system. All patients underwent biopsy on the same session with ablation using an 18G semi-automatic soft tissue biopsy needle. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging was used for post-ablation follow-up. Patient and tumour characteristics, microwave technique, complications and pattern of recurrence were evaluated. Results: Mean patient age was 74 years (male–female: 31–19). Average lesion size was 3.1 cm (range 2.0–4.3 cm). Biopsy results report RCC (n = 48), inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (n = 1), and non-diagnostic sample (n = 1). The 3-year overall survival was 95.8% (46/48). Two patients died during the 3-year follow-up period due to causes unrelated to the MW ablation and to the RCC. Minor complications including haematomas requiring nothing but observation occurred at 4% (2/50) of the cases. Local recurrence of 6.25% (3/48) was observed with 2/3 cases being re-treated achieving a total clinical success of 97.9% (47/48 lesions). Conclusions: Percutaneous microwave ablation of RCC using a high power microwave system is a safe and efficacious technique for the treatment of small- to medium-sized renal masses.


Ambulatory coronary arteriography was carried out in 160 patients in the first 18 months' activity of our department (9.5% of all cardiac catheterisations and 16% of all coronary arteriographies during the same period). An absolutely stable clinical condition was the main criterion of selection for this investigation and the protocol consisted in day hospital admission, absence of routine anticoagulation, small calibre (5 French = 1.7 mm) catheters, mobilisation 4 hours and discharge 6 hours after the procedure. The patients were 38 women and 122 men whose average age was 55 years. The percutaneous femoral approach was used in most cases (95%). Single or multiple coronary artery disease was documented in 55 per cent of these patients: there were 2 cases of left main stem stenosis. Eight patients required full hospital admission, mainly because of the severity of the coronary lesions. Minor complications occurred in 2 per cent of cases. These results indicate that ambulatory coronary arteriography is safe, effective and economic. It could be used more extensively always providing that the contra-indications are respected.


The Lower Cretaceous Trinity Group of the East Texas basin contains formations that have produced oil for a number of years, and while they have been the subject of considerable discussion, little has been said about their character and regional distribution over the entire basin. This regional treatment is critical to an understanding of the tectonic history of the East Texas basin. The Trinity Group consists of facies varying from fluvial sands to marginal marine limestones and shales. In the East Texas basin, Trinity rocks were initially deposited during basinal subsidence and form a wedge of sediments that thicken rapidly eastward. Early Trinity deposition began as clastics were shed from highlands to the north and west and then were deposited within the basin by prograding deltaic systems. Sediment was first deposited as channel-fill and point-bar deposits. Toward the basin, fluvial sands were deposited as destructive deltaic facies. True marine sedimentation was confined to the extreme southeastern part of the basin. Trinity deposition reflects a series of minor transgressive and regressive pulses, with environments ranging from deltaic and shallow open shelf to restricted lagoon. With the buildup of the Stuart City reef system along the southern margin of the basin isolationmore » occurred. During late Trinity, seas covered the entire basin and a large area of the stable Texas platform resulting in deposition of a thick, shallow, open-marine limestone and shale sequence, which marks the end of Trinity deposition.« less


Based on fractional Fourier transform and optical Fresnel diffraction, this paper proposes a new image transforming method called fractional Fresnel transform (FFNT). The transformed image can be restored without distortion, and the modification of the transform-domain coefficients can satisfy asymmetry. Using FFNT and Arnold scrambling technique, we conduct some experiments to test the validity of this new transform method. Experimental results show that the new watermarking scheme can achieve excellent performance to JPEG compression and Gaussian low-pass filtering attacks.


BACKGROUND
The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not sevoflurane at different concentrations influenced the ED(effective dose) 50, 90 and 95 of cisatracurium and whether there is any relationship with age.

METHODS
Individual dose response curves for cisatracurium were constructed in 80 consecutive patients randomly assigned to four groups: group 1 TIVA with fentanyl and propofol; group 2, 3 and 4 sevoflurane 1, 1.5, 2 MAC respectively, MAC age adjusted and with N2O 65%. Patients were premedicated with diazepam and induction accomplished with fentanyl (1.5-2 micrograms/kg) and propofol (1.5-2 mg/kg); following intubation with succinylcholine (0.4 mg/kg), TIVA or sevoflurane at the desired MAC was maintained until equilibration occurred and then cisatracurium administered in 8-10 micrograms/kg boluses until the attainment of ED95. Neuromuscular monitoring utilized TOF stimulation and ratio evaluation between Ist twitch of the train and basal twitch (T1/Tc) and continuous recording of accelerometry (Tof-guard). Single dose response curves were analyzed with sigmoid equations; the Eds and other parameter means were subjected to analysis of variance for parametric and non parametric data.

RESULTS
More boluses were required under TIVA and sevo 1 MAC anesthesia (8.3 and 7.1 vs 4.9 of sevo 1.5 and 2 MAC); maximal depression (94.95%) was reached more frequently with sevo, while under TIVA an average 90% depression only was obtained. Mean ED50 (microgram/kg) where 22 (sevo) vs 34 (TIVA): ED90 averaged 36 (sevo) vs 53 (TIVA); ED95 averaged 39 (sevo) vs 56 (TIVA), with significant differences (p < 0.05) between Eds obtained from TIVA group in comparison with sevoflurane groups, but without differences between averaged EDs obtained with different MAC values among sevoflurane groups. The investigation of the relationship between age and Eds demonstrated a linear regression for all groups considered together (p = 0.000) for all Eds (50, 90, 95).

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the presence of MAC multiples of sevoflurane potentiated only slightly the dosages of cisatracurium and EDs linearly increase with age, particularly under sevoflurane anesthesia.


Olive and olive oil production is of great importance for the economy of our country. Olive and olive oil are also very important for human health. However, while olive is an important nutrient source, wastewater (blackwater) that occurs during its production poses a threat to water resources. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate and recycle olive wastes. Today, the importance given to recycling with the developing technology has increased. Olive oil has caused pollution of the environment due to the high organic pollution it contains; this element is eliminated as a result of recycling. Thus, the land was prevented from being given to the land, and the environmental problem was minimized. While preventing environmental pollution, the country's economy is also contributing.


The study of alcoholic influence, joint alcoholic and mental influence as well as the one of further exposition on structural and informational properties of water was carried out with the method of laser emission scattering. Experimental findings imply that adding alcohol to water results in formation of coarser cluster structure compared to the initial one. Degree and character of such restructuring are defined by duration of alcohol influence, its dosage, and the initial water structure.  The mechanism of memory deterioration of water with alcohol is defined. It lies in essential abatement of its sensitivity to the influencing information compared to the one of the blank sample. The loss of memory in water containing alcohol is determined by high mechanical durability of combined clusters that consist of molecules of water and pure alcohol formed by alcohol influence which hinders their spin restructuring under informational influence. Character of changes in water structure that contains alcohol corresponds to abatement of human brain memory under consumption of alcohol and testifies to veracious conclusion of torsional nature of brain memory. It also confirms that physical carrier of the latter is spin configurations of tetravalent atoms of oxygen in water clusters that neurons contain.


Although surgical aortic valve replacement (sAVR) remains the gold standard treatment for severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis in a low-risk population, the role of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has increased significantly in the past decade and has entered the 'clinical mainstream' for the treatment of high-risk, inoperable patients. The transcatheter technique has evolved and improved immeasurably since its introduction some years ago. Not only is valve design evolving, but access site, size/technology of delivery systems and procedural technique are also undergoing continuous refinement. New devices are now available to prevent complications such as cerebral embolization, and occlusion balloons and covered stents are used to manage vascular complications more expertly. Early experiences are being gained in the treatment of failing bioprostheses – so-called 'valve-in-valve' therapy, even in the mitral position. In this article, we discuss the new transcatheter alternatives to open heart valve surgery and review the most recent clinical evidence and the currently available and emerging technology in transcatheter treatment.


The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) flies on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Earth Observing System Aura satellite launched in July 2004. OMI is a ultraviolet/visible (UV/VIS) nadir solar backscatter spectrometer, which provides nearly global coverage in one day with a spatial resolution of 13 km/spl times/24 km. Trace gases measured include O/sub 3/, NO/sub 2/, SO/sub 2/, HCHO, BrO, and OClO. In addition, OMI will measure aerosol characteristics, cloud top heights, and UV irradiance at the surface. OMI's unique capabilities for measuring important trace gases with a small footprint and daily global coverage will be a major contribution to our understanding of stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry and climate change. OMI's high spatial resolution is unprecedented and will enable detection of air pollution on urban scale resolution. In this paper, the instrument and its performance will be discussed.


Introduction: Lithium is a therapeutic agent currently used for the treatment of affective disorders controlling a variety of neurotic and psychosomatic manic depressions. The main objective of the present work was to demonstrate the histopathological effects of the therapeutic doses of Lithium on the renal tubules and glomeruli in growing albino rats. Material and Methods: Thirty growing male Sprague - Dawley albino rats were used in this study. The rats were divided into a control group formed of 6 rats and an experimental group formed of 24 rats which received a daily therapeutic dose of 20 mg Lithium/kg body weight by the same route for 7 weeks. The renal cortex in all animals is examined by light and electron microscopes. Blood was collected from the sacrificed animals for serum creatinine, urea, sodium and potassium to access the effect of lithium administration in a therapeutic dose on renal function. Results: The present work revealed that the therapeutic doses of Lithium induced nephrotoxicity in the form of degeneration and necrosis in the renal tubules and glomeruli. Alteration in the cellular fine structure and degenerated cytoplasm and cytoplasmic organelles were found revealing cellular degeneration and necrosis. Glomerulosclerosis and congestion were the predominant effect on the renal glomeruli. Conclusion: Histological and ultrastructrual features of Lithium nephrotoxicity were detected in the current study with therapeutic doses of Lithium.


Strategic prioritization of COVID-19 vaccines is urgently needed, especially in light of the limited supply that is expected to last for most, if not the entire, 2021. Dynamically adapting the allocation strategy to the evolving epidemiological situation could thus be critical during this initial phase of vaccine rollout. We developed a data-driven mechanistic model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to explore optimal vaccine prioritization strategies in China that aim at reducing COVID-19 burden measured through different metrics. We found that reactively adapting the vaccination program to the epidemiological situation (i.e., allocate vaccine to a target group before reaching full coverage of other groups with initial higher priority) can be highly beneficial as such strategies are capable to simultaneously achieve different objectives (e.g., minimizing the number of deaths and of infections). The highest priority categories are broadly consistent under different hypotheses about vaccine efficacy, differential vaccine efficacy in preventing infection vs. disease, vaccine hesitancy, and SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility. Our findings also suggest that boosting the daily capacities up to 2.5 million courses (0.17% rollout speed) or higher could greatly reduce COVID-19 burden should a new wave start to unfold in China with reproduction number equal to 1.5 or lower. Finally, we estimate that a high vaccine supply in the early phase of the vaccination campaign is key to achieve large gains of strategic prioritizations.


BACKGROUND
The newly identified betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is the causative pathogen of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has killed more than 4.5 million people. SARS-CoV-2 causes severe respiratory distress syndrome by targeting the lungs and also induces myocardial damage. Shenshao Ningxin Yin (SNY) has been used for more than 700 years to treat influenza. Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated that SNY can improve the clinical symptoms of viral myocarditis, reverse arrhythmia, and reduce the level of myocardial damage markers.

METHODS
This work uses a rational computational strategy to identify existing drug molecules that target host pathways for the treatment of COVID-19 with myocarditis. Disease and drug targets were input into the STRING database to construct proteinɃprotein interaction networks. The Metascape database was used for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis.

RESULTS
SNY signaling modulated the pathways of coronavirus disease, including COVID-19, Ras signaling, viral myocarditis, and TNF signaling pathways. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), cellular tumor antigen p53 (TP53), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), and the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) were the pivotal targets of SNY. The components of SNY bound well with the pivotal targets, indicating there were potential biological activities.

CONCLUSION
Our findings reveal the pharmacological role and molecular mechanism of SNY for the treatment of COVID-19 with myocarditis. We also, for the first time, demonstrate that SNY displays multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway characteristics with a complex mechanism of action.


Introduction"State trial judges have a great deal of authority and discretion over criminal prosecutions."1 What a judge does with that authority and discretion in criminal cases-including plea bargains, bench trials, evidentiary motions, the content of jury instructions, and sentencing- is likely to depend greatly on the judge's background, preferences, and biases.2 Moreover, most state trial judges are selected and/or retained through elections, meaning that there is a direct connection to and constraint from the public as well.3 In other words, the identity of the trial judge and the local culture in which she operates are almost certainly important in determining criminal case outcomes and rulings.We turn our focus to how one particular judicial characteristic- a judge's sex-might affect judicial behavior in criminal defendant sentencing decisions. In isolation, the fact that female and male judges may sentence criminal defendants differently from one another has critical implications. As George and Yoon report, gender representativeness on state courts is low.4 As a result, a defendant's likelihood of drawing a female judge is greatly affected. This, in turn, can systematically lead to disproportionately lenient or harsh sentencing of defendants. New empirical analysis can help provide insight into the severity of this concern.We also consider if and how a trial judge's sex intersects with public opinion pressures. Elected judges generally fear being viewed as "soft on crime,"5 particularly when their electorate has directly spoken on the issue through a ballot initiative.6 While it may be that all elected judges-male and female-equally fear the public's wrath, female judges may be particularly likely to seek voter approval and consensus in their criminal sentencing behavior. Once again, we look to empirical analysis to provide the answer.We examine differences in responsiveness to public opinion among male and female judges through a study of trial court sentencing in marijuana cases in Colorado. In 2006, voters in Colorado rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have legalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, leaving the legal status quo but providing local judges with constituency-specific information about the public's views toward marijuana legalization. With this unique vote, we have access to a constituency-level measure of public opinion on an issue that regularly comes before trial court judges and was publicly available to those judges as part of the normal process of reporting vote totals. This vote, therefore, sidesteps issues with measuring local-level public opinion that have plagued earlier studies, enabling us to assess responsiveness to public opinion with a measure of public opinion that is both valid and of particular relevance to elected judges, since it represents the views of those citizens who actually do turn out on election day.In what follows, we tackle these questions in order. In Part I, we examine the behavior of female and male judges in sentencing criminal defendants. This includes an exploration of the theory and prior empirical analyses in this area, an overview of the empirical research design, and a presentation of our empirical results. In Part II, we continue with our dual examination of whether public opinion has a differential effect on male and female judges in their sentencing decisions. This begins with a general background on the effects of public opinion on judicial behavior followed by a more specific theoretical exploration of the judge gender-public opinion question. We then turn to a discussion of our data and research design and conclude with our original empirical analysis and findings. Finally, in our Conclusion, we discuss the implications of our findings for criminal defendants, state trial court judging, and future research in this area.I. Gendered Judging and Criminal SentencingWe begin our examination of whether male and female judges behave differently when sentencing criminal defendants by first detailing the theoretical arguments and prior empirical efforts on the subject. …


Spontaneous noble metal dopant segregation in an oxide lattice can lead to the formation of metallic clusters and extended acicular inclusions. In a thin-film process, the shape and orientation of such noble metal inclusions are governed by the crystal growth direction, giving rise to a composite material with lattice-matched metal nanopillars embedded vertically in an insulating or semiconducting oxide matrix. An interesting application of such composites is in photoelectrochemical cell electrodes, where the metallic nanopillars take on three distinct roles: forming a Schottky junction with the host matrix, providing a low-loss current path from bulk to surface, and creating an efficient electrocatalytic active site on the electrode surface. In particular, we discuss the application of vertically aligned metal–oxide nanopillar composites in photoelectrochemical water-splitting cells used for direct solar-powered hydrogen generation.


The energy resolution of the EXO-200 detector is limited by electronics noise in the measurement of the scintillation response. Here we present a new technique to extract optimal scintillation energy measurements for signals split across multiple channels in the presence of correlated noise. The implementation of these techniques improves the energy resolution of the detector at the neutrinoless double beta decay Q-value from [1.9641 ± 0.0039]% to [1.5820 ± 0.0044]%.


Autonomous vehicles and robots need to operate over a wide variety of scenarios in order to complete tasks efficiently and safely. Multi-camera self-supervised monocular depth estimation from videos is a promising way to reason about the environment, as it generates metrically scaled geometric predictions from visual data without requiring additional sensors. However, most works assume well-calibrated extrinsics to fully leverage this multi-camera setup, even though accurate and efficient calibration is still a challenging problem. In this work, we introduce a novel method for extrinsic calibration that builds upon the principles of self-supervised monocular depth and ego-motion learning. Our proposed curriculum learning strategy uses monocular depth and pose estimators with velocity supervision to estimate extrinsics, and then jointly learns extrinsic calibration along with depth and pose for a set of overlapping cameras rigidly attached to a moving vehicle. Experiments on a benchmark multi-camera dataset (DDAD) demonstrate that our method enables self-calibration in various scenes robustly and efficiently compared to a traditional vision-based pose estimation pipeline. Furthermore, we demonstrate the benefits of extrinsics self-calibration as a way to improve depth prediction via joint optimization.


Gold mineralization at the Renco mine occurs within the northern marginal zone of the Limpopo belt along east-northeast-trending structures that formed in the Late Arehean (2.6 Ga Pb-Pb step leach age on syntectonic garnet) under granulite facies. The mineralization is hosted by a massive enderbite which intruded at 2.57 Ga (U-Pb zircon age). North-northeast-trending pyroxenite dikes were intruded around 2.4 Ga (Pb-Pb step leach age of garnet and pyroxene), probably associated with the intrusion of the Great Dyke and satellites. The northern marginal zone had been exhumed to crustal levels corresponding to greenschist facies by this time. The major gold-bearing pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite + or - bismuth mineralization occurred under greenschist facies conditions (<400 degrees C). This occurred at approximately 2.0 Ga as deduced from cooling of biotite associated with mineralization (1.88 Ga Rb-Sr age). This ca. 2.0 Ga age of the mineralization implies a link with the important Early Proterozoic tectono-thermal event in the Limpopo belt during which shearing occurred under greenschist facies conditions in the Triangle shear zone. The Reneo deposit is not, as formerly suggested, a high-grade mineralization, although there is some evidence for a precursory, high-grade phase of mineralization in the Late Archean. Its genesis is quite distinct from most of the greenstone-associated deposits of the Zimbabwe craton, which are known or inferred to be Late Archean in age.


The present book focuses on the capabilities of laser photoacoustic spectroscopy method in high impact and new frontier of modern applications: medical diagnosis based on exhaled breath analysis with special importance on the theory, application of the simultaneous measurements of ethylene and ammonia absorptions and the study of exhaled respiration of subjects with renal failure together with breath test analysis of one prevention domain: smoking. This book consists of 4 chapters plus appendices, the first two chapters are focussed on general introduction to human breath biomarkers and the instrumental aspects of the techniques which makes it useful to readers whose main interest is photoacoustic spectroscopy and particularly breath air analysis. The technique developed in this book ensuring the advantages of health state assessment by monitoring the evolution of gaseous biomarkers in human body, impossible to achieve with current techniques. The book also, represents a potentially interesting to researchers and specialists with the application of biomedical optics domain and particularly life sciences area.


Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a complex disorder that can induce lethal ventricular arrhythmias, secondary to activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This disease is often diagnosed in childhood but can also manifest in adulthood (the early 40s). Gene mutations such as CALM1, RYR2 (ryanodine receptor-2), CASQ2, and TRDN have been identified as common causes of CPVT. Those affected can present with episodes of syncope, sudden cardiac arrest, or sudden cardiac death due to either fast polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) or bidirectional VT. Diagnosing and managing CPVT can often be challenging as patients are often asymptomatic and may present after a sudden cardiac arrest. Exercise stress testing and genetic testing play a pivotal role in the workup of CPVT. Avoidance of strenuous activities and pharmacological therapy with beta-blockers are the mainstays of treatment. Here, we report a case of CPVT in a patient with RYR2 gene mutation, causing sudden cardiac arrest.


Impaired cognitive function (CF) is common among patients with CHF and is an additional factor impairing the quality of life, adherence to treatment, and hence the clinical prognosis in this category of patients.

The aim of this work was to study the prognostic significance of individual cognitive tests, as well as their combination in patients with CHF with a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF).

Materials and methods. The study was conducted in the Department of Heart Failure of National Scientific Center "M.D. Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology" National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, in the period from 01/01/2016 to 04/27/2018. A total of 124 patients with CHF between the ages of 18 and 75 years, II-IV functional classes by NYHA were examined. The cognitive function was assessed using the Schulte test, Mini-Mental State Examination scale (MMSE); HADS scale. Cognitive dysfunction (CD) was considered as MMSE ≤26 points. To construct the survival curves and the onset of the combined critical event (death or hospitalization), the Kaplan – Meier method was used, the significance of the differences between the curves was determined using the log-rank criterion. Differences were considered statistically significant at p <0.05.

Results. The MMSE scale was highly informative regarding the prediction of survival and the onset of a combined critical event (death or hospitalization) in patients with CHF and reduced LVEF even after correction of the compared groups by age and functional class according to NYHA (p=0.025 and p=0.049, respectively). Using the same sample, Schulte showed low prognostic significance regarding survival and reliable informativeness regarding the onset of the combined critical event, which, however, was leveled after correcting the compared samples by age and functional class NYHA (p=0.798 and p=0.240, respectively). The inclusion in the prognostic algorithm of estimating the sum of points on the HADS depression scale allowed increasing the degree of reliability of differences between the compared groups of patients with CD and without CD in terms of both long-term survival and the onset of a combined critical event (death or hospitalization) (p=0.006 and p=0.001 respectively).

Conclusions. The MMSE scale is informative regarding the prediction of survival and the onset of a combined critical event in patients with CHF and reduced LVEF. Schulte's test does not have the prognostic information indicated above, however, the inclusion in the algorithm of the sum of points on the HADS depression scale allows to increase the degree of statistical confidence in the compared groups.


OBJECTIVES
To investigate whether oral health literacy (OHL) impacts missing data obtained through self-reporting in oral health epidemiological research.

METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted with parents (n = 344) of 4- to 5-year-old children randomly selected from public schools within the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Parental OHL was measured using the Brazilian version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30). Parents answered a set of questionnaires comprising 88 items concerning sociodemographic and economic data, children's access to dental services, oral hygiene behaviour, diet and mealtime behaviour. The total number of unanswered items (TUI) and the number of unanswered items in each type of question (open-ended, dichotomous, multiple choice with up to 4 options and with 5-9 options) for each participant was compared across different levels of OHL (chi-squared, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman's correlation test). Multiple Poisson regression was used to estimate rate ratios (RR) of TUI between OHL scores and their respective 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

RESULTS
Approximately one-third of studied parents (37%) exhibited low OHL (BREALD-30 ≤ 21). The prevalence of missing data in at least one item was 85.5%. Low OHL was associated with failing to respond open-ended items (P = 0.003) and multiple-choice items with up to 4 (P = 0.003) and between 5 and 9 options (P = 0.030). There was a negative correlation between OHL scores and TUI (r = -0.195; P < 0.001), as well as with the number of unanswered items in all types of questions (P < 0.01), except dichotomous questions. Parents with lower OHL were more likely to show higher values of TUI (RR 0.95: 0.93-0.98), when adjusted by income and education.

CONCLUSIONS
Participants with lower OHL were significantly more likely to fail to complete research questionnaires. The impact of OHL on missing data was greater with more complex types of items.


In this paper, we have presented a new image-processing system for the measurement of skeletal growth in pediatric radiology. From a standard posterior and anterior view radiograph, taken from a left hand, the proposed system first automatically locates the phalangeal region of interest, and then measures the geometrical parameters associated with skeletal maturity. Finally, the bone age is estimated by using the standard phalangeal length table. Clinical studies reveal that the computer processing has resulted in an objective and accurate assessment of skeletal age. It greatly improves the shortcomings, including inter- and intraobserver variations and inaccuracy, reported in other research by manual methods. In conclusion, it is an inexpensive and useful tool for the evaluation of short-term abnormalities in the skeletal growth of children.


Motor skill learning involves both sensorimotor adaptation (calibrating the response to task dynamics and kinematics), and sequence learning (executing the task elements in the correct order at the necessary speed). These processes typically occur together in natural behavior and share much in common, such as working memory demands, development, and possibly neural substrates. However, sensorimotor and sequence learning are usually studied in isolation in research settings, for example as force field adaptation or serial reaction time tasks (SRTT), respectively. It is therefore unclear whether having predictive sequence information during sensorimotor adaptation would facilitate performance, perhaps by improving sensorimotor planning, or if it would impair performance, perhaps by occupying neural resources needed for sensorimotor learning. Here we evaluated adaptation to a distance-dependent force field in two different SRTT contexts: In Experiment 1, 28 subjects reached between 4 targets in a sequenced or random order. In Experiment 2, 40 subjects reached to one target, but 3 force field directions were applied in a sequenced or random order. We did not observe any consistent influence of target position sequence on force field adaptation in Experiment 1. However, sequencing of force field directions facilitated sensorimotor adaptation and retention in Experiment 2. This is inconsistent with the idea that sensorimotor and sequence learning share neural resources in any mutually exclusive fashion. These findings indicate that under certain conditions, perhaps especially when the sequence is related to the sensorimotor perturbation itself as in Experiment 2, sequence learning may interact with sensorimotor learning in a facilitatory manner.


Globalization as a new phenomenon is structurally different from internationalization and multinationalization. It takes multiple forms and encompasses several processes. Four new specific features are discussed: (a) the shift from the history of 'the wealth of the nations' to the history of 'the wealth of the world'; (b) the notion that globalization implies the end of 'nation capitalism' and the gradual emergence of a 'global capitalism'; (c) instead of a truly genuine globalization, one sees a process of 'triadization' of the economy on a world level; and (d) the emergence of the enterprise as the most powerful player. The multiplicity of aspects and novelty of globalization means that there is a need for a 'theory' of globalization. To that end a brief systematic assessment of various major implications and consequences of today's globalization is presented. The fundamental weakness of present globalization is the growing dissociation between economic power organized on a world basis by global networks of enterprises and political power which remains organized at the national level.


Exploring the life and leadership of Populist Marion Butler (1863-1938), James Hunt offers new insight into the challenges of American reform politics. The son of North Carolina farmers and a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Butler displayed an early proclivity for agrarian reform. By age twenty-eight he led the Farmers' Alliance of North Carolina; two years later he was elected president of the national Alliance. Butler served in the U.S. Senate as a Populist from 1895 to 1901 and was chairman of the national Populist Party during the critical presidential elections of 1896 and 1900. In 1896 he helped engineer the remarkable collaboration in which Populist Tom Watson ran for vice president alongside Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan. Departing from earlier portrayals of Butler as a political opportunist, Hunt shows him to be a genuine reformer who upheld Populist tenets in the face of enormous opposition from Democrats, Republicans, and even members of his own party. A dynamic individual with enormous capacity to mobilize and motivate, Butler sought throughout his career to convert his reform ideals, through politics, into law. His long and, ultimately, losing efforts illuminate the limitations of Populism as an ideology and as a political movement.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the sealing of indirect resin restorations cemented with three different luting agents. Thirty bovine teeth were used. Box type cavities preparations were made in the middle third of the buccal face. The cavities were restored with inlay restorations by the direct/indirect technique using resin composite Resilab (Wilcos, Petropolis, RJ, Brazil). The teeth were randomly divided into three groups: Group 1: etched with 37% phosphoric acid for 30 seconds, adhesive system Prime Bond 2.1 and Enforce resin cement (Dentsply, Petropolis, RJ, Brazil); Group 2: etched with 37% phosphoric acid for 30 seconds, adhesive system Single Bond and RelyX ARC resin cement (3M ESPE, St Paul, MN, USA); and Group 3: resin-modified glass ionomer cement RelyX Unicem Aplicap (Dentsply, Petropolis, RJ, Brazil). The indirect restorations were cemented with the respective cements and thermal cycled for 800 cycles. The specimens were stored in 50% silver nitrate dye for 24 hours, after this procedure the teeth were sectioned in the bucco-lingual direction into 3 slices of 1 mm thick, fixed on a glass slide and then analyzed by a stereomicroscope were was coupled a digital camera to register the images. From these pictures, the marginal leakage areas were measured by the software Image Tool 3.0. The data obtained were submitted to the ANOVA and Tukey tests. ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference (p=0.73) among groups (mean values(±SD): Group 1=0.96(±0.71); Group 2: 1.10(±0.63) and Group 3: 0.99(±0.35) . It was concluded that the 3 luting agents presented no significance regarding marginal microleakage, demonstrating similar performance in the proposed research situation.


This article describes the challenge of sustaining a balanced agenda for drug use research in the USA to advance understanding of the nature and extent of drug use and drug use disorders in a population; the processes and mechanisms that underlie onset, continuing, and stopping drug dependence; how to effectively prevent the onset of and early drug use as well as the social and health consequences of such use; and how to treat and maintain those with drug use disorders. This review concludes with recommendations to achieve sustained stability of funding for and to promote the progress of epidemiologic, prevention, and treatment policy research.


The Foot and Ankle is a volume in Arthritis and Arthroplasty-the first comprehensive series dealing with arthritis and arthroplasty in orthopaedic surgery. Christian Coetzee and Shepard R. Hurwitz present guidance on everything from patient selection and pre-operative planning to surgical approach and techniques. Clear, evidence-based coverage details which technology and methodology used for total joint replacement (TJR) or reconstruction is best for each patient. Access discussions of debates on minimally invasive surgery; whether metal/polyethylene, metal-metal, or ceramic-ceramic is the best/most appropriate bearing surface; cemented vs. uncemented fixation of the components; and more. Explore alternatives to TJR in younger arthritic patients (e.g. arthroscopy, arthrodesis, osteotomy, and resurfacing) and view expertly narrated video demonstrations of surgical techniques. In addition to providing practical, pragmatic advice in a concise, readable format, this Expert Consult title offers the full text of the book, as well as links to PubMed and periodic content updates, online at www.expertconsult.com. Access the full text of the book-as well as links to PubMed and periodic content updates-online at www.expertconsult.com. Provides evidence-based, clinically focused guidance on patient selection, pre-operative planning, surgical approach and techniques, bearing options and component materials, disease specific options, the management and avoidance of complications, salvage and revision TAA strategies, and more. Discusses variations in technique, including component removal, impaction grafting, conversion to fusion-options, arthrodesis with realignment, and more so you can choose which is most effective for each patient. Explores alternatives to TAA in younger arthritic patients such as arthroscopy, osteotomies, allograft resurfacing, distraction arthroplasty, interpostional grafts and arthrodesis. Includes a review page in every chapter for quick reference to pearls and pitfalls for each topic. Presents photographs and interpretive drawings of surgical techniques in full color to bring out intraoperative details as they appear in the operating room. Features procedural videos-narrated by experts-on the included DVD so you can see how to perform particular techniques. Your purchase entitles you to access the web site until the next edition is published, or until the current edition is no longer offered for sale by Elsevier, whichever occurs first. If the next edition is published less than one year after your purchase, you will be entitled to online access for one year from your date of purchase. Elsevier reserves the right to offer a suitable replacement product (such as a downloadable or CD-ROM-based electronic version) should online access to the web site be discontinued.


Gender difference in obesity-associated cardiovascular complication could be derived from divergent chronic inflammation. We evaluated depot- and gender-specific regulation of the innate immune system in human adipose tissues. Pair samples were obtained from subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) during elective surgery (Male: 35; Female: 27). Expressions of pro- and anti-inflammatory adipocytokines were evaluated by semi-quantitative qPCR. Adipose cell-size distribution was obtained from tissue samples fixed in osmium tetroxide and analyzed by Beckman Coulter Multisizer. Levels of adiponectin were higher in SAT and VAT of female than those of male (P < 0.001 and P = 0.011, respectively). NLRP3, IL1β-IL18, TLR2 were comparable in SAT and VAT between genders. However, TLR4 and TLR9 were increased in female SAT and VAT and HMGB1 in female VAT. Levels of adiponectin were not correlated with mean diameter of adipocyte (φ, μm) in SAT and VAT of male, but negatively well correlated in those of female (r = -0.392 and r = -0.616). Such negative correlations were also observed between levels of TLR2, TLR4, and HMGB1 and φ in female. Levels of NLRP3 and IL1β were positively correlated with φ in male, but not in female. In conclusion, Innate signals were differentially expressed in male and female adipose tissues, suggesting that the depot- and gender-specific signals could be related to gender difference in chronic inflammation. © 2016 BioFactors, 42(4):397-406, 2016.


Stable aqueous monodispersed silver nanoparticles were synthesised by reducing silver nitrate using various sugars such as glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose at 55-60 oC. A mixture of two stabilising agents, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) of molecular weight (MW 40, 000) and gelatin plays a decisive part in controlling size and shape of superfine silver nanoparticles. Using PVP, better control of particle size was obtained, whereas a mixture of PVP, and gelatin resulted in sea urchin kind of structure. Effects of several processing parameters such as pH, quantities of alkaline solution, reaction time, concentration of stabilising agent, and the metal/dispersant ratio were investigated. The suspensions were stable for at least one week. Silver nanoparticles can be easily collected by centrifugation on mixing with sufficient amount of acetone. Structural characterisation of synthesised silver nanoparticles was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), which shows that the as-synthesised silver nanoparticles are face-centered cubic crystalline. Chemical characterisations of as-synthesized silver nanoparticles were done using inductively-coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and LECO gas analysers. The optical properties of silver nanoparticles were monitored using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Role of stabilising agent in protecting the silver nanoparticles was studied using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Particle size and distribution were characterised using smallangle X-ray scattering (SAXS), zeta particle size analyser (PSA), scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The average particle size of the as-synthesised silver nanoparticles was 35 nm.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(4), pp.447-455, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.1545


Streptomyces sahachiroi whole cell feeding experiments, utilizing putative precursors labeled with stable isotopes, established that the epoxide unit of the DNA cross-linked agents, azinomycin A and B, proceeds via a valine-dependent pathway and that hydroxylation and dehydration precedes formation of the terminal epoxide. Sodium 3-methyl-2-oxobutenoate, formed through a transimination reaction, was shown to be the penultimate precursor incorporated into the azinomycin epoxide.


In most cell types, nuclear β-catenin functions as prominent oncogenic driver and pairs with TCF7-family factors for transcriptional activation of MYC. Surprisingly, B-lymphoid malignancies not only lacked expression and activating lesions of β-catenin but critically depended on GSK3β for effective β-catenin degradation. Our interactome studies in B-lymphoid tumors revealed that β-catenin formed repressive complexes with lymphoid-specific Ikaros factors at the expense of TCF7. Instead of MYC-activation, β-catenin was essential to enable Ikaros-mediated recruitment of nucleosome remodeling and deacetylation (NuRD) complexes for transcriptional repression of MYC. To leverage this previously unrecognized vulnerability of B-cell-specific repressive β-catenin-Ikaros-complexes in refractory B-cell malignancies, we examined GSK3β small molecule inhibitors to subvert β-catenin degradation. Clinically approved GSK3β-inhibitors that achieved favorable safety prof les at micromolar concentrations in clinical trials for neurological disorders and solid tumors were effective at low nanomolar concentrations in B-cell malignancies, induced massive accumulation of β-catenin, repression of MYC and acute cell death. Preclinical in vivo treatment experiments in patient-derived xenografts validated small molecule GSK3β-inhibitors for targeted engagement of lymphoid-specific β-catenin-Ikaros complexes as a novel strategy to overcome conventional mechanisms of drug-resistance in refractory malignancies. HIGHLIGHTS Unlike other cell lineages, B-cells express nuclear β-catenin protein at low baseline levels and depend on GSK3β for its degradation. In B-cells, β-catenin forms unique complexes with lymphoid-specific Ikaros factors and is required for Ikaros-mediated tumor suppression and assembly of repressive NuRD complexes. CRISPR-based knockin mutation of a single Ikaros-binding motif in a lymphoid MYC superenhancer region reversed β-catenin-dependent Myc repression and induction of cell death. The discovery of GSK3β-dependent degradation of β-catenin as unique B-lymphoid vulnerability provides a rationale to repurpose clinically approved GSK3β-inhibitors for the treatment of refractory B-cell malignancies. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT Abundant nuclear β-catenin β-catenin pairs with TCF7 factors for transcriptional activation of MYC B-cells rely on efficient degradation of β-catenin by GSK3β B-cell-specific expression of Ikaros factors Unique vulnerability in B-cell tumors: GSK3β-inhibitors induce nuclear accumulation of β-catenin. β-catenin pairs with B-cell-specific Ikaros factors for transcriptional repression of MYC


Objective: Accurate pre-operative image localization is critical in the selection of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy as a surgical treatment approach in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Sestamibi scan, ultrasound, computed tomography, and conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has varying accuracy in localizing parathyroid adenoma (PTA). Our group has previously shown that four-dimensional (4D) MRI is more accurate than conventional imaging in identifying single adenomas. In this study, we set out to determine if it is possible to accurately localize the quadrant of the adenoma using 4D MRI. Methods: We analyzed and matched the quadrants of PTA identified by pre-operative 4D-MRI with the operative findings during parathyroidectomy for PHPT at our institution during the study period. All resections were confirmed to be successful with an adequate decrease in intraoperative parathyroid hormone as defined by the Miami criterion. Results: A total of 26 patients with PHPT underwent pre-operative localization with the 4D MRI parathyroid protocol. Fourteen patients had true single-gland adenoma (SGA) and 12 patients had multi-gland disease (MGD). 4D MRI accurately identified all the SGA. Using this method, we were also able to localize the adenoma in the correct quadrant in 14 of the 18 patients with SGA. All 3 double adenomas were accurately identified using 4D MRI; however, MGD was only accurately identified 67% of the time. The 4D MRI had an overall 85% accuracy in distinguishing SGA from MGD. Conclusion: 4D MRI accurately identified single and double adenomas in their respective quadrants. However, accuracy was lower with MGD. Abbreviations: BNE = bilateral neck exploration; CT = computed tomography; IOPTH = intra-operative parathyroid hormone; MGD = multi-gland disease; MIBI = sestamibi; MIP = minimally invasive parathyroidectomy; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging; PHPT = primary hyperparathyroidism; PTA = parathyroid adenoma; PTH = parathyroid hormone; SGA = single-gland adenoma; SPECT = single photon emission computed tomography; 4D = four-dimensional.


Two groups of conditioned male mongrel dogs, designated group 1 and group 2, were subjected to 35 minutes of cerebrospinal fluid compression ischemia followed by 30 minutes of recirculation. Animals in both groups were heparinized, but in addition, the blood of group 2 animals was circulated through three glass-wool filters over the course of 1 hour prior to induction of ischemia. Focal zones of impaired perfusion were prevented and general reflow was significantly enhanced in group 2 animals, whose blood had been filtered through glass-wool. Animals in group 1 had focal zones of impaired perfusion and relatively poor general postischemic reflow. A hypothesis concerning blood-damaged tissue interaction in zones of acute tissue damage is introduced.


This article highlights recent advances in the discovery of new agonists, antagonists and partial agonists of the 5-HT(1D) receptor. The field of 5-HT(1D) agonists continues to deliver a number of new potential therapeutic agents, although advances in this field are now more focussed on the clinical evaluation phase. The identification of novel compounds is greater for the 5-HT(1D) receptor antagonists, and whilst few truly selective ligands have been identified, a number of approaches are discussed towards defined mixed-pharmacology profiles. An overview is also given of recent advances in biological and clinical understanding of the receptor.


We report a high average power Ce:LiLuF laser pumped by the second harmonic of the yellow output from a copper vapor laser. This cerium laser yielded up to 380 mW at a pulse repetition frequency of 7 kHz at the peak lasing wavelength of 309.5 nm, with a slope efficiency of 50%. In addition, single prism tunability was obtained from 305.5 to 316 nm and from 322 to 331.8 nm, Preliminary investigation into color center behavior has been performed involving crystal cooling, He-Ne pump probe experiments and antisolarant pumping.


In this paper, several designs of micorstip arrays antennas, suitable for wireless communication applications, are presented. This paper demonstrates several shapes of microstrip array antennas, such as rectangular and triangular patch antennas array. Specifically, 4×1, 2×1, and single element of both shapes are designed and simulated by a full wave simulator (IE3d). Moreover, this paper presents a comparison between both rectangular and triangular antenna arrays. Since, the resonance frequency of these antennas is 2.4 GHz; these antennas are suitable for ISM band and WLAN.


Our aim was to evaluate the effects of marijuana (Mar) and diazepam (Dz) on lipid peroxidation (TBARS), Na^+, K^+ ATPase activity, levels of glutathione (GSH) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). Male Wistar rats were given a single dose per group: extract of Mar (100 μL/kg), Dz (5 mg/kg), Mar plus Dz, and NaCl for control. Sixty mins after treatment, animals were sacrificed, and their brains extracted and homogenised to measure GSH, TBARS and 5-HTP levels. Na^+, K^+ ATPase and total ATPase activities. GSH and TBARS did not show differences respect to controls. Na^+, K^+ ATPase activity was similar as well. However, groups treated with Mar, total ATPase activity decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Levels of 5-HTP decreased significantly (p = 0.0001) in rats treated either with Mar and or Dz. Mar and Dz induced biochemical effects on the serotonergic metabolism, which can alter the development and function in rat brain, because it has also been involved in scavenging free radicals present there.


We predict the progression of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy using three of the most widely used supervised classification machine learning algorithms: Classification and Regression Trees, Logistic Regression (in two different forms), and Feed-Forward Neural Networks. The problem is treated as a classification problem, of predicting progression to end-stage renal disease in the ten years following initial diagnosis. All four methods yielded good classifiers, with AUC performance between 0.85 (decision tree) and 0.89 (neural network). The results were generally in-line with expectations, with poor kidney performance on presentation, and evident macroscopic and microscopic damage, all associated with poorer prognosis. However, the association between normal systolic blood pressure status and poor prognosis, for some patients under specific conditions, was entirely unanticipated, and warrants further investigation.


The majority of planetary nebulae (PNs) show axisymmetric morphologies, whose causes are not well understood. In this work, we present spatially resolved kinematic observations of 14 Galactic PNs surrounding Wolf–Rayet ([WR]) and weak emission-line stars (wels), based on the Hα and [N ii] emission taken with the Wide Field Spectrograph on the Australian National University 2.3 m telescope. Velocity-resolved channel maps and position–velocity diagrams, together with archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based images, are employed to construct three-dimensional morpho-kinematic models of 12 objects using the program shape. Our results indicate that these 12 PNs mostly have elliptical morphologies, with either open or closed outer ends. The kinematic maps show the on-sky orientations of the interior shells in NGC 6578 and NGC 6629, as well as the compact (≤6″) PNs Pe 1-1, M 3-15, M 1-25, Hen 2-142, and NGC 6567, in agreement with the elliptically symmetric morphologies seen in high-resolution HST images. Point-symmetric knots in Hb 4 exhibit deceleration with distance from the central star, which could be due to shock collisions with the ambient medium. The velocity dispersion maps of Pe 1-1 also disclose the shock interaction between its collimated outflows and the interstellar medium. Collimated bipolar outflows are also visible in the position–velocity diagrams of M 3-30, M 1-32, and M 3-15, which are reconstructed by tenuous prolate ellipsoids extending upward from dense equatorial regions in the kinematic models. The formation of aspherical morphologies and collimated outflows in these PNs could be related to the stellar evolution of hydrogen-deficient [WR] and wels nuclei, which require further investigation.


After it is published, every software system will get an upgrade, requiring it to adapt to meet the ever-changing client needs thus regression testing becomes one of the most important operations in any software system. As it is too expensive to repeat the execution of all the test cases available from a previous version of the software system, numerous ways to optimize the regression test suite have evolved, one of which is test case prioritizing. This study was carried out to test and compare the effectiveness of evolutionary algorithms and swarm intelligence algorithms, represented by the Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms. They will be implemented to find the Average Percentage Fault Detected (APFD), execution time, and Big O notation, as these are critical aspects in software testing to ensure high-quality products are produced on time. This study employs data from two separate investigations on comparable issues, denoted as Case Study One and Case Study Two. TCP has been extensively used in recent years, but not much research has been conducted to analyze and evaluate the performance of genetic algorithms (GA) and ant colony optimization (ACO) in a test case prioritization context. The algorithms were compared using APFD, execution time. The APFD and execution time values of 50, 100, 150, and 200 iterations for ACO and GA for both datasets are conducted. Both algorithms were determined to work on O() notation, which indicates they should scale up their execution process similarly on different input scales. Both algorithms performed well in their respective roles. ACO has shown to be more valuable than GA in terms of APFD and GA has shown to be more valuable than ACO in terms of execution time.


One of the striking characteristics of contemporary moral philosophy is the speed with which philosophers in the English-speaking world have jettisoned their reluctance to address concrete ethical problems and dilemmas and have plunged into the field of applied ethics. No less interesting is the impact that the work of some of the more noted of them has had outside of strictly philosophical circles. One need only to mention John Rawls or H. L. A. Hart to make the point. It is no longer difficult to prove that these same trends are deeply entrenched amongst Canadian philosophers. A further parallel is suggested by the fact that a Canadian philosopher, George Grant, has also had a substantial impact on recent Canadian thought. The appearance of a parallel, however, is illusory. For while applied ethics certainly has its practitioners in Canada today, and while it is widely recognized that both American and British philosophers have had a substantial and philosophically respectable impact on their respective societies, there seems widespread resistance to the idea that philosophical reflection has a role to play in the development of a distinctive understanding of Canadian society. And there is widespread scepticism in professional philosophical circles in Canada that the work of George Grant is of genuine philosophical interest, whatever his popular reputation.


The purpose of this article is to analyse the configuration of childhood pedagogy used to educate children from three to seven years old from the place of knowledge that Martín Restrepo Mejía occupied in Colombia from the end of the 19th century until the third decade of the 20th century. Three of the main books written by Restrepo Mejía were used as primary sources of emerging foundations for preschool pedagogy. Methodologically, the historical approach of pedagogical practice was used to account for the relationships of knowledge, power and subjectivation to educate children according to the Zerda Plan during the period of conservative hegemony. As a result, the coexistence of the rational and experimental matrices for the configuration of childhood pedagogy within Colombian pedagogical knowledge was achieved. The article ends by presenting some reflections that make it possible in the contemporary world to incorporate the conceptualizations between teaching, development and education typical of early childhood pedagogy in light of the crisis in disciplinary societies.


Various optical methods for measuring positions of micro-objects in 3D have been reported in the literature. Nevertheless, the majority of them are not suitable for real-time operation, which is needed, for example, for feedback position control. In this paper, we present a method for real-time estimation of the position of micro-objects in 3D; the method is based on twin-beam illumination and requires only a very simple hardware setup whose essential part is a standard image sensor without any lens. The performance of the proposed method is tested during a micro-manipulation task in which the estimated position served as feedback for the controller. The experiments show that the estimate is accurate to within  ∼3 μm in the lateral position and  ∼7 μm in the axial distance with the refresh rate of 10 Hz. Although the experiments are done using spherical objects, the presented method could be modified to handle non-spherical objects as well.


Blended knit with two or more fiber has various dyeing characteristics depending on dyeing method because of different material properties of them. In this paper, newly developed blended knit was used. It was composed by Acrylate fiber and Dyeable polypropylene(DPP) fiber. As result of build-up dyeing test, acid dyes and disperse dyes respectively had good dyeabilities on 1% o.w.f. with Acrylate fiber and DPP fiber. Compatibility of trichromatic of disperse dyes was generally good for most dyes investigated and their critical absorption range were between 120℃ and 130℃. As depending on dyeing methods, there were many differences in dyeability. It was confirmed that 1-bath-1-step dyeing was most suitable when considering dye exhaustion yield and levelling property. Wash, rubbing and light fastness of knits were generally good in most dyes.


Analysis of female meiosis (megasporogenesis) and embryo sac development (megagametogenesis) in angiosperms is technically challenging because the cells are enclosed within the nucellus and ovule tissues of the female flower. This is in contrast to male sporogenesis and gametogenesis where development can readily be observed through the easily dissectable developing anthers. Observation of embryo sac development is a particular problem in crassinucellate ovules such as those of maize. To overcome the problems in observing reproductive development, we developed a simple Feulgen staining procedure optimized for use with confocal microscopy to observe reproductive progression in the crassinucellate ovules of maize. The procedure greatly facilitates the observation of nuclei and cell structures of all stages of megasporogenesis and embryo sac development. The high resolution obtained using the technique enabled us to readily visualize chromosomes from individual cells within ovule tissue samples of maize. A propidium iodide staining technique was also used and compared with the Feulgen-based technique. Static cytometry of relative DNA content of individual nuclei was possible using Imaris software on both Feulgen and propidium iodide-stained samples. The techniques also proved successful for the observation of Arabidopsis and Hieracium aurantiacum female gametophyte and seed development, demonstrating the general applicability of the techniques. Using both staining methods, we analysed the maize meiotic mutant elongate1, which produces functional diploid instead of haploid embryo sacs. The precise defect in meiosis from which diploid embryo sacs arise in elongate1 has not previously been reported. We used confocal microscopy followed by static cytometry using Imaris software to show that the defect by which diploid embryo sacs arise in the maize mutant elongate1 is the absence of meiosis II with one of the dyad cells directly initiating megagametogenesis.


Introduction: Persistent methamphetamine-associated psychosis (pMAP) is a disorder similar to schizophrenia, so much so that the differences in clinical symptoms and treatment response between the two remain unknown. In this study, we compared the features of pMAP with those of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective quasi-experimental case-control study of inmates in a medical prison. The behavioral problems, clinical symptoms, and chlorpromazine (CP)-equivalent doses of 24 patients with pMAP and 27 with SSD were compared. Results: Patients in the pMAP group were hospitalized for fewer days than those in the SSD group (281.5 vs. 509.5; p = 0.012), but there were no other significant group differences in behavioral problems or clinical symptoms. The pMAP group received fewer antipsychotics in CP-equivalent doses than the SSD group at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after admission and at the time of discharge (p = 0.018, 0.001, 0.007, and 0.023, respectively). The number of CP-equivalent doses in the SSD group tended to increase after admission, but not in the pMAP group. Discussion: These findings suggest that differentiation between pMAP and SSD based on behavior and symptoms alone may be difficult, and that patients with pMAP may respond better to treatment with a lower dose of antipsychotic medication than those with SSD. Further confirmatory studies are warranted.


In a preliminary experiment, it was found that c-myc expression was decreased following the differentiation of THP-1 cells into monocytes/macrophages induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13 acetate (PMA) + lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + interferon (IFN)-γ. The expression of miR-let-7c-5p was then found to be elevated by cross-sectional analysis using TargetScan and PubMed and differential microarray analysis. The present study aimed to investigate the role of the miR-let-7c-5p/c-myc signaling axis in the committed differentiation of THP-1 leukemic cells into monocytes/macrophages induced by PMA + LPS + IFN-γ. Human THP-1 leukemic cells were induced to differentiate into monocytes/macrophages by PMA + LPS + IFN-γ. Following induction for 48 h, the growth density of the THP-1 cells was observed directly under an inverted microscope, cell proliferation was measured using Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and the cell cycle and the expression of differentiation-related antigens (CD11b and CD14) were measured using flow cytometry. The mRNA expression of miR-let-7c-5p and c-myc was detected using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and the protein expression of c-myc was detected using western blot analysis. Dual luciferase reporter gene analysis was used to detect the targeted binding of miR-let-7c-5p on the 3′UTR of c-myc. The relative expression of miR-let-7c-5p and c-myc genes in THP-1 cells induced by PMA + LPS + IFN-γ was found to be up- and downregulated respectively, and expression of miR-let-7c-5p was negatively correlated with the expression of c-myc gene. Dual luciferase reporter gene assays confirmed that miR-let-7c-5p targeted the 3′UTR of c-myc and inhibited luciferase activity. Following transfection with miR-let-7c-5p mimics, the expression of c-myc was markedly downregulated and the proliferative ability of the THP-1 cells was decreased, while the expression rate of CD11b and CD14 was significantly increased. The rescue experiment revealed that the effects of miR-let-7c-5p mimics on the proliferation and differentiation of THP-1 cells were attenuated by transfection with c-myc overexpression vector. Together, the findings of the present study demonstrated that miR-let-7c-5p can target the 3′UTR region of c-myc and that the miR-let-7c-5p/c-myc signaling axis is one of the critical pathways involved in the directional differentiation of leukemic cells into monocytes/macrophages.


We investigate the maximum bottleneck matching problem in bipartite graphs. Given a bipartite graph with nonnegative edge weights, the problem is to determine a maximum cardinality matching in which the minimum weight of an edge is the maximum. To the best of our knowledge, there are two widely used solvers for this problem based on two different approaches. There exists a third known approach in the literature, which seems inferior to those two which is presumably why there is no implementation of it. We take this third approach, make theoretical observations to improve its behavior, and implement the improved method. Experiments with the existing two solvers show that their run time can be too high to be useful in many interesting cases. Furthermore, their performance is not predictable, and slight perturbations of the input graph lead to considerable changes in the run time. On the other hand, the proposed solver's performance is much more stable; it is almost always faster than or comparable to the two existing solvers, and its run time always remains low.


Sonic anemometer data were taken during the Surface Waves Processes Program (SWAPP) in March 1990 in the North Pacific. Measurements of the wind stress vector span several strong wind events. Significant angles between the wind stress vector and the mean wind vector are seen. Simultaneous measurements of the directional wave field were made with a surface scanning Doppler sonar. The data suggest that the wind stress direction is influenced by the direction of the surface waves, especially for stronger winds. Overall, the stress vector lies between the mean wind and the mean wave directions. At the higher wind speeds (over 8.6 m/s), there is a nonzero correlation between the variations in wave directions and stress directions as well. Finally, the stress and wave component directions have similar frequency dependence over the frequency band where wave energy is nonnegligible, suggesting a dynamic link.


An instrument for determining the force required to pull the peduncle from a cucumber fruit is described. Picking force was studied using the pickling cucumber cultivars Wisconsin SMR-15, Ohio MR-17, and Wisconsin SMR-12 in 3 positions in the picking force instrument on 3 harvest dates. Picking force was more highly correlated with fruit length than fruit weight or diameter. Regression coefficients of picking force on fruit length were homogeneous for cultivars, stem positions, and harvest dates. Significant differences in mean picking forces were detected for cultivars, position of the fruit in the picking force instrument, and harvest dates. The cultivar sequence of increasing picking force was 'Wisconsin SMR-12', 'Wisconsin SMR-15', and 'Ohio MR-17'.


To take advantage of the globalization, many current applications use the web browser and java technology as a natural interface to the world. This fact makes necessary to design applications with some form of transactional properties. In particular, storage systems and access methods must cope with concurrency and recovery aspects in order to achieve reliability and to provide the expected services to these applications. However, very few proposals on index structures and access methods focus on this important point. In this paper we present concurrency and recovery mechanisms developed for the Q-tree, a multidimensional index structure which is a relevant part of the search engine used in a knowledge management-oriented application called Xerka.net. We hope that the original ideas on which our proposal is based on may contribute to enhance the current state of art of the access methods -in general- and of the multidimensional indexing structures -in particular.


BACKGROUND
Proteinuria has been recognized as one of the earliest signs of renal function deterioration in Diabetes mellitus. Proteinuria occurs due to alterations in the glomerular permeability and later, due to a failure in the reabsorption of filtered protein by the tubular cells. Normally, most of the healthy adults excrete 20-150 mg of protein in urine over 24 hours.

OBJECTIVES
To find out the normal urinary Protein Creatinine Index (PCI) in healthy subjects, to compare the urinary PCI of diabetic patients with that of healthy subjects and to compare the urinary PCI with dipsticks for the detection of microproteinuria.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
This study was conducted on 28 type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients and 40 age and sex matched healthy controls. Freshly collected urine samples were tested qualitatively for the presence of proteinuria by Heller's test, the sulfosalicylic acid test, heat-coagulation tests and urine dipsticks. Later on, the results were compared by performing a quantitative analysis of the protein in the spot urine samples by the sulfosalicylic acid method. A quantitative analysis of creatinine was done by the modified Jaffe's test. The PCI was calculated for each of the participant in the study. The Mean and Standard Deviation (SD) of the PCI was calculated and it was compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
The normal range of the PCI which was established in this study was 60 to 220. Significantly higher amount of proteins were found to be excreted in urine in diabetic patients (25.37 ± 12.51 mg/dl) as compared to those in normal subjects (8.93 ± 3.54 mg/dl). On comparison of the PCI between the controls and the diabetic subjects, it was found to be significantly elevated in the Diabetes mellitus patients (controls = 114.65 ±47.97 and in the diabetic patients =373.04 ± 98.53) (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION
The PCI of a random urine sample can provide a very useful, simple and convenient method for the quantitative assessment of proteinuria, to judge the extent of kidney damage and for avoiding the drawbacks of the 24 - hr urine collections.


This article utilizes two works of science fiction to examine the moral implications of pursuing great visions, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fiction writers often deal creatively with the darker side of human behavior, a perspective that social science researchers do not always explore. Both books offer insights into the way visions arise and the ethics of pursuing visions whose full consequences are not known.


In a multilingual country like India where 12 different official scripts are in use, automatic identification of handwritten script facilitates many important applications such as automatic transcription of multilingual documents, searching for documents on the web/digital archives containing a particular script and for the selection of script specific Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system in a multilingual environment. In this paper, we propose a robust method towards identifying scripts from the handwritten documents at text line-level. The recognition is based upon features extracted using Chain Code Histogram (CCH) and Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The proposed method is experimented on 800 handwritten text lines written in seven Indic scripts namely, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu along with Roman script and yielded an average identification rate of 95.14% using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier.


It is challenging to design complex synthetic life-like systems that can show both autoevolution and fuel-driven transient behaviors. Here, we report a new class of chemical reaction networks (CRNs) to construct life-like polymer hydrogels. The CRNs are constituted of autocatalytic cascade reactions and fuel-driven reaction networks. The reactions start with only two compounds, that is, thiol of 4-arm-PEG-SH and thiuram disulfides, and undergo thiol oxidation (k1), disulfide metathesis (k2), and thionate hydrolysis-coupling reactions (k3) subsequently, leading to a four-state autonomous transition of sol(I) → soft gel → sol(II) → stiff gel. Moreover, thiuram disulfides can be applied as a fuel to drive the repeated occurrence of metathesis and hydrolysis-coupling reactions, generating dissipative stiff gel → sol(II) → stiff gel cycles. Systematic kinetics studies reveal that the event and lifetime of every transient state could be delicately tailored-up by varying the thiuram disulfide concentration, pH of the system, and thiuram structures. Since the consecutive transient behaviors are precisely predictable, we envision the strategy's potential in guiding the molecular designs of autonomous and adaptive materials for many fields.


Sport teams have historically been reluctant to change ticket prices during the season. Recently, however, numerous sport organizations have implemented variable ticket pricing in an effort to maximize revenues. In Major League Baseball, variable pricing results in ticket price increases or decreases depending on factors such as quality of the opponent, day of the week, month of the year, and for special events such as opening day, Memorial Day and Independence Day (July 4). Using censored regression and elasticity analysis, this paper demonstrates that variable pricing would have yielded approximately $590,000 per year in additional ticket revenue for each Major League team in 1996, ceteris paribus. Accounting for capacity constraints, this amounts to only about a 2.8% increase above what occurs when prices are not varied. For the 1996 season, the largest revenue gain would have been the Cleveland Indians, who would have generated an extra $1.4 million in revenue. The largest percentage revenue gain would have been the San Francisco Giants. The Giants would have seen an estimated 6.7% increase in revenue had they used optimal variable pricing.


Abstract—The contamination of significant quantities of soils and sediments with uranium and other actinide elements as a result of nuclear activity poses many environmental risks. The electrokinetic process is one of the most promising remediation techniques for sludge, sediment, and saturated or unsaturated soils contaminated with heavy metals and radionuclides. However, secondary waste is a major concern for soil contaminated with nuclides. To minimize the generation of secondary wastes, this study used the anion and cation exchange membranes to improve the performance of the experimental apparatus. Remediation experiments of uranium-contaminated soil were performed with different agents. The results show that using acetic acid and EDTA as chelating agents clearly enhances the migration ability of the uranium. The ion exchange membranes (IEMs) used in the experiments not only reduce secondary wastes, but also, keep the soil pH stable.


Based on a comprehensive literature survey, we determined the sources of the terrestrial vertebrate species on Christmas Island, asking where they originated relative to Wallace's Line (the southern end of the divide lies 1100 km to the east, where the Lombok Strait adjoins the eastern Indian Ocean). The two bats, Pipistrellus murrayi and Pteropus natalis, are from the west. Concerning the endemic and 'resident' bird species, one is from the west (Collocalia natalis), four are from the east (Accipiter fasciatus, Egretta novaehollandiae, Falco cenchroides and Ninox natalis) and the other 15 are ambiguous or indeterminate. Most of the land-locked species are also from the east: rodents Rattus macleari and Rattus nativitatis, and squamates Cryptoblepharus egeriae, Emoia nativitatis and Lepidodactylus listeria. Additionally, two have westerly origins (Crocidura trichura and Cyrtodactylus sadleiri), one is ambiguous (Emoia atrocostata) and another is unknown (Ramphotyphlops exocoeti). West-directed surface currents that flow across the eastern Indian Ocean towards Christmas Island would have facilitated most of the land-animal colonizations. We therefore suggest that Wallace's Line be redrawn such that the landmass is placed on the Australasian side of this fundamental biogeographical boundary.


An {\it elegant labeling} $f$ of a graph $G$ with $m$ edges is an injective function from the vertices of $G$ to the set $\{0, 1, 2,\dots, m\}$ such that when each edge $xy$ is assigned the label $f(x) + f(y) (\mod m+1)$, the resulting edge labels are distinct and non zero. In this paper we prove the following results The graph $P_n^2$ is elegant, for all $n \geq 1$. The graphs $P_m^2 + \overline{K}_n$, $S_m + S_n$ and $S_m + \overline{K}_m$ are elegant, for all $m, n \geq 1$. Every even cycle $C_{2n} : $ with $2n-3$ chords $a_0a_2, a_0a_3, \dots, a_0a_{2n-2}$ is elegant, for all $n \geq 2$. The graph $C_3 \times P_m$ is elegant, for all $m \geq 1$.


The quality of flat breads depends in part on the textural properties of breads during storage. These properties are largely affected by flour protein quality and quantity. The present study aimed to examine differences between sensory properties, textural and staling of Tandoori breads made from flours of different quality and different quantities of protein. This was implemented by using three flours with 9.4, 11.5 and 13.5% protein contents and different protein qualities shown by Zeleney sedimentation volume 16.25, 22.75 and 23.25 mL respectively. Bread strips were submitted to uniaxial compression between two parallel plates on an Instron Universal Testing machine, and firmness of the breads was determined. Results indicated the differences in the sensory attributes of breads produced by flours of different protein content and quality, demonstrating that high protein high quality flours are not able to sheet and expand under the high temperature - short time conditions employed in Taftoon bread production and are therefore not suitable for this kind of bread. Results showed that flour with 11.5% protein content, produced bread with better sensory characteristics and acceptable storage time.


The effect of aminophylline on gastric acid secretion has been studied in the rat and dog. Aminophylline was shown to possess antisecretory activity when given either by oral or parenteral administration in an acute gastric fistula rat preparation. In the chronic gastric fistula dog aminophylline at 50 mg/kg intragastrically induced a small but significant stimulation of basal acid secretion. This dose of aminophylline also significantly inhibited acid secretion induced by gastrin tetrapeptide, and 2-deoxy-D-glucose but did not block acid secretion induced by histamine.


Radiotherapeutic drugs and medical imaging agents, although used for different purposes, both benefit from precise targeting. When systemically administered, either would be most useful if designed to find and bind only a tumor, single type of cell, or unique molecular assembly thereon. In this Account, we examine the use of small peptides, natural and synthetic, to create biochemically specific molecular imaging agents and radiotherapeutic pharmaceuticals, discussing three distinct examples. In one project, a small natural peptide known to target members of the bombesin family of receptors was chemically attached to a strong, versatile metal chelator, DO3A, through a series of small-molecule linkers. The linkers powerfully affected not only binding strength for the bombesin receptors, tissue distribution, and tumor uptake in vivo but also receptor subtype specificity. When the assembly is combined with an active metal ion for human trials, the versatility of the DO3A (dodecanetriacetate) chelate affords choices in selecting the metal ion for different purposes: lutetium for a combination radiotherapeutic and diagnostic agent, (177)Lu-AMBA, and gallium for a positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent, (68)Ga-AMBA. We also created small (approximately 5-kDa) bivalent peptides, each composed of different chemically linked peptides derived from phage display. The monomer peptides bound to the same target protein, VEGF-R2, a primary target of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the angiogenesis-stimulating protein. Several families of the monomer peptides did not compete with one another for the binding site on VEGF-R2. Their combination into fully synthetic hetero-bivalent molecules yielded subnanomolar K(d) values and greater than 100-fold improvements over homo-bivalent molecules. Biological activity was evident in the hetero-bivalents, whereas none or very little existed in homo-bivalents, monomers, and monomer mixtures. In ultrasound imaging, tiny bubbles (2 microm in diameter) filled with inert gas can be used as effective contrast agents. By coating the shell of such bubbles with the peptide TKPPR (a tuftsin antagonist), we created contrast agents that bound unexpectedly to cultured endothelial cells expressing angiogenesis targets; the binding was attributable to a previously unnoticed and powerful multivalency effect. TKPPR binds specifically to neuropilin-1 (NP-1), a VEGF co-receptor, but only when multimerized is it avid. Tuftsin, a small peptide derived from immunoglobulin G (IgG) that binds to macrophages during inflammation, has been studied for over 30 years; the receptor has never been cloned. Our results led to new conclusions about tuftsin, NP-1, and the purpose, heretofore unknown, of exon 8 in VEGF, which appears to be involved in NP-1 binding. Our disparate projects demonstrate that small-peptide targeted molecules can be very versatile in drug discovery in combination with classical medicinal chemistry. In particular, multivalent interactions can lead to unpredictable and useful biochemical information, as well as new drug candidates.


The structure test of system-on-chip is modeled based on ITC '0 2 test benchmark circuits. In this paper, the idea of hardware /software co-design is used for the division and design of hardware and software in SoC testing. The principles of the hardware/software co-design and testing procedures of the structure test model of SoC is introduced in this paper. We present a systematic test specification to restrict the subsequent testing activities in SoC testing. Moreover, the division of TAM and design of IEEE std 1500 wrapper are studied. Finally we put forward an optimization strategy suitable for SoC testing.


Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is an important risk factor for developing gastric cancer. However, even after H. pylori eradication, early gastric cancer (EGC) can develop. We elucidated the characteristics of EGCs diagnosed after H. pylori eradication. Methods: Thirty-six EGCs in 32 patients diagnosed after H. pylori eradication were defined as the eradication group (H. pylori-EG). The clinicopathological and endoscopic features were compared with those of 156 EGCs in 140 patients in the H. pylori-positive group (H. pylori-PG). Twenty-nine EGC lesions in the H. pylori-EG were further divided into two subgroups: the first included six lesions of no to mild atrophic mucosa around the EGC, and the second included 23 lesions of moderate to severe atrophic mucosa around the EGC. We compared them between the two subgroups. Results: Endoscopic features of EGCs in the H. pylori-EG were characterized as small (P = 0.049) and of the depressed type (P = 0.022) compared with those in the H. pylori-PG. EGCs in the H. pylori-EG were detected in the upper region of the stomach more frequently than those in the H. pylori-PG (P = 0.002). Submucosal ECGs in the H. pylori-EG were more likely to be seen in the no to mild atrophic mucosa subgroup (4/6, 67%) compared with the moderate to severe atrophic gastric mucosa subgroup (1/23, 4%) (P = 0.003). Conclusions: Careful follow-up endoscopies are necessary after H. pylori eradication.


Sub-soil (> 30 cm) salinity and sodicity is a growing problem particularly in irrigated agricultural areas with rising water tables, poor water quality and/or deficient soil drainage. There were two objectives in this study; (1) to quantify the effect of sub-soil salinity and sodicity in grain yield of triticale, bread wheat and durum wheat and, (2) to determine if genotypes within and between these three crops interact in a normal soil and one with a saline/sodic sub-soil under irrigated conditions. The soils at the CIMMYT experiment station in Cd. Obregon, Sonora, Mexico were mapped by kriging with GS+ geostatistical software for all chemical properties and soil texture. Using the soil maps, two contrasting areas of the station where identified. One with a saline/sodic sub-soil and the other with a normal soil (no limiting factors). A two year experiment was established with sixteen genotypes that included six bread wheats (1-6), five durum wheats (7-11) and five triticales (12-16) in the two soil types previously identified. The results showed a 10% yield reduction when all sixteen genotypes were averaged in the saline/sodic sub-soil location compared to the one with the normal soil. Average across genotypes all three crops seem to have the same level of tolerance to sub-soil salinity/sodicity. However, there was an interaction among genotypes for tolerance to sub-soil salinity/sodicity within each crop. Seven out of the sixteen (44%) genotypes evaluated were tolerant indicating a high frequency of tolerance to this soil problem in the CIMMYT germplasm. Breeders should be aware of the genotype x soil interaction present in bread wheat, durum wheat and triticale at the research station and insure that their trials are planted in soils that represent their breeding objectives.


In this paper, a Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) is used to predict crack pattern for masonry panels with opening subjected to lateral loading. The cellular automata method is used to digitalize the panels, including two steps-dividing a panel into a certain number of cells and calculating cell state values by use of a Von Neumann neighborhood model. These digitalized values are used as input data of NN model, respectively. All the experimental data is collected, including panel configuration, material property, opening ratio and location, state values, and crack pattern. The NN model is trained repeatedly, taking part of the data as a training set, to determine parameters, and the rest of the data is taken to check the model. Well-trained NN models can predict the crack pattern of any other panel. The results show that NN method is suitable for prediction of crack pattern. Comparing the two ways of prediction, the Fragility Coefficient Method gets a more precise pattern. The predicted cracks are distributed successively in some specific areas, especially in high similarity, compared with experimental crack pattern.


You may have noticed a couple of changes on the cover of the Journal, one relating to the Principal Editor, the other to the Journal's online status.

This issue is the first for which I have acted as Principal Editor, following Derek Bain's transfer to a similar position with Clays and Clay Minerals. A citation, thanking Derek for his substantial contribution over the last 13 years, was given by Dick Merriman at the recent 125th Anniversary of the Mineralogical Society: it is published on the following page. In addition, on a personal note, I should like to thank Derek for all his time and help during my transition into this new role.

The change of editorship has given me this opportunity to comment on …


With the draft sequence of the human genome available, there is a need to better define gene function in the context of systems biology. We studied 239 cardiovascular and renal phenotypes in 113 male rats derived from an F2 intercross and mapped 81 of these traits onto the genome. Aggregates of traits were identified on chromosomes 1, 2, 7, and 18. Systems biology was assessed by examining patterns of correlations ("physiological profiles") that can be used for gene hunting, mechanism-based physiological studies, and, with comparative genomics, translating these data to the human genome.