Introduction Previous reports indicated the structure and briefly described the effects of a new group of hallucinogens.1,2Sufficient experience with one of these, N-ethyl-3-piperidyl benzilate hydrochloride (JB 318), has accumulated such that dosage-response data may be presented. The present communication aims to describe more fully the effects of this agent in humans and to illuminate the relationship between its somatic and its psychologic actions. Methods A total of 42 observations were carried out on 39 subjects, 15 of whom were from a heterogeneous nonvolunteer group of clinic or convalescing hospital patients, and the remaining 24 were volunteer medical or divinity students or nurses, or laboratory or other hospital personnel. None was psychotic or exhibited major neurotic symptoms. All subjects were between 21 and 43 years of age; 22 were men, and 33 Caucasian. The patients were unaware of the potential effects of the compound when it was administered, but


Article 267 (3) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides that stool land disposition or development must be consistent with the planning scheme approved by the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) of the area in which the land is situated, without which traditional authorities are not expected to dispose same to prospective allottees. The study sought to address the questions: (a) 'to what extent does stool land disposition and development in peri-urban Ejisu Juaben Municipality complying with Article 267 (3) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana'; (b) 'what are the driving factor(s) for compliance or non-compliance with the constitutional provision'. Data were gathered from traditional authorities(Chiefs), allottees and officials of Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) and Public & Vested Land Management Division (PVLMD) of Regional Lands Commission (RLC). The study showed a high rate of non compliance to the constitutional provision. This scenario is occasioned by conflicting relations between the traditional authorities, TCPD and PVLMD coupled with high cost of base map and planning scheme preparation. The study recommends a partnership between the traditional authorities and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the preparation of base maps and planning scheme aimed at regulating land disposition and development. The MMDAs should also directly support the chiefs both financially and technically to ensure easy adherence to the constitutional provision and in so doing guarantee the preparation of planning schemes ahead of development.


The worldwide advanced gravitational-wave (GW) detector network has so far primarily consisted of the two Advanced LIGO observatories at Hanford and Livingston, with Advanced Virgo joining the 2016-7 O2 observation run at a relatively late stage. However Virgo has been observing alongside the LIGO detectors since the start of the O3 run; in the near future, the KAGRA detector will join the global network and a further LIGO detector in India is under construction. Gravitational-wave search methods would therefore benefit from the ability to analyse data from an arbitrary network of detectors. In this paper we extend the PyCBC offline compact binary coalescence (CBC) search analysis to three or more detectors, and describe resulting updates to the coincident search and event ranking statistic. For a three-detector network, our improved multi-detector search finds 20% more simulated signals at fixed false alarm rate in idealized colored Gaussian noise, and up to 40% more in real data, compared to the two-detector analysis previously used during O2.


In the ovary, differentiation of germinal cells into primordial follicles, functional ovulatory follicles and corpus luteum, all take place in a connective tissue matrix. We postulated that extracellular matrix (ECM) of the ovary participates actively in ovarian functions. To test this, the mRNA levels for several ECM components were determined in the mouse ovary at six distinct stages of the 4-day oestrous cycle. Northern analysis revealed statistically significant cyclic expression patterns for the mRNAs coding for type III, IV and VI collagens as well as for the small proteoglycan, biglycan, and for syndecan-1 and osteonectin. The cyclic changes observed in the mRNAs for these structural components exceeded those for matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2, -9 and -13, and for tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1, -2 and -3, where the changes were not statistically significant, despite their apparent role in ECM remodelling in the ovary. These observations support the hypothesis that cyclic changes in the production and degradation of ECM are part of normal ovarian function connected with follicular maturation, rupture and corpus luteum formation.


To study the function of the protooncogene Mos in mouse brain development we have created a transgenic mouse model system in which an activated form of the gene, the murine retroviral v-Mos gene, is highly overexpressed in the brain. Six transgenic founder animals and mice of one established transgenic line (line TG66) displayed a progressive hind limb paralysis with onset between 18 days and 9 months. The severity of the neurological phenotype correlated with pathological alterations and the degree of v-Mos expression in the brain which varied between individual animals of line TG66. The most striking feature of the brain pathology was the presence of large, abnormal astrocytes in the cerebellum, medulla, thalamus and in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. These areas also contained shrunken and basophilic neurons whose cytoplasm was abnormally immunoreactive for phosphorylated epitopes of neurofilaments. In addition to neuropathologic changes, these mice also displayed aberrant eye lens differentiation and absence of hair cells in the inner ear. These results establish v-Mos transgenic mice as a model system to study progressive ncurodegencrative disease and provide further evidence that the Mos protein-serine/threonine kinase has a function in brain development.


The article is devoted to the problem of calculating the ride comfort of wheeled vehicles engaged in the movement through non-deformable bearing areas. There is shown a method, which corrects a well-known algorithm of evaluation by extending the frequency range of action of the disturbing force on dynamic models of wheeled vehicles. A comparison of the results of field testing and calculation methods is provided.


Background: We sought to determine if the general population is prepared in regards to prescription medications (RXM) in the event of an emergency. Pharmacies, physicians & insurance companies contribute to the problem by limiting the availability & quantities. Recent disasters, quick evacuations and quarantine have contributed to RXM unpreparedness. Methods: The questions on the Medical Preparedness Survey were created to gauge the preparedness of the general population of one Utah county. We sought to determine: 1) 3-day RX preparedness in general, 2) gender dependence on RXMs, 3) preparation by gender, 4) Utah County, UT preparedness with RX meds, 5) preparedness of home oxygen (O2) where applicable, 6) the role of education in readiness with RXMs, and 7) age dependency and preparedness. Additional questions included: patient demographics including age, gender, zip code, ethnicity and highest level of education, 5-minute access to RXMs, pet dependency on RXMs, and if access could be accomplished in 5 minutes, and patient identification of emergency outside designated meeting spots. Data were collected via a Qualtrics template survey distributed via Facebook. Two hundred twenty-five surveys were returned and analyzed. Results: Survey results are reported in Table One. Other outcomes of note include: 1) 2.2 % of the respondents indicated they were dependent on RXMs but would not be able to access their medications in under 5 minutes, 2) 42% of respondents indicated they owned pets that rely on medications but did not have an available emergency supply, 3) 25% of respondents with RXMs would rely on their local pharmacy, and 4) 66% of respondents did not have a pre-designated emergency meeting spot. Conclusions: It is our impression most are prepared with RXMs for 3 days but not beyond that. A gender gap in preparedness was noted. More respondents 60 despite comorbid conditions which emerge with advancing age. Higher levels of education did not equate with level of preparedness. This seems inversely related; however, this result warrants further investigation. Community education regarding the need for RXM preparedness and planned emergency meeting location may impact preparedness & decrease potential burdens. It is our impression community services, hospitals, medical supply and insurance companies should coordinate processes to assure oxygen dependent patients have adequate RXM and oxygen sources. The authors acknowledge Kira Zabriskie, Esau Jared Moreno Cordova, and Taylor Hale.


This paper describes the application of a three‐dimensional lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to Newtonian and non‐Newtonian (Bingham fluid in this work) flows with free surfaces. A mass tracking algorithm was incorporated to capture the free surface, whereas Papanastasiou's modified model was used for Bingham fluids. The lattice Boltzmann method was first validated using two benchmarks: Newtonian flow through a square cross‐section tube and Bingham flow through a circular cross‐section tube. Afterward, the dam‐break problem for the Newtonian fluid and the slump test for Bingham fluid were simulated to validate the free‐surface‐capturing algorithm. The numerical results were in good agreement with analytical results, as well as other simulations, thereby proving the validity and correctness of the current method. The proposed method is a promising substitute for time‐consuming and costly physical experiments to solve problems encountered in geotechnical and geological engineering, such as the surge and debris flow induced by a landslide or earthquake.


By cosputtering Ag with FePt on a Cr90Ru10 underlayer, the film texture and magnetic easy axis were successfully changed from the perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The crystallographic structure and magnetic properties of Ag-doped FePt thin films were investigated. Doping of Ag in FePt films led to greater in-plane coercivity and smaller magnetic grain size. The in-plane coercivity of the nanocomposite films varied from 0.8 to 6.5 kOe, depending on the Ag content. With an increase in Ag content, the FePt grain size became smaller, and the magnetic reversal mechanism approached the nucleation mode. These results suggest a practical way by which to fabricate L10 FePt thin films with longitudinal anisotropy using a nanocomposite approach.


Background: When early and accurate identification of stroke occurs in the field by Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers, the chances of reperfusion increases dramatically. Telestroke has made significant strides over the years and hold promise for potential use in the prehospital setting. However, the introduction of such a novel technology within a healthcare system can be complex. Purpose: To describe the use of the combination of clinical simulation and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology in the design of a mobile prehospital telestroke system. Methods: A multi-stakeholder team with representation from the Departments of Neurology and Emergency Medicine, Office of Telemedicine, Center of Human Simulation and Patient Safety, local EMS agency and a telemedicine developer collaborated to develop a mobile prehospital telestroke system over a 6 month time period. Modifications to telemedicine equipment, teleconferencing software and protocol were implemented based on the results of serial PDSA cycles and clinical simulation testing. We used data collected via direct observation notes, survey results and informal interviews during serial PDSA cycles and clinical simulation to test changes to improve our mobile prehospital telestroke system. Results: (see image of PDSA chart) Conclusion: The combined clinical simulation and PDSA model led to the identification of technical and operational barriers not considered in the original design of the mobile telemedicine platform and placement. Before implementation and financial investment in a mobile prehospital telestroke program, the use of combined clinical simulation and PDSA methodology can improve the quality and optimize the system use. Further PDSA and simulation cycles are needed to improve the design of our mobile system.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the correlation of bone marrow status in haemotological malignancy patient with the variable value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR (DCE-MRI).

METHODS
DCE-MRI result were obtained from 25 patients with pathologically proven haematological malignancies. Time-signal intensity curves (TIC) was generated from the region of the iliac crest corresponding to the planned biopsy site. Enhancement characteristics including peak enhance ratio (PER) , maximum slope (Slopemax), time to peak ( TP) and mean time (MT) were analyzed. The patients received bone marrow biopsy on the crest 30 min after DCE-MRI, and then the parameters of bone marrow histology including cellularity was analyzed.

RESULTS
In this series, 3 patients showed type B TIC, 7 type C, 13 type D and 2 type E. The bone marrow cellularity with haematological malignancies cannot be demostrated by TIC type. The mean PER value and Slopemax value in the patients with hypercellularity was significantly higher than that with normal cellularity and hypocellularity. The mean TTP value of the patients with hypercellularity (60.20 +/- 61.62) was significantly lower than that in the patients with hypocellularity (97.43 +/- 1.07) or normal cellularity (78.44 +/- 38.02). There was no significant difference in the mean MT value among three groups.

CONCLUSION
Our preliminary findings suggest that the bone marrow cellularity in the patient with haematological malignancies can not be revealed by conventional MR, but it may be demonstrated by semi-quantitative calculation of the variable value from DCE-MR imaging.


In this study, behavioral problems of deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) school-aged children are discussed in the context of executive functioning and communicative competence. Teachers assessed the executive functions of a sample of 214 D/HH students from general schools and schools for the deaf, using a German version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF-D). This was complemented by a questionnaire that measured communicative competence and behavioral problems (German version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ-D). The results in nearly all the scales show a significantly higher problem rate for executive functions in the group of D/HH students compared with a normative sample of hearing children. In the D/HH group, students at general schools had better scores on most scales than students at schools for the deaf. Regression analysis reveals the importance of executive functions and communicative competence for behavioral problems. The relevance of the findings for pedagogical work is discussed. A specific focus on competencies such as self-efficacy or self-control in educational concepts for D/HH students seems to be necessary in addition to extending language competencies.


The metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR5, is densely expressed in brain regions involved in incentive learning processes. There is considerable evidence to suggest that following exposure to addictive drugs such as cocaine, adaptations in these brain areas may underlie the development and maintenance of behavioural responses related to addictive processes. The present thesis examines the role of mGluR5 in both incentive learning processes and some behavioural and neurobiological effects of cocaine.

First, using a novel mutant mouse line in which mGluR5 is selectively knocked down in cells that express dopamine D1 receptors (D1R), I argue that this mGluR5 population is critically important for specific incentive learning processes. By blocking mGluR5 in wild-type mice with a selective antagonist, I then propose mGluR5 as necessary for the acquisition, but not the expression of an incentive association. Next, I present data showing that mGluR5 on dopaminoceptive neurons are not necessary for the "conditioned rewarding" properties of cocaine, measured in the conditioned place preference model, but do contribute to the psychomotor activating effects of cocaine. Finally, I present an immunohistochemistry study that examines cocaine-induced activation of the extracellular-signal related kinase (ERK) pathway. In the mGluR5 knock-down mice, activation of the ERK pathway in the striatum is disrupted following an acute injection of cocaine. Given the importance of the ERK pathway in establishing and maintaining long term memories, I propose that disruption of this pathway could contribute, in part, to some findings reported in the present thesis.

Taken together, this thesis will argue that signalling through mGluR5 on D1R expressing neurons is important for the formation of incentive associations, and may contribute to neural adaptations necessary for the development and maintenance of behavioural responses related to addictive processes.


There are a lot of non-blind image deblurring methods, especially with the total variation (TV) model-based method. However, how to choose the parameters adaptively for regularization is a major open problem. We proposed a very novel method that is based on the TV deep network to learn the best parameters adaptively for regularization. We used deep learning and prior knowledge to set up a TV-based deep network and calculate the parameters of regularization, such as biases and weights. Therefore, we used the idea of a deep network to update these parameters automatically to avoid sophisticated calculations. Our experimental results by our proposed network are significantly better than several other methods, in respect of detail retention and anti-noise performance. At the same time, we can achieve the same effect with a minimum number of training sets, thus speeding up the calculation.


The main part of this study deals with an application of mixed integer programming to a large real-life production planning problem. Apart from this, two other topics will have our specific attention: 1) A special approach to sensitivity analysis of both continuous and (mixed) integer linear programming models. This approach differs from the usual techniques. 2) An economic interpretation of the outcomes of both continuous and (mixed) integer linear decision models. One of the goals here is to compare the special approach mentioned under 1 to some well-known methods of cost accounting with respect to their meaning for planning purposes. ... Zie: Summary


A taxon, traditionally referred to the rank order, encompassing all recent taxa of caecilians and their close fossil relatives, is highly supported as holophyletic in all recent cladistic analyses of Amphibia. Under the Duplostensional Nomenclatural System, among 12 nomina available in the literature, only one, Gymnophiona Rafinesque, 1814, qualifies as a sozodiaphonym and should be used for this amphibian taxon. We show here that the authorship of this nomen, as well as of 32 other nomina published in 1814, is 'Rafinesque', not 'Rafinesque-Schmaltz'.            The nomen Apoda Oppel, 1811, that has often been used for this taxon, proves to be a distagmonym and a junior homonym of Apodes Linnaeus, 1758 and five other distagmonyms, and as such it is invalid under DONS.            In total, we identified 34 distinct class-series nomina derived from the stems ἄπους (apous) or Apus in 13 distinct zoological groups, only two of which are valid under DONS Criteria: Apodiformia Wetmore, 1947, for the suborder of Aves currently known as Apodi Wetmore, 1947, and Apodomorpha Sibley, Ahlquist & Monroe, 1988 for the order of Aves currently known as Apodiformes Peters, 1940.                Several other nomenclatural findings were made in the course of this study: [1] in the Teleostei, the nomina "Eupercaria" and "Syngnatharia", like all the other new nomina proposed in the paper by Betancur-R. et al. (2017) are anoplonyms and cannot be used as valid; [2] in the Mammalia, the nomina Cetus and Cetacea should be credited to Brisson (1759); [3] in the Holothuroidea, the nomen Apoda Claus, 1868, currently considered valid under the apograph Apodida, is invalid and should be replaced by the nomen Paractinopoda Ludwig, 1891; [4] in the Isopoda, the subordinal nomen Cymothoida Wagele, 1989 should be replaced by its senior synonym Darwinida Lakshminarayana & Rama Rao, 1977.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the review is to describe, synthesize and document the determinants that impact a vulnerable woman's access to primary sexual reproductive health care in Canada.

INTRODUCTION
Canada is committed to advancing sexual reproductive health care initiatives. Although both men and women require sexual reproductive health care, the implications for women are far more significant. While Canadian women do generally experience "good health", issues with sexual reproductive health do exist, particularly for vulnerable women for whom questions about accessibility arise. Therefore, there is a need to understand the true extent of a woman's access to sexual reproductive health in Canada. Findings will be used to inform future implementation research and provide recommendations to key stakeholders.

INCLUSION CRITERIA
Studies on primary access to sexual reproductive health care for vulnerable women (those living in poverty, with risky sexual behaviors, and/or are Indigenous, immigrants or refugees) aged nine to 49 who reside in Canada will be considered. Studies published in French or English from 2008 will be included. Women with a physical and/or mental disability and/or who are part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community will be excluded if they do not have one or more of the defining characteristics listed above.

METHODS
Databases to be searched include PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts and Women's Studies International. Gray literature searches will also be conducted. Following screening, all identified citations will be collated. Titles and abstracts will be screened by independent reviewers. Potentially relevant studies will be retrieved in full and assessed. Data will be extracted by independent reviewers and presented in diagrammatic or tabular form and accompanied by a narrative summary.


The title compound, [Re(C2H5O)Cl2O(C7H9N)2], was crystallized from ethanol. The crystal structure of this complex contains a Re(V) atom in a slightly distorted octahedral coordination geometry with pairs of equivalent ligands in trans positions. Adjacent complex molecules are linked by weak C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. The crystal structure is additionally stabilized by π–π stacking interactions between the aromatic rings with centroid–centroid distances of 3.546 (4) Å.


The concept of a varying evolutionary tempo that is regulated by energy was first suggested in the 1950s. It was based on the observation that energy-rich habitats appear to be the centres of evolutionary change, producing novel characters more frequently and having greater speciation rates. Subsequently, a number of studies have found positive relationships between evolutionary rate and energy. Gradients of energy occur across a range of scales and these have been invoked to explain, for example, higher tropical species richness. Precipitation has also been found to influence evolutionary rate, suggesting that biologically available energy and productivity are the important variables in the relationship rather than solar energy alone. Here, we take the theoretical step of investigating at smaller scales the implications of faster evolutionary tempo where productivity is greater: first at the level of the species population and, subsequently, for the same-guild co-habitants in a community. To facilitate, this we begin by applying the concept of gradients of available energy, from more productive to less productive sectors within the species niche, in the context of source-sink theory. We then propose that a species population will have its highest rate of evolution, for changes that confer a positive selection coefficient throughout the niche, in that sector where it has best adaptive fit and greatest per capita energy flux. We also posit that, where it conferred a shift in fitness, an evolutionary change at niche optimum could subsequently affect conspecific populations occupying lower energy niche sectors via the selection-mediated dispersal of the apomorphy into the more marginal components of the niche. We then infer that this type of change in a species with a generally higher per capita energy flux might negatively affect adjacent more slowly evolving species (living in less productive peripheral niches) in situations where the increased fitness conferred by a particular apomorphy was relevant to conditions occurring beyond the limits of the progenitor niche hypervolume. We therefore suggest a directional component to evolution at the compressed scales of niche and community level microevolution whereby populations and species occupying more productive conditions have greater tempos of change with attendant enhancements of both their competitive influence and their evolutionary potential. In this manner, previously recorded macro-evolutionary patterns indicating faster evolution with increased energy at larger scales are interpreted in the context of proposed micro-evolutionary relationships at intraspecific and locally interspecific scales. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110, 696–714.


The analysis of the main environmental consequences of leaks and local spills of petroleum products at the enterprises of the mineral resource complex is presented. It is established that the problem of soil contamination with petroleum products at the facilities of the mineral resource complex and enterprises of other industries is caused by significant volumes of consumption of the main types of oil products. Based on the results of the author's previous field research, a series of experiments was carried out, consisting in modeling artificial soil pollution with petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, highly refined oil, motor oil, and transmission oil, followed by their purification by heat treatment at temperatures of 150, 200, and 250 °C. The 250 °C limit of the heating temperature was set due to the need to partially preserve the structure and quality of the soil after heat treatment to preserve its fertility. When the processing temperature rises to 450 °C, all humates are completely burned out and, as a result, productivity is lost. Confirmation is provided by the results of experiments to determine the humus content in uncontaminated soil and soil treated at different temperatures. It was found that at a maximum processing temperature of 250 °C, about 50 % of the initial organic carbon content is preserved. According to the results of the conducted experimental studies, the dependences of the required processing temperature on the concentration of petroleum products to reduce the concentration of petroleum products to an acceptable level have been established. The methodology of thermal desorption cleaning of soils with varying degrees of contamination at enterprises of the mineral resource complex is presented.


This paper surveys the applications of symbolic computation techniques to problems in theoretical physics. Particular emphasis is placed on applications in quantum electrodynamics where the most activity has occurred.


We address the problem of automatically harmonizing a leadsheet in the style of any arranger. We model the arranging style as a Markov model estimated from a corpus of non-annotated MIDI files. We consider a vertical approach to harmonization, in which chords are all taken from the arranger corpus. We show that standard Markov models, using various vertical viewpoints are not adapted for such a task, because the problem is basically over constrained. We propose the concept of fioriture to better capture the subtleties of an arranging style. Fioritures are ornaments of the given melody during which the arranging style can be expressed more freely than for melody notes. Fioritures are defined as random walks with unary constraints and can be implemented with the technique of Markov constraints. We claim that fioritures lead to musically more interesting harmonizations than previous approaches and discuss why. We focus on the style of Take 6, arguably the most sophisticated arranging style in the jazz genre, and we demonstrate the validity of our approach by harmonizing a large corpus of standard leadsheets.


Wind power planning aims to locate and size wind farms optimally. Traditionally, wind power planners tend to choose the wind farms with the richest wind resources to maximize the energy benefit. However, the capacity benefit of wind power should also be considered in large-scale clustered wind farm planning because the correlation among the wind farms exerts an obvious influence on the capacity benefit brought about by the combined wind power. This paper proposes a planning model considering both the energy and the capacity benefit of the wind farms. The capacity benefit is evaluated by the wind power capacity credit. The Ordinal Optimization (OO) Theory, capable of handling problems with non-analytical forms, is applied to address the model. To verify the feasibility and advantages of the model, the proposed model is compared with a widely used genetic algorithm (GA) via a modified IEEE RTS-79 system and the real world case of Ningxia, China. The results show that the diversity of the wind farm enhances the capacity credit of wind power.


A deeper understanding of how structure and environment shape the sexual and reproductive health vulnerabilities of youths across a range of outcomes has implications for the development of successful policies and programs. We have discussed some of the key structural and environmental factors that influence the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and the importance of engaging adolescents in identifying solutions. We have highlighted 2 case studies that describe structural or environmental approaches to improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health and made recommendations to more systematically incorporate attention to structure and environment to improve global adolescent health.


Summary Lethal doses of methotrexate in mice cause a prolonged inhibition of proliferation in the epithelium of small intestine. As early as 6 hr after such doses, a few karyorrhectic cells are present in the proliferating zone of crypts, but by 24 hr the crypt epithelium is atrophic. It fails to recover before the animals die at 4 days after injection. Doses of the agent equal to 0.1 × 50% lethal dose (LD50) also severely damage crypts during the first 24 hr, but the region recovers by 72 hr. Few or no pathological effects are seen after doses of 0.01 or 0.001 × LD50. Nevertheless, doses as low as 0.001 × LD50, i.e., 0.5 mg/kg, markedly inhibit folic acid reductase in the intestine within the first 8 hr after injection, and the inhibition is as extensive at 24 hr. Moreover, studies of the uptake of the drug by intestine and liver show that shortly after injection of such low doses methotrexate is present in concentrations that are greatly in excess of the amounts required to bind all of the reductase in these tissues. The incorporation of tritiated deoxyuridine into the DNA of small intestine is inhibited by more than 90% within 30 min after injection of 0.001 × LD50, and recovery does not begin until 2 to 4 hr later. Higher doses, 0.01 and 0.1 × LD50, induce even greater maximal inhibitions lasting 4 to 6 and 16 hr, respectively. At 30 min, even after LD50 doses, thymidine incorporation into DNA is unaffected, a result consistent with the induction by methotrexate of a selective block in the methylation of deoxyuridylic acid. That DNA synthesis is depressed is shown by a concurrent inhibition of the incorporation of 32P-labeled orthophosphate into DNA. In spite of the early inhibition of DNA synthesis, methotrexate induces relatively few degenerating cells in the proliferative crypt epithelium during the first 6 hr. By contrast, selective inhibitors of DNA synthesis such as hydroxyurea or 1-β-d-arabinosylcytosine destroy all S-phase cells within the first 2 to 4 hr. It is therefore concluded that inhibition of DNA synthesis by methotrexate in mouse intestinal crypts is not selective but is balanced by concurrent inhibition of RNA or of protein or of both.


Large-scale data emerge in food safety inspection and testing industry with the development of Internet technology in China. This paper was aimed at designing toxic and hazardous substance big data risk analysis algorithm in food safety inspection and testing based on cloud computing [1]. Cloud computing platform was set up to store the massive extensive data with geographical distribution, dynamic and high complexity from the Internet, and MapReduce [2] computational framework in cloud computing was applied to process and compute parallel data. The risk analysis results were obtained by analyzing 1000000 meat products testing data collected from the laboratory management information system based on web. The results show that food safety index<1, which proves that the food safety state is in good condition.


Background: The total fertility rate (TFR) in South Korea has fallen below 1.3 since 2001. The role of the rapid shift toward a late-childbearing pattern in driving Korean fertility decline to this ultra-low level has been little explored until now.
Objective: We provide an in-depth analysis of period fertility trends by birth order in South Korea from 1981 to 2015, when the period TFR fell from 2.57 to extremely low levels.
Methods: We combine census and birth registration data to estimate period and cohort fertility indicators by birth order. We compare changes in conventional TFR with tempo- and parity-adjusted total fertility rate (TFRp*) and their birth-order-specific components.
Results: The tempo effect linked to the shift toward delayed childbearing has had a strong and persistent negative influence on period TFRs in South Korea since the early 1980s. Without the shift to later childbearing, period fertility rates in South Korea would consistently stay higher and decline more gradually, reaching a threshold of very low fertility, 1.5, only in 2014. The postponement of childbearing and the resulting tempo effect were strongest in the early 2000s, when Korean TFR reached the lowest levels. More recently, Korean fertility has been characterized by a diminishing tempo effect and falling first and second birth rates. This trend marks a break with the previous pattern of almost universal fertility and a strong two-child family model.
Contribution: Our study demonstrates the importance of the tempo effect in explaining the shift to ultra-low fertility in South Korea and in East Asia.


When Gald?s wrote La inc?gnita in 1888 and 1889, he no longer viewed the middle class as an effec tive force in Restoration politics. In this novel, Gald?s critiques Spanish politics through a discourse of gender inflections related to a middle-class politician. Gossip and hysteria, commonly associated with women during the nineteenth century, are assigned to the protagonist Manolo Infante. His crossing the divide between masculine and feminine characteristics reflects the problems that Gald?s believed were impeding the nation's progress. Infante's unsuccessful attempts to disguise gossip as truth and to mask his mental disorder foreground the appearance versus reality dichotomy that often surfaces in Gald?s's novels. He thus subtly reveals the illusory nature of the purportedly democratic Spanish political system which was, in reality, riddled with corruption and


Lures are deceptive strategies that exploit sensory biases in prey, usually mimicking a prey's mate or food item. Several predators exploit plant–pollinator systems, where visual signals are an essential part of interspecific interactions. Many diurnal, and even nocturnal, orb-web spiders present conspicuous body coloration or bright color patches. These bright colors are regarded as color-based lures that exploit biases present in insect visual systems, possibly mimicking flower colors. The prey attraction hypothesis was proposed more than 20 years ago to explain orb-web spider coloration. Although most data gathered so far has corroborated the predictions of the prey attraction hypothesis, there are several studies that refute these predictions. We conducted a multilevel phylogenetic meta-analysis to assess the magnitude of the effect of conspicuous orb-web spider body coloration on prey attraction. We found a positive effect in favor of the prey attraction hypothesis; however, there was substantial heterogeneity between studies. Experimental designs comparing conspicuous spiders to painted spiders or empty webs did not explain between-studies heterogeneity. The lack of theoretical explanation behind the prey attraction hypothesis makes it challenging to address which components influence prey attraction. Future studies could evaluate whether color is part of a multicomponent signal and test alternative hypotheses for the evolution of spider colors, such as predator avoidance and thermoregulation.


[Objective] The purpose of the study was to supply guidance for the production of lily bulblet.[Method] With 2 Oriental lily varieties and 2 Asiatic lily varieties as materials,the planting depths of 5,10 and 15 cm were set up to study the influence of planting depth on the breeding of lily bulblet.[Result] The influence of planting depth on the enlargement multiples of diameter and weight of Asiatic lily had no significant difference and that on the bulblet enlargements of 2 Oriental lily varieties had bigger difference.The bulblet meristic ability of Oriental lily was weaker generally and only that of Baitianshi in Asiatic lily was weaker,but the bulblet rate increased along with the increment of planting depth.The influence of planting depth on the growth of the aerial part of lily bulblet was bigger and the initial time of the aerial part of bulblets planted at the depth of 5 cm was significantly higher than that at the other planting depths,but the late heights were basically accordant.[Conclusion] The planting depth of 10 cm was more suitable for Oriental lily.The relatively deeper planting depth could enhance the generation rate of lily bulblet greatly.


Increasing quality and vase life of cut flowers play vital role in flower production industry. . Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflora cv. Echo) has short vase life and it has been revealed that ethylene directly affect the initiation and process of senescence of petals. In this study, the effects of Silver and silicon nanoparticles with four concentrations of 0, 10, 20 and 40 mg L-1 with 4% sucrose as a support solution were evaluated on post-harvest life of 'Cinderella Lime' Lisianthus. The morphological and physiological parameters such as microbial population, flower vase life, relative fresh weight, solution uptake, total chlorophyll, ethylene and total dissolved solids were measured. Results revealed that all treatments extended the flower vase life when compared to control. The most effective treatment was the Highest concentration of nanoparticles (40 mg L-1). The average vase life of flowers was about 5 days in control (without any nano particle treatments) however; it reached to  17 days in flowers treated by 40 mg L-1 of both nanoparticles. Relative fresh weight, solution uptake, total chlorophyll, and total dissolved solids were also increased in the treated flowers, especially at higher concentrations.  Microbial proliferations were not observed by application of both nanoparticles (Silver or Silicon) at 40 mg L-1 therefore this concentration was considered as the most effective level for both nanoparticles. Nano silver were more effective than silicon for reducing ethylene content. Overall the results suggest that silicon nanoparticle (40 mg L-1) is applicable  as antimicrobial compound in combination with silver nanoparticles (40 mg L-1) as ethylene signaling inhibitor to increase the vase life of Lisianthus flowers commercially.


The triboluminescence (TL) intensity of unirradiated Ba, Sr, Ca and Pb doped NaCl and LiF single crystals decreases with temperature and disappears completely at 105+or-5 and 180+or-10 degrees C respectively. The temperature Tc at which TL disappears changes slightly with increasing concentration of the dopants. The temperature dependence of total TL intensity follows the relation IT=IT0(1-T/Tc)n, where IT0 is a constant and n lies between 0.5 and 0.6 for the unirradiated divalent impurity doped NaCl and LiF crystals. It is concluded that the decrease in the TL intensity with temperature may be primarily due to the decrease in charge density of the newly created surfaces. The increase in TL intensity with increasing dopant concentration is attributed to the increasing hardness of the crystals.


Dopamine (DA) is involved in drug reinforcement, but its role in drug addiction remains unclear. Positron emission tomography (PET) is the first technology used for the direct measurement of components of the dopaminergic system in the living human brain. In this article, we reviewed the major findings of PET imaging studies on the involvement of DA in drug addiction, especially in heroin addiction. Furthermore, we summarized PET radiotracers that have been used to study the role of DA in drug addiction. To investigate presynaptic function in drug addiction, PET tracers have been developed to measure DA synthesis and transport. For the investigation of postsynaptic function, several radioligands targeting dopamine one (D1) receptor and dopamine two (D2) receptor are extensively used in PET imaging studies. Moreover, we also summarized the PET imaging findings of heroin addiction studies, including heroin‐induced DA increases and the reinforcement, role of DA in the long‐term effects of heroin abuse, DA and vulnerability to heroin abuse and the treatment implications. PET imaging studies have corroborated the role of DA in drug addiction and increase our understanding the mechanism of drug addiction. Anat Rec, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The expression and purification of membrane proteins is an extremely challenging area of work within Protein Science. Membrane proteins are required for compound screening and structure determination in industry. Here we describe some new and innovative methodology in developing the membrane protein GFP fusion primary expression screening in yeast. This methodology enables the expression of membrane proteins fused to GFP in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris systems. This capability helps facilitate screening of constructs to establish which are suitable for membrane protein production for compound screening and structure determination In terms of the primary screening work, we have developed both agar plate and liquid plate expression methodology in yeast. The two approaches correspond well, but the agar plate method is more rapid and we have shown it to have the advantage of allowing cells to be taken directly into confocal microscopy for immediate cell localisation data. Innovative work to extend the methanol induction time in the Pichia agar plate method established good differentiation from the background. A novel agar plate method was also developed for S.cerevisiae which is also presented. These screening methods allow triaging of constructs for either membrane protein preps for biochemical assays or progression to fluorescence size exclusion chromatography; where various detergents can be screened to determine the most appropriate for membrane protein solubilisation, the starting point for purification, crystallisation and structure determination. Membrane targets depicted to demonstrate the improved primary screening methodology are a copper transporter Ctr1p from S.cerevisiae and a water transporter Aqp4 from human origin. Highlights An improved method for the production of recombinant MP-GFP fusions in yeast is presented using agar plates. An agar plate method for MP-GFP expression screening is described for Pichia pastoris, with improved induction methodology by the simple addition of methanol, allowing longer induction times for expression clarity. A new simple rapid agar plate method for MP-GFP expression screening is described for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cells can be taken directly from agar plates into confocal microscopy studies for immediate cell localisation data and triaging. Liquid plate based screening methods are also described for both yeasts in comparison, to show there is corresponding data, helping validate the new agar plate methods.


We evaluate the effect of coseismic stress changes on the fault slip at midcrustal depth, assuming a velocity-strengthening brittle creep rheology. We show that this model can help reconcile the time evolution of afterslip, as measured from geodesy, with aftershocks decay. We propose an analytical expression for slip of the brittle creeping fault zone (BCFZ) that applies to any dynamic or static stress perturbation, including shear stress and normal stress changes. The model predicts an initial logarithmic increase of slip with time. Postseismic slip rate decays over a characteristic time t_r = aσ/τ that does not depend on the amplitude of the stress perturbation, and it asymptotically joins the long-term creep imposed by interseismic stress buildup τ. Given that the seismicity rate might be considered proportional to the sliding velocity of the BCFZ, the model predicts a decay rate of aftershocks that follows Omori's law, with a mathematical formalism identical to that of Dieterich [1994] although based on a different mechanical rationale. Our model also differs from Dieterich's model in that it requires that aftershock sequences and deep afterslip, as constrained from geodetic measurements, should follow the same temporal evolution. We test this for the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, M_w = 7.6 and find that both sets of data are consistent with a model of afterslip due to the response of the BCFZ. The inferred relaxation time t_r = 8.5 years requires a value for a = ∂μ/∂log(V) (μ being the coefficient of friction) in the range between 1.3 10^(−3) and 10^(−2).


BACKGROUND
The two non-semantic variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA), nonfluent/agrammatic PPA (nfv-PPA) and logopenic variant PPA (lv-PPA), share language features despite their different underlying pathology, and may be difficult to distinguish for non-language experts.

OBJECTIVE
To improve diagnostic accuracy of nfv-PPA and lv-PPA using tasks measuring non-language cognition and emotion processing.

METHODS
Thirty-eight dementia patients meeting diagnostic criteria for PPA (nfv-PPA 20, lv-PPA 18) and 21 matched healthy Controls underwent a comprehensive assessment of cognition and emotion processing, as well as a high-resolution structural MRI and a PiB-PET scan, a putative biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. Task performances were compared between the groups and those found to differ significantly were entered into a logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
Analyses revealed a double dissociation between nfv-PPA and lv-PPA. nfv-PPA exhibited significant emotion processing disturbance compared to lv-PPA and Controls. In contrast, only the lv-PPA group was significantly impaired on tasks of episodic memory. Logistic regression analyses showed that 87% of patients were correctly classified using emotion processing and episodic memory composite scores, together with a measure of visuospatial ability.

CONCLUSIONS
Non-language presenting features can help differentiate between the two non-semantic PPA syndromes, with a double dissociation observed on tasks of episodic memory and emotion processing. Based on performance on these tasks, we propose a decision tree as a complementary method to differentiate between the two non-semantic variants. These findings have important clinical implications, with identification of patients who may potentially benefit existing therapeutic interventions currently available for Alzheimer's disease.


A Salmonella live vaccine causing both O4- and O9-specific immune responses would be of use, but no reported Salmonella serotype has both of these O antigens. Constructed Salmonella typhimurium strains with an rfb (O-antigen-specifying) gene cluster of type D in the chromosome and one of type B in an F'-rfb+ factor, and those with the reverse combination reacted strongly with both anti-O4 (and anti-O5) and anti-O9 sera and, if they carried recA, could be maintained in this state by growth conditions selective for retention of the F' factor. One of the two B.rfb+ gene clusters of a (P22-lysogenic) S. typhimurium strain with a tandem duplication of a chromosomal segment including hisD and B.rfb+ was replaced (by transduction) by a D.rfb+ gene cluster; the resulting strain was O1+ O4+ O5+ O9+ and stable as such after being made recA. A stable O4+ O9+ derivative of a virulent S. enteritidis (O-group D) strain was made by transducing into it first the join point of an appropriate tandem duplication strain, together with the adjacent B.rfb+ gene cluster, and then srl::Tn10 recA.


The enthesis is a site crucial for mobility of the musculoskeletal system yet it is also commonly a target of inflammation, especially in spondyloarthritis. Because the enthesis is prone to high biomechanical forces, it has been hypothesized that biomechanical forces may be implicated in the onset of the enthesitis and spondyloarthritis in general. However, treatment recommendations involve exercise therapy which at first glance appears to pose a paradox. Using a case, we will discuss the current knowledge on enthesitis, the link with mechanical stress and the implications thereof in diagnosis and management of spondyloarthritis Disclosure of Interests: None declared


Human vaccine studies regularly demonstrate vaccine-induced antibodies in the blood. Characterization of these antibodies shows that they exhibit an extensive range of bioactive mechanisms. Unfortunately, there is not yet a reliable method by which to produce these important antibodies. Human antibodies may not require any molecular modification for therapeutic application and have a much faster pipeline to clinical studies than animal-derived antibodies. Lymph nodes are the primary destination of tumor or vaccine antigens. In the node, B cells undergo clonal expansion and somatic hypermutation, leading to the affinity-matured populations of effector B cells secreting antibodies that bind to the tumor or vaccine. The cancer vaccine-draining node is the ideal source of B cells that produce anticancer antibodies. Despite multiple human cancer vaccine studies, very little research has been done to recover the B cells responsible for vaccine-induced anticancer antibodies. In the present study, we used mononuclear cells from surgically removed vaccine-draining lymph nodes of melanoma patients vaccinated with 6 melanoma peptides derived from cancer-testis antigens and from melanocytic differentiation proteins for generating anti-vaccine peptide antibodies. The lymph node draining the vaccination site was localized by lymphatic mapping with a radiotracer. The development and maturity of B cells were assessed by determining phenotypic characters of lymph node cells using multicolor flow cytometry. The results showed that these vaccine-draining nodes contain high numbers of class-switched (CD19 + CD27 + IgD - IgM - ) B cells and plasmablasts (CD19 + CD38 + IgM - ). B-cell ELISpot assay was used to quantify the proportion of B cells in vaccine-draining lymph nodes that secrete anti-melanoma peptide antibodies. Positive ELISpot responses were observed in patients who also showed serum antibody-reactivity towards the vaccine peptides. The identification of lymph node cell samples exhibiting strong B-cell responses allows efficient generation and screening of hybridomas that secrete antibodies against cancer vaccine antigens. This study establishes a step-wise protocol for generating anti-cancer antibodies from vaccine-draining lymph nodes. We anticipate that the ability to reliably generate in vitro the same antibodies observed in the blood of vaccinated patients will further stimulate research to understand mechanisms of human antibody activity. Citation Format: Girja S. Shukla, Stephanie C. Pero, Yu-jing Sun, Chelsea L. Carman, Walter C. Olson, Craig L. Slingluff, David N. Krag. Vaccine-draining lymph nodes of cancer patients for generating anticancer antibodies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3638. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3638


The results obtained after the examination of 107 ultrasound cases of changed salivary glands were presented. The characteristic features for changes most often appearing in salivary glands were presented. In case of tumours and cysts the diagnosis was formed on the basis of the ultrasound character of the change (low homogenas, density in cysts, higher density, non homogenous character in tumours), the degree of separation from the surrounding tissue (clear capsule in cyst and benign tumours, lack of capsule, indistinctive image in change of malignant character, in case of infiltration of surrounding tissues). The diagnosis of inflammation was made depending on the character of the change of the parenchyma of salivary gland--the increase of the gland with the lowering of density characteristic for acute inflammation, the reduction of size, increased sonographic density, enlarged leading out (duct), the echo of concrement is characteristic together with the accompanying acoustic shade for bigger concrements.


Dear Editor, A 68-year-old man presented to the ED with chest and neck pain. His past history was significant for a myocardial infarct 13 years earlier, severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) treated with continuous positive airway pressure, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia and hypertension. His high-sensitivity troponin T (hs TnT) was elevated at 0.029 ng/mL (normal <0.014); renal function was normal. He was admitted to the cardiology unit with a diagnosis of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, coronary angiography revealing single vessel disease (left circumflex) and normal ejection fraction. At subsequent review the atypical nature of his pain prompted repeat testing of hs TnT on several occasions – each revealed identical values to those on initial presentation.Testing for heterophile antibody was negative. The most likely cause of the chronically elevated hs TnT in this patient is OSA. A recent study of 69 patients with stable coronary artery disease and OSA revealed hs TnT >0.014 ng/mL in 19%. A previous study showed normal levels of non-hs TnT in 15 patients with moderate–severe OSA and coronary artery disease. Filusch et al. recently demonstrated that 27.3% of patients with pulmonary artery hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure 45 mmHg) had hs TnT concentrations greater than the 99th centile. High-sensitivity TnT assays improve the early detection of acute myocardial infarction. The trade-off is that hs TnT is elevated in multiple acute and chronic non-ischaemic causes of cardiomyocyte necrosis. Given the strong association between metabolic syndrome, OSA and ischaemic heart disease, it is worthwhile emergency physicians being aware of OSA as a cause of chronically elevated hs TnT. Further studies investigating the prevalence and prognostic value of elevated hs TnT in patients with treated OSA would be valuable.


Cardiovascular effects of guanazodine, a new antihypertensive drug, in anesthetized dogs, rabbits and rats and also isolated atria and arteries were compared with those of guanethidine and bethanidine. Guanazodine caused a sustained decrease in the systemic blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats, renal hypertensive dogs and normal cats. No tachyphylaxis developed when the drug was administered orally to the rats once a day for 10 days. The heart rate decreased. Guanazodine relaxed the cat nictitating membrane, attenuated the positive chronotropic response to sympathetic nerve stimulation in anesthetized dogs and in isolated rabbit aorta to transmural electrical stimulation. Guazazodine potentiated the pressor response to noradrenaline but attenuated the response to tyramine in anesthetized cats. The noradrenaline content of rat hearts was significantly reduced 4 hr or later after the injection of guanazodine, while the content in brains and adrenal glands was unaffected. The LD50 of guanazodine injected intravenously to male rats was 136 +/- 11 mg/kg which was approximately 4 times the value of guanethidine and 7 times the value of bethanidine. It may be concluded that the hypotensive effect of guanazodine is related to adrenergic neuron blocking action, the noradrenaline-depleting action in peripheral tissues is similar to the effect of guanethidine and bethanidine, and that the extent and the duration of the hypotension induced by guanazodine are approximately the same as those with guanethidine but appreciably greater than those with bethanidine. Toxicity and side effects appear to be less with guanazodine than with guanethidine and bethanidine.


FTIR spectroscopy was used to characterize and compare the temperature‐ and pressure‐induced unfolding of ribonuclease A and a set of its variants engineered in a hydrophobic region of the C‐terminal part of the molecule postulated as a CFIS. The results show for all the ribonucleases investigated, a cooperative, two‐state, reversible unfolding transition using both pressure and temperature. The relative stabilities, among the different sites and different variants at the same site, monitored either through the changes in the position of the maximum of the amide I′ band and the tyrosine band, or the maximum of the band assigned to the β‐sheet structure, corroborate the results of a previous study using fourth‐derivative UV absorbance spectroscopy. In addition, variants at position 108 are the most critical for ribonuclease structure and stability. The V108G variant seems to present a greater conformational flexibility than the other variants. The pressure‐ and temperature‐denaturated states of all the ribonucleases characterized retained some secondary structure. However, their spectral maxima were centered at different wavenumbers, which suggests that pressure‐ and temperature‐denaturated states do not have the same structural characteristics. Nevertheless, there was close correlation between the pressure and temperature midpoint transition values for the whole series of protein variants, which indicated a common tendency of stability toward pressure and heat.


In the last years, hydrogen has been considered as a promising energy vector for the oncoming modification of the current energy sector, mainly based on fossil fuels. Hydrogen can be produced from water with no significant pollutant emissions but in the nearest future its production from different hydrocarbon raw materials by thermochemical processes seems to be more feasible. In any case, a mixture of gaseous compounds containing hydrogen is produced, so a further purification step is needed to purify the hydrogen up to required levels accordingly to the final application, i.e., PEM fuel cells. In this mean, membrane technology is one of the available separation options, providing an efficient solution at reasonable cost. Particularly, dense palladium-based membranes have been proposed as an ideal chance in hydrogen purification due to the nearly complete hydrogen selectivity (ideally 100%), high thermal stability and mechanical resistance. Moreover, these membranes can be used in a membrane reactor, offering the possibility to combine both the chemical reaction for hydrogen production and the purification step in a unique device. There are many papers in the literature regarding the preparation of Pd-based membranes, trying to improve the properties of these materials in terms of permeability, thermal and mechanical resistance, poisoning and cost-efficiency. In this review, the most relevant advances in the preparation of supported Pd-based membranes for hydrogen production in recent years are presented. The work is mainly focused in the incorporation of the hydrogen selective layer (palladium or palladium-based alloy) by the electroless plating, since it is one of the most promising alternatives for a real industrial application of these membranes. The information is organized in different sections including: (i) a general introduction; (ii) raw commercial and modified membrane supports; (iii) metal deposition insights by electroless-plating; (iv) trends in preparation of Pd-based alloys, and, finally; (v) some essential concluding remarks in addition to futures perspectives.


Aims In ventricular myocytes from humans and large mammals, the transverse and axial tubular system (TATS) network is less extensive than in rodents with consequently a greater proportion of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) not coupled to this membrane system. TATS remodelling in heart failure (HF) and after myocardial infarction (MI) increases the fraction of non-coupled RyRs. Here we investigate whether this remodelling alters the activity of coupled and non-coupled RyR sub-populations through changes in local signalling. We study myocytes from patients with end-stage HF, compared with non-failing (non-HF), and myocytes from pigs with MI and reduced left ventricular (LV) function, compared with sham intervention (SHAM). .................................................................................................................................................................................................... Single LV myocytes for functional studies were isolated according to standard protocols. Immunofluorescent stain-ing visualized organization of TATS and RyRs. Ca 2 þ was measured by confocal imaging (fluo-4 as indicator) and using whole-cell patch-clamp (37 (cid:2) C). Spontaneous Ca 2 þ release events, Ca 2 þ sparks, as a readout for RyR activity were recorded during a 15 s period following conditioning stimulation at 2 Hz. Sparks were assigned to cell regions Human RyRs was by Ca 2 þ /calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) inhibition. MI pigs activity of was inhibited by mitochondrial reactive oxygen (mito-ROS) waves at Na þ /Ca 2 þ in than in SHAM. Inhibition of CaMKII or mito-ROS reduced spontaneous Ca 2 þ waves, and improved excitation–contraction coupling.


The changes in the weight and mitotic index were studied in the cortex of the thymus of Wistar rats during 10-day hypokinesia and 10-day readaptation (restoration). 24 hours after immobilization of the animals the mitotic index was 2 times as lower. No complete readaptation was attained during 10-day hypokinesia. No readaptation was attained during 10-day hypokinesia. In readaptation the stage of secondary stress was found (the mitotic index was 3.5 times as reduced), the stage of genuine restoration being revealed after 10 days.


The Rare Isotope Science Project (RISP) has been proposed as a multi-purpose accelerator facility for providing beams of exotic rare isotopes of various energies. The RISP driver linac, which is used to accelerate the beam, for example, uranium ions from 0.5 MeV/u to 200 MeV/u, consists of superconducting RF cavities and warm quadrupole magnets for focusing heavy-ion beams. The requirements for the linac design are especially high for acceleration of multiple charge beams. In this paper, we present the RISP linac's design, the superconducting cavity, the cryomodule system, and the requirements in the dynamic errors to minimize the beam centroid's oscillation.


Henry Darcy's experimental studies in 1856 of saturated water flowthrough a homogeneous porous medium contained in a vertical column have provided the basis for the quantitative description of fluid flow in a wide variety of both natural and engineered porous medium environmental systems. Extrapolation of Darcy's original observations and conclusions has led to several commonly applied equations used to model flow in porous media. This work examines this original experimental study, summarizes the appropriate mathematical expressions that ensue directly from the data, and indicates expressions in common use that are suggested, but not actually supported, by the data. The paradoxes that exist in the common approaches for the case of a porous medium with a spatiallyvariable porosity are illustrated. A modified form of Darcy's law, and also of the Hubbert potential, is derived based upon fundamental notions of averaging. The modified form of Darcy's law derived here reduces to the conventional form for a homogeneous porous medium.


The puma model on the basis of the Lorentz and CPT violation may bring an economical interpretation to the conventional neutrinos oscillation and part of the anomalous oscillations. We study the effect of the perturbation to the puma model. In the case of the first-order perturbation which keeps the (23) interchange symmetry, the mixing matrix element Ue3 is always zero. The nonzero mixing matrix element Ue3 is obtained in the second-order perturbation that breaks the (23) interchange symmetry.


The purpose of this study is to report a rare case of mandibular adenocarcinoma that was diagnosed due to metastasis from the prostate. Numb chin syndrome (NCS), which was associated with this case, is also discussed. Computed tomography (CT) and an intraoral incisional biopsy of the left mandibular area were performed. Urology consultation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy and follow-up radiographic images were administered. Histological examination of the incised specimen revealed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. The Gleason score was 8 (primary 4/secondary 4). Immunohistochemical features and radiographic results confirmed the diagnosis of metastasis from prostate adenocarcinoma, moderately differentiated. The patient's prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was very high. After hormone treatment, the patient's PSA levels dropped gradually. Seventeen months later, in May 2015, the PSA level was elevated. The 18-month follow-up CT image indicated that the patient's condition was aggravated. Docetaxel chemotherapy was started in June 2015 (18 months later), and the sixth cycle of the therapy is in progress. Oral metastases that originate from prostate adenocarcinoma are rare and can induce various periosteal reactions. Hormone therapy, chemotherapy and close follow-up could be additional, appropriate treatment, and were applied in this case. Finally, NCS is a valuable indicator of metastatic disease in the mandible.


For improvement of the processing and gaining uniformity texture structure and performance of direct chill cast CCAA 5052 aluminum alloy band after first hot rolling with different reduction, the material was annealed at 454 degrees C and then cold rolling with different reduction was conducted, the texture at surface, quarter and center layer of the sample was tested and examined by X-ray diffraction method, the data calculated using special software and the difference of texture at surface, quarter and center layer was analyzed. There existed an elevated gradient of intensity from surface layer to center layer after cold rolled with less than or equal to 40% reduction, The main texture of beta is stronger mainly due to transformation from remainder exposure, while the goss and remainder is infirm, the state of texture at each layer is close to each other after cold rolling with reduction high than 56.1%.


This paper investigates the skeletonization problem using parallel thinning techniques and proposes a new one-pass parallel asymmetric thinning algorithm (OPATA8). Wu and Tsai presented a one-pass parallel asymmetric thinning algorithm (OPATA4) that implemented 4-distance, or city block distance, skeletonization. However, city block distance is not a good approximation of Euclidean distance. By applying 8-distance, or chessboard distance, this new algorithm improves not only the quality of the resulting skeletons but also the efficiency of the computation. This algorithm uses 18 patterns. The algorithm has been implemented, and has been compared to both algorithm OPATA4 and Zhang and Suen's two-pass parallel thinning algorithm. The results show that the proposed OPATA8 has good noise resistance, perfectly 8-connected skeleton output, and a faster speed without serious erosion.


Primary User Emulation Attack (PUEA), in which attackers emulate primary user signals causing restriction of secondary access on the attacked channels, is a serious security problem in Cognitive Radio Networks CRNs). If the attacker performs a PUEA for occupying the attacked channel selfishly, it is called a selfish attacker. Network managers could adopt a surveillance process on disallowed channels for identifying illegal channel occupation of selfish PUE attackers and hence mitigating selfish PUEA. Determining surveillance strategies, particularly in multi-channel context, is necessary for ensuring network operation fairness. In this paper, we adopt a sequence-form representation of the game between the selfish attack and the surveillance process, called surveillance game, to formulate the relation between the selfish attack and the surveillance process in multi-channel CRNs and explore the Nash Equilibrium (NE). We show that performing the obtained NE surveillance strategy significantly mitigates PUEA.


Nanofibrous scaffolds are popular materials in all areas of tissue engineering, because they mimic the fibrous component of the natural extracellular matrix. In this chapter, we focused on the application of nanofibers in skin tissue engineering and wound healing, because the skin is an organ with several vitally important functions, particularly barrier, thermoregulatory, and sensory functions. Nanofibrous meshes not only serve as carriers for skin cells but also can prevent the penetration of microbes into wounds and can keep appropriate moisture in the damaged skin. The nanofibrous meshes have been prepared from a wide range of synthetic and nature-derived polymers. This review is concentrated on synthetic non-degradable and degradable polymers, which have been explored for skin tissue engineering and wound healing. These synthetic polymers were often combined with natural polymers of the protein or polysaccharide nature, which improved their attractiveness for cell colonization. The nanofibrous scaffolds can also be loaded with various bioactive molecules, such as growth factors, hormones, vitamins, antioxidants, antimicrobial, and antitumor agents. In advanced tissue engineering approaches, the cells on the nanofibrous scaffolds are cultured in dynamic bioreactors enabling appropriate mechanical stimulation of cells and at air-liquid interface. This chapter summarizes recent results achieved in the field of nanofiber-based skin tissue engineering, including results of our research group.


The proliferation of networked devices, systems, and applications that we depend on every day makes managing networks more important than ever. The increasing security, availability, and performance demands of these applications suggest that these increasingly difficult network management problems be solved in real time, across a complex web of interacting protocols and systems. Alas, just as the importance of network management has increased, the network has grown so complex that it is seemingly unmanageable. In this new era, network management requires a fundamentally new approach. Instead of optimizations based on closed-form analysis of individual protocols, network operators need data-driven, machine-learning-based models of end-to-end and application performance based on high-level policy goals and a holistic view of the underlying components. Instead of anomaly detection algorithms that operate on offline analysis of network traces, operators need classification and detection algorithms that can make realtime, closed-loop decisions. Networks should learn to drive themselves. This paper explores this concept, discussing how we might attain this ambitious goal by more closely coupling measurement with realtime control and by relying on learning for inference and prediction about a networked application or system, as opposed to closed-form analysis of individual protocols.


Abstract We propose herein a new portfolio selection method that switches between two distinct asset allocation strategies. An important component is a carefully designed adaptive switching rule, which is based on a machine learning algorithm. It is shown that using this adaptive switching strategy, the combined wealth of the new approach is a weighted average of that of the successive constant rebalanced portfolio and that of the 1/N portfolio. In particular, it is asymptotically superior to the 1/N portfolio under mild conditions in the long run. Applications to real data show that both the returns and the Sharpe ratios of the proposed binary switch portfolio are the best among several popular competing methods over varying time horizons and stock pools.


Cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) generated to trinitrophenyl (TNP) modified syngeneic cells from mice bearing the H-2b,d,r,s haplotypes exhibit cytolytic activity toward TNP modified syngeneic target cells, however they also demonstrate significant levels of cross reactive lysis of TNP modified allogeneic targets. In contrast, CTL from strains bearing the H-2k haplotype are H-2 restricted, only lysing TNP modified syngeneic targets. This inability to cross-reactively lyse TNP modified allogeneic targets is a defect of the responder cell and not the stimulator. Specifically, (B6 × C3H)F1 spleen cells demonstrate cross-reactive lysis when stimulated by either TNP modified C57BL/6 or TNP modified C3H stimulator cells. Utilizing H-2 recombinant strains we have mapped the genes controlling this H-2 retriction to the K and/or IA loci. Thus, this appears to be an Ir gene-like phenomenon.
 Bone marrow cells from C3H mice were allowed to mature in a lethally irradiated (B6 × C3H)F1 host to determine whether the host environment influenced CTL specificity.


Foreskins from 70 unselected infants undergoing routine circumcision were analyzed by dot blot hybridization for the presence of DNA related to that of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 6, 11, 16, or 18. Three foreskins (4%) contained HPV DNA; two contained DNA related to HPV-16, and one contained DNA related to HPV-6. These results suggest that neonates exhibit evidence of a relatively high incidence of exposure to HPV. The outcome of exposure may be initially asymptomatic. A retrospective study of maternal charts showed six mothers with abnormal Pap smears, but no correlation could be identified between these mothers and the HPV-positive foreskins.


This study presents MAHAKIL, a novel and efficient synthetic oversampling approach for software defect datasets that is based on the chromosomal theory of inheritance. Exploiting this theory, MAHAKIL interprets two distinct sub-classes as parents and generates a new instance that inherits different traits from each parent and contributes to the diversity within the data distribution. We extensively compare MAHAKIL with five other sampling approaches using 20 releases of defect datasets from the PROMISE repository and five prediction models. Our experiments indicate that MAHAKIL improves the prediction performance for all the models and achieves better and more significant pf values than the other oversampling approaches, based on robust statistical tests.


Recent studies of the impact of child mortality on children ever born have used the "replacement factor" to measure mortality. When microlevel data are used, however, use of the replacement factor (or other variables which are nonlinear in the family's experienced child mortality rate) yields biased coefficients. An alternative model suggests a sequential, rather than a static, decision-making process to relate the decision to have an additional child to the reproductive experience to date. In this case, unbiased coefficients are obtained if the functional form is correctly specified. In the absence of a priori knowledge of the functional form, it is difficult to untangle true effects from spurious ones.


This study focuses on changes in the structure of ionomer membranes, provided by the 3M Fuel Cells Component Group, as a function of the equivalent weight (EW) and the relationship between the structure and the properties of the membrane. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction results showed evidence of both non-crystalline and crystalline ordered hydrophobic regions in all the EW membranes except the 700 EW membrane. The spectral changes evident in the vibrational spectra of the 3M membranes can be associated with two major phenomena: (1) dissociation of the proton from the sulfonic acid groups even in the presence of small amounts of water; and (2) changes in the conformation or the degree of crystallinity of the poly(tetrafluoroethylene) hydrophobic domains both as a function of EW and membrane water content. All the membranes, regardless of EW, are thermally stable up to 360 °C. The wet membranes have conductivities between 7 and 20 mS/cm at 125 °C. In this condition, the conductivity values follow VTF behavior, which suggests that the proton migration occurs via proton exchange processes between delocalization bodies (DBs) that are facilitated by the dynamics of the host polymer. The conductivity along the interface between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains makes a larger contribution in the smaller EW membranes likely due to the existence of a greater number of interfaces in the membrane. The larger crystalline domains present in the higher EW membranes provide percolation pathways for charge migration between DBs, which reduces the probability of charge transfer along the interface. Therefore, at higher EWs although there is charge migration along the interface within the hydrophobic-hydrophilic domains, the exchange of protons between different DBs is likely the rate-limiting step of the overall conduction process.


Among the patients residing in the territory of Ukraine false-positive reaction of anti-HCV was determined in 5.4% of anti-HCVpositive patients with low frequency of antibodies and low reactivity of sera to a structural viral protein or nonstructural viral proteins (by SIA or RIBA). Cases of spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) were detected in 16.1% of anti-HCV positive patients and based on the detection of antibodies to the core-protein and one or several of nonstructural viral proteins on condition negativation of RNA-HCV twice with an interval of 6-12 months. Chronic hepatitis C with the presence of specific RNA-HCV in blood serum was confirmed in 83.9% of patients. The group of examinees with spontaneous clearance of HCV was characterized by low humoral immune response compared to chronic persistent infection.


In this paper, an aerodynamic optimization of the radial inflow turbine for a 100kW-class micro gas turbine is conducted based on the metamodel-semi-assisted idea. The idea is applied by first using the metamodel as a rapid exploration tool and then switching to the accurate optimization without metamodel for further exploration of the design space [1]. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is used to drive the optimization process and the BP neural network is used to construct the metamodel.The optimization of this radial inflow turbine is divided into two parts, the stator optimization and the rotor optimization. The stator optimization is based on the accurate optimization strategy. The minimum total pressure loss of the stator and the maximum isentropic total-to-static efficiency of the stage are considered as the objective functions with constant mass flow rate as a constraint. The rotor optimization is conducted through the metamodel-semi-assisted idea. The maximum power output and isentropic total-to-static efficiency of the stage are considered as objective functions while keeping the mass flow rate to be constant.The accurate optimization system is demonstrated to be effective for the stator optimization, and the total pressure loss is reduced by 11.6% while the mass flow rate variation is less than 1%.The rotor optimization is conducted based on the metamodel-semi-assisted optimization and the results confirm the effectiveness of this new idea. The output power of the rotor increased by 1.5%, the isentropic total-to-static efficiency of the stage increased by 1.19% and the mass flow variation is less than 1%.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


In Bengali Dalit literature, the Namasudra writers and poets play a crucial role in combating the complete social margsinalization of Dalits, their movements, iconography, experiences, and worldview. According to Manohar Mouli Biswas, "It is a counter cultural movement that has been aiming to undo the age-old caste ridden oppressions against the dalits by representing their lives, deprivations, struggles, histories and promoting their culture and liberation through literature" (Biswas XXV). There have recently been many books written by Dalit Namasudra authors, some of which have been published in English. Using these archives and texts, we may now see the Dalit Namasudras from a different perspective, one that previously would not have been possible through the use of traditional historical archives and writings. Among them mentionable are Manohar Mouli Biswas's Amar Bhubane Ami Benche Thaki translated as Surviving in My World, Manoranjan Byapari's Itibritte Chandal Jiban translated as Interrogating My Chandal Life, Dr. Manoranjan Sarkar's Ekjan Daliter Atmakatha, Jatin Bala's Sikar Chenra Jiban and so on. This article attempts to rebuild the alternate history of the Namasudras by deconstructing the standard material on the subject using historical and literary analysis.


ABSTRACT About a decade ago, intellectual property started getting systematically treated as a national security threat to the United States. The scope of the threat is broadly conceived to include hacking, trade secret theft, file sharing, and even foreign students enrolling in American universities. In each case, the national security of the United States is claimed to be at risk, not just its economic competitiveness. This article traces the U.S. government's efforts to establish and articulate intellectual property theft as a national security issue. It traces the discourse on intellectual property as a security threat and its place within the larger security dialogue of cyberwar and cybersecurity. It argues that the focus on the theft of intellectual property as a security issue helps justify enhanced surveillance and control over the Internet and its future development. Such a framing of intellectual property has consequences for how we understand information exchange on the Internet and for the future of U.S. diplomatic relations around the globe.


A 53-year-old female patient with ovarian dermatoid cyst and lung tuberculosis had been treated with rifampicin. During repeated rifampicin treatment she developed an acute haemolytic syndrome with haemorrhagic diathesis. Laboratory findings showed that it was caused by disseminated intravascular coagulation. Death ensued despite intensive administration of heparin and Trasylol. It is assumed that the repeated rifampicin application had provoked massive haemolysis by an allergic mechanism leading to thrombofibrinolytic haemorrhagic diathesis.


The variation between surface and air temperature within a city and its surrounding area is a result of variations in surface cover, thermal capacity and 3dimensional geometry. This study examines the spatiotemporal formation of the daytime Surface Urban Cool Island (SUCI) and night-time Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) effect in Erbil, Iraq, as a case study for cities in semi-arid climates more generally. It furthermore quantifies the influence of rapid urban expansion on the urban heat/cool island effect over a 20 year period. Satellite images acquired by Landsat 4, 5, 7 and 8 between 1992 and 2013 are used to retrieve Land Surface Temperature (LST). Normalised Ratio Scale (NRS) is applied to the multi-mission Landsat data, which is used to adjust the temperature range for different acquisition times of images within the same temporal range. In addition, LST data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board Aqua and Terra from January 2003 to December 2014 are analysed. In order to establish the drivers of the observed patterns of LST and SUCI/SUHI, the relationships of LST with wetness, greenness, NDVI, soil moisture and other variables are assessed. The results indicate that during the daytime in summer, autumn and winter, densely built-up areas had lower LST acting as cool islands (SUCI) compared to the non-urbanised area around the city. In contrast, at night-time, Erbil experienced higher LST and demonstrated a significant SUHI effect. The mean LST of the newly urbanised and vegetated areas between 1992 and 2013 decreased by 2.28°C and 7.29°C respectively. Soil moisture (wetness) is the main marker of the SUCI/SUHI effect, whilst urban expansion may cause a decrease of daytime LST in dry climate zones. The NRS method is appropriate for detecting temperature trends greater than 2°C in Landsat data.


Multi-tenant is a key characteristic for cost effective Software as a Service (SaaS) applications which drive down total cost of ownership for both service consumers and providers. This paper describes our research in designing & building a cost-effective, secure, customizable, scalable and non-intrusive multi-tenant database which greatly accelerates the migration and development of SaaS applications. We analyze the requirements and gaps in traditional database when supporting SaaS scenario, and then propose a novel nonintrusive multi-tenant database framework to address these challenges. Some key considerations and different implementation approaches in designing and implementation such a framework are discussed and compared. This paper also identifies some potential database performance optimization approaches in the multi-tenant scenario.


The study investigated the relative effectiveness of different proportions of time spent on physical and mental practice, in the context of a music performance of a tonal pattern over harmonic progressions of two difficulty levels. Using a sampling without replacement procedure, sixty undergraduate students were assigned to four practice groups partially blocked for musical instrument. The groups included a physical practice group, a mental practice group and two combined mental and physical practice groups in the proportions of (a) 66% physical and 33% mental, and (b) 33% physical and 66% mental. Each subject performed a pretest, a 3 minute practice session, and a posttest on both harmonic progressions. Presentation of the harmonic progressions were counterbalanced to control for practice effects All pre- and posttests were recorded and scored according to number of note errors. An ANCOVA procedure using pretest scores as covariates revealed that: (a) there were no differences between the different practice groups on the measure of note errors, (b) there was a significant difference between the two harmonic progressions on the measure of note errors, such that performance on the easy progression was significantly better than performance on the hard progression, and (c) there was a significant interaction between harmonic difficulty level and the practice groups. Post hoc comparisons between the adjusted means of the practice groups on the two tasks revealed that for the mental and the 33:66 combined practice groups, groups consisting of a higher percentage of mental practice, performance on the easy harmonic progression was significantly better than on the hard harmonic progression. However for the physical and the 66:33 combined practice groups, groups consisting of a higher percentage of physical practice, performance on both harmonic progressions was not significantly different and was as good as the performance of all practice groups on the easy task.


High-level ab initio calculations have been used to study the mechanism for the conversion of (3S,5S)-carbapenam to the biologically active beta-lactam antibiotic, (5R)-carbapenem, catalyzed by carbapenem synthase. This process involves epimerization at C5 and desaturation at C2/C3. Our calculations suggest that the reaction proceeds via initial abstraction of the C5 hydrogen atom, followed by epimerization. In addition, we have identified an attractive mechanism for coupling the epimerization and desaturation in thermodynamically favorable steps with the aid of an external reductant. Other mechanisms that have been examined have significantly higher energy requirements or do not appear to be consistent with available experimental evidence.


Juxta-centromeric fragility of chromosomes 1, 2, 9, 16, has been described at least thrice in unrelated patients in association with combined immunodeficiency. This association has been confirmed by our findings in both immunodeficient and cancer patients. In our opinion, both the fragility and the immunodeficiency are the results of persistent viral infections by certain DNA (i.e.: Herpes-, Papova-) viruses or RNA (retro-) viruses (i.e. HTLV), which are lymphotropic. The immunodeficiency may be due to virus-cell, cell to cell, or virus-virus interactions. According to our findings, centromeric fragility of chromosome 2 appears to have a particular oncogenic potential probably because of its location in proximity to immunoglobulins genes. We suggest that centromeric fragility of chromosomes 1, 2, 9, 16, may be one of the symptoms of an incipient Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which will not necessarily develop fully.


We present the Monte Carlo simulation program MCSEM, developed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany, for the simulation of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image formation at arbitrary specimen structures (e.g. layout structures of wafers or photomasks). The program simulates the different stages of the SEM image formation process: the probe forming, the probe-sample interaction and the detection process. A modular program structure is used for an easy adaptation of the program to new simulation tasks. Arbitrarily shaped 3D structured specimen models can be applied and different electron probe shapes are modeled. Various physical models for electron scattering in solid state material are included. Secondary electron (SE) detection modeling is based on SE raytracing, detectors for backscattered electrons (BSE) and transmitted electrons (TE) are also available. An electromagnetic field solver is used to simulate charging of the specimen and the transport of the SE within the electromagnetic field. Some examples of simulation results are presented together with comparisons with experimental results.


This study aims to establish a link between the concept of "Weltliteratur" or World Literature, in terms of the free movement of literary themes and ideas between nations in original form or translation, and the Bengali poets of the thirties and forties who actively translated French and German poets. It identifies Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's (1749-1832) concept of World Literature as a vehicle for the Kallol Jug poets. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe introduced the concept of "Weltliteratur" in a few of his essays in the first half of the nineteenth century to describe the international circulation and reception of literary works in Europe, including works of non-Western origin. My emphasis will be on Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) arguably the most celebrated poet in Bengali literature who was well versed in the contemporary Western Canons of Poetry. Jibanananda's defamiliarization of the rural Bengal Landscape, his use of exotic foreign images owe a debt to contemporary European poets. Interestingly, Jibanananda had reviewed an English translation of German author Thomas Mann's novel "Dr Faustus' for a Bengali magazine "Chaturanga". In the Bengali review he states that despite prevalent misconceptions (some critics considering the novel to be superior to the original Faust epic by Goethe) Goethe's Faust was the first text to capture the hope, despair and crisis in the modern world and articulate it in such a manner that "true" literature of the age was created in its new light. In Jibanananda's estimation, Thomas Mann deserves credit for treating the Faust legend in a unique and creative way.


In this paper the design and optimization of a dual-band antenna combining two printed dipole structures is presented. Due to the large antenna bandwidth and its dual-band operation, it can be used in the GSM wireless communication base stations and especially in indoor applications. Beside its large bandwidth, The main characteristic of the antenna is its high achieved gain due to a reflector placed behind the antenna and its simple feeding balun. Also since it is a planar structure, it can be fabricated easily and with low cost.


In a speaker identification system, training speaker models (e.g. Gaussian mixture model, GMM) is computationally expensive, especially when the dimension of feature vectors is large. Principal component analysis (PCA) method is an optimal linear dimension reduction technique in the mean-square sense, which can reduce the computational overhead of the subsequent processing stages. In this paper, a new speaker identification framework is proposed, with PCA embedded in after feature extraction step. Experiments are conducted to investigate PCA de-correlation and dimension reduction properties. The robust ability of PCA transform is also examined. Some promising results are found.


We propose a simple prescription for resolving the general-N problem existing in the old-fashioned mixed-radix fast Fourier transformation FORTRAN subroutine by Singleton in 1968. After a brief investigation on the problem, we discuss our prescription with the worst case analysis within the dynamical allocation. The analysis reveals that our implementation is superior, at least for multi-variate data set, than previously proposed data copying methods.


Vitamin D deficiency (i.e., hypovitaminosis D) is associated with increased insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and poorly controlled glucose homeostasis, and thus is correlated with the risk of metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The liver plays key roles in glucose and lipid metabolism, and its dysregulation leads to abnormalities in hepatic glucose output and triglyceride accumulation. Meanwhile, the pancreatic islets are constituted in large part by insulin-secreting β cells. Consequently, islet dysfunction, such as occurs in T2DM, produces hyperglycemia. In this review, we provide a critical appraisal of the modulatory actions of vitamin D in hepatic insulin sensitivity and islet insulin secretion, and we discuss the potential roles of a local vitamin D signaling in regulating hepatic and pancreatic islet functions. This information provides a scientific basis for establishing the benefits of the maintenance, or dietary manipulation, of adequate vitamin D status in the prevention and management of obesity-induced T2DM and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.


Background: Music festivals are known to attract a high proportion of drug users. Methods: Using a survey of 1,772 visitors at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, we assessed substance use at the festival, the incidence of use of substances among never-users and the incidence of use among lifetime users who had not used a substance in the past 12 months. Results: New onset of tobacco use was reported by 9.2% of never-smokers, and new onset of cannabis use was reported by 9.3% of never-smokers of cannabis. Resumption of tobacco use was reported by 24% of past year abstainers, and resumption of cannabis use was reported by 30% of past year abstainers. New onset of other types of substances was reported by less than 0.5% of subjects, but among past year abstainers, 5–10% reported resumption of amphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and cocaine use. New onset smokers of cannabis were significantly younger than never-smokers. Conclusion: Music festivals such as the Roskilde Festival may be important arenas for the prevention of onset of tobacco and cannabis use and for a return to substance use.


The accurate diagnosis of rolling bearing was studied. The wavelet packet analysis was used to abstract the characteristic of signals. The signals were decomposed into eight frequency bands and the information in the high band was used as a characteristic vector. RBF neural networks were used to realize the map between the feature and diagnosis. The analysis of data sampled form a workshop testified correctness of the method proposed.


Ubiquitous communication networks is a keystone for New Generation Network (NWGN). Mobile Wireless Communication Networks (MWSN) is a viable solution to accomplish the requirements of NWGN. Due to mobility of sensor nodes, the data reliability and end-to-end delay with energy efficiency in the network is an enormous concern. Various real-time and delay sensitive applications enforced to use both environments mobile and fixed sensor nodes, whereas the others claims an entire mobile sensors environments in network. Packet loss ratio and end-to-end delay happened because of the nodes mobility which is directly impact to degrade the quality of service, network lifetime and energy consumption. This paper enlightens a comprehensive comparison between single and multi hop inter-cluster routing strategy from cluster head to base station. Moreover, the performance of multi hop routing is calculated and compared with single hop LEACH routing strategy. The simulation results reveal that multi hop routing strategy is to increase the sensor nodes throughput and network lifetime but not efficient approach for delay sensitive and data reliable applications.