For a while at least, despite the economic recession, the wind seems set fair for private practice: subscriptions to insurance schemes are rising rapidly, a sympathetic Government is in power, and the present consultant contract has potentially allowed many more doctors to have private patients. But aLabour Government will probably be returned to power sooner or later, and it might be considerably more left wing than the last Labour Government. It might attempt to stop all private practice. Most people in private practice, however, are not greatly worried by the prospect of a radical Labour Government trying to stamp out private practice. They think that many people within the Labour Party are susceptible to the argument that being free to choose to spend money on private medicine is a fundamental right and that the strong public feeling (reflected in opinion polls) that this is a fundamental right would make any change politically impossible. They also have confidence in the political muscle of doctors to resist. And, they point out, even if private medicine was squeezed out in Britain it would not be impossible for it to continue with British doctors and patients in Ireland or on the Continent. A British surgeon might fly over in the morning, do his operations, and fly back in the evening. At the opposite extreme some have envisaged a disintegration of the NHS and a move to an American kind of system. But the NHS is held too sacred (almost as much as the Royal Family) and the American system too awful for this to be likely-barring some total collapse of the economy. These speculations are all rather extreme, and it seems that at least in the short term an expansion of the private sector is likely-but in what way and by how much?


The so called nautilus is a winding form in the shape of a double helical spiral onto which a stiff conductor is wound. The conductor is thus bent to a radius smaller than the desired local curvature. When the conductor is allowed to relax from the nautilus form, the required radius of curvature is achieved everywhere. The stiffness in the axial direction is small and compression of the wound coil to a disc is easy. The coil is tightened to a compact disc by pulling the outer tails.


We present a biologically plausible mechanism to cancel simple redundant signals, i.e. sinusoidal waves, in neural circuits. Our mechanism involves the presence of: 1) stimulus-driven feedback to the neurons acting as detectors, 2) a large variety of temporal delays in the pathways transmitting such feedback, and 3) burst-induced long-term plasticity, all these factors being present in a wide set of neural systems. As an example, we consider the electrosensory lateral-line lobe of the weakly electric fish, which has been recently reported to employ this mechanism for the cancellation of redundant information in vivo. The cancellation is shown to be maintained for signals with different strengths of amplitude modulations.


The main aim of advanced Cryptographic techniques is to provide data security which helps to avoid data hacking and illegal access of data. Providing data confidentiality and strong peer to peer authentication using the multilayer linear feedback shift register (LFSR) cryptographic technique  to reduce the cost of encryption as well as storage and computation. One Time Pad algorithm developed in multilayer which defines the signal transmission in the medium is used to provide information security. For various levels of bit handling in data communication systems authentication keys are implemented in LFSR cascaded cryptography in both encryption and decryption process. For improved data security cascaded LFSR cryptography is analyzed. While processing an image, two stages of encryption and decryption done using multilayered cryptography which enhances the data security.


Liposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV) treatment has demonstrated survival benefits but noticeable side effects in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) that is refractory to gemcitabine-based therapy. This study aimed to explore whether combining albumin with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), herein known as the albumin and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio score (ANS), could be utilized as a simple tool to predict survival and safety profiles in such patient groups. We retrospectively enrolled 434 consecutive PDAC patients treated with nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV between 2018 and 2020 at nine medical centers in Taiwan. Patients were divided into three groups: ANS 0 (high albumin and low NLR), ANS 1 (low albumin or high NLR), and ANS 2 (low albumin and high NLR), for comparison. The median overall survival times for the ANS 0, 1, and 2 groups were 8.7 months (95% confidence interval (CI), 7.0-10.3 months), 5.2 months (95% CI, 4.3-6.0 months), and 2.6 months (95% CI, 1.9-3.3 months), respectively. The ANS was found to be an independent variable for overall survival and time-to-treatment failure in multivariate analyses. Patients in the ANS 2 group had significantly higher incidences of grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events than those in the other two groups. The present study showed that the ANS was an independent prognosticator in PDAC patients receiving nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV therapy. The ANS can be a simple predictor of survival outcome and safety profiles in PDAC patients treated with nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV.


Abstract The RGU-photographic investigation of an intermediate latitude field in the direction to the Galactic centre is presented. 164 extra-galactic objects, identified by comparison of Minnesota and Basel charts, are excluded from the program. Also, a region with size 0.104 square-degrees, contaminated by cluster (M5) stars and affected by background light of the bright star HD 136202 is omitted. Contrary to previous investigations, a reddening of E(B – V) = 0.046, corresponding to E(G – R) = 0.07 mag is adopted. The separation of dwarfs and evolved stars is carried out by an empirical method, already applied in some of our works. A new calibration for the metallicity determination is used for dwarfs, while the absolute magnitude determination for stars of all categories is performed using the procedures given in the literature. There is good agreement between the observed logarithmic space density histograms and the galactic model gradients. Also, the local luminosity function agrees with Gliese's (1969) and Hipparcos (Jahreiss & Wielen 1997) luminosity functions, for stars with 2 < M(G) ≤ 8 mag. For giants, we obtained two different local space densities from comparison with two Galactic models, i.e. D*(0) = 6.63, close to that of Gliese (1969), and D*(0) = 6.79. A metallicity gradient, d[Fe/H]/dz = –0.20 dex kpc–1, is detected for dwarfs (only) with absolute magnitudes 4 < M(G) ≤ 6, corresponding to a spectral type interval F5–K0.


Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors have an increased mortality rate and reduced quality of life associated with post-ICU syndrome: a triad of physical, psychiatric and cognitive decline. Following evidence on the benefits of early rehabilitation, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) CG83 guidelines instruct the provision of rehabilitation information to ICU patients before discharge. Only 33% of UK trusts meet these guidelines. The aim of this project was to reach 100% patient and ICU therapist satisfaction with the rehabilitation information given before ICU discharge at Medway Maritime Hospital, within four months. Patient and therapist satisfaction was assessed using questionnaires at baseline and following each Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. In PDSA1, a generalised rehabilitation information booklet was created and distributed to ICU survivors pre-discharge. For PDSA2, a personalised rehabilitation plan completed by therapists was added. During PDSA3, the booklet was enriched with mental health and speech and language therapy sections. Results showed a shift in patient satisfaction scores, indicating a significant change in the median from 20% at baseline to 87% after PDSA3. This was also reflected in the therapist satisfaction scores, which increased significantly from 60% at baseline to 100%. The introduction of a generalised information booklet, supplemented with a personalised recovery plan, is an effective way of increasing critical care patient and therapist satisfaction with post-discharge rehabilitation information provision. This should translate to greater patient engagement with rehabilitation and improved long-term outcomes. This is ever more pertinent, as the COVID-19 pandemic will exponentially increase the numbers of ICU survivors at risk of long-term morbidity and mortality.


Effective functioning of the enterprise of agricultural complex in now day conditions needs adequate mechanism of conducting business which will be based on the market principles of managing and which will provide competitive advantages. Because of this today more and more attention is paid to the questions of providing competitiveness of separate subjects of managing and of agricultural-productive field on the regional and national levels. At this very work the bases of agricultural-productive complex is represented as many factor and complex phenomenon and on this very base the method of estimation of the level of competitiveness of agricultural-productive complex of the region is offered. From the position of systematic aspect the authored concept of competitiveness of agricultural-productive complex is opened with the help of using of the theory of strategic alliance. The mechanism of making of agricultural-productive strategic alliance is made and on the bases of methodology of conducting of the competitiveness of the regional agricultural-productive complex model of potatoes making strategic alliance is represented with the important role in the competitiveness of the region.


The free-floating bike sharing systems (BSSs) are booming all over the world. How to rebalance the bikes is a problem faced by all operators. To tackle this problem, firstly, we compare five models to predict shared bikes demand and choose time series and decision tree model. Then based on the prediction results, we propose a zone-based two-stage rebalancing model and an algorithm to solve this model. The proposed model divides the research area into two kinds of zones: zones with deficient bikes (ZDB) and zones with sufficient bikes (ZSB). The objective of the model is to optimize the matching degree of the demand and actual number of shared bikes in each zone. Finally, we employ real world data to validate the flexibility and practicality of our model and algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that this method can effectively balance all zones.


The effect of fungi colonies on fatigue of 7075 aluminum alloys was studied for specimens corroded at different media. 57 specimens of aluminum alloys were submerged in Shat-Arab water (Sh.A.W) for four months at different conditions (at light media (9 fungi colonies), dark media (80 fungi colonies) )and then applying constant fatigue tests after removing the specimens from the corrosion media . The results show that the fungi colonies can corroded Al alloy the reduction of pre-corroded specimens at light media (9 fungi colonies) was 13% and for specimens at dark media (80 fungi colonies) was 22% , and a nonlinear damage model was proposed to predict the cumulative corrosion fatigue life


The mid-nineteenth-century British electoral system is explored through the contents of the electoral registers and their associated legislation. The impact of these is addressed through an examination of the national system of parliamentary representation applying from 1832 and then 1868. This reveals the importance to achieving a Commons majority, particularly for the Conservative party, of winning a majority of seats in small English boroughs.

Winchester is shown to be representative of these boroughs. 'Winchester Man' is advanced as the archetypal elector of this era. His environment and nature are then addressed. He is found to have a relatively short life as an elector. This is found to correspond with the peak of his socio-economic standing during his lifecycle.

Increased mobility of the population and 'Winchester Man's' short 'elector life' are shown to add to uncertainty amongst party officials as to his political loyalty. This challenges the somewhat deterministic views of earlier writers on the subject who see the revision courts as absolutely deciding the outcome of future contests. The increasing incidence of contested elections is claimed to arise from this level of uncertainty.

The revision court was the scene of partisan activity but some electors crept through the registration process 'under the radar' or with their presumed loyalty untested. 'Winchester Man's' electoral behaviour is then explored. This is shown to be intrinsically of a politically partisan nature but tempered by initial diffidence. Much partisanship, perhaps stirred by the clear political divide in the revision court, remained latent due to the failure of the political parties regularly to field two candidates in a two-seat borough. Even when two candidates from the same party stood they often did not unite on a common 'ticket'. This failed to encourage partisan voting behaviour particularly for those already in the habit of 'splitting'.


Several human functional magnetic resonance imaging studies point to an activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system during reward, addiction and learning. We previously found activation of the mesolimbic system in response to continuous but not to discontinuous perforant pathway stimulation in an experimental model that we now used to investigate the role of dopamine release for the formation of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses. The two stimulation protocols elicited blood-oxygen-level dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens. Inhibition of dopamine D1/5 receptors abolished the formation of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex during continuous but not during discontinuous pulse stimulations, i.e. only when the mesolimbic system was activated. Direct electrical or optogenetic stimulation of the ventral tegmental area caused strong dopamine release but only electrical stimulation triggered significant blood-oxygen level-dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens. These functional magnetic resonance imaging responses were not affected by the D1/5 receptor antagonist SCH23390 but reduced by the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK801. Therefore, glutamatergic ventral tegmental area neurons are already sufficient to trigger blood-oxygen-level dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens. Although dopamine release alone does not affect blood-oxygen-level dependent responses it can act as a switch, permitting the formation of blood-oxygen-level dependent responses.


Clarifying key cellulase component that played synergistic roles with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in fermenting alfalfa lignocellulose into lactic acid (LA) is valuable in low-temperature seasons. Last cut and low dry matter (DM) alfalfa was ensiled by 9 treatments, combinations of cellulase component genes engineered Lactoc. lactis subsp. lactis MG1363 strains (HT2, HT3, HT4, HT5, E1C1, E1B1, and C1B1, separately containing bgl1, cbh2, and egl3 gene were mixed at 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 1:2:1, 1:1:2, 1:1:0, 1:0:1, and 0:1:1), cellulase (EN), and a combination of Lactobacillus plantarum and cellulase (LPEN), and without treatments, as the control, with 4 replicates each. After anaerobic preservation in a silo from late fall through winter (3-20℃) for 140 d, the ensiled alfalfa was sampled and analysed. EN degraded lignocellulose best but the pH was the key limiting factor for lignocellulose saccharification of commercial EN in the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of LPEN. The optimal combination HT4 caused the fewest disaccharide (1.02 g/kg DM) and the highest conversion of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) to LA (170%) and increased LA content to 80.0 g/kg DM maximally since cellobiohydrolase better cooperated with Lactoc. lactis host to ferment lignocellulose into LA than endoglucanase and β-glucosidase. Therefore, strong LA production was approached in HT4 by clarifying key cellulase component played synergistic roles with Lactoc. lactis host. This study could benefit the development of LA production in fermenting lignocellulosic biomass.


Objective To determine the effect of type 2 diabetes and related factors on the cognitive function in older persons.Methods 72 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(DM)aged 60 to 84 years,and 31 normal controls at the same age range participated in this study,and were divided into DM with cerebral ischemia group and DM without cerebral ischemia group proved by CT scanning.Audio event-related potentials and mini-mental state examination(MMSE)were performed in all the groups,and the results were analyzed statistically.The relation of ERP parameter with glycosylated hemoglobin(GHB),age,sex,educational level,course of disease and ischemic brain damage were analyzed.Results No significant difference in the MMSE scores was found between the DM without cerebral ischemia group and the normal control group(P0.05),but found between the DM with cerebral ischemia group and the normal control group(P0.01).The latency of N2 and P3 were prolonged and the amplitude decreased significantly in the DM without cerebral ischemia group and the DM with cerebral ischemia group as compared with the normal controls respectively.The latency of N2 and P3 were prolonged in the cerebral ischemic group was also prolonged significantly than that in the non-cerebral ischemia group(P0.01),but no significant difference was found between these two groups in the amplitude.In multiple linear regression model(P0.05),there was positive relation between the latency of P3 and GHB,age,course of disease and ischemic brain damage respectively in the DM group;there was negative relation between the amplitude of P3 and GHB,age,course of disease respectively and a positive relation between the latency of N2 and age,course of disease and ischemic brain damage respectively.Conclusion Older persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus have cognitive impairment,and course of disease,the level of blood glucose,complicating with ischemic brain damage may be the main influencing factors.P300 may be an important sensitive indicator for early diagnosis and prevention of cognitive impairment in individuals with diabetes.


The ever-intensifying time-to-market pressure imposes great challenges on the pre-silicon design phase of hardware. Before the tape-out, a pre-silicon design has to be thoroughly inspected by time-consuming functional verification and code review to exclude bugs. For functional verification and code review, a critical issue determining their efficiency is the allocation of resources (e.g., computational resources and manpower) to different modules of a design, which is conventionally guided by designers' experiences. Such practices, though simple and straightforward, may take high risks of wasting resources on bug-free modules or missing bugs in buggy modules, and thus could affect the success and timeline of the tape-out. In this paper, we propose a novel framework called pre-silicon bug forecast to predict the bug information of hardware designs. In this framework, bug models are built via machine learning techniques to characterize the relationship between design characteristics and the bug information, which can be leveraged to predict how bugs distribute in different modules of the current design. Such predicted bug information is adequate to regulate the resources among different modules to achieve efficient functional verification and code review. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed pre-silicon bug forecast framework, we conducted detailed experiments on several open-source hardware projects. Moreover, we also investigate the impacts of different learning techniques and different sets of characteristic on the performance of bug models. Experimental results show that with appropriate learning techniques and characteristics, about 90% modules could be correctly predicted as buggy or clean and the number of bugs of each module could also be accurately predicted.


Recent work suggests
 that metacognitive skills play
 a vital role in problem-sol
ving. Yet, there are only a
few studies looking specifically into the role of metaco
gnitive skills in Physics problem-solving, especially
among the secondary school students. The research discusse
d here is an attempt to investigate the patterns of
Physics problem-solving among Key Stage 4 (14-16 years old) students in Cambridge through the lens of
metacognition using Grounded Theory. In order to match the
students with "real" problems (i.e. that are difficult
for them but solvable), 148 students from 5 schools were given a Physics Problems Test (PhyPT) consists of 6-8
Physics "problems" and followed by 2 questions to measur
e the level of difficulty of each problem. Later, 22
students were selected as theoretical
 sample (at different stages of the research) to undergo a session of
individual problem-solving using thinking-aloud and observation by the researcher, followed by retrospective
semi-structured interviews. In order to reach the theoretical saturation point, a few more problems were
constructed to match the level of difficulty and concep
tual understanding of thes
e selected students. The
thinking-aloud was being recorded, transcribed and coded using the constant comparative method of Grounded
Theory. The analysis of the thinking-aloud protocols was supported by the analyses of data from the interviews,
observations using video and analysis of answer sheets. The data analyses further suggested a few hypotheses to
look in detail in order to generate more concrete pattern of Physics problem-solving. The repetition of the
research in different format of prob
lems and cycles of data collection-
analysis produced two problem-solving
patterns among the students. The saturated patterns suggest that students show different approaches when facing
easy questions and difficult problems. The easy-question pattern is quite consistent and "expert-like" while more
metacognitive skills are shown in the difficult-problem patte
rns. Students resort to means-end, trial-and-error and
guessing strategies when facing with difficult problems. While in the easy-questions, the students are more likely
to tell the concept involved and search for equation that is relevant to the questions due to the familiarity of the
students with the questions. This suggests that training in doing particular types of exercise can help students in
answering the questions easily, however, this doesn't mean that students have good problem-solving skills. In
solving difficult problems, metacognitive skills help studen
ts to understand the proble
ms and check the error by
making sense of the answers obtained. Hence, it is a good practice for students to self-talk while solving a
difficult Physics problem to improve the problem-solving.


Zygomycetes and their alleged sister taxon, the microsporidia, exclusively share the presence of a cluster of three genes encoding a sugar transporter, a high mobility group (HMG)-type transcription factor, and an RNA helicase. In zygomycetes, the HMG-type transcription factor acts as the sole sex determinant. This intimately ties the evolutionary history of this gene cluster to the evolution of sex determination. Here, we have unraveled the relationships of the two gene clusters by vicariously analyzing the sugar transporters and the RNA helicases. We show that if the two gene clusters share a common ancestry, it dates back to the early days of eukaryotic evolution. As a consequence, the zygomycete MAT locus would be old enough to represent the archetype of fungal and animal sex determination. However, the evolutionary scenario that has to be invoked is complex. An independent assembly of the two clusters deserves therefore consideration. In either case, shared ancestry or convergent evolution, the presence of the gene cluster in microsporidia and in zygomycetes represents at best a plesiomorphy. Hence, it is not phylogenetically informative. A further genome-wide reanalysis of gene order conservation reveals that gene order is not significantly more similar between microsporidia and zygomycetes than between microsporidia and any other fungal taxon or even humans. Consequently, the phylogenetic placement of microsporidia as sister to the zygomycetes needs to be reconsidered.


The burrows created by benthos in tidal flats provide various habitats to other organisms. Echiuran burrows are unique among these in being persistently disturbed by the host's undulating activity, but little is known on how symbionts adapt to such a unique habitat. We report here the morphological and ecological adaptation by two bivalve species of Basterotia (Sportellidae), including one new species, which are commensals with burrowing echiuran worms. The burrows of Ikedosoma gogoshimense were inhabited by Basterotia gouldi at intertidal gravelly mud flats in the central Seto Inland Sea, whereas those of Ochetostoma erythrogrammon were inhabited by Basterotia carinata n. sp. at an intertidal gravelly coral-sand flat at Amami-Ohshima Island. Both bivalve species were found embedded in the burrow wall with their posterior inhalant and exhalant apertures gaping to the burrow lumen, suggesting that they utilize the water currents created by host echiurans. The posteriorly robust, laterally inflated shell with developed carina is considered an adaptation to symbiotic life, as it is exposed to pressure caused by the host's persistent undulating activity. Females of Basterotia bivalves were larger than males, suggesting size-dependent sex change, and possessed brooded veligers in the ctenidium. Our findings suggest that species-specific intimate association with echiurans may be widespread among the Sportellidae bivalves, whose biology remains poorly understood.


Aerosolized pentamidine (AP) has been widely used for prophylaxis of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) since 1988. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of AP on pulmonary function. Of 36 patients with AIDS who were receiving AP for secondary prophylaxis of PCP, 13 patients had been using AP continuously for more than 52 weeks. AP was given using a Fisoneb ultrasonic nebulizer with five loading doses of 60 mg over two weeks, followed by one dose of 60 mg every two weeks. Baseline PFT were TLC 92 +/- 14% pred, FVC 90 +/- 11% pred, FEV1 91 +/- 11% pred, FEF25-75 95 +/- 17% pred, and DLCO (corrected for hemoglobin) 70 +/- 22% pred. No significant change in TLC, FVC, FEV1, or DLCO was seen after 56 weeks of AP. There was a 20% fall in FEF25-75 seen after 56 weeks, which was statistically significant. However, the clinical significance of a fall of this magnitude in the FEF25-75 is uncertain. Similar results were seen in a smaller subset of patients who received AP for at least 76 weeks. Although the small sample size must be considered, this data suggests that there is no clinically significant change in pulmonary function associated with the use of AP for up to 76 weeks.


Several risks along the supply chain process will cause various kinds of problems, the flow of the raw material procurement process is determined by the roles of several stakeholders such as purchasing, supply chain, production, customer service, and logistics. This research is focused on determining the risks during the procurement of production raw materials and determining the best way to handle the existing risks.  House of Risk (HOR) is a method used in this study, which consists of 2 stages with the first stage determining the risk events and risk agents and determining the priority of the risk agent, the second stage determining the priority of risk mitigation. The results of the first stage of HOR found 23 risk events and 24 risk agents with the highest ARP values were (A2) sudden request changes. In the second stage of HOR with the highest ETDK value (PA1) conducts inventory control.


In response to an increased awareness concerning the welfare of captive animals, several studies have investigated the effect of provisions on stress levels in model species, such as small mammals, birds and fish. In contrast, reptiles have received less attention. Although many reptilian species are becoming increasingly popular in the pet trade and are frequently used as model species in various branches of biology and a number of studies have explored how they react to stress in different contexts (eg social, predatory), little is known about how they react to stress induced by housing conditions or experimental treatments. In this study, we quantified the effect of provision of perches and leaves as refuges (provisioned) on the behaviour, morphology and physiology of the green anole (Anolis carolinensis). Our results showed that increased or decreased structural complexity of the cage had no effect on body mass, tail-base width, heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (H/L ratios), brightness, body colour, behaviour and faecal corticosterone metabolite (FCM) levels for both males and females in the experimental treatments (provisioned or deprived situation). Our study animals did score very highly for several stress-indicating variables in the three weeks preceding the experiments — suggesting that they had experienced considerable stress during capture, transport and temporary housing in the pet store.


Background: Fabry disease (FD) is a rare X-linked inherited lysosomal storage disorder caused by α-galactosidase A deficiency leading to intracellular glycosphingolipid accumulation. FD manifestation is multisystem, and can differ depending on disease-related genetic variants. Currently, more than 700 different FD-causing mutations have been identified in the human GLA gene. We identified a novel mutation in a Lithuanian family with classical manifestations of Fabry disease, revealing severe effects to the cardiovascular systems of heterozygous women. Case presentation: A 49-year-old woman underwent echocardiography due to progressive dyspnea that lasted seven years, reduced physical activity, and periodic cardiac arrhythmia. Echocardiography revealed left ventricular hypertrophy with normal diastolic function. The patient had experienced acroparesthesia in her upper limbs and abdominal pain since childhood, and in the last decade had experienced mild proteinuria without renal failure. Her renal biopsy was typical for Fabry disease. The patient's brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (T2 flair) showed white matter hyperintensities lesions. DNA sequencing of the proband, her mother and one of her sons showed a novel GLA gene exon 2 mutation, c.270C>G (p.Cys90Trp). All three patients had decreased α-galactosidase A activity and specific FD manifestations. Conclusions: A novel GLA mutation, c.270C>G (p.Cys90Trp), was found in a Lithuanian family with a classical form of Fabry disease in heterozygous women with predominant cardiac involvement. However, the exact manifestation of this mutation is still unclear as it is newly reported and further research must be done.


Background— Evidence suggestive of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the pulmonary arteries of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension has been described for decades but has never been therapeutically targeted. ER stress is a feature of many conditions associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension like hypoxia, inflammation, or loss-of-function mutations. ER stress signaling in the pulmonary circulation involves the activation of activating transcription factor 6, which, via induction of the reticulin protein Nogo, can lead to the disruption of the functional ER-mitochondria unit and the increasingly recognized cancer-like metabolic shift in pulmonary arterial hypertension that promotes proliferation and apoptosis resistance in the pulmonary artery wall. We hypothesized that chemical chaperones known to suppress ER stress signaling, like 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) or tauroursodeoxycholic acid, will inhibit the disruption of the ER-mitochondrial unit and prevent/reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension. Methods and Results— PBA in the drinking water both prevented and reversed chronic hypoxia–induced pulmonary hypertension in mice, decreasing pulmonary vascular resistance, pulmonary artery remodeling, and right ventricular hypertrophy and improving functional capacity without affecting systemic hemodynamics. These results were replicated in the monocrotaline rat model. PBA and tauroursodeoxycholic acid improved ER stress indexes in vivo and in vitro, decreased activating transcription factor 6 activation (cleavage, nuclear localization, luciferase, and downstream target expression), and inhibited the hypoxia-induced decrease in mitochondrial calcium and mitochondrial function. In addition, these chemical chaperones suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions— Attenuating ER stress with clinically used chemical chaperones may be a novel therapeutic strategy in pulmonary hypertension with high translational potential.


We assessed the efficacy of local fibrinolytic therapy in 35 axillary-subclavian vein thromboses (SVT) that occurred in cancer patients with percutaneous central venous catheters (CVC). These catheters were indwelling for a median of 1 month (range, one day to 10 months) before thrombosis developed. Urokinase was administered at a dose of 500 to 2,000 U/kg/h. Complete lysis occurred in 25 of 30 thrombi that were directly infused, after a median of four days. Complete lysis occurred in one of 12 thrombi that could not be directly infused with urokinase and in two of six with associated phlebitis. Eighty-one percent of the thrombi that were symptomatic for less than 1 week before treatment resolved, compared with 56% present for longer than 1 week. Sixteen patients who had complete (12) or partial (four) thrombolysis did not have their CVCs removed. All four patients with partial thrombolysis had recurrent thrombosis at a median of eight days (range, one to 90). Only two patients who had complete thrombolysis had recurrent thrombosis, at 8 and 16 months. Only minor hemorrhagic toxicity was seen.


Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus in both developed and developing countries. It is found in about 10% of diabetic clients at diagnosis, and in the majority of clients 25 years down the line. Clients with pre-diabetes may also develop neuropathies that are similar to diabetic neuropathies. Long-term hyperglycemia can cause peripheral nerve damage, resulting in distal-predominant nerve fibre degeneration. Loss of feeling in the lower limbs is a high risk for limb amputation. Despite efforts to make an early diagnosis and to halt the progression of diabetic neuropathy, currently there is no effective treatment available at a global level, except for strict control of blood glucose. Physical therapy can improve the overall quality of life of diabetes mellitus clients with peripheral neuropathy and can alleviate the symptoms of neuropathy. This paper assesses the effectiveness of interventions used by physical therapists to minimise dysfunctions in people with DPN. It reviews the different treatment strategies and presents evidence and conditions for its applications.


Traffic accidents are one of the most common causes of blunt traumatic injuries and also significant causes of mortality and morbidity. To know injury patterns of traffic accidents will ensure early medical intervention and will reduce mortality and morbidity and also will facilitate the assessment of prevailing findings in criminal and compensation cases. In this case report, it was aimed to draw attention to the forensic subjects and the features of forensic cases via a 46-year-old male patient who had acute aortic transection due to traffic accidents.


Abstract: The gene expression of myelin basic proteins (MBPs) in shiverer mutant mice was investigated by the Northern and Southern hybridization techniques. In the control mice RNA molecules from the brains which were about 2,300 nucleotides in length were hybridized to cDNA of 1.8 kb encoding for a mouse MBP, but RNA from the brains of 3‐week‐old shiverer mutant mice contained no detectable amount of MBP transcripts hybridizing to this probe. Moreover the shiverer mutant mice lost several restriction fragments that hybridized to the same probe in the control mice when each of the five restriction enzymes, i.e., HindIII, PstI, PvuII, AccI, and StuI, was used. These data suggest that the shiverer mutation may correspond to the deletion of a large portion of MBP exon(s) in the gene, and this deletion causes inefficient transcription leading to the depletion of MBPs in the myelin and the dysmyelination observed in these mice.


In this study, we report a novel visual illusion for rotational motion, in which the central rotation axis of a partially invisible (apparent) square is perceived as exhibiting oscillatory rotation. To investigate the cause of this illusion, we measured the central position of a static apparent shape using an adjustment method (Experiment 1) and manipulated the speed of the rotating apparent square to test whether the illusion could be cancelled out by counteracting rotation using a constant method (Experiment 2). The results revealed that the perceived central position of a static apparent shape was shifted toward the outside. The shifted position depended on the orientation of the stimulus, and its position was arranged as if it was moving in a circular trajectory. In addition, the cancellation technique using counteracting rotation was successful, and cancellation of faster rotation required a greater radius of counteracting rotation. These results indicated that the illusion is induced by an interaction between illusory shifts of the central position of the static shape and the summation of motion vectors or motion momentum (e.g., centrifugal force) derived from shape representation by perceptual completion.


The review of perennial researches of the authors on a problem of radiation-induced aging is presented. From the point of view of radiogenetics it is represented perspective to investigate influence of an exogenous irradiating in small doses on fruit fly with defined mutation by phenotypes, that allows to repute a role of separate genes and mechanisms, controlled by them, in a determination of lifetime. At lines described by differences in pattern of mobile genetical elements, the different reaction to an irradiating explained from the point of view of features of the given mobile elements is found. The processing etoposide in concentration 5 microM on preimaginal stages of line with defects of a reparation (mei-41D5) and hypersensibility to an induction apoptosis (wg1-7, wg7L74, th1 [symbol: see text] th4) results in down-stroke of lifetime. The dominant effect of a gene mei-41D5 in a regulation of etoposide-induced change of lifetime is found. Is exhibited, that at lines with defects proapoptosis of genes reaper and Dcp1, the lifetime after influence, both ionizing irradiating, and inducer apoptosis etoposide is enlarged in comparison with the control.


Filament winding reinforcement is often applied to fulfill high-pressure resistance and is lightweight for gas cylinder productions. This article analyzes the winding pattern and the corresponding characteristics for filament winding cylinders based on the resulting thickness and strength such that the gas cylinders can be made as light as possible. In order to prevent the sliding between the filament material and the cylinder surface during the winding process, a range of winding angles that do not exceed the maximum static friction at every instant is adopted. The gas cylinder geometric structure formed by a complete round of winding using different winding angles is calculated to find the winding pattern that consumes the least composite filament. The winding pattern can also be determined before production to reduce the cost and time for customized products. By sequential contact points of the winding process, motion planning can be carried out for a four-axis filament winding machine.


The persistent development of large-scale teaching video highlights the insufficiency of the current teaching video retrieval. Now, a teaching video retrieval system based on key frame has been designed and achieved. The system uses mutual information extraction for the video key frame extraction. The feature of key frame uses colour information; the similarity judgment uses simplified histogram for computation. In case of inquiry and retrieval, such a video retrieval method as combines key word and key frame is applied. The system had been tested and verified, and the result proves that the system meets the application requirements.


Consumer law on its current scale is a relatively modern phenomenon. It is linked to the development of the consumer society and the rise of the regulatory state. One of the intriguing aspects of consumer law is that whilst consumers are often situated in a vulnerable position in the market structure and face similar problems in most market economies, nevertheless consumer law has in its national manifestation to take account of local legal, social and cultural traditions. However, whilst the particular policy responses to the problems consumers face may differ depending on local context, many of the actual problems facing consumers replicate themselves throughout the global economy. There are also forces promoting the search for common approaches to consumer problems. The consumer markets are in many aspects increasingly globalised: the same products are marketed with similar marketing efforts all over the globe. This is underpinned by the increasing development and diffusion of norms and standards on a regional or international basis and by the growth in cross-border consumer sales spawned by the internet.1 Being aware of the possible models of legal response so that an appropriate selection of consumer protection tools can be made is necessary for those creating, administering and studying consumer laws. This book seeks to provide an entry point into the study of a wide array of consumer topics and thus promote awareness of the options for legally protecting consumers. It seeks to throw light on the underlying policy choices that need to be made and to give practical examples of consumer protection regimes. Consumer law is a relatively international discipline. As the problems are similar and as consumer law, being a new discipline, is less bound by centuries of national legal traditions, legal solutions to consumer problems are often borrowed across borders. In consumer law research, the comparative strands have always been strong. Consumer law, in other words, represents an interesting mix of localism and globalism, as this book demonstrates.


Mechanical vibrations can alter static and dynamic distributions of fluids in porous matrices. A popular theory that explains non-destructive changes in fluids percolation induced by vibrations involves elasticity of a solid matrix and compressibility of fluids. Owing to strong damping, elastic and acoustic deformations always remain bounded to narrow zones (a few centimetres) near the source of vibrations. However, field trials prove the existence of the effects that are induced by vibrations in geological reservoirs on a longer scale (100 m). In this study, we develop a non-elastic theory, assessing the time-averaged effects induced by small-amplitude high-frequency vibrations. We examine the immiscible liquid/liquid displacement flows in a capillary (which is a building element of a porous matrix) subjected to translational vibrations. We find that strong-enough vibrations alter the shapes of menisci and change the rates of displacement flows. We find that vibrations slow down or even stop the displacement flows (which is contrary to a common expectation that vibrations help to release fluids from a porous matrix). This article is part of the theme issue 'New trends in pattern formation and nonlinear dynamics of extended systems'.


ABS TRACT: Relationship between alexithymia and aggression in a sample of men with substance dependence Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between alexithymia and aggression among men with substance dependence. In addition, we wanted to control the effect of variables such as depression and anxiety on this relationship. Methods: Participants were 200 consecutively admitted substance-dependent inpatients. Patients were assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results: Of the substance-dependent inpatients, 34.0% (n=68) constituted a group suffering from alexithymia. Rates of being unemployed, being married, duration of education, and current age did not differ between the groups, whereas age at onset of regular substance use was lower in the group with alexithymia. The alexithymic group had higher scores of aggression, depression, as well as trait and state anxieties. A hierarchical linear regression analysis demonstrated that the difficulty in identifying feelings (DIF) factor of alexithymia was related with aggression, although chronic anxiety contributed to this relationship particularly in the anger and hostility dimensions of aggression. Conclusion: Trait DIF may be directly related with aggression, whereas state DIF may be a way of coping among those with chronic anxiety and may be indirectly related with cognitive and affective components of aggression. The relevance of these relationships for prevention and treatment of substance dependents deserves interest in further research.


Fragmentary studies suggest that tissue chromium (Cr) levels decrease with age. Regardless of the mechanism for such a decline, decreased tissue exchange with administered radiochromium (51Cr) should result. Accordingly, body retention, urinary excretion, and serum (plasma) and tissue levels of 51Cr were determined in 2-month-old male control rats and in 9-18-month-old experimental male rats 3 days after the intravenous injection of high specific activity trivalent 51Cr. The older rats retained relatively less 51Cr than the 2-month-old rats in comparison to body weight but had similar urinary excretions of 51Cr. Serum (plasma) 51Cr levels were generally higher and tissue 51Cr levels generally lower in the older rats, with the exception of spleen 51Cr content, which increased. Skeletal 51Cr content was markedly decreased, by 30-85%. These data suggest that aging alters 51Cr distribution by decreasing cellular Cr content and transport. Other mechanisms must be operative in bone since skeletal Cr is primarily extracellular.


A one dimensional motion of the Bethe-Johnson gas is studied in a context of Landau's hydrodynamical model of a nucleus-nucleon collision. The expressions for the entropy change, representing a generalization of the previously known results, are found. It is shown that these expressions strongly depend on an equation of state for the baryonic matter.


Background In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), lupus nephritis (LN) is associated with chronic inflammation and perpetuated fibroblast activation, both determined by epigenetic mechanisms involving aberrant CpG DNA promoter methylation. During SLE progression, global methylation patterns are commonly lost. These CpG DNA promoter methylation patterns are not limited to the kidney, circulating CpG-rich DNA is also detectable in the blood allowing for biomonitoring ("liquid biopsy"). However, little is known about its specific contribution to determining disease progression. In the kidney, CpG-rich DNA activates TLR9 signaling mechanisms involved in inflammation and fibrogenesis. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that CpG-rich DNA promoter fragments potentially accelerate renal inflammation and fibrogenesis in SLE-associated LN. Objectives To analyze the role of circulating CpG-rich DNA on endothelial TLR9 signalling and the effect of experimental modification of oligodinucleotides on kidney inflammation in the Pristane-induced murine model of SLE. Methods We isolated circulating CpG-rich DNA from blood samples in a cohort of SLE patients. Then, we tested how these DNA promoter fragments influenced the LN phenotype in a TMPD ("pristane")-induced mouse model. Further, we investigated how this renal response could be influenced by the administration of either human or synthetic methylated/unmethylated CpG-rich DNA oligodinucleotides. Additionally, the effects of the administration of cicruclating CpG-rich DNA fragments on TLR9-signalling was analyzed in endothelial cell cultures. Results We show that circulating CpG-rich DNA promoter fragments are detectable in SLE patients' blood. Furthermore, SLE-associated LN is associated with accumulation of unmethylated CpG-rich DNA promoter fragments, implicating a mechanistic connection. These observations were further corroborated in a rodent model of TMPD-induced SLE where administration of CpG-rich DNA (isolated from LN patients or synthetic unmethylated CpG-rich DNA oligonucleotides) worsened the renal phenotype in terms of inflammation and fibrogenesis. Causal contribution of TLR9 was further confirmed in Tlr9+/--knockout mice with protection from renal inflammation and kidney fibrosis after administration of unmethylated CpG-rich DNA promoter oligonucleotides. TLR9-mediated intrarenal inflammation can be therapeutically targeted by administration of synthetic methylated CpG-rich DNA oligonucleotides, ultimately associated with suppression of TLR9-mediated signaling responses and renal injury in experimental SLE/LN. Conclusions Collectively, our results implicate accumulation of unmethylated CpG-rich promoter DNA fragments in SLE-associated LN. Furthermore. these unmethylated CpG-rich promoter DNA fragments causally contribute to TLR9-mediated inflammation and renal fibrogenesis. Administration of methylated CpG-rich oligonucleotides antagonized intrarenal TLR9-mediated inflammatory signaling responses and fibrogenesis. Therefore, biomonitoring of CpG-rich promoter DNA fragments and modulation of intrarenal TLR9 signaling is a promising therapeutical target in SLE-associated LN. Disclosure of Interest None declared


A two dimensionally assembled monolayer of hexagonal convexo-convex β-cobalt hydroxide nanoplates as a self-disposable sacrificial epi-template leads to a highly vertical alignment of zinc oxide nanorods array having a good electrical contact with metal or semiconductor layer on a substrate in a hydrothermal process.


Water imbibition, and the associated oil displacement, is an important process in shale oil reservoirs after hydraulic fracturing and in water-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Current techniques for water imbibition measurement are mostly "black-box"-type methods. A more explicit understanding of the water imbibition/oil recovery dynamics and geological controls is in demand. In this paper, a multiscale imaging technique that covers centimeter to nanometer scale (i.e., core to pore scale), integrating neutron radiography, microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) is applied to investigate the water imbibition depth and rate and the cause of heterogeneity of imbibition in shale samples. The dynamic processes of water imbibition in the 1-in. (25.4-mm) core sample were explicitly demonstrated, and the imbibition along the matrix and imbibition through microfractures are distinguished through neutron radiography image analysis. The causes of observed imbibition heterogeneity were further investigated through micro-CT and SEM image analysis for 1.5-mm diameter miniplug samples from different laminas of the 1-in. core samples. Imbibition depth and rate were calculated on the basis of image analysis as well. Estimation of oil recovery through water imbibition in shale matrix was performed for an example shale field. This innovative and integrated multiscale imaging technique provides a "white/gray-box" method to understand water imbibition and water-oil displacement in shale. The wide span of the length scale (from centimeter to nanometer) of this technique enables a more comprehensive, accurate, and specific understanding of both the core-scale dynamics and pore-scale mechanisms of water imbibition, oil recovery, and matrix-fracture interaction.


Background and Purpose: Trichomoniasis is a protozoan and protozoan progenitor disease which can cause transmitted infections through sexual contact in humans. Trichomoniasis is one of the common non-viral diseases of genital organs caused by flagellate Trichomoniasis vaginalis. Vaginal Trichomoniasis is common in women and has symptoms such as pruritus and abnormal discharge. This is a sexually transmitted infection which is often asymptomatic in men. Treatment is done using imidazoles, such as tinidazole, clotrimazole, and metronidazole. Metronidazole and Tinidazole are two selective drugs for the treatment of trichomoniasis however, potential carcinogenesis and teratogenic effects on fetuses in addition to resistance to metronidazole have been reported. Due to the cytotoxic effects of medicinal plants such as pune, peppermint, and tobacco on microbial organisms, this study was carried out to evaluate the effects of these three plants on Trichomoniasis vaginalis. Methods and Materials: In this experimental study, hydroalcoholic extracts of pune, peppermint and sorghum were prepared by the soaking method. Then, different concentrations of hydroalcoholic extracts of pune, peppermint and sardinia, and the double and triple mixture of extracts of these three herbs were added in test tubes containing parasite culture medium. In the ninth tube, 50 μg of metronidazole was added to the culture medium. Only DMSO was added to the tenth tube while 50 μl of the culture medium was added to the 11th tube. Then, 104 Trichomoniasis parasites (constant concentration of the parasite) were added to all environments kept in the incubator with the temperature of 37 °C. In order to investigate the growth rate of the parasites, the samples were cultured at 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours later, each time 10 μl of each tube was removed and the number of parasites was counted and statistically analyzed. Results: Antiparasitic power of pune, peppermint and sourgean herbs and both binary mixtures in concentrations of 5, 8, 10 and triple mixture of extracts in concentrations of 4, 5, 8 and 10 mg/ml showed excellent inhibitory effect on Trichomonas parasites, similar to the effect of metronidazole. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the triple mixture of hydroalcoholic extract of pune, mint and sardinia has a strong inhibitory effect on Trichomonas Vaginalis and can be considered as an alternative drug.


Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that requires careful assessment and management. The prioritization of ASD patients involves navigating through complexities such as conflicts, trade-offs, and the importance of different criteria. Therefore, this study focuses on prioritizing patients with ASD in the healthcare setting through an evaluation and benchmarking framework. The aim of this study is to develop a framework that utilizes Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods to assist healthcare professionals in prioritizing ASD patients, particularly those with moderate injury levels. The methodology of the framework outlines several phases, including dataset identification, development of a decision matrix, weighting of 19 ASD criteria using the FWZIC method, ranking 432 patients using the VIKOR method, and evaluating the proposed framework using four sensitivity analysis scenarios. Among the 19 ASD criteria, the criterion 'verbal communication' obtained the highest weight. Additionally, criteria such as 'laughing for no reason', 'nodding', 'patient movement at home', and 'pointing with the index finger' obtained similar higher weights, indicating their potential impact on ASD patients. The experimental results highlight the significance of adjusting ASD weights in influencing the final rankings obtained through the VIKOR method. This emphasizes the need for careful consideration when assigning weights to the 19 ASD criteria to ensure accurate prioritization. Moreover, the framework provides valuable insights into improving the care and support provided to individuals with autism in Iraq. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field of autism care prioritization and pave the way for future research and interventions aimed at enhancing the quality of care for individuals with autism in Iraq.


Remotely sensed data can help to identify both suitable habitat for individual species, and environmental conditions that foster species richness, which is important when predicting how biodiversity will respond to global change. The question is how to summarize remotely sensed data so that they are most relevant for biodiversity analyses, and the Dynamic Habitat Indices are three metrics designed for this. Our goals here were to a) derive, for the first time, the Dynamic Habitat Indices (DHIs) globally, and b) use these to evaluate three hypotheses (available energy, environmental stress, and environmental stability) that attempt to explain global variation in species richness of amphibians, birds, and mammals. The three DHIs summarize three key measures of vegetative productivity: a) annual cumulative productivity, which we used to evaluate the available energy hypothesis that more energy is associate with higher species richness; b) minimum productivity throughout the year, which we used to evaluate the environmental stress hypothesis that higher minima cause higher species richness, and c) seasonality, expressed as the annual coefficient of variation in productivity, which we used to evaluate the environmental stability hypothesis that less intra-annual variability causes higher species richness. We calculated the DHIs globally at 1-km resolution from MODIS vegetation products (NDVI, EVI, LAI, fPAR, and GPP), based on the median of the good observations of all years from the entire MODIS record for each of the 23 or 46 possible dates (8vs. 16-day composites) during the year, and calculated species richness for three taxa (amphibians, birds, and mammals) at 110-km resolution from species range maps from the IUCN Red List. We found marked global patterns of the DHIs, and strong support for all three hypotheses. The three DHIs for a given vegetation product were well correlated (Spearman rank correlations ranging from −0.6 (cumulative vs. variation DHIs) to −0.93 (variation vs. minimum DHI)). Similarly, DHI components derived from different MODIS vegetation products were well correlated (0.8–0.9), and correlations of the DHIs with temperature and precipitation were moderate and strong respectively. All three DHIs were well correlated with species richness, showing in ranked order positive correlations for cumulative DHI based on GPP (Spearman rank correlations of 0.75, 0.63, and 0.67 for amphibians, resident birds, and mammals respectively) and minimum DHI (0.73, 0.83, and 0.62), and negative for variation DHI (−0.69, −0.83, and −0.59). Multiple linear models of all three DHIs explained 67%, 65%, and 61% of the variability in species richness of amphibians, resident birds, and mammals, respectively. The DHIs, which are closely related to well-established ecological hypotheses of biodiversity, can predict species richness well, and are promising for application in biodiversity science and conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.12.009 Received 28 February 2018; Received in revised form 4 December 2018; Accepted 6 December 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: email@example.com (V.C. Radeloff). Remote Sensing of Environment 222 (2019) 204–214 0034-4257/ © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. T


We enjoyed reading Wahl's recent review article 1 on dental-induced endocarditis. His clarification of the facts about this disease was very useful. We wish to report a case of endocarditis associated with use of a home plaque removal instrument to illustrate several of his points. Report of a Case. A 62-year-old man, with previously proven mitral valve prolapse and mitral regurgitation, presented to his family physician with a 10-week history of not feeling well. In the week prior to presentation, he developed fever, chills, anorexia, and pain in the fingertips of one hand. On examination, the patient was pale, with toxic effects, and had an oral temperature of 38.2°C. Cardiac examination revealed a pulse rate of 88 beats per minute, a blood pressure level of 120/76 mm Hg, and a grade III/VI holosystolic murmur in the mitral area, with no systolic click. The heart rhythm was normal sinus, and there


The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum commonly forms chimeric fruiting bodies. Genetic variants that produce a higher proportion of spores are predicted to undercut multicellular organization unless cooperators assort positively. Cell adhesion is considered a primary factor driving such assortment, but evolution of adhesion has not been experimentally connected to changes in social performance. We modified by experimental evolution the efficiency of individual cells in attaching to a surface. Surprisingly, evolution appears to have produced social cooperators irrespective of whether stronger or weaker adhesion was selected. Quantification of reproductive success, cell-cell adhesion and developmental patterns, however, revealed two distinct social behaviours, as captured when the classical metric for social success is generalized by considering clonal spore production. Our work shows that cell mechanical interactions can constrain evolution of development and sociality in chimeras, and that elucidation of proximate mechanisms is necessary in order to understand the ultimate emergence of multicellular organization.


To the Editor —As my grandfather used to say, "liars figure and figures lie." Though I wish to impune neither JAMA nor Dr Maloney, I question his analytic assumptions and conclusions 1 based on data reported in Medical Economics . 2 Although Maloney himself equivocates regarding "the small sample size, incomplete coverage of specialties and the use of external data sources," his conclusions fail to reflect the issues of most concern to those who have considered both the problem and the solution. Crane's data 3 concerning work hours are simply not credible. An example: a family physician in 10 minutes of careful history-taking and examination makes the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. This encounter is reimbursed at the rate of $50. This physician's overhead is 50%. The patient is then referred to a general surgeon who removes the appendix and is paid $500 with no overhead. Therefore, the family physician would have


The relationship between species' body masses and densities is strongly conserved around a three-quarter power law when pooling data across communities. However, studies of local within-community relationships have revealed major deviations from this general pattern, which has profound implications for their stability and functioning. Despite multiple contributions of soil communities to people, there is limited knowledge on the drivers of body mass-abundance relationship in these communities. We compiled a dataset comprising 155 soil-animal communities across four countries (Canada, Germany, Indonesia, USA), all sampled using the same methodology. We tested if variation in local climatic and edaphic conditions drives differences in local body mass-abundance scaling relationships. We found substantial variation in the slopes of this power-law relationship across local communities. Structural equation modeling showed that soil temperature and water content have a positive and negative net effect, respectively, on soil communities. These effects are mediated by changes in local edaphic conditions (soil pH and carbon content) and the body-mass range of the communities. These results highlight ways in which alterations of soil climatic and edaphic conditions interactively impact the distribution of abundance, and thus energy, between populations of small and large animals. These quantitative mechanistic relationships facilitate our understanding of how global changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature and precipitation, will affect community-abundance distributions and thus the stability and functioning of soil-animal communities.


The magnitude of saturation current in a power device significantly impacts its short-circuit capability. In conjunction with the unprecedented miniaturisation that gallium nitride (GaN) offers, there is a compelling rationale to examine this critical parameter in GaN transistors for thermally stable and reliable power converter applications. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the physical behaviour that yields intrinsically low drain current saturation in GaN polarisation super junction heterojunction field-effect transistors (PSJ HFETs). The analysis in this work has been performed using electrical characterisation data of conventional and PSJ HFETs, supported by physics-based two-dimensional device simulations. Insight is gained on the differing device architecture-dependent mechanisms that determine the magnitude of drain current density in both types of devices when biased in the saturation region.


The endeavour to take jurisprudence seriously is addressed by Baghai, a sociologist, to those within her own discipline who fail to engage with the internal understandings of law, most particularly those exhibited within the discourse that accompanies appeal court decisions, namely the discourse that helps to establish and develop legal doctrine. In effect, the book is an appeal for sociologists to assign greater attention to legal doctrine as an object of study. But such an appeal can also be interpreted as a request for theorists who study legal doctrine to take sociology seriously – namely an invitation to legal theorists to bring sociology, or at least one version of it, to bear on their study of the evolution of doctrine. This proposal faces considerable resistance from those on both sides of this divide. Whilst Hart notoriously described The Concept of Law as an essay in both analytical jurisprudence and descriptive sociology, the analytic tradition that he sponsored has sought to augment its academic credentials by moving ever closer to philosophy rather than sociology. With the important exception of Brian Leiter's arguments for 'naturalising jurisprudence', the general drift of analytical jurisprudence has been towards a prioritising of philosophical methods over empirical insights. And the resistance to some rapprochement has not been limited to the philosophical side of the divide. The sociology of law has a long tradition of approaching the study of law in a manner that distances itself from the self-understandings of participants in the legal system (lawyers and especially judges). This transfers in turn into hostility towards the manner in which legal philosophy has engaged with those self-understandings, with its willingness to consider, at high levels of abstraction, whether law consists of rules, norms or principles. Rather than organising insiders' views into conceptual schemes, and then examining them for their coherence and consistency, legal sociology has generated its own facts and truths about laws and lawyers, principally using empirical methods (but also other methods) and contrasting these 'truths' with lawyer's self-understandings, treating the latter as an inferior form of knowledge either disconnected from reality or ideological rather than descriptive. It has also noticeably failed to engage with much of the central concern of legal philosophy – the attempt to identify law as a separate entity within society. Rather than considering the existence of law as a unity, it focuses instead on parts of law as examples of more general sociological categories, such as studying the legal profession within the sociology of professions or courts, legislatures and administrative agencies within the sociology of institutions or organisations.


This case describes a previously unreported rare, but potentially disastrous, complication of endotracheal tube intubation initiated by prehospital emergency medical services personnel. This report details an inadvertent prehospital esophageal intubation and a critical error in communication between the prehospital and hospital service that resulted in failure to identify or remove the tube until after admission. The discussion includes complications of endotracheal tube intubation and esophageal foreign bodies. Proper communication between medical personnel is essential to reduce medical errors. Refraining from the use of slang terms may help prevent miscommunication between personnel upon transfer of patient care. This case shows the need be critical, observant, and wary at all times for even the most implausible findings in medicine.


The antagonism by potassium of (Na(+)+K+)ATPase inhibition was analyzed in order to further study the presence of endogenous digitalis-like activity in mammalian heart. Digoxin and a partially purified extract prepared from guinea pig cardiac tissue inhibited (Na(+)+K+)ATPase, also obtained from guinea pig heart, in a dose-dependent manner in agreement with Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The effects of both inhibitors were antagonized by increasing the KCl concentration from 0.5 to 5 mM. Hunter-Downs plots were linear, suggesting that the interaction between (Na(+)+K+)ATPase and either digoxin or the extract could be considered as competitive. Ks estimated for KCl from these plots was similar to the K0.5 value obtained by activating the enzyme with KCl, and thus suggesting that both inhibitors, digoxin and the extract, were acting on (Na(+)+K+)ATPase. Digoxin and the extract were able to inhibit [3H]ouabain specific binding to the enzyme in a dose-dependent manner in agreement with a competitive interaction. Ki values estimated from binding experiments were similar to those calculated from Hunter-Downs plots. Data strongly suggest the presence in guinea pig heart of an endogenous compound which is able to inhibit (Na(+)+K+)ATPase solely by binding to the digitalis receptors.


Serverless architecture is an emerging design style for cloud-based software systems. Testing serverless applications plays an important role in software quality assurance. However, currently, there is no consensus on how to test and debug such systems properly. Moreover, the current lack of mature tooling is a central challenge. We designed and conducted three interviews among two tools vendor leaders in the serverless domain (Epsagon and Thundra) and one expert in the field (Yan Cui), investigating the good and bad practices and several open issues. The current status of testing and debugging in serverless-based applications depicted by the experts helped us to highlight issues and challenges that need to be deeply investigated. SOFTWARE TESTING is a critical activity in Quality Assurance (QA) to assess whether a software project successfully meets its requirements and specifications. Software tests can be of different granularity levels. Considering the continuous evolution of cloud-based software systems, testability becomes an important factor, especially for integration and regression testing. For example, integration testing1 can be challenging for large systems with a complex configuration. The goal is to test the component's services and detect anomalies associated with their interplaying interactions. For monolithic systems, testing and debugging can be done locally before deployment [5],[3]. Cloud-based applications introduce new challenges due to the increasing interaction complexity and the non-negligible difference between the local and deployment (remote) environment 1Testing the interactions of the code units against external services that the application relies on [7][6]. In microservices applications, each microservice is a small monolithic system to test in the local environment using well-established unit-testing strategies and criteria (e.g., branch coverage and mutation testing). The crucial difference is the assessment of the integration between the different microservices, as well as assessing the scalability of the overall architecture when considering different configuration alternatives. Technical issues increase when considering serverless-based applications, which are "hosted by a third-party service, eliminating the need for server software and hardware management. Applications are broken up into individual functions (e.g., Lambda functions2) that can be invoked and scaled individually"[5]. A function is tiny and should be tested through unit tests. However, functional testing and debugging involve many functions and not a single one. When several functions or external services 2https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Lambda/latest/dg/welcome.html IEEE Software Published by the IEEE Computer Society c © 2020 IEEE 1 Lenarduzzi, Panichella are integrated, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to test and debug in a local environment because most environmental dependencies are only available at runtime [4]. To circumvent this issue, serverless applications can be tested directly in production or in a specific cloud development environment with the disadvantage of paying for test invocations and the production workload [4]. Moreover, developers generally adopt the good practice of running unit tests locally for each function by mocking environments to integration testing, via canary releases or A/B tests [4]. Integration testing is difficult to conduct due to the lack of emulation platforms, and because tests in production may have side-effects [4], [15]. If testing in a cloud-based system is difficult, debugging adds further complexity. Developers should track and observe requests between services, databases, caches, and even external API calls. Developers need to determine which application part is being called during a specific test scenario or execution. Moreover, they should identify which are the bottlenecks, and how the cache is helping save time by reducing round trips to the database. Fault injection also allows finding and fixing unpredictable faults, such as database overloads, simulating the communication failures among different microservices, and other components. Another potential negative factor is the different programming languages used to implement cloud-based systems. This problem is addressed by testing services that use external containers that host different test designs and implementations. Several patterns were defined for serverlessbased applications [8]. However, specific patterns for testing are not defined by practitioners yet. This leads to a lack of consensus on how to better test and debug [2], [4], [5]. For this reason, we conducted a survey with two tools vendors (Epsagoin and Thundra) and one practitioner (Yan Cu) with several years of experience in the field. The goal of this work is to identify good and bad practices for testing and debugging serverlessbased applications. We are interested in understanding the complementary perspectives of both tool practitioners and vendors. The former can help us understand the common challenges they face when developing serverless-based applications. The latter allows us to understand both the challenges they face in developing their tools (based on microservices architectures), as well as the common challenges their customers report. Setting the Stage: The Survey The survey was composed by the following questions: • What are the main challenges when testing serverless applications? • How do you currently perform testing? • What type of debugging strategy do you apply? • How fine-grained is the instrumentation? • How do developers identify the root cause of failure? • How do you create crash-reproducing test cases? • When do you decide testing is enough? • What are your top wishes for improving testing? We collected the information through openended questions, running the survey as a face to face interview of 30 minutes. The two authors collected the answers separately and then checked possible inconsistencies in the report. The disagreements was discussed and clarified. The transcript of each interview is available in the online appendix3. The experts point of view We interviewed two tools vendor leaders and one experienced practitioners in the field: Ran Ribenzaft Co-Founder & CTO of Epsagon, Emrah Şamdan Leadership member of Thundra, and Yan Cui, an AWS Serverless Hero4. How to Test Serverless Applications Epsagon designs test cases to cover the possible events and data values that each function receives from the outside. Similarly, they test for possible values Lambda functions may return. More specifically, they test the Lambda functions against failure scenarios and test how the functions recovers/handles in case of a failure. For example, in case of a failure, a Lambda function should re-send data to another function 3https://figshare.com/s/4ec5e8bd043571d61b6a 4https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/heroes/yancui/


This is the introduction to the second edition of Security and Human Rights (Hart Publishing 2019).

When the first edition of this collection was published in 2007, many scholars were struggling with the question of whether it is possible to reconcile a commitment to human rights with the demands of security in a post-9/11 world. More than a decade later, this fundamental tension remains at the heart of many discussions about the relationship between security and human rights. But in the years that have passed since the first edition, we have also seen the re-emergence of nationalism and xenophobia, a hardening of attitudes towards migrants, and a dramatic increase in Islamophobia in populist security discourse. Combined, these trends mean that the liberal order underpinning the international human rights framework since World War II is now under threat.

Two shifts may be necessary in order to reinvigorate an effective defence of rights in the face of security mandates. First, defenders of human rights must directly and critically engage with emotive claims of insecurity and unrealistic promises of security. Rather than reacting with similarly reductive narratives, we should seek to develop a discourse of sober resilience – one that provides a serious account of the risks to security while acknowledging both the inherent constraints on democratic states in achieving security and the wider security benefits to be gained from protecting rights. Ultimately, this narrative will need to build on a recognition, even a celebration, of the risk that comes with a free society.

The second, related shift involves meaningful acknowledgment of the role that liberalism has played in the historical and continued oppression of vulnerable groups. By addressing the ways in which the law in supposedly liberal democracies has been co-opted in the name of security, we help to lay bare flaws in the individualistic liberal vision of rights and the disconnect between abstract claims of universality and lived experiences on the ground. This process of exposure should not be seen as a step towards the abandonment of the liberal human rights project but rather as part of an attempt to revive it and make it relevant to those who have borne the 'costs of security'.


A novel approach to the veriication of meta-interpreters is introduced. We apply a general purpose veriication method for logic programs, proposed in 28], to the case study of the Vanilla and other logic meta-interpreters. We extend the standard notion of declarative correctness, and design a criterion for proving correctness of meta-interpreters in a general sense, including amalgamated and reeective meta-interpreters. The contribution of this paper can be summarized as follows: under certain natural assumptions, all interesting veriication properties lift up from the object program to the meta-program, including partial correctness, termination, absence of errors, call patterns persistence, correct instances of queries, computed instances of queries. Interestingly, it is possible to establish these results on the basis of purely declarative reasoning, using the mentioned proof method. We believe that the obtained results illustrate the broad applicability of the adopted veriication principles.


The aim of this study was to measure plasma nitrite, the biochemical marker of endothelial nitric oxide (•NO) synthesis, before and after hyperoxia, in order to test the hypothesis that hyperoxia‐induced vasoconstriction is a consequence of reduced bioavailability of •NO caused by elevated oxidative stress. Ten healthy men breathed 100% normobaric O2 for 30 min between 15th and 45th min of the 1‐h study protocol. Plasma nitrite and malondialdehyde (MDA), arterial stiffness (indicated by augmentation index, AIx) and arterial oxygen (PtcO2) pressure were measured at 1st, 15th, 45th and 60th minute of the study. Breathing of normobaric 100% oxygen during 30 min caused an increase in PtcO2 (from 75 ± 2 to 412 ± 25 mm Hg), AIx (from −63 ± 4 to −51 ± 3%) and MDA (from 152 ± 13 to 218 ± 15 nm) values and a decrease in plasma nitrite (from 918 ± 58 to 773 ± 55 nm). During the 15‐min recovery phase, plasma nitrite, AIx and MDA values remained altered. This study suggests that the underlying mechanism of hyperoxia‐induced vasoconstriction may involve reduced •NO bioavailability caused by elevated and sustained oxidative stress.


The static design of AC/DC and DC/DC switching power supplies relies on a simple but repetitive process. Although specific spreadsheets, avalaible in various CAD programs, are widely used, they are difficult to use in educational applications. In this paper a graphic tool programmed in MATLAB is presented to allow students to make a rapid static design. This tool has been successfully employed in the subject "Sistemas Electro´nicos de Alimentacio´n" in the Telecommunications Engineering degree as part of the project of new education methods (University of Oviedo project PB-08-019). During practical sessions the students have used the tool to design the power supply, achieving better learning results than before it was used. In addition, the tool has been successfully used to improve the students, theoretical knowledge of the subject.


Using survey data on Italian manufacturing firms, this paper examines firms' capital structure and their access to financial debt, notably bank loans. We find that the share of financial debt in total liabilities is, on average, smaller for small firms than for large ones. However, this is not because the typical small firm borrows less than a large firm, but because small firms are more likely not to borrow at all. For firms that do borrow, the share of financial debt varies little with firm size. The absence of financial debt on the balance sheet of many firms is mainly because they do not want to borrow, not because lenders do not want to lend. Thus, credit rationing does not appear to be a widespread phenomenon, but when it happens, lack of size and equity seems to play a key role.


This chapter explores the potential of social media in the context of festivals and shows how web platforms can better inform event managers' understanding of how a festival's social atmosphere (i.e. the socialscape) can be extended online and beyond the actual periods of the staging of a festival. This is possible as social media can help to build an online environment that favours social identification and user engagement. To illustrate such a mechanism, the chapter presents a multi-method analysis of Fotografia Europea, a photography festival held in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Results show the potential of a coordinated web and social media strategy for enhancing the festival's atmosphere in terms of social identification and engagement.


Selective Si interdiffusion into ion implanted GaAs from SiN encapsulation was observed and a GaAs MESFET with a highly conductive layer was developed using the interdiffusion. During the annealing of implanted /sup 29/Si at 950/spl deg/C, Si was selectively diffused into the ion implanted region from SiN encapsulation and formed a highly conductive layer near the surface. The diffused Si improved the ohmic contact resistivity and electrical characteristics of the MESFET.


Proliferation is a requirement during the initial stages of cell and tissue specialization. In most biological systems the down-regulation of proliferation is necessary for initiation of key steps in the differentiation process. We have examined regulatory mechanisms controlling expression of the cell cycle-dependent histone genes, which are functionally coupled with DNA synthesis, in proliferating cells and during the onset of differentiation in several phenotypes including adipocytes. In proliferating cells transcription of the histone genes is up-regulated at the onset of S phase. We have identified a histone H4 proximal promoter element, designated Site II, that mediates cell cycle transcriptional control. The factor interacting with Site II include cdc2, cyclin A, an RB-related protein and interferon regulatory factors (IRFs). Mutational analysis indicates that the distal part of Site II is critical for cell cycle regulation. Equally important for the developmental transcriptional control, histone gene expression is repressed when differentiation is initiated. In vivo, we have established loss of Site II occupancy by regulatory proteins; in vitro, factor binding to Site II is not observed post-proliferatively. Deletion analysis indicates that proximal Site II mediates the differentiation response of H4 gene transcription in adipocytes.


Three original stories for children who have just started reading on their own. Stories feature wrestling raptors, a hilarious tale of vegetarian dinosaurs and a prehistoric egg hatching in a modern museum. Part of the Usborne Reading Programme developed with reading experts at the University of Roehampton.


Bacteria play a key role in the planetary carbon cycle partly because they rapidly assimilate labile dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ocean. However, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms at work when bacterioplankton metabolize distinct components of the DOM pool is still limited. We, therefore, conducted seawater culture enrichment experiments with ecologically relevant DOM, combining both polymer and monomer model compounds for distinct compound classes. This included carbohydrates (polysaccharides vs. monosaccharides), proteins (polypeptides vs. amino acids), and nucleic acids (DNA vs. nucleotides). We noted pronounced changes in bacterial growth, activity, and transcription related to DOM characteristics. Transcriptional responses differed between compound classes, with distinct gene sets ("core genes") distinguishing carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids. Moreover, we found a strong divergence in functional transcription at the level of particular monomers and polymers (i.e., the condensation state), primarily in the carbohydrates and protein compound classes. These specific responses included a variety of cellular and metabolic processes that were mediated by distinct bacterial taxa, suggesting pronounced functional partitioning of organic matter. Collectively, our findings show that two important facets of DOM, compound class and condensation state, shape bacterial gene expression, and ultimately select for distinct bacterial (functional) groups. This emphasizes the interdependency of marine bacteria and labile carbon compounds for regulating the transformation of DOM in surface waters.


Many people are increasingly interested in a vegetarian or vegan diet. Looking at the research and the available options in the market, there are two generations of products based on typical proteins, such as soy or gluten, and newer generation proteins, such as peas or faba beans, or even proteins based on previously used feed proteins. In the review, we present the characteristics of several proteins that can be consumed as alternatives to first-generation proteins used in vegan foods. In the following part of the work, we describe the research in which novel protein sources were used in terms of the product they are used for. The paper describes protein sources such as cereal proteins, oilseeds proteins coming from the cakes after oil pressing, and novel sources such as algae, insects, and fungus for use in meat analog products. Technological processes that can make non-animal proteins similar to meat are also discussed, as well as the challenges faced by technologists working in the field of vegan products.


Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the free fatty acid (FA) composition of ethanol extracts obtained from mycelia of 30 genetically identified strains of 18 species of coprinoid mushrooms (CMs) or coprini belonging to clades Coprinellus (C. bisporus, C. curtus, C. disseminatus, C. domesticus, C. ellisii, C.flocculosus, C. micaceus, C. aff radians I, C. aff radians II, C. aff radians III, C. xanthothrix, Coprinellus sp. 4), Coprinopsis (C. cinerea, C. cothurnata, C. gonophylla, C. lagopides, C. maysoidispora, C. strossmayeri), and Coprinus (C. comatus) were evaluated using gas chromatography. Two unsaturated (lineolic, oleic) and 3 saturated (palmitic, stearic, myristic) FAs were detected in the tested mycelial samples. Amounts of unsaturated FAs prevailed over saturated FAs. Lineolic and palmitic acids were detected in all the species in high quantities (up to 64.73% and 53.82%, respectively). All 5 FAs were found in the Coprinus clade (family Agaricaceae) as opposed to the Coprinellus and Coprinopsis clades (family Psathyrellaceae). Based on the unsaturated and saturated FA content, the species from the clade Coprinellus were different from Coprinopsis species and C. comatus. The obtained data confirm that palmitic, linoleic, and stearic acids are predominant in mushrooms, including coprini. The presence of large amounts of unsaturated FAs in the tested coprini make them an option for further studies to formulate novel mushroom-based dietary supplements and nutriceuticals.


ABSTRACT Hendra virus (HeV) is a recently identified paramyxovirus that is fatal in humans and could be used as an agent of bioterrorism. The HeV receptor-binding protein (G) is required in order for the fusion protein (F) to mediate fusion, and analysis of the triggering/activation of HeV F by G should lead to strategies for interfering with this key step in viral entry. HeV F, once triggered by the receptor-bound G, by analogy with other paramyxovirus F proteins, undergoes multistep conformational changes leading to a six-helix bundle (6HB) structure that accomplishes fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. The ectodomain of paramyxovirus F proteins contains two conserved heptad repeat regions (HRN and HRC) near the fusion peptide and the transmembrane domains, respectively. Peptides derived from the HRN and HRC regions of F are proposed to inhibit fusion by preventing F, after the initial triggering step, from forming the 6HB structure that is required for fusion. HeV peptides have previously been found to be effective at inhibiting HeV fusion. However, we found that a human parainfluenza virus 3 F-peptide is more effective at inhibiting HeV fusion than the comparable HeV-derived peptide.


Artificial neural network in MATLAB simulator is used to model Baiji crude oil distillation unit based on data generated from aspen-HYSYS simulator. Thirteen inputs, six outputs and over 1487 data set are used to model the actual unit. Nonlinear autoregressive network with exogenous inputs (NARX) and back propagation algorithm are used for training. Seventy percent of data are used for training the network while the remaining thirty percent are used for testing and validating the network to determine its prediction accuracy. One hidden layer and 34 hidden neurons are used for the proposed network with MSE of 0.25 is obtained. The number of neuron are selected based on less MSE for the network. The model founded to predict the optimal operating conditions for different objective functions within the training limit since ANN models are poor extrapolators. They are usually only reliable within the range of data that they had been trained for.


The starting point is the question of the significance of the motivations for driving, driving behaviour, and driving safety. The authors point out, in particular, that the knowledge of the strength of individual motivations does not permit predictions to be made especially of driving behaviour if their functional significance with respect to the personality as a whole is not taken into consideration. Although the literature evaluated in this study does not imply any conclusions with respect to directly applicable measures for the improvement of traffic safety, the authors point out approaches which should be paid attention to in future research preparation and planning in the fields of traffic education as well as traffic information and publicity. /Author/


Bubble nucleation is the critical first step during magma degassing. The resultant number density of bubbles provides a record of nucleation kinetics and underlying eruptive conditions. The rate of bubble nucleation is strongly dependent on the surface free energy associated with nucleus formation, making the use of bubble number density for the interpretation of eruptive conditions contingent upon a sound understanding of surface tension. Based on a suite of nucleation experiments with up to >1016 bubbles per unit volume of melt, and using numerical simulations of bubble nucleation and growth during each experiment, we provide a new formulation for surface tension during homogeneous nucleation of H2O bubbles in rhyolitic melt. It is based on the Tolman correction with a Tolman length of δ = 0.32 nm, which implies an increase in surface tension of bubbles with decreasing nucleus size. Our model results indicate that experiments encompass two distinct nucleation regimes, distinguishable by the ratio of the characteristic diffusion time of water, τdiff, to the decompression time, td. Experiments with >1013 m−3 bubbles are characterized by τdiff/td≪ 1, wherein the nucleation rate predominantly depends on the interplay between decompression and diffusion rates. Nucleation occurs over a short time interval with nucleation rate peaks at high values. For experiments with comparatively low bubble number density the average distance between adjacent bubbles and the diffusion timescale is large. Consequently, τdiff/td≫ 1 and nucleation is nearly unaffected by diffusion and independent of decompression rate, with bubbles nucleating at an approximately constant rate until the sample is quenched.


This paper investigates the heat conduction behavior of a terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade laser (QCL) active region by measuring its temperature using in-situ microprobe band-to-band photoluminescence (PL) technique. The heat resistance of different regions in QCL structure is derived from the temperature measurement. Experimental results show that thinning the substrate from 300 mum thick to 140 mum lowers thermal resistance of the device by 21%, which helps achieving continuous-wave operation. A thermodynamic differential equation was numerically solved and the temperature profiles and thermal behavior of various regions within actively biased QCL devices under various conditions were obtained. The simulation confirms the measured results that the substrate accounts for 59% of the total device thermal resistance.


The increasing number of poor people in Indonesia shows the various multi-dimensional problems of this nation, to reduce or eliminate this necessary disease must be supported by the whole nation. In Islam, one of the efforts to reduce and eradicate poverty is the existence of zakat law which functions as an equal distribution of wealth. The distribution of zakat for the poor is not only to meet consumptive needs but more than that. From here the pattern of giving zakat to mustahiq is not only consumptive, but can also be productive.
Utilization of zakat can be carried out by developing eight asnaf, for example zakat for the poor can be used for public facilities, such as free medical centers, free maternity clinics, manufacturing factories that involve them and others. In its application, the amil zakat institution must be careful in distributing this productive zakat, research on zakat recipients and the types of productive businesses should receive more attention. After that, a trustworthy and professional management also contributed to the success of this program.


Quantitative analysis of vesicle-plasma membrane fusion events in the fluorescence microscopy, has been proven to be important in the vesicle exocytosis study. In this paper, we present a framework to automatically detect fusion events. First, an iterative searching algorithm is developed to extract image patch sequences containing potential events. Then, we propose an event image to integrate the critical image patches of a candidate event into a single-image joint representation as the input to Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). According to the duration of candidate events, we design three CNN architectures to automatically learn features for the fusion event classification. Compared on 9 challenging datasets, our proposed method showed very competitive performance and outperformed two state-of-the-arts.