Automatic lane detection is a classical task in autonomous vehicles that traditional computer vision techniques can perform. However, such techniques lack reliability for achieving high accuracy while maintaining adequate time complexity in the context of real-time detection in complex and dynamic road scenes. Deep neural networks have proved their ability to achieve competing accuracy and time complexity while training them on manually labeled data. Yet, the unavailability of segmentation masks for host lanes in harsh road environments hinders fully supervised methods' operability on such a problem. This work proposes integrating traditional computer vision techniques and deep learning methods to develop a reliable benchmarking framework for lane detection tasks in complex and dynamic road scenes. Firstly, an automatic segmentation algorithm based on a sequence of traditional computer vision techniques has been experimented. This algorithm precisely segments the semantic region of the host lane in the complex urban images of nuScenes dataset used in this framework; hence corresponding weak labels are generated. After that, the developed data is qualitatively evaluated to be used in training and benchmarking five state-of-the-art FCN-based architectures: SegNet, Modified SegNet, U-Net, ResUNet, and ResUNet++. The performance evaluation of the trained models is done visually and quantitatively by considering lane detection a binary semantic segmentation task. The output results show robust performance, especially ResUNet++, which outperforms all the other models while testing them in different complex road scenes with dynamic scenarios and various lighting conditions.


In this paper the core objective is to apply discrete wavelet transform and maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform functions namely Haar, Daubechies2, Symmlet4, Coiflet2 and discrete approximation of the Meyer wavelets in non stationary financial time series data from Dow Jones index (DJIA30) of US stock market. The data consists of 2048 daily data of closing index from December 17, 2004 to October 23, 2012. Unit root test affirms that the data is non stationary in the level. A comparison between the results to transform non stationary data to stationary data using aforesaid transforms is given which clearly shows that the decomposition stock market index by discrete wavelet transform is better than maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform for original data. Keywords—Discrete wavelet transform, maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform, stationarity, autocorrelation function.


In this article, we investigated the factors determining the capability of academic articles to be cited in the future using a topological analysis of citation networks. The basic idea is that articles that will have many citations were in a "similar" position topologically in the past. To validate this hypothesis, we investigated the correlation between future times cited and three measures of centrality: clustering centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. We also analyzed the effect of aging as well as of self‐correlation of times cited. Case studies were performed in the two following recent representative innovations: Gallium Nitride and Complex Networks. The results suggest that times cited is the main factor in explaining the near future times cited, and betweenness centrality is correlated with the distant future times cited. The effect of topological position on the capability to be cited is influenced by the migrating phenomenon in which the activated center of research shifts from an existing domain to a new emerging domain.


Recent empirical research on internal migration has focused on the change in migration volume, before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, by the degree of urbanization. Less is known about the types of rural areas that are attracting internal migrants. This study aims to explore the changes in internal rural migration patterns in Serbia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the types of rural settlements as places of destinations and types of urban settlements as places of the origin of migrants. Relying on the additionally processed official national annual statistical data for the period 2018–2021, we offer findings on the differences in volume and socio-demographic characteristics of migrants across six internal migration flows (from small towns, medium-sized towns, and large cities, to suburban and non-suburban rural settlements). The results reveal that the pandemic affected an increase of rural–rural migration as well as rural in-migration from medium-sized towns. We also find that after an initial drop in values for in- and out-migration rates in 2020, relocation intensity exceeded the pre-pandemic level in 2021, with a positive net migration rate for all age groups except 15–30. The unfavorable economic characteristics of rural in-migrants shifted slightly in pandemic years since the share of active and population with personal means rose in non-suburban settlements, while the percentage of dependent population decreased. The opposite holds for suburban settlements.


Background Although previous studies have suggested that high intake of meat, particularly red meat, may contribute to the development of hypertension, data on the prospective associations between meat intake and risk of hypertension are still limited. Objective We investigated the association of total red meat, types of red meat and poultry intake at baseline with the incidence of hypertension in a prospective cohort of 28 766 female US health professionals aged ≥ 45 years. Patients and methods Baseline red meat and poultry intake were assessed from semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires. Incident cases of hypertension (n = 8693) were identified from annual follow-up questionnaires during 10 years of follow-up. Results After adjusting for known hypertension risk factors, the relative risk and 95% confidence interval (CI) of incident hypertension were 1.00 (reference), 1.05 (0.97–1.13), 1.05 (0.97–1.13), 1.05 (0.97–1.14) and 1.13 (1.04–1.23), respectively, across increasing quintiles of baseline total red meat intake (P for trend = 0.008). Using functional cutpoints, women who consumed > 0 to < 0.5, 0.5 to < 1.0, 1.0 to < 1.5 and ≥ 1.5 servings/day of total red meat had multivariable relative risks (95% CI) of hypertension of 1.24 (1.08–1.43), 1.25 (1.08–1.44), 1.32 (1.13–1.53) and 1.35 (1.14–1.59) compared to those who consumed no red meat (P for trend = 0.008). By contrast, multivariable relative risks of incident hypertension across increasing quintiles of poultry intake were 1.00, 1.03, 1.03, 1.08 and 1.03 (P for trend = 0.37). Conclusions Red meat intake was positively associated, whereas poultry intake was unassociated, with the risk of hypertension in middle-aged and older women.


In the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe, the numbers of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood and G. pallidipes Austen electrocuted on grids placed across their flight paths as they arrived at various natural and synthetic odour sources demonstrated that ox odour comprises two broad fractions of attractants. One fraction can be trapped by a charcoal filter and, in part, consists of 1-octen-3-ol. A more volatile fraction passes through the filter and, in part, consists of carbon dioxide and acetone. Levels of acetone and 1-octen-3-ol in ox odour varied considerably, up to maxima of 24 mg/h and 0·025 mg/h, respectively. Catches were roughly doubled when octenol at 0·5 mg/h was added to ox odour, but declined when the dose was increased to 50–500 mg/h. A synthetic odour consisting of 2 litres of carbon dioxide/mm, 5 mg of acetone/h and 0·05 mg of 1-octen-3-ol/h, was nearly as effective as ox odour for G. m. morsitans but only half as effective as ox odour for G. pallidipes . Increases to the doses of each attractant in the synthetic odour increased the catches, to roughly double those with ox odour. Data for other Diptera are also presented.


This publication makes the case for policy action to strengthen health literacy. Evidence, including the results of the European Health Literacy Survey, is presented that supports a wider and relational whole-of-society approach to health literacy that considers both an individual's level of health literacy and the complexities of the contexts within which people act. The data from the European Health Literacy Survey show that nearly half the Europeans surveyed have inadequate or problematic health literacy. Weak health literacy skills are associated with riskier behaviour, poorer health, less self-management and more hospitalization and costs. Strengthening health literacy has been shown to build individual and community resilience, help address health inequities and improve health and well-being. Practical and effective ways public health and other sectoral authorities and advocates can take action to strengthen health literacy in a variety of settings are identified. Specific evidence is presented for educational settings, workplaces, marketplaces, health systems, new and traditional media and political arenas.


Small tissue pieces were excised from wild-type polyps of Hydra magnipapillata, allowed to regenerate, and the size-dependent characteristics of head regeneration were examined. The excised tissue piece was initially a square flat sheet. This piece gradually rounded up and, within 24 hr after excision, turned into a "spherical shell" which had a continuous ectodermal layer outside, a continuous endodermal layer inside, and an empty cavity at the center. The smallest spherical shell that could be produced had a diameter of 0.2 mm and contained 270-300 epithelial cells. A tissue piece too small to form a spherical shell always disintegrated, presumably due to lack of an osmotic barrier between the tissue and the environment. Of the spherical shells with a diameter of 0.2 mm, about half (47%) regenerated a head in about 5.5 days, while the rest remained as spherical shells or disintegrated. With an increase in diameter, the regeneration percentage increased, and regeneration time decreased. Similar size-dependent characteristics were also observed in a computer simulation study of regeneration based on the reaction-diffusion mechanism (Gierer and Meinhardt, Kybernetik 12, 30-39, 1972). These observations are consistent with the view that two independent factors are involved in determining the minimum tissue size for regeneration. One is the amount of tissue required to form a spherical shell. A tissue piece too small to form a spherical shell cannot survive and, hence, cannot regenerate. The other may be the reaction-diffusion mechanism. A pattern might not be formed below a critical limit size set by this mechanism.


This study wasaimed at finding out the effect of using Team Games Tournament Technique on students' Reading Comprehension. The population of the study was the 2014/2015 academic year firstsemester grade XI students of SMA Negeri 1 TIGALINGGA. The samples were two classes, namely XI IPA 1 and XI IPA 2, with the total was 60 students selected by applying random sampling. The sample was divided into two groups. Experimental group (XI IPA1) was taught by using Team Games Tournament Techniquewhile the control group (XI IPA 2) was taught without using Team Games Tournament Technique. The data of this research were taken from the students' score of reading narrative text test. The calculation showed that the coefficient of the test was 0.65, it showed that the test was reliable and the reliability was substantial. There were two data used in this research. They were pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed by using t-test formula to show the effect of using Team games Tournament Technique on students' achievement in reading naarrative text. After analyzing the data, the finding indicates that t-observed was higher than t-table (5.50 > 2.00) at the level of significance 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 58. It means that by using Team Games Tournament Technique has significantly affected on the students' achievement in reading narrative text. It implies that Team Games Tournament Technique is a significant technique for teaching reading narrative text.


The longevity of resin-bonded prostheses made of a high-gold alloy and bonded with Super-Bond C&B (C&B Metabond) were tested clinically. Minimal preparation and large surface area of retainer coverage were used. The inner surfaces of the retainers were air abraded with aluminum oxide and heat treated in an oven at 400 degrees C to get an oxidized layer for bonding. The results of the adhesive technique were unsatisfactory compared with studies with resin-bonded prostheses using conventional mechanical retention techniques and nonadhesive resin cements. All fractures were at the resin-metal interface. Early debonds occurred; seven of 13 prostheses were detached after 11 months. The median survival time was only 9 months. The adhesion of resin-bonded prostheses must still be based on mechanical retention between cement and metal, because a way of attaining good durability of the bonding joints to water with Super-Bond is yet to be found.


INTRODUCTION
Lectures with many participants are considered inefficient and ophthalmology is seen as "not so important" for those studying medicine. We wondered about the students' view on this subject.

METHODS
During the last lesson of a two-week-series of lectures together with the written test, 337 students of two consecutive semesters received a questionnaire with specific questions concerning ophthalmology lectures.

RESULTS
257 questionnaires (76 %) were returned. The students claimed that the lecture itself contributed most of the knowledge for their later medical practice, more than books, scripts, internet etc. Interactivity was welcome, audience response systems were appreciated. Personal contact to the lecturers was considered less important, a variation of the lecturers was considered advantageous. It would be seen as a serious loss if the ophthalmology lecture were abolished.

CONCLUSION
These results contradict clearly the concept of the unimportance of lectures with many participants and contradict as well tendencies not to teach "small" specialties in separate lectures.


Blast induced neurotrauma (BINT) is a prevalent injury within military and civilian populations. The injury is characterized by persistent inflammation at the cellular level which manifests as a multitude of cognitive and functional impairments. Epigenetic regulation of transcription offers an important control mechanism for gene expression and cellular function which may underlie chronic inflammation and result in neurodegeneration. We hypothesize that altered histone acetylation patterns may be involved in blast induced inflammation and the chronic activation of glial cells. This study aimed to elucidate changes to histone acetylation occurring following injury and the roles these changes may have within the pathology. Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to either a 10 or 17 psi blast overpressure within an Advanced Blast Simulator (ABS). Sham animals underwent the same procedures without blast exposure. Memory impairments were measured using the Novel Object Recognition (NOR) test at 2 and 7 days post-injury. Tissues were collected at 7 days for Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. Sham animals showed intact memory at each time point. The novel object discrimination decreased significantly between two and 7 days for each injury group (p < 0.05). This is indicative of the onset of memory impairment. Western blot analysis showed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a known marker of activated astrocytes, was elevated in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) following blast exposure for both injury groups. Analysis of histone protein extract showed no changes in the level of any total histone proteins within the PFC. However, acetylation levels of histone H2b, H3, and H4 were decreased in both groups (p < 0.05). Co-localization immunofluorescence was used to further investigate any potential correlation between decreased histone acetylation and astrocyte activation. These experiments showed a similar decrease in H3 acetylation in astrocytes exposed to a 17 psi blast but not a 10 psi blast. Further investigation of gene expression by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array, showed dysregulation of several cytokine and cytokine receptors that are involved in neuroinflammatory processes. We have shown aberrant histone acetylation patterns involved in blast induced astrogliosis and cognitive impairments. Further understanding of their role in the injury progression may lead to novel therapeutic targets.


In this paper, we introduce a predator-prey model to analyze the population dynamics of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is fairly blamed for the transmission of dengue in Cali, Colombia. The model describes an interaction of an aquatic predacious species deliberately introduced into local mosquito breeding habitat, where the Aedes aegypti immature stages (eggs, larvae, and pupae) are already present and constitute the prey population. The model also accounts for local population of adult female mosquitoes (or mature stage) emerging from the breeding site. This population is considered as a target for reduction by deploying an adequate predacious species since only female mosquitoes are held responsible for transmission of dengue and other vector-borne diseases. Having analyzed the model, we have derived the mosquito survival threshold with predation as a function of predator's biological characteristics. The model's parameters were adjusted to the average seasonal temperatures of Cali, Colombia and explicit conditions for biological characteristics of prospective efficient predators were established. Numerical simulation with introduction of an efficient predacious species in local mosquito breeding habitats revealed the possibility of eventual mosquito extinction in such localities. Finally, some particular biological species were proposed as potential candidates for efficient predators. Received: April 29, 2015 c © 2015 Academic Publications, Ltd. url: www.acadpubl.eu Correspondence author 562 J.H. Arias, H.J. Martinez, L.S. Sepulveda, O. Vasilieva AMS Subject Classification: 92D25, 93D20, 34A34


Background Drug resistance is frequently found in estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) breast cancer patients during and after prolonged tamoxifen treatment. Although tamoxifen rechallenge has been proposed for treating recurrent breast tumors, the clinical benefit of this treatment is still controversial. The aims of this study are to identify the possible tamoxifen cytotoxicity-resistant subpopulation of MCF7 cells and to determine the effects of tamoxifen rechallenge on these cells. Methods Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression levels of various epithelial–mesenchymal transition– and cell survival/proliferation–related proteins in MCF7 and MCF7-derived, tamoxifen-mediated cytotoxicity-resistant MCF7-TAM12.5 breast cancer cells. Wound healing, Transwell migration, and invasion assays were used to examine the metastatic potential of cells. Clonogenic assays, trypan blue exclusion assays, and bromodeoxyuridine assays were used to examine clonogenicity and to determine the proliferation rate of cells. Results We found that MCF7-TAM12.5 cells exhibited higher tolerance to tamoxifen-mediated cytotoxicity, higher metastatic potential, higher expression levels of XIAP, and lower expression levels of ERα/ERβ/HER2/Smac than MCF7 cells. In addition, MCF7 cells endogenously expressed Bcl-2α, whereas MCF7-TAM12.5 cells only expressed Bcl-2β. Interestingly, tamoxifen rechallenge decreased the metastatic potential but increased the proliferation and clonogenicity of MCF7-TAM12.5 cells. At the molecular level, tamoxifen rechallenge upregulated the expression of phosphorylated Aurora A and Aurora B kinase in MCF7-TAM12.5 cells. Conclusion Our findings further support the existence of highly heterogenetic cancer cell populations in ER+ breast tumors. It will be of clinical importance to determine the protein expression and the genetic profiles of tamoxifen-resistant/recurrent ER+ breast tumors to predict the potential effects of tamoxifen readministration in the future.


Reconfigurable analog devices are a powerful new computing substrate especially appropriate for executing computationally intensive dynamical system computations in an energy efficient manner. We present Legno, a compilation toolchain for programmable analog devices. Legno targets the HCDCv2, a programmable analog device designed to execute general nonlinear dynamical systems. To the best of our knowledge, Legno is the first compiler to successfully target a physical (as opposed to simulated) programmable analog device for dynamical systems and this paper is the first to present experimental results for any compiled computation executing on any physical programmable analog device of this class. The Legno compiler synthesizes analog circuits from parametric and specialized blocks and account for analog noise, quantization error, and manufacturing variations within the device. We evaluate the compiled configurations on the Sendyne S100Asy RevU development board on twelve benchmarks from physics, controls, and biology. Our results show that Legno produces accurate computations on the analog device. The computations execute in 0.50-5.92 ms and consume 0.28-5.67 uJ of energy.


In 2009, the opposition party, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a landslide victory in Japan's lower house elections, winning 308 seats out of the 480 seats. Through the elections, the Japanese people hoped to see a change in the old bureaucratic-centered politics and the beginning of a twoparty system. The reform materialized after more than 50 years of a one-party rule under LDP. The Okinawans, in particular, were strong supporters of the DPJ where the party received 70 percent of votes from the prefecture. One of the key factors behind this support was the promise by the DPJ to relocate the Marine Corps Air Force Station Futenma (MCAS Futenma) to Henoko. However, relocation of the military base out of Okinawa was almost impossible because it required the consent of the United States and various parties such as the Okinawans and the coalition government. This paper aims to analyze how the issue of relocating Futenma during Hatoyama's administration led to the eventual fall of Hatoyama. The opposition is not obligated to fulfill all its promises but when in power, they face difficulties in fulfilling promises. Because of the relocation failure, DPJ was seen as an unreliable political party, and Hatoyama was forced to step down, after less than nine months in office despite winning a historical landslide victory in the 2009 elections.


A methodological approach to the study of alienation at a psychological level is discussed. Owing to the methodological purpose of the research at stake, researchers paid attention to the fact that the questionnaire items had been written in the first person singular--a fact that encouraged researchers to work anew, on the hypothesis of the personal implication of subjects with the items contents. A conclusion was thus reached that an item written in first person singular dissuades subjects from telling what they think or feel actually, inducing subjects to produce social desirability-oriented answers.


Summary Revised names of some Upper Permian strata in eastern England are proposed and defined, together with new names for some strata previously without formal names; the new and revised names are based on nominated type localities and are intended to replace existing names that were confusing or inappropriate. We propose that the names Lower and Upper Magnesian Limestone in the Yorkshire Province be replaced by the new names Cadeby (Magnesian Limestone) Formation and Brotherton (Magnesian Limestone) Formation respectively and that the Lower and Middle Magnesian Limestone in the Durham Province should become the Raisby (Magnesian Limestone) and Ford (Magnesian Limestone) formations respectively. The Middle Marls are renamed the Edlington Formation in both provinces and the new names Sherburn (Anhydrite) Formation, Sneaton (Halite) Formation and Littlebeck (Anhydrite) Formation are proposed for the Upper Anhydrite, Upper Halite and Top Anhydrite formations. The term Roxby Formation is proposed to replace the present name Upper (or Saliferous) Marls.


This paper seeks to understand the mutually affecting intensities in family households that occur through the use of energy for parenting, care and making home in the societal context of energy capitalism. Our work draws on sensual energy ethnographies with 13 families in regional New South Wales, Australia. We extend Deleuze and Guattarri's related concepts of molar and molecular lines and lines of flight into energy geographies to draw attention to the socio-material, subjective and affective dimensions of being and becoming a parent, providing care and making home. In doing so, we open up questions around how families use energy and how this relates to the politics of care. We consider the possibilities for lines of flight to bring about social change to escape energy capitalism and help care for humans, more-than-humans and the planet.


Abstract IN FIRST thinking about this topic, the title selected was as listed on your program "Teaching for the Future," but there was more to the title—a "so what" was added. The reason for this negative addition was the quote "A close look at the college-educated people in the United States is enough to dispel any notion that our institutions of higher learning are doing a good job of liberal education" (Changing Times, 1962), and the statement "He is a school teacher, which means he is an underpaid drudge. Even a politician stands higher because power in the street seems less of a mockery than power in the classroom" (Barzun, 1959). Undergraduate college teaching is and has been the most talked about, the most maligned and least done about area in the realm of poultry science. This is not specifically the fault of anyone, but rather the result of several…


Cluster expansion (CE) has gained an increasing level of popularity in recent years, and its applications go far beyond its original root in binary alloys, reaching even complex crystalline systems often used in energy materials research. Similar to other modern machine learning approaches in materials science, many strategies have been proposed for training and fitting the CE models to first-principles calculation results. Here, we propose a new strategy for constructing a training set based on their relevance in Monte Carlo sampling for statistical analysis and reduction of the expected error. The CE model constructed from the proposed approach has lower dependence on the specific details of the training set, thereby increasing the reproducibility of the model. The same method can be applied to other machine learning approaches where it is desirable to sample relevant configurational space with a small set of training data, which is often the case when they consist of first-principles calculations.


In patients with atopic dermatitis agreeableness and public self-consciousness have previously been shown to be significant predictors of induced scratching, while depression was significantly related to induced itch. This study aimed to replicate these findings. Itch and scratching were induced by videos of crawling insects or skin diseases. Induced itch was measured using a visual analogue scale. Scratching behavior was evaluated by two raters. Psychological variables were assessed using validated questionnaires. Induced scratching could be predicted significantly by agreeableness (corrected R2 = 15.5% or 38 % after exclusion of one outlier): Patients scoring low on agreeableness showed a higher increase in scratch movements than patients scoring high on this scale. No associations between induced scratching/itch and public self-consciousness/depression were found. One clinical implication that arises from this study could be to offer patients scoring low on agreeableness certain psychological interventions.


Modern enterprises are irreversibly dependent on large-scale, adaptive, component-based information systems whose complexity frequently exceeds current engineering capabilities for intellectual control, resulting in persistent difficulties in system development, management, and evolution. We propose an innovative framework of engineering representation and reasoning methods for developing these complex systems: the flow-service-quality (FSQ) framework. In dynamic network information systems with constantly varying function and usage, workflows and their corresponding traces of system services act as stable foundations for functional and non functional (quality attribute) specification, design, and operational control. Our objective is to provide theoretical foundations, language representations, and rigorous yet practical unified engineering methods to represent and reason about system flows as essential artifacts of system specification, design, and operation.


This paper presents a method for identification of parameters and delays of a linear system in the presence of noise. The estimation procedure is based on transforming the input-output data into the discrete Fourier domain. The transformed data is then solved block recursively to obtain both the system parameters and unknown delay. For systems with no delays or known delays, the equations are linear in the parameters and the standard estimation techniques can be applied. For systems with unknown delays, the resulting equations are nonlinear in the delay term. A recursive nonlinear estimation technique similar to the least-squares in the time domain has been developed. In the presence of Gaussian white noise, simulation studies indicate that the parameters converge to their true values in the mean.


Recent experimental and theoretical work examining the double photoionization of H2 has uncovered surprising changes in the fully differential cross sections as a function of the kinetic energy released to the protons (which is equivalent to different internuclear separations of the molecule). We describe the recent joint theoretical and experimental investigations which have uncovered the physical reasons for this phenomenon. We show that the observed variations are solely due to the σ component of the polarization vector along the molecular axis. Our conclusions are supported by further investigations of the photoionization of H2+, in which similar dramatic variations in the photoelectron angular distributions for the σg → σu transition are found as the internuclear separation is varied. The angular distributions for the σg → πu transition show little dependence on the internuclear separation.


Background: Late-type sensitizations against wood are rare and are mostly seen in patients with occupational contact with saw dust. Generally, commercial wooden products only lead to sensitization or dermatitis in cases when contact to the unprotected skin is direct, intensive and of longer duration, i.e. by wearing wooden jewelry or by playing wooden instruments. Causative for the sensitization process are ingredients of the wood core such as alkaloids, glycosides, anthrachinones, saponines, phenols, catechols, flavonoids, cumarins, and benzo-, naphtho-, furano-, and phenanthrenquinones and their precursors. Case report: We report the case of a 70-year-old patient who developed cheilitis after playing different wooden recorders made of African blackwood, rosewood, cedar, olive, and pear. Methods: Patch testing with baseline series of contact allergens and saw dust of the recorders were performed as well as skin prick tests with common inhalant allergens and saw dust of the recorders. Results: Patch testing showed sensitizations against African blackwood, rosewood, fragrance mix 2 and hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde. Skin prick testing was without pathological results. Conclusion: African blackwood and rosewood contain (S)-4'-hydroxy-4-methoxydalbergione and (S)-4-methoxydalbergione. As a result of the chemical affinity between the dalbergiones, cross-reactions between different woods are observed. The case presented shall show the diagnostic procedure in cases in which sensitizations against wood components are suspected.


The 13th International Symposium on Trichoptera took place in Bialowieza, Poland, in 22-27 June 2009, but the idea to organize the symposium there was evoked 3 years earlier.  When, at the end of the symposium in Mexico City, Professor Hans Malicky suggested that the next symposium take place in Poland, the first question we asked ourselves was, "Where could we organize it?"  That night we were discussing this issue with several colleagues and Wolfram Mey said, "Why not do it in Bialowieza?" The idea was tempting.  In the last 2 decades Trichoptera symposia were organized in big cities. The last one even took place in one of the largest cities of the world—Mexico City. By contrast, Bialowieza is just a small village; but for researchers it is paradise. The significance of this last natural European forest for science is reflected in the presence of many scientific institutions there. And so, we decided that Bialowieza would be a perfect venue for our symposium.


According to Charles R. Wright, as adopted by Djanalis Djanaid (1993: 7) in his book, ?Public Relation dalam Teori dan Praktek?, activity is an action, which has bustle quality to collect and to distribute information about events taken place in an environment either inside or outside of a certain society. Marketing Public Relation is a program planning and evaluation process to motivating purchasing interest and consumer satisfaction, through information delivery and convincing image as the effort to stimulate product and service usage and at the same time to give added value. As Ruslan (2002: 257) suggested that marketing public relation is a combination (synergy) between program and marketing strategy implementation with PR work program activity in order to expand marketing and to gain the customers? satisfaction. The research problem is how the activity of marketing public relation to increase course member amounts in Primagama Tugu Learning Guidance Institution of Malang. While the research purpose is to know and to describe the activity of marketing public relation done by Primagama Tugu Learning Guidance Institution to increase course member amounts. Type of this research is descriptive qualitative, which using interview and documentation technique to collect data. Information sources use purposive sampling technique, so it is obtained 2 primary informants and 5 secondary informants. The obtained data is analyzed by using descriptive qualitative analysis technique that included induction process. For data validation technique uses sources triangulation technique, which later it will be used as data comparator to one another informant. From the research results, it is known that activity of marketing public relation in Primagama Tugu Learning Guidance Institution of Malang is conducting work process in phases: fact finding using market opportunity analysis and start to conduct planning stage by determining marketing objective and target. It is continued by acting/implementation process that is selecting a proper media by attempting to do market share through both personal and direct selling activities on the superior schools. It is also supported by street banner and brochures. The second strategy is determining differentiation through both teaching manner in the form of smart solution and giving cash back money for those who can invite his/her friends to join in Primagama Learning Guidance Institution. The third strategy is improving its service quality. Fourth, giving scholarship and discount to improve course aspirants? motivation. In the last stages is evaluation, where activities and program performance and obstruction levels are measured. Keywords: Activity, marketing activity, and marketing public relations. Keyword : aktifitas; aktifitas marketing; marketing public relations Link terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/319/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2009-nawira0222-15902-PENDAHUL-N.pdf


BACKGROUND Achieving a clear resection margins for low rectal cancer is technically challenging. Transanal approach to total mesorectal excision (TME) was introduced in order to address the challenges associated with the laparoscopic approach in treating low rectal cancers. However, previous meta-analyses have included mixed population with mid and low rectal tumours when comparing both approaches which has made the interpretation of the real differences between two approaches in treating low rectal cancer difficult. AIM To investigate the outcomes of transanal TME (TaTME) and laparoscopic TME (LaTME) in patients with low rectal cancer. METHODS A comprehensive systematic review of comparative studies was performed in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standards. Intraoperative and postoperative complications, anastomotic leak, R0 resection, completeness of mesorectal excision, circumferential resection margin (CRM), distal resection margin (DRM), harvested lymph nodes, and operation time were the investigated outcome measures. RESULTS We included twelve comparative studies enrolling 969 patients comparing TaTME (n = 969) and LaTME (n = 476) in patients with low rectal tumours. TaTME was associated with significantly lower risk of postoperative complications (OR: 0.74, P = 0.04), anastomotic leak (OR: 0.59, P = 0.02), and conversion to an open procedure (OR: 0.29, P = 0.002) in comparison with LaTME. Moreover, the rate of R0 resection was significantly higher in the TaTME group (OR: 1.96, P = 0.03). Nevertheless, TaTME and LaTME were comparable in terms of rate of intraoperative complications (OR: 1.87; P = 0.23), completeness of mesoractal excision (OR: 1.57, P = 0.15), harvested lymph nodes (MD: -0.05, P = 0.96), DRM (MD: -0.94; P = 0.17), CRM (MD: 1.08, P = 0.17), positive CRM (OR: 0.64, P = 0.11) and procedure time (MD: -6.99 min, P = 0.45). CONCLUSION Our findings indicated that for low rectal tumours, TaTME is associated with better clinical and short term oncological outcomes compared to LaTME. More randomised controlled trials are required to confirm these findings and to evaluate long term oncological and functional outcomes.


Oftentimes, the challenge in disseminating research results to the practitioner is to package and present the results in a manner that is accessible and easy to use, while still providing the depth, guidance, and necessary information. In most cases, final research reports are made available in printed form and online, however, for some applications converting the report to a more interactive online report (tool) can produce results that are easier for the user to access. This is particularly true in this age of information overload and as practitioners find themselves needing to "do more with less." This paper describes how research results from an update to the Oregon Department of Transportation's crash reduction factor (CRF) database were incorporated into an online tool. The paper describes the methodology for cataloging a total of 94 crash countermeasures, reviewing the literature, and the development of the interactive online tool. The tool allows users to search based on key parameters for the countermeasure(s) most appropriate to a particular highway safety improvement project and to directly access pertinent citations from the literature review database. A case study is used to describe how a traffic safety professional might use this online tool in practice.


Shuttle missions have typically been viewed as being devoted to a single mission mode, i.e., delivery of free flyer, Spacelab, etc. Full utili zation of the STS capabilities as a platform for space research dictates a flexible strategy towards payload integration and mission design. Simple interfaces, single disciplines and large design and resource margins point the way towards lower payload integration and operation costs. Payloads for early missions, e.g., OSTA-1, OSS-1 and MEA are used as illustrations. The implication of this approach on NASA's future plans, as well as poten tially new STS operational concepts, are discussed. INTRODUCTION The Space Transportation System (STS) when conceived was envisioned as a system primarily for conducting the following types of missions: space station logistics, placement and retrieval of satellites, on-orbit servicing of satellites, delivery of propulsion stages and short duration orbital missions. Figure 1 represents the initial mission characteristics that were derived for the Space Shuttle (now known as the STS) in the 19681969 tiineframe. These types of missions were then used to project the flight requirements and develop traffic models. During the ensuing years of the development of the Space Transportation System, this same utilization concept has been predominately used by mission planners and payload developers. Spacelab missions, as we know them today, evolved from the short duration orbital missions in the right-hand column of Figure 1. As the date approaches when the first scientific payload will fly (on the second flight of the STS), payloads are in various stages of development. This first generation of payloads is primarily of two types: free flying satellites and those that remain attached to the Orbiter to conduct their mission. These two mission types are being melded into a mixed mission mode that is becoming a major concept of STS utilization that was not envisioned by the early STS plan ners. The majority of instruments that will fly on the STS in an attached mode will be assigned to dedicated Spacelab missions, e.g., Spacelabs 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. However, there are a number of instruments that are more suitable for accom modation on non-dedicated missions. MINOR MISSION CONCEPT The pattern for accommodatina instru ments on less than dedicated Spacelab missions had its beginnings in the solicitation of experiments for the Orbital Flight Test Program. Comple ments of instruments were assembled into payloads that required very little in the way of resources and could be operated within some over riding Shuttle operational constraints. As a result of the solicitation, one payload, OSTA-1, was assembled for compatibility within the OFT test objectives, i.e., payload bay pointed to Earth to achieve a benign thermal environment. Another payload, OSS-1, was assembled for compatibility with


Molecular communication in nature can incorporate a large number of nano-things in nanonetworks as well as demonstrate how nano-things communicate. This paper presents molecular communication where transmit nanomachines deliver information molecules to a receive nanomachine over an anomalous diffusion channel. By considering a random molecule concentration in a space-time fractional diffusion channel, an analytical expression is derived for the first passage time (FPT) of the molecules. Then, the bit error rate of the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell $ </tex-math></inline-formula>th nearest molecular communication with timing binary modulation is derived in terms of Fox's <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$H$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-function. In the presence of interfering molecules, the mean and variance of the number of the arrived interfering molecules in a given time interval are presented. Using these statistics, a simple mitigation scheme for timing modulation is provided. The results in this paper provide the network performance on the error probability by averaging over a set of random distances between the communicating links as well as a set of random FPTs caused by the anomalous diffusion of molecules. This result will help in designing and developing molecular communication systems for various design purposes.


Thiazolidine prodrugs of L-cysteine constructed with aldose monosaccharides as the carbonyl donor offer powerful protection against acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepato-toxicity, but require large doses to be effective. Using disaccharides in prodrug synthesis produces a thiazolidine ring form with a cyclic sugar moiety present. This structural motif may allow the delivery of the prodrug to specific carbohydrate receptors, such as the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) of hepatocytes, thus reducing the required dose of prodrug and enhancing the effectiveness of cytoprotection. The bio-distribution of [35S]-labeled prodrugs was investigated in Swiss-Webster mice, both in the presence and absence of APAP, and compared to labeled L-cysteine itself. Accumulation of radioactivity in liver appeared to be stimulated by the presence of APAP in some cases, but organ levels after prodrug administration were much lower than after the administration of L-cysteine itself. These studies identified differences in the biodistribution of L-cysteine prodrugs of different structural types, as well as effects of the hepatotoxin on localization, but the occurrence of targeted delivery to hepatocytes remains speculative. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Several environmental phenomena can be described by different correlated variables that must be considered jointly in order to be more representative of the nature of these phenomena. For such events, identification of extremes is inappropriate if it is based on marginal analysis. Extremes have usually been linked to the notion of quantile, which is an important tool to analyze risk in the univariate setting. We propose to identify multivariate extremes and analyze environmental phenomena in terms of the directional multivariate quantile, which allows us to analyze the data considering all the variables implied in the phenomena, as well as look at the data in interesting directions that can better describe an environmental catastrophe. Because there are many references in the literature that propose extremes detection based on copula models, we also generalize the copula method by introducing the directional approach. Advantages and disadvantages of the nonparametric proposal that we introduce and the copula methods are provided in the paper. We show with simulated and real data sets how by considering the first principal component direction we can improve the visualization of extremes. Finally, two cases of study are analyzed: a synthetic case of flood risk at a dam (a three‐variable case) and a real case study of sea storms (a five‐variable case).


A rabbit-census method, based on systematic counts conducted at night or at dawn and dusk, was developed and validated in terms of estimating the total number of rabbits present in a given area. Initially, models were developed under semi-natural conditions to describe the relationships between the numbers of rabbits counted and population size. Confidence limits were also calculated. The models were developed by comparing rabbit counts with the actual number of rabbits present, from a known population of animals. Only spotlight counts at night were considered reliable enough to estimate rabbit population size. During the autumn and winter months these represented ~60% of the population present. The model was subsequently validated, in two different exercises, following a series of field trials conducted under a variety of conditions on commercial farms. Initially, population estimates derived from the model were compared with those calculated using an alternative census technique. Population estimates, using the two techniques, were very similar at nine of the ten study sites. A second validation exercise was also conducted whereby the number of rabbits removed at each of the sites was compared with the difference between the mean pre- and post-removal spotlight counts. The results further supported the proposition that spotlight counts represent ~60% of the population present, with the difference between the two mean spotlight counts representing 61.2% (± 11.0, s.d.) of the number of rabbits removed. The census method therefore shows considerable promise as a means to estimate rabbit numbers under a range of agricultural conditions and therefore has the potential to predict accurately the economic costs of rabbit damage and also to gauge the effectiveness of various methods of rabbit control. W R Sight o t n D. W. P et al


For delay-limited communication over block-fading channels, the difference between the ergodic capacity and the maximum achievable expected rate for coding over a finite number of coherent blocks represents a fundamental measure of the penalty incurred by the delay constraint. This paper introduces a notion of worst-case expected-capacity loss. Focusing on the slow-fading scenario (one-block delay), the worst-case additive and multiplicative expected-capacity losses are precisely characterized for the point-to-point fading channel. Extension to the problem of writing on fading paper is also considered, where both the ergodic capacity and the additive expected-capacity loss over one-block delay are characterized to within one bit per channel use.


IP video has taken two forms: Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), which emulates broadcast Television (TV), and Internet video where video selections are accessed across the Internet through Web sites such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and others. IPTV and Internet video each provide capabilities that will drive new TV experience. As more and more TV content migrates to the Internet, "personal" video choices are becoming the norm, not the exception, for IPTV as well as Internet video. Beyond today's established IPTV, transformations in how media are managed and delivered promise a world of personalized content and services delivered to "any device, anytime, anywhere." This paper describes the co-evolution of IPTV and Internet video. It gives a tutorial-level overview describing how IPTV content is managed and delivered today. Then it discusses the impacts on the IPTV architecture and media value chain from transformations in IPTV that are enhanced by Internet and Web capabilities.


ABSTRACT Location-based games (LBGs) augment urban environments with virtual content turning them into a playground. The importance of understanding how different modes of play impact LBG players' psychological well-being is emphasized by the enormous and constantly rising popularity of the genre. In this work, we use the two-factor theory of psychological well-being to investigate the associations between five constructs related to game mechanics and personality traits, and psychological well-being and fatigue. We test our proposed structural model with Finnish Pokémon GO players (N = 855). The results show deficient self-regulation and fear of missing out to be positively associated with gaming fatigue. Engagement with cooperative and individual game mechanics had a positive relationship with well-being. Competitive game mechanics were found to have a positive relationship with both well-being and fatigue. Finally, the overall playing intensity had a strong relationship with well-being, but no association with fatigue.


More than half of area of the Ordos basin located in the Loess Plateau and the surface of the Loess Plateau in the Cenozoic erathem Quaternary system was covered by a layer of varying thickness loess. The reason of the leakage phenomenon of loess layer during the drilling process is that the loess layer is easily influenced by the topography, lithology, climate, vegetation, and drilling. Although many anti blocking and sealing measures have been adopted in the past drilling process, these measures not only solve the leakage phenomenon of loess layer effectively, but also make the leakage passage further expand, thus the leakage rate of the loess layer increases rapidly. Moreover, it not only make the potential safety hazard of downhole and ground, but also results in the increase of drilling workload and cost, prolongs the period, and the environmental pollution. A lot of fundamental research studies have been performed in the characteristics of loess layer and drilling site, a series of effective method to deal with the leakage of the loess layer is proposed, which solves the problem of the production and environmental protection caused by the loss of the loess layer effectively.


Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) regulates cell proliferation and survival. The present study aimed to investigate the role of STAT1 in the development and progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The levels of STAT1 expression in 36 HCC and 12 non-HCC liver tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry. The effect of STAT1 overexpression or silencing on the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells was determined by MTT and flow cytometric assays. The effect of STAT1 overexpression or silencing on the levels of p53 and cyclin E expression was determined by quantitative PCR and western blot assays. The level of STAT1 expression in the HCC tissues was significantly lower compared to the level in the non-HCC liver tissues and was negatively associated with the histological grade of HCC and serum HBsAg, anti-HCV and α-fetoprotein positivity in HCC patients. Induction of STAT1 overexpression significantly inhibited HepG2 cell proliferation and enhanced HCC cell apoptosis, accompanied by upregulation of p53 expression and STAT1 phosphorylation, but a reduction in cyclin E expression in HepG2 cells. In contrast, knockdown of STAT1 by introduction of STAT1-specific siRNA promoted HepG2 cell proliferation, but inhibited HCC cell apoptosis, accompanied by significant downregulation of p53 expression, but enhancement of cyclin E expression in vitro. Our data suggest that STAT1 may inhibit HCC growth by regulating p53-related cell cycling and apoptosis.


One of the key components of any grid architecture is managing compute and storage resources and optimizing their utilization. SAM has implemented features that allow it to exercise a "fair share" and "prioritized" policy among many groups of users. The goals are as follows: 1) implement the experiments policies for resource usage by research group and by data access mode, and 2) optimize the resource usage to maximize the overall throughput defined in terms of real data processing activity. At the lowest level of SAM architecture, called the station, the SAM system integrates the data delivery and cache management with the job control and scheduling of the batch system. At the site-level, for example at Fermilab, requests for data from on-site stations are managed to optimize Mass Storage System resources and network throughput. Management of resources at a various geographic levels are discussed.


The role of infrastructures in boosting the economic growth of the regions is widely recognized. In many cases, an infrastructure is selected by subjective reasons. Selection of the optimal infrastructure for sustainable economic development of a region should be based on objective and founded reasons, not only economical, but also environmental and social. In this paper is developed such selection through a hybrid method based on Delphi, analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and VIKOR (from Serbian, VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje). To do this, a panel of experts assesses both the infrastructures and the drivers for their selection. The method lets us to verify the consistency of answers from experts. In our case, AHP obtains preference values for each infrastructure using the eigenvector method. Meanwhile, the VIKOR method evaluates whether the proposed is the one that best fits the prevailing view, minimizing the regret to the most separate opinions. Thus, for La Costera (Spain), the region under study, this research work concludes that the thematic route is the optimal infrastructure.


Understanding the physical, physiological and psychological components of puberty is essential for diagnosis and optimal management of problematic growth and development. The relationships between these components should be considered also.


From the study of the nonlinear evolution of the relativistic two-stream instability in the physical conditions of the pulsar magnetosphere, that gives rise to strong Langmuir turbulence, we conclude to the probable existence of a lattice of stable Langmuir soliton-like solutions, called "Langmuir microstructures". Such microstructures are associated to three different types of radiation mechanisms. The first mechanism is direct radiation of the microstructures. The second one is curvature radiation of the microstructures moving along the dipolar pulsar magnetic field lines. The third one is related to the acceleration of beam particles in interaction with the lattice of Langmuir microstructures. It can be extremely efficient when some coherence is maintained between the phases of beam particles, for instance by a modulation of the beam. The conditions in which one or the other of these three radiation mechanisms can account for observed pulsar radio luminosities are given.


Unlike other segments of international food production, finfish aquaculture has so far not been associated with major food scandals. However, because of increased focus on food safety, the seafood industry and associated businesses have to respond to and document all aspects related to their products and processes. Consumers have a right to know, and need knowledge and information to be able to make qualified choices. In aquaculture good management and environmental attention is essential for both product quality and economic sustainability. One of the main challenges in all farming activities is efficient fish health management, which is crucial for maintaining and further developing the industry. In all biological production, and also in aquaculture, diseases have been, are, and will continue to present a challenge. When dealing with disease incidents, environmental, ethical, biological and economic issues must be taken into account. In animal health management there is a common understanding that prevention is better than treatment, so also in aquaculture. In many segments of industrial fish farming, vaccines have proved a good management tool to control diseases and to reduce both mortality and the use of chemotherapeutics. As seen in a recent Norwegian consumer survey, this might unfortunately look somewhat different from a consumer point of view. The perception of vaccines as foreign substances, visible vaccine lesions or pigment, words about genetically produced vaccines, and a general lack of knowledge may fuel scepticism. Even when experts are giving good and well-documented information, consumers still stick to their original perception of food, including seafood. Given this background, this papers discusses the aquaculture industry's priorities regarding vaccines and vaccination strategies, and its information policy towards the customer.


ABSTRACT The in vitro and in vivo activities of four azole compounds belonging to a new series of 2(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(4-substituted piperazin-1-yl)-1-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl) butanol antifungal agents is described. The compounds were selected from a library of azole compounds synthesized by our group. The in vitro activities of Syn2869, Syn2836, Syn2903, and Syn2921 against a panel of over 240 recently collected clinical isolates of yeast and molds were determined, and the results were compared with those obtained with fluconazole (FLC), itraconazole (ITC), and amphotericin B (AMB). The MICs at which 90% of the isolates were inhibited (MIC90s) for the four test compounds for strains of Candida spp. ranged from <0.048 to 0.78 μg/ml. All compounds were also active against FLC-resistant Candida albicans and otherCandida sp. strains. Moreover, MIC90s for strains of Cryptococcus neoformans,Aspergillus spp., Trichophyton spp., andMicrosporum spp. were also low and ranged from <0.048 to 0.39 μg/ml. The test compounds produced a fungistatic pattern during the time-kill kinetic studies. In vivo studies indicated that all four test compounds have good efficacies against C. albicans in a murine systemic infection model and significantly improved the survival rates of the infected mice. The results for Syn2903 were similar to those for FLC, while the other compounds were slightly less effective but had ranges of activities similar to the range of activity of ITC. The compounds were also evaluated against anAspergillus fumigatus systemic infection. Syn2903 was also superior to ITC, whereas the efficacy data for the other compounds were similar to those for ITC. It was concluded from the data generated for this new series of azole compounds in the studies described above that further pharmacokinetic and toxicologic evaluations are warranted prior to selection of a candidate compound for preclinical testing.


Enterococcus faecalis is an important nosocomial pathogen causing serious invasive infections. One of the virulence factors of this pathogen, gelatinase GelE, is a protease whose gene expression is regulated by the Fsr quorum sensing system. In this study, we used a well-characterized collection of 153 clinical E. faecalis isolates to investigate the distribution of genes involved in gelatinase expression. Although 140 isolates (91% of the group) harbored the gelE gene, only 81 isolates (53%) produced active gelatinase. The gelatinase-negative phenotype was found in several unrelated clones, and appeared to be caused by various genetic events. Isolates of the hospital-adapted clonal complex 2 (CC2) and of CC40 were uniformly gelatinase-positive, while all the CC87 isolates contained the 23.9 kb deletion encompassing most of the fsr locus and were gelatinase-negative. No significant differences among isolates of different clinical origin and gelatinase activity or presence of the fsr genes were found with the exception of isolates from cerebrospinal fluid, which were more often gelatinase-positive than colonizing isolates.


. The linear electro-optic effect in LiNbO, has been investigated in the wavelength range from 0.4 to 1 .l 5 pm at applied field frequencies of 200 Hz and 9.45 GHz. The dispersion of clamped (r%2) and unclamped electro-optic coefficients is measured. The values of the clamped electro-optic coefficients ( T ; ~ ) are determined. Based on the results of measurements and reported data of the second harmonic generation coefficient, an attempt has been made to estimate the value and dispersion of the electronic and ionic contributions to the clamped electro-ootic effect.


In this paper, the evolution of wafer warpage during reflow process in wafer level packaging (WLP) is investigated by finite element analysis (FEA). The investigation focuses on three different fan-in WLP technologies: ball on polymer WLP without under bump metallurgy (UBM), ball on polymer WLP with thick UBM layer and encapsulated copper post WLP. Both wafer-level model and ball-level model are built and the results indicate that wafer warpage derived from ball-level model is compatible with wafer-level model. Ball on polymer WLP with thick UBM layer has the maximum warpage after reflow process. Reflow profiles with different cooling rate are also simulated.


The algorithm of least square support vector machine (LSSVM) based on fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering is presented in this paper, which can select the number of clusters automatically depending on different parameters and samples. We adopt the method to identify the inverse system with crucial spanless process variables and the inenarrable nonlinear character. In the course of identification, we construct the allied inverse system by the left inverse soft-sensing function and the right inverse system, then utilize the proposed method to approach the nonlinear allied inverse system via offline training. Simulation experiments are performed and indicate that the proposed method is effective and provides satisfactory performance with excellent accuracy and low computational cost comparing with the conventional method using LSSVM.


ABSTRACT Objectives The primary aim is to investigate the effect of the trunk, upper extremity, and lower extremity functions on activities of daily living (ADL), balance, and gait. The second aim is to investigate the effect of trunk position sense on trunk control. Methods Thirty-six patients with chronic stroke were included in the study. The Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), Barthel Index (BI), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and 2-minute walking test (2MWT) were used for the assessment of trunk function, ADL, balance, and gait respectively. The Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement upper extremity (STREAM-UE) and lower extremity (STREAM-LE) sub-scales were used to evaluate extremity functions. The trunk position sense was measured with a digital inclinometer. Results The mean age of the participants was 58.8 ± 12.6 years. In multiple regression analysis, TIS values were found to have a positive effect on BI and BBS (p < 0.05), and STREAM-LE values have a positive effect on BBS and 2MWT (p < 0.05). STREAM-UE values were no significant effect on BI, BBS, or 2MWT (p > 0.05). Trunk position sense was found to have a positive effect on TIS (p < 0.05). Discussion The results of this study showed that trunk functions are more related to ADL and balance than extremity functions. Therefore, trunk training should be included as a basic application in physiotherapy programs for stroke patients.


Objective: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is one of the most frequent occurring chronic kidney diseases in children. In this study, our aim was to assess the sociodemographic structure, determination of clinical data, diagnostic approaches, treatment methods applied and the factors effective on prognosis in patients followed with a diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome in our clinic. Method: The files of 256 patients diagnosed with primary nephrotic syndrome between the ages of 0 and 18 who were followed in Department of Pediatric Nephrology during a period of 15 years between 2004 and 2019 were examined retrospectively. 220 patients whose data were sufficient and who had a sufficient follow-up time were included in the study. Results: 137 of our patients were male, 83 were female and the ratio of male/female was 1.65. Average onset age of the cases was 4.8 ± 2.6 years (1 months-16 years). Renal disease history in the family was 16.4% and the rate of consanguineous marriage was 25.9%. 24% of our patients were found to have microscopic hematuria, 28.2% were found to have hypertension. Of the patients who received biopsy, 32 were determined as FSGS, 18 as MCD, 11 as MPGN, 3 as IgM nephropathy, 2 as hereditary nephrite, 2 as MezPGN, 1 as MGN, 1 as congenital NS and 2 as other reasons. While a total of 193 patients (87.7%) were sensitive to steroid, 27 patients (12.2%) were found to be resistant to steroid. While 78 (35.5%) of the patients were followed with no relapse, 120 (54.5%) patients were relapsing and 22 (10%) patients had frequent relapses. In their follow-up, mortality rate of our patients was found as 2.7%. Conclusion: With this study, we assessed children with primary nephrotic syndrome in our area comprehensively for the first time. Consanguineous marriage rate was higher in our patients. Our findings were also remarkable in terms of demonstrating that primary NS follows its own course in each child depending on the underlying genetic structure.


Blockade of the checkpoint inhibitor PD-1 has demonstrated remarkable success in the clinic for the treatment of a growing list of different cancers. However, several tumor types are resistant to anti-PD-1 monotherapy. This observation has spurred numerous combination studies to reveal what additional therapeutic interventions may complement anti-PD1 blockade. Recently it has been shown that immunogenic cell death (ICD), induced by radiation and/or chemotherapy, improves T cell responses against different tumor types. ICD is characterized by damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) including surface expression of calreticulin, and release of ATP and HMGB1. Recognition of DAMPs triggers dendritic cell maturation and functions that are critical for tumor antigen-specific T cell activation. Thus therapies that evoke ICD may further augment anti-tumor immunity elicited by anti-PD-1. In mouse syngeneic tumor models, we observed combinatorial anti-tumor activity of anti-PD1 and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, dinaciclib. We hypothesized that dinaciclib potentiates the effects of anti-PD-1 by eliciting ICD. Indeed, tumor cells treated with dinaciclib express the hallmarks of ICD including HMGB1 and ATP release and surface expression of calreticulin. Dinaciclib treatment also increases tumor cell phagocytosis and induces dendritic cell maturation. Furthermore, mice immunized with dinaciclib-treated tumor cells are resistant to subsequent tumor challenge. Tumors from mice receiving anti-PD1 and dinaciclib have increased T cell infiltration and dendritic cell activation, indicating the overall quality of the immune response generated may be improved with the combo. Taken together, these findings suggest a potential mechanism for the observed synergy between dinaciclib and anti-PD1. Dinaciclib induces immunogenic cell death, converting the tumor cell into an endogenous vaccine and thereby boosting the effects of anti-PD-1. Citation Format: Dewan Mohammed Sakib Hossain, Fernando Ugarte, Anandi Sawant, Mingmei Cai, Venkataraman Sriram, Elaine Pinheiro, Svetlana Sadekova, Alissa Chackerian. Dinaciclib induces immunogenic cell death and enhances anti-PD-1 mediated tumor suppression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 562.


Abstract Percutaneous treatment of aortic coarctation is based on angioplasty and/or stenting of the isthmus. We report a case of a 28-year-old girl suffering from aortic coarctation syndrome (coarctation + ventricular septal defect + bicuspid aorta). She underwent coarctectomy with subclavian flap and pulmonary bandage followed by ventricular septal defect closure and bandage removal in her first year of life. When she was 27 years old, a follow-up echocardiography detected an isthmic pressure gradient and a demodulated Doppler in abdominal aorta. A cardiac catheterisation confirmed the diagnosis of aortic re-coarctation. An AndraStent® XL 48 mm was implanted with a resolution of the isthmic gradient. One year later, because of the reappearance of demodulated Doppler in abdominal aorta, a chest X-ray was performed, which showed a stent third-grade fracture. The fracture was corrected by positioning a covered stent cheatham platinum 45 mm through the fragments. The rarest complication after stenting procedures is the fracture of the device with an incidence between 0.01% and 0.08%. Pressure overload beyond the elastic threshold of the material and the pulsatile tension exerted by the blood flow on the walls of the stent are the main mechanisms at the base of the fracture, together with the compliance of the tissue. A vessel that underwent multiple surgical rearrangements could interfere with and complicate the physiopathology at the basis of the fracture. In conclusion, stenting is a safe technique to treat aortic coarctation; stent fracture is a rare event, and different anatomical and haemodynamic factors are related to this complication.


A lightcurve of Centaur 1999 UG5 from R-band CCD images taken at the Calar Alto 1.52 m and La Palma 3.5 m TNG telescopes is presented. The lightcurve shows noticeable changes in brightness. Small activity outbursts do not appear to be the cause of the brightness changes because no coma was detected after coadding all the images. Thus, the changes in brightness are interpreted as being caused by rotational variability. A periodogram analysis of the lightcurve reveals significant peaks from 13.0 h to 13.8 h, with a confidence level exceeding 99.9%. The maximum spectral power corresponds to 13.25 h. The overall shape of the lightcurve can be explained by an irregular object rotating once per 26.5 h, but other possibilities exist. Assuming an ellipsoid shape for the rotating body, the 0.24±0.02 mag amplitude of the lightcurve implies a minimum axial ratio of 1.25. The mean absolute magnitude in V band was found to be HV = 10.42± 0.02 assuming a typical phase parameter G = 0.15. This implies a diameter of 55.3 km for the object, provided that a typical albedo of 0.04 is assumed. The colours of 1999 UG5 were found to be B − V = 0.95 ± 0.13, V −R = 0.63± 0.06, and R− I = 0.61 ± 0.09.


OBJECTIVE
To report the results of tension-free repair of incisional and ventral hernias by stoppa's sublay technique.

METHODS
This study included 200 Patients, undergoing sublay mesh repair for incisional and ventral hernias (Para-unbilical, epigastric, right sub costal and lumbar hernias) at Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College and Hira Medical Center Sukkur, during a period of four years from January 2005 to December 2008.

RESULTS
Wound infection was found in 6.5% and seroma formation in 2.5%. Mortality was 0.5%. No recurrence was seen during the follow-up period of 2 years. No septic mesh was removed in the series.

CONCLUSION
The tension-free repair of incisional and ventral hernias with stoppa's sublay mesh repair technique is safe, effective and an easy procedure with acceptable morbidity and no recurrence.


The ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly disrupted traditional modes of operation in healthcare and education. In March 2020, institutions in the United States began to implement a range of policies to discourage direct contact and encourage social distancing. These measures have placed us in an unprecedented position where education can no longer occur at close quarters - most notably, around a multi-headed microscope - but must instead continue at a distance. This guide is intended to be a resource for pathologists and pathologists-in-training who wish to leverage technology to continue collaboration, teaching, and education in this era. The manuscript is focused mainly on anatomic pathology; however, the technologies easily lend themselves to clinical pathology education as well. Our aim is to provide curated lists of various online resources that can be used for virtual learning in pathology, provide tips and tricks, and share our personal experience with these technologies. The lists include video conferencing platforms, pathology websites, free online educational resources, including social media, and whole-slide imaging collections. We are currently living through a unique situation without a precedent or guidebook, and we hope that this guide will enable the community of pathology educators worldwide to embrace the opportunities that 21st century technology provides.


Minocycline normalizes synaptic connections and behavior in the knockout mouse model of fragile X syndrome (FXS). Human-targeted treatment trials with minocycline have shown benefits in behavioral measures and parent reports. Event-related potentials (ERPs) may provide a sensitive method of monitoring treatment response and changes in coordinated brain activity. Measurement of electrocortical changes due to minocycline was done in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover treatment trial in children with FXS. Children with FXS (Meanage 10.5 years) were randomized to minocycline or placebo treatment for 3 months then changed to the other treatment for 3 months. The minocycline dosage ranged from 25–100 mg daily, based on weight. Twelve individuals with FXS (eight male, four female) completed ERP studies using a passive auditory oddball paradigm. Current source density (CSD) and ERP analysis at baseline showed high-amplitude, long-latency components over temporal regions. After 3 months of treatment with minocycline, the temporal N1 and P2 amplitudes were significantly reduced compared with placebo. There was a significant amplitude increase of the central P2 component on minocycline. Electrocortical habituation to auditory stimuli improved with minocycline treatment. Our study demonstrated improvements of the ERP in children with FXS treated with minocycline, and the potential feasibility and sensitivity of ERPs as a cognitive biomarker in FXS treatment trials.


Before recommending a feeding strategy for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, it is important to conduct a holistic assessment of all related emissions, including from those arising from feed production, digestion of these feeds, managing the resulting manure, and other on-farm production processes and inputs. Using a whole-systems approach, the Holos model, and experimentally measured data, this study compares the effects of alfalfa silage- versus corn silage-based diets on GHG estimates in a simulated Canadian dairy production system. When all emissions and sources are accounted for, the differences between the two forage systems in terms of overall net GHG emissions were minimal. Utilizing the functional units of milk, meat, and total energy in food products generated by the system, the comparison demonstrates very little difference between the two silage production systems. However, the corn silage system generated 8% fewer emissions per kg of protein in food products as compared to the alfalfa silage system. Exploratory analysis of the impact of the two silage systems on soil carbon showed alfalfa silage has greater potential to store carbon in the soil. This study reinforces the need to utilize a whole-systems approach to investigate the interrelated effects of management choices. Reported GHG reduction factors cannot be simply combined additively because the interwoven effects of management choices cascade through the entire system, sometimes with counter-intuitive outcomes. It is necessary to apply this whole-systems approach before implementing changes in management intended to reduce GHG emissions and improve sustainability.


Abstract. We study the isolated substorm that occurred after a long quiet period, which showed all of the substorm signatures except for the first half hour of the expansion phase, which could be characterized as a pseudobreakup sequence, rather than a full-scale substorm onset. During the considered event, the substorm's instability leads to a current disruption, which starts at the near-Earth plasma sheet and then propagates tailward. Based on auroral observations, the analysis of geosynchronous plasma injections, and the plasma sheet observations at ~15 R E at the meridian of auroral substorm development we show that (1) before and probably during "pseudobreakup phase", the plasma sheet stayed cold and dense, (2) during the pseudobreakup phase, particle injections at 6.6 R E were only seen in unusually low energy components, and (3) the electron precipitation into the ionosphere was very soft. We conclude that the basic difference between pseudobreakups and "real" substorm activations was found in the low energy of all manifestations. We suggest that high density and low electron temperature in the plasma sheet are the reasons for low energization in the magnetic reconnection operated on closed field lines in the plasma sheet, as well as the weak field-aligned acceleration, as predicted by the Knight's relationship. The low Hall conductivity could then be the reason for the weak ground magnetic effects observed. This explanation suggests that the role of the ionospheric conductivity is "passive" as the plasma sheet, rather than the ionosphere, controls the development of the magnetospheric instability. Key words. Ionosphere (particle precipitation) – Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; plasma sheet)


No nation desirous of reducing its growth rate to 1% or less can expect to do so without the widespread use of abortion. This observational study, based on the experience of 116 of the world's largest countries, supports the contention that abortion is essential to any national population growth control effort. The principal findings are: Except for a few countries with ageing populations and very high contraceptive prevalence rates, developed countries will need to maintain abortion rates generally in the range of 201-500 abortions per 1000 live births if they are to maintain growth rates at levels below 1%. The current rate in the USA is 426 abortions per 1000 live births. Developing countries, on the other hand, are faced with a different and more difficult set of circumstances that require even greater reliance on abortion. No developing nation wanting to reduce its growth to less than 1% can expect to do so without the widespread use of abortion, generally at a rate greater than 500 abortions per 1000 live births. Widespread availability of abortion is a necessary but not sufficient condition to achieve growth rates below 1%. A high contraceptive prevalence is essential as well in order to achieve growth rates below 1%. A high contraceptive prevalence is a necessary but not sufficient condition to achieve population growth rates below 1%. A high rate of abortion (generally 201-500 or more abortions per 1000 live births in the developed and greater than 500 abortions per 1000 live births in the developing countries) is essential to achieve growth rates below 1%. The different and more difficult set of circumstances faced by developing countries that will necessitate even higher abortion rates than developed countries includes a young population with resultant rapidly growing numbers of young fertile women, poor contraceptive use-effectiveness, low prevalence of contraception, and poor or non-existent systems for providing contraceptives. These data show that high death rates of infants and children can moderate population growth rates--a most undesirable solution. The data in this report suggest that actual alternatives are high death rates of infants and children or widespread use of contraception and abortion. African nations tend to have the very lowest abortion rates and the very highest infant and child death rates. To avoid a world with deteriorating social, economic and political stability, with the concomitant loss of personal and national security, we must ensure that safe abortion is made available to all who wish to use this service.


Abstract The relationship between the polite and conventional nature of friendly language and the sincerity of the writer's feelings is a central topic in linguistic and historical research on friendship in epistolary communication. This relationship can be understood in the context of the emotional values and conventionalised emotional practices that characterise the writer's emotional community. The language of friendship has a significant role in the history of letter writing in religious communities. However, epistolary and emotional practices among religious groups in the modern era remain a rather unexplored filed of research. In this regard, the nineteenth century is of particular interest, as it saw the consolidation of sincerity as a central notion in European standards of letter writing. Bringing together historical pragmatics and the history of emotions, this paper describes the forms and functions of sincerity in the negotiation of friendships between nineteenth-century Catholic churchmen. The article analyses a corpus of letters in Italian and Spanish from the multilingual correspondence of European Benedictine missionaries in Australia between the 1850s and the 1890s. The results of the analysis show that sincerity and emotional self-disclosure, while dependent on the pragmatic conventions of letter writing, belonged to cross-linguistic cultural scripts typical of religious communities.


In this brief, the losses in Class-E power amplifiers (PAs) with finite dc-feed inductance are analyzed. This analysis results in practical analytical expressions, which significantly simplify the design and optimization of Class-E PAs. To demonstrate their applicability, the design of a state-of-the-art 2.45-GHz differential cascode Class-E PA in 0.18- CMOS with on-chip dc-feed inductor is presented. By the proposed combination of a dynamic supply voltage and a dynamic cascode bias voltage, high drain efficiency is achieved over a wide power control range, covering from 2.2 up to 20 dBm. At 20 dBm, a power-added efficiency as high as 43.6% was measured. Additionally, fast envelope switching is obtained by adding a single switch to the common-gate nodes of both the Class-E stage and the second driver stage. Measurements show a rise time of merely 2.5 ns and a 73-dB isolation between the on- and off-states. These figures enable ranging applications with submeter accuracy.


Eukaryotic cellular functions are achieved by concerted activities in the cytosol and functions compartmentalized in the nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Moreover, the cytosol and nucleoplasm are populated with mega molecular ensembles that are specialized for different metabolic and biochemical processes. Pollen tubes are unique plant cells with a dramatic growth polarity. Tube growth is restricted to the tip and is supported by a polarized cytoplasmic organization. The apical region of elongating pollen tubes is a domain occupied exclusively by transport vesicles to support the secretion and endocytic activity needed for the rapid cell expansion at the apex. Larger organelles are predominantly segregated to the cytoplasm distal to the subapical region. Underlying the organelle compartmentalization is an elaborate actin cytoskeleton with distinct structural and dynamics properties at the tip, in the subapical region, and in the cytoplasm subtending it. Cytoplasmic domains with differential ionic conditions and spatially restricted localization of molecules in pollen tubes may also be important for regulating the polar cell growth process. The polarized cellular organization in pollen tubes drives an extremely efficient cell growth process that is responsive to extracellular signals, including directional cues. It may be an amplified framework of the cytoplasmic architecture that supports growth in other plant cell types that involves considerably more subtle and transient differential cell expansion.


Iris recognition is a proven, accurate means to identify people. In this paper, it includes the preprocessing system, segmentation, feature extraction and recognition. Especially it focuses on image segmentation and statistical feature extraction for iris recognition process. The performance of iris recognition system highly depends on segmentation. For instance, even an effective feature extraction method would not be able to obtain useful information from an iris image that is not segmented properly. This paper presents a straightforward approach for segmenting the iris patterns. The used method determines an automated global threshold and the pupil center. Experiments are performed using iris images obtained from CASIA database. (Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Matlab application for its easy and efficient tools in image manipulation.


Six fatalities have occurred from the ingestion of a combination of the new psychoactive substances (NPS), 4-fluoroamphetamine (4FA) and 25C-NBOMe over a 9-month period. Four of these fatalities (one older female and three young males) were from direct adverse effects of drugs and one each from a fall while intoxicated and during restraint. All cases were subject to full post-mortem examinations that included collection of femoral blood. The four drug-caused fatalities had post-mortem blood concentrations for 4FA and 25C-NBOMe of 330-682 ng/L (median 417) and 1.4-12 ng/mL (median 4.3), respectively. The other two cases (both young males) where death was considered to have been caused indirectly by drug intoxication had 4FA and 25C-NBOMe post-mortem concentrations of 21 and 123 ng/mL, and 1.8 and 4.5 ng/mL, respectively. None of these cases showed concentrations of drugs that suggested use of high recreational doses. In one drug-caused death capsules and a brown powder obtained from the scene were found to contain a mixture of these two NPS. With the exception of one drug-caused death other drugs were detected, however the effects of the two NPS together were regarded as the primary triggers for the deaths. There were no consistent symptoms or pathology in these cases, however, agitation/aggression was observed in two cases prior to their collapse, with seizures in possibly three cases. Pulmonary and/or cerebral edema was noted in three cases. Potentially significant natural disease (a mildly enlarged heart) was only observed in one drug-caused case. These cases illustrate a possible increased risk of sudden death with this combination of drugs, both of which can elevate serotonin concentrations as well as act as strong stimulants. These cases also illustrate the difficultly in detecting NPS in cases where no prior information is available that might suggest their use.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the pretreatment effect of simvastatin on spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury.

DESIGN
Prospective, interventional study.

SETTING
University research laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS
Forty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats.

INTERVENTIONS
Rats were treated with oral simvastatin, 10 mg/kg (simvastatin group; n = 15) or saline (control group; n = 15) for 5 days before ischemia. Spinal cord ischemia was induced using a balloon-tipped catheter placed in the proximal descending aorta in the control and simvastatin groups, but not in the sham group (n = 15).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Neurologic function was assessed daily using the motor deficit index until 7 days after reperfusion. After the last neurologic evaluation, a histologic examination of the spinal cord was performed. At day 1 after reperfusion, the simvastatin group showed a significantly lower motor deficit index compared with the control group (2.0, 2.0-2.0, v 4.0, 3.5-5.0; p < 0.001). This trend was sustained at day 7 (2.0, 1.5-2.0, v 4.0, 3.0-4.0; p < 0.001). The simvastatin group displayed a significantly larger number of normal motor neurons compared with the control group (mean ± SD, 31.7 ± 6.1 v 20.4 ± 4.4; p < 0.001). However, compared with the sham group, the simvastatin group displayed fewer intact motor neurons (sham group, 38.5 ± 5.1; p = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS
Pretreatment with simvastatin, 10 mg/kg, given orally for 5 days before the ischemia-reperfusion insult, improved the neurologic outcome and preserved more normal motor neurons compared with the control group in a rat model of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion.


Purpose of review Vulvovaginal candidiasis and recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis remain a significant problem in women of child-bearing age. While host defense mechanisms against infection are poorly understood, the most recent studies continue to challenge dogma relative to anti-Candida immunity at other mucosal sites that is normally associated with T helper 1-type CD4+ T cells. Recent findings Four studies comprise the latest findings in host defense against vulvovaginal candidiasis. The first from an animal model provided the most definitive data to date for the lack of involvement by systemic or local T-cell-mediated immunity. The second study confirmed a limited role for antibodies in vaginal candidiasis; similar to past studies, systemic and local Candida-specific antibodies in women with vulvovaginal candidiasis were either similar or elevated compared with controls. The third study from a cohort of adolescents provided evidence for some form of local protective immunity based on high asymptomatic vaginal fungal burden with low incidence rate of vulvovaginal candidiasis. This was addressed more specifically through a natural history protocol involving an intravaginal challenge with live Candida. Results showed a strong correlation between infiltration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils and symptomatic vulvovaginal candidiasis, with no evidence of an inflammatory response in those protected against infection. Summary Instead of vulvovaginal candidiasis being caused by defective or dysfunctional CD4+ T helper 1-type cell-mediated immune reactivity, data suggest that symptomatic vulvovaginal candidiasis is associated with an aggressive response by polymorphonuclear neutrophils, whereas protection appears to be innate and noninflammatory. The role for innate immunity in both protection against, and promotion of, symptomatic vulvovaginal candidiasis is paradigm changing.


Using time series analysis to gauge intermedia agenda setting in a sample of eighteen U.S. political blogs, two elite traditional news entities, and their eleven political newsroom blogs across three issues in 2007, this study reveals that traditional media were unable to set political blog agendas. Ideologically diverse political blog networks were also able to set traditional media's online news agenda, and, to a lesser extent, their newsroom blog agenda. Findings point to a dilution of traditional media's singular agenda-setting influence and to greater interdependence between traditional media and political blogs than suggested by hyperlink studies.


Mammalian cells are able to repair damage to their DNA by a non-semiconservative mode of replication (repair replication, Rasmussen & Painter, 1964, 1966). Mengovirus and Newcastle disease virus are two cytocidal RNA viruses that inhibit semiconservative DNA replication soon after infection (Ensminger & Tamm, 1970a). Neither inhibits non-S phase or unscheduled DNA synthesis (Hand & Tamm, 1971), which probably represents a repair process (Painter & Cleaver, 1969). We have now examined repair replication in cells infected with mengovirus or Newcastle disease virus using more direct methods of measurement. If damaged DNA is labelled during repair with [3H]-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd), the repaired regions are too short to produce a shift in density of the DNA and thus sediment as DNA of normal density when analysed by isopycnic sedimentation in caesium chloride (Pettijohn & Hanawalt, 1964; Cleaver, 1969b).


The longevity of a leaf is related to the benefit that the plant is able to derive from it. This benefit varies among seasons and as more leaves emerge, such that leaf lifespan can be limited by canopy position rather than physiological age. Using interval-censored failure time analysis, we investigate leaf lifespan for 34 Mediterranean species in a previously published dataset involving species with different life forms and functional strategies. Failure time regression models were used to determine leaf lifespan, and to investigate how these effects varied among species. Median lifespan estimated for each species with two methods differed by less than 10% on average, but varied from 0.02–19.5% depending on the shape of the underlying failure time distribution. Within shoots, later-emerging leaves had shorter lifespans for species with longer periods of leaf emergence, and the reverse was true for species with short emergence. Having accounted for the within-shoot effect, leaves emerging in spring had shorter lifespans, particularly herbaceous species, whereas the reverse was true woody species. These effects were consistent among life forms and successional stages, and consistent with theories of within-shoot translocation of resources following self-shading.


We have studied the effect of increased dietary cholesterol on production and degradation of plasma very low density lipoproteins and low density lipoproteins. We studied five unselected normal volunteers who were on weight-maintaining diets consisting of 45% carbohydrate, 40% fat, and 15% protein with a ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat of 0.4. Cholesterol content was 150 mg/1000 kcal in Period A and 500 mg/1000 kcal in Period B. Subjects were fed each diet for 4 to 5 weeks. The turnover of apoproteins B in very low density and low density lipoproteins and of triglyceride in very low density lipoproteins were measured during the last 2 weeks of each study period using 131I-labeled very low density lipoproteins and 125I-labeled low density lipoproteins and 2-3H-glycerol, respectively. There was no significant change in plasma total cholesterol or triglycerides or in low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels during the high cholesterol versus the low cholesterol diet. Similarly, high cholesterol intake had no effect on the rate of production or clearance of apo B in very low density and low density lipoproteins or of triglyceride in very low density lipoproteins. These data indicate that the flux of very low density lipoproteins does not change in nonresponders to high cholesterol diets.


Fluency rankers are used in modern sentence generation systems to pick sentences that are not just grammatical, but also fluent. It has been shown that feature-based models, such as maximum entropy models, work well for this task. Since maximum entropy models allow for incorporation of arbitrary real-valued features, it is often attractive to create very general feature templates, that create a huge number of features. To select the most discriminative features, feature selection can be applied. In this paper we compare three feature selection methods: frequency-based selection, a generalization of maximum entropy feature selection for ranking tasks with realvalued features, and a new selection method based on feature value correlation. We show that the often-used frequency-based selection performs badly compared to maximum entropy feature selection, and that models with a few hundred well-picked features are competitive to models with no feature selection applied. In the experiments described in this paper, we compressed a model of approximately 490.000 features to 1.000 features.


One thing that Sweden is famous for is its long standing neutrality. In this paper, I first gave an overview of Swedish neutrality during the twentieth century and then examined it during the period starting with 2000 and ending with 2004. For this second aim, I studied the Swedish foreign policy statements belonging to this period. Findings of this research tells that a remodelling of the Swedish security policy took place in this period. One important aspect of this remodelling is the abandonment of the policy of neutrality. The general shape that this remodelling took is both related to the traditional objectives of the Swedish security policies, the changing external conditions, threats and risks.