Abstract. Among the lithospheric, atmospheric and ionospheric earthquake precursors, it seems that the ionospheric anomalies showing a meaningful association with seismic activities during absence of solar and geomagnetic activities. Unfortunately there are a limited number of satellite sensors to survey the ionosphere and study on seismo-ionospheric anomalies. This paper represents the data analysis results of Swarm satellites including Alpha, Bravo and Charlie data around the Mexico (September 8, 2017) earthquake. The orbital analysis and time series of magnetic field parameters (magnetic scalar and vectors (X, Y, Z) components) inside the Dobrovolsky's area show anomalous variations close to the time and locations of the Mexico earthquake. There is a concavity or convexity variations in the some of the time-series to the centre of the earthquake day. In other words, from about 90 days before the event a decreasing or increasing trend in variations of parameters is observed and exactly after the earthquake day its trend changes. It should be noted that the variations of the solar and geomagnetic indices must indicate a normal behaviour during the observed seismo-ionospheric anomalies. Therefore this study indicates that the Swarm satellites measurements play an undeniable role in progress the studies of the ionospheric precursors.


The task of editing, indexing, storing, and retrieving medical expressions within medical records remains the main objective for the years to come. Therefore, the need for a parser with semantic capabilities able to robustly extract an essential part of the knowledge embedded in the medical record is paramount. The minimal requirements before considering clinical trials are that such a system has to be in position to handle any source of medical information and to conveniently grasp the main key concepts with low silence, good recognition of modalities and acceptable noise. This paper shows that the potential of morpho-semantic parsing is high to meet these conditions. This technique is an important complement to the traditional lexical approach and to expression-oriented systems like controlled vocabularies.


We report on the major element composition of basaltic glasses from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge transecting the equatorial mega-fracture zones from 7°S to 5°N (65 stations, 10–20 km sampling intervals, 3.5–5 km water depth range). Many of the basaltic glasses are Na2O, SiO2, and MgO rich, similar to other basalt glasses erupted along the deepest regions of the mid-ocean ridge system, suggesting melt generation by relatively low degrees of partial melting at rather shallow depth in the upper mantle. Along the ridge axis, the compositional variations show regular and systematic long-wavelength trends with a major discontinuity at the complex St. Paul transform fault, just south of St. Peter and Paul islets. A corresponding long-wavelength trend in upper mantle potential temperature, mean pressure, and degree of melting and crustal thickness variation is inferred using parameterized petrologic decompression melting models. A 600-km-long, nearly linear negative gradient in these parameters is apparent from the Charcot fracture zone (FZ) to the St. Paul FZ. Over the length of this gradient, the upper mantle potential temperature drops by about 70°C, the mean degree of partial melting changes from 7% to 10%, and the inferred crustal thickness varies between 3 and 6 km. The gradient along the ridge axis is unaffected by the mega-transform fault offsets, implying that a broad (approximately 2000 km wide across-axis and 600 km long along-axis) cold zone is present in the upper mantle just south of the equator. At the discontinuity across the complex St. Paul transform fault, the gradients in inferred potential temperature, mean degree of partial melting, and crustal thickness abruptly change sign, respectively increasing by 80°C, rising from 7% to 10%, and changing from 3 to 6 km. The discontinuity is clearly related to the Sierra Leone plume affecting the Mid-Atlantic Ridge around 1.7°N, as also evident from Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopic variations previously reported on the same glasses (Schilling et al., 1994) and the K2O variation reported here. The cause of the petrologically inferred cold zone and large gradient in the upper mantle south of St. Peter and Paul islets remains more speculative. On the basis of a passive mantle upwelling flow model (Phipps Morgan and Forsyth, 1988) applied to the specific geometry of the equatorial Atlantic, we reject the simplest hypothesis that the cold zone is produced by the compounding cooling effect caused by the very long and densely distributed transform fault offsets in the equatorial Atlantic. The result of this test remains paradoxical in view that good correlations exist between segment length, maximum along-ridge axis relief per segment, mean segment depth, and per segment average bulk compositions of the erupted basalts, and corresponding mean degrees of melting. Other possible causes for the gradational cold zone are briefly explored. These include the evolutionary history of the region with respect to adjacent continental mantle, lithosphere age, thickness, and temperature, and tectonic mode of opening of the Atlantic, as well as large-scale convective motion associated with continental dispersion. No definite conclusions can be reached. However, we emphasize that the petrologically inferred upper mantle thermal structure in the equatorial Atlantic is quite robust and independent of the petrologic decompression melting models considered and their underlying detailed assumptions. Large seismic S wave velocity variations are predicted over the 0–150 km depth range of the upper mantle, based on the reported correlation of Na8 with S wave velocity reported by Yan et al. (1989). Thus detailed seismic tomographic mapping could be used to test further the cold upper mantle zone hypothesis for the equatorial Atlantic.


Cloud computing probably carries disruptive innovations that will change our future in many ways. We explore in this article how R&D Tax Credit changes the cost metrics of cloud computing with short- and long-term effects of its future developments and acceptance as a new key technology. Some of the situations described here may be in effect or arise in some other countries but in-depth analysis of legal texts and practices is necessary to identify them. The comparisons in this article are limited to bare costs. I do not propose adjustments or my opinion to policy makers in order to remain on a scientific level. Yet we go as far as possible as long as we remain in the intents of present laws and regulations.


Measuring the quality of metadata is only possible by assessing the quality of the underlying schema and the metadata instance. We propose some factors that are measurable automatically for metadata according to the CMD framework, taking into account the variability of schemas that can be defined in this framework. The factors include among others the number of elements, the (re-)use of reusable components, the number of filled in elements. The resulting score can serve as an indicator of the overall quality of the CMD instance, used for feedback to metadata providers or to provide an overview of the overall quality of metadata within a reposi-tory. The score is independent of specific schemas and generalizable. An overall assessment of harvested metadata is provided in form of statistical summaries and the distribution, based on a corpus of harvested metadata. The score is implemented in XQuery and can be used in tools, editors and repositories.


BACKGROUND
The frequency of gender identity disorder is hard to determine; the number of gender reassignment operations and of court proceedings in accordance with the German Law on Transsexuality almost certainly do not fully reflect the underlying reality. There have been only a few studies on patient satisfaction with male-to-female gender reassignment surgery.

METHODS
254 consecutive patients who had undergone male-to-female gender reassignment surgery at Essen University Hospital's Department of Urology retrospectively filled out a questionnaire about their subjective postoperative satisfaction.

RESULTS
119 (46.9% ) of the patients filled out and returned the questionnaires, at a mean of 5.05 years after surgery (standard deviation 1.61 years, range 1-7 years). 90.2% said their expectations for life as a woman were fulfilled postoperatively. 85.4% saw themselves as women. 61.2% were satisfied, and 26.2% very satisfied, with their outward appearance as a woman; 37.6% were satisfied, and 34.4% very satisfied, with the functional outcome. 65.7% said they were satisfied with their life as it is now.

CONCLUSION
The very high rates of subjective satisfaction and the surgical outcomes indicate that gender reassignment surgery is beneficial. These findings must be interpreted with caution, however, because fewer than half of the questionnaires were returned.


The performance of breathing systems is tested by means of physical lung models. We describe a new lung model, allowing direct measurement of the dead space/tidal volume ratios produced by any breathing system at different fresh gas flows. The model allows a range of different patterns of spontaneous respiration to be studied. Although rebreathing is measured by capnography, the design ensures that the results are unaffected by changes in carbon dioxide inflow, or even calibration drift in the capnograph.


Pregnancy consists of a series of small, continuous physiologic adjustments that affect the metabolism of all nutrients. The adjustments undoubtedly vary widely from woman to woman depending on her prepregnancy nutrition, genetic determinants of fetal size, and maternal lifestyle behavior. A healthy and varied diet is important during pregnancy because the maternal diet must provide sufficient energy and nutrients to meet the mother's usual requirements, as well as the needs of the growing fetus, and enable the mother to lay down stores of nutrients required for fetal development as well as for lactation. The dietary recommendations for pregnant women are actually very similar to those for other adults, but with a few notable exceptions. There is an increased requirement for energy, protein and several micronutrients during pregnancy. The importance of good dietary advice during pregnancy is a healthy, balanced diet, in particular plenty of ironand folate-rich foods. In addition, a folic acid supplement (400 μg/day) is recommended prior to and up to 12 week of gestation, and vitamin D supplement (10 μg/day) is recommended throughout pregnancy. As well as following a healthy, balanced diet, staying physically active is also very important during pregnancy. Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain during pregnancy and help the mother return to a normal weight after the birth. Regular aerobic exercises (walking, swimming) during pregnancy help improve or maintain physical fitness and body image. Certain population groups may require closer attention during pregnancy, including teenage girls, women from certain ethnic group, and women from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Efforts to achieve good maternal nutritional status preconception as well as throughout gestation best assure a good milieu for fetal growth and development and maternal health.


A new SSC-linac system (injector into separated sector cyclotron) is being designed in the HIRFL (heavy ion research facility of Lanzhou). As part of SSC-Linac, the LEBT (low energy beam transport) consists of seven solenoids, four quadrupoles, a bending magnet and an extra multi-harmonic buncher. The total length of this segment is about 7 meters. The beam dynamics in this LEBT has been studied using three-dimensional PIC (particle-in-cell) code BEAMPATH. The simulation results show that the continuous beam from the ion source is first well analyzed by a charge-to-mass selection system, and the beam of the selected charge-to-mass ratio is then efficiently pre-bunched by a multi-harmonic buncher and optimally matched into the RFQ (radio frequency quadrupole) for further acceleration. The principles and effects of the solenoid collimation channel are discussed, and it could limit the beam emittance by changing the aperture size.


Hydrogen has been considered as an alternative source of fuel to the fossil fuel in future, most especially, for mobile applications. However, a requirement is the safe, efficient and compact onboard storage of hydrogen. Reversible storage in metal hydride is promising, but adequate knowledge of materials system fulfills all requirements regarding hydrogen content is a major drawback, release temperature, and reversibility simultaneously. Hydrogen absorptiondesorption in a metal hydride bed reactor can be modeled using different software such as FLUENT, CFDACE, and COMSOL Multiphysics. This book chapter will focus on the use of software COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate the diffusion and heating of hydrogen and metal hydride powder in both radial and axial directions. The model consists of system of partial differential equations (PDE) describing two-dimensional heat and mass transfer of hydrogen in a porous matrix. The influence of the operating parameters Temperature, Pressure, Concentration, Permeability and Thermal Conductivity on the rate of absorption-desorption of hydrogen in metal hydride will be fully discussed. The simulation results obtained could be applied to the on board hydrogen storage technology, in particular for the hydrogen supply of a fuel cell for powering of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.


The creation of real estate investment trusts (REITs) facilitates the conversion of illiquid commercial real estate assets into liquid tradable securities in the public market space. The process increases liquidity and generates significant growth in cross-border real estate transactions. This study uses a large sample of proprietary commercial real estate transactions data from more than 73 countries within the sample period of 2001 through 2015. We investigate the impact of REIT creation on international real estate capital flows. Using non-REIT countries as the control group, we show that REITs open a new channel to attract institutional investments in real estate. New investments in real estate by both local institutional investors and foreign investors increase in REIT countries relative to non-REIT countries. The results imply that there is no substitution effects of REITs on private real estate market activities. We also find no evidence of "crowding out" effects on local investors, as we do not observe significant changes in the outflows of real estate capital. The relatively large increases in domestic real estate investments have caused declines in the shares of cross-border real estate capital flows in the post-REIT regime.


Abstract The field has successfully used Drosophila genetic tools to identify neurons and sub-circuits important for specific functions. However, for an organism with complex and changing internal states to succeed in a complex and changing natural environment, many neurons and circuits need to interact dynamically. Drosophila's many advantages, combined with new imaging tools, offer unique opportunities to study how the brain functions as a complex dynamical system. We give an overview of complex activity patterns and how they can be observed, as well as modeling strategies, adding proof of principle in some cases.


Supervision is an effort to help the development and upgrading of the parties in supervision so that they can carry out tasks predefined activities efficiently and effectively. The characteristics and properties of supervision there are two that are natural and that is good. Supervision also has the functions and duties that the Coordinator, Consultant, Group Leader, Evaluator. The purpose of supervision is to provide assistance to subordinates directly, so that subordinates have enough stock to be able to carry out tasks or jobs with good results and orient, train workers, lead, provide direction, and develop the skills of personnel.


Background International guidelines recommend moderate-to-severe cancer pain to be treated with strong opioids. However, pain management remains an unsolved matter, at least in the demanding oncology and palliative care setting. Although cancer pain consists of multiple components, which interact in complex ways where combination therapy can better intercept multiple pain characteristics, few studies have used a non-opioid/opioid association to exploit possible synergistic actions. Even the efforts of a recent approach emphasizing appropriate pain assessment and accurate classification to obtain personalized pain management have not produced a satisfactory analgesic strategy. Objective This analysis was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the immediate release fixed combination of oxycodone/acetaminophen (OxyIR/Par) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe intensity background pain used alone or in combination with other strong opioids in cancer patients with breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP). This is a secondary analysis of a wider observational, prospective, multicenter study [Italian Oncologic Pain multiSetting Multicentric Survey (IOPS-MS)] performed on 179 patients treated with opioids for cancer pain who received the fixed combination of oxycodone/acetaminophen (OxyIR/Par) for the treatment of background pain (BGP). Results Cancer patients with breakthrough cancer pain and controlled BGP (Background Pain) were classified according to the presence of analgesic therapy with tablets of fixed combination OxyIR/Par alone (group A, n=120) or tablets of fixed combination OxyIR/Par combined with other strong opioids (group B, n=59). Clinical features of group A were different to group B: higher mean Karnofsky Performance Status Index 70.3% (95% CI=67.2–73.5; median=70, CI=60–80) vs 58.3 (95% CI=53.4–63.2; median=50, CI=45–70) (P<0.001), and mainly group A patients were treated in an ambulatory setting (55.0% group A vs 33.9% group B) (p<0.001). Both groups had managed BGP with similar mean dosages (group A: 12.0, CI=10.5–13.4; group B: 13.1, CI=11.0–15.1) and frequencies of OxyIR/Par alone for group A and in association to other opioids for group B, but Breakthrough cancer Pain (BTcP) exhibited different characteristics in the two groups, showing a lower mean intensity numerical rating scale (NRS) of 7.5 (95% CI=7.2–7.7; median=7, CI=7–8 group A) vs 7.9 (95% CI=7.6, 8.2; median= 8, CI=7–9 group B) (P=0.04) and a higher percentage of patients had a faster onset, defined as the maximum intensity reached in less than 10 minutes, 81.7% (N=98) in group A vs 59.3% (n=35) in group B (P=0.002). Conclusion This is the first analysis about the efficacy of an immediate-release fixed combination of OxyIR/Par in the real world for moderate-to-severe background cancer pain and breakthrough cancer pain. The oral fixed combination OxyIR/Par provided an adequate level of analgesia for moderate–severe background cancer pain, in a different cohort of cancer patients with different performance status, both in ambulatory and palliative settings. The low dosage of fixed combination OxyIR/Par was effective alone or in association with other opioids.


Radiation from a flanged parallel-plate waveguide is studied analytically using the Weber-Schafheitlin discontinuity integral when the waveguide is excited by TE-mode waves, TM-mode waves, or an electromagnetic line source. Electromagnetic fields are represented by the discontinuity integral in the exterior space, and in the waveguide region they are expanded by normal modes of the waveguide. Imposing the boundary conditions in the aperture gives a set of simultaneous equations for the expansion coefficients. Once the solutions of these equations are determined, quantities of interest, such as reflection coefficients, modal coefficients of higher-order modes excited at the aperture, and radiation patterns, are readily obtained without knowing the field distribution in the aperture. Numerical calculations for the radiation patterns, reflection coefficients, and modal coefficients of higher order modes are carried out, and a part of the results is compared with the asymptotic solution by Lee [1970]. The effect of truncation in solving the equations numerically is also studied, and this method is found to exhibit rapid numerical convergence.


PURPOSE
To evaluate whether parapapillary atrophy can be measured interactively using confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy.

METHODS
For 36 patients with open-angle glaucoma or suspected of having glaucoma, confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy of the optic nerve head was performed using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Alpha and beta zones of parapapillary atrophy were plotted independently by two examiners on HRT images before and after reviewing optic disc photographs. These data were compared with planimetric measurements obtained from analyzing the disc photographs.

RESULTS
Before viewing the disc photographs, assessment using the HRT images correlated better with the beta zone than alpha zone planimetric measurements. If the HRT images were evaluated while simultaneously viewing disc photographs, correlation coefficients increased for both examiners 1 and 2. Interobserver and intraobserver reliability were 0.431 and 0.802, respectively, for alpha zone, and 0.882 and 0.948, respectively, for beta zone.

CONCLUSION
Parapapillary atrophy can be estimated with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy. Correlation with planimetric measurements is best if conventional optic disc photographs are simultaneously viewed. Intraobserver and interobserver reliability are higher for beta zone than for alpha zone.


In 1983, Graham Hughes first described the concept of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). In 1984, we described the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system which directly detected circulating aCL in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who revealed biological false positive serological test for syphilis. In 1990, three groups, including our group, independently reported the necessity of a cofactor for the binding of autoimmune anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) to the solid phase phospholipids. b2-glycoprotein I (b2GPI) was identified as this cofactor. In 1994,the epitope for aCL was shown to develop when b2GPI is adsorbed on polyoxygenated polystyrene plates. In 2000, we described antiprothrombin antibodies bind to prothrombin exposed to immobilized phosphatidylserine and established a phosphatidylserine dependent monoclonal antiprothrombin antibody. In 2004, a novel role of nicked b2GPI was identified in the negative feedback pathway of extrinsic fibrinolysis. Nicked b2GPI was found to bind angiostatin 4.5 and to attenuate its antiangiogenic property. In 2004, we demonstrated that the p38 MAPK pathway mediates induction of the TF gene in stimulated with human monoclonal antib2GPI antibodies. Very recently, b2GPI was identified as a complement regulator. The cross-link between complement activation and prothrombotic status in patients with APS has been drawn much attention.Genetic factors are hypothesized to play a role in the susceptibility to APS based on several family studies in patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and/or clinical manifestations of APS. The genetics of b2GPI has been extensively studied. 247 Val/Leu polymorphism can affect the conformational change of b2-GPI and the exposure of the epitopes for aCL. We found that 247 Val was correlated with anti-b2-GPI production in patients with primary APS, and 247 Val may be important for b2-GPI antigenicity. STAT4 SNP in Japanese patients with SLE and/or APS. T allele frequencies in SLE and APS were significantly elevated compared with that in healthy controls. When analyzed only in primary APS patients, T allele frequency was further higher. BANK1, BLK and SNP in 1q25.1 region were associated with not only SLE but also APS in Japanese population. These results suggest that APS and SLE, in part, share a common genetic background.


Introduction: The Health Educators Academy at Western Carolina University was developed by the Dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. Interdisciplinary fellows in the 2015 HEA focused on competency based education (CBE), which naturally incentivizes collaborative, interdisciplinary and interprofessional work. The 2015 Health Educator Academy Fellows researched healthcare competencies and designed curriculum changes that aligned within these parameters. This article discusses the creation of a first-year, interprofessional healthcare course that emphasizes CBE as well as interprofessional practice. Interprofessional Goals: The 2015 Academy Fellows believed that a collaborative course in the first-year curriculum that builds upon integral competencies would help introduce a structure that would support further IPE in later courses. Background of CBE: The recent expansion of CBE in higher education is a result of a number of factors, including changing demographics, the increase in student debt, declining state funding, and the need for accountability markers and improved learning outcomes. First- Year Experience: First-year seminars were first designed to ease the transition to college for students and to increase both retention and persistence to graduation. Proposed CBE Course: Three foundational interprofessional global health competencies domains were implemented into the first-year experience course: collaboration, partnering and communication; ethics; and sociocultural and political awareness. Reflection and Lessons Learned: In reflecting upon the process of designing a first-year interprofessional, competency-based course, the members of the Health Educator Academy organically implemented many educator and curricular best practices that facilitate collaboration in health care delivery. Future Plans: Rather than deal with complex health issues from a single, specialized approach, healthcare providers will need to work as a team to meet the needs of patients as well as the broader community. Courses such as a first-year seminar based on interprofessional competency-based curriculum can begin the process of teaching students to think collaboratively and critically. This type of course will provide some of the tools that students will need once they leave the university and enter the professional realm.


Prenatal ultrasound examination is used for screening congenital heart defects and fetal genetic diseases. Unfavorable factors such as low signal-to-noise ratio, artifact and poor fetal posture in ultrasound images make it a very complicated task to identify and interpret the standard scan plane of the fetal heart in prenatal ultrasound examinations. Deep learning related methods are widely used to process and analyze medical images. However, designing an effective network structure for a specific task is a time-consuming and relies on expert knowledge. In order to obtain an effective fetal ultrasound image classification model in a short time, this paper collects and organizes the Fetal Heart Standard Plane(FHSP) level III screening dataset, and we use the Differentiable Architecture Search(DARTS) method for FHSP classification task to automatically obtain an efficient adaptive classification deep model called Ultrasound Image Adaptive Classification model(UIAC) for assisting the diagnosis of fetal congenital heart disease. This new model is a deep neural network consisting of two automatically searched optimal blocks. Our UIAC model has fewer parameters than the mainstream manned classification networks. Moreover, it has achieved the best recognition results on the FHSP classification task: top1-accuracy 89.84%, macro-f1 89.72%, kappa score 88.82%.


The first part of this study explored relationships of 41 individual-difference measures to an earlier self-report measure of habitual alcohol use. Five measures of individual differences relating to anxiety exhibited negative correlations with habitual alcohol use. Also, obesity was not correlated significantly with alcohol use. The second part showed that a bored temperament was associated with the highest level, and a docile temperament was associated with the lowest level of habitual alcohol use. The second lowest level of habitual alcohol use was associated with an anxious temperament.


In some situation, it's necessary to store a whole folder into a database and provide random access to any file in it. This paper puts forward a new method to store a folder as a whole and access its file randomly in a database based on the integration of BLOB, Stream and Serialization technology. First, the folder is packed up, resulting in a file stream and a directory structure object. Then, the directory structure object is serialized to a directory structure stream. Finally, the file stream and directory structure stream are saved as BLOB data in a database respectively. When reading from the database, we first read the directory structure BLOB data as a stream, and deserialize it to the directory structure object. Then, with the information in the directory structure object, we can choose which file to access and ascertain its location and size in the folder's file BLOB data. Finally, we read the corresponding data section out of the database and realize the random access of a file.


This article discusses the image of Adolf Eichmann, which has haunted the screen ever since his spectacular kidnapping in Argentina. Characterized by a lack of archive images from the Nazi era and an abundance of images from the trial in Jerusalem in 1962, the man in the glass booth is an interesting example of the role of archive images in cultural memory and the mediality of history. Eichmann as a "media phenomenon" is analysed in his different dimensions: first a semiologic study of the two iconic images which became "super signs" of the Holocaust, generating contradictory narratives; then an exhaustive overview of the films produced about Adolf Eichmann with their thematic and narrative approaches; the analysis of three films made after the Fall of the Berlin Wall and their link to German national memory; and finally a discussion of the central motive of the glass booth and its migration toward other filmic contexts, giving Eichmann a wider presence in popular culture.


Paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy has been underutilized in the study of metalloproteins. One difficulty of the technique is that paramagnetic relaxation broadens signals from nuclei near paramagnetic centers. In systems with low electronic relaxation rates, this makes such signals difficult to observe or impossible to assign by traditional methods. We show how the challenges of detecting and assigning signals from nuclei near the metal center can be overcome through the combination of uniform and selective 2H, 13C, and 15N isotopic labeling with NMR experiments that utilize direct one-dimensional (2H, 13C, and 15N) and two-dimensional (13C-X) detection. We have developed methods for calculating NMR chemical shifts and relaxation rates by density functional theory (DFT) approaches. We use the correspondence between experimental NMR parameters and those calculated from structural models of iron-sulfur clusters derived from X-ray crystallography to validate the computational approach and to investigate how structural differences are manifested in these values. We have applied this strategy to three iron-sulfur proteins: Clostridium pasteurianum rubredoxin, Anabaena [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin, and human [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin. Provided that an accurate structural model of the iron-sulfur cluster and surrounding residues is available from diffraction data, our results show that DFT calculations can return NMR observables with excellent accuracy. This suggests that it might be possible to use calculations to refine structures or to generate structural models of active sites when crystal structures are unavailable. The approach has yielded insights into the electronic structures of these iron-sulfur proteins. In rubredoxin, the results show that substantial unpaired electron spin is delocalized across NH...S hydrogen bonds and that the reduction potential can be changed by 77 mV simply by altering the strength of one of these hydrogen bonds. In reduced [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins, hyperfine shift data have provided quantitative information on the degree of valence trapping. The approach described here for iron-sulfur proteins offers new avenues for detailed studies of these and other metalloprotein systems.


The products, kinetics, and mechanism of the reaction Cl + butanone have been measured by UV irradiation of Cl(2)/butanone/N(2) (O(2)) mixtures using either GC or FTIR analysis. In the absence of O(2), the products are 1-, 3-, and 4-chlorobutanone with yields of 3.1%, 76%, and 22.5%, respectively. As the temperature is increased, the yields of 1- and 4-chlorobutanone increase relative to the 3-chlorobutanone yield. On the basis of these increases, the activation energies for hydrogen abstraction at the 1 and 4 positions are determined to be 1800 (+/-300) and 470 (+300, -150) cal mol(-1) relative to abstraction at the 3 position. In the presence of 400 ppm of O(2) with 700-900 ppm of Cl(2) at 297 K, the yields of 1- and 3-chlorobutanone decrease dramatically from 3.1% to 0.25% and from 76% to 2%, respectively, while the 4-chlorobutanone decreases only slightly from 22.5% to 18.5%. The observed oxygenated species are acetaldehyde (52%), butanedione (11%), and propionyl chloride (2.5%). Increasing the temperature to 400 K (O(2) = 500 ppm) suppresses these oxygenated products and 1- and 3-chlorobutanone again become the primary products, indicating that the O(2) addition reaction to the 1- and 3-butanonyl radicals is becoming reversible. At 500 K and very high O(2) mole fraction (170,000 ppm), a new product channel opens which forms a substantial yield (approximately 20%) of methylvinylketone. Computer modeling of the product yields has been performed to gain an understanding of the overall reaction mechanism in the presence and absence of O(2). The reaction of chlorine atoms with butanone proceeds with a rate constant of 4.0 (+/-0.4) x 10(-11) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) independent of temperature over the range 297-475 K (E(a) = 0 +/- 200 cal mol(-1)). Rate constant ratios of k(CH(2)C(O)C(2)H(5) + Cl(2))/k(CH(2)C(O)C(2)H(5) + O(2)) = 0.027 +/- 0.008, k(CH(3)C(O)CHCH(3) + Cl(2))/ k(CH(3)C(O)CHCH(3) + O(2)) = 0.0113 +/- 0.0011, and k(CH(3)C(O)CH(2)CH(2) + Cl(2))/k(CH(3)C(O)CH(2)CH(2) + O(2)) = 1.52 +/- 0.32 were determined at 297 K in 800-950 Torr of N(2) diluent. In 700-900 Torr of N(2)/O(2) diluent, the major fate of the alkoxy radicals CH(3)C(O)CH(O)CH(3) and OCH(2)C(O)C(2)H(5) is decomposition to give CH(3)C(O) radicals and CH(3)CHO and HCHO and C(O)C(2)H(5) radicals, respectively.


Background To investigate the potential of serum miRNAs as biomarkers for early detection of gastric cancer (GC), a population-based study was conducted in Linqu, a high-risk area of GC in China. Methodology/Principal Findings All subjects were selected from two large cohort studies. Differential miRNAs were identified in serum pools of GC and control using TaqMan low density array, and validated in individual from 82 pairs of GC and control, and 46 pairs of dysplasia and control by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The temporal trends of identified serum miRNA expression were further explored in a retrospective study on 58 GC patients who had at least one pre-GC diagnosis serum sample based on the long-term follow-up population. The miRNA profiling results demonstrated that 16 miRNAs were markedly upregulated in GC patients compared to controls. Further validation identified a panel of three serum miRNAs (miR-221, miR-744, and miR-376c) as potential biomarkers for GC detection, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve-based risk assessment analysis revealed that this panel could distinguish GCs from controls with 82.4% sensitivity and 58.8% specificity. MiR-221 and miR-376c demonstrated significantly positive correlation with poor differentiation of GC, and miR-221 displayed higher level in dysplasia than in control. Furthermore, the retrospective study revealed an increasing trend of these three miRNA levels during GC development (P for trend<0.05), and this panel could classify serum samples collected up to 5 years ahead of clinical GC diagnosis with 79.3% overall accuracy. Conclusions/Significance These data suggest that serum miR-221, miR-376c and miR-744 have strong potential as novel non-invasive biomarkers for early detection of GC.


This paper describes the implementation of a heuristic method to perform non-zero clock skew scheduling of digital VLSI circuits in a parallel computing environment. In the proposed method, circuit partitions that have low number of timing paths between partitions are formed. Clock skew scheduling is applied independently to each partition-sequentially or in parallel on a computing cluster-and results are iteratively merged. The scalability of the proposed method is superior compared to conventional non-zero clock skew scheduling techniques due to the reduction of analyzed circuit sizes (partition sizes) at each iteration step and the potential to parallelize the analyses of these partitions. It is demonstrated that after only the first iteration step of the proposed method, feasible clock schedules for 65% of the ISCAS'89 benchmark circuits are computed. For these circuits, average speedups of 2.1X and 2.6X are observed for sequential and parallel application of clock skew scheduling to partitions, respectively.


The remarkable diversity of male reproductive traits observed in nature is often attributed the 2 1 evolutionary forces of sexual conflict, sperm competition, and sperm precedence 1-4. However, the genetic 2 2 mechanisms that enable reproductive traits to respond to changes in selective regime are often unknown. 2 3 Moreover, because most genes expressed in reproductive organs (e.g. testes) are also expressed elsewhere 2 4 peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.


This paper discusses de Clercq's contribution to our understanding of the relationship between scale degree and cadence type within Bach chorales from the perspective of style and probability. De Clercq is applauded for the diligence of this research and for attempting to synthesize findings into a practical, working model of benefit to music-theory students and educators. A literal interpretation of a premise underpinning his model—that more common musical events are more indicative of a style—is, however, found to be inconsistent. A test is described in which university students enrolled in a second-level harmony class were presented with pairs of cadences. Cadences were manipulated in various ways, primarily to investigate whether the inclusion of certain figurations would result in a perfect-authentic cadence—the most ubiquitous cadence within Bach chorales—being considered less stylistic than a never-occurring cadence. This proved to be the case, demonstrating the importance of figuration over scale degree and cadence for the accomplishment of style. De Clercq's model is further discussed with respect to probabilistic models of music and in relation to proscriptive approaches to teaching harmony.


[The stages in the development of Calanus finmarchicus described and figured by Miss Lebour in the present paper were taken from culture jars given into my charge by Mr. L. R. Crawshay, when he left the Laboratory to undertake military duties in connection with the war. In one jar at that time the first copepodid stage, from eggs laid in the jar, had just been reached, and the technical details for the successfuJ rearing of the animals had been mastered. The experiments had been conducted with great care, and all possible precautions had been taken to prevent contamination. Subsequently the experiments were repeated up to a certain point by myself and some additional stages obtained to complete the serIes. The cultures were made in 2-litre glass beakers, containing" outside" sea-water filtered through a Berkefeld filter. In order to secure an even temperature the beakers stood in the circulating water of the Laboratory tanks, and a pure culture of the diatom Nitzschia closterium was used as food.-E. J. ALLEN.] '.


University X is a state university in Indonesia that can independently manage its assets. In carrying out its business processes, University X uses many information systems managed by the Directorate of Information Systems and Technology (DIST). The management of IS/IT at the State University has not yet reached risk management implementation under IT governance. This research criticized the absence of an IS/IT recovery plan as the root cause. In this regard, University X must have a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) to guide risk management implementation. This research used qualitative methods, a combination of case study methods, and action research. Data collection was carried out by interviews with the university's management, literature study, documentation, and observation of business processes of IS/IT assets and data center. The DRP document was designed based on NIST SP 800–34 Rev.1. The stages of this research consisted of the analysis of business processes, identification of IS/IT assets, policymaking of an IS/IT disaster recovery plan, business impact analysis, prevention control analysis on data center based on ANSI / TIA 942-A, and designing DRP documents. The validation process of the DRP document involved the management of DIST. This research delivered a DRP document draft that suits University X's needs as a state university in Indonesia.


Dermal hypoplasia is reported in three patients with neurofibromatosis. The areas of dermal hypoplasia failed to react to vasodilator stimuli and responded poorly to a vasoconstrictor stimulus. Histology of these lesions showed neurofibromatous tissue and at an ultrastructural level cells resembling perineurial cells were wrapped around dermal vessels. The poor vascular responses seen in these areas of neurofibromatous dermal hypoplasia might be due to the perineurial cells acting as a barrier to diffusion of the pharmacological agents and as a physical perivascular splint


We use >9400 quiescent and star-forming galaxies at z ≲ 2 in COSMOS/UltraVISTA to study the average size evolution of these systems, with focus on the rare ultra-massive population at . The large 2 square degree survey area delivers a sample of ∼400 such ultra-massive systems. Accurate sizes are derived using a calibration based on high-resolution images from the Hubble Space Telescope. We find that at these very high masses, the size evolution of star-forming and quiescent galaxies is almost indistinguishable in terms of normalization and power-law slope. We use this result to investigate possible pathways of quenching massive m > M* galaxies at z < 2. We consistently model the size evolution of quiescent galaxies from the star-forming population by assuming different simple models for the suppression of star formation. These models include an instantaneous and delayed quenching without altering the structure of galaxies and a central starburst followed by compaction. We find that instantaneous quenching reproduces the observed mass-size relation of massive galaxies at z > 1 well. Our starburst+compaction model followed by individual growth of the galaxies by minor mergers is preferred over other models without structural change for galaxies at z > 0.5. None of our models is able to meet the observations at m > M* and z < 1 without significant contribution of post-quenching growth of individual galaxies via mergers. We conclude that quenching is a fast process in galaxies with m ≥ 1011 M⊙, and that major mergers likely play a major role in the final steps of their evolution.


: The study focused on the use of Urea containing hydroponic solutions for growing Telfairia occidentalis Hooker fil and evaluated the bioactive compounds and mineral contents of T. occidentalis . They solutions varied in the amount of Urea granules (25g, 50g, 75g, 100g, 125g and 150g, respectively) dissolved in water and designated as M 25 U, M 50 U, M 75 U, M 100 U, M 125 U, M 150 U and Control, respectively. Two-week old seedlings of T. occidentalis raised using River-sand were transferred into the growth media; in four replicates. The bioactive compounds (nutritional composition, vitamins, and amino acids contents) and mineral content were determined 5 weeks after planting following standard procedures. Telfairia occidentalis grown in Control and M 25 U media had the highest energy level (1509.76 KJ/100g and 1496.70 KJ/100g, respectively) while the lowest energy content (1351.87 J/100g) was recorded at M 75 U growth medium. The study showed that T. occidentalis contains more of water-soluble vitamins than fat-soluble vitamins. The leaves grown in M 100 U medium had the highest total vitamins value. Also, 9 essential amino acids (EAA) and 11 non-essential amino acids (NEAA) were detected and quantified in the leaves of T. occidentalis grown in varying Urea solutions. The EAA contents were lower than the NEAA contents. Amongst the amino acids and growth media, glycine content (9.10%) of leaves was the most concentrated in M 50 U medium. The concentrations of N, Ca, Mg and K in the leaves were high compared Na, Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu in the growth media. The leaves grown in the Control medium had the lowest mineral content in most of the growth media .


ABSTRACT Background: Patients with mechanical heart valves (MHVs) require long-term oral anticoagulation therapy to protect against thromboembolisms. Invasive procedures with high bleeding risks require oral anticoagulation therapy cessation. Currently, guidelines recommend the use of either subcutaneous low-molecular-weight heparin or intravenous unfractionated heparin in the perioperative period. It is unclear whether the evidence supports the use of one heparinoid over the other. Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of low-molecular-weight heparin and unfractionated heparin bridging based on the adverse outcomes of thromboembolisms, major bleeding, and death during the perioperative period. Date sources: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library. Five studies comparing the two bridging therapies in chronically anticoagulated MHV patients met the inclusion criteria. Conclusions: No statistical significance was found for the endpoints of thromboembolism and death. One study found a statistically significant higher occurrence of major bleeding in patients treated with unfractionated heparin. In all the studies, major bleeding occurred more often than thromboembolisms. Findings were limited by the study designs and methodologies. Implications for practice: Based on the available evidence, neither low-molecular-weight heparin nor intravenous heparin bridging was found to be more effective in reducing the occurrence of adverse events. This may be due in part to the study designs and lack of standardized bridging protocols used in the studies reviewed. Nurse practitioners should remain informed about bridging protocols and weigh the risk versus benefit of each bridging agent when caring for patients with MHVs.


AIMS AND METHODS
702 dentists in private practices were surveyed about dental treatments of pregnant patients with an anonymous questionnaire.

RESULTS
61.3% of the dentists indicated that they treat pregnant patients, 35.5% postponed treatment to a postnatal time if possible and 3.4% referred these patients to dental clinics. The most frequently occurring treatments measures were pain and emergency treatments in 53.3% of the cases, followed by restorative treatments (42.9%) and oral hygiene measures (39.7%). Only 9.8% of the dentists performed all necessary treatments, 14% were against using an anesthetic during pregnancy. Less than 50% of the dentists indicated they would not perform a treatment in the first trimester and 8.5% said they would not treat in the second trimester.

CONCLUSIONS
The present study shows that only 54.6% of the surveyed dentists felt they were sufficiently informed and educated about the treatment of pregnant patients.


Faculty from all parts of the law school curriculum - first-year courses, legal research and writing, academic support, upper level doctrinal courses, and clinic - have developed a tool that explores how the courses in law school relate to the representation of a client. Using this tool, these faculty have begun to map the ABA-required learning outcomes to the law school curriculum at the program level. These faculty explain how a variety of assessments, incorporated into the curriculum and designed around the skills needed to represent a client, can be used to determine if learning outcomes are being met. Because the faculty represent all aspects of a law school program, the mapping and assessment structure is comprehensive, collaborative, cohesive and intended to reach the ultimate program outcome: students who can practice law.
The geneses of the tool is the recent American Bar Association (ABA) changes. As a result of these changes, faculty may be wondering how to incorporate the requirement of learning outcomes and assessments into the curriculum. Law schools must have learning outcomes. A learning outcome describes how students will make use of information, with the focus on what the students can do with what they have learned. The flip side of a learning outcome is an assessment. An assessment gives the student an opportunity to consider what he has learned, demonstrate his knowledge, and receive useful feedback about the level of his knowledge and skill. It also gives those evaluating the law school program an opportunity to consider what the students have demonstrated and determine if they have achieved the learning outcome sufficiently so as to have met the program learning outcome.
The faculty-authors provide examples of a number of different of assessment designed around the tool and that help others see how to easily incorporate assessments into their own courses.


In 2011, a 2-year-old horse in northern Queensland, Australia, was reported to have developed mild neurologic signs, and a blood sample was submitted for laboratory investigation. Virus isolation was performed using the blood sample, and an orbivirus was isolated. This was confirmed to be a strain of Elsey virus (ELSV) after transmission electron microscopy and nucleotide sequencing. The nucleotide sequence was compared with those in GenBank, and had 100% identity with ELSV previously reported from the Northern Territory, Australia. ELSV is taxonomically closely related to Peruvian horse sickness virus.


We focus on three-dimensional reconstruction when a few two-dimensional noisy projections are available with limited angle projections. Furthermore, in this paper, the projections are not calibrated since they are given up to a multiplicative constant. With such incomplete data, classical techniques fail to produce acceptable reconstructions. It is well known that the introduction of regularization in the form of a cost function penalizing irregularity of the reconstructed object can improve performance. However, to obtain an accurate reconstruction, it is necessary to estimate the parameters of the cost function. In this paper, we address this problem.


BACKGROUND: Nurses are internationally recognized to be largest group of registered and regulated practitioner in the health workforce of any country. There is an increase in number of critically ill patients seeking optimal care, and this rapidly increases the demand for the critical care nurses at the end of life. Caring for a critically ill patient creates anxiety and emotional exhaustion and may sometimes lead to burnout. So, it is imperative for the nurses to have an optimistic approach while caring patients in the ICU. The aim of the study was to assess the attitude of the nurses caring critically ill patients and to determine the association of the level of attitude with the selected personal variable. The study was conducted at ICUs of tertiary care hospital by using descriptive research design. METHODS AND MATERIAL: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in ICUs of tertiary care hospital from October to December 2018. The sample was selected by total enumeration technique. Data was collected from 60 critical care nurses with the help of self-structured five-point Likert scale to assess the attitude of nurses. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for data analysis such as mean, frequency, percentage, standard deviation, and Chi-square test. RESULTS: Majority (81.7%) of the nurses were having favorable attitude toward caring the critically ill patients, and there was no significant association of the attitude score with the selected personal variable at P < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of critical care nurses have favorable attitude. If they have supportive environment at workplace, their willingness to work toward quality care will improve further.


Healthcare professionals during the pandemic in the Greek public healthcare system have experienced increased psychological distress, fear and a greater intention to quit their jobs. This study analyzes the factors of moral distress and moral resilience of healthcare professionals employed during the second wave of the pandemic. The target group was the healthcare professionals (HP = 169) who served in the Evaggelismos General Hospital Covid-clinics and -ICU for 2022 and data were collected through life protocols. Healthcare professionals believe that when faced with moral challenges, they are able to discern them and think clearly. They are especially stressed when they care for more patients than they can safely handle when they are involved in care that causes unnecessary suffering or does not adequately relieve pain or symptoms, and when they notice that patient care is getting worse. Also stressful are the situations, leading to the creation of possible moral distress, when they witness a violation of a standard of practice or moral code. Factors that lead or may lead healthcare professionals to moral distress are nursing safety, unnecessary and deteriorating patient care, and violation of medical confidentiality, violation of standards of practice or moral codes. The score on the MMD-HP scale indicates low-to-moderate levels of moral distress. Based on the RMRS scale the moral resilience of healthcare professionals is characterized by moderate-to-high with the highest scores per statement seen when patient care is getting worse and feel pressured to ignore situations where patients have not been given adequate information. The healthcare professionals report that they have either left or have considered leaving their position in a clinic due to moral distress, although they are not currently thinking of leaving their position. The factors that increase the frequency of moral distress and decrease their moral resilience are feeling powerless anxiety, nursing/treatment errors, aggressive treatment, caring for more patients than they can handle, substandard patient care, and hierarchical teams.


This paper presents an approach to maintaining consistency of object versions in multiversion database systems. In this approach a multiversion database is considered to be a set of logically independent and identifiable database versions. Each database version is composed of a version of each object stored in the system. However, identical object versions may be shared by many database versions. Database versions are identified by version stamps. Version stamps are also used to associate object versions with database versions. Because of the particular construction and semantics of version stamps, object version management is very efficient. Moreover, it is orthogonal to other problems of version management, such as object addressing, concurrency control, access authorization, etc. The paper explains how the requests of object reading, updating, creating and deleting are realized.


The development of efficient methods for the indole synthesis catalyzed by Cu(II) salts and its applications were investigated. Cu(OAc)(2) has been proved to be the best catalyst for the synthesis of various 1-p-tolylsulfonyl or 1-methylsulfonylindoles, which have both electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups on the aromatic ring and C2 position of indoles. For the primary aniline derivatives, Cu(OCOCF(3))(2) showed good activities, while Cu(OAc)(2) was a good catalyst for the cyclization of secondary anilines. This methodology could be applied to the sequential cyclization reaction for the compounds which have the electrophilic part in the same molecule. By prior treatment with KH, the sequential cyclization was realized to provide the tricyclic ring systems, but it was limited to five- and six-membered rings for the second cyclization. Finally, formal and total synthesis of hippadine with the Cu(II)-promoted indole synthesis as the key step was accomplished.


Objective: To examine the availability of working cameras in UK emergency departments and to discuss the merits of digital imaging over Polaroid. Design: This study was conducted by means of a telephone questionnaire to 50 UK emergency departments. Results: It was found that 80% were able to produce either a working Polaroid or digital camera, and that 63% of emergency departments had a digital camera available. Conclusions: We report a pronounced increase in the ability of emergency departments to photograph open fractures, due in part to the availability of digital cameras. We recommend the appropriate use of these tools in the management of open fractures.


Optimization plays a costly and crucial role in developing machine learning systems. In learned optimizers, the few hyperparameters of commonly used hand-designed optimizers, e.g. Adam or SGD, are replaced with flexible parametric functions. The parameters of these functions are then optimized so that the resulting learned optimizer minimizes a target loss on a chosen class of models. Learned optimizers can both reduce the number of required training steps and improve the final test loss. However, they can be expensive to train, and once trained can be expensive to use due to computational and memory overhead for the optimizer itself. In this work, we identify and quantify the design features governing the memory, compute, and performance trade-offs for many learned and hand-designed optimizers. We further leverage our analysis to construct a learned optimizer that is both faster and more memory efficient than previous work. Our model and training code are open source.


This paper presents a new technique for suppressing the spurious response of parallel-coupled microstrip bandpass filters at twice the design frequency. Floating conductors loaded into periodic slots on the inner edges of each coupled section are employed to compensate the difference between evenand odd-mode phase velocities. This technique is marked by maintenance of planar structure and ease of design due to the symmetrical coupled line section. The designed filter has a satisfactory suppression level of about 40 dB and a symmetrical frequency response of the pass band. The validity of the design concept is confirmed both numerically and experimentally.


A systematic analysis of reactions whose rate decreases with increase of temperature is presented. The possibility of a negative temperature coefficient in the elementary reactions is examined from the standpoint of the transition state theory and of collision theory. The mechanisms of complex reactions in which the temperature dependence of the rate is anomalous are discussed, and possible reasons for the anomaly are examined. The bibliography contains 175 references.


This letter to the editor highlights the important aspects of cancer stem cells and provides a deeper insight into the origin and characterization of these cells as well as the mechanisms contributing to drug resistance and relapse. The two currently available models (CSC and the clonal evolution model) need not be mutually exclusive to explain the origin of CSCs. The identification of CSCs (based on surface markers, drug efflux, enzyme activity, and signal transduction molecules and proteins involved in EMT processes) can help in discriminating these cells from other cell types. Moreover, CSCs prefer a hypoxic environment. This microenvironmental cue can trigger certain metabolic alterations that can orchestrate a rewiring of the epigenome. Consequently, changes in transcription factors and signaling molecules can contribute to the plasticity/inter-convertibility of the CSCs and non-CSC cellular states. Hence, an improved understanding of the mechanisms involved also provides opportunities for pharmacological manipulations. This letter also underscores the presence of precancerous stem cells as well as very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs) (both considered to be precursors of CSCs). These reports warrant a thorough reanalysis of the source of CSCs (lineage tracing studies), subsequent to the development of better targeted intervention approaches.


A previously presented method for modeling Kolmogorov phase fluctuations over a finite aperture is both formalized and improved on. The method relies on forming an initial low-resolution Kolmogorov phase screen from direct factorization of a covariance. The resolution of the screen is then increased by a randomized interpolation to produce a Kolmogorov phase screen of the desired size. The computational requirement is asymptotically proportional to the number of points in the phase screen.


Urate has emerged as a promising target for neuroprotection based on epidemiological observations, preclinical models, and early clinical trial results in multiple neurologic diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). This study investigates the astrocytic mechanism of urate's neuroprotective effect. Targeted biochemical screens of conditioned medium from urateversus vehicle-treated astrocytes identified markedly elevated glutathione (GSH) concentrations as a candidate  mediator  of  urate's  astrocyte-dependent neuroprotective effects. Urate treatment also induced the nuclear translocation of the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) protein and transcriptional activation of its key target genes in primary astrocytic cultures. Urate's neuroprotective effect was attenuated when GSH was depleted in the conditioned media either by targeting its synthesis or release by astrocytes. Overall, these results implicate GSH as the extracellular astrocytic factor mediating the protective effect of urate in a cellular model of PD. These results also show that urate can employ a novel indirect neuroprotective mechanism via induction of the Nrf2 signaling pathway, a master regulator of the response to oxidative stress, in astrocytes.


BACKGROUND
Sputum production induced by inhalation of hypertonic saline solution has been proposed as a technique to collect secretions and inflammatory cells from the airways of subjects with bronchial asthma or with a history of smoking. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a sputum induction procedure on spirometric results and arterial oxygen saturation (SaO(2)) in asthmatic patients, smokers, and healthy subjects.

METHODS
We recruited 14 subjects suffering from asthma (11 men and 3 women; age range, 18 to 49 years), 14 subjects with a history of smoking (5 men and 9 women; age range, 23 to 64 years), and 9 healthy volunteers (7 men and 2 women; age range, 28 to 54 years). To obtain a sample of induced sputum, all subjects inhaled a mist of 3% hypertonic saline solution nebulized for 5 min and repeated the cycle no more than four times. Asthmatic patients were pretreated with 200 microg salbutamol (inhaled). During sputum induction, the transcutaneous SaO(2) was continuously measured and baseline, fall, and the differences between baseline and fall SaO(2) were recorded. Additionally, we measured the duration of mild desaturation (change in SaO(2), < 4%) and of marked desaturation (change in SaO(2), > 5%) in each subject. Finally, baseline FEV(1) and changes in FEV(1) as a percentage of baseline values were recorded in all subjects.

RESULTS
We found that baseline and fall SaO(2) values for the three groups were similar. However, in each group a significant mean change in SaO(2) was evident during sputum production (asthmatic patients, 6.0%; smokers, 5.3%; healthy subjects, 6.0%). Moreover, the mean durations of mild desaturation were 7 min, 21 s in asthma patients; 8 min, 24 s in smokers; and 7 min, 16 s in healthy subjects. Similarly, the durations of marked desaturation were 1 min, 25 s in asthmatic patients, 1 min, 19 s in smokers, and 1 min, 21 s in healthy subjects. The mean (+/- SD) fall in FEV(1) was not statistically different among the three groups (asthmatic patients, 1.36 +/- 5.6%; smokers, 7.58 +/- 11.76%; and healthy subjects, 0.05 +/- 9.6%). However, one smoker did experience excessive bronchoconstriction (fall in FEV(1), > 20%).

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated a significant and comparable fall in SaO(2) during sputum induction by inhalation of hypertonic saline solution in asthmatic patients, smokers, and healthy subjects. The results suggest that subjects who are hypoxemic before sputum induction require SaO(2) monitoring during the procedure.


Progressive representation can be realized via a set of quantizers, where the quantizers correspond to an increasing level of refinement. This is referred to as multistage quantization. The work presented in the paper provides an extension to embedded multistage scalar quantization. It allows progressive coding with any set of scalar quantizers, where the partitions are not necessarily embedded, using an efficient, novel multi-layer mapping scheme. It is applicable for progressive coding of raw image and video data and for progressive extension to compression schemes like JPEG and MPEG.


The recently introduced cashless economy with the cash-lite banking by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has engineered most Nigeria banks to introduce e-payment and e-transact solutions to support the policy. However, one of the major problems limiting the growth of this new move in Nigeria is the absence of secure and reliable e-payment systems. The problems associated with the implementation of a secure e-payment systems in the country stem from card thefts, internet fraud and identity theft e.t.c, which runs into millions of US dollars annually. This has adversely affected the integrity, development of e-commerce and the country's active participation in the international market. Hence, the need for a secured and reliable mechanism for a proficient implementation of e-payment system in the country. This paper is focused on securing reliable authentication scheme for e-payment system in Nigeria through effective biometric authentication technology.


We investigated the use of immobilized DNA templates as substrates for bacteriophage RNA polymerases in order to develop a simple method for separating template DNA from synthesized RNA. Double-stranded DNA molecules with a T7 or T3 RNA polymerase promoter at one end and a single biotin moiety at the other end were attached to streptavidin-coated paramagnetic beads and used in transcription reactions. When the biotin was attached by a nucleotide base on the nontemplate strand, the DNA-bead complex was moderately stable and could be used for multiple rounds of RNA synthesis. However, when the biotin was attached through a phosphodiester bond on the template strand, the enzymatic activity of RNA polymerase reversibly dissociated up to 80% of biotinylated DNA from the streptavidin beads. Biotinylated DNA bound to streptavidin beads in this system with a binding constant on the order of 10(12) M-1. These results stress the need for careful evaluation of solid phase adaptations of standard solution reactions in molecular biology.


An analytic approach, based on thin-wall theory, to analysis of the "controlled clearance" method of restricting the gap between a shaft and a surrounding cylinder is presented. A modified form of thin-wall theory allows this analysis to be extended to seals with outside to inside diameter ratios up to 2.3. The effects of (a) the supply pressure, the jacket pressure, the pressure dependence of the viscosity of the oil and the geometry of the system on (b) the deformation of the cylinder, the pressure profile in the gap between the shaft and the cylinder and the flow of oil are illustrated. A path using this information is given for the design of a controlled clearance seal. It is shown that when the jacket pressure and the supply pressure are equal (reentrant cylinder condition) the supply pressure needed to close the gap is infinite. The difference between this result and that for a cylinder with a built-in end, for which the supply pressure for closure is finite, is discussed. Experimental tests are described and the results are shown to agree with computed figures based on the theory. This work is of particular relevance to hydraulically actuated standards of pressure and force, where "simple" piston-cylinder assemblies suffer excessive deformations at pressures beyond 50 MPa.


Electroactive nanofibers based on thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and poly(alkoxy anilines) produced by electrospinning has been explored for biomaterials applications. The thermoplastic polyurethane is a biocompatible polymer with good mechanical properties. The production of TPU nanofibers requires the application of high voltage during electrospinning in order to prepare uniform mats due to its weak ability to elongate during the process. To overcome this limitation, a conductive polymer can be incorporated to the process, allowing generates mats without defects. In this study, poly(o-ethoxyaniline) POEA doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) was blended with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) by solution method. Films were produced by casting and nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning. The effect of the POEA on morphology, distribution of diameter and cell viability of the nanofibers was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the incorporation of POEA in TPU provided to the mats a suitable morphology for cellular growth. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 601-607, 2017.


It has been shown elsewhere that in order to overcome the limitations identified in monotonic reasoning we require a kind of defeasible reasoning. Moreover, defeasible argumentation is one of several approaches that address the problems faced when we attempt to reason defeasibly. Its main goal is to model the kind of reasoning that a single intelligent agent may need. Despite of the fact that defeasible argumentation has been conceived for the single agent scenario, it is possible to consider certain argumentation process (the dialectical analysis) as a dispute or debate between two parties. The two parties view can lead us to an attractive type of negotiation protocol which is based on a formal theory. In this paper, we exploit this approach by defining a dialectical framework capable of modelling a set of negotiation protocols of this kind. We also discuss how these protocols are affected by the design decisions taken inside the framework.


Mitochondrial genomes are separated from the nuclear genome for most of the cell cycle by the nuclear double membrane, intervening cytoplasm and the mitochondrial double membrane. Despite these physical barriers we show that somatically acquired mitochondrial-nuclear genome fusion sequences are present in cancer cells. Most occur in conjunction with intranuclear genomic rearrangements and the features of the fusion fragments indicate that non-homologous end joining and/or replication-dependent DNA double strand break repair are the dominant mechanism involved. Remarkably, mitochondrial-nuclear genome fusions occur at a similar rate per base pair of DNA as interchromosomal nuclear rearrangements, indicating the presence of a high frequency of contact between mitochondrial and nuclear DNA in some somatic cells. Transmission of mitochondrial DNA to the nuclear genome occurs in neoplastically transformed cells, but we do not exclude the possibility that some mitochondrial-nuclear DNA fusions observed in cancer occurred years earlier in normal somatic cells. Citation Format: Young Seok Ju, Jose Tubio, William Mifsud, Beiyuan Fu, ICGC Prostate Cancer, Bone Cancer, Breast Cancer Working Groups, Fengtang Yang, Peter Campbell, Michael Stratton. Frequent somatic transfer of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome of human cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-161. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-161


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

The ability to link functional genetic variants with disease risk leads to advances in diagnostics and therapeutics. There are an estimated 10 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), thus computerized projection programs that predict SNP-based alterations in functionality are used for genotyping experiments. We explored if projection programs could accurately predict functionality in colon samples. TagSNPs were identified for the CYP19A1 and NFκB1 genes, and normal colon tissue samples were genotyped for the tagSNPs and phenotyped using Taqman gene expression assays. Associations between SNPs and gene expression were noted and compared with projected outcomes from FastSNP (Academia Sinica). Of 25 CYP19A1 SNPs chosen for analysis, 10 were predicted to have no effect, 14 to alter transcription factor (TF) binding sites, and 1 to have a sense/synonymous coding change. Of those that were predicted to have no effect, one (rs17523880) showed significant changes in CYP19A1 expression levels (p=0.05 when adjusted for age, sex, and race). Two of the SNPs predicted to alter TF binding (rs1902584, rs6493497) showed a change in expression levels (p<=0.01), and there was no expression change in the SNP with synonymous coding change. In a case-control study exploring genetic associations in colon cancer and utilizing the same SNPs, three of the SNPs that were predicted to have no change (rs1961177, rs17523880, rs3751591) were found to be significantly associated with colon cancer (p<0.01, p=0.015, p<0.01). Of those, one (rs17523880) was associated with change in expression in our samples (p=0.05). In the case-control study, significant interactions between CYP19A1 and NFκB1 SNPs and colon cancer were reported. Thus, we also examined 11 NFκB1 SNPs, five of which were predicted to have no functional effect, and six of which were predicted to alter TF binding sites. Of the SNPs with no predicted functional consequences, three (rs3821958, rs1801, rs3774964) were associated with significant changes in gene expression (p<0.01 to p=0.04), and of those with projected TF binding site alterations, two were associated with a significant change in expression levels (rs4648090, p<0.01; rs3755867, p=0.04). Further, of two NFκB1 SNPs that interacted with CYP19A1 SNPs in the case control study, both were projected to have no effect on function, but were significantly associated with expression in our samples ((rs3821958, rs3774964; p<0.01). Future studies will include protein expression and enzymatic activity in these samples, and exploration in other tissues. In summary, while prediction programs are useful for choosing candidate SNPs for large scale assays, they cannot be relied on for accuracy, and functional effects of significant SNPs in disease association studies should be confirmed empirically in order to design treatment and prevention strategies.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1660. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1660


Common bile duct stones constitute the main etiology of nonmalignant biliary obstruction. Endoscopic retrieval of common bile duct stones has been adopted as the primary treatment modality for extrahepatic biliary stones. However, endoscopic therapy may fail in patients who have had previous gastrointestinal tract surgeries, including partial gastrectomy with Billroth II reconstruction or bilioenteric anastomosis, or in patients with anatomical anomalies such as a duodenal periampullary diverticulum, which makes the biliary duct difficult to access via an endoscopic approach. Endoscopic therapy may also not be suitable for hepatolithiasis with large and impacted stones. In such situations, a percutaneous approach is generally the best option. A variety of percutaneous techniques are available for removal of intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile duct stones via transhepatic approach and T-tube tract. These techniques include extraction, fragmentation, and expulsion of stones into the duodenum. In this article, clinical presentations, imaging modalities, and different management options, particularly percutaneous techniques for the management of choledocholithiasis or hepatolithiasis, are reviewed.


Increasing competitive pressures are forcing companies to increase their rates of innovation. The increasing rate of innovation shortens each product's duration in the market, thereby compressing each product's life cycle. Without proper management, increasing product turnover will increase design and manufacturing costs. More frequent product development cycles require additional product development resources. Shorter production runs inhibit a company's ability to achieve manufacturing cost reductions by exploiting the learning curve and scale economies. Unless companies can efficiently manage multiple generations of the product, there is a substantial risk that costs will spiral out of control. Focusing on supply chain design is one way companies can combat the problems caused by increased competition and shorter product life cycles. Supply chain design attempts to create the appropriate supply chain for the company's operating environment. This dissertation addresses two problems that are relevant to supply chain design. The first problem addresses how to configure a new product's supply chain. In this problem, the product's design has already been fixed. The central question is determining what parts and processes to select. For example, various vendors can supply a certain raw material, multiple machines or processes can manufacture the assembly, and multiple shipping options can deliver the completed product to the final customer. Each of these different options is differentiated by its production time and direct cost added. Given these various choices along the supply chain, the problem is to select the options that minimize the total supply chain cost. The second problem addresses part selection for multigeneration products. When product life cycles are short, the company could opt to overengineer certain components or subsystems in the current generation. This would increase the current period's costs but allow the company to forgo a development cycle in the next period and gain cost efficiencies by exploiting the higher volume from two generations of demand. This research considers development costs, manufacturing costs and part functionality requirements in order to determine the optimal upgrade path for components across multiple product generations.


This book is concerned with the statistical analysis of brain signals of epilepsy patients. It uses methods from parametric and nonparametric spectral estimation, causality analysis, signal detection and factor analysis. The book deals with automated procedures for determining the seizure onset zone (SOZ) and the early seizure spread. As the visual inspection of brain signals during the presurgical evaluation of therapy-resistant patients is a time-demanding and highly subjective task, a complimentary computational approach is clinically desired. For this purpose four automated methods for epileptic seizure propagation analysis are proposed. They aim at the analysis of two different epileptiform patterns: The analysis of spatial and temporal dependencies in rhythmic theta-activity, which is commonly observed in focal epilepsy, and the detection of a novel class of highly specific SOZ-markers, high-frequency oscillations (HFOs). The book starts with chapters on the medical and statistical background, followed by a presentation of the methods for epileptic seizure propagation analysis. Finally a comparison of the results obtained with clinical findings is given.


Pressure analysis is concerned with the study of systematic variations of reservoir pore pressure with depth. The most common interpretation for pressure analysis is pressure-depth plot analysis, but other techniques that magnify understated pressure differences are also available. The measurement of formation pressure is of immense value in quantitative evaluation and prospect risk. Once the pressure data has been acquired, we need to understand how to interpret the data received because reservoir pressure data has numerous applications and misinterpreting it could make the results misleading. At equilibrium state (i.e. there are no net forces and no acceleration), a fluid in the system is called hydrostatic equilibrium. Hydrostatic pressure increases with depth measured from the surface due to the increasing weight of fluid exerting downward force from above. The traditional pressure evaluation is usually done in conventional unit such as psi, kPa, psi/feet, psi/m, kPa/m, ppg. The current work will introduce the concepts and definitions of formation pressure evaluation using Pressure Index (PI) with the unit g/cc. For better understanding of the application of PI, some reservoir studies are also discussed in this paper.


The experimental technique and the experiment results on the influence of own stresses unevenly distributed over crosssection on materials strength and on scale effect are presented. The reasons for the occurrence and distribution of suchinfluence are analyzed. Based on the experiments results on fragile duralumin samples, the inevitability of influencing onscale effect in concrete during compression stresses, which are caused by unevenly shrinkage over cross section was proved.Possible reasons for the different (sometimes opposing) results of experimental studies of various authors on scale effect inconcrete in compression are explained. The influence of own stresses unevenly distributed over cross section on scale effectin concrete during compression, depending on samples size and concrete age, is analyzed in detail


Changes in cardiac output, stroke volume, and systemic blood pressure have been correlated with changes in muscle blood flow during the periods of initial transient and subsequent sustamed vasodilatation during intravenous infusion of epinephrine. In the initial phase blood pressure decreased slightly; forearm blood flow increased by 308%, cardiac output by 50%, and stroke volume by 10%. During the sustained phase the systolic blood pressure increased; corresponding increases for the other measurements were 87, 47, and 25%, respectively. The lack of correlation between these changes in cardiac output and forearm blood flow suggests that in the transient phase vasodilatation does not occur simultaneously in all muscle groups. Stroke volume makes a greater contribution to the increased output during the sustained phase. Submitted on May 29, 1961


Background The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS) was a randomized controlled trial, which showed that it is possible to prevent type 2 diabetes by lifestyle changes. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the lifestyle intervention had an effect on the ten-year mortality and cardiovascular morbidity in the DPS participants originally randomized either into an intervention or control group. Furthermore, we compared these results with a population-based cohort comprising individuals of varying glucose tolerance states. Methods and Findings Middle-aged, overweight people with IGT (n = 522) were randomized into intensive intervention (including physical activity, weight reduction and dietary counseling), or control "mini-intervention" group. Median length of the intervention period was 4 years and the mean follow-up was 10.6 years. The population-based reference study cohort included 1881 individuals (1570 with normal glucose tolerance, 183 with IGT, 59 with screen-detected type 2 diabetes, 69 with previously known type 2 diabetes) with the mean follow-up of 13.8 years. Mortality and cardiovascular morbidity data were collected from the national Hospital Discharge Register and Causes of Death Register. Among the DPS participants who consented for register linkage (n = 505), total mortality (2.2 vs. 3.8 per 1000 person years, hazard ratio HR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.21–1.58) and cardiovascular morbidity (22.9 vs. 22.0 per 1000 person years, HR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.72–1.51) did not differ significantly between the intervention and control groups. Compared with the population-based cohort with impaired glucose tolerance, adjusted HRs were 0.21 (95% CI 0.09–0.52) and 0.39 (95% CI 0.20–0.79) for total mortality, and 0.89 (95% CI 0.62–1.27) and 0.87 (0.60–1.27) for cardiovascular morbidity in the intervention and control groups of the DPS, respectively. The risk of death in DPS combined cohort was markedly lower than in FINRISK IGT cohort (adjusted HR 0.30, 95% CI 0.17–0.54), but there was no significant difference in the risk of CVD (adjusted HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.64–1.21). Conclusions Lifestyle intervention among persons with IGT did not decrease cardiovascular morbidity during the first 10 years of follow-up. However, the statistical power may not be sufficient to detect small differences between the intervention and control groups. Low total mortality among participants of the DPS compared with individuals with IGT in the general population could be ascribed to a lower cardiovascular risk profile at baseline and regular follow-up. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00518167


LD50 of benzyl-acetate (BA) was determined on the level 2500 mg/kg. Sensitivity of developed method for BA analysis--0.008-0.01 mg/m3. Single MAC of BA in environmental air is 0.01 mg/m3 (4th class of danger).


The aim of this paper is to present and reflect on the lessons learnt from practice with an individual case professional dancer who sought comprehensive psychological support as a result of a sustained trauma-injury ruptured Achilles tendon during a live performance. A single case study is represented as part of reflections and lessons learnt throughout the period of consultation and psychological support offered. The mode of service delivery, methods, and final evaluation, with final reflections are presented. A total of 12 sessions delivered fortnightly were offered lasting 60 minutes each session. Rehabilitation post-surgery included physio, strength and conditioning, Pilates, nutrition, psychological support as part of a comprehensive package.The PANAS questionnaire (Watson et al, 1988) which was administered at baseline, mid-point and post-sessions was used as an evaluation tool. Through reflective practice, three main themes emerged as acquired skills through the psychological interventions offered: 1) self-confidence and self-esteem, 2) a renewed sense of belonging, and 3) sense of autonomy. A dancers' centred approach in providing psychological support for a comprehensive rehabilitation program was used, where transdisciplinary interlinked approaches benefited the recovery from 'curtain down' to 'curtain up'. Reflections highlight the importance of positive psychological models of practice, the Rogerian foundations of authenticity, non-judgemental and guiding principles of recovery through empathy, and the clinician's positionality right from the start of the support offered.


The main types of post-metallocene catalysts for olefin polymerisation based on bis(imino), bis(imino)pyridyl, bis(phenoxyimino), bis(pyrrolylimino) and other complexes of transition metals developed in the last 10–15 years and having prospects for practical use are considered. Modern views on the mechanism of action of these catalysts are discussed.


The purpose of this report is to discuss the research, development, and findings of several experiments performed on a high-altitude balloon payload platform. The team decided on the following five experiments to be performed during the flight: Oxygen Generation, Internal Heating, Speed of Sound Properties, Ozone Levels, and a new payload structure concept. The entire team was required to research and develop new skills to effectively design our experiments, including: Arduino programming, 3-D modeling/printing, soldering, launch equipment handling, and construction techniques. While the launch was successful, we did fall short of our overall goal in terms of data acquisition. The internship proved to be a rewarding introductory experience to real-world engineering. The project help us learn how to implement the entirety of the engineering process, using each person's strengths to achieve an objective.


In this study, a recently discovered metallic coffin from the Chubtarash village, near Khorramabad, Luristan area, western Iran is investigated to identify alloy composition and manufacturing process. It is a large metallic bathtub-like coffin in which a skeleton is found with two gold strips covering its eyes and mouth. The coffin has four metallic handles that are joined to the bathtub body with pins. The coffin has been made in one piece but has been broken into some pieces during burial time. For this study, two samples from different parts of the coffin were selected. They have been analyzed with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and metallography methods to identify alloy composition and manufacturing process. Results of chemical analysis showed that the coffin is made of binary copper-tin alloy. Other elements such as Zn, Pb, and As are detected as minor components. In fact, these elements cannot be considered as the alloying constituent in the composition. The microstructure of bronze in scanning electron microscopy-backscattered electron (SEM-BSE) micrographs shows that the thick edge of the coffin has a two-phase microstructure including alpha matrix and eutectoid mixture, while thin body includes a single phase alpha solid solution. Further, it is visible that the bronze in the coffin is corroded heavily at the thin body area. Etched microstructure of the coffin includes equi-axed grains with twin lines and strain bands indicating application of a cycle of cold working and annealing to shape this large bronze coffin into one piece.


Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an enzyme contributing to the development and progression of different cancer types. HO-1 plays a role in pathological angiogenesis in bladder cancer and contributes to the resistance of this cancer to therapy. It also regulates the expression of microRNAs in rhabdomyosarcoma and non-small cell lung cancer. The expression of HO-1 may be regulated by hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) and Nrf2 transcription factor. The expression of HO-1 has not so far been examined in relation to Nrf2, HIF-1α, and potential mediators of angiogenesis in human bladder cancer. We measured the concentration of proinflammatory and proangiogenic cytokines and the expression of cytoprotective and proangiogenic mRNAs and miRNAs in healthy subjects and patients with bladder cancer. HO-1 expression was upregulated together with HIF-1α, HIF-2α, and Nrf2 in bladder cancer in comparison to healthy tissue. VEGF was elevated both at mRNA and protein level in the tumor and in sera, respectively. Additionally, IL-6 and IL-8 were increased in sera of patients affected with urothelial bladder cancer. Moreover, miR-155 was downregulated whereas miR-200c was elevated in cancer biopsies in comparison to healthy tissue. The results indicate that the increased expression of HO-1 in bladder cancer is paralleled by changes in the expression of other potentially interacting genes, like Nrf2, HIF-1α, HIF-2α, IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF. Further studies are necessary to also elucidate the potential links with miR-155 and miR-200c.


We look at the exchange rate policy choices and outcomes for small rich economies. Small rich economies face significant policy challenges due to proportionately greater economic volatility than larger economies. These economies usually choose some form of fixed exchange rate regime, particularly in the very small economies where the per capita cost of independent monetary policy is relatively high. When such countries do choose a free or managed floating regime, they appear to derive no benefit from those regimes; their exchange rate volatility seems to rise without any significant change in fundamental economic volatility. Thus, for these countries, floating exchange rates seem to create problems for policy makers without solving any.


The exploration of wireless technology nowadays has widened into a bigger
area. One of the areas that is currently being researched by companies and
universities around the world is supplying power to the electrical appliances
wirelessly. The research is being done since the effect of the technology beneficial to
both the human and sciences where power can be distributed wirelessly around the
globe. This project presents an overview of a design and implementation of Wireless
Electric Concept and Application in a Living Room. Research and study is carried
out on how signal and energy in the air can be tapped and converted into useful
energy which later can be used to supply power to electrical appliances. The
approach of this work starts by harvesting Radio Frequency (RF) signal that is
available in the air using RF energy harvesting circuit. This circuit collects or harvest
energy in the air and converts them into electricity. It is done by using the antenna to
capture the RF energy and the charge-pump circuit to convert and maguify the input
signal in AC to larger output in DC. This DC output is then used to power lowvoltage
equipments in the living room. Simulation work using PSPICE full edition
was done to develop the concept and later was used as guidelines in developing the
prototype.


Tanwar A., Aggarwal A., Kaushish S., Chauhan S. (2013): Interactive effect of AM fungi with Tricho derma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescen s on growth and yield of broccoli. Plant Protect Sci., 49: 137–145. Most of the vegetable crops are known to depend upon arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AM) symbiosis for growth and development, since AM fungi provide nutrients and water in exchange for photosynthates. The influences of AM fungi (glomus intraradices (G) and Acaulospora laevis (A)) with Trichoderma viride (T) and Pseudomonas fluo rescens (P) alone and in combinations on growth, mycorrhization, chlorophyll content, nutrient uptakes, and yield of broccoli plants were studied in pot culture under glasshouse conditions. The obtained results demonstrated that the single inoculation of broccoli plants with T. viride significantly increased the above ground fresh weight, root length, chlorophyll b, head diameter, root phosphorus, and shoot nitrogen in comparison to uninoculated control plants. On the other hand, consortium of G+A+T+P significantly increased plant height, above ground dry weight, root fresh weight, chlorophyll a , head fresh weight, and root nitrogen content. Similarly, G+T showed maximum leaf area, and P alone showed maximum uptake of shoot phosphorus. Whereas when P was supplied along with T, early flowering was recorded. AM fungal colonisation was negligible and only root tips were found infected in G or A treated plants which confirms low dependency of broccoli on AM fungi.


ABSTRACT Probably no other component of seed quality has been the subject of as much controversy and misunderstanding as seed vigour. Although the complex underlying mechanisms of seed vigour have not been fully described, much progress has been made in our understanding of the phenomenon and its practical consequences. This first of two articles on seed vigour and seed vigour testing summarizes our current understanding of this seed property.


This work introduces a refinement of the Parsimonious Model for fitting a Gaussian Mixture. The improvement is based on the consideration of groupings of the covariance matrices according to a criterion, such as sharing Principal Directions. This and other similarity criteria that arise from the spectral decomposition of a matrix are the bases of the Parsimonious Model. The classification can be achieved with simple modifications of the CEM (Classification Expectation Maximization) algorithm, using in the M step suitable estimation methods known for parsimonious models. This approach leads to propose Gaussian Mixture Models for model-based clustering and discriminant analysis, in which covariance matrices are clustered according to a parsimonious criterion, creating intermediate steps between the fourteen widely known parsimonious models. The added versatility not only allows us to obtain models with fewer parameters for fitting the data, but also provides greater interpretability. We show its usefulness for model-based clustering and discriminant analysis, providing algorithms to find approximate solutions verifying suitable size, shape and orientation constraints, and applying them to both simulation and real data examples.


This guide was created to assist those interested in learning more about the Common Core Curriculum (CCC) and State Standards (CCSS).