Social factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) are increasingly being viewed as fundamental causes of premature death and illness and there is a growing body of evidence linking residential location with health outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the SES of the area in which a person lives and their risk of hospitalisation for injury. Local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria are assigned to SES deciles by the Australian Bureau of Statistics based on a composite measure of SES devised by the Bureau. For this research the deciles were combined to form quintiles. All individuals living in an LGA were assigned the same SES ranking ranging from 1 to 5 (1=most disadvantaged through 5=least disadvantaged) and their risk of injury compared overall and in broad age groups. The effect of area SES on injury risk varied substantially by age, gender and injury cause. Injury hospital admission rates were generally lowest in the least disadvantaged quintile of LGAs but not often highest in the most disadvantaged quintile of LGAs. The regression analysis showed that, overall, persons living in the more disadvantaged areas were significantly more likely to be hospitalised than persons in the least disadvantaged areas for transport injury (incident rate ratio range 1.18–1.36), machinery-related injury (1.50–1.83), fire/burns/scalds (1.25–1.61) and assaultive injury (1.20–1.77). These injury causes account for 20% of injury hospital admissions.


In this study, we derived the relationship between target depolarization factor and physical parameters of sea ice in order to estimate the thickness using dual-polarization C-and X-band space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. The target depolarization factor, the cross-polarized ratio of C-band SAR data, which can explain the target depolarization effect, were strongly related to changes in surface roughness of thick First-Year Ice (FYI) and Multi-Year Ice (MYI), and were almost insensitive to variations in the surface dielectric constant of thick FYI and MYI and the incidence angle of C-band SAR data. This relationship showed a high correlation between target depolarization factor of C-band SAR data, the cross-polarized ratio, and thick FYI and MYI thickness. We validated the estimated method using RADARSAT-2 and TerraSAR-X data and ground-truth data acquired in the Arctic Sea off the northern coast of Greenland.


The value of a future reward should be discounted where there is a risk that the reward will not be realized. If the risk manifests itself at a known, constant hazard rate, a risk–neutral recipient should discount the reward according to an exponential time–preference function. Experimental subjects, however, exhibit short–term time preferences that differ from the exponential in a manner consistent with a hazard rate that falls with increasing delay. It is shown here that this phenomenon can be explained by uncertainty in the underlying hazard. The time–preference function predicted by this analysis can be calculated by means of either (i) a direct superposition method, or (ii) Bayesian updating of the expected hazard rate. The observed hyperbolic time–preference function is consistent with an exponential prior distribution for the underlying hazard rate. Sensitivity of the predicted time–preference function to variation in the probability distribution of the underlying hazard rate is explored.


The macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a rare, potentially fatal, clinical syndrome, which has been described in childhood rheumatic disorders. MAS is defined by a prolonged period of fevers, pancytopenia, and hypertriglyceridemia (with or without hypofibrinogenemia). Histopathological examination of bone marrow, spleen, or lymph nodes shows hemophagocytosis by mononuclear phagocytes. In patients with Still's disease, observed triggering events for MAS have included both infectious processes and pharmacological agents, such as parenteral gold and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. We report the case of a young woman with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD), complicated by an Epstein-Barr virus infection and subsequent MAS, whose course worsened after administration of the soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor, etanercept. Subsequent treatment with pulse corticosteroids and cyclosporine A induced a dramatic clinical improvement. Treatment data regarding the use of etanercept in AOSD are lacking; given our experience and recent reports in children with Still's disease, we would suggest caution using this agent in patients with AOSD, particularly when complicated by MAS.


The sites of municipal solid waste dumps are replete in and around our cities in the developing world especially Nigeria. Real Estate investment development and market is highly dependent on perception, environment and economic condition, especially for residential and commercial properties. Prospective investors and tenants tend to be weary of the environmental quality of proposed investment sites or residential neighbourhood if it will fetch good return on their investment and for what duration. This paper will examine the effect of municipal solid waste dumps on investment property values and proffer useful solutions to prospective property investors and tenants.


A protocol for isolating pure DNA from goat ruminal fluid was developed. DNA was partially digested using ApoI enzymes and ligated onto Lambda ZAP II Predigested EcoR l/CIAP-treated vector to make a metagenomic DNA library. DNA sequence analyses showed that positive clones carried complete or partial sequences for structural genes in different strains of Escherichia coli. Several clones did not share significant similarity with nucleotide in the databases. Research results indicate that the population of prokaryotes in the goat rumen contained E. coli, and possibly other organisms that have not been characterized. This is the first report of the use of molecular approaches to characterize microbial genes or organisms from goat rumens.


To meet the carbon neutrality target and Beautiful China goal, the co-control strategy of carbon emission and air pollution is crucial. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is a prominent cooperative development zone, which faces dual challenges of CO2 emission reduction and air pollution control. This study aims to find the co-benefit pathway for achieving both targets in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. Based on an innovative and integrated framework by linking the computable general equilibrium model, atmospheric environment analysis model and health impact assessment model, we analyze the mutual co-benefits of carbon reduction and air quality improvement by climate and environmental policies. The results show significant mutual effects of CO2 emission mitigation and air pollution reduction. From the regional view, air pollutants control and CO2 mitigation policies have a relatively higher synergistic emission reduction effect in Beijing and Tianjin than in Hebei. From the sector perspective, the energy supply and transport sectors have much higher co-effects with CO2 reduction, while climate change mitigation policies have the best co-effects with air pollution reduction in the energy supply and residential sectors. Moreover, the health benefits in the air pollution control scenario (6.0 BUSD) are higher than in the decarbonization scenario (5.7 BUSD). In addition, climate mitigation policies could have tremendous synergistic air pollution reductions, even the health benefits (5.7 BUSD) may be insufficient to offset the cost (18.7 BUSD) of climate policy in the current situation. In order to better achieve the dual climate and air quality targets at lower costs, two types of policies should be better coordinated in the decision-making process.


Traditional methods of financing infrastructure, which include gas taxation, tax-exempt bonds, and reserve funds, have not been able to meet the growing demand for infrastructure. Innovative financing systems have emerged to close the gap that exists between the available and needed financing sources. The objective of the study presented in this paper is to assess determinants of innovative financing in the U.S. transportation infrastructure using a systemic approach. Innovation System of Systems approach is adopted for systemic assessment and a case-based research approach is utilized to explore the constituents of innovative financing for U.S. transportation infrastructure. The findings, which include constructs regarding the players, practices, and activities are used to create a model to enable understanding the dynamics of the drivers and inhibitors of innovation and, thus, to derive implications for practice. The model along with the constructs provides an analytical tool for practitioners in the U.S. transportation infrastructure.


The D1 reaction center protein of the Photosystem II complex in green plants is synthesized with a short carboxyl-terminal extension. Proteolytic cleavage and removal of this extension peptide in the thylakoid lumen are necessary for the assembly of a manganese cluster that is essential for the oxygen evolution activity of Photosystem II. We have isolated cDNAs encoding CtpA, the carboxyl-terminal processing protease for the D1 protein, from two higher plants, spinach and barley. In each of these organisms, CtpA is encoded by a single copy nuclear gene, and its steady-state mRNA levels are light-regulated. The CtpA protein is detectable in etiolated material, and its level increases ∼5-fold upon illumination. Moreover, the CtpA gene is expressed in shoot tissues and not in roots. In its precursor form, the CtpA protein harbors a bipartite transit sequence characteristic for thylakoid lumenal proteins. Cell fractionation studies demonstrated that CtpA is associated with thylakoid membranes and is resistant to treatments with thermolysin, consistent with its localization in the lumen of thylakoids. Comparisons of the sequence of the higher plant CtpA enzyme with those of other related carboxyl-terminal processing proteases suggest that these proteins constitute a new family of proteases.


The LDC formalism for DIS can describe HERA structure functions, and also agrees well with CTEQ and MRST gluon distributions. It is also suitable for hadronic collisions, and provides a strong connection between ep and pp reactions. Some preliminary results are presented.


Three different origins were found for the third head of the biceps brachii: (1) an origin from the humeral shaft inferior to and in common with the insertion area for the coracobrachialis; (2) a brachial origin in which the muscle originated distally from the medial humeral shaft, adjacent to and in common with the brachialis muscle; (3) a dual origin in which the medial fibres originated from the short head of biceps and the lateral fibres from the deltoid fascia and the insertion area of this muscle. In all cases, the third head inserted together with the other 2 heads of biceps brachii into the bicipital aponeurosis and the radial tuberosity. The third head receives its innervation from the musculocutaneous nerve, as do the other 2 heads of biceps. When there is a dual origin, partial innervation from the axillary nerve is possible since the fibres of the third head intermingle with those of the deltoid. There was a 20.5% incidence of the third head in South African blacks and only an 8.3% incidence in South African whites. Statistical analysis showed the difference between South African whites and blacks to be significant (P < 0.05). Not all of the blacks, however, had a higher incidence, since the Zulus showed a significant absence (P < 0.05) of the third head when compared with the other black populations.


In this paper, an efficient contrast enhancement algorithm using weighted histogram modification is proposed. For contrast enhancement, histogram equalization (HE) is effective technique. However, HE may have excessive contrast enhancement. Proposed method using weighted histogram modification produces better natural and enhanced results than those of conventional contrast enhancement methods without artifacts.


This paper introduces a block based motion estimation algorithm based on projection with adaptive window size selection. The blocks cannot match well if their corresponding 1D projection does not match well, with this as foundation 2D block matching problem is translated to a simpler 1D matching, which eliminates majority of potential pixel participation. This projection method is combined with adaptive window size selection in which, appropriate search window for each block is determined on the basis of motion vectors and prediction errors obtained for the previous block, which makes this novel method several times faster than exhaustive search with negligible performance degradation. Encoding QCIF size video by the proposed method results in reduction of computational complexity of motion estimation by roughly 45% and over all encoding by 23%, while maintaining image/video quality.


A second aspect of the same simulation was the need to generate a number of Nyquist plots, rapidly and easily, in order to determine the frequencies at which the system was unstable. To accomplish this objective, an automatic plotting circuit was incorporated in the analog program. Wayne Miessner described this technique, which makes use of the method of steepest descent and two properly chosen filters. It has the advantages of not requiring resolvers or division circuits for implementation.


Brunei is a little country, which took many road safety initiatives and implemented many traffic legislations to reduce road toll. It achieved a lot in road safety, but recently many road casualties were reported in the media. The main objective of this study is to investigate recent road casualty patterns and examine the road safety situation in recent years. This study is mainly based on field data of various road accidents and casualties in Brunei. It uses regression analyses to investigate the effectiveness of the combined traffic legislations so far implemented by testing the coefficient of trend variable. Observations based on field data (numbers and rates) indicate that road casualties have been decreasing since 1993 (except in recent years) after reaching its peak, even though vehicles and population have increased. Increasing trends of road casualties are observed in recent years which are re-confirmed by the short-term positive regression coefficient of trend variable. Young drivers are the major cause of road casualties. Comparisons with other countries which have more vehicle-mix in the region indicate that Brunei has lower rate of casualty. But higher rates are observed when compared with Australia, indicating that there are scopes to improve road safety situation in Brunei. Road casualty in Brunei is also expected to grow unless additional effective road safety strategies are introduced and implemented together with the strict implementations of the existing road safety countermeasures. Language: en


The electromagnetic fields inside the earth are calculated by continuation downward of the electromagnetic (EM) solutions at the location of a frequency-domain helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) sensor. Models examined using the continuation approach include a layered isotropic and anisotropic earth. The finite-element approach is used to model 2D structures of a dipping contact or a dipping dike. By incorporating a time factor, we display the EM diffusion in the earth (change in direction and amplitude of the EM field through time) as 3D animated vectors or contours. The propagation of the EM smoke ring, influenced by the resistivity and structure of the earth, is apparent from the dynamic presentations. The current propagates downward and outward with time, becoming wider and more diffuse, and the phase varies with time, depth, and outward distance. The downward propagation of EM fields is slower in more conductive geology. In a layered isotropic earth, the current ring is symmetric with no vertical current flow for both vertical and horizontal dipole transmitters. In anisotropic or 2D structures; however, the current flow is significantly distorted resulting in vertical current flow and nonsymmetric smoke rings.


As an important group among inherited metabolic disorders, lysosomal storage diseases represent a major healthcare concern. To date, more than 40 different lysosomal storage diseases, characterised by the deficiency of a lysosomal protein, have been identified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of lysosomal enzyme testing for the specific diagnosis of patients with lysosomal storage diseases. 153 suspects originating from all regions of our country have been referred to our centre for further evaluation and final diagnosis. Initial work-up focused on clinical, pathological and radiological evaluation. Enzyme activity methods for the most common lysosomal storage diseases were standardised in our laboratory and indicated specific deficiencies in 63 patients (41.2%). Gaucher disease was the most prevalent lipidosis identified, as it was confirmed in 40 patients, belonging to 34 unrelated families. Other less prevalent sphingolipidoses were represented by GM1 gangliosidosis (4 patients), GM2 gangliosidosis (one patient), metachromatic leukodystrophy (one patient) and Fabry disease (6 patients).  Mucopolysaccharidoses and mucolipidoses were identified in 11 patients (3 mucopolysaccharidosis type I patients, 6 mucopolysaccharidosis type III B patients, one mucopolysaccharidosis type VII patient and one mucolipidosis type II patient). Plasma chitotriosidase activity, a marker of macrophage activation, was evaluated as a biochemical method for long-term monitoring of patients with Gaucher disease. Our experience suggests that biochemical methods for lysosomal enzyme testing may be the key step in the accurate diagnosis of these patients.


Certain rare, reactive, non-neoplastic processes are defined under the term inflammatory pseudotumor, which is constituted by the proliferation of connective tissue and chronic inflammatory infiltrate of circumscribed location. Its etiopathogenesis ins unknown, although it is thought to have a possible infectious nature. It has been described various organs, but location in the liver is exceptional. We present a new case of inflammatory pseudotumor of hepatic location, related to an "hour-glass" abscess adhered to diaphragm, this being the first case of this relation. We reviewed the literature concerning etiopathogenic, histopathologic, clinical and diagnostic aspects, and our findings are discussed.


Background: Patients may be at increased risk of developing breast cancer due to hereditary or familial risk or a pathological diagnosis of breast atypia or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). Although tamoxifen and raloxifene are effective and approved chemopreventive agents to reduce risk of developing breast cancer in high risk individuals, acceptance of chemoprevention as a risk reduction strategy is low. Our objective was to assess whether chemoprevention is more readily accepted by those at genetic or familial risk versus pathologic risk, and if the presence of multiple breast cancer risk factors improves chemoprevention acceptance.Methods: All patients seen at the Loyola University Cancer Risk Assessment and Prevention clinic completed information including demographics, health, family and social history. Patients with a family history of either a first or second degree family member with breast cancer (FH) were compared to those who presented due to atypia or LCIS on breast biopsy as well as those with an elevated Gail score. Acceptance of risk reducing strategies between these groups was compared.Results: The initial 115 patients presenting to the clinic were analyzed. Thirty-six (31%) women had FH only, 26 (23%) had a biopsy with atypia or LCIS only, 10 (9%) had an elevated Gail score, 17 (15%) had a biopsy indicating atypia or LCIS plus FH, and 26 (23%) had an elevated Gail plus FH. Seventy-three patients were candidates for chemoprevention; 16 (22%) accepted chemoprevention. Patients with a FH plus atypia/LCIS did not accept chemoprevention more than patients with FH alone (p=1.00). Patients with a FH plus atypia/LCIS did not accept chemoprevention more than than patients with atypia/LCIS alone (p=0.451). Pts with elevated Gail plus FH did not accept chemoprevention more than patients with elevated Gail alone (p=0.144). Four women in the FH group were known BRCA mutation carriers; all elected to proceed with risk reducing surgery, none accepted chemoprevention.Conclusions: Acceptance of chemoprevention is low in women at genetic or familial risk, those at risk due to atypia/LCIS, and those with an elevated Gail score. Having both familial and pathologic risk factors for breast cancer development did not increase acceptance of chemoprevention. Better understanding of women9s comprehension of breast cancer risk, and barriers to patient acceptance of chemoprevention are needed. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 1039.


To date, most of the literature on trade networks in West Africa has considered networks in a metaphorical way. The aim of this paper is to go one step further by showing how social network analysis may be applied to the study of regional trade in West Africa. After a brief review of the literature, this exploratory paper investigates two main issues related to regional trade. We start by discussing how recent developments in regional trade in West Africa have contributed to challenging the social structure of traders. We then discuss the changes that have affected the spatiality of regional trade by looking at the influence of spatial location and geographic scale on traders' abilities to trade. In both cases, we argue that the value of social network analysis in exploring how traders have progressively adapted to social and spatial changes in economic activities has been greatly underestimated. Our discussion is illustrated with the case of two trade networks located between Niger, Benin and Nigeria.


The occurrence of teacher"s written feedback can not be avoided in writing in order to aid the students who were facing some problems composing their papers. However, there are still some arguments about how importance and how to provide a good written feedback. This study, therefore, which is replication of Alamis" (2010), aimed to evaluate the responses and reactions that the students had about written feedback given by their teachers. The participants were 34 four students of the English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University who were enrolled in the Expository and Argumentative Writing class. The data were collected from the questionnaire. The result showed that the students agreed that feedback could help them in writing. By reading the feedback, they became aware of their weakness and strength. They also needed feedback which could motivate them to write better. The type of feedback preferred by students was the combination of telegraphic and conversational feedback. Moreover, feedback in content and organization were the areas that the participants wanted to get. At last, students preferred feedback in the form of correction; and they highly chose the direct correction which they believed could help them most in the process of writing.


Based on the perception of the teachers working at the elementary schools, the study aims to reveal the relation between the organizational commitment of teachers and the distrubuted leadership behavior of their directors. The population of the research is comprised of the teachers working at the official schools in Seydikemer. The population of the research constitutes the sample of the research at the same time. A survey has been sent for each teacher and the ones came back have been analyzed. There have been 473 teachers in Seydikemer district within the year 2015 the study was conducted but for the research it has been reached to 271 (57.29%) teachers. The data collection tools are distributed leadership inventory, organizational commitment scale and the questions related to the demographic information of the participants. Distributed leadership inventory is composed of two subscales. Leadership functions subscale of the distributed leadership inventory evaluates the distributed leadership behavior of the principals,the chief assistants of the principals and the assistant principals. The other subscale evaluates the collaboration of the leadership team in the teachers' views. To evaluate the organizational commitment of the teachers the organizational commitment scale has been used which is developed by Porter et al. (1974). As the result of the study a meaningful positive statistical relation has been revealed between the distributed leadership behavior of the principals from teachers' perceptions and the organizational commitment. There has been a meaningful positive statistical relation between the distributed leadership behavior of the assistant principals and the organizational commitment.


This study analyzed the potential of landslides induced by the interaction between rainfall and earthquakes. Dapu Township and Alishan Township in Chiayi County, southern Taiwan, were included as study areas. From satellite images and the literature, we collected data for multiple years and time series and then used the random forest data mining algorithm for satellite image interpretation. A hazard index for the interaction between earthquakes and rainfall (IHERI) was proposed, and an index for the degree of land disturbance (IDLD) was estimated to explore the characteristics of IHERI under specific natural environmental and slope land use conditions. The results revealed that among the investigated disaster-causing factors, the degree of slope land use disturbance, the slope of the natural environment, and rainfall exerted the strongest effect on landslide occurrence. When IHERI or IDLD was higher, the probability of a landslide also increased, and under conditions of a similar IDLD, the probability of landslides increased as the IHERI value increased, and vice versa. Thus, given the interaction between rainfall and earthquakes in the study area, the effect of the degree of slope land use disturbance on landslides should not be ignored. The results of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that the areas under the ROC curve for landslides induced by different trigger factors were all above 0.94. The results indicate that the area in which medium–high-level landslides are induced by an interaction between rainfall and earthquakes is large.


Background Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammation of exocrine glands and functional impairment of the salivary and lacrimal glands [1]. The pathogenesis of pSS is complicated with many respects remaining elusive. Interleukin-27 (IL-27) is a new member of the IL-12 cytokine family. It is largely secreted by activated antigen-presenting cells, such as macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). IL-27 participates in multiple autoimmune diseases by regulating T lymphocyte subsets. Recent studies showed that IL-27 was involved in anti-inflammatory functions in SS [2]. However, the underlying mechanism of IL-27 in SS is still unknown. Objectives In the present study, the changes of lymphocyte subsets were studied in Il-27 knock-out and wild-type pSS models and pSS patients for the purpose to explore the specific mechanism of IL-27 in pSS and provide the basis for clinical treatment. Methods The NOD mice, Il-27 knockout (Il-27–/–) mice, Il-27 knockout mice with recombinant IL-27 treatment were studied. The saliva flow rates, weight, weight of submandibular glands and spleens were detected. Murine submandibular glands were fixed and paraffin sections were used for hematoxylin and eosin staining. The lymphocyte subsets of spleens from experimental mice and the peripheral blood from pSS patients were measured by flow-cytometric assay. Results Compared to WT NOD mice, the saliva flow rates decreased significantly, and the indexes of submandibular glands and spleens increased significantly in Il-27–/– mice (Fig 1A-E). The histological results showed that the number of lymphocytic infiltrates in submandibular glands of WT NOD was lower than Il-27–/– mice (Fig 1F). The splenic-Treg cells decreased significantly, but the levels of splenic Th17 and B cells increased significantly in Il-27–/– mice. After IL-27 treatment, the saliva flow rates, submandibular glands, Treg and Th17 cells were partially reversed in Il-27–/– mice (Fig 1G-M). Consistent with above observations, the changes of Terg and Th17 cells in pSS patients showed similar pattern. The Th2, Tfh and plasma cells increased significantly, whilst the B cells decreased significantly in pSS patients (Fig 1N-T). Compared with healthy control, the serum IL-27 decreased in pSS patients. Conclusions In general, these findings indicated that IL-27 deficiency deteriorated the disease symptoms of pSS and resulted in changes of Th17/Treg balance. In addition, pSS patients showed similar lymphocyte imbalance. Our data suggested that IL-27 might play an important role on the development and pathogenesis of pSS through regulating lymphocyte subsets, and targeting IL-27 and Th17/Treg balance may be a new direction of pSS treatment. References Xu J, Wang D, Liu D, et al. Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell treatment alleviates experimental and clinical Sjogren syndrome. Blood, 2012, 120(15): 3142–3151. Lee BH, Carcamo WC, Chiorini JA, et al. Gene therapy using IL-27 ameliorates Sjögren's syndrome-like autoimmune exocrinopathy. Arthritis Res Ther, 2012, 14(4): R172. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The age at which an individual first experiments with illicit drugs has been of significant interest to policymakers and practitioners, primarily because research has persistently shown a link between early juvenile onset of drug use and less favourable health and criminal justice outcomes in adulthood. drug users who have regular contact with the criminal justice system typically commenced their drug use at earlier ages (Gaffney et al. 2010; Johnson 2001); even within the drug-using offender population, those with a recent history of violent or prolific property offending typically commenced drug use and progressed to regular drug use earlier than those with no such history (Makkai & Payne 2003); and the risk that an offender will progress to serious and frequent offending was highest when both drug use and offending first began at younger than average ages (Payne 2006). Although there is broad agreement that early initiation into drug use and subsequent involvement in the criminal justice system are correlated, there still remains considerable debate regarding the direction of causality. Some suggest that early drug use can act as a gateway or 'stepping stone' to more significant drug use and other problem behaviours (Kandel, Yamaguchi & Chen 1992), while others argue that drug use does not cause criminal behaviour, but rather, there is a shared or common aetiology, such as low self control or high impulsivity (Gottfredson & Hirschi 1990).


Abstract. Knowledge of the effects of climate change on agro-ecosystems is
fundamental to identifying local actions aimed to maintain productivity and
reduce environmental issues. This study investigates the effects of climate
perturbation on the European crop and grassland production systems,
combining the findings from two specific biogeochemical models. Accurate and
high-resolution management and pedoclimatic data were employed. Results have
been verified for the period 1978–2004 (historical period) and projected
until 2099 with two divergent intensities: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate projections, Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5
and RCP8.5. We have provided a detailed overview of productivity and the impacts
on management (sowing dates, water demand, nitrogen use efficiency).
Biogenic greenhouse gas balance (N2O, CH4, CO2) was
calculated, including an assessment of the gases' sensitivity to the leading
drivers, and a net carbon budget on production systems was compiled. Results
confirmed a rise in productivity in the first half of the century (+5 %
for croplands at +0.2 t DM ha−1 yr−1, +1 % for grasslands at +0.1 t DM ha−1 yr−1; DM denotes dry matter), whereas a significant reduction in productivity
is expected during the period 2050–2099, caused by the shortening of the
length of the plant growing cycle associated with rising temperatures.
This effect was more pronounced for the more pessimistic climate scenario
(−6.1 % for croplands and −7.7 % for grasslands), for the
Mediterranean regions and in central European latitudes, confirming a
regionally distributed impact of climate change. Non-CO2 greenhouse
gas emissions were triggered by rising air temperatures and increased
exponentially over the century, often exceeding the CO2 accumulation of
the explored agro-ecosystems, which acted as potential C sinks. The emission
factor for N2O was 1.82 ± 0.07 % during the historical period
and rose to up to 2.05 ± 0.11 % for both climate projections. The
biomass removal (crop yield, residues exports, mowing and animal intake)
converted croplands and grasslands into net C sources (236 ± 107 Tg CO2 eq. yr−1 in the historical period), increasing from 19 % to 26 %
during the climate projections, especially for RCP4.5. Nonetheless, crop
residue restitution might represent a potential management strategy to
overturn the C balance. Although with a marked latitudinal gradient, water
demand will double over the next few decades in the European croplands,
whereas the benefit in terms of yield (+2 % to +10 % over the century)
will not contribute substantially to balance the C losses due to climate
perturbation.


Dopamine (DA) mediated brain activity is intimately linked to reward‐driven cerebral responses, while aberrant reward processing has been implicated in several psychiatric disorders. fMRI has been a valuable tool in understanding the mechanism by which DA modulators alter reward‐driven responses and how they may exert their therapeutic effect. However, the potential effects of a pharmacological compound on aspects of neurovascular coupling may cloud the interpretability of the BOLD contrast. Here, we assess the effects of risperidone on reward driven BOLD signals produced by reward anticipation and outcome, while attempting to control for potential drug effects on regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR). Healthy male volunteers (n = 21) each received a single oral dose of either 0.5 mg, 2 mg of risperidone or placebo in a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomised, three‐period cross‐over study design. Participants underwent fMRI scanning while performing the widely used Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task to assess drug impact on reward function. Measures of CBF (Arterial Spin Labelling) and breath‐hold challenge induced BOLD signal changes (as a proxy for CVR) were also acquired and included as covariates. Risperidone produced divergent, dose‐dependent effects on separate phases of reward processing, even after controlling for potential nonneuronal influences on the BOLD signal. These data suggest the D2 antagonist risperidone has a wide‐ranging influence on DA‐mediated reward function independent of nonneuronal factors. We also illustrate that assessment of potential vascular confounds on the BOLD signal may be advantageous when investigating CNS drug action and advocate for the inclusion of these additional measures into future study designs.


Using the CASTEP computer code we have conducted structural optimization calculation in the generalized-gradient approximation for the Ag(111)(√3×√3)R30°-Sb and Cu(111)(√3×√3)R30°-Sb surface phases with a view to exploring the findings of several recent experimental studies which indicate that the outermost surface alloy layer in these surfaces contains substrate and Sb atoms in the hcp hollow sites, leading to a stacking fault at the alloy-substrate interface. The results confirm that these structures do have lower total energy than the unfaulted geometries. In Ag(111) the stacking fault energy for a clean surface layer is especially low, and becomes negative in the presence of the partial Sb substitution. The relative energies of alternative Sb surface structures on Ag(111) are consistent with those of previous theoretical calculations, while the detailed geometry of the two optimal structures agrees well with experimental results.


We study the effect of a binding minimum wage on labor market outcomes, the accumulation of capital and welfare. We consider a large firm that invests in physical capital and hires several types of workers. Labor markets are characterized by search and matching frictions, while incomplete wage contracts allow workers to appropriate part of the return on each factor. Absent a minimum wage, the model in general gives rise to inefficient levels of capital and employment. We show that, when labor types are substitutes, the introduction of a binding minimum wage has positive effects on capital and positive and small effects on employment, and these effects depend on the ability of the minimum wage to deter rent appropriation by workers.


: We have demonstrated that water organisms of various phylogenetic levels--lower fungi, sponges, colenterates, molluscs, and fishes--produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) into the aquatic environment without any additional stimuli. Our experimental data support the idea that ROS production by marine invertebrates is calcium- and proteinkinase C-dependent process, whose functions still remain unknown.


Objective:
A growing concern in optometry is the incidence and prevalence of occupational musculoskeletal (MSK) pain and injury, with no studies assessing Canadian professionals. However, the risk of work-related MSK pain in optometry has become widely recognized by the profession and literature as having a negative impact on the health and careers of optometrists. The goal of this study was to quantify prevalence and location of MSK pain in Canadian optometrists and estimate practices that may be associated with MSK issues.
Methods:
A voluntary, internet-based survey (SurveyMonkey Inc., San Mateo, CA, United States) was distributed to all optometrists registered with the Canadian Association of Optometry (CAO). Survey questions were adapted from the literature to identify the prevalence and significance of work-related MSK issues.
Results:
One-hundred-twenty-one optometrists, with a response rate of 2.4%, and 169 ophthalmologists, with a response rate of 17% participated in a voluntary internet-based survey. When asked if they had experienced pain attributed to their work in the last 12 months, 61% of optometry responders said "yes", compared to 50% of ophthalmology responders (p=0.06). Shoulder pain was reported in 41% of optometry responders, lower back pain in 37% and neck pain in 34%. This was compared to 28% (p=0.02), 36% (p=0.90) and 46% (p=0.04) respectively in ophthalmology responders. Optometry respondents most commonly attributed MSK pain to "performing the same task over and over", "working in the same position" and "slit lamp exams".
 Conclusion:
Many of the eye-care responders in our study were impacted by work-related MSK pain. The prevalence, location and severity of pain were similar to findings in other literature. More research is needed to determine best practices for prevention and solution of MSK pain among eye-care professionals.


One of the most important challenges in mobile Internet Protocol (IP) is to provide service for a mobile node to maintain its connectivity to network when it moves from one domain to another. IP is responsible for routing packets across network. The first major version of IP is the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). It is one of the dominant protocols relevant to wireless network. Later a newer version of IP called the IPv6 was proposed. Mobile IPv6 is mainly introduced for the purpose of mobility. Mobility management enables network to locate roaming nodes in order to deliver packets and maintain connections with them when moving into new domains. Handoff occurs when a mobile node moves from one network to another. It is a key factor of mobility because a mobile node can trigger several handoffs during a session. This paper briefly explains on mobile IP and its handoff issues, along with the drawbacks of mobile IP.


Bryozoans, simple invertebrates living on the sea floor, are emerging as a model system for understanding ecological and evolutionary processes on macroevolutionary scales.


Renal scintiphotography with (131)I-hippurate was the primary diagnostic procedure in evaluating renal failure and complications in over 500 transplant patients. This diagnostic test has become our principal method of evaluation and followup of renal transplants, especially in the early post-transplant period. It has accurately distinguished tubular necrosis, rejection, and other complications in the post-transplant period. Its simplicity, safety and accuracy are of great value to transplant surgeons and their patients.


The efficacy of a novel subunit vaccine candidate, based in the CSFV E2 glycoprotein produced in plants to prevent classical swine fever virus (CSFV) vertical transmission, was evaluated. A Nicotiana benthamiana tissue culture system was used to obtain a stable production of the E2-glycoprotein fused to the porcine Fc region of IgG. Ten pregnant sows were divided into three groups: Groups 1 and 2 (four sows each) were vaccinated with either 100 μg/dose or 300 μg/dose of the subunit vaccine at 64 days of pregnancy. Group 3 (two sows) was injected with PBS. Groups 1 and 2 were boosted with the same vaccine dose. At 10 days post second vaccination, the sows in Groups 2 and 3 were challenged with a highly virulent CSFV strain. The vaccinated sows remained clinically healthy and seroconverted rapidly, showing efficient neutralizing antibodies. The fetuses from vaccinated sows did not show gross lesions, and all analyzed tissue samples tested negative for CSFV replication. However, fetuses of non-vaccinated sows had high CSFV replication in tested tissue samples. The results suggested that in vaccinated sows, the plant produced E2 marker vaccine induced the protective immunogenicity at challenge, leading to protection from vertical transmission to fetuses.


In this modern day and age, severe injury has become the dire consequence of an ever-increasing number of motor vehicle, industrial and mining accidents as well as sport-, military- and terror-related incidents that occur. The management of the severely injured patient is mostly directed on an exclusively physical level. Often, very little attention is afforded to the psychosocial factors that prevail following physical trauma. The author describes and discusses how holistic multidisciplinary intervention within the medical milieu facilitates a more psychotherapeutic approach to the management of severely injured patients. This approach facilitates physical recovery and increases the rate of readjustment and reintegration into society, of those who have sustained severe injury.


In the area of auricular medicine research, researchers believe that human diseases are reflected in corresponding locations on the external ears, known as the positive reactions of auricular points. If some auricular points on a person's external ear exhibit abnormal positive reactions, then the person is being attacked by a corresponding disease. This paper proposes a vision-based auricular diagnosis assistance system to help doctors detect diseases by discovering the visual positive reactions of auricular points on patients' external ears. The proposed vision-based auricular diagnosis assistance system includes visual positive reaction detection and disease identification. First, external ear images are input into the system to detect the visual positive reactions of the auricular points on the external ear using an improved version of the U-Net model. Improvements of the U-Net model include batch standardization, atrous convolution, convolution stage reduction, and multi-expansion-rate integration. Second, the detection results of visually positive reactions are then used to identify the diseases. This study identified nine types of diseases through their corresponding positive reactions, including hepatitis, mastitis, cervicitis, prostatitis, frontal headache, migraine, occipital headache, vertex headache, and headache. The dataset used in this study was collected by the authors and called the CVIU 108 EAR Dataset. The experimental results show that the disease diagnosis accuracy rate of the proposed system is 99.60%.


In this paper we study a re-entrant line with unreliable asynchronous exponential machines and finite buffers. First, an approximation method is presented to estimate the throughput of the re-entrant line. The idea of the approximation is to transform an M-machine re-entrant line into a 2M-machine serial line. Then, a system approach to identify a c-bottleneck based on blockage and starvation information is proposed, where a c-bottleneck machine is the machine whose improvement in machine capacity leads to the largest improvement in system throughput compared with improving all other machines. It is shown that the approximation method results in acceptable accuracy, and the bottleneck identification method can correctly detect the bottlenecks in most cases.


Interactions between epithelial and stromal cells are important in the development of prostate cancer (PCa). Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have been to support tumor progression, metastasis, and differentiation. Androgen receptor (AR) and related pathways are known to support the growth and survival of prostate epithelial cancer cells, the roles of AR-dependent processes in cancerous stroma are less clear. We sought to investigate if AR-dependent pathways present in CAF cells influence the growth and tumorogencity of epithelial cancer cells in relation to androgen-deprivation therapy in prostate cancer. Murine CAFs were isolated from a well-described PTEN-dependent cancer mouse model. A co-culture system was developed based on multiple lines of murine CAFs grown along with human prostate cancer epithelial cells, and a murine-specific anti-sense oligonucleotide (ASO) against murine AR was used to specifically suppress AR expression in murine CAFs in this system. Using this co-culture system, we found that murine CAFs promoted cell proliferation and colony formation in several human prostate cancer cell lines. Further, these processes were decreased by suppression of AR-expression in CAFs. Expression of genes related to tumorogenicity in epithelial cells were investigated by real-time quantitative PCR. Markers associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness were increased in human prostate cancer cells grown with low-AR CAFs. Our data indicates that suppression of AR in CAFs results in down-regulation in the growth and tumorogenecity of prostate cancer cells through pathways related to EMT and "cell reprograming". As such, development of therapies which inhibit the tumor-promoting pathways present in stromal cells may be one approach to improve the treatment of prostate cancer. Citation Format: Chun-Peng Liao, Leng-Ying Chen, Andrea Luethy, Youngsoo Kim, Robert MacLeod, Mitchell Gross. Androgen signaling in cancer-associated fibroblasts contributes to progression of prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-268.


Understanding the formation and consequences of formal military alliances is a research area that is central to the study of international relations. Military alliances help define and shape the nature of interactions between countries, and by structuring international obligations; they help construct the nature of the international system. Over time, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have been faced with myriads of security challenges, ranging from militancy, ethno-religious crisis, political conflict, human and drug trafficking, to trans-border crimes. In recent times however, terrorism and insurgency have become a major security threat to the sovereignty of these countries, particularly the threat of Boko Haram in the Northeast of Nigeria and countries of the Lake Chad region; hence the formation of the Multi-National Joint Task Force as a military alliance to combat terrorism. The paper is thus, an attempt to investigate the role of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in countering Boko Haram terrorism within Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. In interrogating the above problem, this paper scooped from secondary data and employed the Simon Walt's theory of alliance as analytical framework. It is the position of the paper that the MNJTF has made remarkable achievement in the fight against Boko Haram. In the final analysis, the paper recommends, among other things, the need for participating states in the MNJTF to be much more committed in terms of funding and purchase of military equipment to further enhance military preparedness and capabilities.


Introduction: Migraine is the most common cause of vascular headache with a one-year prevalence as high as 6-14.3%. Having various pathophysiological theories, it occurs in much co-morbidity with several medical as well as psychiatric disorders like mood disorders, phobia, anxiety spectrum, etc. Migraine, especially when co-morbid with psychiatric illness stands markedly burdensome economically, diagnostically, therapeutically and prognostically. Hence, needs even further research. Aim: To study patients with migraine versus other types of headache and to study psychiatric co-morbidity among patients with migraine. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on total 100 patients presenting with headache, meeting the criteria were taken up for the study and divided into two groups. Patients meeting International Headache Society (IHS) criteria for migraine were enrolled under group A and patients suffering from headache other than migraine under group B. Having subjected to detailed history and evaluation, patients were subjected to Symptom checklist-80, Hamilton's Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria. The data so collected was subjected to statistical analysis and association of psychiatric morbidity with migraine patients was assessed. Results: Patients with migraine (group A) and among those too, patients having psychiatric morbidity had significantly (p<0.01) longer duration of illness (≥8 years), more frequent attacks ≥5 attacks per month and had longer duration of each attack >24 hours compared to the other groups. Patients having migraine had significantly (p<0.01) higher psychiatric morbidity, more SCL-80 symptoms (mean score 83.05); more depressive symptoms (mean MADRS score was 31.9±9.2) and more anxiety with the mean Hamilton Anxiety score was 23.3 than in patients without psychiatric morbidity. Conclusion: A thorough evaluation of psychiatric disorders in migraine is important so as to propose a non segregated model of care to direct the burden and deterioration associated with psychiatric co-morbidity in migraine.


Background The tachykinins are implicated in neurogenic inflammation and the neuropeptide substance P in particular has been shown to be a proinflammatory mediator. A role for the tachykinins in host response to lung challenge has been previously demonstrated but has been focused predominantly on the release of the tachykinins from nerves innervating the lung. We have previously demonstrated the most dramatic phenotype described for the substance P encoding gene preprotachykinin-A (PPT-A) to date in controlling the host immune response to the murine gammaherpesvirus 68, in the lung. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study we have utilised transgenic mice engineered to co-ordinately express the beta-galactosidase marker gene along with PPT-A to facilitate the tracking of PPT-A expression. Using a combination of these mice and conventional immunohistology we now demonstrate that PPT-A gene expression and substance P peptide are induced in cells of the respiratory tract including tracheal, bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells and macrophages after viral infection. This induction was observed 24h post infection, prior to observable inflammation and the expression of pro-inflammatory chemokines in this model. Induced expression of the PPT-A gene and peptide persisted in the lower respiratory tract through day 7 post infection. Conclusions/Significance Non-neuronal PPT-A expression early after infection may have important clinical implications for the progression or management of lung disease or infection aside from the well characterised later involvement of the tachykinins during the inflammatory response.


ABSTRACT Salmonella FliI is the ATPase that drives flagellar protein export. It normally exists as a complex together with the regulatory protein FliH. A fliH null mutant was slightly motile, with overproduction of FliI resulting in substantial improvement of its motility. Mutations in the cytoplasmic domains of FlhA and FlhB, which are integral membrane components of the type III flagellar export apparatus, also resulted in substantially improved motility, even at normal FliI levels. Thus, FliH, though undoubtedly important, is not essential.


This note on Social Policy provides practical guidance on how to operationalize alternative equitable and employment-generating social policies in National Development Strategies. This Policy Note has been developed in cooperation with United Nations agencies, and has been officially reviewed by distinguished academics/ development specialists such as Jose Antonio Ocampo, Jomo K.S. and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the structure and degradation property of the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-collagen complex drug membrane.

METHODS
Drug collagen membrane was complexed with PVA. The physical and chemical properties of the membrane were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscope, forier transform-infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Degradation experiment was performed to determine the degradation property of membrane and a degradation curve was therefor drawn.

RESULTS
The thermodynamic stability of collagen membrane was not destroyed by adding PVA. Collagen had good compatibility with PVA. Compared with collagen membrane, collagen-PVA complex membrane had smaller and evener pores. Adding PVA decreased the degradation rate of membrane.

CONCLUSIONS
PVA-collagen membrane has better microstructure and antidegradation property than collagen membrane.


OBJECTIVE
Celiac disease (CD), or gluten sensitivity, is considered to be a state of heightened immunologic responsiveness to ingested gluten proteins in genetically predisposed individuals. The gastrointestinal manifestation suggests a severe enteropathy of the small intestine with malabsorption, steatorrhea, and weight loss because of a deranged mucosal immune response. Neurologic complications occur, especially epilepsy, possibly associated with occipital calcifications or folate deficiency and cerebellar ataxia. There have been reports of brain white-matter lesions as an extraintestinal manifestation in Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis but not in CD.

METHODS
In this study, 75 diet-treated mainly pediatric patients with biopsy-proven CD underwent prospectively clinical neurologic examinations, laboratory investigations, electroencephalography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The age range was 2.8 to 24.2 years with a mean of 11.6 years. The mean period of gluten exposure was 2.4 years.

RESULTS
Ten patients had neurologic findings such as febrile seizures, single generalized seizures, mild ataxia, and muscular hypotonia with retarded motor development. No folate deficiency was found. The hippocampal regions showed no abnormalities. Computed tomography did not reveal any cerebral calcifications, but magnetic resonance imaging detected unilateral and bilateral T2-hyperintensive white-matter lesions in 15 patients (20%). There was no correlation between these lesions and dietary compliance or neurologic or electroencephalographic abnormalities. The mean gluten exposure time of these patients was slightly increased (not significant).

CONCLUSIONS
Focal white-matter lesions in the brain may represent an extraintestinal manifestation of CD. They may be ischemic in origin as a result of a vasculitis or caused by inflammatory demyelination. They seem to be more typical of pediatric CD than cerebral calcifications. Their prognostic value is unclear and needs to be elucidated in additional studies. CD should be suggested as a differential diagnosis in children with unclear white-matter lesions even without intestinal symptoms.


Caution is suggested on the comparison of the spin-singlet charmonium P-state with the centre of gravity of triplet states, when the mass splitting is of the order of a few MeV. The physics of new hidden-charm states X and Y is briefly reviewed. Perspectives for producing double-charm baryons and double-charm exotic mesons are discussed.


The problem of diffusion and dispersion in porous media is considered in the absence of either adsorption or chemical reaction. For this situation, local volume averaging has been used to obtain both a convection-dispersion equation and a method of closure that provides for a direct theoretical prediction of the dispersion tensor. This approach is associated with three length scales, lβ, the pore diameter, ro, the radius of the averaging volume, and L the macroscopic length scale, and makes use of a representative unit cell to determine the dispersion tensor. Previous work suggests that extremely complex unit cells must be used to capture the observed dispersion phenomena, and complex unit cells naturally introduce another length scale, i.e., the length scale associated with the local heterogeneities. To deal with this problem, we propose the use of large-scale averaging to account for the influence of the local heterogeneities. This leads to a large-scale convection-dispersion equation that contains additional terms involving time derivatives which arise as a result of the presence of heterogeneities and which do not appear in the conventional local volume average convection-dispersion equation. The first new term contains the second derivative with respect to time and is likely to be unimportant for time scales appropriate for groundwater transport processes; however, it may be important for small-scale laboratory experiments. The second new term contains a mixed space-time derivative which may be important for many cases of practical interest. A closure scheme is presented that allows for the theoretical determination of all the coefficients that appear in the large-scale convective-convection-dispersion equation.


COUNTLESS practical and theoretical proposals have been made for the prevention of auto‐rotation. Exact science has long been well acquainted with the actual aerodynamical process. In Germany, Prof. Fuchs of Berlin and Prof. Hopf of Aix‐la‐Chapelle may be named as leading experts engaged in the investigation of auto‐rotation. The Deutsche Versuchsanstalt fur Luftfahrt has also provided very valuable contributions to the study of the problem. Among English workers may be named Bairstow, Bryant, Gates and Hall, while it is an Englishman, Handley‐Page, with his famous slotted wing, who has made the most practical progress. This invention at least enables the machine to maintain lateral stability when it gets too steeply banked, that is it prevents one wing from dropping. Nevertheless, neither the Handley‐Page slotted wing nor any other device can quite preclude the danger of auto‐rotation. Intentional or unintentional error in manipulation still tend to produce auto‐rotation.


The kinetic energy dependence of the collision‐induced dissociation (CID) of Fe+n (n=11–19) with Xe is studied by using a guided ion beam mass spectrometer. As previously reported for smaller iron cluster ions, these iron cluster ions dissociate exclusively by evaporation, the sequential loss of Fe atoms. Bond energies for the larger iron cluster ions D0(Fe+n−1–Fe), n=11–19, as well as updated values for the smaller cluster ions, n=2–10, are reported. These energies are derived after explicit consideration of the effect of secondary collisions between Fe+n and Xe, and of the lifetimes of the energized iron cluster ions. Bond energies for neutral iron clusters are derived by combining these ionic bond energies with literature ionization energies for Fen. Except for the dimers, we find that the bond energies of ionic and neutral iron clusters are very similar and change nonmonotonically as a function of cluster size, with local maxima at n=6, 7, 13, 15, and 19; and local minima at n=8, 14, and 18. Evidence ...


The years of childhood have become increasingly central to autobiographical writing. Historians have linked this development to the new ideas about life-stages that emerged in the early modern period. Philippe Ariès (1914–84) made a key contribution in 1960 with a book on the child and family life in the ancien régime, known in English as Centuries of Childhood. 'Family histories and the autobiography of childhood' considers how genealogy (the tracing of family history) and the shaping of family relations by cultural and social forces have been central concerns for many modern autobiographers. It also looks closely at the relationship between child and parent and at the impact of mixed cultures.


Nanotechnology education continues to be a national priority [5], [12] while requiring an integration of the basic disciplines (physics, chemistry, and biology) into the systems of engineering and technology. Training the next-generation workforce in this complex and highly interdisciplinary field presents many opportunities and challenges. Various nanotechnology courses and programs [1], [4], [15] have been developed with differing levels of success. The issues of prerequisite material, student selective interests, and program-specific requirements are a few of the challenges that have slowed the rate of nanotechnology education. Also, access to and training on scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), one of the premier tools of nanotechnology [2], has been limited, particularly at the undergraduate level. A few laboratories [7], [13] have been centered around the atomic force microscope (AFM), a subset of the SPM. However, these systems are expensive, and it is a challenge to retain the expertise necessary to maintain, operate, and train students on these systems.


The purpose of research — to estimate the efficacy of repeated courses of antiviral and immunotropic therapy in children with hematuric form of chronic glomerulonephritis (HFCGN) and concomitant chronic Epstein — Barr viral infection (EBVI). 54 children with HFCGN and chronic EBVI aged 3–17 years were examined. Patients received preparation of recombinant interferon (IFN) a-2b and a medication containing flavonoids Deschampsia caespitosa L. and Calamagrostis epigeios L., at presence of signs of activity of chronic EBVI activity signs patients were also administered with acyclovir. Duration of therapy — 3 months. Number of courses — 3. A break between courses of treatment was three months. Treatment efficacy was assessed by means of nephrological, virological and immunological examination before treatment, in 6, 12 and 18 months of follow-up, i.e. in 3 months after completion of the first, second and third courses of treatment. Use of repeated courses of antiviral and immunotropic therapy in children with HFCGN and chronic EBVI led to a decrease in the severity of erythrocyturia, frequency of macrohematuria, tubular disorders, normalizing levels of IFN-a, IFN-g, IL-1b in blood serum and a significant decrease in the concentration of IL-6. Significant positive changes in the state of children's health is marked after the third course of therapy, which manifested in reduction of incidence rate of respiratory diseases, the frequency of asthenic syndrome, lymphadenopathy, tonsillitis, adenoiditis, hepatomegaly, cardiopathy, liquidation of low-grade fever, splenomegaly.


Inter-facial processes and charge-transport mechanisms in a segmented resistor have been investigated using single- and double-layer resistive test structures. Microstructure studies of the cross section of the specimens supported by elemental mapping using energy- and wavelength-dispersive X-ray analysis show that, in dual-layer structures, RuO2 agglomerates in a thin region near the interface and the current flow takes place principally through this region. From the Arrhenius plots of the specimens combined with Mott's T1/4 law, it is found that the conduction mechanism at the junction of two cofired thick resistive films is governed by the mechanism of the lower-sheet-resistivity film.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Despite the potential for improving health status or increasing access to transplantation, national practice patterns for bariatric surgery in obese patients with ESKD are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to describe current trends in surgical care for this population.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
Using 100% Medicare data, we identified all beneficiaries undergoing bariatric surgery in the United States between 2006 and 2016. We evaluated longitudinal practice patterns using linear regression models. We also estimated risk-adjusted complications, readmissions, and length of stay using Poisson regression for patients with and without ESKD.

RESULTS
The number of patients with ESKD undergoing bariatric surgery increased ninefold between 2006 and 2016. The proportional use of sleeve gastrectomy increased from <1% in 2006 to 84% in 2016. For sleeve gastrectomy, complication rates were similar between patients with and without ESKD (3.4% versus 3.6%, respectively; difference, -0.3%; 95% confidence interval, -1.3% to 0.1%; P=0.57). However, patients with ESKD had more readmissions (8.6% versus 5.4%, respectively; difference, 3.2%; 95% confidence interval, 1.9% to 4.6%; P<0.001) and slightly longer hospitals stays (2.2 versus 1.9 days, respectively; difference, 0.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.1 to 0.4; P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has replaced Roux-en-Y gastric bypass as the most common bariatric surgical procedure in patients with ESKD. The data also demonstrate a favorable complication profile in patients with sleeve gastrectomy.


S easonal meroplankton abundances of Köyceğiz-Dalyan Lagoon System were examined in this study. Also, changes in the diversity and abundance of meroplanktonic larvae because of the different two salinity layers of the system were investigated. Meroplankton samples were taken by Unesco standart plankton net with 200 micrometer mesh size horizon-tally from three stations. Temporal and spatial differences in the abundance of meroplankton groups were examined by permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA). Environmental parameters which are temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen were measured from the surface. Meroplankton groups of the study area were nauplius, zoea, cyprid larva, stomatopod larva, hydrozoan larva, ephyra, polychaeta larva, fish egg, fish larva and gastropod larva. Meroplankton and holoplankton abundances showed two peaks in April and October. There were statistically significant differences in the abundance of meroplankton amongst seasons especially between summer-winter and winter-spring. In October and November Mediterranean water enters the Köyceğiz-Dalyan Lagoon System through the bottom of the system, whereas in winter and spring, the lagoon and coastal zone were under the influence of Lake Köyceğiz.


Acetone is the expected ketone product of an acetic acid decarboxylative ketonization reaction with metal oxide catalysts used in the industrial production of ketones and for biofuel upgrade. Decarboxylative cross-ketonization of a mixture of acetic and isobutyric acids yields highly valued unsymmetrical methyl isopropyl ketone (MIPK) along with two less valuable symmetrical ketones, acetone and diisopropyl ketone (DIPK). We describe a side reaction of isobutyric acid with acetone yielding the cross-ketone MIPK with monoclinic zirconia and anatase titania catalysts in the absence of acetic acid. We call it a reketonization reaction because acetone is deconstructed and used for the construction of MIPK. Isotopic labeling of the isobutyric acid's carboxyl group shows that it is the exclusive supplier of the carbonyl group of MIPK, while acetone provides only methyl group for MIPK construction. More branched ketones, MIPK or DIPK, are less reactive in their reketonization with carboxylic acids. The proposed mechanism of reketonization supported by density functional theory (DFT) computations starts with acetone enolization and proceeds via its condensation with surface isobutyrate to a β-diketone similar to β-keto acid formation in the decarboxylative ketonization of acids. Decomposition of unsymmetrical β-diketones with water (or methanol) by the retrocondensation reaction under the same conditions over metal oxides yields two pairs of ketones and acids (or esters in the case of methanol) and proceeds much faster compared to their formation. The major direction yields thermodynamically more stable products—more substituted ketones. DFT calculations predict even a larger fraction of the thermodynamically preferred pair of products. The difference is explained by some degree of a kinetic control in the opposite direction. Reketonization has lower reaction rates compared to regular ketonization. Still, a high extent of reketonization occurs unnoticeably during the decarboxylative ketonization of acetic acid as the result of the acetone reaction with acetic acid. This degenerate reaction is the major cause of the inhibition by acetone of its own rate of formation from acetic acid at high conversions.


BACKGROUND
The combined effects of brain death and graft preservation on right and left ventricular function and on pulmonary hemodynamics after subsequent heart transplantation have not been previously studied.

METHODS
Fifty-seven dogs (25.5 +/- 0.3 kg) were divided into three groups and underwent a total of 20 brain death experiments and 16 orthotopic complete atrioventricular transplantations with the use of a validated brain death organ donor model, hypothermic heart preservation, and right and left ventricular functional analysis (preload-independent recruitable stroke work, Fourier analysis). In the first group, changes in cardiopulmonary function were assessed over a period of 6 to 7 hours after brain death. In the second group, the hearts were procured from a donor with brain death and immediately transplanted whereas in the third group cardiac graft preservation for a period of 4 hours followed harvest from a donor with brain death before heart transplantation and assessment of heart transplant function.

RESULTS
After brain death alone, a significant increase in right and left ventricular end-diastolic pressures and a decrease in systemic and pulmonary resistance and pulmonary impedance occurred. Furthermore, right and left ventricular function decreased significantly by 35% and 19%, respectively, and subsequent transplantation did not cause further cardiac dysfunction. Preservation in combination with brain death led to further significant decreases in right ventricular function after subsequent transplantation compared with brain death alone, necessitating the use of dopamine to wean four animals from cardiopulmonary bypass.

CONCLUSION
Brain death causes a significant loss of right and left ventricular function. These injuries are greater in the right ventricle and may contribute to early right ventricular failure after transplantation. Brain death and cardiac graft preservation have significantly additive deleterious effects on right ventricular function after transplantation.


Chlorotriazines are widely used in agriculture as broadleaf herbicides. The compounds specifically inhibit photosynthesis, and, as such, display little interaction with animal systems. However, a 24-month feeding study with atrazine (ATR) revealed a significant dose-related increase of mammary tumors in female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Because numerous studies indicated that ATR had a low mutagenic and oncogenic potential, it was decided to test a hypothesis that the herbicide possessed endocrine activity. Among tests for estrogenic action, oral dosing of ATR up to 300 mg/kg did not stimulate uterine weight of ovariectomized rats. However, ATR administration did reduce estrogen-stimulated uterine weight gain. Further evidence of inhibition came from measures of [3H]-thymidine incorporation into uterine DNA of ATR-treated immature rats. Again, no intrinsic estrogenic activity was observed up to a 300-mg/kg dose. In vitro, ATR competed poorly against estradiol binding to cytosolic receptors, with an approximate IC50 of 10(-5) M. Atrazine administration to SD and Fischer-344 (F-344) rats for 12 months, up to 400 ppm in food, was correlated with significant alterations of estrous cycling activity; but there was a divergent strain response. SD rats showed an increased number of days in vaginal estrus, increased plasma estradiol, and decreased plasma progesterone by 9 to 12 months of treatment. F-344 rats did not demonstrate treatment-related affects. A study of ultrastructure in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus of female SD rats that were fed diaminochlorotriazine (DACT), an ATR metabolite, suggested that age-associated glial pathology was enhanced by treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) ImagesFigure 8.


The Troodos massif is a well-developed ophiolite complex comprising a sequence of basaltic volcanic rocks overlying a plutonic complex of upper gabbros and lower peridotites containing podiform chromite deposits. The chromitiferous rocks range from disseminations and minor segregations of chromite in dunite to orebodies of economic size and grade composed of nearly pure chromitite. They display both primary textures, such as chromite net and occluded silicate texture of cumulate magmatic origin, and schlieren structures produced by deformation. Dendritic texture in nodular chromite is interpreted as a product of crystallization of a magma that was supersaturated and/or supercooled with respect to chromium. Unusual orbicular structures are thought to have formed by mechanical accretion of previously settled chromite grains around a nucleus of dunite.Chromite deposits occur mainly as isolated pods and layers either in the dunite near the harzburgite contact or in the harzburgite within dunite lenses or enclosed in a narrow dunitic envelope. Deposits show a wide range of reciprocal Cr-Al variation and have low iron oxidation values typical of "alpine" chromitites. The areal distribution of chemically and texturally different deposits of variable size and grade conforms to no recognizable pattern. Accessory chromite exhibits a trend of decreasing Cr and increasing Fe in the passage from dunite, through wehrlite, to picrite.It is concluded that the plutonic complex evolved as a differentiated body of magmatic cumulates laid down upon a basement of depleted mantle harzburgite. The chromitites originated as isolated magmatic segregation ore deposits near the base of the cumulate dunite during episodic crystallization at localized centers within the magma. Postcumulus mobilization and accompanying penetrative deformation of the lower ultramafic rocks caused the tectonic overprint of schlieren structures on earlier magmatic textures, and associated large-scale rock flowage resulted in deep infolding between lithologic units; outliers of chromite-bearing dunite were formed in this way.


In this chapter, the author considers some of the theoretical and methodological conundrums that she encountered in her qualitative research that has focused on later life experiences of the aging body as a site of inequality. Western culture is replete with deeply entrenched ageist stereotypes, which position old bodies as inherently asexual, dependent, frail, obsolete, senile, unproductive, and undesirable. Negative cultural constructions of old bodies are further reflected in and buttressed by masculinity and femininity ideals as well as societal assumptions concerning personal responsibility for health. Collectively, these cultural norms shape research in powerful ways as they lead to the avoidance of certain topics, taken-for-granted assumptions that are difficult to elicit or interrogate, and complex power dynamics between researchers and study participants. Reflecting on the intricacies of researching later life body image and embodiment, I offer some suggestions about how the challenges might be reframed as opportunities.


Inductor-based rectifiers have been developed to overcome the limitations of the traditional diode-based rectifiers for piezo-energy harvesting (PEH). This article proposes a new efficient method for extracting power from the piezoelectric transducer using the inductive rectifier. In the proposed method, the internal capacitance of the transducer is initially pre-charged, and the generated charges in response to the mechanical vibration are accumulated on the capacitor. When the accumulated voltage reaches a maximum allowed value (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\mathrm {MAX}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), the total energy stored in the capacitor is transferred to the output, and the process is repeated. The proposed method ensures that the voltage swing across the transducer is always maximum for extracting the highest possible output power for given CMOS technology. The operational steps are self-timed, and the negative voltage swing across the transducer is avoided. The proposed inductive rectifier is realized using the buck–boost power stage of the DC energy-harvesting system for enabling efficient multi-source harvesting. Test chip is fabricated in the 180-nm CMOS technology, having a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\mathrm {MAX}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 3.3 V. The proposed rectifier extracts power in a single stage, even at a lower rectified output voltage <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\le $ </tex-math></inline-formula>1 V. For a piezo open-circuit voltage of 1 V, the proposed rectifier extracts 3.68<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> more power than the maximum output power of a full-bridge rectifier with ideal diodes. This is despite the voltage loss occurring during accumulation in the power stage implementation.


The relationship of stressful life events to decline in intellectual abilities in 112 women aged 65–92 was assessed. A ratio of crystal/fluid abilities was used to estimate decline. The Vocabulary and Comprehension subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) were used to assess crystalized abilities, and the Block Design and Object Assembly subtests of the WAIS were used to assess fluid abilities. The Holmes and Rahe Schedule of Recent Events (SRE) was used as a measure of stress along with a method for quantifying individual estimates of stress experience. In addition, the relationship of subsets of actual events experienced to intellectual functioning was analyzed. Stress was found to be related to the ratio used to estimate decline. Changes in personal health and changes in health of a family member were positively related and vacations were negatively related to decline in intellectual functioning.


Lab-on-a-chips are microfluidic devices which include biological laboratory functions on a single chip. They offer great advantages in terms of speed of analysis, precision, low sample and reagent consumption and automation of analysis. An efficient detection method in lab-on-a-chips is essential for the detection and quantification of chemical and biological parameters under examination. This review paper focuses on the recent research on optical detection techniques for LOC applications. Furthermore, several emerging detection paradigms which are still being matured are covered in this paper. Also, an analysis of the performance of different optical detection methods is given.


The Radical Orthodoxy [RO] movement has been gaining momentum in the theological academy. Its most recent spokesperson, James Smith, attempts to extend the RO vision in dialogue with the Dutch Reformed tradition. Clearly, the central features of 'Reformed' RO empower a kind of prophetic engagement with the various domains of late modern society. At another level, however, the globalizing features of our time mean that the dominant pagan deities are not just secularism, nihilism, or capitalism, but also those of other religions. At this level, even a 'Reformed' RO may be unable to sustain an engagement with the plurality of mythoi operative in the public square. Rather than undermining the Radically-Reformed project revisioned by Smith, I propose a 'pneumatological assist' and argue that a more robust pneumatological theology (suggested but undeveloped by Smith) enables the kind of engagement that is required in our religiously plural late modern world.


Special-purpose architectures have been proposed to provide high processing rates for signal processing applications. These architectures use highly concurrent structures on VLSI circuits to achieve billions of multiply/add operations per second. Both serial-parallel and fully bit-serial multiplier elements have been proposed for highly concurrent signal processing arrays. Error detection can be accomplished by applying arithmetic codes to the multiplier hardware in different ways. Here, low-cost residue codes are applied to three different error detection architectures for both serial-parallel and fully bit-serial processing elements. The error performance of these different implementations is studied through computer simulation. The cost of using these codes in terms of silicon area and circuit complexity is also investigated. >


New absolute energy measurements of α-particles from 20 natural and artificial emitters are reported, some of which are first absolute values. The uniform field 180° magnetic spectrograph is described in detail. Accurate length and field measurements and line shape extrapolations have been given special attention. A detailed error analysis is presented.


Labor, land, and funds are keys to revitalizing rural areas around the world. Previous studies have focused on the impacts of funds on agricultural production, but placed little emphasis on its role in agricultural land-use transformation. Thus, this study explores the quantitative relationship between agricultural credit and farmland abandonment from the perspective of rural revitalization. Using data on 8031 households from 27 provinces obtained from China's Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this study uses a Tobit model to examine the quantitative impacts of informal and formal agricultural credit on farmland abandonment. The results indicate that: (1) Access to agricultural credit helps to reduce farmland abandonment. (2) Compared with formal agricultural credit (provided by institutions), informal agricultural credit (provided by family and friends) is more significant in reducing farmland abandonment. Thus, this study enhances our understanding of the relationship between agricultural credit and farmland use. It will also prompt policymakers to improve rural financial markets in order to reduce the misallocation of farmland resources, thereby improving food security and rural economies.


The pilgrim Miller of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is arguably the most disruptive of the company. As a loud, vulgar character who disrespects the set order and will not hold his tongue on anyone's account, one feature of his description stands out as the key to likening him to the historical rebel peasants of the 1381 uprising: his large furnace-like mouth. This article will focus on how the chroniclers of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt reported or constructed the rebels' voice and how Gower's account of the same event in Book 1 of the Vox clamantis relates to these. Showing how much emphasis these authors give to the destructiveness of rebel voices and the particular use of fire-breathing in their descriptions, Chaucer's Miller will in turn be reappraised for how he both signals the dangers of reporting rebel words and comically plays with the freedom of literature to portray dissenters.


Abstract Developing decision support systems for emergency situations is a complex and challenging task. These difficulties are compounded further in the case of cross-border emergencies, which often require the coordination and collaboration of independent agencies. These agencies have different structures and resources in place, and follow their own internal policies and procedures. If a number of countries have been affected, agencies may not even share the same language. Large-scale disasters, whether natural, deliberate, or accidental do not respect borders and come with a high risk to human life and a variety of economic and health impacts. Thus, it is the aim of the S-HELP (Securing-Health Emergency Learning Planning) project to develop a decision support tool-set that supports multi-agency decision-making during cross-border emergencies. S-HELP seeks to provide a tool-set that supports rapid and effective decision-making across all stages of the emergency management lifecycle (i.e. mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). To address the challenges associated with multi-agency emergency management, a holistic framed approach to healthcare preparedness, response, and recovery is proposed. This holistic framework has been created to guide the development of the S-HELP solution. The framework integrates a number of components important in the phased iterative development of an emergency management decision support system, such as, interoperability standards, risk communication, spatial data management, agile development, healthcare responder training, and scenario development for system evaluation.


Novel compact microstrip bandpass filters (BPFs) with extended stopband are proposed using both quarter-wavelength (lambda/4) stepped-impedance resonators and bandstop embedded resonators. First, by properly designing the impedance and length ratios of the stepped-impedance resonators, the developed filter may be made compact and its spurious harmonics may be pushed to the higher frequency region. Next, by suitably designing the bandstop structure so as to suppress the lower spurious harmonics of stepped-impedance resonators and then embedding the bandstop structure into the lambda/4 resonators, one may realize the BPFs with wideband spurious suppression. In particular, by connecting the bandstop embedded resonators to the input/output ports, a compact fourth-order BPF of dimension 0.089 lambdag times 0.27 lambdag is implemented and its stopband is extended up to 8.25 f 0 with an adequate rejection of greater than 32.49 dB, where f 0 is the passband center frequency and lambdag is the microstrip guided wavelength at f 0.


In recent decades, Canada's agricultural industry, one of the world's largest, has had to adjust to global trade developments such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization. Internationalization and Canadian Agriculture examines the patterns of continuity and change in Canadian agricultural policy making in important areas like farm income support programs, prairie grain marketing, supply management, animal and food product safety, and the regulation of genetically modified crops and foods. Arguing that the effects of internationalization have been mediated by Canada's political institutional framework, Grace Skogstad demonstrates how the goals and strategies of authoritative political actors in Canada's federal and parliamentary systems have been decisive to policy developments. Skogstad details the interaction between agriculture and the political economy of Canada, shows how international and domestic trade shape Canadian agricultural policies, and argues that while agricultural programs have changed, the post-war state assistance agricultural paradigm has persisted. A thorough political analysis and history of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Canadian agricultural policy and policy-making, Internationalization of Canadian Agriculture is an important contribution to political economy and public policy.


During the 2011 Workshop on Perinatal Practice Strategies sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Perinatal Pediatrics, I reviewed the essentials of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) program for Maintenance of Certification (MoC). This article is a synopsis of that presentation. Although the principles of MoC are applicable across pediatric subspecialties (and many apply to General Pediatrics as well as the subspecialties), my comments in this article are directed primarily to clinicians interested in the MoC program as it applies to certificate holders in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (NPM).


Novel innovations have been witnessed in the past few years in the field of technology for autonomous vehicles. These have been exploited in various applications in the maritime domain; one such application is the proposal to develop autonomous passenger ships (APS) or ferries for carrying passengers in urban waterways. Such technology requires the integration of several components to support the safe and secure operation of the ferries. In this paper, a communication architecture is proposed, that satisfies pre-established communication requirements and supports autonomous and remotely controlled functions of an APS. The architecture was designed using the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL); this enabled an iterative design process to be followed and allows for future improvements. The proposed architecture is verified by showcasing the role of the different architectural components in addressing the requirements and in supporting the expected functions in a number of operational scenarios based on the expected operations of an APS use case called "Autoferry." Furthermore, the proposed architecture has been evaluated by demonstrating its ability to achieve the expected performance according to the requirements, in simulated experiments using the network simulator GNS3.


An Atmospheric Monitoring System (AMS) is a mandatory and key device of a space-based mission which aims to detect Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) and Extremely-High Energy Cosmic Rays (EHECR) from Space. JEM-EUSO has a dedicated atmospheric monitoring system that plays a fundamental role in our understanding of the atmospheric conditions in the Field of View (FoV) of the telescope. Our AMS consists of a very challenging space infrared camera and a LIDAR device, that are being fully designed with space qualification to fulfil the scientific requirements of this space mission. The AMS will provide information of the cloud cover in the FoV of JEM-EUSO, as well as measurements of the cloud top altitudes with an accuracy of 500 m and the optical depth profile of the atmosphere transmittance in the direction of each air shower with an accuracy of 0.15 degree and a resolution of 500 m. This will ensure that the energy of the primary UHECR and the depth of maximum development of the EAS ( Extensive Air Shower) are measured with an accuracy better than 30% primary energy and 120 g=cm 2 depth of maximum development for EAS occurring either in clear sky or with the EAS depth of maximum development above optically thick cloud layers. Moreover a very novel radiometric retrieval technique considering the LIDAR shots as calibration points, that seems to be the most promising retrieval algorithm is under development to infer the Cloud Top Height (CTH) of all kind of clouds, thick and thin clouds in the FoV of the JEM-EUSO space telescope.


Previous studies reported benefits to growth performance, intestinal histology and reduced diarrhea for pigs supplemented with nucleotide additive as a replacement to antimicrobial growth promoters. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of nucleotide levels on performance, occurrence of diarrhea, relative weight of organs, intestinal histology, and intestinal microbiota of weanling pigs. One hundred and sixty 21-d weaned pigs (6.43 ± 0.71 kg BW) were used in a randomized complete block design experiment with five treatments, eight replications per treatment and four animals per pen (experimental unit). The treatments were basal diet with 120 ppm of chloro-hydroxyquinoline (antimicrobial), and basal diet with 0 (control), 100, 150, or 200 ppm of nucleotides. The average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), gain to feed ratio (G:F), and occurrence of diarrhea were calculated from day 1 to 14, day 14 to 34, and day 1 to 34 of the experiment. A day after the end of the experiment, one animal from each pen was slaughtered to evaluate the relative weight of organs, intestinal histology, and intestinal microbiota. From day 1-14 and day 14-34 of the experiment, performance was not affected by the treatments. For the total experimental period (day 1-34), increasing the dietary concentrations of nucleotides linearly improved the final body weight and average daily gain. Salmonella spp. was detected only in the control treatment, without affecting the other microorganisms. Pigs fed with antibiotic had a lower occurrence of diarrhea from day 1-14 compared to pigs fed with nucleotide treatments. Although increasing the occurrence of diarrhea in the first 14 days, dietary nucleotides added up to 200 ppm, improve the final body weight and average daily gain at 34 days post weaning. Nucleotides and antimicrobial not shown beneficial effects on organ weights, and intestinal histology of nursery pig, however, are able to decrease the population of Salmonella spp. at small intestine.


The fusion model of the L-state cyclic solid-on-solid (CSOS) model is considered at criticality. Each ZL-charge sector of the fusion CSOS model is related to a sum of total spin sectors of the fusion vertex model with a seam on which the vertex weights are modified by a phase factor. The latter in turn becomes the higher-spin XXZ quantum chain with a twisted boundary condition in the extremely anisotropic limit. Using the known operator content of the higher-spin XXZ chain, the authors deduce that of the fusion CSOS model. The modular invariant partition function of the fusion CSOS at fusion level k is a sum of products of the Z(k) parafermionic and free boson sectors with the effective coupling g'=L2(k-lambda/pi) for L odd and g"=L2(1/k-lambda/pi)/4 for L even, where lambda is the crossing parameter. Where L is odd and a multiple of k, or when L/2 is a multiple of k for L even, the modular invariant partition function becomes a simple product of the Z(k) parafermionic and the Gaussian partition function.


Indian banking system is saddled with bad loans which have resulted in huge losses. Profitability remains a concern due to the rise of NPAs. Investors should not expect high reporting profits from banks due to the ascending provision of the NPAs. Banks are not performing well and they may not be much efficient due to the rise of NPAs daily. Using data envelopment analysis, the present study intends to assess technical efficiency of banks. As the requirement of homogeneity is fulfilled, the input oriented CCR model is applied. The study finds that the number of efficient banks has shortened and the average overall technical efficiency of selected banks moves downward throughout the study period. It also reveals that the inefficiency is mostly due to the upward trend of NPAs. Asset quality plays the most crucial role toward the performance of banking sector. Thus, banks and regulators should control the upward trend of NPAs to enhance the efficiency level.


Timely and accurate soil moisture information is of great importance in agricultural monitoring. The Gaofen-3 (GF-3) satellite, the first C-band multi-polarization synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite in China, provides valuable data sources for soil moisture monitoring. In this study, a soil moisture retrieval algorithm was developed for the GF-3 satellite based on a backscattering coefficient simulation database. We adopted eight optical vegetation indices to determine the relationships between these indices and vegetation water content (VWC) by combining Landsat-8 data and field measurements. A backscattering coefficient database was built using an advanced integral equation model (AIEM). The effects of vegetation on backscattering coefficients were corrected using the water cloud model (WCM) to obtain the bare soil backscattering coefficient (σsoil°). Then, soil moisture retrievals were obtained at HH, VV and HH+VV combination respectively by minimizing the observed bare soil backscattering coefficient (σsoil°) and the AIEM-simulated backscattering coefficient (σsoil-simu°). Finally, the proposed algorithm was validated in agriculture region of wheat and corn in China using ground soil moisture measurements. The results showed that the normalized difference infrared index (NDII) had the best fit with measured VWC values (R = 0.885) among the eight vegetation water indices; thus, it was adopted to correct the effects of vegetation. The proposed algorithm using GF-3 satellite data performed well in soil moisture retrieval, and the scheme combining HH and VV polarization exhibited the highest accuracy, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.044 m3m−3, followed by HH polarization (RMSE = 0.049 m3m−3) and VV polarization (RMSE = 0.053 m3m−3). Therefore, the proposed algorithm has good potential to operationally estimate soil moisture from the new GF-3 satellite data.