Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are unique, lightweight materials that possess high elastic modulus and tensile strength, making them of great interest in the formation of nanocomposite materials. However, efficient design of the composite material is essential in translating the mechanical properties of the individual CNCs into the nanocomposite film. In this work, we demonstrate the formation of structured CNC/acrylic dispersions by physical blending of the anionic CNCs with charged acrylic latex particles. By blending with large cationic latex particles the CNCs adsorbed onto the acrylic latex surface, while blending with small latex particles led to the inverse structure. Films were cast from these dispersions and the physical properties were compared with the aim of understanding the influence of initial structure of the hybrid dispersion on the structure of the final film. A significant difference in the mechanical properties was observed based on the position of the CNCs in the initial dispersion. Adsorption of latex particles onto the CNC surface led to a random distribution of non-connected CNCs which contributed little to improving the Young's modulus while adsorption of CNC onto the latex led to a honeycomb CNC network and a large increase in Young's modulus. This work underlines the importance of particle structure on the structure and mechanical properties of nanostructured films.


By estimating certain features of the built environment, we can predict positive healing effects that spaces and structures may have on users. This can be estimated before something is built. Anticipating people's eventual response to a new building or urban space is a radically new tool that links design to public health. Nothing like this is performed in current practice, however, which makes no attempt to quantify assessments of future healing effects. The proposed "biophilic healing index B" —a number from 0 to 20— permits us to quickly evaluate those factors responsible for improved human health as a result of the environmental geometry. The biophilic healing index is also very useful for repair, since it identifies which aspects of an existing building or space could be improved by renovation. Different portions of a structure could have widely different biophilic healing indices. Ten factors constitute the biophilic healing index, and identify different ways in which nature affects our body in an intrinsic yet subconscious manner. We expect healing responses from long-term physical experience of regions with a high value of the biophilic healing index. Existing data support this quantitative approach to designing healing environments. Experiments are proposed to explore the mechanisms responsible for the biophilic effect.


Ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extracted by phenol treatment from cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus isolated from the midgut of infected silkworms. This RNA appears as threads when precipitated in alcohol. Two components having different sedimentation constants were observed. The molecular weight of the RNA preparation obtained by sedimentation coefficient (weight-averaged) and intrinsic viscosity was about 2 × 106 to 3 × 106. It was one-half to one-third the size of the calculated molecular weight for an entire RNA molecule in a virion. Electron micrographs of this RNA preparation showed two peaks in the distribution of contour length, at 0.4 and 1.3 μm, which would correspond to molecular weights of 106 and 3 × 106, respectively. The extracted RNA seemed to split into segments at a preferential breaking point. This RNA was soluble in concentrated salt solution, differing from single stranded high-molecular-weight RNA. The base composition of this RNA was complementary in the ratios of adenosine to uridine and guanosine to cytosine. It contained 43% guanosine plus cytosine. Based on its filamentous appearance by electron microscopy, typical pattern of optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism, sharp transition of the optical properties on heating, great hyperchromicity on degradation, nonreactivity with formaldehyde, and resistance to ribonucleases, it is concluded that this RNA is double-stranded and has regular base pairings of guanosine-cytosine and adenosine-uridine.


We conducted a comparative study in an intensive coronary care unit to elucidate the role of acute exudative pharyngitis in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The subjects were 42 young male patients with AMI that was preceded by pharyngitis in 7 of them. Results showed that the site of the infarction was inferior in all those with preceding pharyngitis while only 33% of the other group had an inferior infarction. In patients with preceding exudative pharyngitis the coronary event was the first and only confrontation with the disease. Their prognosis was good, with normal exercise tests and absent coronary risk factors except for smoking in two patients and family history in one. Patients without pharyngitis had multiple coronary risk factors, with positive exercise stress tests in 46% and recurrent infarctions in 26%. Coronary arteriography was performed in four patients with pharyngitis and was normal, while multi-vessel disease was the rule in those without pharyngitis. We conclude that exudative pharyngitis may be followed by acute inferior myocardial infarction in young males and the diagnosis of infarction should be ruled out when such patients present with chest pains.


The medical application of radiation can induce radio-biological effects which makes it necessary to ensure some safety precautions, of which, room shielding is one of those safety measures. The aim of this study was to assess the lead wall lining thickness of the radio-diagnostic room of Turai Yaradua Maternity and Children Hospital Katsina. The required lead wall lining thickness was estimated using NCRP 147 formulations. The measured area of the radio-diagnostic room was 39.44 m 2 . The maximum required lead thickness values were estimated as 1.1 mm and 0.8 mm for erect and supine radiographic positions, respectively, while, the installed lead wall lining thickness was 2 mm. The area monitoring revealed that there was no leakage radiation. Though, the shielding was adequate and there was no leakage radiation, it is however recommended that the radiation workers maintain maximum distance, minimum exposure time and use shielding barrier in order to ensure minimal occupational radiation exposure. Periodic area monitoring is also encouraged in order to prevent radiation exposure of the members of the public.


We present an approach of how to perfect the skills of the students studying digital design related topics. Our teaching concept is problem-based and offers possibilities for "learning by doing". We also provide special supplementary tools, which make teaching with a problem-based approach much easier. All tools are tailored to the learning process and are available for access or download from all over the world using the Internet. This permits to continue working on project assignments outside university. Students are given an interesting practical task and then are shown how to solve it using methodology and tools, which have been previously presented during course lectures. The FPGA-based development boards are both low-cost and powerful educational tools for prototyping and development of digital systems. Reprogrammability of FPGAs allows to implement and verify the full design itself, as well as to build early prototypes of the sub-circuits using the same development board.


The various types of filters are described and compared but very little detail of their derivation is given. The emphasis throughout is on passive filters although this is not actually stated. In fact, the distinction between active and passive filters is not discussed. Transfer functions and characteristics ofButterworth, Chebyshev and Elliptic filters are given, but their realisation in active form is not described. A chapter is devoted to the realisation of transfer functions using ladder networks but the general problem of transfer function realisation using active network is not discussed.


The article investigates the development of leadership. New concepts are introduced that characterize the specific internal leadership Self - manager-leader, hero-leader and supervisor-leader. A new concept of leadership is developed and justified, according to which being a leader means being a director of one's internal theatre. The task of the latter is not gradual or sequential provision of a scene to each kind of internal leader or their integration with each other but the establishment of a constructive dialogue between them. The true dynamics of the internal leadership is the awareness of the fundamental importance of co-existence of the hero-leader and the manager-leader, giving each of them an internal space, supporting their differences and the development of their differing internal forces. All this is to create the conflict-dialogue and as a result, generate something new that not only did not exist before but that also can be realised. Opening up the wealth of their own inner world with its passion, desires, fantasies, dreams and emotions - a world of pure creativity where everything is permitted - is the most important component of becoming a leader. It is necessary but not sufficient. This passionate, exuberant force of the unconscious must be curbed and placed under the control of consciousness in order to re-appear on stage again another time. A mature leader is one who is able to identify both the hero-leader and manager-leader and support a live relationship between them that may involve conflict but will be productive. The psychoanalytic dynamics of gaining leadership that is not static and cannot be acquired once and for all as a final result, but which represents an infinite internal process of professional and personal fulfilment and development, is discussed in various examples, in particular the example of Ingvar Kamprad, the founder and leader of the IKEA empire.


The wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WLCSP) concept offers a lot of new possibilities. Not only is the package size smaller, but also features to improve the performance can be easily realized. It is widely known that the radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) suffers from substrate coupling due to its electrically conducting substrate. The downscaling of RFIC and the increasing operating frequency make the substrate coupling even more problematic. This paper proposes through-substrate trench as schemes to suppress the substrate coupling. A through-substrate trench can easily be realized using WLCSP concept without any drawback in mechanical reliability. Topologies for equivalent circuit modeling approach are also introduced in this work.


Gastrointestinal duplication is a rare surgical pathology, with unspecified symptoms, which explains why these malformations are difficult to diagnose correctly before surgery. The authors present a case of a gastric cystic duplication, that was diagnosed before surgery, as a pancreatic pseudocyst. The accurate diagnosis was established by surgery and based on histopathological examination.


This study examines how sexual orientation of couples featured in magazine advertisements affects heterosexual viewers' responses using the elaboration likelihood model as a framework. A 3 × 2 × 2 × 3 experiment tested effects of sexual orientation, argument strength, involvement, and attitudes toward homosexuality on heterosexuals' attitudes toward the couple, advertisement, brand, and product, purchase intentions, and recall. Results indicate that consumers were accepting of ads with lesbian portrayals. Participants showed more negative attitudes toward gay male portrayals, but attitudes toward heterosexual and lesbian ads were similar. This effect was moderated by participants' attitudes toward homosexuals. Low-involvement consumers showed more negative attitudes toward homosexual portrayals than toward heterosexual portrayals, indicating that sexual orientation may have served as a peripheral cue negatively impacting attitudes toward the couple and ad under low elaboration. These effects were ...


Using high-frequency data, I show that the supply of electricity by solar households can be downward sloping. I document that households receiving higher prices to sell electricity increase their own consumption as their panels produce more, relative to households receiving lower prices. I test several competing explanations and show that a dollar of electricity income increases electricity expenditures by 23 cents, an effect much larger than a standard income response. The fact that solar households treat income from electricity production as "electricity money" means that production subsidies may decrease the supply of electricity by solar homes.


This paper focuses on the automatic acquisition of semantic relationships from Chinese corpus, motivated by improving the performances of our QA systems named NL-WAS. Linguistic patterns designed for Chinese sentences are applied to a collection of texts to extract synonymy relationship, hyponymy relationship, and meronymy relationship. Patterns are broken down into unambiguous and ambiguous, and different strategies are adopted to refine the candidates extracted using this two kinds of patterns. Compared to other previous works, we apply not only strict unambiguous patterns but also loose unambiguous patterns to extract relationships and proposed efficient approach to refine the outputs of these patterns for the sake of high recall and high precision. The experimental result shows that the proposed method can delete most noisy pairs of terms and improve accuracy and efficiency of NL-WAS. At the same time, our method is complementary to statistically based approaches that find semantic relationships between terms.


Orodispersible dosage forms are promising new approaches for drug delivery. They enable an easy application, as there is no need to drink high amounts of liquids or swallow large solid dosage forms. The aim of the study was to develop an orodispersible film (ODF) as an alternative to tablets, syrups or suppositories for the treatment of vomiting and nausea, especially for the pediatric population. Oral thin film, a new drug delivery system for the oral delivery of the drugs, was developed based on the technology of the transdermal patch. Fastdissolving oral thin film is a solid dosage form, which disintegrate or dissolve within 1 min when placed in the mouth without drinking of water or chewing. Oral film includes various ingredients forits formulation which includes polymers, active pharmaceutical ingredient, film stabilizing agents, sweeteners, flavours, colors, saliva stimulating agents, preservatives, surfactants etc but the first and far most a very essential ingredient which helps in film formation is a Polymer. Fast dissolving Film is prepared using hydrophilic polymers that rapidly dissolves on the tongue or buccal cavity, delivering the drug to the systemic circulation via dissolution when contact with liquid is made. Water-soluble polymers are used as film formers for fast dissolving films. The water-soluble polymers achieve rapid disintegration, good mouth feel and mechanical properties to the films. Fast-dissolving oral thin film offer fast, accurate dosing in a safe, efficacious format that is convenient and portable, without the need for water or measuring devices. In this review article the different polymers used for preparation of fastdissolving oral thin film like Pullulan, Gelatin, Sodium Alginate, Pectin, Rosin, Starch, Chitosan are discussed together with th physicochemical properties and film forming properties.


There have been studies applying OCA criteria to East Asia and they have focused largely on evaluating the economic conditions for regional monetary integration in East Asia. Many of their studies find that at least some of the Asian countries meet major OCA criteria. This paper investigates the feasibility and desirability of a common currency arrangement in East Asia applying a structural VARs methodology to asymmetric shocks. We examine the issues of asymmetric responses to external shocks which is one of the most frequently used criteria for evaluating the costs and benefits of joining a common currency versus having an independent currency.The results suggest that a sub-group of East Asian countries are plausible candidates for adopting a single currency. Regarding asymmetry of supply shocks, we find that eight East Asian economies (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand) are possible candidates for a currency union (EA 8), and EA 5 for demand shocks. Supply disturbances are highly and significantly correlated among these countries and correlations of real GDP growth rates corroborate the analysis of supply disturbances.


Objective: To determine the role of betamethasone gel and lidocaine jelly on reducing the post-operative airway complications related to tracheal tube.
Study Design: Comparative prospective study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Anesthesia, Liaquat National Hospital, from Jul 2019 to Jan 2020.
Methodology: A total of 150 patients were randomly assigned into three different groups; group-B (0.05% betamethasone gel), group-L (tube lubricated with 2% lidocaine jelly) and group-C (intubated with un-lubricated tubes). Patients were assigned by using lottery method, which was carried out by a research assistant who was not involved in the study. There were 50 patients in each group.
Results: Post-operative sore throat and post-extubation cough at 24-hours were statistically insignificant (p>0.05) between groups while hoarseness of voice at 24-hours postoperatively was significant (p<0.05) in all the groups. The overall difference for severity of postoperative sore throat, hoarseness of voice and post-extubation cough at24 hours in the groups B, L, and C were statistically significant (<0.05).
Conclusion: The application of betamethasone gel on endotracheal tube before intubation reduces the post-extubation cough, severity of post-operative sore throat, hoarseness of voice and post-extubation cough in comparison with the application of lidocaine jelly and un-lubricated ETT.


ABSTRACT Learned vocalizations play a key role in parrot social dynamics and vocal dialects have been documented for several mainland species, but to date no studies of geographically structured call variation in parrot species have examined the role of isolation on islands. In a study of the Brown-throated Parakeet (Eupsittula pertinax), which inhabits 5 small Caribbean islands as well as the adjacent mainland, we found that the contact calls of island and mainland parakeets show divergence in vocal characters as well as in call variability. We assessed call variation using 3 approaches: frequency measurements, spectrogram cross-correlation (SPCC) analyses, and call duration measurements. Island parakeets' calls were longer and had lower mean frequencies, and calls from different islands were distinguishable from each other as well as from mainland calls using measures derived from the SPCCs. In addition, we measured call variability at 2 different levels—within-location and within-individual. We found calls to be more variable for island parakeets for SPCC and duration measures, but less variable for frequency measures. The observed call differentiation among locations may be due to drift, whereas the lower frequency of island calls could either be a response to the windy environment on the islands or a consequence of the island subspecies' larger body sizes. We also hypothesize that the isolation of parakeet populations on small islands may have resulted in reduced selection for local call convergence, allowing island parakeets to produce more variable calls. We suggest that due to poor signal transmission in the windy island environment, selective pressures may favor variability in more easily perceived call features (like call duration) rather than more subtle features, like frequency shifts. Experimental tests are required to determine whether observed call patterns translate into similarly structured patterns in the responses to vocal variants. LAY SUMMARY When populations of birds become isolated on islands, their vocalizations often become different from those of their mainland relatives. Two types of vocal divergence have been documented: changes in acoustical measures (character shifts), and changes in variability (variance shifts). Nearly all studies of island bird vocalizations have involved songbirds, and little is known about the vocalizations of parrots isolated on islands. We recorded Brown-throated Parakeet contact calls on five small islands as well as on the adjacent mainland, and compared the calls from different individuals and different locations. We documented character shifts between calls from different locations, and by most measures the calls from islands are more variable (demonstrating variance shifts). We hypothesize that these changes in island parakeets' calls may be a response to poor sound transmission in the windy environment on the islands, and may also reflect a reduced need to encode geographic information for parakeets living on small islands.


Drs Feldman and Salisbury criticised us for not testing our anti-Salmonella 06 7 serum against other organisms, but what we used belongs to a panel of sera (Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale) which is widely and successfully used in this country for the identification of Salmonella serotypes. Using a slide agglutination technique intraand interspecific cross reactions can certainly occur, though they are not likely to persist if a tube technique with multiple dilutions down to the expected titre is attempted. While some cross reactions are well known, such as that between group B salmonellae and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serogroup II and that between group D salmonellae and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serogroup IV, other possible cross reactions have attracted less attention. All practising microbiologists recognise these problems so that the identification of Salmonella isolates is never based on seroagglutination alone but on a combination of seroagglutination and biochemical testing. We would agree that some monoclonal antibodies might produce better immunohistochemical staining, but we do not think that this would eliminate the problem of cross reactivity which may be due to close affinity or identify among antigens carried by strains belonging to different and even completely unrelated bacterial species. Feldman and others tested their monoclonal antibody against a few other strains.' We think that this might give a sense of false security and that it would be much better to identify clearly what is one's target. In the case we described, Salmonella virchow was isolated from necropsy specimens and identified according to conventional microbiological criteria. The purpose of the immunoperoxidase staining was not to identify an unknown pathogen but to assess which organs had been involved. We are sorry to have overlooked the work of Feldman and others,' but their use of a commercially available polyclonal antiserum is not apparent from the title of their article. The quotation of the other three reports2' is inappropriate as these authors seem to have used only purposely produced antisera. 1229


Europe and the world have changed. The 21st century brings new challenges and new opportunities. The interaction of economies and peoples worldwide – whether by communication, trade, migration, shared security, concerns or cultural exchange – is in constant evolution. European Union needs a unitary and coherent action in many fields (energy security, foreign policy, fight against terrorism and drugs, climate change, etc). The Treaty of Lisbon must fulfill these goals. In the last two years, much less attention has been given to the practical implementation of new institutional proposals included in the Treaty of Lisbon. Even a cursory examination indicates that the implementation of some of these proposals is likely to be uneasy, and in some cases could be a source of future problems or difficulties. Many voices said that there are only cosmetic differences between the former European Constitution and the Treaty of Lisbon. The European political context has changed after the recent elections for the European Parliament. The Treaty of Lisbon's failure will have negative effects for the future of European continent. The aim of this paper is to highlight, and to clarify potential problems.


This paper addresses the lack of "push-button" software for optical marine imaging, which currently limits the use of photogrammetric approaches by a wider community. It presents and reviews an open source software, Matisse, for creating textured 3D models of complex underwater scenes from video or still images. This software, developed for non-experts, enables routine and efficient processing of underwater images into 3D models that facilitate the exploitation and analysis of underwater imagery. When vehicle navigation data are available, Matisse allows for seamless integration of such data to produce 3D reconstructions that are georeferenced and properly scaled. The software includes pre-processing tools to extract images from videos and to make corrections for color and uneven lighting. Four datasets of different 3D scenes are provided for demonstration. They include both input images and navigation and associated 3D models generated with Matisse. The datasets, captured under different survey geometries, lead to 3D models of different sizes and demonstrate the capabilities of the software. The software suite also includes a 3D scene analysis tool, 3DMetrics, which can be used to visualize 3D scenes, incorporate elevation terrain models (e.g., from high-resolution bathymetry data) and manage, extract, and export quantitative measurements for the 3D data analysis. Both software packages are publicly available.


Decisions not to fund some treatments under the NHS have been vigorously contested. James Gubb argues that patients should be able to buy such treatments privately, but Karen Bloor (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39563.493218.AD)believes this will undermine the whole health system


Abstract The behavioural repertoire of the edible dormouse (Glis glis) was investigated in the laboratory using night vision cameras. Analysis was carried out for 106 h 44 min of video records of behaviour. The main forms of behaviour during the active period were comfort, exploratory, feeding, scent marking, defensive and social actions. They were interrupted by sitting still or feeding. Occurrences of biased activity were revealed, in which elements of a concrete behaviour do not have a functional meaning (e.g. grooming). Typical examples of some forms of behaviour are illustrated. In social behaviour, the most common types of encounters characteristic for rodents were presented. From the total number (419) of registered encounters the most frequent were agonistic ones (46.3%), represented by aggressive attacks, avoidances, chasings, bites and fights. Identification encounters (41.1%) were less frequent and of two types: nasal and naso-lateral. Friendly encounters were observed (12.6%) much less often: mainly sitting in contact and allogrooming. This distribution illustrates the territoriality and mainly solitary way of life in this species. The systematization of the characteristic behavioural elements can serve as a methodological basis for experimental ethological studies, including pairings, assessment of the level of stress and the study of behavioural differentiation of closely related species.


Precipitation nowcasting is of great importance for weather forecast users, for activities ranging from outdoor activities and sports competitions to airport traffic management. In contrast to long-term precipitation forecasts which are traditionally obtained from numerical models, precipitation nowcasting needs to be very fast. It is therefore more challenging to obtain because of this time constraint. Recently, many machine learning based methods had been proposed. We propose the use three popular deep learning models (U-net, ConvLSTM and SVG-LP) trained on two-dimensional precipitation maps for precipitation nowcasting. We proposed an algorithm for patch extraction to obtain high resolution precipitation maps. We proposed a loss function to solve the blurry image issue and to reduce the influence of zero value pixels in precipitation maps.


Numerous studies, usually limited to male rodents, have reported an inverse relationship between the age of the animal and the activities of various multi-cytochrome P450-dependent drug-metabolizing enzymes. It has been suggested that the aging-induced decline in hepatic drug-metabolizing capacity is solely a male phenomenon. That is, whereas the levels of male-specific isoforms of P450 decline with senescence, the female-dependent isoforms remain unchanged in females and even increase in male liver. In addition to their baseline activities, induction levels of hepatic monooxygenases have also been reported to decrease with aging. To examine aging- and sex-dependent effects on drug metabolism at a more molecular level, we measured the expression (mRNA, protein, and/or catalytic activity) of a near dozen constitutive and inducible isoforms of P450 in 5-and 23-month-old male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Moreover, we investigated the induction effects of low concentrations of phenobarbital known to reveal gender differences and the threshold sensitivities of both constitutive and inducible isoforms. With the exception of male-specific CYP2C11 (whose expression declined approximately 70% in aged male rats), we observed little senescence-associated reduction in either preinduction or induction levels of CYP2B1, CYP2B2, CYP3A1, CYP3A2, CYP2C6, CYP2C7, CYP2C12, and CYP2C13 in either male or female rats. Moreover, the sexually dimorphic expression levels apparent at 5 months of age persisted in the old rats.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to suggest how well-being messages are recontextualized into school-based contexts from an analysis of national policy and state curricular approaches to health education as reported in the findings of two selected case studies as well as community concerns about young people's well-being.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional review of Australian federal and state-level student well-being policy documents was undertaken. Using two case examples of school-based in-curricular well-being programs, the paper explores how discourses from these well-being policy documents are recontextualized through progressive fields of translation and pedagogic decision making into local forms of curriculum.FindingsPedagogic messages about well-being in Australia are often extra-curricular, in that they are rarely integrated into one or across existing subject areas. Such messages are increasingly focused on mental health, around phenomena such as bullying. Both case examples clearly demonstrate how understandings of well-being respond to various power relations and pressures emanating from stakeholders within and across official pedagogic fields and other contexts such as local communities.Originality/valueThe paper focusses on presenting an adaptation of Bernstein's (1990) model of social reproduction of pedagogic discourse. The adapted model demonstrates how "top-down" knowledge production from the international disciplines shaping curriculum development and pedagogic approaches can be replaced by community context-driven political pressure and perceived community crises. It offers contemporary insight into youth-at-risk discourses, well-being approaches and student mental health.


AbstractTo maintain sexual reproduction, recombination of good genes through selective mate choice must achieve a twofold genetic benefit in each generation. "Fragrant" immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) allow the choosy sex to complement her own set of alleles with a more or less diverse set of male alleles to reach an optimal number of different MHC alleles for the offspring. The optimal complement from the partner should include those MHC alleles that provide resistance against the current parasites, which could be revealed by the expression of costly secondary sexual characters. This maximizes resistance to ever-changing infectious diseases. Because the advantage of sex must be produced through recombination, assortative mating should combine currently advantageous MHC alleles. Preferring just MHC dissimilar mates is only a best-of-bad-job rule. MHC ligand peptides may be the natural "perfume" that reveals a potential partner's MHC genetics probably in all vertebrates. Perfumes...


ABSTRACT: During the first half of the 20th century, "accounting theory" developed primarily by accounting scholars and academics provided the primary basis for the practice and teaching of financial accounting in the United States. Since the creation of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the early 1970s, the FASB Conceptual Framework has provided the primary basis for accounting standards-setting, as well as for the practice and teaching of financial accounting. While the purpose of creating a Conceptual Framework has been to develop an agreed-upon set of concepts and principles to guide accounting standards-setting, a related goal has been to reduce diversity in accounting practice and to move toward greater uniformity. This paper traces the influence of accounting theory on the Conceptual Framework and explores some of the consequences of this influence.


Do long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute little or substantively to human biology? To address how lncRNA loci and their transcripts, structures, interactions, and functions contribute to human traits and disease, we adopt a genome-wide perspective. We intend to provoke alternative interpretation of questionable evidence and thorough inquiry into unsubstantiated claims. We discuss pitfalls of lncRNA experimental and computational methods as well as opposing interpretations of their results. The majority of evidence, we argue, indicates that most lncRNA transcript models reflect transcriptional noise or provide minor regulatory roles, leaving relatively few human lncRNAs that contribute centrally to human development, physiology, or behavior. These important few tend to be spliced and better conserved but lack a simple syntax relating sequence to structure and mechanism, and so resist simple categorization. This genome-wide view should help investigators prioritize individual lncRNAs based on their likely contribution to human biology. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, Volume 23 is October 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Patients must always communicate with their doctor for checking their health status. In recent years, wireless body sensor networks (WBSNs) has an important contribution in Healthcare. In these applications, energy-efficient and secure routing is really critical because health data of individuals must be forwarded to the destination securely to avoid unauthorized access by malicious nodes. However, biosensors have limited resources, especially energy. Recently, energy-efficient solutions have been proposed. Nevertheless, designing lightweight security mechanisms has not been stated in many schemes. In this paper, we propose a secure routing approach based on the league championship algorithm (LCA) for wireless body sensor networks in healthcare. The purpose of this scheme is to create a tradeoff between energy consumption and security. Our approach involves two important algorithms: routing process and communication security. In the first algorithm, each cluster head node (CH) applies the league championship algorithm to choose the most suitable next-hop CH. The proposed fitness function includes parameters like distance from CHs to the sink node, remaining energy, and link quality. In the second algorithm, we employs a symmetric encryption strategy to build secure connection links within a cluster. Also, we utilize an asymmetric cryptography scheme for forming secure inter-cluster connections. Network simulator version 2 (NS2) is used to implement the proposed approach. The simulation results show that our method is efficient in terms of consumed energy and delay. In addition, our scheme has good throughput, high packet delivery rate, and low packet loss rate.


Background: Relapse of disease remains the major cause of treatment failure in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or advanced myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), even after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Treatment of relapsed AML or MDS is difficult, especially after HSCT, and long-term prognosis of patients suffering from relapse is dismal. One approach to overcome this problem is to use sensitive molecular diagnostic strategies to detect recurring disease already at the level of minimal residual disease (MRD), thus avoiding the development of overt hematologic relapse by treatment of patients at the stage of molecular relapse. We have recently implemented preemptive treatment with the demethylating drug 5-Azacitidine (AZA) in patients with molecular evidence of recurrent disease in a prospective Phase II study (RELAZA). In this study, 80% of the patients showed responses, with reduction of MRD and prolonged leukemia free survival, 20% of patients even showed molecular clearance of their leukemia and long-term disease free survival. More recently, results from several groups studying demethylating agents in MDS or AML suggested that patients with mutations in genes involved in epigenetic DNA-modification, such as TET2 , DNMT3A or IDH1 or IDH2 might be more responsive to treatment with these drugs. Since we observed varying clinical response in the patients treated preemptively with AZA for molecular evidence of recurrent disease, we correlated the clinical response in these patients with the presence of mutations in epigenetic regulator genes in order to identify potential predictors of response.

Patients and Methods: A cohort of 44 patients (23 f/21 m), median age 55.6 years (range 21-75 years), in hematological remission with AML (N=40) or MDS (N=4) were given AZA to treat molecular relapse defined by mutant NPM1 (N=23) or CD34+ chimerism (N=21). Patients were monitored post allogeneic HSCT (N=26) or standard chemotherapy (N=18). The cohort received a median of 5 cycles of AZA (ranging from 1-18 cycles). DNA taken at first diagnosis was analyzed using amplicon based resequencing on a MiSeq next generation sequencing system for the following genes, either analyzing the complete coding region ( EZH1, EZH2, DNMT3A, TET1 and TET2 ) or hot-spot regions ( ASXL1, ASXL2, IDH1, IDH2 ). First diagnosis samples were unavailable for 4 patients. In these, DNA from sorted CD34+ cells taken at the time of molecular relapse was used as a substitute.

Results: Amplicon sequencing revealed mutations in one or more genes in 25/44 patients (56.8%). With 15 mutations (34%), DNMT3A was the most frequently mutated gene, the majority of the alterations (9; 60%) were located in exon 23. Mutations in TET2 were found in 8 patients, IDH1 was mutated twice, ASXL2 , EZH2 and TET1 were mutated once each. In 20 of the 44 patients (45.5%), no mutations in the investigated genes were found. A comparison of primary response to AZA-treatment (defined as stabilization or decrease of the MRD-marker) between patients with and without mutations revealed no significant difference (79.2 vs 66.6%; P=.48). Likewise, the rate of hematologic relapse was comparable in both cohorts (54% vs. 56%). However, a more detailed look at the patients with mutations revealed differences. The highest initial response rate was observed in patients with DNMT3A mutations (87%), whereas patients with isolated TET2 mutations were less likely to respond (50%). Also, the rate of hematologic relapse was highest in patients with TET2 -mutations (75%) compared to patients with DNMT3A -mutations alone (41.6%). In support of a role of TET2 -mutations in mediating resistance, an analysis of matched diagnosis and relapse samples in three patients indicated persistence of TET2 -loss of function mutations in one patient as well as an acquisition of a second mutant TET2 - allele or a switch to a loss-of function-mutation in two patients, indicating that a clonal evolution favoring a subclone with an inactivating TET2 -allele under treatment with AZA occurred.

Conclusions: Our data confirm that mutations in epigenetic regulator genes are common in patients with AML. Although based on small numbers, these preliminary data do not support that mutations in these genes are associated per se with an improved response to treatment with AZA, but might indicate a differential effect of certain alterations, i.e. DNMT3A -mutations or mutations of TET2 .

Disclosures Middeke: Genzyme: Speakers Bureau. Thiede: AgenDix GmbH: Equity Ownership, Research Funding; Illumina: Research Support, Research Support Other.


Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of the disease melioidosis, has been isolated from the environment in 45 countries. The treatment of melioidosis is complex, requiring lengthy antibiotic regimens, which can result in the relapse of the disease following treatment cessation. It is important that novel therapies to treat infections with B. pseudomallei be assessed in appropriate animal models, and discussions regarding the different protocols used between laboratories are critical. A 'deep dive' was held in October 2020 focusing on the use of the BALB/c mouse model and the inhalational route of infection to evaluate new antibiotic therapies.


Resulting from ion displacement in a solid under pressure, piezoelectricity is an electrical polarization that can be observed in perovskite-type electronic ceramics, such as PbTiO3, which present cubic and tetragonal symmetries at different pressures. The transition between these crystalline phases is determined theoretically through the bulk modulus from the relationship between material energy and volume. However, the change in the material molecular structure is responsible for the piezoelectric effect. In this study, density functional theory calculations using the Becke 3-Parameter-Lee-Yang-Parr hybrid functional were employed to investigate the structure and properties associated with the transition state of the tetragonal-cubic phase change in PbTiO3 material.


One major concern of energy constrained WSN technology is to design energy efficient communication protocol. Clustering the whole network is an efficient solution to increase its life time. This paper proposes a clustering based communication protocol for periodical data gathering application in wireless sensor network. It uses the scheduled rotation of cluster heads, which eliminates the problem with the variability of the number of clusters generated in the dynamic, distributed and randomized protocol. Proposed protocol shows more energy efficiency by only triggering the cluster formation when cluster heads energy level falls below a certain threshold. In the simulation, our protocol shows better performance than that of LEACH (low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy) protocol in respect of energy dissipation and number of survival nodes. Furthermore this protocol performs higher number of rounds than that of LEACH in case of the first node and 60% nodes die in the network.


A status updating system is considered in which a variable length code is used to transmit messages to a receiver over a noisy channel. The goal is to optimize the codewords lengths such that successfully-decoded messages are timely. That is, such that the age-of-information (AoI) at the receiver is minimized. A hybrid ARQ (HARQ) scheme is employed, in which variable-length incremental redundancy (IR) bits are added to the originally-transmitted codeword until decoding is successful. With each decoding attempt, a non-zero processing delay is incurred. The optimal codewords lengths are analytically derived utilizing a sequential differential optimization (SDO) framework. The framework is general in that it only requires knowledge of an analytical expression of the positive feedback (ACK) probability as a function of the codeword length.


[1] The aerosol optical depth at four wavelengths (368, 500, 778, and 868 nm) has been measured automatically at Cape Grim since 1986. The site, on the northwest tip of Tasmania, Australia, was chosen to be representative of much of the Southern Ocean. Fourteen years of measurement have been calibrated and analyzed. The data have been filtered so that only measurements made under onshore wind conditions are considered. The major feature observed in the record is the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which resulted in the aerosol optical depth at 500 nm rising to 0.2–0.3. If the period of high stratospheric aerosol is ignored, the resulting record shows an average aerosol optical depth near 0.04 for all four wavelengths. In the winter months the observed optical depth correlates well with wind speed. This correlation indicates, that, as an annual average, 40% of the observed aerosol optical depth is due to wind-generated aerosol. The annual cycle of the aerosol optical depth can be understood in terms of the impact of photochemically generated aerosol in the summer months, and an injection of midtropospheric aerosol in September, presumably due to biomass burning.


C-reactive protein (CRP), an active regulator of the innate immune system, has been related to COVID-19 severity. CRP is a dynamic protein undergoing conformational changes upon activation in inflammatory microenvironments between pentameric and monomeric isoforms. Although pentameric CRP is the circulating isoform routinely tested for clinical purposes, monomeric CRP shows more proinflammatory properties. Therefore, we aimed to determine the potential of monomeric CRP in serum as a biomarker of disease severity in COVID-19 patients (admission to intensive care unit [ICU] and/or in-hospital mortality). We retrospectively determined clinical and biological features as well as pentameric and monomeric CRP levels in a cohort of 97 COVID-19 patients within 72h of hospital admission. Patients with severe disease had higher levels of both pentameric and monomeric CRP. However, multivariate analysis showed increased mCRP but not pCRP to be independently associated to disease severity. Notably, mCRP levels higher than 4000 ng/mL (OR: 4.551, 95% CI: 1.329-15.58), together with number of co-morbidities, low lymphocyte count, and procalcitonin levels were independent predictors of disease severity in the multivariate model. Our results show the potential of mCRP levels as a marker of clinical severity in COVID-19 disease.


Independently developed codebases typically contain many segments of code that perform the same or closely related operations (semantic clones). Finding functionally equivalent segments enables applications like replacing a segment by a more efficient or more secure alternative. Such related segments often have different interfaces, so some glue code (an adaptor) is needed to replace one with the other. We present an algorithm that searches for replaceable code segments at the function level by attempting to synthesize an adaptor between them from some family of adaptors; it terminates if it finds no possible adaptor. We implement our technique using (1) concrete adaptor enumeration based on Intel's Pin framework and (2) binary symbolic execution, and explore the relation between size of adaptor search space and total search time. We present examples of applying adaptor synthesis for improving security and efficiency of binary functions, deobfuscating binary functions, and switching between binary implementations of RC4. For large-scale evaluation, we run adaptor synthesis on more than 13,000 function pairs from the Linux C library. Our results confirm that several instances of adaptably equivalent binary functions exist in real-world code, and suggest that these functions can be used to construct cleaner, less buggy, more efficient programs.


Introduction Anal adenocarcinoma is a rare malignancy with a poor prognosis. Methods We present a case of rare anal adenocarcinoma in a patient with normal screening colonoscopy. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Result database between 2000 and 2016, we performed survival analysis among individuals>20 years old comparing anal and rectal cancers. Results Survival analysis showed that anal adenocarcinoma is associated with worse outcomes compared with rectal adenocarcinoma and anal squamous cell carcinoma. Discussion This case and survival data illustrate the importance of prompt investigation of symptoms irrespective of colorectal cancer screening status with careful attention to examination of the anal area.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous herpesvirus associated with a number of clinical manifestations. Primary EBV infection in young adolescents often manifests as acute infectious mononucleosis and latent infection is associated with multiple lymphoid and epithelial cancers and autoimmune disorders, particularly multiple sclerosis. Areas covered: Over the last decade, our understanding of pathogenesis and immune regulation of EBV-associated diseases has provided an important platform for the development of novel vaccine formulations. In this review, we discuss developmental strategies for prophylactic and therapeutic EBV vaccines which have been assessed in preclinical and clinical settings. Expert commentary: Major roadblocks in EBV vaccine development include no precise understanding of the clinical correlates of protection, uncertainty about adjuvant selection and the unavailability of appropriate animal models. Recent development of new EBV vaccine formulations provides exciting opportunities for the formal clinical assessment of novel formulations.


This paper focuses on understanding the thermal impacts of using discrete power devices and limitations of applying conventional thermal design methods. Empirically, a thermal system is designed based on selecting a heat sink with the required thermal resistance from the manufacturer datasheet. This method, as an approximate estimation, has been proven effective as a rough design of Si-based power module. However, wide bandgap (WBG) bare dies bring additional thermal design concerns that have been overlooked. The benefits of WBG devices, such as smaller chip sizes and higher power ratings, on the other hand, lead to thermal concentration issues. Detailed analyses and impacts of the thermal concentration are presented in this paper. A more accurate model involving Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Genetic Algorithm optimization is also proposed for a more accurate thermal design.


Carbohydrates are global foodstuffs and important energy sources. They also influence many physiologic functions, including brain function and physical performance and are ultimately related to human health. In 1998, ILSI Japan formed a team to conduct research on "The Medical and Nutritional Aspects of Sugars." The research included studies of several new aspects of the metabolic characteristics and physiologic effects of sugars. This paper presents some highlights of our research, including the background of the project, the metabolic characteristics of sugars, and the effect of sugars on glycemic response, memory, and appetite and food intake in humans, etc.


Bishopsgate and the Rights of the Hansards in LondonEvery Hanseatic scholar is well acquainted with the agreement reached in 1282 between the City of London and the North German merchants resident there, since it is the first known document which refers to those traders as the 'merchants of the German Hanse'. While the road leading to the agreement has been analyzed by Fryde, scholars have paid no attention at all to the role the document played in subsequent centuries, although they occasionally mention that the agreement required the Hanseatic Kontor to repair and maintain Bishopsgate, one of the seven gates of the medieval City of London. This scholarly indifference is unwarranted. In fact, the Hanseatic Kontor explicitly described the agreement of 1282 as 'the foundation of our Privileges in the City of London' (1462) and was scrupulous in maintaining Bishopsgate. The City itself was, in retrospect, less happy with the agreement, and tried again and again to exact local excises from the Hansards, notably scavage (a tax on merchandise entering and leaving the City whose proceeds were earmarked for paving and cleaning the streets), only to be rebuffed with the argument that the 1282 agreement's blanket guarantee of 'all their liberties hitherto enjoyed reasonably' applied to scavage. However, the tables turned in 1418, when the City and its Sheriffs, under the tutelage of John Carpenter, from 1417 common clerk of London and the Compiler of the Liber Albus (1419), employed historical and legal arguments of considerable sophistication to dispute the Hansards' contentions. After seven years of inconclusive argument before King's Council (and increasing pressure from the City), the Hansards caved in and agreed (1427) to pay a lump sum annually to the Mayor and Sheriffs to enjoy their ancient rights in the City of London. Nonetheless, they continued to disburse substantial funds for the upkeep and. indeed, for a splendid renovation of Bishopsgate (1479/80) which excitecl the admiration of John Stow, author of a famous description of London, in the late 16th Century.


Background Because associations have been reported between inhaled ambient ultrafine particles and increased risk of cardiopulmonary disease, it has been suggested that inhaled engineered nanoparticles (NPs) may also induce adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Objective We examined the long-term cardiovascular effects of inhaled nickel hydroxide NPs (nano-NH) using a sensitive mouse model. Methods Hyperlipidemic, apoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice were exposed to nano-NH at either 0 or 79 μg Ni/m3, via a whole-body inhalation system, for 5 hr/day, 5 days/week, for either 1 week or 5 months. We measured various indicators of oxidative stress and inflammation in the lung and cardiovascular tissue, and we determined plaque formation on the ascending aorta. Results Inhaled nano-NH induced significant oxidative stress and inflammation in the pulmonary and extrapulmonary organs, indicated by up-regulated mRNA levels of certain antioxidant enzyme and inflammatory cytokine genes; increased mitochondrial DNA damage in the aorta; significant signs of inflammation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; changes in lung histopathology; and induction of acute-phase response. In addition, after 5-month exposures, nano-NH exacerbated the progression of atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice. Conclusions This is the first study to report long-term cardiovascular toxicity of an inhaled nanomaterial. Our results clearly demonstrate that long-term exposure to inhaled nano-NH can induce oxidative stress and inflammation, not only in the lung but also in the cardiovascular system, and that this stress and inflammation can ultimately contribute to progression of atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice.


A complete binary dendritic tree is considered in which each branch (cylinder) receives random input. The depolarization on each cylinder satisfies a stochastic cable equation. The Laplace transform of the solution can be found by solving a linear system of 2[2n+1-1] equations when there are n orders of branching. The Laplace transform method is shown to yield the exact solution for a single cylinder with white noise current injection. A tree with n branches emanating from a common origin (soma) is then considered. With each branch electrotonic length the same, the depolarization at the soma may be found exactly and expressions may be obtained for its mean and variance.


Background: Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy is a commonly performed surgery and is a gold standard for the treatment of cholelithiasis as it has fewer side effects. This study was conducted to determine indications and complications of this surgery at a tertiary care hospital in Islamabad.
Methodology: This retrospective study was conducted in the department of Surgery, Maroof International Hospital from March 2017 to March 2019. A total of 250 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy were included through consecutive sampling technique. The data regarding age, gender, mode of presentation, types of presentation, per operative findings, operative complications and duration of hospital stay was collected from patients' medical record. Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 23 was used to analyze data.
Results:  Mean age of the participants was 46.24 ± 14.13 years. Female to male ratio was 2.73:1. Almost 38.4% patients had chronic cholecystitis, 35.2% had symptomatic gallstone disease, 24.8% had acute cholecystitis and 1.6% had gallbladder polyps. No major vascular or common bile duct injury were noted. 27.2% patients had per operative gallbladder perforation. Stone spillage occurred in 8.8% patients with retrieval in all of them. 75.2% patients were discharged on day 1. Per operatively, 98.4% patients had cholelithiasis, 59.6% had adhesions, 9.6% had mucocele, 1.6% had empyema and 0.8% patients had collections.
Conclusion: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a safe procedure in all types of gallstone disease presentations with low complication rate.
Key words: Cholelithiasis, Gallstones, Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, Per-operative complications


In this study, the water drop impact erosion properties of 12Cr steel surface-hardened by the flame hardening process have been studied. For this, both the maximum erosion depth de,max and volume loss Ve with the number of cumulative impacts n have been investigated for the flame-hardened 12Cr steels with different hardnesses. Typically all the samples showed an erosion-time characteristic involving an incubation period initially followed by a steady state period. Compared to those for the as-received 12Cr steel, the flame-hardened ones showed an excellent erosion resistance to water drop impacts, showing a 2.2~2.8 times higher incubation time ti and 5~8 times lower erosion rate α. In the incubation period the as-received 12Cr steel was deformed by a ductile depression and ploughing, while the flame-hardened one by fatigue cracks and a brittle platelet deformation. In the steady state period the damage was progressed by a cleavage fracture for both the stages.


Field observations indicate that zones of inelastic deformation produced at the tips of propagating dikes can be much larger than those produced at the tips of tensile cracks in laboratory experiments. This is in direct conflict with the concept that fracture toughness and fracture energy are rock properties, independent of crack size and loading configuration. A Barenblatt model that treats fracture resistance as an internal cohesive stress acting at the crack tip is used to investigate the effect of confining pressure on rock tensile failure. When the confining pressure exceeds the cohesive strength of the rock, as it does at depths greater than several hundred meters, Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics is inapplicable and the near-tip stress field of a propagating crack is determined by the crack size and loading configuration as well as by rock properties. As inelastic deformation depends upon the near-tip stress field, it follows that fracture energy may also depend upon crack size and loading configuration. For a propagating dike, the near-tip stress field is dominated by the large suction acting within a small (∼several meter) cavity at the tip generated by viscous flow of magma within the dike. Perturbations to the ambient stress are on the order of the cavity suction and act over regions on the order of the cavity length. The tip cavity pressure may be maintained by exsolution of magmatic volatiles or by influx of host rock pore fluids; inelastic deformation is enhanced by the latter. For a tip cavity pressure maintained by influx of pore fluids, the pore pressure exceeds the least compressive stress off the dike plane, even while it equals the least compressive stress at the dike tip. This can lead to tensile failure off the dike plane and the formation of observed dike-parallel joints. Shear stresses scale with the cavity suction and may produce shear failure off the dike plane; such deformation is generally enhanced if the dike is intruded perpendicular to the least compressive stress. For sills intruded parallel to bedding, shear failure in the form of bedding plane slip can lead to the observed blunting and fingering of the intrusion front. Because the tip cavity grows with dike size, the energy consumed by rock fracture also increases with dike size and is potentially as significant for large dikes as for small dikes, a view not adopted by existing fluid mechanical models of dike propagation.


For a linear discrete time system with Markovian coefficients a new filtering algorithm is given, which is called the Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) algorithm. The mathematical support for this algorithm is outlined and a qualitative comparison with other known filtering algorithms is made. The main conclusion is that the ratio between performance and computational complexity is far better for the IMM algorithm.


This phase I trial combining UFT plus oral calcium folinate (Orzel) with irinotecan (CPT-11) (Camptosar) for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer will open shortly. Eligible patients will have locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, and they may have received adjuvant chemotherapy (provided it has been completed more than 6 months prior to study entry), but will have not received any chemotherapy for advanced or metastatic disease. The primary objectives of this study will be to determine the side-effect profile, dose-limiting toxicities, and the maximum tolerated dose of this combination. A recommended starting dose for future trials will be defined. Response rates will also be observed as a secondary objective. The first cohort of six patients will receive irinotecan 200 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion over 90 minutes on day 1 (the schedule that is in general use in Europe). On days 1 to 14, patients will receive UFT 250 mg/m2/d and calcium folinate 90 mg/d, both divided into three equal doses. This will be followed by a 1-week rest period with treatment for the next cycle resumed on day 22. In subsequent cohorts of six patients, UFT and irinotecan will in turn be escalated provided toxicity is acceptable. The calcium folinate dose will remain fixed at 90 mg/d throughout. The maximum tolerated dose is defined as that at which dose-limiting toxicities occur in more than one third of patients. The cohort of patients treated at the dose below the maximum tolerated dose will be expanded to a total of 20 patients to fully define the pattern of toxicities and activity of the combination.


Early carboniferous
deposits of the Kalmard block, with various characteristics in different
outcrops, are recognized by Gachal Formation. Generally speaking, this
formation comprises of four different members (A, B, C and D), consisting of
carbonate and evaporative rocks. Gachal Formation is composed chiefly of 55
meters sandstone and limestone interbedded with shale. According to the
lithological and microscopic studies, Gachal Formation is deposited in beach,
semi-restricted and open lagoon, shoal and open marine environments. Vertical
changes of microfacies and the curve of its depth changes account for the high
thickness of the facies of shoal and bar sub-environments and the low thickness
of the facies of lagoon and open marine sub-environment as well. Gachal
Formation rocks in Rahdar section are deposited in a low-angle homoclinal ramp located in southern Paleothysis Ocean.
The carbonate-sandstone sequence in Gachal
Formation in Rahdar section is composed of a depositional sequence separated
from each other by type 1 sequence boundaries. Deposits of this formation are
separated from lower deposits by type 2 sequence boundary and from Khan Group by unconformity. The
sedimentary sequence identified in this formation points to the age of late
Visean, conforming to Kaskaskia IV. The erosional boundary between Gachal and
Khan Formations is relatively compatible with drop in sea level at Late
Kaskaskia global scale.


S OF OTHER PAPERS READ AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE, JANUARY 1998 POTENTIAL FIELD TRENDS IN ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND A. McGrandle, Ark Geophysics Ltd, Mill Court, Featherstone Road, Wolverton Mill, Milton Keynes, MK12 5EU, UK. Potential field (gravity and magnetic) data have traditionally been used in south-west England to delineate sedimentary basins, granite batholiths and zones of mineralisation using a variety of regional and detailed geophysical data. The regional gravity and magnetic data presented in the paper have been provided by the British Geological Survey. The coverage of these data is not sufficient to define individual mineralised bodies, but they do provide a consistent regional overview of the onshore/offshore area allowing structures, faults and lineaments to be identified across the coastal zone. Transform enhancements of the basic Bouguer gravity and magnetic anomaly datasets have enabled a better definition of lineaments and transform faults which traverse the region and lie generally parallel to the NW-SE trending Sticklepath Fault. The renewed interest in the South West Approaches, St George's Channel and the Celtic Sea for oil and gas exploration has resulted in numerous new studies based on old potential field data. The aim of these studies has been to identify the transform faults and zones which compartmentalise the subsurface structures, and to define the areas where normal faults intersect the transform faults thus creating conduits for sediment transport from platform areas into sedimentary basins. There is some evidence from the onshore that the NW-SE trending transform faults have also influenced the development of mineral deposits. This paper will hopefully provide a new insight into the structure of this region particularly the links with the offshore area, and show that geologists can still benefit from old potential field data. TECTONIC CONTROLS ON POST-VARISCAN MAGMATISM IN CORNWALL A.C. Alexander , R.K. Shail (1) and K.J.W. McCaffrey , (1) Camborne School of Mines, University of Cornwall, Redruth, Cornwall TR15 3SE, (2) Robertson Research International Ltd., Llandudno, North Wales LL30 1SA, (3) School of Geological Sciences, Kingston University, Kingston, Surrey, KT1 2EE The south-west England batholith is the largest in the British Isles and possibly one of the most intensively investigated in the world. During the last thirty years research has primarily been focused upon the petrological, geochemical and geochronological characteristics of the batholith, and a broad consensus has emerged regarding its temporal/spatial development and the relative contribution of crust and mantle source . Nevertheless, many aspects of the batholith remain enigmatic, such as its anomalous position within the external Variscides and the tectonic and structural controls upon magma generation and granite emplacement. This study aims to address the possible role of the pre-, synand post-Variscan tectonic evolution of Cornwall (3) in the localisation and geometry of magma bodies and integrates our own field observations and structural data from the granites and country rocks with previously published field, geophysical, geochemical and geochronological data. A tectonic control on pluton emplacement can be inferred on the basis of magmatic state NNW-SSE alignment of megacrysts with the Carnmenellis, Carn Brea, Bodmin and Land's End granites and rare NNW-striking solid state shear zones on the margins of the Carnmenellis and Bodmin granites. Our preliminary conclusions suggest that Carboniferous thruststacking of thermally young lithosphere caused high heat flows and high Moho temperatures prior to post-Variscan extension and decompression melting. Differential post-Variscan extensional reactivation of thrusts and strike-slip movement on orthogonal faults probably created rhomboidal pull-aparts of varying geometries above a major mid-crustal fault zone. Granite fabrics suggest emplacement during NNW-SSE extension and/or ENE-WSW shortening.


We propose a multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber (EDF) ring laser using a Fabry-Perot etalon inside the ring cavity with optimal fiber length to satisfy the least common multiple number for generating multiwavelength at room temperature.


The application of drug delivery systems based on ferritin nanocarrier has been developed as a potential strategy in cancer therapy. The limited permeability of ferritin remains a challenge for drug penetration into the deeper tumor tissues. CendR peptides have been reported to bear tumor-specific penetration by recognizing neuropilin (NRP-1) receptor that overexpressed on a wide range of cancer cells. Herein, we modified CendR peptide L(RGERPPR), its retro-inverso peptide D(RPPREGR), and inverso peptide D(RGERPPR) on the outer surface of human H chain ferritin by sulfhydryl-maleimide coupling reaction. Approximately 45 paclitaxel (PTX) molecules could be loaded into each ferritin inner cavity by a thermal-triggered method at a specific ionic strength. The penetration ability of three peptide-modified ferritin constructs showed that D(RGERPPR)-modified HFtn was able to be engulfed by A549 and MCF-7 tumor cells and spheroids at the highest level. Due to the dual-targeting effect of ferritin and modified peptides, the PTX-loaded nanocomposites could effectively enter the cells with high expression of TfR1 and NRP-1 receptors and enhanced the cytotoxicity against tumor cells. Remarkably, H-D(RGE)-PTX displayed a superior tumor growth suppression efficacy in A549 tumor-bearing nude mice. The inverso CendR peptide-modified HFtn nanocarrier was first generated and could provide an effective dual-targeting platform for treatment of cancers.


The present paper aims to introduce a sociological analysis of components, concepts and aspects of Iranian approaches to civil society. In term of religion, Iranian approaches to civil society are divided into two groups: religious and secular (liberal) approaches. Religious approach is divided into two groups of opponents and proponents of civil society compatibility with religion. Opponents suggests the differences between Islamic society and civil society with respect to freedom, equality, principle of majority, human right, legislation, state, relationship between state and society, plurality, and tolerance. On the hand, proponents emphasize on independent public sphere, non-governmental organizations, pluralism, legality, collective sense, civil rights, rights of minorities, and respect to human dignity. In liberal or secular approach to civil society, civil society has components, aspects and concepts such as non-governmental organizations, social movements, public sphere, public opinion, collective wisdom, free economy and law state, which can be realized in all of societies (religious and non-religious) and is applicable in Iranian society.


An interim analysis of the cases in the British Multicentre Photocoagulation Trial shows that treated eyes with maculopathy retain better visual acuity than untreated eyes. The difference of the change in the mean visual acuities of the treated and untreated eyes is small but statistically significant. In those with new vessels as the predominant feature, there is a trend for treated eyes to have better visual acuity than untreated eyes, but the difference in the mean visual acuity of the two groups is not statistically significant.


Research on bilingual first language acquisition over the last decade has dealt with the question of whether bilingual children have one or two linguistic systems during the early stages of linguistic development (e.g. Meisel, 1989; de Houwer, 1990; Genesee, Nicoladis and Paradis, 1995; Koppe, 1996). It has now been established that bilingual children differentiate between the grammatical systems they are exposed to from very early on. This does not necessarily entail no contact between the two systems in bilingual acquisition. In recent work a number of studies have explored potential interactions between the two developing languages. Indeed, it has been shown that some degree of cross-linguistic influence is prevalent in early bilingual speech (e.g. Dopke, 1998, 2000; GawlitzekMaiwald and Tracy, 1996; Hulk and van der Linden, 1998; Hulk and Muller, 2000; Muller and Hulk, 2001; Yip and Matthews, 2000). In more specific terms, the focus of interest has been placed on the appearance of systematic influence from one language to another during the course of bilingual development in syntactic, phonological, morphological domains, as well as in language contact situations (e.g. Dopke, 1998, 2000; Muller, 1998; Yip and Matthews, 2000; Paradis, 2001; Nicoladis, 2002; Herkenrath et.al, 2003). In their recent work, Hulk and Muller (2000) (henceforth, H&M) have suggested that crosslinguistic influence in bilingual children occurs under particular conditions. According to H&M's proposal, crosslinguistic influence is likely to occur at the pragmatics/syntax interface of the linguistic system, where the pragmatic context has an effect on the choice of the syntactic structure in production. More specifically, H&M claim that the interface between syntax and pragmatics is vulnerable to crosslinguistic interference and can be acquired late in bilingual acquisition.1 Our aim in this study is to test this hypothesis in terms of the realization of subjects in the Turkish speech of a Turkish/English bilingual boy, Ali-John and that of a monolingual boy, Murat. On H&M's model, the realization of subjects in Turkish-English bilingual acquisition is a potential candidate for


Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) has long been identified as a highly immune-infiltrated tumor. However, the underlying role of pyroptosis in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of KIRC remains poorly described. Herein, we systematically analyzed the prognostic value, role in the TME, response to ICIs, and drug sensitivity of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in KIRC patients based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Cluster 2, by consensus clustering for 24 PRGs, presented a poor prognosis, likely because malignancy-related hallmarks were remarkably enriched. Additionally, we constructed a prognostic prediction model that discriminated well between high- and low-risk patients and was further confirmed in external E-MTAB-1980 cohort and HSP cohort. By further analyzing the TME based on the risk model, higher immune cell infiltration and lower tumor purity were found in the high-risk group, which presented a poor prognosis. Patients with high risk scores also exhibited higher ICI expression, indicating that these patients may be more prone to profit from ICIs. The sensitivity to anticancer drugs that correlated with model-related genes was also identified. Collectively, the pyroptosis-related prognosis risk model may improve prognostic information and provide directions for current research investigations on immunotherapeutic strategies for KIRC patients.


Core-collapse supernova (SN) ejecta are probably structured on both small and large scales, with greater deviations from spherical symmetry nearer the explosion site. Here, we present 2D and 3D gray radiation hydrodynamics simulations of type II SN light curves from red and blue supergiant star explosions to investigate the impact of inhomogeneities in density or composition on SN observables, with a characteristic scale set to a few percent of the local radius. Clumping is found to hasten the release of stored radiation, boosting the early time luminosity and shortening the photospheric phase. Around the photosphere, radiation leaks between the clumps where the photon mean free path is greater. Since radiation is stored uniformly in volume, a greater clumping can increase this leakage by storing more and more mass into smaller and denser clumps containing less and less radiation energy. An inhomogeneous medium in which different regions recombine at different temperatures can also impact the light curve. Clumping can thus be a source of diversity in SN brightness. Clumping may lead to a systematic underestimate of ejecta masses from light curve modeling, although a significant offset seems to require a large density contrast of a few tens between clumps and interclump medium.


A signal detection and classification scheme based on Atomic Decomposition (AD) is presented that allows the detection and modulation analysis of simultaneous signals with good performance at low SNR. An AD-based detector is used to detect the components of the signal acting as the feature extractor and its performance is compared to Fourier-based detectors. The classification stage consists of signal separation by clustering, reconstruction of the signal instantaneous frequency using the previous AD and modulation analysis. The system is applied to the identification of radar signals.


The purpose of this research is to develop a predictive model for the probability of default from Ultra Micro financing customers (UMi) which was initiated by the Government Investment Agency of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia in 2017. The analytical method uses Logistics Regression (Logit) as binary logit by sampling observational data. in 2021 by purposive sampling as many as 398 debtors consisting of 46 defaulted debtors and 352 current debtors. The dependent variable uses binary data with dummy "0" for defaulted debtors, while the dummy data "1" for current debtors and the Independent variable uses a gross revenue, education level, financing plafond provided, business experience and age of the debtor. This study reveals that only the education level and age of the debtor have a significant effect on the probability of non-performing loans to ultra micro customers.


The paper explores the idea of a critique of Antipodean theory of space as one agenda for the Spatial Theory paradigm in ARCRNSISS. The paper has three parts. First it seeks to resuscitate aspirations for a distinctive Antipodean understanding of Australia's socio-cultural, economic, personal and organisational spaces. It argues that theoretical advances underpinning such a project require an appreciation of the role of intertextuality and metaphor in theory building. Second, it identifies the nature and role of imported metaphors of space, especially those from northern hemisphere academic hearths, and how these have impacted on Australian life. Third, it speculates on the dimensions of a collaborative research project for the building of a more self-conscious understanding of space useful in both academic research and public policy settings.


Acoustic Feedback is a common problem in most hearing aids, it reduces the maximum useable gain and even causes "howling" while large forward gain is required, which is quite annoying for patient with severe hearing losses. This paper gives a new combination of de-correlation LMS adaptive algorithm and fixed forward delay to better de-correlate input and output signals of hearing aids as well as input signals to adaptive filters in consecutive time. Simulations in MATLAB showed that more than 20 dB additional gain could be obtained with new method


In this paper we deal with the use of computationally complex methods in the spatial analysis of discrete-time event histories. We present an application to home-leaving data of young Italian adults. The main goal is to explore the spatially-related patterns of behaviour at a relatively fine level, by using a flexible model in conjunction with MCMC inference. We also build maps of the pattern.


There are high demands on a state of the art technology in the field of heat pipes, especially in capillary pumping performance. Previous studies concluded that a biomaterial had a superior performance as a material for the capillary wick. However, it was followed by consequences of harnessing the ecosystem. A new material that mimics a lotus stem and exceeds the performance of a coral will be a necessity. It is projected that Lotus-Type Porous Material (LTP) can outperform a coral performance as wick material. The lotus-type porous material was fabricated with a slip casting process using a starch binder and copper powder. A nylon wire was employed as the aligned pore former. To remove moisture after the slip casting process, we used a freeze-drying technique. Densification and consolidation of copper powder were carried out with the sintering process. The performance of the lotus-type porous material was characterized in order to get a capillary pumping coefficient. We analyzed the pore using an SEM and X-ray 3D Scan. The result showed that an excellent capillary pumping performance could be achieved using the lotus-type porous material. We also confirmed these phenomena using an SEM and xray 3D scan analysis. It is concluded that lotus-type porous material performs excellent fluid transport capability.


Query reenement in information retrieval over repositories on the Web faces problems when trying to adapt a purist database approach. Needed semantics and brokering facilities diier signiicantly when compared, for instance, with traditional SQL-like query schemes. Therefore, we propose an interaction model, adapted to Web sources, and based on constraints and on the notion of so-called \virtual answers". Our model extends both the basic pull and push models, but proposes virtual answers as a powerful means for further interactions from a given answer: typically, query reenement. A major contribution of this paper is the discussion of the issues of information combination (brokering) and of soundness and completeness of information retrieval engines (semantics) in the framework of this new model. We make the simplifying assumption that sources evolve monotonically. Strictly speaking, this may look irrealistic in the context of the Web, but it approximates many real situations, where changes in the sources occur on a larger timescale than user sessions, or where clients check the validity of returned items before actually making use of them. Currently, the model is being evaluated for integration into the Constraint Based Knowledge Broker system (CBKB 1). The CBKB system aims at heterogeneous information retrieval, schema integration, and knowledge fusion.


The spherical sampling of the incident radiance function entails a high computational cost. Therefore the llumination integral must be evaluated using a limited set of samples. Such a restriction raises the question of how to obtain the most accurate approximation possible with such a limited set of samples. In this thesis, we show that existing Monte Carlo-based approaches can be improved by fully exploiting the information available which is later used for careful samples placement and weighting.The first contribution of this thesis is a strategy for producing high quality Quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) sampling patterns for spherical integration by resorting to spherical Fibonacci point sets. We show that these patterns, when applied to the rendering integral, are very simple to generate and consistently outperform existing approaches. Furthermore, we introduce theoretical aspects on QMC spherical integration that, to our knowledge, have never been used in the graphics community, such as spherical cap discrepancy and point set spherical energy. These metrics allow assessing the quality of a spherical points set for a QMC estimate of a spherical integral.In the next part of the thesis, we propose a new heoretical framework for computing the Bayesian Monte Carlo quadrature rule. Our contribution includes a novel method of quadrature computation based on spherical Gaussian functions that can be generalized to a broad class of BRDFs (any BRDF which can be approximated sum of one or more spherical Gaussian functions) and potentially to other rendering applications. We account for the BRDF sharpness by using a new computation method for the prior mean function. Lastly, we propose a fast hyperparameters evaluation method that avoids the learning step.Our last contribution is the application of BMC with an adaptive approach for evaluating the illumination integral. The idea is to compute a first BMC estimate (using a first sample set) and, if the quality criterion is not met, directly inject the result as prior knowledge on a new estimate (using another sample set). The new estimate refines the previous estimate using a new set of samples, and the process is repeated until a satisfying result is achieved.


– The purpose of this study was to present a pilot electronic portfolio (e-portfolio)-integrated learning environment by integrating library resources into an e-portfolio system for its application, and to explore reader's satisfaction of the integrated system. , – This study develops a research model by modifying the information success model to explore reader satisfaction to the understanding of the adoption of integrated system. The sample consisted of 289 graduate and undergraduate students. In total, 189 were considered useful and used for analysis. A regression analysis was then conducted to identify key causal relationships. , – The findings show that reader-perceived benefits, information quality and system quality are critical factors for the reader's satisfaction. Overall, the model explained 84 per cent of the variance in reader satisfaction. Thus, the results show that the proposed model does satisfactorily explain the reader's satisfaction of the integrated system. , – There is scant research available in the literature on user satisfaction of pilot e-portfolio-integrated learning environment from a reader perspective. The findings of this research provide some useful insights into a reader's satisfaction toward adoption of the integrated system. In addition, it will be valuable for better understanding of factors affecting the determinants of reader's satisfaction, which improve the reader's satisfaction of the integrated system and thereby boost realization of collaborative learning environment.


The concept of a polymer concrete based innovative construction system has been developed by Strongwall. This system enables speedy and economical construction of internal and external load bearing as well as non-load bearing walls. Research is focussed on identifying various materials that could be used for manufacturing the Strongwall system. Two polymer concrete formulations have been developed using industrial wastes.


Where data is available, it is desirable in geostatistical modelling to make use of additional covariates, for example terrain data, in order to improve prediction accuracy in the modelling task. While elevation itself may be important, additional explanatory power for any given problem can be sought (but not necessarily found) by filtering digital elevation models to extract higher-order derivatives such as slope angles, curvatures, and roughness. In essence, it would be beneficial to extract as much task-relevant information as possible from the elevation grid. However, given the complexities of the natural world, chance dictates that the use of 'off-the-shelf' filters is unlikely to derive covariates that provide strong explanatory power to the target variable at hand, and any attempt to manually design informative covariates is likely to be a trial-and-error process -- not optimal. In this paper we present a solution to this problem in the form of a deep learning approach to automatically deriving optimal task-specific terrain texture covariates from a standard SRTM 90m gridded digital elevation model (DEM). For our target variables we use point-sampled geochemical data from the British Geological Survey: concentrations of potassium, calcium and arsenic in stream sediments. We find that our deep learning approach produces covariates for geostatistical modelling that have surprisingly strong explanatory power on their own, with R-squared values around 0.6 for all three elements (with arsenic on the log scale). These results are achieved without the neural network being provided with easting, northing, or absolute elevation as inputs, and purely reflect the capacity of our deep neural network to extract task-specific information from terrain texture. We hope that these results will inspire further investigation into the capabilities of deep learning within geostatistical applications.


20% of the Finnish district heating (DH) power plant fuels are wood-based and the share is increasing. The wood fuel demand probably exceeds the potential supply in the future. The wood fuel drying with waste heat is one profitable opportunity to gain more wood fuel. If the drying energy can be produced with lower primary energy use than combusting the fuel directly, the drying potentially improves the system efficiency. In this study, the drying feasibility in the connection of a combined heat and power (CHP) system, possibly with solar collectors, is calculated. The wood fuel heating can be increased profitably by 6%, using the heat from CHP for drying only when the marginal cost of the heat is low enough, i.e. the electricity price is high enough and there is free capacity after the DH demand. Although the drying is profitable, a larger heat storage can also increase the annual result similarly. The best investment choice depends on the plant properties. Here the optimal system enables 20% DH production cost savings. Solar heat may be profitable, when the solar heat has a 2–3% share of the annual heat demand. However, the dryer or larger storage tank are more profitable investments.


Brinzolamide (BZ) is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor with selectivity and affinity for the carbonic anhydrase type II isoenzyme that administrated topically as an ophthalmic suspension for reducing intraocular pressure. In this study, BZ in situ gel nanoemulsions (NEs) were developed and evaluated for transcorneal permeation via the bovine corneal membrane. The spontaneous emulsification method was employed to prepare BZ in situ gel NEs. Various physicochemical characteristics, including particle size, polydispersity index, pH, refractive index, and viscosity, were evaluated. Accelerated physical stability and in vitro drug release, as well as transcorneal permeation studies was performed by applying the Franz-type diffusion cells. Thermosensitive BZ in situ gel NEs with desired physicochemical features and sustained release profiles were designed in the current study. Optimized Formulations exhibited physical stability under different conditions. The transcorneal permeation of formulations was higher than that of suspension, especially for F3b formulation. According to the present in vitro and ex vivo evaluations, it is concluded that in situ gel NEs could be a topical administration of BZ as a suitable ocular drug delivery system.


There have been many attempts to reform the Swedish education system in order to reduce the size of the gaps between different upper secondary school programmes. These have included changes in teachers' responsibilities and teacher education. Within an individual school, teachers of Swedish language, English and mathematics may teach students of both vocational and further study preparation programmes. However, an analysis of new teachers' experiences and the organization of teacher teams at one school, Apel School, suggests that despite these reforms, some traditional preferences have persisted. Notably, teachers of the subjects listed above had clear hierarchical preferences regarding the school's various teacher teams. Very few teachers were keen to join teams that were involved with a vocational programme. This arguably put both newer teachers and vocational programme students into particularly vulnerable situations because the new teachers were assigned to the lesspreferred vocational programme teams but not provided with adequate support from more experienced teachers. Vocational students were more likely to have their teachers replaced as their old teachers advanced within the hierarchy. It is concluded that head teachers need to distribute new and experienced teachers in teacher teams more evenly even though experienced teachers express resistance.


TANGRAM is a prototype system of CSCW whose goal is to implement a full object-based groupware. Distributed object access service (DOAS) provides functions of store, restore, link, unlink, copy and move of objects in TANGRAM. This article analyzes the requirements of DOAS and explains the mechanism of DOAS. Finally, it is shown that DOAS has the features of robustness, extendibility and portability and has wide application.


Survival of the sea louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis on juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and Oncorhynchus keta was examined with respect to salinity (0, 7, 14, 21 and 28). Rapid mortality was observed in fresh water (0) but motile stage sea lice tolerated higher salinities (7, 14, 21 and 28) for up to 7 days. These findings suggest that salinities juvenile Pacific salmon typically encounter during early marine residence have little affect on motile sea louse survival.


As part of the Materials on The International Space Station Experiment (MISSE), aromatic polymers containing phenylphosphine oxide groups were exposed to low Earth orbit for ∼4 years. All of the aromatic polymers containing phenylphosphine oxide groups survived the exposure despite the high fluence of atomic oxygen that completely eroded other polymer films such as Kapton® and Mylar® of comparable or greater thickness. The samples were characterized for changes in physical properties, thermal/optical properties surface chemistry, and surface topography. The data from the polymer samples on MISSE were compared to samples from the same batch of material stored under ambient conditions on Earth. In addition, comparisons were made between the MISSE samples and those subjected to shorter term space flight exposures. The results of these analyses will be presented.


Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of honokiol, a natural molecule that was shown to have antioxidant effects, in prevention of intra-abdominal adhesion formation in a rat model. Material and Method: This study was conducted on a total of 40 non-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats, which were divided into 4 groups as follows: sham, control, saline, and honokiol groups. Both uterine horns of the rats in control, saline, and honokiol groups were exposed and a 2-cm segment of the anti-mesenteric surface of both uterine horns was traumatized by a scalpel. The saline group was administered 2 ml of saline/day intraperitoneally for 5 days after the operation. The honokiol group, on the other hand, was administered honokiol intraperitoneally at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day for 5 days after the operation. On postoperative day 14, 3 ml of intracardiac blood sample was taken from the rats for biochemical analyses, and the rats were sacrificed this way. Results: Adhesion and inflammation scores were significantly lower in the honokiol group compared with the saline and control groups (p < 0.008). Similarly, fibrosis score was significantly lower in the honokiol group compared with the saline group (p < 0.008). Conclusion: Honokiol was found to be effective in prevention of intra-abdominal adhesion formation in a rat model. However, larger studies are needed to shed light on the exact role of honokiol in intra-abdominal adhesion formation and to determine the molecular aspects of the promising results found in this study.


Synchronous hatching within single egg clutches is moderately common in locusts and other insects and can be mediated by vibrational stimuli generated by adjacent embryos. However, in non-locust grasshoppers, there has been little research on the patterns of egg hatching and the mechanisms controlling the time of hatching. In this study, the hatching patterns of six grasshoppers (Atractomorpha lata, Oxya yezoensis, Acrida cinerea, Chorthippus biguttulus, Gastrimargus marmoratus, and Oedaleus infernalis) were observed under various laboratory treatments. Under continuous illumination and a 25/30°C thermocycle, the eggs of these grasshoppers tended to hatch during the first half of the daily warm period. Eggs removed from egg pods and cultured at 30°C tended to hatch significantly earlier and more synchronously when kept in groups vs. singly. In general, eggs hatched earlier when egg group size was increased. Egg hatching was stimulated by hatched nymphs in some species, but not in others. In all species, two eggs separated by several millimeters on sand hatched less synchronously than those kept in contact with one another, but the hatching synchrony of similarly separated eggs was restored if they were connected by a piece of wire, suggesting that a physical signal transmitted through the wire facilitated synchronized hatching. In contrast, hatching times in the Emma field cricket, Teleogryllus emma, which lays single, isolated eggs, were not influenced by artificial clumping in laboratory experiments. These results are discussed and compared with the characteristics of other insects.


OBJECTIVE
To survey the dose of glucocorticosteroids administered in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and assess the effect of glucocorticosteroid doses in improving the patients' lung function.

METHODS
A retrospective analysis was conducted among 225 SARS patients treated in our in 2003. Oxygenation index was used as the effectness index, and the criteria for effectiveness was defiend as increase of the value of OI by 20% or above.

RESULTS
Glococoticostecoids were used in 59.56% of the SARS cases. The average value of OI before intravenous use of glucocorticosteroids was 237.08 mmHg, and that after the administration was 335.08 mmHg. The glucocorticosteroid doses that produce better effects were 1-3 mg/kg and 160-240 mg daily, with the total accumulative dose of 1000-2000 mg. The optimal duration of glucocorticosteroid use was 8-14 days.

CONCLUSIONS
For SARS treatment, Glucocorticosteroids can effectively ameliorate the SARS patients' lung symptoms and improve the lung function. The appropriate daily dose of glucocorticosteroids is 1-3 mg/kg or 160-240 mg/d for a duration of 8-14 d; the accumulative dose should be controlled around 1500 mg.