BACKGROUND
Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) has long been recognized as an important drug target for proliferative and parasitic diseases, including compounds that exhibit trypanocidal action and broad-spectrum antiviral activity. Despite numerous and successful efforts in structural and functional characterization of DHODHs, as well as in the development of inhibitors, DHODH hot spots remain largely unmapped and underexplored.

OBJECTIVE
This review describes the tools that are currently available for the identification and characterization of hot spots in protein structures and how freely available webservers can be exploited to predict DHODH hot spots. Moreover, it provides for the first time a review of the antiviral properties of DHODH inhibitors. Method: X-ray structures from human (HsDHODH) and Trypanosoma cruzi DHODH (TcDHODH) had their hot spots predicted by both FTMap and Fragment Hotspot Maps web servers. Results: FTMap showed that hot spot occupancy in HsDHODH is correlated with the ligand efficiency (LE) of its known inhibitors, and Fragment Hotspot Maps pointed out the contribution of selected moieties to the overall LE. The conformational flexibility of the active site loop in TcDHODH was found to have a major impact on the druggability of the orotate binding site. In addition, both FTMap and Fragment Hotspot Maps servers predict a novel pocket in TcDHODH dimer interface (S6 site). Conclusion: This review reports how hot spots can be exploited during hit-to-lead steps, docking studies or even to improve inhibitor binding profile and by doing so using DHODH as a model, points to new drug development opportunities.


Although it is well established that misfolding of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) into the β-sheet-rich, aggregated scrapie conformation (PrPSc) causes a variety of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), the physiological roles of PrPC are still incompletely understood. There is accumulating evidence describing the roles of PrPC in neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. Recently, we identified a functional regulation of NMDA receptors by PrPC that involves formation of a physical protein complex between these proteins. Excessive NMDA receptor activity during conditions such as ischemia mediates enhanced Ca2+ entry into cells and contributes to excitotoxic neuronal death. In addition, NMDA receptors and/or PrPC play critical roles in neuroinflammation and glial cell toxicity. Inhibition of NMDA receptor activity protects against PrPSc-induced neuronal death. Moreover, in mice lacking PrPC, infarct size is increased after focal cerebral ischemia, and absence of PrPC increases susceptibility of neurons to NMDA receptor-dependent death. Recently, PrPC was found to be a receptor for oligomeric beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptides, suggesting a role for PrPC in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our recent findings suggest that Aβ peptides enhance NMDA receptor current by perturbing the normal copper- and PrPC-dependent regulation of these receptors. Here, we review evidence highlighting a role for PrPC in preventing NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity and inflammation. There is a need for more detailed molecular characterization of PrPC-mediated regulation of NMDA receptors, such as determining which NMDA receptor subunits mediate pathogenic effects upon loss of PrPC-mediated regulation and identifying PrPC binding site(s) on the receptor. This knowledge will allow development of novel therapeutic interventions for not only TSEs, but also for AD and other neurodegenerative disorders involving dysfunction of PrPC.


ABSTRACT Objective: The main aim of this study was to identify young drivers' underlying beliefs (i.e., behavioral, normative, and control) regarding initiating, monitoring/reading, and responding to social interactive technology (i.e., functions on a Smartphone that allow the user to communicate with other people). Method: This qualitative study was a beliefs elicitation study in accordance with the theory of planned behavior and sought to elicit young drivers' behavioral (i.e., advantages, disadvantages), normative (i.e., who approves, who disapproves), and control beliefs (i.e., barriers, facilitators) that underpin social interactive technology use while driving. Young drivers (N = 26) aged 17 to 25 years took part in an interview or focus group discussion. Results: Though differences emerged between the 3 behaviors of initiating, monitoring/reading, and responding for each of the behavioral, normative, and control belief categories, the strongest distinction was within the behavioral beliefs category (e.g., communicating with the person that they were on the way to meet was an advantage of initiating; being able to determine whether to respond was an advantage of monitoring/reading; and communicating with important people was an advantage of responding). Normative beliefs were similar for initiating and responding behaviors (e.g., friends and peers more likely to approve than other groups) and differences emerged for monitoring/reading (e.g., parents were more likely to approve of this behavior than initiating and responding). For control beliefs, there were differences between the beliefs regarding facilitators of these behaviors (e.g., familiar roads and conditions facilitated initiating; having audible notifications of an incoming communication facilitated monitoring/reading; and receiving a communication of immediate importance facilitated responding); however, the control beliefs that presented barriers were consistent across the 3 behaviors (e.g., difficult traffic/road conditions). Conclusion: The current study provides an important addition to the extant literature and supports emerging research that suggests that initiating, monitoring/reading, and responding may indeed be distinct behaviors with different underlying motivations.


In this commentary, the process performance of natural rubber processing wastewater systems was evaluated and compared. The key factors evaluated in here comprised the following: the type of wastewater, the prevention of system clogging by coagulated rubber, and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This commentary examined these variables in existing systems and in a pilot-scale reactor system for wastewater treatment. Then an appropriate wastewater treatment system was proposed.


Background : Global attention is being drawn to the use of internet resource because of its overwhelming benefits. Individuals, families, social groups, patients as well as research teams spend quality time on a daily basis exploring the internet. Objective : We carried out a study to determine internet use among primary care patients attending a tertiary health facility in Uyo, Nigeria. Methods : Using structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among primary care patients attending University of Uyo Teaching  Hospital, Uyo, Nigeria .The enrolled 290 respondents were 132(45.5%) males and 158(54.5%) females with male to female ratio of 1:1.2. The mean ± standard  deviation of the respondents' age was 37±12.2 years. One hundred and seventeen (40.3%) respondents used the internet. Only 29 (24.8%) of the respondent used the internet for health information. Internet use was higher among men (48.5%) compared to 33.5%women(X 2 = 6.06; P = 0.013). Young respondents (£ 40years) were more likely to use the internet than the older ones(X 2 = 58.45; P<0.001). Respondents with high level of education (99.1%) used the internet more than those with low level of education (X 2 = 102.31; P<0.001). Similarly, internet use was higher among the unmarried (60.68%) respondents compared to their married (39.32%) counterparts (X 2 = 13.49; P<0.001). Most (85.47%) of the respondents who reported excellent/good health condition were internet users while those  (14.53%) with fair/poor health condition did not use the internet (X 2 =26.77; P<0.001).Respondents who do not use the internet were more likely to report chronic ill-health (78.7%) than internet users (X 2 =18.50; P<0.001). Conclusion : The percentage of the primary care patients that used internet in this study was less than average (40.3%) and only few (24.8%) use it for health  information. Factors identified to be associated with internet use were male gender, younger age, high level education, unmarried, excellent/good health perception and the absence of chronic ill-health. Efforts should be made to create public awareness on the merits of internet use especially among patients. Health education focusing on internet use should be carried out among primary care patients.


Energy consumption for building-related services accounts for approximately one third of total EU energy consumption. With hybrid off-the-grid energy generation and management systems, significant energy savings can be achieved, thus helping to attain objectives on climate change and security of supply. The engineering and deployment of off-the-grid energy production systems for buildings addressing the renewable energy technologies (e.g. wind, solar, geothermal, fuel cells) and integration of these systems with the ICT-based sub-systems becomes a necessity. Integrated IT tool support for these activities does not exist; available tools are stand-alone products, often tied to specific standards. This lack of appropriate descriptions and tools currently outweighs the benefit of software interoperability. This paper addresses an integrated building concept that operates on energy-efficient basis while capturing retrofit opportunities that scale from a single building to multiple buildings at district level. The proposed concept is developed based on two research areas; (1) Building energy supply-side (micro-grid) management and (2) Building energy demand-side management complementing with the integrated energy production from renewable energy sources, building energy diagnostics and predictive control, ubiquitous wireless sensing technologies, and micro-grid power electronics and power control to exploit the potential for reduction of building energy consumption, thus addressing the deficit of insufficient tool support. To reach this objective, new methods and tools are researched that increase system productivity covering hardware and software design for individual production/consumption sub-systems, system design of component networks and integration into backend systems. The research focuses on an innovative model-driven development approach that integrates systems in building supply-side and building demand-side to balance efficient energy production from off-the-grid systems and optimized consumption. The system integration is based on advanced control algorithms capable of learning from previous operations in real time. The research findings will be demonstrated in an office building in Hannover, Germany integrating different energy efficient production/consumption systems addressing the renewable energy technologies coupled with energy storage systems and building energy management systems comprising scalable and robust sensing network platforms, energy performance monitoring and data warehouse technologies.


Intelligent video-surveillance is currently an active research field in computer vision and machine learning techniques. It provides useful tools for surveillance operators and forensic video investigators. Person re-identification (PReID) is one among these tools. It consists of recognizing whether an individual has already been observed over a camera in a network or not. This tool can also be employed in various possible applications such as off-line retrieval of all the video-sequences showing an individual of interest whose image is given a query, and online pedestrian tracking over multiple camera views. To this aim, many techniques have been proposed to increase the performance of PReID. Among the systems, many researchers utilized deep neural networks (DNNs) because of their better performance and fast execution at test time. Our objective is to provide for future researchers the work being done on PReID to date. Therefore, we summarized state-of-the-art DNN models being used for this task. A brief description of each model along with their evaluation on a set of benchmark datasets is given. Finally, a detailed comparison is provided among these models followed by some limitations that can work as guidelines for future research.


3.0. A complete reconstruction of the Proto-Siouan vowel system will be possible only after considerably more is known about vowel systems of the existing languages. This would necessitate mainly an accurate study of the function of stress and length in the daughter languages; furthermore, comparative morphophonemics will provide clarification of the behavior of vowels under different conditions of stress, and some of the sections of a comparative Siouan morphology, such as the problem of word formation and derivation, may give us the answers needed to complete an account of Proto-Siouan. Due to the limitations of this study and some of the above difficulties, the present study is restricted to the reflexes of stressed vowels; the great instability of unstressed vowels makes their reconstruction dependent upon further research.


ABSTRACT Siderite (FeCO3), a type of carbonate mineral, is very occasionally recognized as a nodule in anoxic soils and sediments. During siderite formation, elements are expected to be accumulated or excluded between siderite and bulk soil. Therefore, we verified the affinity of 40 elements for siderite found in the gley horizon of a smectite-rich paddy field in northeastern Japan from the elemental concentration of the soil and the siderite dissolved in 2.88 mol L−1 hydrochloric acid (10% HCl). The concentration ratio of the target element of the soil to the siderite was expressed by the product of the dimensionless R0 value and ratio of titanium (Ti) concentration of the soil to the siderite (Csiderite /Csoil) = R0 (Tisiderite /Tisoil). The affinity of each element for the siderite was analyzed by comparing the R0 values. In comparison with Ti used as the reference element, P, Cr, Co and Mo were accumulated (R0 > 1.0), and alkali metals, such as Li, Na and K, and chalcophile elements, such as Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb, tended to be equal or excluded from the siderite (R0 ≦1.0). Of the group 2 elements, Ca, Sr and Ba were accumulated, while Mg was excluded. The affinity of Mn for siderite exceeded that of Fe as the main component of the siderite, which reflects the fact that siderite was formed in a fresh water condition. The siderite size did not influence the elemental affinity. Observation of micromorphology using a scanning electron microscope showed that the siderite nodules were aggregations of siderite particles and clays, suggesting that the siderite grew by taking in clay around it. The rare earth element (REE) distribution pattern showed a tendency not to increase linearly but to increase with forming a concave curve at the intervals of the four elements with the increase of atomic number (i.e. tetrad effects). Although these findings are from the lower horizons of anoxic soils, the elemental affinity for siderite of this study is useful in order to elucidate the complex elemental dynamics in the anoxic environment.


Phase mixing was introduced by Heyvaerts and Priest (1983) as a mechanism for heating the plasma in the open magnetic field regions of coronal holes. Here the basic process is modified to include a stratified atmosphere in which the density decreases with height. We present an analytical solution in the case of zero dissipation and use a numerical code in the non-zero dissipation case to describe the effect of stratification on phase mixing. The exponential damping behaviour derived by Heyvaerts and Priest is largely confirmed in the non stratified limit. However, it is shown that the decrease in density lengthens the oscillation wavelengths and thereby reduces the generation of transverse gradients. Furthermore we found that in a stratified atmosphere the perturbed magnetic field and velocity behave quite differently depending on whether we consider resistivity or viscosity. Ohmic heating is spread out over a greater height range in a stratified medium whereas viscous heating is not strongly influenced by the stratification.


Endothelial cells (ECs) lining blood vessels have a variety of functions and play a critical role in the homeostasis of the circulatory system. It has become clear that biomechanical forces generated by blood flow regulate EC functions. ECs are in direct contact with blood flow and exposed to shear stress, a frictional force generated by flowing blood. A number of recent studies have revealed that ECs recognize changes in shear stress and transmit signals to the interior of the cell, which leads to cell responses that involve changes in cell morphology, cell function, and gene expression. These EC responses to shear stress are thought to play important roles in blood flow-dependent phenomena such as vascular tone control, angiogenesis, vascular remodeling, and atherogenesis. Much research has been done on shear stress sensing and signal transduction, and their molecular mechanisms are gradually becoming understood. However, much remains uncertain, and many candidates have been proposed for shear stress sensors. More extensive studies of vascular mechanobiology should increase our understanding of the molecular basis of the blood flow-mediated control of vascular functions.


Debris flow velocity is an important factor which influences the impact forces and runup. Due to the complexity of the phenomenon, it is difficult to define predictive methodologies. The present work reports some results of an experimental run conducted in order to investigate the velocity and sediment concentration distributions. A modified Bagnold's approach to calculate the vertical distribution of flow velocity is presented.


This paper analyzes the application of e-learning in the revitalization of endangered languages. It outlines the areas in which e-learning is efficacious, the attitudes of the indigenous language teachers to e-learning, the feelings of the Yami community toward this kind of pedagogy, and the reactions of the users, mostly young and adolescent learners of Yami. The findings are based on the results of surveys and in-depth studies in the Yami community and also on surveys made in a nation-wide seminar that enrolled teachers of the majority of the still-spoken aboriginal languages in Taiwan. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to gather empirical data to address questions in the following three areas: (1) the contexts of developing e-Learning materials for endangered indigenous languages in Taiwan, (2) the indigenous language teachers' perceptions of e-Learning in Taiwan, and (3) the attitudes of the Yami community on Orchid Island toward e-Learning. This paper provides a model for the many language revitalization projects underway in Taiwan and worldwide to take advantage of e-Learning. It also provides guidelines that enable each project to better understand the kinds of e-Learning that work best and the type of community outreach necessary to make e-Learning acceptable and efficacious.


In addition to the intended functionality of the product, its affective properties (or "Kansei") have emerged as important evaluation criteria for the successful marketing of the product. Recently, "immersive" virtual reality systems have been suggested as an ideal platform for affective analysis of an evolving design because of among other things, the natural style of interaction they offer when examining the product. In this paper, we compare the effectiveness of three types of virtual environments for evaluating the affective properties of mobile phones to that of the real. Each virtual environment offers different degrees of realism in terms of visual, aural, and tactile aspects. Our experiment has shown that the virtual affective evaluation results correlated very highly with that of the real, and but no statistically significant difference could be found between the three systems. This finding was contrary to our initial thought and the conventional notion that the characteristics of immersive virtual reality systems would contribute to making it a better platform for virtual evaluation of product designs. Thus, it goes to say that employing immersive systems is not necessarily cost effective solution for affective analysis of product designs (desktop VR system suffices).


. This paper describes the major sky surveys carried out with the large Schmidt telescopes and the sky atlases made from them. It also describes some of the science which has come from them and notes the importance of this work in almost every branch of astronomy.


Purpose: to prove a technique of the improvement of special physical fitness due to the development of coordination abilities at a stage of the previous basic preparation. Material and Methods: theoretical analysis and synthesis of data of scientifically methodical literature and empirical materials of the scientific research, pedagogical methods of the research, tool methods: program of diagnostics of the development of psychophysiological abilities (APC "Sports psychophysiologist"), methods of mathematical statistics. Results: the technique is developed which includes means of the general physical preparation, the specially developed complexes of danced-jumped exercises, the dancing combinations and means which are picked up taking into account the leading motive, functional abilities and special technical characteristics of movements and also has a strictly certain sequence of the realization of means during each cycle of classes. Conclusions: the application of the experimental technique of the improvement of special physical fitness of sportsman in the training process led to the improvement and enhancement of their technical preparedness and the increase of the competitive productivity of their performances


Abstract Inspired by perspectives from actor-network theory, this paper challenges key assumptions in evidence-based pedagogies. Through a multi-sited analysis of the evidence-based pedagogy 'Dialogic Reading' (DR) in the area of early childhood education and care in Denmark, the paper explores how DR is enacted as part of an assemblage of tests, research in the field of audiologopedics, classifications of reading disabilities, day care centres and the book as a 'nice experience'. It also explores how DR is organised in a local day care centre, hereby organising objects such as dolls, books, children and a mattress. As such, the paper shows how DR, as an evidence-based method, is established through concrete relations, rather than abstracted and universal principals. It argues that these relations stabilising DR are never enacted once and for all, but require continual work to be held together as a method that 'works'.


BackgroundBreast cancers are heterogeneous diseases with distinct clinical outcomes and cancer stem cell percentages. Exploring breast cancer stem cell landscape could help understand the heterogeneity of such cancers with profound clinical relevance.MethodsWe conducted transcriptional profiling of cancer stem cells and non-cancer stem cells isolated from 3 triple negative breast cancer cell lines, analyzed the cancer stem cell transcriptome landscape that drives breast cancer heterogeneity through differential expressed gene analysis, gene ontology and pathway enrichment as well as network construction, and performed experimental validations on the network hub gene.ResultsWe identified a cancer stem cell feature panel consisting of 122 and 381 over-represented and under-expressed genes capable of differentiating breast cancer subtypes. We also underpin the prominent roles of the PI3K-AKT pathway in empowering cancer cells with uncontrolled proliferative and migrative abilities that ultimately foster cancer stemness, and reveal the potential promotive roles of ATP6V1B1 on breast tumor stemness through functional in vitro studies. ConclusionsOur study contributes in identifying a cancer stem cell feature panel for breast tumors that drives breast cancer heterogeneity at the transcriptional level, which provides a reservoir for diagnostic marker and/or therapeutic target identification once experimentally validated as demonstrated by ATP6V1B1.


A Cs liquid metal ion source (LMIS) and focused ion beam system for microarea secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) have been developed. Because of the chemical activity, low surface tension, and high vapor pressure of Cs, few successful Cs LMISs have heretofore been reported, as opposed to the many successful applications of Ga in LMIS. A new Cs‐LMIS design had to be developed to supply Cs to the emitter/reservoir under UHV to prevent oxidation, to prevent liquid Cs from dripping off the emitter substrate, and to minimize the surface area exposed so as to minimize thermal evaporation. The last consideration is very important since the evaporation rate of Cs is many orders of magnitude higher than, e.g., Ga at the melting point. A focused Cs beam was obtained with a newly designed SIMS system, which is about 0.1 μm beam size and a beam current density on the specimen of 0.8 A/cm2. An operating time of more than 600 h has been achieved at a total emission current of 1 μA without resupplying the source mat...


Apparently, throughout human history, pollution and the economy appear to have been inextricably linked. However, the relationship between environmental harm and economic development is complex, and disciplinary biases have splintered our understanding of it. This study applies Johansen cointegration which indicate that there exists a long-term relationship between air pollutants and economic growth. Multiple regression model indicates that there is a significant relationship between air pollution variables and the economic growth. The vector autoregressive model (Var) indicates a short run relationship between the variables. Then, Vector error correction model was fitted and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is supported. More so, the EKC shows that economic growth has both positive and negative significant impact on air pollution. Meanwhile, Granger causality test shows that economic growth has causal effect on air pollution. This indicates that Jordan has reduced CO2 emissions along with other pollutants and thereby contributed to environmental improvement in the country.


Residual 5'-nucleotidase activities in hemolysates from nine subjects with severe hereditary deficiency of pyrimidine nucleotidase (PyrNase) were compared to those in normal and reticulocyte-rich controls. Dephosphorylation rates of 12 potential ribo- and deoxyribomononucleotide substrates were measured as a function of pH. Data confirmed the existence of at least two isozymes of 5'-nucleotidase, PyrNase, and 2'-deoxy-5'-ribonucleotide phosphohydrolase (dNase) distinguishable by differences in maximal velocities, substrate preferences and restrictions, and pH optima. PyrNase was confirmed to be active principally with pyrimidine substrates (UMP = dCMP greater than CMP much greater than dTMP greater than dUMP) at a pH optimum of 7.5 +/- 0.1. dNase activity occurred with both purine and pyrimidine substrates and was maximal with deoxy analogs (dIMP much greater than dUMP greater than dGMP greater than dTMP = dAMP much greater than dCMP) at a pH optimum of 6.2, but slight cross-reactivity occurred with some nondeoxy substrates (IMP greater than GMP greater than UMP = XMP greater than CMP). PyrNase and dNase may be complementary systems that serve physiologically to clear the cytosol of RNA and DNA degradation products during maturation of erythroid elements by conversion of nucleotide monophosphates to diffusible nucleosides.


Disturbances of the stabilizing musculature are an important factor in painful shoulders. The important changes in the rotator cuff muscles are well established, but less attention is put on possible disturbances of the deltoid muscle. This study investigated the effect of shoulder impingement on muscle fiber cross-sectional area and the Na,K-pump concentration of the deltoid muscle. The study included six patients with impingement syndrome. Biopsies were taken from the affected and unaffected sides. The muscle fiber cross-sectional area and the Na,K-ATPase concentration was measured. There were significant decreases (p < 0.05) in cross-sectional area of type 1 and type 2 fibers of the affected deltoid muscle of 25 and 18%, respectively. The Na,K-pump concentration of the affected muscles was reduced by 26.6% (p < 0.05).


Selective Inhibition Sintering (SIS) has been proven effective in producing polymeric and metallic parts. Due to the low cost and high quality of SIS printing, the impact of SIS printing in the 3D printing industry could be disruptive. The potential of SIS is further extended to ceramics, an important but hard to print material, by the same mechanism of creating an easy-to-break sacrificial mold. Due to the high sintering temperature of ceramics, fluid based inhibitors delivered by inkjet printing tend to not be effective in SIS for ceramics. Accordingly, the new concept of inhibition by dry powder delivery is implemented. Preliminary experiments have shown the feasibility and ease of printing of simple ceramic parts. Additional experiments are underway to increase the possible part complexity and accuracy, and to optimize the sintering process.


P carinii is an opportunistic pathogenic agent able to produce severe infection that must be diagnosed promptly. We analyzed 138 samples from 100 patients suspected of having infection by P carinii. The ortho-toluidine blue and the methenamine stains were used to analyze the samples. Infection was demonstrated in 18 patients, 13 adults and 5 children. Underlying disease was AIDS in 7 and other immunosuppressive disorders in the rest. No immunocompetent patient was infected with P carinii. Proper sample collection is important for diagnosis. When bronchoalveolar lavage is not possible, pharyngo-tracheal aspirate in children and sputum sampling after assisted coughing in adults are recommended. At least 2 staining methods and proper controls are advisable.


Seventy seven patients affected by postphlebitic syndrome (PPS) during acute inflammatory and/or obstructive complications were controlled. Thirty nine patients were treated with a new low molecular weight heparin (Fluxum), 16,000 I.U. AXa/day subcutaneously for 10 days and, subsequently, 8,000 I.U. AXa/day subcutaneously for up to 50 days. Thirty eight patients were treated with 20,000 I.U./day i.v. for 10 days of sodium heparin and, subsequently, with 12,500 I.U./day of calcium heparin by subcutaneous injection for up to 50 days. Clinical symptoms (pain, oedema, hyperemia, rashes, itching, dermatitis, ulceration) and instrumental patterns (Doppler) were recorded. Fluxum had an evident effect on the improvement of patient's clinical performance during acute complications of PPS.


According to the annual emission estimates of U.S.A., fugitive dust, the particulate matter entrained in the ambient air which is caused from man-made or natural activities such as movement of soil, vehicles, equipments and windblown dust, contributes 90% of PM emission. In spite of an importance of fugitive dust emission in PM estimation, it is excluded in the national emission inventory of Korea so far. In this paper, an emission inventory of fugitive dust for each region and in major cities throughout the country, which is the first time in Korea these values have been compiled, is presented. Sources of fugitive dust emission have been classified into paved/unpaved roads, construction operations, agricultural operations, and natural sources. The emission factors of the existing fugitive dust emission were reassessed in a way that significantly improved the reliability of the estimated result. The Korea's first national emission inventory of fugitive dust by administrative districts proposed in this paper would provide scientific reference data for establishing an reduction strategy of PM and preparing effective control measures, and would contribute to academic achievement in the atmospheric environments field and the establishment of CAPSS (Clean Air Policy Support System).stem).


The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is currently developing mission architectures, vehicle concepts and flight hardware to support the planned human return to the Moon. During Phase II of the 2006 Lunar Lander Preparatory Study, a team from the Langley Research Center was tasked with developing and refining two proposed Lander concepts. The Descent-Assisted, Split Habitat Lander concept uses a disposable braking stage to perform the lunar orbit insertion maneuver and most of the descent from lunar orbit to the surface. The second concept, the Cargo Star Horizontal Lander, carries ascent loads along its longitudinal axis, and is then rotated in flight so that its main engines (mounted perpendicular to the vehicle longitudinal axis) are correctly oriented for lunar orbit insertion and a horizontal landing. Both Landers have separate crew transport volumes and habitats for surface operations, and allow placement of large cargo elements very close to the lunar surface. As part of this study, lightweight, efficient structural configurations for these spacecraft were proposed and evaluated. Vehicle structural configurations were first developed, and preliminary structural sizing was then performed using finite element-based methods. Results of selected structural design and trade studies performed during this activity are presented and discussed.


Even though dropout is a popular regularization technique, its theoretical properties are not fully understood. In this paper we study dropout regularization in extended generalized linear models based on double exponential families, for which the dispersion parameter can vary with the features. A theoretical analysis shows that dropout regularization prefers rare but important features in both the mean and dispersion, generalizing an earlier result for conventional generalized linear models. Training is performed using stochastic gradient descent with adaptive learning rate. To illustrate, we apply dropout to adaptive smoothing with B-splines, where both the mean and dispersion parameters are modelled flexibly. The important B-spline basis functions can be thought of as rare features, and we confirm in experiments that dropout is an effective form of regularization for mean and dispersion parameters that improves on a penalized maximum likelihood approach with an explicit smoothness penalty.


Background & Objectives: The Examination of the newborn (EONB), previously the remit of medical doctors, has been undertaken by midwives once they have completed a programme of Continuing Professional Development for over a decade. This study examined what motivated midwives to undertake the examination of the newborn post registration midwifery course and then to utilise their skills or not. It also investigated the expectations of the Heads of Midwifery (HOM) when facilitating and supporting midwives to undertake the post registration training and their views of how midwives with the skills to undertake EONB had influenced service provision. The study examined what influences midwives' ability to integrate examination of the newborn into holistic midwifery practice and how best to bring about this change in midwifery practice. Method: Using a grounded theory approach, 12 midwives and 5 Heads of Midwifery were interviewed. Data were collected through interviews and analysed using Strauss and Corbin mode of grounded theory analysis. Findings: The substantive theory of 'Integration of the examination of the newborn into holistic midwifery practice' was generated from the data encompassing four key categories; 1) knowledge & training acquisition, 2) change in culture: perception and practice, 3) philosophy of midwifery and 4) political and financial drivers. The majority of participants believed they were delivering holistic care to mothers and babies. The participants believed that you did not have to be an experienced midwife to undertake the examination of the newborn and that the training should be integral to the pre- registration midwifery curriculum. Their views indicate a belief that midwives do not need to be specialist or advanced practitioners to undertake EONB. Conclusion: The researcher argues that this theory contributes to a greater understanding of midwives' roles and responsibilities in EONB. It provides insight and understanding into why midwives are motivated to undertaken additional training to facilitate them in providing holistic care for mothers and their newborn baby and disputes the notion of having to be an advanced or specialist practitioner to undertake this aspect of midwifery care. Wider implications are for nursing and other professional groups with technical skills which enhance care.


Many compact X-ray sources have been found to be members of close binaries. A class of models in which the X-ray source is taken to be a differentially rotating, degenerate dwarf is discussed. Such an object may be a natural result of stellar evolution in close binaries. Variants of the basic model can account for the different observed types of X-ray sources and provide semiquantitative explanations of the observed X-ray luminosities and of the spinup of the pulsating sources. In addition, the model makes some predictions that render it particularly susceptible to observational test. (auth)


Background. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G is a nonclassical HLA class I molecule expressed as membrane-bound and soluble isoforms. Interaction of HLA-G with its receptor, immunoglobulin-like transcript 4 on dendritic cells (DCs) down-regulates their T-cell stimulatory ability. Methods. We examined expression of HLA-G, immunoglobulin-like transcript 4, other immune regulatory molecules (inducible costimulator ligand and glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor-related receptor ligand), and the activation marker CMRF44 on circulating monocytoid dendritic cell (mDC) and plasmacytoid dendritic cell by monoclonal antibody staining and flow cytometry. Three groups of stable liver transplant recipients: operationally tolerant (TOL), prospective immunosuppressive drug weaning, and maintenance immunosuppression (MI) were studied, together with healthy controls (HC). Serum HLA-G levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. In TOL patients, monocytoid dendritic cell (mDC) but not plasmacytoid dendritic cell expressed higher HLA-G than in MI patients or HC. In TOL patients, the incidence of CD4+CD25hiCD127− regulatory T cells (Treg) and the intensity of Treg forkhead box p3 (Foxp3) expression were significantly higher than in the MI group. HLA-G expression on circulating mDC correlated significantly with that of Foxp3 in the TOL group. There was no correlation between immunosuppressive drug (tacrolimus) dose or trough level and HLA-G expression or Treg frequency or Foxp3 expression. The incidence of patients with circulating HLA-G levels more than 100 ng/mL was highest in the TOL group, although statistical significance was not achieved. Conclusions. Higher HLA-G expression on circulating mDC in TOL recipients compared with MI or HC, suggests a possible role of HLA-G in immune regulation possibly mediated by enhanced host Treg Foxp3 expression.


150 Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the leading causes of death from cancer in men. High Gleason grade prostate cancers are characterized by aggressive tumors with poorly differentiated cells and a high metastatic potential. They are often refractory to chemical castration but still treated with hormone therapy to which docetaxel or cabazitaxel are added when they become resistant to the anti-androgen. Despite many clinical trials with other chemotherapeutic agents, response rates remain low. Moreover, none of these trials took into account the tumor grade.

METHODS
We used an in silico approach to screen for drug candidates that could be used as an alternative to taxanes, based on a 86 genes signature which could distinguish between low-grade and high-grade tumors. We extracted from the NCI60 panel databases the expression profiles of the 86 genes across 60 human tumor cell lines and the corresponding in vitro cytotoxicity data of 152 drugs and looked for correlation between their expression level and cell sensitivity to each of these drugs.

RESULTS
Among the 86 genes, we identified 9 genes (PCCB, SHMT2, DPM1, RHOT2, RPL13, CD59, EIF4AI, CDKN2C, JUN) for which expression levels across the 60 cell lines was significantly correlated (p< 0.05) to oxaliplatin but not to cisplatin sensitivity. This signature was validated at the functional level since repression of each of these genes conferred a significant change in the sensitivity of PCa cell lines to oxaliplatin but not cisplatin.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results provide a proof of concept that gene expression signature specific from high grade PCa could be used for the identification of alternative therapies to taxanes. They could also be used to select patients for further clinical trials and as predictive markers of response to these drugs, which represents a further step forward towards personalized therapy of PCa.


The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the length of calf sucking milk from its own mother on calf growth at the age of 3 months and milk yield of mothers. We tested a hypothesis that the nursing of calves by their own mothers increases the body weight of calves and decreases the milk production. 50 Holstein primiparous cows and their calves were divided into three groups according to the sucking length of calves: 7 days (A), 14 days (B) and 21 days (C). All calves suckled mother's colostrum and milk while mothers were milked twice per day. After weaning from mother calves were kept in individual hutches until 56 days of life, and then in group housing pens. In the period from birth to weaning the calves of group A reached the lowest and the calves of group C the highest daily gains (0.35 kg, 0.46 kg, 0.54 kg; P < 0.01). The lowest gain was recorded in animals of group A (0.55 kg) and the highest gain was reached by calves of group C (0.74 kg) for the period from birth to three months of age. For the first 305 days of lactation cows of group A produced insignificantly more milk than group C (7356.5 kg, 6779.2 kg, 6663.9 kg). A significant difference in milk production was recorded only during the first seven months of lactation (5494.5 kg, 5041.9 kg, and 4872.3 kg; P < 0.05). The long stay of calves with their mothers influences the growth of calves positively, but the milk production of mothers may decrease. Therefore, the stay of calves with the dam within 21 days after birth is not recommended for high-yielding dairy cows.


Climate change is the challenge provided with the most attention within all circles in the 21st century. This phenomenon allegedly originates due to the increasing concentrations of CO2 gas in the atmosphere. Therefore, efforts are continually designed to slow down or halt the process to avoid significantly impacting life on earth. The common mitigation approach is by encouraging the planting of trees to optimize CO2 sequestration. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the CO2 sequestration capacity of Aquilaria malaccensis in natural forests and plantations. Particularly, Aquilaria malaccensis is an endemic plant of Indonesia's tropical forests, with critical or endangered status. The allometric method was adopted, with purposive and non-destructive sampling techniques, then a multilevel plot was used during CO2 sequestration analysis. This plant species absorbed the gas at the tree category in natural forests (9.57 tons CO2 eq/year), and similarly with plantation forests (2.35 tons CO2 eq/year). The tree biomass category in natural forests (5.22 tons CO2 eq/year), and plantations (1.28 tons CO2 eq/year), alongside the pole category in natural forests (1.9 x 10-3 tons CO2 eq/year) rank lowest. The carbon content in the tree category ranked highest at the natural (2.61 tons CO2 eq/year), compared to plantation forests (0.64 tons CO2 eq/year), while the carbon composition in pole category at the natural and plantation forests were (9.8 x 10-4 tons CO2 eq/year) and (2.2 x 10-3 tons CO2 eq/year), respectively.


The phthalocyanine (Pc) and naphthalocyanine (Nc) nanoagents have drawn much attention as contrast agents for photoacoustic (PA) imaging due to their large extinction coefficients and long absorption wavelengths in the near-infrared region. Many investigations have been conducted to enhance Pc/Ncs' photophysical properties and address their poor solubility in an aqueous solution. Many diverse strategies have been adopted, including centric metal chelation, structure modification, and peripheral substitution. This review highlights recent advances on Pc/Nc-based PA agents and their extended use for multiplexed biomedical imaging, multimodal diagnostic imaging, and image-guided phototherapy.


Candida albicans is imperfect and diploid. This unusual genetic state permits the occurrence of strains heterozygous for recessive deleterious alleles. These alleles can be brought to homozygosity and therefore expression by UV irradiation-induced mitotic crossing over. Heterozygosity for recessive auxotrophic alleles is found in 10 to 15% of the strains. A wide variety of auxotrophic alleles have been found in such natural heterozygotes but one type, termed Suf +/- was found at an unusually high frequency. Some 5 to 10% of strains are of the Suf +/- type. Suf- homozygous auxotrophs are defective in sulfite reductase. Such auxotrophs require a source of reduced sulfur such as methionine or cysteine, alternatively inorganic thiosulfate will serve as a supplement. Complementation analysis of a variety of Suf- auxotrophs established that 11 out of 12 strains were in a single complementation group.


PURPOSE
This study was undertaken to determine whether transient or sustained nonlethal oxidant injury can induce RPE cell membrane blebbing and alter RPE expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and type IV collagen, two molecules that are necessary for regulation of the turnover of the RPE basal lamina.

METHODS
The ARPE-19 cell line stably expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) targeted to the cell membrane was bleb injured by exposure to myeloperoxidase (MPO; 10 microunits) and H(2)O(2) (100 microM). Sustained (>6 hours) or transient (up to 6 hours) exposure to MPO/H(2)O(2) was evaluated. An MTS assay conversion and cell counts were used to detect cell viability. Supernatants and the cell homogenates were collected from cultured ARPE-19 to assess fluorescent GFP-derived blebs, MMP-2 protein by Western blot, MMP-2 activity by zymography, and type IV collagen accumulation by ELISA. Expression of MMP-2 was examined by real-time RT-PCR with total RNA.

RESULTS
Both sustained and transient exposure of RPE cells to nonlethal oxidant injury upregulated blebbing and increased pro-MMP2 protein, but downregulated the MMP-2 activity released into the supernatant in a time-dependent manner. Only sustained oxidant injury for 24 hours induced an increase in collagen type IV. After removal of transient oxidant exposure, blebbing resolved and RPE MMP-2 activity and protein recovered to normal levels within 48 hours.

CONCLUSIONS
Sustained or transient oxidant injury causes increased cell membrane blebbing but decreased activation of MMP-2. The findings lead to the hypothesis that blebs released in the absence of active MMP-2 may become trapped between the RPE and its basal lamina as sub-RPE deposits, possibly contributing to drusen formation in age-related macular degeneration. Also, the results lead to the postulation that oxidant injury disrupts the cell-specific surface proteases necessary to cleave and activate pro-MMP-2.


We propose a scheme for implementing a multipartite quantum filter that uses entangled photons as a resource. It is shown that the success probability for the 2-photon parity filter can be as high as 1/2, which is the highest that has so far been predicted without the help of universal two-qubit quantum gates. Furthermore, the required number of ancilla photons is the least of all current parity filter proposals. Remarkably, the quantum filter operates with probability 1/2 even in the N-photon case, irregardless of the number of photons in the input state.


We describe an interesting relation between Lie 2-algebras, the Kac– Moody central extensions of loop groups, and the group String(n). A Lie 2-algebra is a categorified version of a Lie algebra where the Jacobi identity holds up to a natural isomorphism called the 'Jacobiator'. Similarly, a Lie 2-group is a categorified version of a Lie group. If G is a simply-connected compact simple Lie group, there is a 1-parameter family of Lie 2-algebras gk each having g as its Lie algebra of objects, but with a Jacobiator built from the canonical 3-form on G. There appears to be no Lie 2-group having gk as its Lie 2-algebra, except when k = 0. Here, however, we construct for integral k an infinite-dimensional Lie 2-group PkG whose Lie 2-algebra is equivalent to gk. The objects of PkG are based paths in G, while the automorphisms of any object form the level-k Kac– Moody central extension of the loop group G. This 2-group is closely related to the kth power of the canonical gerbe over G. Its nerve gives a topological group |PkG| that is an extension of G by K(Z,2). When k = ±1, |PkG| can also be obtained by killing the third homotopy group of G. Thus, when G = Spin(n), |PkG| is none other than String(n).


The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program provides federally funded research awards to companies with 500 or fewer employees. We explore the differential effects of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR program on firms of various sizes on their future patenting activity. Using propensity score matching, we construct comparable samples of selected and non-selected Phase II SBIR applicants by firm size. We then estimate the effect of selection for the matched sample on the probability of forward patent activity and conditional on any forward patenting, the count of patents within three years of the proposal. While firms with fewer than 10 employees, are least likely to patent, their probability of patenting is positively affected by receiving a Phase II award. We find sparse evidence of corresponding increase for larger firms. Nor do we find any evidence that a Phase II award impacts the conditional number of forward patents in the three years following the award. These data suggest that the Phase II award serves to advance the smallest teams "over the hump" to creating a potential source of competitive advantage.


With unique climate, topography, and vegetation, the Qinghai-Tibet plateau is a special biogeographic region with richness of endemic species. However, the taxonomy and distribution of many insect groups on this plateau are still poorly known. Here, we synthesized a species checklist of subfamily Gomphomastacinae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Eumastacidae) for this region, while describing a new species: Myrmeleomastax wideis Qiu, sp. nov.. Images of the new species and the distribution map of all the known species are provided. Type specimens for the new species are deposited in the Zoological and Botanical Museum, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China (SNNU).


Abstract A BX3-promoted, intermolecular regioselective synthesis of 3-halo-functionalized 1H-indenes from 4-oxo-4H-chromene-3-carbaldehydes and alkynes has been developed. BX3 displays a dual role of Lewis acid catalyst and halide source for haloallyl cation formation for the intended halo-Nazarov-type cyclization. The overall transformation represents an efficient cascade annulation that employs readily available starting materials, inexpensive reagents and a convenient and mild reaction procedure to generate halo-functionalized indenes (45 examples). The reaction was also extended to 8-formylcoumarins to deliver coumarin-based 3-halo-1H-indenes in 79–95% yield (6 examples). The reaction involves conversion of the aldehyde into an sp3 carbon with two new C–C bonds and additionally a C–X bond is formed (X = halide).


Disturbances of the central thermoregulation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are not often reported. We describe a 45-year old patient with a 13-year history of MS, who developed a clinical picture of recurrent hyperthermia. MRI showed a bilateral involvement of the hypothalamus in the setting of diffuse white matter disease. Serial body temperature measurement for five consecutive months disclosed an inversion of the circadian temperature rhythm. The clinical presentation and MRI findings suggested abnormalities of the central thermal control in relation to MS widespread involvement of the central nervous system (CNS).


ABSTRACT Evidence suggests that public sector decision makers are cognitively biased. Such biases can lead to poor public policy. This article explores the extent to which the traditional formal characteristics of the Rule of Law can debias decision makers. In particular, I claim that general abstract rules erode many biases. Construal level theory is used to support this claim.


Human papillomavirus (HPV), a major pathogen of human cervical cancer, contains a full-length L1 gene encoding its surface capsid protein. One group of potential vaccine candidates against this virus in Iranian patients is based on surface protein components such as HPV31 L1 protein that can make virus-like particles (VLPs). The high immunity response stimulation of this effecter VLP was observed in host, suggesting that the individual characteristics of a particular effecter may require empirical testing for vaccination. In the present study, we decided to clone and express HPV31 L1 protein to investigate its use as a subunit vaccine and furthermore to insert the gene into an Escherichia coli background so as to analyze production of this recombinant protein. We report the presentation of HPV31 in 100 cervical lesion tissue samples based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Type of lesion, age, and other characteristics were reviewed and confirmed by a pathologist. The sequence from L1 genes of HPV was selected using special primers. The gene encoding the major capsid protein L1 was used for subcloning in pTG19-T and pET-32a plasmid. The recombinant protein expression was confirmed by RT-PCR using L1 primers and detected by absorption sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblot testing. The results presented here offer new insights into the in vivo response of HPV31 in Iranian patients and European models. On the other hand, the use of recombinant L1 protein for Iranian patient protection as well as vaccination studies will permit testing of this antigen protection rate and open the way to the discovery of protein biomarkers for monitoring clinical and subclinical cervical cancers.


Magnetic inversion techniques have been implemented to infer the extension and geometry of magnetic structures and also evaluate its influence on mineralization within Abakaliki and its environs, southeastern Nigeria. The modeling approach considers the techniques of three-dimensional (3D) magnetic data inversion, Euler deconvolution, analytic signal inversion, Enhanced Local Wavenumber (ELW) Technique and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to estimate source parameters and compare results. Model solutions were interpreted to represent possible geologic units with varying trends, housing mineralization within the study region. Results from inversion computation over some active mine locations show subsurface bodies with magnetic susceptibilities >0.00188 SI. Model results also show structural sources with almost 5.5 km depth extension, stretching 18 km in the EW direction at Ngbo – Ekerigwe location. This could imply significant mineral deposits at the location. Inversion of both magnetic anomaly and analytical signal enabled derivation of the actual subsurface structures in the region, with most of the structures appearing as dykes with depths ranging from 0.2 – 1.8 km at most of the mining sites. Location and depths of some of the modeled intrusions have been corroborated with the active on-site mines. The delineation of mineralization structures by this study would guide systematic exploration in the region.


This paper discusses the accuracy limitations of the conventional ionosonde and techniques which may be used to improve it and at the same time reduce analysis effort. Add-on digital equipment is described which may easily be attached to any ionosonde to improve its performance at a low cost. Results are presented which illustrate the accuracy and advantages of the system.


A theory for the anomalous vibrational and thermal properties of disordered solids based on the model assumption of randomly fluctuating transverse elastic constants is presented. Mean-field expressions for the vibrational density of states and the energy diffusivity are derived with field-theoretical techniques. As in previous approaches of this type the boson peak (enhancement of the low-frequency density of states) is explained as a result of the frozen-in disorder and compares well with the experimental findings. The plateau in the temperature variation of the thermal conductivity and the behavior beyond the plateau is shown to arise from the enhanced scattering in the boson peak regime and to be essentially a harmonic phenomenon.


Abstract Pectobacterium species are one of the main bacterial agents of soft rot and blackleg diseases that cause economic damage to potato crops. Farmers around the world suffer losses from both diseases and use different strategies to control. In this study, local potato genotypes were evaluated for disease severity of soft rot and blackleg. We discovered putative genotypes with low disease severity for both diseases. In the tuber experiment, the lowest soft rot was determined for genotype 18 with 34% disease severity. The highest soft rot was found in the cultivars Natasha, Laperla and Sultanecem. In the plant experiment, the lowest lesion length was measured in the cultivars Sultannur, Orchestra and Marabel. The 33% disease severity for these cultivars was also calculated for genotypes 18 and 32. With regard to soft rot and blackleg of potato, this is the first study to determine disease severity of Turkish local potato genotypes.


Absract: The aim of this article was to investigate how an experienced teacher educator (TE) specialized in the education of hearing-impaired children provides feedback to a student teacher regarding a planned, one-to-one conversation activity. This case study was conducted at Anadolu University, Education and Research Centre for HearingImpaired Children with the participation of a TE, a student teacher, and a hearing-impaired student. Based on the study results, main aspects relating to the TE's activities before, during, and after the conversation and his feedback were identified. The study findings were discussed in light of the current literature, and various recommendations were proposed.


Globally, one in seven pregnant women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), conferring short- and long-term health risks to both mother and child. While dietary prevention strategies are common in clinical practice, their effectiveness in different ethnicities is uncertain. To better inform prevention strategies, here the effects of unhealthy and healthy diets on GDM risk within distinct ethnic or cultural populations and geographic regions were evaluated and summarised. Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane and OVID were systematically searched to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies that investigated diet and GDM. A grouped analysis of common 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' diets was performed first, before analysing individual dietary patterns (e.g., prudent, Mediterranean). Random effect models and dose response analyses were performed where possible. PROSPERO (CRD42019140873). Thirty-eight publications provided information on 5 population groups: white European (WE), Asian, Iranian, Mediterranean and Australian. No associations were identified between healthy diets and GDM incidence in RCTs in any population. However, when synthesizing observational studies, healthy diets reduced odds of GDM by 23% (95% CI: 0.70–0.89, p<0.001, I2 = 75%), while unhealthy diets increased odds of GDM by 61% (95% CI: 1.41–1.81, p<0.0001, I2 = 0%) in WE women. No evidence of consistent effects in other populations were observed, even when adequately powered. Diet consistently associated with GDM risk in WEs but not in other populations. Heterogenous use and reporting of ethnically and culturally appropriate diets and dietary assessment tools, particularly in RCTs, raises uncertainty regarding the lack of association found in non-WE populations. Future studies require the use of culturally appropriate tools to confidently evaluate dietary and metabolic mediators of GDM and inform culturally-specific dietary prevention strategies.


1 Stimulation of the hypogastric nerves increased the pressure in both the bladder and urethra of anaesthetized female dogs. 2 The responses were reduced but not abolished by the α‐adrenoceptor antagonist phentolamine, whereas the β‐adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol was either without effect or increased the responses. Atropine, methysergide and hexamethonium were without effect. 3 Close arterial injection of phenylephrine increased and isoprenaline decreased urethral pressure but both produced only a slight increase in bladder pressure. 4 Hypogastric nerve stimulation reduced subsequent responses of the bladder and urethra to pelvic nerve stimulation or to close arterial injection of acetylcholine. Isoprenaline, but not phenylephrine, also had an inhibitory action and 5‐hydroxytryptamine enhanced the responses. 5 In the presence of hexamethonium the inhibitory action of isoprenaline still occurred but 5‐hydroxytryptamine no longer enhanced the responses, suggesting that 5‐hydroxytryptamine acts on the ganglia and isoprenaline acts, at least partially, on smooth muscle. 6 These results suggest that the role of the hypogastric nerves may be to modify inputs to the bladder and urethra as well as to act directly on the smooth muscle.


The initial occupational placements of male immigrants in the U.S. labor market vary significantly by country of origin even when education and other factors are taken into account. Does the heterogeneity persist over time? Using data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 U.S. Censuses, this study finds that the performance of migrants from countries with lower initial occupational placement levels improves at a higher rate compared with that of migrants originating from countries with higher initial levels. Nevertheless, the magnitude of convergence suggests full catch-up is unlikely. Country specific attributes are found to have less direct impact on the rate of assimilation than on the initial performance.


This chapter investigates the bio-geographical imaginations behind the animal 'back-breeding' programs carried out by Lutz and Heinz Heck - two influential German zoologists who ran Berlin and Munich zoos. Partly with close connections to and patronage from the National Socialist elite, the Heck brothers sought to resurrect the wild cow (aurochs) and horse (tarpan) by breeding out the degeneration they associated with domestication. These back-bred animals were released during the war to roam the expanding territory of the Third Reich, and figured in propaganda films and newspaper articles legitimating that expansion. Drawing on archive material, this chapter situates these back-breeding initiatives in relation to the emerging field of geopolitics. It traces how the project to recreate extinct primordial wildlife functioned as part of discourses and practices of nature conservation that emphasized the ideal Germanic character of the European landscape and required ethnic cleansing as a form of ecological restoration. The chapter describes how back breeding of primordial wildlife was part of a legitimation of the violent Eastern expansion, emanating from a particular combination of mythological, geographic and ecological imaginations, not merely aiming for industrial and agricultural autarky but also to extend the Nazi governance of landscape conservation.


No agreement has yet been reached on the opposing theories of Hueter and Volkmann on the one hand and Julius Wolff on the other. The writer's experiments with young dogs were made in order to contribute to the clarification of these controversial theories. The findings permit the following conclusions:

1. A permanent and maximum degree of pressure inhibits longitudinal bone growth and does not lead to a compensatory increase in girth. This inhibition of growth is due to the prevention of proliferation in the growth cartilage, which narrows and becomes irregular in its arrangement. New-bone formation, that is, the replacement of the available cartilaginous tissue, proceeds without any interruption. Atrophy of the bones does not occur.

2. Strong and permanent tension does not increase enchondral bone growth; on the contrary, it has nearly the same effect as compression when it is applied directly to the bone. The nature of the insertion of the ligament at the apophysis seems to be such that there is no danger of extreme unphysiological tension.

3. Changes caused by mechanical forces appear to be reversible to a certain extent, if these forces are removed before skeletal maturation.


Abstract Study aim: To measure the effects of Pilates and aqua fitness training on functional fitness and quality of life in older individuals. Material and methods: A total of 54 participants (M = 66.4 ± 6.2 years) from a club for retired people in Eger, Hungary, were randomly assigned to 3 groups: one did Pilates 3 times/week (n = 22); one did aqua fitness 3 times/week (n = 17); and a control group (n = 15). The Fullerton Functional Fitness Test (FFFT) was used to measure functional fitness pre - and post-program. Quality of life was measured by WHO's quality of life questionnaire (WHOQOL). Results: In the FFFT, significant improvement was found in 5 out of 7 variables: lower and upper body strength, lower body flexibility, physical mobility (especially dynamic balance), and aerobic endurance by the Pilates group. Shoulder flexibility improved significantly in the Aqua fitness group. Lower body strength improved in the control group. BMI did not change significantly in any of the groups. WHOQOL showed improvement in perception and autonomy in the Pilates group; sociability in the Aqua group. The between-subject analyses yielded a significant main effect of the experimental group F(1, 52) = 4367 (p < 0.001). Discussion: A 6-month intervention program is an appropriate tool to improve overall physical performance of healthy, inactive older adults, regardless of the type of exercise concerning Pilates or Aqua fitness, but might improve only some aspects of QOL. There is a strong need for well-designed intervention programs for the elderly.


Data from animal studies suggest that the dopamine D3 receptor gene may have a role in locomotion and behavioral regulation. Therefore, this gene has been suggested as a candidate for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The dopamine D3 receptor gene (DRD3) has two common polymorphisms, one in exon I that changes a Serine to Glycine (Ser9Gly) and alters the recognition site for the restriction enzyme MscI [Lannfelt et al., 1992]. The other common polymorphism is located in intron 5 and results in the change of a restriction site for MspI [Griffon et al., 1996]. We investigated the possibility of linkage of the dopamine D3 receptor gene in 100 small, nuclear families consisting of a proband with ADHD, their parents, and affected siblings. We examined the transmission of the alleles of each of these polymorphisms and the haplotypes of both polymorphisms using the transmission disequilibrium test [Spielman et al., 1993]. We did not observe biased transmission of the alleles at either polymorphism or any haplotype. Our findings using this particular sample do not support the role of the dopamine D3 gene in ADHD. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:114-117, 2000.


Simulation of the electromagnetic response of the human body relies upon efficient computational models. The objective of this paper is to describe a new platform-independent and computationally-efficient full-body electromagnetic model, the Visible Human Project® (VHP)-Female v.3.0 and to outline its distinct features. We also report model performance results using two leading commercial electromagnetic antenna simulation packages: ANSYS HFSS and CST MICROWAVE STUDIO®.


Business travel, although only accounting in the UK in 2008 for 3% of trips and 9% of the UK's domestic distance travelled (Department for Transport, 2009, pp28), form a higher proportion in major cities (15% of mileage in London), where transport networks are most congested. Additionally, business journeys can be time consuming and tiring for the business traveller, affecting work/life balance and productivity, and also costly for businesses and the economy. The carbon emissions from business travel are an important factor due to longer distances travelled and the high proportion of journeys undertaken by air. In some cases business travel can be as much as two thirds of an organisations total carbon emissions.

This paper reports the findings of a study designed to understand the motivations and attitudes of key actors in private sector organisations towards business travel. These motivations include:
• The increasing importance of business travel on business costs and productivity due to the recession
• Reductions in carbon emissions and the links to corporate responsibility
• The demands of customers to reduce carbon emissions through the procurement process
• The extent to which advancements in virtual communication technologies reduce the need to travel
• A greater awareness of the vulnerability of travellers and to business continuity highlighted by the volcanic ash cloud.

The insights into these causal factors and an understanding of the business practices that support, and barriers that hinder a reduction in business travel, are important in forecasting and developing public policy to produce a more holistic approach to managing personal travel, for both business travel and the commute. This paper will report some of these insights and discuss how a change in business travel policy can have extensive repercussions within an organisation, resulting in major impacts on business travel behaviour.


The present paper consists of some orienting reflections of the archetypal American quest for identity in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel tends to be a matter of its language overcoming problems despite the fact that it is considered the archetypal American tradition. It could also face up to most problematic cases because of its complicated history and controversial diction. It seeks a great deal of  a new social identity of America, thus it is so important for understanding the ambiguous relationship as well as its understatements among fictional personas. It weaves and understate a complicated plot, diction and theme. The main goal of the novel is particularly interesting for constructing identity. It is not an attempt to force racial identity because of a regardless of skin colour. The fact that this novel may read is a damning indictment of racial identity of America. It is stunning, and for a long time engrossing all valuable charisma


The study deals with a political phenomenon that has an impact on international relations and the political dealing based on the interrelated interests that would affect the issue of an international bloc. The influence of this phenomenon is so important in gaining the support of international blocs to the question of Palestine, in addition to the possibility of investing this phenomenon for the interests of the Arab League, namely the phenomenon of political domino effect in the diplomacy and dealing political of Latin American countries to support the Palestinian issue. The Latin American countries have played an important role in the emergence of the Zionist entity and voted for it in the General Assembly of the United Nations and in international forums for the period 1947-1973. After that they began to vote for Palestine in international forums and the General Assembly, so we will explore the causes of this political and diplomatic transformation of the Latin continent after 1973 for  Palestinian issue and abandonment the vote for the Zionist entity. and we will discuss the impact of political domino as a tool in changing positions of most countries of the continent in favor of the Arabs and the abandonment of the Zionist entity. The countries of the continent lined up behind Brazil, under the influence of political domino, where sided with the Arab states when the Arabs used the oil strategy as a weapon in the battle in 1973, Where Iraq and Saudi Arabia alternated between 1976 and 1984 in the second and third ranks of the total Brazilian imports


A single-step, nonaqueous, solventless, facile chemical reaction is carried out to synthesize a WSe2 nanoparticles/carbon nanotubes [WSe2/C] composite at moderate temperature. The use of highly toxic H2Se gas is avoided, reacting elemental selenium powder with W(CO)6 at 750 °C under their autogenic pressure in a closed reactor. Without further processing the as-prepared WSe2/C nanocomposite, detailed characterizations are carried out, and a proposed reaction mechanism is discussed. X-ray diffraction measurements are consistent with the hexagonal phase of WSe2, and the highly crystalline nature of WSe2 nanoparticles is also confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy pictures. Scanning electron microscopy measurements reveal that WSe2 nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes are formed, with the composition being tracked by C, H, N, S and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller surface area analysis technique is implemented for the determination of nitrogen gas adsorp...


T Tauri stars are variable stars that are in an early phase of evolution, in which accretion and contraction to the main sequence are still taking place. Their photometric variability is complex; it takes place on a variety of timescales, due to a variety of physical processes. Periodic variability occurs due to rotation and the presence of cool or hot spots on the star. It may also occur due to periodic obscuration of the star by inhomogeneities in the still present accretion disk. But the periodicity may be masked by other forms of variability, or by time variation in the cool or hot spots, or the obscuring inhomogeneities. For other types of variable stars, self‐correlation has proven to be a useful adjunct to Fourier analysis for studying semiregular variability; it determines the cycle‐to‐cycle behavior of the star, averaged over all the data. We have therefore used it to investigate the photometric variability of about 30 T Tauri stars using existing data. It has provided useful information about periods and their coherence, about the amplitude of the periodic variation, or its upper limit, and about the "profile" of the amplitude‐timescale behavior. In most cases, it has confirmed periods previously determined by Fourier analysis, but in some cases it has suggested that the previously determined period is spurious.


The test and the characterization of medium or high-power electronic converters, under nominal operating conditions, are made difficult by the requirement of high-power electrical source and load. In addition, the energy lost during the test may be very significant. The opposition method, which consists of an association of two identical converters supplied by the same source, one operating as a generator, the other as a receptor, can be a better way to do these test. Another advantage is the possibility to realize accurate measurements of the different losses in the converters under test. In the first part of this paper, the characteristics of the method concerning loss measurements are compared to those of the electrical or calorimetric methods, then it is shown how it can be applied to different types of power electronic converters, choppers, switched mode power supplies, and pulsewidth modulation inverters. In the second part, different examples of studies conducted by the authors, and using this method, are presented. They have varying goals, from the test of soft-switching inverters to the characterization of integrated gate-commutated thyristor (IGCT) devices mounted into 2-MW choppers.


The reduction of the time needed for transformer fault diagnosis is an important task for transformer users. In this paper, Petri Nets are exploited, in order to simulate the transformer fault diagnosis process and to define the actions followed to repair the transformer.


Roses most important regularly used for ornamental, medicinal and aromatic rationale in the world. The relevance of plant tissue culture technology to produce planting material of rose in masses depends on the availability of an effective regeneration protocol. The present experiment was done to scrutinize for appropriate basal medium of Murashige and Skoog (1962), phytohormones with their diverse concentrations influence for establish In vitro shoot and root induction of rose (Rosa hybrida L.). The statically analysis of variation explain that least days to initiation, number of shoots, length of shoot cm, number of leaves, days taken in root initiation and number of roots were significant @ 5% possibility. Increase evidence viewing that experimental conclusion exhibit that minimum days to initiation, utmost number of shoots bottle -1 , shoot length bottle -1 and number of leaves bottle -1 be record within the concentration of MS + NAA 0.5 mgL -1 + BAP 2 mgL -1 . Hence forward minimum days taken in root initiation, highest roots number recorded at 1/2 MS + NAA 1.0mg/l + IBA 1.0 mg/l respectively. In vitro healthy and complete plantlets successfully were shifted in to different pot mixtures, supreme survival % recorded at Soil+sand+FYM (1:1:1).


The (DaaS) Data as a Service, builds on serviceoriented technologies to permit fast access to data resources on the Web. However, this pattern raises several new privacy concerns where traditional privacy prototypes do not handle. Additionally DaaS composition may disclose privacy-sensitive information. In this paper, we state a formal privacy model to extend DaaS descriptions with privacy capabilities. The privacy model provide a service to define a privacy policy and a set of privacy requisites. We also suggest a privacy-preserving DaaS composition that sound out allowing to verify the compatibility between privacy requisites and policies in DaaS composition. We proffer a negotiation mechanism that makes it possible to dynamically reconcile the privacy capabilities of services when incompatibilities emerge in a composition. We substantiate the applicability of our proposal via a prototype implementation and a set of experiments. Key Terms—Service Composition, DaaS Services, Privacy, Negotiation


For many multimedia applications including VOD and image database, Fractal image compression algorithm has excellent characteristics in terms of high compression ratio and fast decompression speed but has been widely studied only in regard to software. However, in this paper, we present a low power quadtree fractal image decoder which can decode 256×256, 8 bits gray-scale images in real-time. Two power-down techniques have been adopted in the implementation, a power-down multiplier used in data-path, and a simple post-processing method optimized in terms of hardware utilization and energy dissipation. The decoder designed by using 1 poly, 3 metal, 0.6µm CMOS technology consumes 18.5 mW at 3.3V with 100 MHz clock.


Background and Objective: Anxiety and depression are experienced following addicted patients durg withdrawal. This study was done to determine the effect of methadone and valproate combination on morphine withdrawal-induced anxiety and depression in male mice. Methods: In this experimental study, ninety -eight male mice were allocated into acute and chronic categories. Animals in acute chronic categories allocated into seven groups including: saline, morphine, methadone (10 mg/kg/bw), valproate (150 mg/kg/bw), three groups of valproate+methadone, in of ratio 1:1, 2:1 and 1:2. Animals were received escalating dose of morphine for 8 consecutive days except saline group. In chro nic group, drugs were injected for 30 minutes before morphine administration , while in acute group; the drugs were used only at day 8. Anxiety and depression due to naloxone injection (5 mg/kg/bw) was investigated by elevated plus-maze, tail-suspension and open field tests. Results: In the chronic group, valproate + methadone (2:1) combination therapy showed a significant increase in the percentage of open arm entries (53.86 ± 1.9) and percentage of time spent in the open arm (58.58 ± 4.15) compared to the morphine group, with a percentage of entering (28.12 ± 2.03) and percentage of time (17.88 ± 1.77) (P<0.05). In open field test, the ratio of the number to the duration of time spent in the central square, in the combination therapy groups of methadone+valproate (27 ± 2), valproate+methadone (1:2) and valproate+methadone (2:1) were significantly increased in compare to the morphine group (P<0.05). In tail-suspension test, duration of immobility as an indicator of depression, in the treatment group of valproate+methadone (2:1) was significantly reduced (P<0.05). Conclusion: Valproate and methadone combination therapy particularly in ratio of 2 :1 can reduce morphine withdrawal-induced anxiety and depression in animal model.


Methionine is a sulfur-containing essential amino acid and there are optic isomers of L- and D-type. It has been known that there are two metabolic pathways in methionine metabolism-the transsulfuration and the transamination. The purposes of the present investigation are to clarify the existence of transaminative pathway in human by the quantitative analysis of 3-methylthiopropionate (3-MTP), one of the metabolites of methionine, and to study its clinical significance in patients with liver cirrhosis. 3-MTP in urine was analysed by gas chromatograph equipped with the flame photometric detector (FPD) which has a highly specific sensitivity to the sulfur compounds. Fasting levels of 3-MTP concentration in urine in healthy subjects (n = 20) and patients with liver cirrhosis (n = 21) were 39.1 +/- 9.7 ng/mg. Cr. (Mean +/- SE) and 103.6 +/- 24.2 ng/mg. Cr., respectively. 3-MTP concentration in urine in cirrhotic patients was significantly higher than that in healthy subjects (p less than 0.05). In some cases, 3-MTP concentration in urine was measured every hour for 3 to 6 hours after the oral loading of 2 g of D- or L-methionine. In healthy subjects, 3-MTP concentration in urine increased remarkably at 1 hour period after oral loading of 2 g of D-methionine, and subsequently its concentration showed a tendency to decrease gradually. However, there were no such changes after oral loading of 2 g of L-methionine. When 2 g of D-methionine was loaded orally, decreasing curves of 3-MTP concentration in urine were different between healthy subjects and patients with liver cirrhosis, and half-disappearance time of 3-MTP concentration in urine was remarkably prolonged in cirrhotic patients. These findings seem to indicate that 3-MTP is one of the metabolites of methionine (especially of D-methionine) and the transaminative pathway exists in human. It was also suggested that there was the impairment of the transaminative pathway of methionine metabolism in patients with liver cirrhosis. Pharmacokinetics of 3-MTP in urine seems to contribute to the clinicopathological investigation of the liver cirrhosis.


The aims of this study were to investigate the description of the transformational leadership behaviour of school principals of private vocational senior high schools in Palembang, and how the school principals implemented the transformational leadership in the school and how the transformational leadership impacted to the teacher performance. The subjects of this study was four school principals of four private vocational senior high schools in Palembang. The data collection was taken from the questionnaire and interview. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed by simple statistical analysis and the interview was analyzed by using thematic analysis. The findings showed that the description of transformational leadership demonstrated the four dimension of transformational leadership, such as idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. Later in this study it was found that school principals implement transformational leadership by using some ways such as building the trust, motivation, facilitation and communication. It is also found that the transformational leadership behavior of school principal of private vocational high school in Palembang has an impact to the teacher performance in teaching learning process.


United States legislation requires the US Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that pesticide use does not cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, including species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA; hereafter referred to as listed species). Despite a long history of population models used in conservation biology and resource management and a 2013 report from the US National Research Council recommending their use, application of population models for pesticide risk assessments under the ESA has been minimal. The pertinent literature published from 2004 to 2014 was reviewed to explore the availability of population models and their frequency of use in listed species risk assessments. The models were categorized in terms of structure, taxonomic coverage, purpose, inputs and outputs, and whether the models included density dependence, stochasticity, or risk estimates, or were spatially explicit. Despite the widespread availability of models and an extensive literature documenting their use in other management contexts, only 2 of the approximately 400 studies reviewed used population models to assess the risks of pesticides to listed species. This result suggests that there is an untapped potential to adapt existing models for pesticide risk assessments under the ESA, but also that there are some challenges to do so for listed species. Key conclusions from the analysis are summarized, and priorities are recommended for future work to increase the usefulness of population models as tools for pesticide risk assessments. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1904–1913. © 2016 SETAC


Objectives: To gain an understanding of the current issues surrounding falls prevention across Europe and to embrace at national and international level, the different political and health service agendas in each country such that recommendations can ultimately be translated into working models of practice in each country. To establish a robust network of key members across Europe to facilitate the effective and efficient promulgation of evidence likely to influence service developments at national and local level. To derive a consensus approach to assessment and management of older people at risk of falling in a variety of clinical settings using the existing evidence base as well as experts in the field To ultimately facilitate a pan-European approach to assessment and management of falls whilst minimising impact on clinical autonomy and paving the way for further research activity within member states. Description of work: This work package focuses on the development of a consensus approach to the assessment and management of falls in older people across Europe. Fundamental to this process is the development of a clear understanding of how services across Europe are currently configured and what the national and international drivers for change might be over the next 5–10yrs. The ultimate aim is to be able to facilitate the development of a set of comparable assessment and outcome measures to be used in a large randomised controlled trial with fracture as the primary outcome measure. Year 1 . Whilst undertaking the networking exercise in year 1, members had the opportunity to visit key individuals in European countries and anticipate the potential opportunities and constraints of developing and delivering falls services in a co-ordinated and comprehensive fashion. Year 2 focuses on the development of assessment tools, which can be tailored so as to be applied in a variety of clinical settings from community based assessment to the highly specialised investigation units. The work package links closely with other work packages on balance and gait and psychology to ensure consensus in recommendations. In addition to the recommendations for clinical assessment and management, the work package also provides advice and guidance on evaluation and audit of services and as such links closely with the taxonomy work. Recommendations are to be peer reviewed. Year 3 entails the collation of agreed assessment and evaluation methods and the translation of the recommendations into a format for dissemination including written documentation translated into a number of different languages and an interactive website with links to relevant organisation across Europe and the rest of the world. Year 4 . During the final year, members of the work package take responsibility for the dissemination of the work to clinical colleagues.


This book is essentially the proceedings of two conferences on parenteral nutrition, held in October 1971 and May 1972 under the auspices of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The book is therefore similar to a series of reports of conferences on this subject that were held between 1969 and 1972. 1-6 Like these predecessors, Intravenous Nutrition in the High Risk Infant offers the reader the advantage of a multiplicity of viewpoints from some 30 contributors. However, by allowing three years to elapse between the conference and the publication date, the editors have virtually nullified the chief raison d'etre for this type of publication, namely, speed of disseminating the latest scientific information. Most of the contributors are established authorities in their respective fields by virtue of their previous contributions, some of which reappear in the present volume. In terms of style and format, the book seems quite


In France, the university has been experiencing a major crisis for several decades in the form of a high rate of student failure, particularly during the licence , or first cycle of studies. This prolonged crisis has led educational researchers to focus on the predictors of student failure in University. This paper reviews the existing literature on both student failure and success in University in the French context. We first conduct a thorough analysis of the various factors explaining failure rates, and then explore in more depth the factors explaining student success, which have thus far been under-researched in France. We identify several types of predicators, including individual-level factors, which have been the focus of extensive research in France over the past number of years, and contextual factors, such as professors' teaching practices, which constitute a relatively novel focus in French educational research.


This paper describes on a control system of multiple-motor system for a side slipway ship pulling out system using fuzzy logic control. The main control system is responsible for synchronized motion of trailers and fuzzy control system is used as a key control system for compensating a velocity error, rotational error and distance error caused by the unsynchronized motion of the trailers. A simulation system is used to evaluate the performance of the control system and five different types of common errors are used for testing the outputs of the control system


. Detailed balance and projectability conditions are two main assumptions when Horava recently formulated his theory of quantum gravity - the Horava-Lifshitz (HL) theory. While the latter represents an important ingredient, the former often believed needs to be abandoned, in order to obtain an ultraviolet stable scalar field, among other things. In this paper, because of several attractive features of this condition, we revisit it, and show that the scalar field can be stabilized, if the detailed balance condition is allowed to be softly broken. Although this is done explicitly in the non-relativistic general covariant setup of Horava-Melby-Thompson with an arbitrary coupling constant λ , generalized lately by da Silva, it is also true in other versions of the HL theory. With the detailed balance condition softly breaking, the number of independent coupling constants can be still significantly reduced. It is remarkable to note that, unlike other setups, in this da Silva generalization, there exists a master equation for the linear perturbations of the scalar field in the flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background.


Activation of naive T cells requires the integration of signals through the antigen receptor and CD28. Although there is agreement on the importance of CD28, there remains controversy on the mechanism by which CD28 regulates T cell function. We have generated a gene-targeted knockin mouse expressing a mutation in the C-terminal proline-rich region of the cytoplasmic tail of CD28. Our analysis conclusively showed that this motif is essential for CD28-dependent regulation of interleukin 2 secretion and proliferation. In vivo analysis revealed that mutation of this motif-dissociated CD28-dependent regulation of cellular and humoral responses in an allergic airway inflammation model. Furthermore, we find an important gene dosage effect on the phenotype of the mutation and provide a mechanistic explanation for the conflicting data on the significance of this motif in CD28 function.


In a brief historical review the author shows that the delayed recognition of coal miners pneumoconiosis as an independent nosological entity was mainly due to an insufficiently experimentally orientated approach before 1940. The principal characteristics of the french endemic are described: a slow decline in incidence yet a continued elevated prevalence, due to the increased life span of the sufferers; the late appearance of the first radiological manifestations, most often after the working life of a Miner; a disparity of the endemic levels between mining regions without the reasons being fully elucidated. Finally the principal lines of current research are recalled which take account of new data on epidemiology and modern dust analysis processes as well as information collected in man using recent biological techniques.


For several decades, Senegal has faced inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities in households, contributing to persistent, high levels of communicable diarrheal diseases. Unfortunately, the ideal WASH policy where every household in Senegal installs WASH facilities is impossible due to logistical and budgetary concerns. This work proposes to estimate an optimal allocation rule of WASH facilities in Senegal by combining recent advances in personalized medicine and partial interference in causal inference. Our allocation rule helps public health officials in Senegal decide what fraction of total households in a region should get WASH facilities based on block-level and household-level characteristics. We characterize the excess risk of the allocation rule and show that our rule outperforms other allocation policies in Senegal.


The increased prevalence of neurological diseases across the world has stimulated a great deal of research into the physiological and pathological brain, both at clinical and pre-clinical level. This has led to the development of many sophisticated tissue engineered neural models, presenting greater cellular complexity to better mimic the central nervous system niche environment. These have been developed with the ambition to improve pre-clinical assessment of pharma and cellular therapies, as well as better understand this tissue type and its function/dysfunction. This review covers the necessary considerations in in vitro model design, along with recent advances in 2Dculture systems, to 3D organoids and bio-artificial organs.


Intrusion Detection Systems are designed to monitor a network environment and generate alerts whenever abnormal activities are detected. However, the number of these alerts can be very large making their evaluation a difficult task for a security analyst. Alert management techniques reduce alert volume significantly and potentially improve detection performance of an Intrusion Detection System. To Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an Intrusion Detection System by significantly reducing the false positive alerts and increasing the ability. Proposed technique addresses the issues relating the optimality of decision-making through correlation in multiple sensors framework. The process is based on through Dempster Shafer rule. Moreover, the reliability factor for any Intrusion Detection System is also addressed accordingly in order to minimize the chance of false diagnose of the final network state. A considerable number of simulations are conducted in order to determine the optimal performance of the proposed prototype. In this paper we are introduce combines evidence from two homogenous and one heterogeneous ids using dempster-shafer algorithm