A TiO2 replica of ZnO nanosheet films is synthesized using a chemical replacement process. ZnO nanosheets are grown by electrodeposition on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) films, and a dissolution/deposition process is used to convert the ZnO template into a TiO2 replica. Electron microscopy shows the final TiO2 structure follows the morphology of the initial ZnO template. X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy verify the total transformation of ZnO to TiO2. The as-synthesized TiO2 sheets are amorphous and after annealing turn into the anatase phase. The film of TiO2 nanosheets is used as the photoanode of a dye sensitized solar cell. Despite the low roughness factor of 100, a conversion efficiency of 3.3% with D35 as sensitizer is achieved. The nanosheets show remarkably faster electron transport and longer electron lifetime compared to the conventional TiO2 nanoparticle electrodes.


It is a challenge to manage and assess heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients. Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is used in this clinical population as a functional test. The objective of the study was to assess gait and kinematic parameters in HFpEF patients during the 6MWT with an inertial sensor and to discriminate patients according to their performance in the 6MWT: (1) walk more or less than 300 m, (2) finish or stop the test, (3) women or men and (4) fallen or did not fall in the last year. A cross-sectional study was performed in patients with HFpEF older than 70 years. 6MWT was carried out in a closed corridor larger than 30 m. Two Shimmer3 inertial sensors were used in the chest and lumbar region. Pure kinematic parameters analysed were angular velocity and linear acceleration in the three axes. Using these data, an algorithm calculated gait kinematic parameters: total distance, lap time, gait speed and step and stride variables. Two analyses were done according to the performance. Student's t-test measured differences between groups and receiver operating characteristic assessed discriminant ability. Seventy patients performed the 6MWT. Step time, step symmetry, stride time and stride symmetry in both analyses showed high AUC values (>0.75). More significant differences in velocity and acceleration in the maximum Y axis or vertical movements. Three pure kinematic parameters obtained good discriminant capacity (AUC > 0.75). The new methodology proved differences in gait and pure kinematic parameters that can distinguish two groups according to the performance in the 6MWT and they had discriminant capacity.


Azyumardi Azra narrows the purpose and role of education into two parts, namely general goals and specific goals. According to Azyumardi Azra, the purpose of Islamic education is inseparable from the purpose of human life in Islam, namely to create personal servants of Allah who always fear Him, and can achieve a happy life in this world and in the hereafter. In the context of social-society, nation and state, this pious person becomes rahmatan lil 'alamin, both on a small and large scale. The purpose of human life in Islam is what can also be called the general goal or end of Islamic education.


It is now well established that bacteria communicate through the secretion and uptake of small diffusable molecules. These chemical cues, or signals, are often used by bacteria to coordinate phenotypic expression and this mechanism of regulation presumably provides them with a competitive advantage in their natural environment. Examples of coordinated behaviors of marine bacteria which are regulated by signals include swarming and exoprotease production, which are important for niche colonisation or nutrient acquisition (e.g. protease breakdown of substrate). While the current focus on bacterial signalling centers on N-Acylated homoserine lactones, the quorum sensing signals of gram-negative bacteria, these are not the only types of signals used by bacteria. Indeed, there appears to be many other types of signals produced by bacteria and it also appears that a bacterium may use multiple classes of signals for phenotypic regulation. Recent work in the area of marine microbial ecology has led to the observation that some marine eukaryotes secrete their own signals which compete with the bacterial signals and thus inhibit the expression of bacterial signalling phenotypes. This type of molecular mimicry has been well characterised for the interaction of marine prokaryotes with the red alga, Delisea pulchra.


In this article, to form a structure-controlled interface, carbon fiber (CF) surfaces were first activated by plasma technique and then hydroxylated by LiAlH4 treatment, and then were reacted with a suit of silane-coupling agents terminated with desired functional groups to form thin films, which further reacted with polyimide (PI) resin to generate a strong adhesion interface. The morphology, structure, and composition of CF surfaces before and after treatment were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The results of FTIR and XPS analysis showed that silane-coupling agents were successfully chemisorbed onto the CF surfaces by the hydrolysis and condensation reactions. The interfacial shear strength of the CF/PI microcomposites was evaluated by the microbond technique. The results showed that the types of the interfacial functional groups, especially the vinyl end groups in vinyltriethoxysilane (VS), which can react with PI resin, had very significant influence on the improvement of the interfacial adhesion properties of composites. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007


Hepatic disorders such as steatosis and alcoholic steatohepatitis are common diseases that affect thousands of people around the globe. This study aims to identify the main phenol compounds using a new HPLC-ESI+-MS/MS method, to evaluate some oxidative stress parameters and the hepatoprotective action of green dwarf coconut water, caffeic and ascorbic acids on the liver and serum of rats treated with ethanol. The results showed five polyphenols in the lyophilized coconut water spiked with standards: chlorogenic acid (0.18 µM), caffeic acid (1.1 µM), methyl caffeate (0.03 µM), quercetin (0.08 µM) and ferulic acid (0.02 µM) isomers. In the animals, the activity of the serum γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (γ-GT) was reduced to 1.8 I.U/L in the coconut water group, 3.6 I.U/L in the ascorbic acid group and 2.9 I.U/L in the caffeic acid groups, when compared with the ethanol group (5.1 I.U/L, p<0.05). Still in liver, the DNA analysis demonstrated a decrease of oxidized bases compared to ethanol group of 36.2% and 48.0% for pretreated and post treated coconut water group respectively, 42.5% for the caffeic acid group, and 34.5% for the ascorbic acid group. The ascorbic acid was efficient in inhibiting the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the liver by 16.5% in comparison with the ethanol group. These data indicate that the green dwarf coconut water, caffeic and ascorbic acids have antioxidant, hepatoprotective and reduced DNA damage properties, thus decreasing the oxidative stress induced by ethanol metabolism.


This study aims to present a new interpretation about the controversy in the Hobbesian reception about its affiliation to the natural law or the positive law. According to Norberto Bobbio, these positions are mutually exclusive. In the first place, we will present the textual passages that enable Hobbes to be considered, on the one hand, as a supporter of iusnaturalism in accordance with the paradigmatic readings of Howard Warrender and Norberto Bobbio and, on the other, or of iuspositivism, according to the readings of Simone Goyard- Fabre and Jean Hampton. In the second, we will demonstrate our interpretation that accommodates both points of view, from a historical rescue of the antiphontean antilogy, considering the textual ambivalence as a Hobbesian philosophical character.


The result of treatment of perforative duodenal ulcer (PDU) in 193 patients was analyzed. The PDU suturing was performed in 100 patients, radical organ-preserving operation--in 93, with the PDU excision--in 80 of them. The "mirror-like" ulcer of posterior wall was revealed in 12 (15%) patients using intraduodenal revision while doing the PDU excision. Selective proximal vagotomy with the PDU excision and processing of duodenal posterior wall is effective method of surgical treatment.


Disaster risk reduction is an ever-growing concept and finds its application within various disciplines. This article investigates the development of disaster risk reduction and some of the most important aspects which shaped it. The early years of international disaster relief are discussed and it is shown how a change in this system was necessitated by a variety of factors and international disasters, which exposed its weakness. The article argues that disaster relief and development aid were inextricably linked and it is this linkage which provided a catalyst for questioning the manner in which relief, and development assistance, were provided. The later emphasis on disaster preparedness and management is discussed, and international policies and mechanisms, which contributed to a gradual shift in focus towards disaster risk reduction, enjoy attention. The article concludes that solutions to disaster risks lie within a rigorous transdisciplinary focus.


Aims: The paper presents a model of the power line and the equivalent scheme for the simulation of the transient processes. Many constructions of conductive lines are such that mutual parameters (inductance, capacitance) are the same for any pair of phases, and the phase parameters themselves are approximately the same for all three phases. Therefore, the approximation of three-phase conductors with symmetric single-phase conductors is justified. A special way in which the power lines are considered is a method called a sequence model of three-phase line. Methodology: Techniques used in this paper are based on analytic methods and the formation of algorithms. Modeling and simulation are processes that are necessary for testing faults in measuring transformers in relay protection (current/voltage) when they are very remote and electrically connected by cables. The first step in problem-solving was to define the theoretical model for estimation of the impact of variable parameters on the transmission of electric energy. Further step represented in the paper is simulation of transient processes on different lengths of the power lines when modeling lines and cables, one starts from the fact that parameters differ in certain parts, in lengths, i.e. that the parameters are variable in length, which results in change of longitudinal parameters of basic quadripoles in equivalent schemes. Conclusion: The specificity of the model is that the initial conditions matrix is determined depending on the condition at the beginning of the line and load in equivalent scheme and arises from the idle time or short circuit at the output of the quadripoles. The solution for transient state with the application of quadripole in the equivalent scheme is obtained by matrix procedure using equivalent schemes and by simulation method in the MATLAB program.


Abstract In a traditional anatomy and physiology lab, the general senses – temperature, pain, touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception – and the special senses – olfaction (smell), vision, gustation (taste), hearing, and equilibrium – are typically taught in isolation. In reality, information derived from these individual senses interacts to produce the complex sensory experience that constitutes perception. To introduce students to the concept of multisensory integration, a crossmodal perception lab was developed. In this lab, students explore how vision impacts olfaction and how vision and olfaction interact to impact flavor perception. Students are required to perform a series of multisensory tasks that focus on the interaction of multiple sensory inputs and their impact on flavor and scent perception. Additionally, students develop their own hypothesis as to which sensory modalities they believe will best assist them in correctly identifying the flavor of a candy: taste alone, taste paired with scent, or taste paired with vision. Together these experiments give students an appreciation for multisensory integration while also encouraging them to actively engage in the scientific method. They are then asked to hypothesize the possible outcome of one last experiment after collecting and assessing data from the prior tasks.


This paper investigates the economic growth experiences of middle‐income economies over the period 1960–2014 focusing on two groups of countries. The "convergence success" group includes middle‐income economies which have graduated to a high‐income status or have achieved rapid convergence progress. When an economy in the "nonsuccess" group experienced growth deceleration and failed to advance to a high‐income status, we defined such episodes as the "middle‐income trap." We observe no clear pattern that the relative frequency of growth deceleration was higher for upper middle‐income economies, thereby refuting the "middle‐income trap hypothesis." The probit regressions show that "convergence successes" tend to maintain strong human capital, a high working‐age population ratio, effective rule of law, low‐priced investment goods, and high levels of high‐tech exports and patents. Adding to unfavorable demographic, trade, and technological factors, rapid investment expansion, hasty deregulation, and hurried financial opening could cause the "nonsuccesses" to fall into the middle‐income trap.


OBJECTIVE
Our investigation was aimed to evaluate the effect of extraaortic counterpulsation to central hemodynamics during the two modes of latissimus dorsi muscle electrostimulation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Two groups of experimental dogs were divided into two subgroups and affected with continuous and work-rest regimens of stimulation. In one group latissimus dorsi muscle was mobilized and left in situ. The contraction force was measured before and during experiment, until it decreased till 50%. Recovery time needed to completely restore contraction force was calculated. In the second group latissimus dorsi muscle was stimulated just after aortomyoplasty and skeletal muscle ventricle by using LD PACE II electrostimulator (ventricle - muscle delay 290 ms).

RESULTS
By using continuous stimulation in the first group the contraction force decreased till 50% of pre-assist level after 52+/-8 minutes and returned to baseline after 84+/-16 minutes of rest. Under the work-rest regimen this decrease lasted 105+/-8 minutes and returned to baseline after 25+/-6 minutes (p<0.05). After this regimen light microscopy did not revealed significant changes of muscle tissue. After continuous stimulation increased basophilic degeneration and wavy fibrils were revealed. Thoracic aortic counterpulsation by using continuous stimulation increased hemodynamic parameters from pre-assisted level in 40 minutes. The hemodynamic parameters during work-rest regimen became better after 20 minutes and lasted 100 minutes (p<0.05). When counterpulsation was completed, recovery time to baseline in case of continuous electrostimulation was 96+/-9 minutes; in case of work-rest electrostimulation, it was only 43+/-6 minutes.

CONCLUSIONS
Work-rest regimen using LD PACE II electrostimulator may be used safely immediately post cardiac assist procedure.


PURPOSE
To compare the neurodevelopmental outcomes between preterm infants with diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI) and those without DEHSI on magnetic resonance (MR) images, in association with other white matter lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. High-risk preterm infants (n = 126) who underwent screening brain MR imaging at near-term-equivalent age were classified into two groups according to the presence of DEHSI. Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, presence of cerebral palsy, and neurosensory impairment between 18 and 24 months of age were compared between the two groups. The associations of MR findings of other white matter lesions (cystic encephalomalacia, punctate lesions, loss of volume, ventricular dilatation, and delayed myelination) and subsequent outcomes were also analyzed. Outcome data were evaluated by using exact logistic regression analyses and Fisher exact test.

RESULTS
DEHSI was present in 75% (95 of 126) of infants. Subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes did not differ significantly between the two groups. Severe motor delay and cerebral palsy were more common in infants with both DEHSI and other white matter lesions as compared with infants with normal white matter (P = .001 and P < .001, respectively). Among other white matter lesions, cystic encephalomalacia (odds ratio, 19.6; 95% confidence interval: 1.3, 333.3) and punctate lesions (odds ratio, 90.9; 95% confidence interval: 6.4, 1000) were significant predictors of cerebral palsy.

CONCLUSION
Although the incidence of DEHSI was high (75%) in preterm infants at near-term-equivalent age MR imaging, DEHSI was not predictive of following adverse outcomes. Cystic encephalomalacia and punctate lesions were more significant predictors of cerebral palsy.


This study was performed to determine the rapid thawing method for reducing the thawing time of frozen pork loins and to examine the effects of supercooling on the microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory qualities of fresh and frozen-thawed pork during storage at -1.5, 4, and 15°C. Forced-air thawing at 4°C was the most time-consuming process, whereas radio frequency thawing time was the shortest by dielectric heating. The supercooling storage temperature was chosen to be -1.5°C because microstructural damages were not observed in the pork sample after cooling at -1.5°C for 24 h. Fresh or frozen-thawed pork loins stored at -1.5°C had lower drip loss and total volatile base nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance, and Hunter b* levels than loins stored at 4 and 15°C. In addition, the least degree of increase in preexisting microorganisms counts of the fresh or frozen-thawed pork loin samples was obtained during supercooled storage at -1.5°C. Sensory quality results of fresh and frozen-thawed pork loin samples stored at -1.5°C showed higher scores than the samples stored at 4 and 15°C. These data indicate that supercooling at -1.5°C in the meat processing industry would be effective for maintaining the quality of pork meats without ice crystal nucleation and formation.


A number of inverse problems, in image reconstruction and elsewhere, can be formulated in terms of finding a vector in the intersection of certain convex sets that serve to constrain the solution. Finding such vectors is called the `convex feasibility problem' (CFP). Algorithms to solve the CFP are usually iterative `projection onto convex sets' (POCS) methods that employ orthogonal or more general projections onto the individual convex sets; Bregman's `successive generalized projection' (SGP) is one such method. When the intersection of the convex sets is heterogeneous one may wish to optimize a certain function over that intersection; then we have a constrained optimization problem. Generalized projections come from generalized distances, typically Bregman distances, chosen to incorporate prior information, such as non-negativity, about the image being reconstructed. Calculating a generalized projection onto a convex set can be simplified if the generalized distance can vary with the convex set. Censor and Elfving have discovered a simultaneous multiprojection algorithm that permits just such variation. Because simultaneous methods, which use all the convex sets at each step, can be slow to converge, there is considerable interest in faster, block-iterative methods that employ only some of the convex sets at each step. In this paper we present the first such method that permits multiple generalized projections. We introduce a new notion of convex combination and apply it to obtain an extension of the SGP, called the `multidistance SGP' (MSGP) method, that allows for projecton with respect to multiple generalized distances. We conclude with an extension of the MSGP to block-iterative algorithms involving relaxed generalized projections and paracontractive operators.


The article reveals the main aspects of the study of pedagogical support of parents of students with autism spectrum disorder. The authors analyze the basic concepts in the field of pedagogical support, determine the components of parental competence, offer some tools for determining the level of parents' pedagogical competence. The article presents the results of the analysis of a survey of parents of students with autism spectrum disorder from various cities of Russia. The results allow us to conclude that there is deficiency of the information and activity components of parental competence. The authors proposed the main directions of pedagogical support for parents of students with autism spectrum disorder in an inclusive education.


Dental care is vital to overall health and wellness. There is a myriad of challenges that health practitioners face when dealing with medical schemes/third-party funders. To address some of these challenges, some South African dentists accept medical aid rates for their services, to make their lives, and those of their patients' lives somewhat easier. In this piece, however, we argue that dentists in South Africa should set their own fees rather than rely on medical aid rates. Initially, the price of dental care varies widely based on the necessary treatment. While calculating their rates, dental practices must account for rent, salaries, equipment, supplies, and other administrative expenses. Accepting medical scheme rates may not correctly reflect the actual cost of providing dental services, resulting in dentists getting less compensation than is necessary to maintain a sustainable practice.


In this article, the authors evaluated functional communication training (FCT) and a chained schedule of reinforcement for the treatment of challenging behavior exhibited by two individuals diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and autism, respectively. Following a functional analysis with undifferentiated results, the authors demonstrated that challenging behavior was occasioned by interruptions of ongoing activities and maintained by terminations of interruptions. Next, they demonstrated the effectiveness of a treatment consisting of FCT with a chained schedule of reinforcement. Last, they modified the chained schedule procedure to increase ease of implementation and promote toleration of activity interruptions, and academic tasks were incorporated into the treatment.


The sea-breeze characteristics of the Adelaide, Australia, coastline have been studied by applying a sea-breeze detection algorithm to 3- and 6-hourly meteorological records of near-surface and upper-air data at Adelaide Airport from 1955 to 2007. The sea breeze is typically a westerly gulf breeze combined with a later-occurring southerly ocean breeze. Regression analysis showed a significant increasing trend in the intensity of sea breezes but not in their frequency. Over the 52-yr period, there was an average increase of 1 m s−1 in zonal and 0.7 m s−1 in meridional sea-breeze wind speed components. The annually and seasonally averaged maximum wind speeds on sea-breeze days increased significantly over the 52-yr period of the study by 0.65 m s−1 for the whole year, 0.48 m s−1 in spring, 1.02 m s−1 in summer, and 1.10 m s−1 in autumn. A comparison of hourly data for 1985–95 with those for 1996–2007 showed frequencies of sea-breeze onset times less than 4 h from sunrise increasing from 29% to 36%, durations greater than 8 h increasing from 51% to 59%, and times of maximum sea breeze between 2 and 6 h after sunrise increasing from 44% to 50%. The monthly frequency of sea breezes was found to increase by 2.8 percentage points for each degree Celsius rise in monthly average maximum air temperature at Adelaide Airport. The meridional ocean-breeze wind speed, unlike the gulf-breeze wind speed, is also correlated with maximum air temperature at Adelaide Airport.


Background:
Accessing COVID-19 vaccines is a challenge despite successful clinical trials.
This burdens the COVID-19 treatment gap, thereby requiring accelerated
discovery of anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Thus, this study explored the potential of
anti-HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) phytochemicals as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2
non-structural proteins (nsps) by targeting in
silico key sites in the structures of SARS-CoV-2 nsps. Moreover, structures
of the anti-HIV compounds were considered for druggability and toxicity. 104
anti-HIV phytochemicals were subjected to molecular docking with papain-like
protease (nsp3), 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (nsp5), RNA-dependent RNA
polymerase (nsp12), helicase (nsp13), SAM-dependent 2'-O-methyltransferase (nsp16) and its cofactor (nsp10), and
endoribonuclease (nsp15). Drug-likeness and ADME (absorption, distribution,
metabolism, and excretion) properties of the top ten compounds per nsp were
predicted using SwissADME. Their toxicity was also determined using OSIRIS
Property Explorer.

Results:
Among the twenty-seven top-scoring compounds, the polyphenolic natural products
amentoflavone (1), robustaflavone (4), punicalin (9), volkensiflavone (11),
rhusflavanone (13), morelloflavone (14), hinokiflavone (15), and michellamine B (19) were multi-targeting and had the
strongest affinities to at least two of the nsps (Binding Energy = -7.7 to
-10.8 kcal/mol). Friedelin (2),
pomolic acid (5), ursolic acid (10), garcisaterpenes A (12), hinokiflavone (15), and digitoxigenin-3-O-glucoside (17) were computationally druggable. Moreover, compounds 5 and 17 showed good gastrointestinal absorptive property. Most of the
compounds were also predicted to be non-toxic.

Conclusions:
Twenty anti-HIV RT phytochemicals showed multi-targeting inhibitory potential
against SARS-CoV-2 nsp3, 5, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16, and can therefore be used
as prototypes for anti-COVID-19 drug design.


This study focused on the possibility of developing biocomposite concrete panels with coir fibers to be used as a low-cost construction alternative. Coir fibers were used to completely replace steel reinforcement and natural resin was the binding material. Two types of biocomposite panels with single and double layers of woven coir fiber were developed. The performance of the biocomposite for both wall and slab panels was evaluated under flexural and axial-compression loadings.


fundamental concepts. Many manipulative examples are given both in pure and applied problems. In fact at all stages of the treatment, physical problems are discussed as they arise naturally in the development of calculus. A special feature is the use of the neighbourhood concept, instead of the usual s, r) treatment, in the discussion of limits and continuity. This treatment is used right throughout the book. Integration is introduced as the inverse process of differentiation and the notation D ~ xf{x) is used, although, quite sensibly, the alternative notation J f(x) dx is given as well and is employed where more appropriate. The early chapters of Volume I are devoted to the introduction of basic ideas such as sets, number systems, relations, functions, with detailed treat ment of linear and quadratic functions and the trigonometric functions. The remainder of the volume deals with differential and integral calculus as applied to functions of a single variable. There is a very full table of integrals which should prove most useful to the student, together with numerical tables including a table of values of the exponential and hyperbolic functions. Volume II begins with coordinate geometry of the plane followed by a discussion of the line and the plane in 3-dimensions using vector algebra. Matrices are introduced with applications to the solution of a set of linear equations and the reduction of a quadratic function to canonical form. The calculus course in Volume I is continued with chapters on partial differentiation and on multiple integrals. It is essentially a course on calculus and not on analysis but should form an excellent introduction to the student who will later study such topics as continuity and differentiability from the more rigorous point of view of analysis. The book closes with chapters on series, differential equations, the Laplace transform and elementary probability. A feature of the book is that at the end of each chapter there is a summary of the most important topics introduced. The presentation and format are excellent as are the many clear illustrations.


We study the introduction of transitions with Phase-type distribution ring time in (bounded) generalized stochastic Petri nets. Such transitions produce large increases of both space and time complexity for the computation of the steady state probabilities of the underlying Markov chain. We propose a new approach to limit this phenomenon while keeping full stochastic semantics of previous works. The method is based on a structural decomposition of the net. We establish conditions under which this decomposition leads to a tensor expression of the generator of the chain. The tensor expression is used to solve the chain with an iterative method.


Using the model of oxodipine-induced gingival hyperplasia in beagle dogs, we investigated the collagen fibres of the hyperplastic gingiva by measuring the polarization colours from Picrosirius-red stained sections. The predominant polarization colours of the thick collagen fibres (1.6-2.4 microns diameter) of male oxodipine-treated dogs were greenish-yellow to yellow, while in controls and in female oxodipine-treated dogs, the same size fibres mostly appeared orange and red. These differences may be indicative of gender variation in the genesis of hyperplastic gingiva in calcium channel blocker treated dogs.


Context. We detected in 2009 a giant, close-by planet orbiting β Pic, a young star surrounded by a disk that has been extensively studied for more than 20 years. We showed that if the planet were located on an inclined orbit, this could account for several peculiarities of the β Pictoris system. However, the available data did not permit us to measure the inclination of β Pic b with respect to the disk, and in particular to establish in which component of the disk – either the main, extended disk or the inner inclined component/disk – the planet was located. Comparison between the observed planet position and the disk orientation measured using previous imaging data was not an option because of potential biases in the measurements. Aims. Our aim is to measure precisely the planet location with respect to the dust disk using a single high-resolution image, and correcting for systematics or errors that degrade the precision of the disk and planet relative-position measurements. Methods. We gathered new NaCo data in the Ks band, with a set-up optimized to derive simultaneously the orientation(s) of the disk(s) and the planet projected position. Results. We show that the projected position of β Pic b is above the midplane of the main disk. With the current data and knowledge of the system, this implies that β Pic b cannot be located in the main disk. The data instead suggest that the planet is located in the inclined component.


In Japan, The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing, especially in the elderly population. Many of these patients have co-morbidities like renal insufficiency and personalized blood sugar goals, increasing the risk of hypoglycemia. This study was conducted to examine the associations of patients characteristics such as HbA1c level, BMI and use of glucose level-lowering medication with hypoglycemia-related hospitalizations. This study was cross sectional study conducted over 6 years January 2014 and March 2019. We recruited 9,798 patients with elderly patients over 65 years with T2DM. To assess the odds ratio (OR) of hypoglycemia-related hospitalizations, we constructed a logistic regression analysis, having adjusting for age, gender, BMI, eGFR, baseline HbA1c levels, use of hypoglycemic agents. Hypoglycemia was documented in 124 (1.27%) patients. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, age≧75years and gender were not significantly. DPP-4I (OR: 0.52, 95%CI: 0.28-0.96) showed lower odds ratio. BMI≦25kg/m2 (OR: 2.94, 95%CI: 1.26-6.86), baseline HbA1c In this study of elderly patients with T2DM, the risk of hospitalization for hypoglycemia appeared to be highest among patients with too low Hba1c and BMI, decreased renal function, and sulfonylurea and/or insulin use. On the other hand, DPP-4I have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization for hypoglycemia. By leveraging the results of this study, at-risk elderly patients can benefit from individualized treatment plans to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia. Disclosure T. Horii: None. K. Atsuda: None.


Contemporary expectations of good parenting hold that focused, intensive parental attention is essential to children's development. Parental input is viewed as a key determinant in children's social, psychological and educational outcomes, with the early years particularly crucial. However, increased rates of maternal employment mean that more parents are juggling work and family commitments and have less non-work time available to devote to children. Yet studies find that parental childcare time has increased over recent decades. In this paper, we explore the detail of this trend using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Time Use Survey (TUS), 1992 and 2006. To investigate whether discourses on intensive parenting are reflected in behaviour, we examine a greater range of parent-child activities than has been undertaken to date, looking at trends in active childcare time (disaggregated into talk-based, physical and accompanying care activities); time in childcare as a secondary activity; time spent in the company of children in leisure activities; and time spent in the company of children in total. We also investigate whether the influence of factors known to predict parental time with children (gender, education, employment status and the age of children) have changed over time. We contextualize our analyses within social and economic trends in Australia and find a compositional change in parental time, with more active childcare occurring within less overall time, which suggests more intensive, child-centred parenting. Fathers' parent-child time, particularly in physical care, increased more than mothers' (from a much lower base), and tertiary education no longer predicts significantly higher childcare time.


We provide a CNTFET model with planar geometry. Planar CNTFETs constitute the majority of devices fabricated to date, mostly due to their relative simplicity and moderate compatibility with existing manufacturing technologies. We explore the possibilities of using non-equilibrium Green function method to get I-V characteristics for CNTFETs. This simulator also includes a graphic user interface (GUI) of Matlab that enables parameter entry, calculation control, intuitive display of calculation results, and in-situ data analysis methods. In this paper, we review the capabilities of simulator, and give examples of typical CNTFET 3D simulations. The I-V characteristics of CNTFET are also presented.


ConclusionsThe compilation of this annotated bibliography has revealed deficiencies in our knowledge to date on the international medical graduate, both in psychiatry and in the larger field of medicine. We noticed a particular dearth of articles dealing with discrimination and quality/competence within the field of psychiatry itself. This by no means suggests that work in the domains of acculturation, workforce issues, and education is complete. International medical graduates, with their diverse origins and exposures, defy simple categorization. However, the category breakdown of acculturation, workforce, education and training, discrimination, and quality and competence does serve as a useful template for organizing this bibliography. Nevertheless, as research in this field advances, and as IMG issues evolve, it may very well be that a different categorization may become more appropriate. In the following, annotated articles are mentioned chronologically in the categories mentioned above.


Abstract: A comprehensive review was conducted of IT value articles in the Communications of the ACM, Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, and MIS Quarterly from 1993 to 1998. IT-value measures published during this period were documented, classified, analyzed, and reported. The review of these journal articles revealed a schism between the use of organization-level measures and other measures. Communications of the ACM and Information Systems Research also provided strong evidence of a schism between the use of quantitative and qualitative measures in IT-value research. The Journal of Management information Systems and MIS Quarterly data provided more limited evidence of this schism as well. These schisms have become more pronounced over time. This may be due partly to an increasing reliance on secondary data set analyses that use only quantitative measures and organization-level analyses. The current research confirmed what many researchers suspect—schisms exist, and may be deepening, in IT-value research.


Excessive alcohol consumption is health damaging and is also recognized as one of the major avoidable health risk factors. Alcohol use disorders are classified among one of the most harmful, debilitating disease categories and patients are frequent visitors in the emergency departments. The meeting between patient and healthcarer is considered contradictory and characterized by dilemmas and arbitrariness. Furthermore, this patient group differs from the regular patient. They are often characterized by very complex health pictures and chaotic social problems spawned by turbulent lifestyles. However, the experience of a hospitalization from a patient perspective is sparsely documented in a scientific context. The aim of this study was to elucidate the lived experience of how patients with alcohol use disorders experience being cared for when admitted to acute medical units.
The data set consists of 15 in-depth interviews with patients suffering from alcohol use disorders admitted to an acute medical unit. The study is anchored in the phenomenological philosophy and the methodology applied is a descriptive phenomenological method as defined by Dahlberg. The intention is to identify and understand the essences, patterns, and structures of the lived experience of being cared for when hospitalized and suffering from alcohol use disorders. Data has been analysed according to the guidelines in Reflective Lifeworld Research, given by Dahlberg.
Being cared for was experienced as a two-staged process that changed throughout the hospitalization from an experience of scheduled care experienced as caring to an experience of scheduled care experienced as non-caring. Four constituents further described the variable experiences: being in a safe haven, sharing a tacit but mutual goal, being in a chaotic space, and being on your own.
The study showed that patients suffering from alcohol use disorders call for an intentional and distinctive attentiveness from the carers throughout their hospitalization. Being both seen and met in an authentic presence by carers was a powerful tool that helped ease the hospitalization. Likewise the absence of the authentic presence during the second stage may have hindered the carers notice and respond to a transfer of attention within the patients, and thus adapting the care provided.


Introduction. Doppler spectra of signals which are scattered from sea surface and received by radar is used in oceanology and ecological monitoring applications. Existing models of Doppler spectra have the limitation of application because they are based on empirical data in changing conditions. Variability of the observation conditions critically influence on microwaves scattering by sea surface at low grazing angles which is typical for marine radiolocations. Objective. The goal of investigation proposed in this article is to develop the mathematical model of Doppler spectra at low grazing angles for microwave frequency range. Materials and methods. The two-dimensional problem of the scattering of an electromagnetic field on a cylindrical deterministic surface is considered. For generating of sea surface realizations is used linear model with spatial sea spectrum Elfohaily. The solution of the scattering problem is obtained for the case of vertical polarization of the incident electromagnetic field by the method of an integral equation with the control of the error of the solution. The mathematical modeling of the Doppler Spectrum of signal scattered by sea surface is produced by method of statistical trial. The case where the direction of the observation of the sea surface by radar is perpendicular to the direction of the wind is considered. The electromagnetic filed scattered in the direction of the radar receiver as a function of time is calculated for each generated sea surface realizations. Further, the set of variables of the implementation of scattered field is calculated for implementation of the Doppler spectrum. Results. The set of implementations of the Doppler spectrum provided its mathematical model with consist of deterministic and random component. The approximation of each aforesaid component is suggested and mathematical expressions for value component calculation are presented. The analyze of modeling result is produced. Conclusion. The developed mathematical model is offered to use for the design of algorithm sea surface condition estimation and pollutant detection using the signal which received by radar.


Physical activity has been consistently linked to better mental health—greater positive affect and life satisfaction, less negative affect, anxiety, and depression (Petruzzello et al., 1991; McAuley & Rudolph, 1995). Brain activation patterns have been linked to dispositional affect: greater relative left anterior hemisphere activation relates to positive affect, and greater relative right anterior activation relates to negative affect (Davidson, 1992). In this study, measures of resting EEG frontal asymmetry, dispositional affect, and physical activity were obtained from 41 older adults. Frontal asymmetry significantly predicted positive affect. In the high active group (n = 21), frontal asymmetry significantly predicted affective valence and satisfaction with life; in the low active group (n = 20), it significantly predicted negative affect. Physical activity was also significantly related to better dispositional affect. These findings suggest that the relationship between frontal brain activity and dis...


Silica condenser scaling can affect overall power plant heat rate, lead to plant outages, and significantly reduce condenser tube life. Furthermore, unlike calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate scaling, silica scaling cannot be prevented by using chemical additives in the cooling system. Therefore, plants that use a high-silica makeup water for the cooling system typically operate well below the accepted guideline of 150-ppM silica in the recirculating water. The results of field testing at the North Valmy station, however, indicate that this guideline may be very conservative and that operation as high as 260 ppM for short periods of time should not lead to condenser scaling. The test results prove that silica can be effectively removed with makeup or sidestream softening and illustrate the importance of certain operating parameters, such as magnesium chemicals addition. The Sierra Pacific Power case study also validates the use of EPRI computer models CLGTWR and DRIVER and the Cooling-Water Treatment Manual to define cooling-system operation and chemistry. Volume 1 of this report presents the results of those field tests. Volume 2 presents the results of research conducted in support of the field tests. The support studies included the following activities: literature search, utility survey, laboratory studies,more » computer model development, and design exercises. Volume 3 is a set of appendixes presenting all of the field test data. Volume 2: 125 refs., 85 figs., 107 tabs.« less


These proceedings arose from the 7th Asian International Seminar on Atomic and Molecular Physics (AISAMP) which was held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras from 4–7 December 2006. The history of the AISAMP has been reviewed by Takayanagi http://www.physics.iitm.ac.in/~aisamp7/history.html. This international seminar/conference series grew out of the Japan–China meetings which were launched in 1985, the fourth of which was held in 1992 and carried a second title: The First Asian International Seminar on Atomic and Molecular Physics (AISAMP), thus providing a formal medium for scientists in this part of the world to report periodically and exchange their scientific thoughts. The founding nations of Japan and China were joined subsequently by Korea, Taiwan, India and Australia. The aims of the symposia included bringing together leading experts and students of atomic and molecular physics, the discussion of important problems, learning and sharing modern techniques and expanding the horizons of modern atomic and molecular physics. The fields of interest ranged from atomic and molecular structure and dynamics to photon, electron and positron scattering, to quantum information processing, the effects of symmetry and many body interactions, laser cooling, cold traps, electric and magnetic fields and to atomic and molecular physics with synchrotron radiation. Particular interest was evident in new techniques and the changes of the physical properties from atomic to condensed matter. Details of the 7th AISAMP, including the topics for the special sessions and the full programme, are available online at the conference website http://www.physics.iitm.ac.in/~aisamp7/. In total, 95 presentations were made at the 7th AISAMP, these included the Invited Talks and Contributed Poster Presentations, of which 52 appear in the present Proceedings after review by expert referees, refereed to the usual standard of the Institute of Physics journal: Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. We received extensive support from the Journal of Physics: Conference Series staff; Graham Douglas, in particular, has been of tremendous help. The 7th AISAMP was very well attended and was sponsored primarily by the host Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Chennai), the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, (Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India), the Department of Science and Technology, (Government of India), and the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development (AOARD) of the US Air Force. There was support from various quarters—each was invaluable and added to the success of the 7th AISAMP. We are very grateful to all the sponsors. It is superfluous to add that guidance and active participation from several colleagues within the host Institute was the primary source of strength for the actual organization of the conference and the multitude of arrangements for the organization came from the young graduate students at the IIT-Madras. We hope that this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series will be referenced widely and that it will strengthen ties between various countries in the region in and around Asia, and also of course to all scientists in this field the world over. Pranawa C Deshmukh, Purushottam Chakraborty and Jim F Williams Editors


To detect menology environments, we present an environmental perception technology based on binocular stereo vision system. The binocular vision system is calibrated by Zhangzhengyou calibration method, and the original images are rectificated by epipolar rectification. Based on the revised binocular vision system, rectificated images are preprocessed by adopting histogram equalization, maximal between-cluster variance and threshold area erosion. According to segmentation image, objectives and background are respectively area-matched and the matching results are verified by left and right consistency check. The disparity map is obtained and it shows that the proposed method is correct and feasible. This paper offers a useful reference to environmental perception technology for menology environments.


This study aims to compare two intervention procedures with parents seeking to promote better social interactions with their children, through training and consolidation of social skills. The procedures were different only in relation to the time in which they were administered: 20 sessions applied once week for one group (G1) and twice a week for the other group (G2). The Parental Education Social Skills Interview was applied (RE-HSE-P). It was noticed that both groups have presented positives outcomes, however G1 has presented enhanced social skills for both the parents and children and G2 has presented reduction on behavior problems. It is concluded that the intervention of longer duration can provide better acquisition and consolidation of skills, and it is pointed the necessity of preventive work with the population, and comparative studies for the improvement of interventional procedures.


Antiovulatory effects of castor bean extract (CBE) were evaluated in cyclic female Sprague-Dawley rats. Adult cyclic female Sprague-Dawley rats on different days of the estrous cycle were administered 0.6g and 1.2g per kg body weight of an ether-soluble fraction of a methanolic extract of the castor bean (Ricinus communis-Linn) variation minor. The effects of these treatments on the length of the estrous cycle was studied by both the recording of vaginal smears daily and by direct visualization of oocyte-cumulus complexes on the ensuing day of estrus (10.00 h-12.00 h). Results showed that the drug has significant dose-dependent anti-ovulatory property and was more effective when administered before proestrus. The estrus cycle especially the dioestrus phase was significantly prolonged. Thus, CBE treatment significantly altered natural ovulation times. However there was resumption of normal estrus cycle 10 days after stopping the administration of CBE. Our results suggest that CBE altered the pattern of estrogen secretion/levels, and this led to delayed luteolysis. This finding plus distruption of the estrous cycle may be due to a direct effect on the ovary or the hypothalamo-hypophysial-ovarian axis. Many of these effects could be explained, in part, by interference with estrogen. We conclude that CBE is capable of direct actions to impair reproductive processes in female Sprague-Dawley rats.
Key WordS:Ricinus Communis-linn, Ovulation, Seed Extract.
[Nig. Jnl Health & Biomedical Sciences Vol.2(1) 2003: 31-34]


By Minh Tran, Medical Sciences
Advisor: Michael Jordan
Presentation ID: PM_D37
Abstract: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening disease, in which the immune cells especially T cells become hyperactive, causing inflammation and damaging the body's own tissues and organs. To study this disease, our lab has developed a mouse model of HLH. Perforin knockout (Prf-/-) mouse after being infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) recapitulates the clinical manifestation of HLH patient. Although current treatment for HLH patients includes neutralizing IFN-γ cytokine, 20% of patients do not respond well to INF-γ blockade. Clinical testing trials and gene expression study in HLH mouse model suggested that CD8 T cell activation is essential for the pathology development upon IFN-γ blockade. Our hypothesis is that in complementation with IFN-γ blockade, agents interfering with CD8 T cell activation, specifically Abatacept and Rapamycin, are potential therapeutics for treating HLH. To test their therapeutics' effect, we treated either Abatacept or Rapamycin in combination with anti IFN-γ for HLH mice model and monitored their survival, weight loss, and clinical score for 40 days. To assess how well T cell activation is suppressed, we also did a short-term therapy experiment where splenocytes from mice treated with therapeutics were isolated on day 16, stained, and analyzed for the expression of T cell activation markers. In combination with IFN-γ blockade, Abatacept improved the mice's well-being and efficiently suppressed T cells activation while Rapamycin exerted a subtle effect on T cells suppression. Future studies could use a potential combination therapy consisting of Abatacept, Rapamycin, and IFN-γ blockade to prevent the pathology development of HLH.


Introduction Human milk provides all macronutrients for growth, bioactive compounds, micro-organisms and immunological components, which potentially interacts with and primes infant growth and, development, immune responses and the gut microbiota of the new-born. Infants with an overweight mother are more likely to become overweight later in life and overweight has been related to the gut microbiome. Therefore, it is important to investigate the mother-milk-infant triad as a biological system and if the maternal weight status influences the human milk composition, infant metabolism and gut microbiome. Methods and analysis This study aims to include 200 mother–infant dyads stratified into one of three body mass index (BMI) categories based on mother's prepregnancy BMI. Multiomics analyses include metabolomics, proteomics, glycomics and microbiomics methods, aiming to characterise human milk from the mothers and further relate the composition to infant gut microbiota and its metabolic impact in the infant. Infant gut microbiota is analysed using 16S sequencing of faeces samples. Nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry are used for the remaining omics analysis. We investigate whether maternal pre-pregnancy BMI results in a distinct human milk composition that potentially affects the initial priming of the infant's gut environment and metabolism early in life. Ethics and dissemination The Central Denmark Region Committees on Health Research Ethics has approved the protocol (J-nr. 1-10-72-296-18). All participants have before inclusion signed informed consent and deputy informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki II. Results will be disseminated to health professionals including paediatricians, research community, nutritional policymakers, industry and finally the public. The scientific community will be informed via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific conferences, the industry will be invited for meetings, and the public will be informed via reports in science magazines and the general press. Data cleared for personal data, will be deposited at public data repositories. Trial registration number Danish regional committee of the Central Jutland Region, journal number: 1-10-72-296-18, version 6. Danish Data Protection Agency, journal number: 2016-051-000001, 1304. ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT05111990.


Abstract Topological coindices are topological indices that considers the non-contiguous sets of vertices. By utilizing graph basic investigation and deduction, we study the previously mentioned topological coindices of some synthetic atomic graphs that as often as possible show up in clinical, synthetic, and material designing, for example, Graphite Carbon Nitride and acquire the calculation formulae of the coindices of Graphite Carbon Nitride Besides, we investigate the outcomes by MATLAB and acquire the relationship of the coindices which they portray the physcio-substance properties.


Osteoinductive activity of the implant in bone healing and regeneration is still a challenging research topic. Therapeutic application of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) is a promising approach to enhance osteogenesis. However, high dose and uncontrolled burst release of BMP-2 may introduce edema, bone overgrowth, cystlike bone formation, and inflammation. In this study, low-dose BMP-2 of 1 μg was used to design PLA-PD-BMP for functionalization of polylactic acid (PLA) implants via mussel-inspired polydopamine (PD) assist. For the first time, the binding property and efficiency of the PD coating with BMP-2 were directly demonstrated and analyzed using an antigen-antibody reaction. The obtained PLA-PD-BMP surface immobilized with this low BMP-2 dose can endow the implants with abilities of introducing strong stem cell adhesion and enhanced osteogenicity. Furthermore, in vivo osteoinduction of the PLA-PD-BMP-2 scaffolds was confirmed by a rat ectopic bone model, which is marked as the "gold standard" for the evidence of osteoinductive activity. The microcomputed tomography, Young's modulus, and histology analyses were also employed to demonstrate that PLA-PD-BMP grafted with 1 μg of BMP-2 can induce bone formation. Therefore, the method in this study can be used as a model system to immobilize other growth factors onto various different types of polymer substrates. The highly biomimetic mussel-derived strategy can therefore improve the clinical outcome of polymer-based medical implants in a facile, safe, and effective way.


Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia hordei, is one of the most widespread and damaging foliar diseases affecting barley (Hordeum spp.). The barley leaf rust resistance locus Rph7, located on the short arm of chromosome 3H, confers defence at all growth stages and was previously shown to have unusually high sequence and haplotype divergence. Earlier, four candidate genes for Rph7 were reported and, despite an in-depth comparative sequence analysis and haplotypic characterisation, the causal gene could not be resolved. Here, we successfully cloned Rph7 utilising a fine mapping approach in combination with an RNA-Seq based expression analysis. We identified three up-regulated and pathogen-induced genes with presence/absence variation (PAV) at this locus. Sequence analysis of chemically induced Rph7 knockout mutant lines identified multiple independent non-synonymous variants, including a premature stop codon in a single non-canonical resistance gene that encodes a 302-amino acid protein. Progeny from four independent transgenic lines segregated for the expected avirulent Rph7 infection type in response to several avirulent P. hordei pathotypes, however, all plants were susceptible to a single virulent pathotype confirming the specificity. Structural analysis using an AlphaFold2 protein model suggests that Rph7 encodes a putative NAC transcription factor, as it shares structural similarity to ANAC019 from Arabidopsis, with a C-terminal BED domain. A global gene expression analysis suggests Rph7 is involved in the activation of basal defence.


Globalisation and digitalisation have been presented as inescapable forces which signal the 'death of geography'; this article takes issue with this fashionable narrative. The counter argument that 'geography matters' is pursued in three ways: first, by questioning the 'distance-destroying' capacity of information and communication technologies, where social depth is conflated with spatial reach; second, by arguing that physical proximity may be essential for some forms of knowledge exchange; and third, by charting the growth of territorial innovation systems.


This paper proposes the identification of adapted plant species with high local availability feasible for implementation as green roofs in dry cities. To this end, two experiments were conducted under controlled conditions. One of them aimed at determining the biological behaviour of a sample set of fourteen species based on the measurement of three variables: plant cover, water consumption, and leaf temperature. The other test sought to determine the thermal behaviour of green roofs by comparing preselected species according to their biological response with traditional roofs. In this case, the following meteorological variables were recorded: outdoor and indoor air temperature, substrate temperature, and water content. Finally, the data obtained were statistically processed. Biological results show that the species Aptenia cordifolia, Cynodon dactylon, Hyalis argentea, and Nassella tenuissima reach plant cover higher than 70% with Aptenia cordifolia recording the lowest water consumption, 217 l/year. Regarding thermal behaviour, the green roof with Nassella tenuissima -a shrubby native species- results in the highest mitigation of outdoor temperature, reducing average indoor temperature by 3.4°C. These results show the biological and thermal fitness of local species that guarantee the sustainability of the system itself as well as higher thermal efficiency with lower water consumption.


In this article, an H/sub /spl infin// filtering problem for continuous-time Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems with multiple time-varying delays in state variables is addressed. Based on Lyapunov-Krasovskii approach, a delay-dependent sufficient conditions is obtained. Unlike the existing results requiring the information on derivative of delay time, the condition we proposed is free from derivative information on delay time, which means a fast-varying delay time is allowed. Furthermore the condition is expressed as linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) form, therefore the set of H/sub /spl infin// filter gains can be determined by LMI solvers. Lastly, an example is demonstrated using the proposed design methodology.


Where gender is concerned, anthropology has always taken more interest in the effects of divisions (private/public) than of boundaries. Yet, with the advent of feminism and the subsequent politicising of sexuality, the social sciences were nevertheless coming to a turning point. Issues of two kinds gained increasing importance: those linked to the effects of transboundary movements and those concerned with the women and men of possibly dissimilar origins being brought into physical proximity. A concern then emerged over the establishment and gradual incorporation of globalised gender policing.


The propagation of powerful light beams in nonlinear media with the Kerr nonlinearity is considered. The effect of local inhomogeneities on self-focusing of the beams is studied.


A time‐dependent kinetic model is used to investigate the relative importance of various mechanisms in the early phase decay rate of the ring current. It is found that, for both the solar maximum storm of June 4–7, 1991 and especially the solar minimum storm of September 24–27, 1998, convective drift loss out the dayside magnetopause is the dominant process in removing ring current particles during the initial recovery. During the 1998 storm, dayside outflow losses outpaced charge exchange losses by a factor of ten.


A self-learning simulated annealing algorithm is developed by combining the characteristics of simulated annealing and domain elimination methods. The algorithm is validated by using a standard mathematical function and by optimizing the end region of a practical power transformer. The numerical results show that the CPU time required by the proposed method is about one third of that using conventional simulated annealing algorithm.


Abstract : Leadership is a subject which has been studied, analyzed, and talked about on a continuous basis. Military professionals as well as professionals in the private sector have tackled the subject looking always for the significant ingredients, which when present, culminate in success for the organization. Although the private sector devotes a great deal of time in the study of leadership at the corporate level the military has just begun to formally direct its attention to this area. The first literature published by the Army on the subject of 'Executive Leadership' is dated June 1987 and attempts to define leadership at the three star and higher level to get at the critical competencies required for success at this level. However, the literature quickly gets bogged down in every minute aspect of what a senior leader ought to be. This study will examine three successful wartime leaders to see if a commonality of traits exist that were significant contributors to their success. The current literature is examined and reduced to four competencies which are then used during the analysis of each leader's decisions and the circumstances around those decisions. The three leaders chosen for examination are Grant, Pershing and Eisenhower. These three individuals represent leadership at the highest levels and bridge a major period of change with regard to how the United States goes to war.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: We identified PRSS50 as a testis specific serine protease with a possible role in meiosis and male fertility. PRSS50 is thought to signal though NF-&kgr;B. One testis specific target of NF-&kgr;B is the centrosome protein LRWD1. Our objective was to determine the in vivo effect of PRSS50 loss on fertility and sperm production and identify potential mechanisms driving this phenotype. METHODS: We generated a Prss50 knock-out (KO) mouse using CRISPR/Cas9. Fertility was assessed by 6-month mating (n=10 each group). Testicular histology, sperm analysis, and protein-analysis was performed. Testicular ultrastructural morphology was assessed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). RESULTS: PRSS50 expression is localized to the cytoplasm of spermatocytes beginning at post-natal day 14 (beginning of meiosis) and continues throughout adulthood as well as in the sperm midpice. PRSS50 expression patterns were similar between mouse and human sperm. 20% of Prss50-KO males were infertile compared to 0% of WT. Prss50-KO males were severely sub-fertile producing fewer litters and fewer numbers of pups per litter (KO: 63% fewer pups than WT, p<0.01). All Prss50-KO mice seminiferous tubules show abnormalities with different degrees between mice including: Sertoli cell only (SCO) tubules, a high degree of vacuolation, altered wave of maturation, multinucleated and symplastic germ cells, and increased residual bodies. TEM demonstrated multiple testicular defects including but not limited to multiple spermatids without membranes dividing the nucleus, spermatids lacking or having additional centrosomes, spermatids with multiple axonemes these findings suggested impaired cytokynesis. KO mice had a decreased percentage of normal sperm compared to WT mice (30% vs. 72%, p<0.01) with defects including sperm heads only (61% vs. 21%, p<0.01) and multi head/tail sperms. Western blot demonstrated a 2.1-fold reduction in testicular LRWD1 (p<0.05). LRWD1 plays an important role in centromere formation and histone modification. As a potential consequence of lacking PRSS50, spermatocyte and spermatid H3K9me3 levels were reduced and the pattern of expression was mis-localized. CONCLUSIONS: Prss50-KO unique testicular and sperm morphology defects supports its role in spermatogenesis and meiosis. Lack of PRSS50 signaling through NFkB-LRWD1 may be a causative mechanism in abnormal sperm development in Prss50-KO mice. Source of Funding: National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32GM088129.


Abstract The continental margin of West Africa formed as result of the south-to-north rifting of Gondwana and the progressive separation of the South American and African continents. This margin has enjoyed a rich and varied exploration history and, in the 70 years or so since the first significant exploration began in the onshore area, the margin has emerged as a significant hydrocarbon-producing region. The amalgamation of hydrocarbon exploration approaches and imaginative ideas, leveraged with modern technologies, is yielding significant scientific and economic successes. The main objective of this Special Publication is to provide an overview of the advances in our understanding of the crustal structure, tectonic evolution and Mesozoic to Cenozoic stratigraphy of the West Africa margin both onshore and offshore, with a particular focus on the petroleum geology. The papers contained in this Special Publication represent a selection from the 37 abstracts presented at the original conference in March 2014, which covered the entirety of the margin from South Africa to Morocco as well as stratigraphy from the crystalline basement to the most recent strata. The original abstracts from the conference are available through the Geological Society of London website at: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/pgresources


A novel type of Gaussian mixture model for text-independent speaker verification, Hierarchical Gaussian Mixture Model (HGMM) is proposed in this paper. HGMM aims at maximizing the efficiency of MAP training on the Universal Background Model (UBM). Based on the hierarchical structure, the parameters of one Gaussian component can also be adapted by the observation vectors of neighboring Gaussian components. HGMM can also be considered as a generalized GMM which replaces the Gaussian component in the GMM models with a local GMM. The hierarchical Gaussian mixture description of the local observation space is better than one single Gaussian distribution. Experiment on NIST 99 Evaluation corpus shows that the HGMM achieves an 18% relative reduction in EER compared with the conventional GMM.


In this paper, we suggest an estimator using two auxiliary variables in stratified random sampling following Malik and Singh. The propose estimator has an improvement over mean per unit estimator as well as some other considered estimators. Expressions for bias and MSE of the estimator are derived up to first degree of approximation. Moreover, these theoretical findings are supported by a numerical example with original data.


The Yankee Girl Gold Mine near the community of Ymir, BC operated from 1935 to 1942. As part of this historical mining activity, tailings were deposited adjacent the Salmo River and Wildhorse Creek. The Ymir townsite is located directly across the river from the site, resulting in the site being valued by the local community as a location for recreational activities. Site assessment work was initiated in 2004 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAL) to address an Inspector's Direction issued by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). In 2005 through 2007, Morrow Environmental Consultants Inc. (Morrow) completed a supplemental detailed site investigation (DSI) and a refined Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment (HHERA) to develop a comprehensive understanding of the extent, magnitude and significance of contamination at the site. The assessment confirmed that unacceptable human health and/or ecological risk existed at the site as a result of erosion of tailings into the Salmo River, leaching of metals and acidity into a side channel, residual spilled concentrate in soil at the mill area, and exposed tailings. Morrow then developed several conceptual options for site remediation. Several public meetings were held between 2004 and 2007 to present the assessment results and conceptual remedial options, and to consult with the stakeholders. Site remediation commenced in 2007 and includes consolidating the tailing and soil with residual concentrate within a secure on-site containment cell with erosion/flood control and aquatic habitat enhancement in the riparian areas adjacent to the site. Added value was found by incorporating the community's desires for final land use into the remediation plan so that there will be ongoing beneficial use of the rejuvenated area and stewardship of the site.


Systemic signalling is indispensable for the coordination of diverse physiological processes during development, defence and nutrient allocation. Indirect evidence suggests that plant small RNAs (smRNAs) could be involved in long-distance information transfer via the vasculature of the plant. Analyses of the smRNA complements of vascular exudates from oilseed rape (Brassica napus) showed that xylem sap is devoid of RNA, whereas phloem sap contained a large number of smRNAs. In addition to 32 annotated microRNAs (miRNAs) from 18 different families that could be identified and approved, a set of unknown smRNAs, predominantly of 21 and 24 nucleotides in length, was obtained, and selected candidates were found to be highly abundant in phloem sap. Moreover, we could demonstrate that the levels of three miRNAs known to respond to nutrient deprivation in non-vascular tissue, miR395 (sulphate), miR398 (copper) and miR399 (phosphate), were increased in phloem sap during the growth of plants under the respective starvation conditions. Interestingly, only mature miRNA molecules were found to be stress responsive, demonstrating that single-stranded sense miRNAs are most likely to represent the physiologically relevant molecules. The strong responses in the phloem suggest a role of miRNAs in systemic information transfer via this long-distance transport system.


Most patients who receive a cadaver renal transplant have not been offered a kidney from a related, potential donor and are, for a variety of reasons, unsuitable candidates for chronic hemodialysis. The paucity of suitable donors limits the number of transplants that can be performed, and requires some recipients to wait as long as two years before a suitable donor becomes available. Furthermore, to decrease the risk of failure, it has become customary to perform transplants only when no circulating cytotoxic antibodies against the prospective donor exist in the recipient, 1 and when the histocompatibility locus A (HL-A) match between donor and recipient is C or better, using the nomenclature of Terasaki. 1,2 Despite these precautions complications have developed in the transplant or in the recipient. Under such circumstances removal of the transplant in anticipation of a second or third transplant at a later date must be considered. If there


The double-stranded RNA-activated-protein kinase PKR was originally identified as a ribosomal protein that regulates protein synthesis at the translational level. While PKR locates predominantly to the cytoplasm, nuclear or nucleolar species of PKR have been detected. Here, we demonstrate that PKR possesses three leucine-rich sequences resembling nuclear export signals (NESs). Enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) fused to one of these sequences and transfected in COS-1 cells exhibited predominant cytoplasmic staining, which was abrogated by a leucine to alanine substitution. In addition, Leptomycin B (LMB), an inhibitor of NES-mediated nuclear export, inhibited the cytoplasmic localization of EGFP-NES, indicating the potential activity of these stretches as NESs. Although EGFP fused to a PKR with three NES mutations still located to the cytoplasm, an additional N-terminal deletion impaired the cytoplasmic predominance, suggesting that the N-terminal region is also required for localization. These results suggest that the cytoplasmic localization of PKR is regulated by NESs as well as the N-terminal sequence.


Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) was the earliest developed form of cell therapy and is still a highly effective life-saving treatment for many patients. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can differentiate into RBCs (iPSC-RBCs) and may provide a novel source for blood transfusion and a cellular model for erythroid differentiation. Here we developed a murine model to investigate the in vivo properties of human iPSC-RBCs. Human iPSC were generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy donors by transfection of plasmids containing OCT4, SOX2, MYC, KLF4 and BCL-XL genes. iPSC lines expressed TRA-1-60, SSEA4 and Nanog markers, and showed a normal karyotype. iPSCs were induced to differentiate along the erythroid lineage using a 3-stage culture system requiring 33 days. At the end of the culture period, iPSC-RBCs were CD34-CD235a+CD41+CD43+CD71low; about 10% of cells were enucleated (CD235a+DRAQ5-). iPSC-RBCs were harvested and transfused into immunodeficient NSG mice which had been pretreated with clodronate liposomes and cobra venom factor (CL/CVF). CL/CVF treatment of NSG mice markedly promoted the survival of transfused human iPSC-RBC in vivo, which could be detected with anti-human CD235a antibodies for at least 7 days, although the numbers progressively decreased with time. Interestingly, a large number of transfused iPSC-derived cells homed to bone marrow of NSG mice. In NSG mice that were repetitively treated with CL/CVF every 3 days, nucleated iPSC-derived cells were still detectable in the bone marrow 4 weeks after transfusion. Furthermore, at 3 weeks after transfusion, human iPSC-RBCs reappeared in the peripheral circulation. These circulating iPSC-RBCs were > 90% enucleated and were present at levels more than 4-fold higher than at 1 hour after transfusion. These results suggest that iPSC-RBCs which homed to the bone marrow of NSG mice retained the capability to complete differentiation into enucleated erythrocytes and egress the bone marrow into the peripheral blood. The results offer a new model using human peripheral blood iPSC and CL/CVF-treated NSG mice to investigate the development of human erythroid cells in vivo.

 Jajosky: Biconcavity Inc.: Other: CEO and partial owner; BioMarin Pharmaceuticals: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Magenta Therapeutics: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.


ABSTRACT Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to produce whole-virus antigen derived from tissue culture cells infected with a Canadian strain of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus. PEG antigen batches were obtained after precipitation and concentration of infected tissue culture material with PEG 8000 and final treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate. The optimum time of harvest of tissue culture extracted material to produce the maximum amount of viral proteins was determined in roller bottles, after cocultivation of infected and noninfected fetal lamb corneal cells. Samples from day 9 to day 25 postculture were collected and processed. By Western blotting, the optimum time of harvest was found to be day 25 following the coculture. Two large batches of PEG antigen were prepared at the optimum time of harvest. Both batches gave similar results when tested by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using reference control sera from infected and noninfected goats. For further testing in ELISA, cutoff values and ratios were determined for PEG batch 1, using 200 known serum samples from goats free of the disease. The PEG antigen batch was compared with an in-house ELISA antigen in a kinetic mode, using 498 serum samples from field goats. The in-house ELISA antigen was produced following two rounds of ultracentrifugation and treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate (R. A. Heckert, W. B. McNab, S. M. Richardson, and M. R. Briscoe, Can. J. Vet. Res. 56:237–241, 1992). The PEG antigen batch was found suitable for ELISA, with a relative specificity of 100% and a relative sensitivity of 99.4% compared to the in-house ELISA antigen. This method of antigen production for ELISA was found to be rapid, inexpensive, and reliable for the diagnosis of caprine-arthritis encephalitis, without requiring the use of sophisticated laboratory equipment.


The ovulation is a complex physiological process which is very commonly affected in patients with PCOS. Understanding inflammatory process involved in ovulation is important with respect to its onset, diagnosis and treatment. There are multiple inflammatory factors are associated with ovulation however anovulation and contraception have not been therapeutically explored in context with inflammatory process. Therefore, this chapter is written to help readers to understand the basics of inflammation in ovulation and role of inflammatory mediators in ovulation. This chapter also describes genetic and molecular aspects linked to ovulation.


Old age and anti-cytomegalovirus immunity are associated with altered T-cell reconstitution in HIV-1-infected patients. AIDS. 2011; 25:1813–1822. 16. Gkrania-Klotsas E, Langenberg C, Sharp SJ, et al. Higher immunoglobulin G antibody levels against cytomegalovirus are associated with incident ischemic heart disease in the population-based EPICNorfolk cohort. J Infect Dis. 2012;206: 1897–1903. 17. Gkrania-Klotsas E, Langenberg C, Sharp SJ, et al. Seropositivity and higher immunoglobulin g antibody levels against cytomegalovirus are associated with mortality in the population-based European prospective investigation of CancerNorfolk cohort. Clin Infect Dis. 2013;56: 1421–1427. 18. Lurain NS, Hanson BA, Martinson J, et al. Virological and immunological characteristics of human cytomegalovirus infection associated with Alzheimer disease. J Infect Dis. 2013;208:564–572. 19. Parrinello CM, Sinclair E, Landay AL, et al. Cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin G antibody is associated with subclinical carotid artery disease among HIV-infected women. J Infect Dis. 2012;205:1788–1796. 20. Kazankov K, Barrera F, Moller HJ, et al. Soluble CD163, a macrophage activation marker, is independently associated with fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C. Hepatology. 2014;60: 521–530. 21. McKibben RA, Margolick JB, Grinspoon S, et al. Elevated levels of monocyte activation markers are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in men with and those without HIV infection. J Infect Dis 2014;211: 1219–1228. 22. Castley A, Berry C, French M, et al. Elevated plasma soluble CD14 and skewed CD16+ monocyte distribution persist despite normalization of soluble CD163 and CXCL10 by effective HIV therapy: a changing paradigm for routine HIV laboratory monitoring. PLos One. 2014;9:e115226. 23. Gianella S, Morris SR, Tatro E, et al. Virologic correlates of anti-CMV IgG levels in HIV-1 infected men. J Infect Dis. 2014;209: 452–456. 24. Griffen E, Krantz E, Selke S, et al. Oral mucosal reactivation rates of herpesviruses among HIV-1 seropositive persons. J Med Virol. 2008;80:1153–1159. 25. Sacre K, Hunt PW, Hsue PY, et al. A role for cytomegalovirus-specific CD4+CX3CR1+ T cells and cytomegalovirus-induced T-cell immunopathology in HIV-associated atherosclerosis. AIDS. 2012;26:805–814. 26. Hunt PW, Martin JN, Sinclair E, et al. Valganciclovir reduces T cell activation in HIVinfected individuals with incomplete CD4+ T cell recovery on antiretroviral therapy. J Infect Dis. 2011;203:1474–1483. 27. Chemaly RF, Ullmann AJ, Stoelben S, et al. Letermovir for cytomegalovirus prophylaxis in hematopoietic cell transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:1781–1789. 28. Marty FM, Winston DJ, Rowley SD, et al. CMX001 to prevent cytomegalovirus disease in hematopoietic cell transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2013;369:1227–1236.


Pharmacotherapy provision based on Nicotine Metabolite Ratio (NMR) status (slow/normal metabolism) may improve smoking cessation rates. However, it is unclear whether NMR status is consistent across patient characteristics and current treatment choice. Data come from 1,826 participants attending Stop Smoking Services (SSS) across England in 2012/13. Sociodemographic, mental/physical health, smoking and treatment characteristics (nicotine replacement therapy vs. other pharmacotherapy; group vs. one-to-one behavioural support) were assessed. Salivary nicotine metabolites were measured and NMR (3-hydroxycotinine/cotinine) computed, characterising smokers as slow (NMR < 0.31) or normal (NMR ≥ 0.31) metabolisers. Normal metabolisers were older than slow metabolisers (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.49, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.32–1.69) but no other characteristics were associated with NMR status. Overall, predictors accounted for only 7.3% of NMR variance. In adjusted analysis, pharmacotherapy type was not associated with NMR status, but normal metabolisers were less likely to use group support (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.51–0.89). NMR status does not vary substantially across sociodemographic characteristics. Given its impact on pharmacotherapy efficacy, the lack of an association with pharmacotherapy choice suggests there is scope to use NMR status to optimise the selection and efficacy of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy. The unexpected association of NMR status with behavioural support should be explored further. regions of England. Nicotine Metabolite Ratio. Saliva samples were analysed for cotinine (COT) and trans-3 ′ -hydroxycotinine (3HC) levels using an established LC-MS/MS methodology with a 1 ng/mL limit of quantification (LOQ) 17,41 . The NMR ratio of 3HC/COT was then determined. The ratio has been shown to remain stable over time of day 8 , over a period of months 10 and while contemplating quitting 9 . Data were examined for analytical shift and reliability, using a reanalysis of samples from each batch (approximately 5% of samples). NMR between replicate analyses was highly correlated (R 2 = 0.984), there was no association between change in NMR and time between analyses (R 2 = 0.004) and the percent of difference between analysis replicates varied by less than 10%. Samples with cotinine values below 10 ng/ml were excluded as they likely reflect occasional or light smokers, where the NMR may be unstable. For samples in which COT was above 10 ng/ml, and 3HC was below the limit of quantification, as per convention, the 3HC value was replaced by a dummy value of 0.71 (LOQ/sqrt2) and included in the NMR (i.e. NMR = 0.71/COT) 42 . As plasma and salivary NMR are highly correlated 5 , we used a cut-off for plasma NMR from a previous clinical trial based on population data 15 to stratify participants into normal (NMR ≥ 0.31) or slow (NMR < 0.3) salivary metabolising status.


We present the novel, semi-automated clustering tool ASPECT for analysing voluminous archives of spectra. The heart of the program is a neural network in form of Kohonen's self-organizing map. The resulting map is designed as an icon map suitable for the inspection by eye. The visual analysis is supported by the option to blend in individual object properties such as redshift, apparent magnitude, or signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, the package provides several tools for the selection of special spectral types, e.g. local difference maps which reflect the deviations of all spectra from one given input spectrum (real or artificial). ASPECT is able to produce a two-dimensional topological map of a huge number of spectra. The software package enables the user to browse and navigate through a huge data pool and helps him to gain an insight into underlying relationships between the spectra and other physical properties and to get the big picture of the entire data set. We demonstrate the capability of ASPECT by clustering the entire data pool of 0.6 million spectra from the Data Release 4 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). To illustrate the results regarding quality and completeness we track objects from existing catalogues of quasars and carbon stars, respectively, and connect the SDSS spectra with morphological information from the GalaxyZoo project.


Multidimensional vector cross-product has not been studied from the perspective of signal processing so far to the best of our knowledge and hence no effort has been made to develop any generalized algorithm for its hardware implementation. In this paper firstly, we identify the application domain of cross-product in signal processing and then introduce a novel recursive algorithm for generalized nD cross-product computation considering three dimensional (3D) cross-product as the fundamental operation. Subsequently a generalized scheme for architecture implementation for nD cross-product is proposed based on this algorithm. Secondly, we show that if 4D cross-product is used as the fundamental operation for formulating nD cross-product problem, then exploiting the inherent mathematical symmetry of 4D cross-product it is possible to reduce the total hardware cost of nD cross-product significantly at the architecture level (symmetry-based approach). Mathematical models for hardware complexity and operational delay have been formulated both for the generalized and symmetry-based approaches.


The use of diazotrophic bacteria in association with rice plants is a viable alternative to the agroecosystem sustentability. However, no results were found showing the quantifi cation of environment services from the nitrogen fi xation process. The objective of this work was to evaluate the economy generate by the use of FBN process in the rice fi eld, using the center-south region of Brazil as a model. For the estimate value, the contribution of 40 Kg. ha -1 resulting from FBN was used, according the results obtained at Embrapa Agrobiologia with the rice culture. The inoculation process with the H. seropedicae strain 11417 can give an approximate economy of R$ 179,4 million per year, for the center-south region of Brazil.


A deformation analysis of a liquid-filled spherical microcapsule indented by a sharp truncated-cone indenter was conducted, in which a circumferential wrinkling model was introduced in the dimpled region near the indenter tip. The initial stretch of the membrane of an alginate-poly(L)lysine-alginate microcapsule was determined by fitting the calculated and measured force-displacement curves. In the fitting procedure, the effect of the membrane permeability in the experiment on the force-displacement curve was taken into account. The calculated deformed shape of the indented microcapsule was almost identical to the experimentally observed one. The influences of the initial stretch on the force-displacement relationship, transmural pressure-displacement relationship, and deformation shape before membrane rupture due to the indenter-tip piercing were demonstrated. The importance of taking the initial stretch into account in the mechanical characterization of microcapsules or cells was shown.


OBJECTIVE
This experiment is to test the survival enhance effect of leptin in grainy fat transplantation.

METHODS
The 0.6 g grainy fat was obtained from the Wistar mouse subcutaneous tissue in the abdomen. It was then mixed with 0.9% NS and 20 ng/ml leptin and transplanted in the head subcutaneously. The transplanted tissue was taken out after 10, 20 and 40 days. After being weighed, the tissue was dyed with HE staining and VEGF staining. The data was analyzed with SPSS software.

RESULTS
The fibrous membrane around the tissue in leptin group was thin and there was less fat cell necrosis, compared with the control group. The remained-weight rate was 108.3%, 83.3% and 66.3% in 10, 20 and 40 days after the surgery. The differences were statistic significant between the leptin groups and the control (P < 0.05). The examinations of the HE and VEGF stain showed that there was the rich vascularization in leptin treated tissue.

CONCLUSION
Leptin could enhance the survival of the transplanted grainy fat due to its angiogenesis effect.


Recentresearch has shown that machine strength grading based on tracheid effectscanning of fibre directions projected on board surfaces can provide moreaccurate strength predictions than today's grading methods. Scanning techniquesin which 3D fibre orientations can be taken into account would most likelyimprove the strength grading results even further. In this investigation thepossibility of determining such 3D orientations by dot laser scanning wasinvestigated. For a set of 20 side boards, scanning data was used to calculatetraversing knot directions which were in turn applied to determine pithlocation and root end of original logs. By means of the shape of laser dots,which due to the tracheid effect are turned elliptic on board surfaces, and thedetermined pith location, the size and direction of the diving angle of thefibres was calculated. The research showed that this angle can be accuratelydetermined in the vicinity of knots.


Figure Mud mounds are an important Phanerozoic reef type generally formed in deep water on carbonate shelf-to-basin slopes. They commonly contain spar-filled depositional cavities (stromatactis) but lack abundant metazoan frame-builders. Mud mounds are flanked by steeply dipping bioclastic grainstones and commonly attained widths and depositional relief of hundreds of meters. They may occur as basal zones in many metazoan-constructed reefs. Stromatactoid mud mounds are composed of a succession of submarine-cemented crusts separated by cavities that developed in intercalated, unlithified mud. Crusts from mud mounds of all ages show strong similarities to thrombolites (unlaminated stromatolites) which occur in many Phanerozoic shallow-water reefs; both are largely composed of micrite, cemented on the sea floor, contain fenestral fabric and cryptalgal microstructure, and their depositional surfaces are rugose, not burrowed, encrusted, or bored. Both thrombolite and crust morphologies are probably related to environmental factors: thrombolites in shallow-water reefs are columnar and branching whereas crusts in deeper water are more tabular. Irregular sediment loading and distribution of algal mats probably caused rugose depo itional surfaces. Stromatolitic lamination, although not commonly developed in the subtidal zone, occasionally occurs and corroborates a cryptalgal origin. It is proposed that mud mounds accumulated from successive floodlike episodes of sedimentation off carbonate shelves. Rapid sedimentation at the onset of each flood smothered the living algal mat which re-established itself as sedimentation began to subside. Winnowing between sediment floods washed out unbound sediment and promoted synsedimentary cementation of resulting stromatactis and algal-bound crusts. End_of_Article - Last_Page 974------------


In this paper, a hybrid fuzzy-neural system for Egyptian stocks price prediction is proposed. The model helps choosing the right stock mixture with the highest profit within a certain risk factor. A hybrid fuzzy-neural system is applied to significantly save effort and time of portfolio managers. The model increases the individual investors' local market understanding by providing buy and sells signals that reflect market sentiments, breaking news and technical analysis expectations. An implemented system of the proposed model has demonstrated a promising performance of the applied test datasets containing 100 Stock Symbols over the past 9 years (January 2009-July 2018). The prediction accuracy of the model is computed by comparing the applied system predicted results against the actual results of the Egyptian stock market during the test period.


The mucosa and overlying fluid of the female reproductive tract (FRT) are portals for the heterosexual transmission of HIV-1. Toward the ongoing development of topically applied microbicides and mucosal vaccines against HIV-1, it is evermore important to understand how the dynamic FRT mucosa is involved in controlling transmission and infection of HIV-1. Cationic peptides and proteins are the principal innate immune effector molecules of mucosal surfaces, and interact in a combinatorial fashion to modulate HIV-1 infection of the cervix and vagina. While cationic peptides and proteins have historically been categorized as antimicrobial or have other host-benefitting roles, an increasing number of these molecules have been found to augment HIV-1 infection and potentially antagonize host defense. Complex environmental factors such as hormonal fluctuations and/or bacterial and viral co-infections provide additional challenges to both experimentation and interpretation of results. In the context of heterosexual transmission of HIV-1, this review explores how various cationic peptides and proteins participate in modulating host defense against HIV-1 of the cervicovaginal mucosa.


Abstract A new neuro-fuzzy operator for removing impulse noise from highly corrupted digital images is presented. The proposed operator is very simple and comprises two identical neuro-fuzzy filters combined with a postprocessor. The internal parameters of the filters are adaptively adjusted by training. Training of the filters is easily accomplished by using a simple computer generated artificial image. The fundamental advantage of the proposed operator over other operators is that it offers superior noise removal performance while at the same time efficiently preserving details and texture in the noisy input image. Experiments prove that the proposed operator may be used for efficient removal of impulse noise from highly corrupted images without distorting the useful information in the image.


Physicians' decision to refer patients in primary health care is vital in supporting the referral system. The increase of referral cases impacted the claims cost and hospital workload. This study aimed to analyze the physicians' behavior in referring National Health Insurance (NHI) patients to hospitals. This study employed a qualitative method; 18 informants were selected using purposive sampling and analyzed using content analysis. The data were validated by triangulating method, source, and data. Physicians referred patients when the cases could not be handled; there were indications of severe disease and required further examination. The obstacles in the referral system were pressure from NHI patients that wanted to be referred and diagnosed differently from ICD 10. In referring NHI patients, physicians had followed referral procedures and criteria. High referrals were caused by patients being forced to be referred, coming with complaints of severe disease, having examined in a hospital, and some cases should not be referred to but still referred by entering a similar diagnosis into the ICD 10. It is expected that public health centers will educate NHI patients related to tiered referral procedures in health services.


RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The concept of quality of life (QoL) has emerged as an important psychological dimension in individuals experiencing Parkinson's disease (PD). The current study sought to determine the factor structure of the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) version 2 in patients with PD in order to evaluate how this measure might best be used to assess QoL in this clinical population.

METHOD
Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on self-report SF-36 data from 339 individuals diagnosed with PD. Six structural models of the SF-36 were evaluated against the participants' data.

RESULTS
The underlying factor structure of the SF-36 in PD was observed to be inconsistent with the assumed measurement model of SF-36 but consistent with contemporary theoretical models of the instrument.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of the SF-36 in individuals with PD can be recommended when eight subscales are used and reported. Evidence to support the use of the instrument as a two-subscale measure of physical health and mental health components was not found.