: Demand of wireless communication system is increasing rapidly. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have gained huge attraction due to various real-time applications such as health monitoring, sensitive area monitoring, catastrophe supervision, etc. These networks are not so high in power resource so energy conservation is very crucial aspect here. Moreover, such networks are deployed in unattended and harsh atmosphere where power sources cannot be replaced. Hence, prolonging the network lifetime is a tedious task for these networks. Recently, energy ware routing and efficient cluster head (CH) selection techniques have been introduced to mitigate these challenges. In this work, we have focused on energy aware CH selection and routing to enhance the lifetime of network. To achieve this, we present a combined model using PSO i.e. particle swarm optimization and GSA i.e. gravitational search algorithm for CH selection. We compare the performance of proposed approach with existing techniques. The experimental study demonstrates that the presented scheme improvises the efficiency of network with respect to energy utilization, life of the network, and packet delivery ratio.


Osteoarthritis (OA) had a high incidence in people over 65 years old, and there is currently no drug that could completely cure it. This study is aimed at studying the role of exosomes in regulating glutamine metabolism in the treatment of OA. First, we identified the exosomes extracted from the mouse OA model's bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). In vitro, compared with the control group, the cell apoptosis in the OA group increased, while the cell proliferation of the OA group was suppressed. After exosomal treatment, cell apoptosis and cell proliferation were reversed. Inflammatory factors (TNFα, IL-6), glutamine metabolic activity-related proteins (c-MYC, GLS1), glutamine, and GSH/GSSG were increased in the OA group. The overexpression of c-MYC reduced the therapeutic effect of exosomes. At the same time, we found that chondrocyte functional factors (collagen II, Aggrecan) were improved under the treatment of exosomes. However, oe-c-MYC reversed the therapeutic effect of exosomes. In vivo, we found that the running capacity of the mice in the OA group was reduced, and the cartilage tissue was severely damaged. In addition, TNFα, IL-6, and chondrocyte apoptosis increased, while the metabolism of collagen II, Aggrecan, and glutamate decreased in the OA group. After exosomal treatment, the mice's exercise capacity, tissue damage, inflammation, and chondrocyte function were improved, and glutamate metabolism was increased. This study showed that exosomes regulated the level of chondrocyte glutamine metabolism by regulating c-MYC, thereby alleviating OA.


Military members are no different than civilians in terms of the desires to have a life partner and have a satisfied marital life after marriage. However, the challenges faced by many military members and their families are different than those facing the civilian families by the sheer nature of their service. This study conducts an in-depth academic literature analysis regarding the impacts of the unique trials and tribulations that face military personnel on their marital dissatisfaction or dissolution. While an empirical hypothetical model to test whether factors such as length of deployment, number of deployments, post-traumatic stress disorder impact the military marital dissatisfaction is provided in this paper, there is no quantitative analysis conducted due to lack of access to relevant data.


Abstract: Mobile applications on the go have been adopted in many fields and areas. However, there has been little research regarding the development and use of a context‐aware application for users to improve their English listening comprehension through collaboration. This research aimed at helping users improve their listening comprehension with a combination of context‐aware tools and video‐based materials and attempted to investigate the learning strategies used in groups. Therefore, the researchers designed a Ubiquitous Fitness English Listening Comprehension System (UFELCS) incorporating collaborative listening activities into a fitness center. The researchers conducted mixed methods research using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results indicate that the participants' learning performance was significantly improved. Moreover, the analysis of the interview data showed that the interviewees and their own groups held positive attitudes towards the creative ways of language learning, and their use of listening strategies was also revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


ABSTRACT This research aimed to explore the role of parental characteristics and mindful parenting in risk behaviour of adolescents. A total of 604 participants took part in the study, out of which N = 361 were adolescents aged 13 to 18, N = 158 were their mothers, and N = 85 fathers. To achieve the aim of the research, the following questionnaires were used: The General Data Questionnaire for Adolescents and Parents, The Adolescent Risk Behaviour Questionnaire, The Family Satisfaction Scale, and The Mindful Parenting Questionnaire. The results indicated that male adolescents report more often on violent behaviour, while girls report symptoms of eating disorders and they are less satisfied with their life. Related to age, older adolescents report lower life and family satisfaction and more often normative undesirable behaviour. The family satisfaction of adolescents, as well as mindful parenting, are negatively associated with risk behaviour, while the focus of attention on the child, self-efficacy, and empathy is positively related to the satisfaction of adolescents. The results support existing knowledge in this field and have strong practical implications for prevention and treatment interventions targeting family context.


Minimally invasive techniques have been successfully applied to esophageal surgery. Initially, they were used for benign disease, but as experience has increased, so have the indications for minimally invasive esophageal surgery. Today, minimally invasive esophagectomy has been reported in all types of patients with a variety of esophageal diseases and different stages of esophageal cancer. Currently, the biggest limitation for proceeding with minimally invasive esophagectomy is experience in performing the procedure. This article provides an update on the myriad of options for performing minimally invasive esophagectomy including advantages and disadvantages of each option and outlines the surgical technique for each. It highlights the current debate on open versus minimally invasive esophagectomy. Since there is no consensus on the operative approach to open esophagectomy, it is not surprising that a number of debates over the best operative approach to minimally invasive esophagectomy exist today.


How does the tone of reporting during a disease outbreak change in relation to the number of cases, categories of victims, and accumulating deaths? How do newspapers and medical journals contribute to the narrative of a historical pandemic? Can data mining experts help history scholars to scale up the process of examining articles, extracting new insights and understanding the public opinion of a pandemic? We explore these problems in this paper, using the 19thcentury Russian Flu epidemic as an example. We study two different types of historical data sources: the US medical discussion and popular reporting during the epidemic, from its outbreak in late 1889 through the successive waves that lasted through 1893. We analyze and compare these articles and reports to answer three major questions. First, we analyze how newspapers and medical journals report the Russian flu and describe the situation. Next, we help historians in understanding the tone of related reports and how they vary across data sources. We also examine the temporal changes in the discussion to get an in-depth understanding of how public opinion changed about the pandemic. Finally, we aggregate all of the algorithms in an easy to use framework GrippeStory to help history scholars investigate historical pandemic data in general, across chronological periods and locations. Our extensive experiments and analysis on a large number of historical articles show that GrippeStory gives meaningful and useful results for historians and it outperforms the baselines.


The medium had a light pink color when h t and was practically colorless when poured into Petri dish s and allowed to harden. On this medium Endo observed t t B. coli and its close allies gave a distinct red coloration w e B. typhosus was practically colorless. The red color of the . coli colonies, according to this author, was due to the format on of acid but he did not give any experimental evidence to substantiate this belief. Harding and Ostenberg (1912) have shown that the reaction is due to aldehyde formation. These auth rs suggest, also, that by the substitution of other carbohydrat s in place of lactose in the Endo medium this reaction night e used as a means of differentiation of the colon-typhoid-dysent ry group in place of acid production. Robinson and Rettger (1916) have stated ore recently that the red coloration of colon colonies on Endo edium is the result of acid production and not of aldehyde rmation. These


Abstract The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a routine test for inflammation. Few studies have investigated the potential influence of lifestyle factors and common metabolic abnormalities on the ESR. This study investigates the influence of demographic factors, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, obesity, and metabolic syndrome on the ESR in adults. This cross-sectional study covered 1472 individuals (44.5% males; age range, 18–91 years) randomly selected from the population of a Spanish municipality. The ESR was measured using a standardized method. We assessed habitual alcohol consumption in standard drinking units, along with tobacco smoking, regular physical exercise (by questionnaire), body mass index, and variables defining metabolic syndrome. Multivariate analyses were performed, including mean corpuscular volume and hemoglobin concentration in the models. The ESR was higher in females than in males, and increased steadily with age. Median ESR of females was 2-fold higher than that of males, and median ESR of individuals aged >65 years was 2-fold higher than that of individuals in the youngest category (ages 18–35 years). Body mass index, presence of metabolic syndrome, and smoking were independently and positively associated with higher ESR values. Light alcohol drinkers and individuals with high regular physical activity displayed lower ESR values than did alcohol abstainers and individuals with low physical activity, respectively. ESR varies greatly with age and sex, and corresponding reference values are proposed. Lifestyle factors (physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption) and common metabolic abnormalities (obesity and related metabolic syndrome) may also influence ESR values.


The Kachchh-Saurashtra region is part of an old rift basin, featuring a number of linear structures, some of them holding potential for occasional M > 7 earthquakes. A challenging question is to identify probable sources of large earthquakes in this region. Recognizing earthquake-generated structures preserved within the geological formations is an effective method to constrain the seismic sources in space and time. During the recent excavations at Bet Dwarka, in the Gulf of Kachchh, we identified a seismically generated sand blow that has disrupted an ancient cultural horizon. The age data suggest that the causative earthquake may have occurred about 2000 years ago. While the source of this earthquake remains to be constrained, its timing seems to be singular; our studies elsewhere in Kachchh have not disclosed any feature of comparable age, as yet. This find opens the possibility for another surprise source, adding a new dimension to the seismic hazard of this region.


The purpose of this study is to extend the recent operationalization of reactance to a non-Western culture, namely, South Korea.The study uses structural equation modeling, and the findings reveal a significant positive association between controlling language and perceived threat to freedom. Consistent with extant research, a significant positive association emerged between a perceived freedom threat and reactance for South Korean adolescents. Findings from this study support treating reactance as a latent variable comprised of unfavorable cognitions and anger. In addition, in line with psychological reactance theory predictions, reactance arousal is significantly associated with a host of boomerang effects. Results are discussed with an emphasis on the role of psychology reactance theory among adolescents within a collectivist culture.


Antibiotic measurement results need to be as accurate as possible in order to provide the proper antibiotic treatment of osteoarticular infections, while avoiding their resistance. Among the strategies, the Clinical Enzymology Reference Laboratory (LREC) of the UAB and the group of "Infections with difficult treatment and use of antimicrobials" of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) propose a model for calculating measurement uncertainty and assessing the impact of their knowledge on clinical decisions.


A deep-towed instrument survey was made of the floor of the rift valley in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near lat 37 °N (FAMOUS project). Near-bottom bathymetry, side-looking sonar (SLS), and wide-angle photography are among the data brought to bear on the definition of the American-African plate boundary and the intrusion-extrusion zone between these plates. The valley floor is 1 to 4 km wide and contains eight elongate shield volcanoes that occupy 40% of the axis. Where the volcanoes — called central highs — are absent, there are sometimes shallow depressions — called central lows. Photographic data show three components to the near-bottom environment: massive pillow lavas, well-sorted rock fragments, and sediment cover. Sediment is ubiquitous in all the photos but is scarcest along the axis of the valley floor. Pillows appear the freshest on the central highs except for one locality found at the extreme east side of the valley floor. The rock fragments are evidently pillow joint blocks and are associated with spalling off steep flow fronts and fracturing from faulting. Less well sorted fragments are associated with the large-throw step faults at the edges of the valley floor. Pillow elongation approaches 10:1 and possibly indicates flow directions both across and along contour. Numerous fissures and small-throw step faults were also seen. The SLS records show that the smoothest areas are the well-sedimented regions off the central highs that are yet to be broken by faulting at the floor edges. More than 700 faults were mapped in the valley-floor region. They trend parallel to valley strike (N17 °E) and are generally absent within 500 m of the axis. Fault density is highest at the east inner floor edge, reaching 35/km 2 . Fissures are present in photos but are not readily recognized with SLS data. Flow edges or ridges also align near N17 °E, but some trend across strike. SLS point targets 25 m high and about 50 by 50 m represent volcanic conelets (haystacks). These align in groups and often are associated with faults. They are not detected away from the axis. The floor is intensely fractured with fissures and small-throw vertical faults as are parts of the inner walls; this is evidence that the region of tensional faulting is at least 5 km wide. The absence of faults near the axis due to volcanic burial suggests that the extrusion zone is as much as 1 km wide. The construction process in the floor is virtually entirely volcanic, but much of this relief is obscured by the intensive shear (normal) faulting found beyond the inner walls. Many geomorphic features of the floor have direct analogy with those in the Icelandic rift valley and the East Pacific Rise, although there are differences in scale.


Diphenyl-1-pyrenylphosphine (DPPP) was tested whether it could be used as a fluorescent probe to monitor lipid peroxidation in cell membranes. DPPP reacted with organic hydroperoxides and hydrogen peroxide stoichiometrically to give DPPP oxide (DPPP = O). DPPP incorporated into phosphatidylcholine liposomal membranes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) reacted with methyl linoleate hydroperoxide rapidly but not with hydrogen peroxide nor with tert-butyl hydroperoxide. This novel method revealed that lipid peroxidation proceeded within membranes of PMNs stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, which is known to produce several kinds of free radicals. It was found that DPPP is a suitable fluorescent probe to monitor lipid peroxidation within cell membranes specifically.


Sir We were interested to read the Short Note by Mr MacSweeney and colleagues (Br J Surg 1994; 81: 822-3) on the value of colour Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of popliteal artery entrapment syndrome. We al-so use colour Doppler ultrasonography as the investigation of first choice for suspected entrapment of the popliteal artery. Since it is rapid and non-invasive, we used this technique to establish the effects of foot movement on the flow patterns of the popliteal artery in 16 young healthy volunteers (thirty-two legs) without lower-extremity complaints. Although the final report of this survey is in preparation, we present some preliminary results. Imagings were made in a neutral position and with provocation tests (active and passive plantar and dorsal flexion of the foot). During active plantar flexion of the foot against resistance, complete occlusion of the popliteal artery was found in 19 of the 32 cases; significant luminal reduction (duplication of peak systolic velocity) was found in a further four. Therefore, a total of twenty-three limbs fulfilled the criteria for popliteal artery entrapment. Nevertheless, none of the subjects had lower-extremity complaints. We think these results show that compression of the popliteal artery is a physiological phenomenon rather than a criterion for popliteal artery entrapment. The increasing interest in popliteal artery entrapment syndrome is remarkable. Many authors stress that the syndrome is much more prevalent than currently presumed and that simple non-invasive tests such as colour Doppler ultrasonography can be used to identify affected patients. It is our opinion that conclusions based on colour Doppler imaging or angiography should be drawn with great care. Even if release of apparent popliteal artery entrapment takes away the patient's symptoms, we agree with Turnipseed and Pozniak' that it is uncertain if entrapment of the popliteal artery has been responsible for the symptoms in this mysterious syndrome. Symptoms might be caused by adjacent structures and, as we demonstrated, occlusion of the artery by active plantar flexion of the foot does not lead to arterial insufficiency.


Heavy vehicles increase on highways in China year by year. Heavy loads are among the most important factors causing pavement distresses. The distribution of contact stresses between tires and pavement surface greatly influences the initiation and propagation of pavement distresses, especially for the top-down cracking. Therefore, to accurately and precisely describe pavement responses, the distribution of contact stresses should be first investigated thoroughly. This study focuses on simulating the contact stresses between all-steel tires on heavy vehicles and the pavement surface. A 3D finite-element model was proposed and used to simulate the distribution of contact stresses in different conditions of tires, including standstill, free rolling, accelerating rolling, and decelerating rolling conditions. This model was validated by previous study of the authors. There were three loading levels used in this study, including 20 kN, 40 kN, and 60 kN. In the standstill condition, the maximum pressures on pavement surface were simulated as 1.2 MPa, 1.2 MPa, and 2.4 MPa in 20 kN, 40 kN, and 60 kN loading levels, respectively, which were much higher than 0.7 MPa, the standard contact pressure in pavement design specification in China. An interesting phenomenon was observed that when the load passed a certain value, the width of contact area kept constant, whereas the length of contact area was prolonged. And the length of the contact area prolonged linearly with the increase of load. Based on this phenomenon, the Hertz contact theory was applied to simplify the traditional 3D finite-element model. In the simplified model, the complicated 3D all-steel tire was simplified to an equivalent medium. The 3D finite-element model and the simplified model were compared with the analytic method. This indicates that the simplified model can simulate the contact stress of all-steel tires closely to the analytic results (no more than 10 % difference) and greatly improves the calculation efficiency.


Far from regarding physical science as a universal model of human knowledge, Werner Heisenberg relativized the scientificity of natural science, situating this domain of knowledge in a wide range of our modes of experiencing the world. In this paper, with a focus on his critical analysis of the notion of objectivity in quantum theory and other fields, I survey Heisenberg's view of the world as divided into six distinct areas of reality, including – but not centered on – physical science. I also seek to show how this conception of the structure of reality, specifically of the relation between different areas of reality, is mediated by his misor reinterpretation of Bohr's idea of complementarity.


Appendicitis is the most common cause of acute abdominal pain requiring surgical treatment in persons under 50 years of age, with a peak incidence in the second and third decades. Women have a greater risk of misdiagnosis and a higher negative appendectomy rate. Atypical presentations of appendicitis are commonly misdiagnosed, resulting in increased morbidity, mortality, and potential litigation. The variability of presentation relates to the varied anatomical location and the visceral innervation of the appendix. Patients presenting with possible appendicitis should be risk stratified based on history, physical examination, and laboratory data. An elevated white blood cell (WBC) count alone (> 10,000 cells/mm3) offers poor diagnostic utility; however, combining WBC count > 10 and C-reactive protein (CRP) level > 8 achieves notable predictive power in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Imaging studies play a vital role in diagnosis, particularly in equivocal presentations.


the surrounding mountains. As a lad in my early teens, I spent several summer vacations with my parents at a placer mining camp on Sucker Creek, a tributary of the Rogue River. All supplies, including condensed milk in tin cans, were brought into the mines by pack horses and mules over trails. One of my jobs at the mine was turning the grindstone in the shop where tools were sharpened, and it was a very tiresome and boring job for a young fellow who was more interested in fishing and hunting. One day during the summer of 1911, the idea came to me that the empty tin milk cans could be made into a pipeline for a water wheel power plant that could turn the grindstone. So I proceeded to take the tops and bottoms off the cans by heating them in the forge to melt the solder, and then to swell one end of each can by placing the tin cylinders over the anvil horn and hammering the edge so that the cans would fit together like sections of stovepipe [see photo below]. The pipeline was then laid up the hill behind the shop to a ditch carrying water to the mine workings. The ditch was about 20 ft higher than the shop.


Noise pollution around the Al-Muthanna university in Al-Samawah city was measured to study the effects on the teaching-learning processes and performance of both teachers and students during November and December 2014. Digital Sound Level Meter (model a GM1351 ) was used to measure the noise level, In twelve selected buildings for the study as indoor sites and the park and main door of the university as outdoor sites . The measurements at the buildings were carried out in three different time intervals of the day i.e. in the morning 8:00-10:00am, 10:00-12:00 pm and 12:00-2:00 pm. Noise intensity was also measured in two points at an interval of half hour .After recording of daily measurements of noise level, the hourly average noise level for each point of the building and for the whole buildings were calculated. As well as the total average of noise levels was calculated in order to compare it with the allowable limits of EPA for educational institutions. The maximum noise level was found in college of education (81.8) dBl and the minimum value in college of nursing which was equal(73.3) dBl. The study results show that the rate of noise level in an indoor and outdoor sites is very high and not suitable for teaching-learning processes. Therefore Acts and regulations concerning noise pollution should be strictly adopted.


The synthesis and characterization of a new photolabile precursor of glycine (caged glycine) is described. The alpha-carboxyl group of glycine is covalently coupled to the alpha-carboxy-2-nitrobenzyl (alphaCNB) protecting group. Photolysis of the caged glycine with UV light produces free glycine. At 308 nm, the compound photolyzes with a quantum yield of 0.38. The absorption spectrum and the pH dependence of a transient absorption produced after laser-flash illumination are typical for aci-nitro intermediates of alphaCNB-protected compounds. The time constant for the major component of the aci-nitro intermediate decay ( approximately 84% of the total aci-nitro absorbance) was determined to be 7 micros at physiological pH. A minor component ( approximately 16%) decays with a rate constant of 170 micros. The compound does not activate or inhibit the alpha(1)-homomeric glycine receptor transiently expressed in HEK293 cells. After photolysis with a 10 ns pulse of 325 nm laser light, the glycine released from the caged compound activates glycine-mediated whole-cell currents in the same cells. The rise of these currents can be measured in a time-resolved fashion and occurs on a millisecond to sub-millisecond time scale. It can be described with a single-exponential function over >85% of the total current. The rate constant of the current rise is about 2 orders of magnitude slower than the rate constant of caged glycine photolysis. Thermal hydrolysis of the alphaCNB-caged glycine takes place with a half-life of 15.6 h at physiological pH. The new caged glycine is the first in a series of photoprotected glycine derivatives that has the required properties for use with chemical kinetic methods for investigation of glycine-activated cell surface receptors. Photolysis is rapid and efficient with respect to the receptor reactions to be studied; hydrolysis in aqueous solution is sufficiently slow, and the compound is biologically inert. It will, therefore, be a useful tool for investigation of the processes leading to channel opening of glycine receptor channels and the effects of mutations of the glycine receptor and of inhibitors on these processes.


Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT)-like follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) is a rare neoplasm referred to as the FDCS variant. Here we report a 66-year-old female patient suffering from hepatic IPT-like FDCS and summarize IPT-like FDCS reported in the literature. The patient presented with obvious abdominal pain without significant laboratory abnormalities and subsequently underwent surgical resection of a hepatic lesion. Postoperative pathological results demonstrated a vascular tissue-rich neoplasm (7.0-cm maximum diameter). The tumor cells expressed CD21 and CD35, and in situ hybridization detected Epstein–Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER). Metastasis or recurrence was not detected during the 7-year follow-up.


Objectives Monitoring healthcare activities is the first step for health stakeholders and health professionals to improve the quality and performance of healthcare services. However, monitoring remains a challenge for healthcare facilities, especially in developing countries. Fortunately, advances in business analytics address this need. This paper aims to describe the experience of a low-income healthcare facility in a developing country in using business analytics descriptive techniques and to discuss business analytics implementation challenges and opportunities in such an environment. Methods Business analytics descriptive techniques were applied on 3 years' electronic medical records of outpatient consultation of the University Psychiatric Centre (CPU) of Casablanca. Statistical analysis was conducted to compare results over years. Results Over the 3 monitored years, the monthly number of computerized physician order entries increased significantly (p < 0.001). Physicians improved their personal recording over years. Schizophrenia as well as depressive and bipolar disorders were noted at the top of outpatient mental disorders. Antipsychotics are the most prescribed drugs, and a significant annual decrease in outpatient care wait time was noted (p < 0.001). Conclusions Business analytics allowed CPU to monitor mental healthcare outpatient activity and to adopt its business processes according to outcomes. However, challenges mainly in the organizational dimension of the decision-making process and the definition of strategic key metrics, data structuration, and the quality of data entry had to be considered for the optimal use of business analytics.


In this paper, we present the design and performance analysis of an innovative system for tracking Automated Guided Vehicles AGVs in indoor industrial scenarios. An on-board odometer provides information about the dynamic state of the AGV, allowing to predict its pose i.e., its position and orientation. At the same time, an external Ultra-Wide Band UWB wireless network provides the information necessary to compensate for the error drift accumulated by the odometer. Two novel alternative solutions for AGV tracking are proposed: i a classical Time Differences Of Arrivals TDOA approach with a single receiver; ii a "Twin-receiver" TDOA TTDOA approach, that requires the presence of two independent receivers on the AGV. The TTDOA configuration allows to indirectly estimate the orientation of the vehicle, thus increasing the estimation accuracy. Moreover, this allows direct estimation of the vehicle's movement even when the odometer is not working properly e.g., temporary failure or when the AGV is not moving e.g., at the start-up. The system performance with the two proposed tracking algorithms is evaluated in realistic conditions, by considering a consolidated UWB channel model and a simple on-board energy detector receiver. The impact of the wireless network architecture and of the presence of moving obstacles is analyzed. The obtained results show clearly that the implementation of a tracking system with a sub-centimeter accuracy can be realized by means of low-complexity UWB receiver and commercial odometers. The automatic movement of goods within a warehouse is one of the most appealing application of the proposed tracking system.


A low-voltage operation, small-die-area, fully integrated Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) as a clock generator is described in an advanced 32nm CMOS technology. The PLL employs a fully digital, 6-bit automatic frequency calibrator (AFC), and varactors for frequency fine-tuning. To improve the performance and lower down the cost in mobile SoC applications, the PLL is capable of operating at a supply voltage of 0.8V over production test with only regular threshold voltage (RVT) transistors. The power consumption is measured at 0.7mW when a VCO oscillates at 700MHz frequency under a supply voltage of 0.8V. The total die size is 200μm by 200μm, including global power/ground routing, input ESD cells and on-chip power decoupling capacitors. Production tests show that the PLL consumes less than 0.7mW with a 0.8V supply and rms period jitter is less than 3.3ps at an output frequency of 700MHz.


Summary. A prospective study of two groups of children aged 2 to 8 months, operated on for congenital heart disease complicated by pulmonary hypertension, has been conducted. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of the method of respiratory support in the postoperative period in children under one year with pulmonary hypertension in cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation. The first group (n=28) consisted of patients who were carried out inhalation of oxygen through a face mask, after a planned extubation. In the second group (n=21) the patients were transferred to the planned noninvasive ventilation via nasal CPAP. In the most critical period of rehabilitation the respiratory support increases the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, by the creation of the use of nasal CPAP. In group 2, the frequency of diagnosti c ventilator-associated pneumonia is smaller and the necessity for repeated transfer to the artificial lung ventilation was absent , compared with a group 1, p


In data sets with many predictors, algorithms for identifying a good subset of predictors are often used. Most such algorithms do not allow for any relationships between predictors. For example, stepwise regression might select a model containing an interaction AB but neither main effect A or B. This paper develops mathematical representations of this and other relations between predictors, which may then be incorporated in a model selection procedure. A Bayesian approach that goes beyond the standard independence prior for variable selection is adopted, and preference for certain models is interpreted as prior information. Priors relevant to arbitrary interactions and polynomials, dummy variables for categorical factors, competing predictors, and restrictions on the size of the models are developed. Since the relations developed are for priors, they may be incorporated in any Bayesian variable selection algorithm for any type of linear model. The application of the methods here is illustrated via the stochastic search variable selection algorithm of George and McCulloch (1993), which is modified to utilize the new priors. The performance of the approach is illustrated with two constructed examples and a computer performance dataset.


In this paper, we develop a new "recovery free" measurement technique able to apply arbitrary NBTI stress patterns of '1' & '0' on the gate of the transistor. This technique is very useful to evaluate the BTI degradation seen by the device in circuit conditions. With this method, it is shown that the NBTI shift does not depend on the bit arrangement within a sequence for bit length <1µs but only on the overall circuit activity. Such a result validates the standard approach based on regular AC stress to address NBTI concern at circuit level. Furthermore, all the revisited results obtained with our new measurement technique are successfully modeled using a dedicated numerical RC model. It gives new insights on the physical mechanisms responsible for NBTI in advanced nodes.


The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (which is a merger of former Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe University) is responsible for the design, construction and testing of the high temperature superconductor (HTS) current leads for the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) which is presently under construction at the Greifswald branch of the Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics. The current leads are of the binary type, the HTS part covering the temperature range between 4.5 K and 60 K while the heat exchanger covers the range between 60 K and room temperature being cooled by 50 K He. In total 2 prototypes and 14 series current leads are required with a nominal current of 14 kA and a maximum current of 18.2 kA. The paper describes the design and first test results of the prototype HTS current leads.


Olive-growing plays an important role in Southern Italy's agricultural sector. However, the profitability of many olive growing farms depends, still today, on public subsidies. The current changes in the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014-2020, oriented towards the direct payments decreasing, will inevitably have important effects on farmer incomes. This is why the olive farms will have to increase their level of direct profitability to ensure their resilience on the market. Therefore, the measurement of technical efficiency plays a crucial role in identifying more efficient management practices, and for this aim, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) represents the most widely used technique in productivity analysis. In this paper, constant returns to scale and variable returns to scale input-oriented models were used to investigate the technical and scale efficiency of intensive and traditional olive farms in Southern Italy, in order to highlight the performance of each farm. Results showed technical inefficiencies in both olive systems and, suggesting that improvements in the input allocation among all farms are needed. Findings could be useful to suggest the adoption of management strategies to optimize the use of inputs, aiming to achieve suitable levels of productive performance.


The paper gives data on the levels of toxic chemicals in the soil of an industrial town. Rationale is provided for dividing the microareas of an Aktobe residential zone in relation to the soil level of chemical carcinogens.


Learning difficulties are a disorder of students in learning from speaking, writing, listening, reading, and other abilities. The purpose of this study was to determine the type of learning difficulties and factors that influence student learning difficulties in class VIII D MTsN 5 Jember. This research formulates the problem of what types of difficulties are experienced and the factors that influence student learning difficulties in class VIII D MTsN 5 Jember. The population of this study were all class student in class VIII D MTsN 5 Jember. Data collection techniques using interview method. The results of the study show that there are some chikdren whi still experience difficulties in learning. In this case it is influenced by two factors, namely internal factors and external factors, internal factors that cause children to experience learning difficulties are the lack of interest from the student to learn, while external factors that affect student difficulties in learning can be grouped into three, namely family, school and community environment. From the results of this study it can be concluded that many learning difficulties are experienced by students in class VIII D MTsN 5 Jember caused by several factors that can be classified into two factors, namely internal factors (from within students) and external factors (from outside the student)


The overall therapeutic benefit of blocking the first generation of immune checkpoint pathways (PD-1 and CTLA-4) has been demonstrated across multiple tumor types, yielding long term protection in some patients. However, most patients do not respond to these single-agent approaches. Thus, collaborative strategies that seek to engage novel pathways and cell types may provide therapeutic options for patients wherein pre-existing host and tumor microenvironment factors do not favor current immunotherapeutic agents or in tumors where adaptive resistance has occurred.
 In recent years, the CD226 (DNAX Accessory Molecule-1 [DNAM-1]) axis has emerged as a relevant regulatory node in for natural killer (NK) and T cells - particularly in the context of tumor immunology. Similar to the competitive interplay between CTLA-4/CD28 and B7 (CD80/86), inhibitory receptors within the axis (e.g., CD96 [TACTILE]) effectively compete with the co-stimulatory receptor CD226 for binding to shared ligands (e.g., CD155), thereby impairing the initiation and/or promotion of ongoing antitumor immune responses. Indeed, genetic or monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based co-inhibition of CD96 with other immune checkpoints has proven efficacious in several nonclinical tumor models.
 CD96 has been shown to impact both T cell and NK cell function, offering a level of versatility as a target for cancer immunotherapy. For example, in the setting of anti-PD-1 neoadjuvant treatment, significantly improved survival of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor-bearing mice was observed following enhancement of NK cell activity by CD96 antibody treatment. Equally, pronounced effects on primary tumor growth following anti-PD-1, -TIGIT, and -CD96 mAb treatment in a colorectal carcinoma tumor model (CT26) was found to be dependent on CD8+ T cells.
 GSK6097608 is a clinical-stage fully-human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1)κ mAb that targets the inhibitory immune receptor CD96. GSK6097608 was identified, in part, for its ability prevent and disrupt CD96:CD155 interactions, thereby promoting T and NK cell function. GSK6097608 demonstrated concentration-dependent rescue of human immune cell activity following exposure to plate-bound recombinant CD155 (cognate receptor/ligand); an effect that was improved with concomitant TIGIT blockade. Notably, functional activity was found to be dependent on intact Fc-FcγR co-engagement, as potentiation of primary human T and NK cell function was lost when GSK6097608 was grafted on an Fc-attenuated backbone. Here, we describe some of the biophysical and functional characteristics that support the rationale for clinical evaluation of GSK6097608.
 Citation Format: Yan Degenhardt, Jun Guan, Peter Morley, David Jones, Michael Conner, Stephen Eastman, Wei Wang, Andrew Sanderson, Anand Ravindran, Julie Krueger, Iris Roth, James Smothers, Jeremy D. Waight. Discovery and characterization of the CD96 antibody GSK6097608, a high-affinity, antagonistic anti-CD96 antibody for cancer immunotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6268.


This manuscript intends to tell you about a downlink transmission scheme for femto cell networks grouping OFDMIDMA. We assign macro users and femto users to a separate sub carrier groups for transmission to eliminate cross tier interferences. We use IDMA with deterministic interleaver, basically to mitigate the cotier interferences within the same group of users. The system model and deterministic interleaver is explained clearly, the performance of the proposed scheme in terms of spectral efficiency and bit error rate (BER) is explained elaborately. Having analyzed the theoretical aspects and simulations demonstrates that with the combination of femto cell and grouping ,the proposed schemes levels better performance compared with usual OFDM-IDMA system and at the same time a lower complexity is exhibited than the later.


In order to effectively eliminate the noise in the signal, a de-noising algorithm is proposed based improved wavelet threshold algorithm. Firstly, the advantages and disadvantages of wavelet soft threshold and hard threshold method are analysis, and constructs a new threshold function with an arbitrary derivative, secondly the optimal thresholds are estimated by adjusting the parameter values, finally the simulation experiment are carried out to test the de-noising performance on the Matlab 2012 platform. The results show that, compared with other signal de-noising algorithms, the proposed algorithm can improve the signal to noise ratio, and mean square error is decreased, it can obtain a better de-noising effect and has higher practical application value


Here we report a rare case of simple hepatic cysts causing dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct. A 75-year old female was admitted to Kyushu University Hospital because of liver dysfunction. Ultrasonogram and CT scan showed two neighboring cysts in the liver (S2, S4), and dilatation of the peripheral bile duct in left lateral segment of the liver. Echo-guided percutaneous aspiration of cyst fluid showed the elevated levels of CA19-9, but malignant cell were not seen. These findings suggested that the compression by these neighboring simple hepatic cysts caused the stenosis of the bile duct. The dilatation of the bile duct disappeared after the percutaneous ethanol sclerosing therapy for cyst.


Direct-to-Satellite IoT allows devices on the Earth surface to directly reach Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites passing over them. Although an appealing approach towards a truly global IoT vision, scalability issues as well as highly dynamic topologies ask for dedicated protocol adaptations supported by novel models. This paper contributes to this research by introducing estimators and a transmission probability function to dynamically control the contending set of devices on a framed slotted Aloha model compatible with the LoRaWAN specification. In particular, we discuss techniques that account for particularities in the dynamics of sparse DtS-IoT constellations. Simulation analyses of a realistic case study show that >86% of the theoretical throughput is achievable in practice.


The nSpace and GeoTime visual analytic tools enable investigation and understanding of complex, ambiguous situations. nSpace is a system of systems supporting the whole analytic workflow. GeoTime provides insight into events and behaviors in time and space. Junior analysts used the analytic capabilities that these tools support to investigate the 2006 Visual Analytics Science and Technology contest data set and to produce an intelligence assessment report. Their work won first place in the corporate category. This article is a detailed case study describing how the nSpace and GeoTime tools created an analytical environment that enabled two novice analysts to examine a scenario, discover patterns, trace connections, assess evidence, visually represent meaningful hypotheses with associated evidence, track progress, collaborate with others, and then produce a final report. nSpace and GeoTime are developed in collaboration with analysts to support the investigation of large and complex multidimensional data sets.


Property and exclusivity are at the core of the intellectual rights. Traditionally, copyright or patent rights are seen as tools to exclude others. Oddly enough, copyright and patent holders have started to engage in non-exclusionary practices through open access, open source or open licensing schemes. By using exclusivity not to exclude others but to include them, to share and socialize intellectual property, by giving rights to use, reproduce, modify and distribute works or inventions, those mechanisms reverse the traditional narrative of intellectual property and introduce commons features within the exercise of the right itself. Interestingly, such licensing schemes are based on private ordering (in comparison to delimitation of public domain or copyright/patent limitations provided by law). This paper examines the normative effect and process of open access initiatives and particularly its so-called copyleft effect, that aims at contaminating any derivative work or invention with the same freedoms (and obligations to grant this freedom).It assesses the nature of mechanisms of lawmaking operated by open-access initiatives, as well as its normative sustainability as a project to enlarge the public domain within intellectual property, and to do so on a global scale. Without denying the benefit and welcomed novelty of open access schemes, this paper underlines an unsolvable contradiction of copyleft licensing as a norm caught between a private ordering device and a public interest ideology and objective. This ambiguity is particularly relevant when analysing the legal trick of the copyleft clause that propagates the ambition of the sharing ideology through a chain of successive contracts imposing the sharing principle at each stage. This copyleft feature makes the contract running with the digital asset and transforms a contractual provision to what resembles to a property right. It has also some inherent weaknesses as the extent and success of such a procedural contamination requires that the chain of contracts distributing copies of the work, invention and improvements, or derivative works not be broken at some stage. The paper reviews the three factors on which it depends: (1) the scope of the virality based on the definition of the derivative products to be contaminated, (2) the legal validity of the copyleft effect, and (3) the effective compatibility between the licenses.


Enclosed, controlled environments, stretching from sites of luxury consumption to urban food production, are proliferating in cities around the world, utilising increasingly advanced techniques for (re)creating and optimising microclimatic conditions for different purposes. However, the role of automated control systems – to filter, reprocess and reassemble atmospheric and metabolic flows with growing precision – remains under-researched. In this article, we explore the phenomenon of automated environmental control at three sites in the UK city of Sheffield: a botanical glasshouse, a luxury hotel and a university plant growth research lab. In doing so, we first show how controlled environments are constituted through specific relations between the inside and outside, which are embedded in inherently political urban contexts and processes. Second, we identify the technical and ecological tensions and limits of indoor environmental control at each site which limit the scope of automation, and the considerable amount of hidden labour and energy required to maintain and restabilise desired conditions. Drawing on these more established examples of ecological interiorisation in a key moment of transition, we raise urgent questions for critical urban and environmental geographers about the possible futures of controlled environments, their practical or selective scalability, and who and what will be left 'outside', when they are emerging as a strategic form of urban adaptation and immunisation in the face of converging ecological pressures.


Surface temperature variations have been well shown to transfer their thermal signature into the subsurface. This continuous heat transfer manifests in altered thermal conditions in the subsurface where temperature variations over a long lapse of time are more pronounced than shorter ones. Hence, repeated temperature depth profiles allow to investigate the effects of recent climate change on the subsurface. In this study we present recent temperature trends in more than 40 observation wells in Bavaria, Germany. Temperature depth profiles have been quarterly measured for one year between 1992-1994 and measurements have been repeated two times in 2019. The quarterly measurements reveal that the periodic seasonal temperature signal dampens to around 0.1 K at a depth of 15 m below ground surface. This implies that temperature variations below this depth can be used as climate archives as they store the temperature history of multiple years. The measurements span a time period of almost 30 years which is the most common period of reference for deriving climate normals according to the World Meteorological Organization. Therefore, the findings of recent subsurface temperature variations are assessed versus and complemented by 22 air temperature stations. Preliminary results show, that the linear regression of the annual mean air temperature since 1990 yields a slope of 0.35 ± 0.11 K 10a-1. In the subsurface, median temperature differences of the respective baselines from 1992-94 period and 2019 are 0.26, 0.13 and 0.07 K 10a-1 at 20, 40 and 60 m depth below surface, accordingly. Despite the common magnitude and continuous downward decrease, subsurface temperature differences exhibit a much higher variance compared to air temperature changes. This is due to local effects, such as varying thermal conductivities of the subsurface, latent heat transport caused by evapotranspiration, lateral and vertical groundwater flow, and anthropogenic influences. Our contribution will feature a comparison of this temperature change in response to recent atmospheric climate change in Bavaria and link these results with perceptions gained by similar investigations on local scale in other European regions.


While infection control has increased in profile both clinically and politically, it has also become embedded in clinical governance frameworks of NHS Trusts. Over the last few years the Department of Health has produced a number of documents in an attempt to highlight the increasing risk of healthcare associated infection. Today, the need for education as a key component in health care has been recognized as well as the need for patients and carers to receive information and be trained in, for example, technique of hand decontamination and catheter management following discharge from hospital. The objective of the education programme outlined in this article was to work alongside government guidelines in an attempt to improve education and understanding about infection control and management of infection in the catheterized patient.


Fluidized bed combustion is capable of utilizing a wider variety of fuels (including solid wastes) than is any other combustion process. Thus, it has the potential for wide application in systems for recovering energy from solid wastes in industry, commercial sites, institutions, forestry, and agriculture to produce electric power, process steam, process heat, and space heating. Three fluidized bed combustion concepts are identified for near-term application: atmospheric fluidized bed boiler, exhaust-heated gas turbine or combined cycle, and closed-cycle gas turbine.


Over the past decade, a flurry of media stories devoted to sports-related concussions have drawn attention to the previously "silent epidemic" of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in athletes. From 2001 to 2009, the annual number of sports-related TBI emergency department visits in individuals age 19 and under climbed from 153,375 to 248,414, an increase of increase of 62 percent. Multiple head injuries place youth athletes at risk for serious health conditions, including cerebral swelling, brain herniation, and even death — postconcussive conditions that have collectively (and controversially) been referred to as "second impact syndrome." Studies have shown that children and teens — and girls, in particular — are more likely to sustain a concussion and have a longer recovery time than adults. Recent research also suggests that even subconcussive hits in children and adolescents may result in longer-term health effects such as decreased cognitive functioning, increased rates of depression, memory problems, and mild cognitive impairment (a pre-Alzheimer's condition).


In versions 1 - 3 of the GTAP Data Base, there was only one type of natural resource endowment identified, namely agricultural land.1 Because this factor was only used in agricultural production, it was also, by default, a sector-specific factor. The presence of a specific, or fixed, factor serves to dampen the supply response in the sector in question. When demand increases, part of that increase is translated into increased land rents. Indeed, the only way to increase agricultural output is to substitute other factors of production for land. This type of situation stands in sharp contrast to some manufacturing activities, say the production of wearing apparel, where supply can be increased indefinitely — provided the demand is there — by simply building new factories and hiring more workers. The only thing that forces the supply curve for such a sector to slope upward is the fact that as additional workers are bid away from other activities, wages will rise. This is a general equilibrium supply constraint.


Sorafenib has been considered the standard of care for patients with advanced unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) since 2007 and numerous studies have investigated the role of markers involved in the angiogenesis process at both the expression and genetic level and clinical aspect. What results have ten years of research produced? Several clinical and biological markers are associated with prognosis. The most interesting clinical parameters are adverse events, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage, and macroscopic vascular invasion, while several single nucleotide polymorphisms and plasma angiopoietin-2 levels represent the most promising biological biomarkers. A recent pooled analysis of two phase III randomized trials showed that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, etiology and extra-hepatic spread are predictive factors of response to sorafenib, but did not identify any predictive biological markers. After 10 years of research into sorafenib there are still no validated prognostic or predictive factors of response to the drug in HCC. The aim of the present review was to summarize 10 years of research into sorafenib, looking in particular at the potential of associated clinical and biological markers to predict its efficacy in patients with advanced HCC.


Epoxy polymer overlays have been used for decades on existing bridge decks to protect the deck and extend its service life. The polymer overlay's ability to seal a bridge deck is now being specified for new construction. Questions exist about the amount of drying time needed to achieve an acceptable concrete moisture content to ensure an adequate bond to the polymer overlay. The 2007 Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) specifications for new bridge decks call for a 14-day wet curing period followed by 21 days of drying. If not enough drying is provided, the moisture within the concrete can form water vapor pressure at the overlay interface and induce delamination. If too much drying time is provided, projects are delayed, which can increase the total project cost or even delay overlay placement until the next spring. A testing procedure was developed to simulate a bridge deck in order to test the concrete moisture content and bonding strength of the overlay. Concrete slabs were cast to test typical concrete and curing conditions for a new bridge deck. Three concrete mixtures were tested to see what effect the water-cement ratio and the addition of fly ash might have on the overlay bond strength. Wet curing occurred at three different temperatures (40°F, 73°F, and 100°F) to see if temperature played a part in the bond strength as well. The concrete was then allowed to dry for 3, 7, 14, or 21 days. Five epoxy-polymer overlay systems that had been preapproved by KDOT were each used in conjunction with the previously mentioned concrete and curing conditions. After this, the slabs were setup to perform pull-off tests to test the tensile rupture strength. The concrete slabs with the different epoxy overlays were heated to 122-125°F to replicate summer bridge deck temperatures. Half of the pull-off tests were performed when the slabs were heated and half were performed once the slabs had cooled back down to 73°F ± 5°F. Results from the pull-off tests as well as results from a moisture meter taken on the concrete prior to the overlay placement were compared and analyzed. Testing conditions were compared with each other to see which had a larger effect on the epoxy polymer overlay's bond strength. The results showed that concrete bridge deck polymer overlays could be placed sooner than 21 days after concrete placement and still have an adequate bond.


Microstrip patch antennas are strong candidates for use in many wireless communication applications. This paper proposes the use of a patch antenna with U-shaped slot to achieve wideband application with very low return loss. The objective of this paper is to design, construct and fabricate microstrip antennas suitable for Wi-Max application that centred at frequency 5.25GHz. The antenna must operate within the band of 5.25GHz band. This band is currently being used for industrial, medical and scientific applications. The antenna is proposed to be used as a transmitting as well as receiving antenna in wireless network and the mentioned applications. A thick substrate with finite ground dimensions broadens the bandwidth of the antenna. The proposed antenna reduced the return loss as well as increases the bandwidth of the antenna.


The diagnosis of a cholecystocolic fistula has often presented a dilemma to the practicing physician. Routine imaging modalities to confirm this diagnosis have not proven extremely successful. The presence of a small fistulous tract from the gallbladder to the colon is often difficult to demonstrate radiographically. However, with the advent of the newer hepatobiliary radioisotopic scanning agents, the ability to visualize the intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts as well as the presence of the intestinal activity of the radiotracers has improved considerably. The authors present a case of cholecystocolic fistula that was adequately demonstrated with a Tc-99m-PIPIDA hepatobiliary scan. This article is the first to report demonstration of this type of fistula with hepatobiliary scanning.


Heritable symbioses are thought to be important for the maintenance of mutually beneficial relationships (1), and for facilitating major transitions in individuality, such as the evolution of the eukaryotic cell (2, 3). In stony corals, vertical transmission has evolved repeatedly (4), providing a unique opportunity to investigate the genomic basis of this complex trait. We conducted a comparative analysis of 25 coral transcriptomes to identify orthologous genes exhibiting both signatures of positive selection and convergent amino acid substitutions in vertically transmitting lineages. The frequency of convergence events tends to be higher among vertically transmitting lineages, consistent with the proposed role of natural selection in driving the evolution of convergent transmission mode phenotypes (5). Of the 10,774 total orthologous genes identified, 403 exhibited at least one molecular convergence event and evidence of positive selection in at least one vertically transmitting lineage. Functional enrichments among these top candidate genes include processes previously implicated in mediating the coral-Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis including endocytosis, immune response, cytoskeletal protein binding and cytoplasmic membrane-bounded vesicles (6). We also identified 100 genes showing evidence of positive selection at the particular convergence event. Among these, we identified several novel candidate genes, highlighting the value of our approach for generating new insight into the mechanistic basis of the coral symbiosis, in addition to uncovering host mechanisms associated with the evolution of heritable symbioses.


PURPOSE
To quantify the visual functional changes caused by pinhole glasses.

METHODS
Healthy subjects underwent ophthalmic examinations including uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and corrected near visual acuity (CNVA), pupil size, depth of focus (DOF), accommodative amplitude, visual field (VF) test, contrast sensitivity (CS), and stereopsis. Subjects underwent the same examinations while wearing pinhole glasses 1 week later.

RESULTS
Forty-eight eyes of 48 subjects (24 male and 24 female) with a mean age of 35.5±6.7 years and a mean spherical equivalent of -2.4±3.3 diopters (D) were enrolled. The pinhole glasses significantly improved UDVA and CNVA (logMAR) from 0.44±0.46 and 0.26±0.40 to 0.19±0.25 and 0.14±0.22, respectively. The pinhole glasses markedly enlarged pupils from 3.6±0.5 mm photopic size to 6.0±0.5 mm, very close to the mesopic size of 6.2±0.6 mm. Mean DOF and accommodative amplitude also significantly increased by approximately 50%, while VF featured a general reduction of sensitivity. Mean deviation (MD) significantly decreased from -0.48±1.57 to -4.22±1.66 dB, and visual field index (VFI) decreased from 99.4±0.7% to 98.4±1.3%. The CS decreased significantly at all four spatial frequencies, and stereopsis deteriorated with pinhole glasses.

CONCLUSIONS
The pinhole glasses improved visual acuity, DOF, and accommodative amplitude; however, they resulted in decreased visual quality including general reduction of VF sensitivity, CS, and stereopsis. Therefore, particular attention is needed when wearing pinhole glasses while driving, playing sports, or working with instruments. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02111356.).


Power autonomy is an important requirement for wireless sensor nodes. Thermoelectric generators can produce sufficient power for low power applications. Due to varying temperature, a power management circuit will be required. This paper presents such a power management circuit, realized in the AMIS I3T80 CMOS technology. It contains a Dickson charge pump with a variable number of stages as a DC/DC converter. A controller optimizes the number of stages of the charge pump, consuming 1.4 muA. The maximum efficiency of the charge pump is 82%, leading to a total efficiency that can reach up to 58%.


Tracer kinetic modeling with dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) requires a plasma time-activity curve (PTAC) as an input function. Several image-derived input function (IDIF) methods that rely on drawing the region of interest (ROI) in large vascular structures have been proposed to overcome the problems caused by the invasive approach for obtaining the PTAC, especially for small-animal studies. However, the manual placement of ROIs for estimating IDIF is subjective and labor-intensive, making it an undesirable and unreliable process. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid clustering method (HCM) that objectively delineates ROIs in dynamic PET images for the estimation of IDIFs, and demonstrate its application to the mouse PET studies acquired with [ 18F]Fluoro-2-deoxy-2-D-glucose (FDG). We begin our HCM using k-means clustering for background removal. We then model the time-activity curves using polynomial regression mixture models in curve clustering for heart structure detection. The hierarchical clustering is finally applied for ROI refinements. The HCM achieved accurate ROI delineation in both computer simulations and experimental mouse studies. In the mouse studies, the predicted IDIF had a high correlation with the gold standard, the PTAC derived from the invasive blood samples. The results indicate that the proposed HCM has a great potential in ROI delineation for automatic estimation of IDIF in dynamic FDG-PET studies.


BACKGROUND
On 29 March 2008 the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) Scientific Committee on Occupational and Environmental Dermatoses organized a Skin Notation Workshop hosted by the 11th International Percutaneous Penetration Perspectives Conference (La Grande Motte, France). Skin notation (S) was chosen as a topic for discussion because this is the only example of existing regulation in the field of dermal risk assessment. The issue was discussed in a previous workshop held in Siena, Italy in 2006 with the objective of focussing on the problems related to S, the different assignment criteria and the attempts to improve the S system made by various international and governmental agencies. A position paper was subsequently published.

OBJECTIVES
The workshop in France was a continuation of this activity with the aim of evaluating how the different strategies can improve S.

METHODS AND DISCUSSION
The Workshop was divided into two sessions. The first was dedicated to lectures focused on different aspects of S. In the second session participants discussed key issues with the aim of exploring the actions needed to improve international S. systems.


SUMMARY Stomatopod crustaceans have complex and diverse visual systems. Among their many unique features are a specialized ommatidial region (the midband) that enables the eye to have multiple overlapping visual fields, as well as sets of spectral filters that are intercalated at two levels between tiers of photoreceptors involved in polychromatic color vision. Although the physiology and visual function of stomatopod eyes have been studied for many years, how these unique visual features originated and diversified is still an open question. In order to investigate how stomatopods have attained the current complexity in visual function, we have combined physiological and morphological information (e.g. number of midband rows, number of filters in the retina, and the spectral properties of filters) with new phylogenetic analyses of relationships among species based on nucleotide sequence data from two nuclear (18S and 28S rDNA) and two mitochondrial [16S and cytochrome oxidase I (COI)] genes. Based on our recovered phylogenetic relationships among species, we propose two new superfamilies within the Stomatopoda: Hemisquilloidea and Pseudosquillodea. Maximum likelihood ancestral state reconstructions indicate that ancestral stomatopod eyes contained six midband rows and four intrarhabdomal filters, illustrating that the visual physiological complexity originated early in stomatopod evolutionary history. While the two distal filters contain conservative sets of filter pigments, the proximal filters show more spectral diversity in filter types, particularly in midband row 2, and are involved in tuning the color vision system to the photic environment. In particular, a set of related gonodactyloid families (Gonodactylidae, Protosquillidae, Takuidae) inhabiting shallow, brightly lit coral reef waters contain the largest diversity of filter pigments, which are spectrally placed relative to the underlying photoreceptors to take advantage of the broad spectrum of light available in the environment.


In Gruenberg v. Goldmine Plantation, Inc., the Louisiana Court of Appeal noted that "[o]ur substantive law...offers no remedy for the minority shareholder with substantial holdings who is out of control and trapped in a close[] corporation." Such an observation can be explained, at least in part, by the lack of a "shareholder oppression" doctrine in Louisiana — a doctrine designed to protect minority shareholders in closely held corporations from the improper exercise of majority control. Times, however, have changed. With the passage of the new Louisiana Business Corporation Act (LBCA), Louisiana becomes the fortieth state in the country to provide statutory relief for oppressive conduct. Effective January 1, 2015, minority shareholders in Louisiana closely held corporations who are unjustifiably denied their participatory and financial rights can seek an escape from their "trapped" status by compelling the corporation to purchase their shares. This article examines the oppression provisions of the new LBCA. The provisions reflect a great deal of thought and wisely incorporate many of the developments in oppression law over the past few decades. Moreover, the provisions unquestionably improve the rights of minority owners in Louisiana closely held corporations. While this article is not intended to provide an exhaustive treatment, it does seek to present a summary of the provisions and to call attention to some of the more noteworthy language. Part II discusses the nature of the closely held corporation and explains the national development of the doctrine of shareholder oppression. Part III provides an overview of the LBCA's oppression scheme and an analysis of selected liability and remedy provisions of the statute.


This paper examines the microeconomic motivation of governments to provide tax incentives for foreign direct investment. Author applies the classical models of oligopoly to subsidy competition, endogenousing investment incentives, but leaving tax rates exogenous. According to the conventional wisdom, subsidy competition leads to overprovision of incentives. This paper suggests that, in the oligopolistic framework, supranational coordination can either decrease or increase the supply of subsidies. Further, in the setting of subsidy regulation, the host country's corporate income tax rate has an ambiguous effect on the provision of incentives.


Supplementary data tml http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/suppl/2014/05/08/rspb.2014.0556.DC1.h "Data Supplement" References http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1785/20140556.full.html#ref-list-1 This article cites 47 articles, 7 of which can be accessed free This article is free to access Subject collections (139 articles) molecular biology  • (117 articles) genetics  • (1639 articles) ecology  • Articles on similar topics can be found in the following collections


In this report a graphical method to analyze the direct suspension-cyclon heat exchangers, in multi-stage configuration is presented. Each tube-cyclon stage is regarded as an equilibrium unit. The modification of the graphical method is considered in the case of solid entrained by the current of gas leaving the cyclon, and of gas by-passed in solid feed. The graphical method of analysis is useful to evaluate the operating conditions of the heat exchanger


Nowadays, surgery still remains the mainstay treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Nevertheless, some GIST patients have also experienced tumor recurrence/metastasis even with R0 resection. Meanwhile, the prognosis of GIST has been dramatically improved after targeted drug imatinib used in clinical practice for GIST, but tumor recurrence/metastasis still occurred in some patients with high-risk when adjuvant treatment course ended, as such, the 2008 modified NIH criterion, which is used to guide the adjuvant treatment of GIST, still has shortcomings. This criterion can not accurately predict the postoperative recurrence probability and also fails to achieve the purpose of individualized treatment, especially for those patients with high mitotic index who may experience insufficient treatment. Therefore, some domestic and foreign scholars realize that some high-risk GIST lesions with high mitotic index exhibit higher malignant biological behavior, namely highest risk GIST, which is easier to present tumor recurrence/metastasis. The appropriate classification criteria and treatment course are still needed to further exploration.


Cadmium (Cd) pathology was studied in an insect cell line (Aedes albopictusC6/36) at the ultrastructural level. The most prominent pathological changes occurred at the level of the nucleus: chromatin clumping, indentations, filling and dilatation of the perinuclear cisternae and an increased amount of bound ribosomes were observed. In the cytoplasm, condensation and swelling of mitochondria, increase of both free and membrane-bound ribosomes, filling and dilatation of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and increase of the lysosomal system were the most conspicuous effects. The increased content of the perinuclear and cytoplasmic cisternae was probably due to an increased protein synthesis or a disturbance of the protein export system. This picture differed clearly from the osmotically swollen electron-lucent cisternae that have been described in other pathological situations. The enhancement of the lysosomal system was paralleled by a slight but significant stimulation of the acid phosphatase activity in the sublethal Cd concentration range. In vitro experiments suggested that Cd probably acts directly on this enzyme. Abnormal medium acidification in cultures treated with low Cd levels was correlated with an increased production of lactic acid. Together with the morphological data, this suggested a Cd-induced impairment of the aerobic metabolism.


Background: Thyroid hemiagenesis is a rare congenital anomaly in which one lobe of thyroid gland fails to develop. There is a higher incidence of associated thyroid disorders in patients with thyroid hemiagenesis. Case presentation: A 32-year-old female presented to a hospital with complaint of painless neck swelling of 3-month duration with associated globus sensations. There were no history of thyroid related problems or thyroid related treatment prior to her presentation. Physical examination demonstrated a mobile right thyroid swelling but no obvious nodular contour. Neck ultrasound demonstrated absent left lobe of thyroid gland, right thyroid gland with solitary nodule of TI-RADS 2 and isthmus in situ. Extensive search for possible ectopic thyroid tissue was negative. Thyroid function test was euthyroid. Conclusion: Early detection of this entity and follow up monitoring of thyroid morphologic and hormonal function have paramount importance.


The pathogenesis of respiratory diseases is complex, and its occurrence and development also involve a series of pathological processes. The present research methods are have difficulty simulating the natural developing state of the disease in the body, and the results cannot reflect the real growth state and function in vivo. The development of microfluidic chip technology provides a technical platform for better research on respiratory diseases. The size of its microchannel can be similar to the space for cell growth in vivo. In addition, organ-on-a-chip can achieve long-term co-cultivation of multiple cells and produce precisely controllable fluid shear force, periodically changing mechanical force, and perfusate with varying solute concentration gradient. To sum up, the chip can be used to analyze the specific pathophysiological changes of organs meticulously, and it is widely used in scientific research on respiratory diseases. The focus of this review is to describe and discuss current studies of artificial respiratory systems based on organ-on-a-chip technology and to summarize their applications in the real world.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in tissue development and the pathology of many diseases, however, the effects and roles of miRNAs in the development of semen abnormalities in infertile males have not yet been investigated. In this study, we analyzed and compared the miRNA expression profiles of abnormal semen from 86 infertile males with normal semen from 86 healthy males using an miRNA microarray. In total, 52 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the abnormal semen of infertile males and the normal semen of healthy males. The differential expression of selected miRNAs was validated by real time qRT-PCR and northern blotting: miR-574-5p, miR-297, miR-122, miR-1275, miR-373, miR-185 and miR-193b were upregulated (fold change>1.5, p<0.001) and miR-100, miR-512-3p, miR-16, miR-19b, miR-23b and miR-26a were downregulated (fold change<0.667, p<0.001) in the semen of infertile males with semen abnormalities. In conclusion, this study provides new insights into specific miRNAs that are associated with semen abnormalities in infertile males.


A Research Report Submitted To the School Of Humanities in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters of Arts in International Relations


In this paper, we propose a generation of feature image for face recognition. Feature image is generated using Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), which tries to best classify different face images by maximizing the individual difference between face images. Low, Mid, and High frequency components of DCT are used to hold different information of face by providing a local description of different facial components such as detailed smooth region description and, effective edge representation. Reduction in different frequency components is achieved using statistical measure such as standard deviation. A comparison of proposed work with other standard methods is done on ORL face datasets. An experimental result shows a significant improvement of the proposed scheme.


Almost everyone is talking about the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). The 4IR wave is so strong that change is inevitable, including within the education setting, making Education 4.0 the famous buzzword among educationists today. What is Education 4.0? Do educators really understand it or they simply follow what others are doing. Education 4.0 is a respond to the needs of IR4.0 where human and technology are aligned to enable new possibilities. The paper explains the nine trends of Education 4.0, preference of the 21st century learners, skills for 21st century teachers, share some ideas on how to implement Education 4.0 trends in the language classrooms and students' feedback on their experience in learning in the Education 4.0 classroom.


Background : Capsaicin induces the release of substance P(SP), and depletes and prevents reaccumulation of SP and C type nerve fibers. Trophic role of SP and the neural mechanisms of hair growth control remain obscure. Minoxidil is widely used as a topical agent for hair loss. Objective : The effects of coapplication of capsaicin and minoxidil on hair growth and cycle, compared with application of capsaicin or minoxidil alone, was evaluated. Methods : After depilation of the back skin of mice, we divided mice into four groups, i.e., control, capsaicin, minoxidil and coapplied group. We examined hair regrowth after depilation in terms of macroscopic examination, image analysis using phototrichograms, measurement of hair regrowth length, microscopic examination and measurement of mast cell count, and [methyl-H] thymidine uptake. Results : The results are summarized as follows 1. Hair growth of capsaicin group and minoxidil group began faster than that of coapplied group and control. Thereafter, hair growth of capsaicin group was observed as the fastest, followed by minoxidil group, coapplied group, and control. 2. The percentage of the area of hair regrowth in coapplied group was lower than capsaicin group, similar to minoxidil group, and higher than control at the 15th day after depilation. At the 30th day after depilation, there was no significant difference between coapplied group and capsaicin group. 3. Hair of coapplied group grew steadily up to the 30th day after depilation, growing taller than any other group. 4. On microscopic examination, capsaicin was able to make the hair cycle faster and shorter than control, but minoxidil group and coapplied group prolonged the anagen phase of hair cycle. 5.Though mast cell count decreased in all four groups after depilation, capsaicin group decreased significantly more than the other group. 6.[Methyl-H] thymidine uptake increased in all four groups until the 5th day after depilation, and then decreased. The uptake of coapplied group was similar to that of minoxidil group. Conclusion: These results suggest that capsaicin can not only induce the anagen phase quickly, but also sustain constant effect on hair growth. Minoxidil can also induce the anagen phase fast, and prolong the duration of anagen phase. Therefore, it is concluded that coapplication of capsaicin and minoxidil can grow hair quickly and steadily.


Background Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with late onset sepsis have increased risk of neurodisability. Care bundles to reduce these infections in NICU are effective. The impact of care bundles on long-term neurodevelopmental outcome has not been described. We aimed to determine if implementation of a sepsis-reduction care bundle was associated with improvement in neurodevelopmental outcomes in VLBW infants. Methods A multimodal sepsis improvement bundle was implemented in a regional NICU from July 2006. This bundle focused on hand hygiene and line care improvements. Mortality and neurological morbidity rates were compared pre- and post intervention (Jan '01 - Dec '07 vs. Jul '08 – Dec '12). Infants had neurodevelopmental assessment at 24 months corrected gestation with Bayley Scales of Infant development. Moderate cognitive disability was defined as a cognitive/language score below 2SDs, moderate motor disability as a motor score below 2SDs. Results Birth weight, gestation and gender were similar in both cohorts. Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus septicaemia rates reduced from 7/1000 care days before implementation to 2.8/1000 in 2012. Mortality rates were similar between the groups (66/426 vs. 40/310; p = 0.3). There was no difference in moderate motor disability (17/85 vs. 3/42; p = 0.07). There was a significant reduction in moderate cognitive disability (16/86 vs. 2/44; p = 0.03) after implementation of the sepsis care bundle. Conclusions Sepsis-reduction care bundles improve the 2-year neurodevelopmental outcome of VLBW infants. The improvement seen in cognitive function is likely to translate into significantly less long-term learning disability.


Corvids recognize when their caches are at risk of being stolen by others and have developed strategies to protect these caches from pilferage. For instance, Clark's nutcrackers will suppress the number of caches they make if being observed by a potential thief. However, cache protection has most often been studied using competitive contexts, so it is unclear whether corvids can adjust their caching in beneficial ways to accommodate non-competitive situations. Therefore, we examined whether Clark's nutcrackers, a non-social corvid, would flexibly adapt their caching behaviors to a cooperative context. To do so, birds were given a caching task during which caches made by one individual were reciprocally exchanged for the caches of a partner bird over repeated trials. In this scenario, if caching behaviors can be flexibly deployed, then the birds should recognize the cooperative nature of the task and maintain or increase caching levels over time. However, if cache protection strategies are applied independent of social context and simply in response to cache theft, then cache suppression should occur. In the current experiment, we found that the birds maintained caching throughout the experiment. We report that males increased caching in response to a manipulation in which caches were artificially added, suggesting the birds could adapt to the cooperative nature of the task. Additionally, we show that caching decisions were not solely due to motivational factors, instead showing an additional influence attributed to the behavior of the partner bird.


"From Jamestown to Jefferson" sheds new light on the contexts surrounding Thomas Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom and on the emergence of the American understanding of religious freedom by examining its deep roots in colonial Virginia's remarkable religious diversity. Challenging traditional assumptions about life in early Virginia, the essays in this volume show that the colony was more religious, more diverse, and more tolerant than commonly supposed. The presence of groups as disparate as Quakers, African and African American slaves, and Presbyterians, alongside the established Anglicans, generated a dynamic tension between religious diversity and attempts at hegemonic authority that was apparent from Virginia's earliest days. The contributors, all renowned scholars of Virginia history, treat in detail the complex interactions among Virginia's varied religious groups, both in and out of power, as well as the seismic changes unleashed by the Statute's adoption in 1786. "From Jamestown to Jefferson" suggests that the daily religious practices and struggles that took place in the town halls, backwoods settlements, plantation houses, and slave quarters that dotted the colonial Virginia landscape helped create a social and political space within which a new understanding of religious freedom, represented by Jefferson's Statute, could emerge. "Contributors" Edward L. Bond, Alabama A&M University * Richard E. Bond, Virginia Wesleyan College * Thomas E. Buckley, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University/Graduate Theological Union * Daniel L. Dreisbach, American University, School of Public Affairs * Philip D. Morgan, Johns Hopkins University * Monica Najar, Lehigh University * Paul Rasor, Virginia Wesleyan College * Brent Tarter, Library of Virginia"


The HIV-1 accessory proteins ( Nef, Vpu,Vpr and Vif ) are essential for viral replication, and may be processed for recognition by CTL. However, only limited data are available to evaluate the CTL responses against these proteins in naturally infected individuals. In this study, CTL responses against the accessory proteins of HIV-1 clade B(HIV-1B) and C (HIV-1C) were analyzed in 61 HIV-1 infected individuals and 10 HIV-1 negative controls by using 142 overlapping peptides according to the consensus sequence spanning the entire accessory proteins. Peptide-specific interferon-γ(IFN-γ) production was measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. Either HIV-1B or HIV-1C accessory proteins serve as targets for HIV-1-specific CTL, especially the peptides in Nef region are targeted at higher cumulative magnitude and wider frequency than other accessory proteins(P0.001). The cumulative magnitude and the frequency of CTL responses between clade B and C are not significantly different (P0.05), including the immunodominant domains. The cumulative magnitude of HIV-1–specific CD8+T-cell responses to accessory proteins of HIV-1B or HIV-1C contribute nearly 21% of the total HIV-1–specific CTL response. These data indicate that, despite the sizes of these accessory proteins targeted by CTL in natural HIV-1 infection is very small, these proteins contribute considerably to the total HIV-1–specific CD8+ T-cell responses. These findings are relevant for the evaluation of the specificity and breadth of immune responses in naturally infected individuals, and will be useful for the design and testing of candidate HIV-1 vaccines.


Current Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms still heavily rely on handcrafted neural network architectures. We propose a novel approach to automatically find strong topologies for continuous control tasks while only adding a minor overhead in terms of interactions in the environment. To achieve this, we combine Neuroevolution techniques with off-policy training and propose a novel architecture mutation operator. Experiments on five continuous control benchmarks show that the proposed Actor-Critic Neuroevolution algorithm often outperforms the strong Actor-Critic baseline and is capable of automatically finding topologies in a sample-efficient manner which would otherwise have to be found by expensive architecture search.


In an attempt to discover novel compounds with high activity and low toxicity,a series of new o,o-dimethyl-2,6-pyridinyl diformyloxy alkyl phosphonates 4a~4i have been designed and synthesized by the reaction of 2,6-pyridinyl diformyloxy chloride with 1-hydroxy-2-alkyl phosphonate.The structures of all new compounds were characterized by elementary analysis,IR,1H NMR and MS spectroscopies.The results of preliminary bioassay indicate that some of the target compounds have obviously promotive action for plant growth against stalk of barnyard grass.


Until Israel's foundation Turkey did not pay much attention to Palestine in the same way that its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, had done. Nonetheless within a few decades of Israel's foundation in 1948, the Jewish state became a source of contention for Turkish-Arab relations. Turkey was one of the countries that recognized Israel soon after its proclamation of independence. During UN efforts and reports to find a way out for ArabIsraeli conflict before 1948 Turkey had supported Arab arguments opposing any kind of disintegration in Palestine lands. Turkey's foreign policy towards Israeli-Arab conflict had a neutral-active perspective which could ease the process of confidence building measures and solution of matters. For a long time, Turkey was a peace facilitator having good relations with both sides. The sharp turn came at the beginning of 2000's. Thus arguments on Turkey's intend to be "new leader of Sunni Islam" in the Middle East, particularly since 2008 escalated especially after the Israeli takeover raid. The aim of this study is to unearth and analyse the so-called new foreign policy concept and the role of Israeli takeover raid in 2010 Gaza flotilla. Turkey's shifting foreign policy concept, arguments on its post-Ottoman tendencies, leadership preferences and possible effects on its fluctuating popularity in the Arab communities considering possible challenges, advantages and disadvantages are also analysed.


ABSTRACT Education is associated with improved baseline cognitive performance in older adults, but the association with maintenance of cognitive function is less clear. Education may be associated with different types of active cognitive reserve in those following different cognitive trajectories. We used data on n = 5642 adults aged >60 from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) over 5 waves (8 years). We used growth mixture models to test if the association between educational attainment and rate of change in verbal fluency or immediate recall varied by latent class trajectory. For recall, 91.5% (n = 5164) of participants were in a gradual decline class and 8.5% (n = 478) in a rapid decline class. For fluency, 90.0% (n = 4907) were in a gradual decline class and 10.0% (n = 561) were in a rapid decline class. Educational attainment was associated with improved baseline performance for both verbal fluency and recall. In the rapidly declining classes, educational attainment was not associated with rate of change for either outcome. In the verbal fluency gradual decline class, education was associated with higher (an additional 0.05–0.38 words per 2 years) or degree level education (an additional 0.04–0.42 words per 2 years) when compared to those with no formal qualifications. We identified no evidence of a protective effect of education against rapid cognitive decline. There was some evidence of active cognitive reserve for verbal fluency but not recall, which may reflect a small degree of domain-specific protection against age-related cognitive decline.


Performance evaluation of an air interface has a great importance in evaluating the overall system capacity of any mobile cellular network. In the context of the forthcoming European third generation universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), this paper illustrates the use of the OPNET modeler/radioTM tool to develop a CDMA system-level simulation platform. Emphasis has been put on radio functionalities of the simulator, as well as the most useful OPNET features used. A dedicated section deals with the radio pipeline removal as seen as an efficient solution to mitigate the simulation duration growth when increasing the network complexity.


Within the bounds of the ‶Peterhead″ Granite, a mass some 53 square miles in extent, a number of dykes are exposed. With three exceptions, these occur on the coastal section, but, as the geological formations inland are greatly obscured by drift and alluvium, attempts to establish proof of the persistence or otherwise of the dykes have failed, unless in the case of one rock type which appears to stretch as a dyke from Buchan Ness, beyond the limits of the granite, to the village of Rhynie. Previous work on these intrusions is confined to notes on exposures of dolerite and quartz porphyry in the Memoir of the Geological Survey accompanying sheet 87 (1),1 records of dolerite in the Memoir of 76 (2), and descriptions, together with an analysis, of quartz-dolerite given in Memoirs 86 and 96 (3), the presence of most of the dykes not being mentioned. Twenty-five occurrences of dykes within the granite were examined. Two of these were quartz dolerites, nine felsites and quartz porphyries, and fourteen porphyrites. They all show chilled margins against the granite, the latter being apparently unaffected by the intrusions. Eight quartz-dolerite dykes outside the limits of the granite were also examined. The Quartz Dolerites. After examination of the two exposures of this rock within the granite other eight dolerite dykes, mapped by the Geological Survey between Rhynie and Buchan Ness, were investigated in the field and further dealt with as a series in the laboratory. Dr H. H. Read suggests, in the Huntly


Abstract Adhesive bonding is one of the simplest and most common methods used for joining materials. It is applied in both production and repair works. The most commonly used adhesives are cyanoacrylates, due to the possibility of combining various materials and short curing time. One of the ways to assess the quality of the adhesive used is testing the shear strength of bonded joints. Three adhesives commonly available on the Polish market, from various manufacturers and with different prices per gram of product were tested. The polymer materials bonded were poly(methyl methacrylate) and polycabonate, since they are broadly used in the automotive industry and household equipment. The study revealed significant differences in bonding strength, reaching as much as 38% The adhesive's price was not commensurate with the quality of the product tested in all cases.


Background A study from Scotland reported that the p53 mutation frequency in breast tumors is associated with socio-economic deprivation. Methods We analyzed the association of the tumor p53 mutational status with tumor characteristics, education, and self-reported annual household income (HI) among 173 breast cancer patients from the greater Baltimore area, United States. Results p53 mutational frequency was significantly associated with HI. Patients with < $15,000 HI had the highest p53 mutation frequency (21%), followed by the income group between $15,000 and $60,000 (18%), while those above $60,000 HI had the fewest mutations (5%). When dichotomized at $60,000, 26 out of 135 patients in the low income category had acquired a p53 mutation, while only 2 out of 38 with a high income carried a mutation (P < 0.05). In the adjusted logistic regression analysis with 3 income categories (trend test), the association between HI and p53 mutational status was independent of tumor characteristics, age, race/ethnicity, tobacco smoking and body mass. Further analyses revealed that HI may impact the p53 mutational frequency preferentially in patients who develop an estrogen receptor (ER)-negative disease. Within this group, 42% of the low income patients (< $15,000 HI) carried a mutation, followed by the middle income group (21%), while those above $60,000 HI did not carry mutations (P trend < 0.05). Conclusions: HI is associated with the p53 mutational frequency in patients who develop an ER-negative disease. Furthermore, high income patients may acquire fewer p53 mutations than other patients, suggesting that lifetime exposures associated with socio-economic status may impact breast cancer biology.