A number of bacteria were isolated from different anoxic reactors. Those having denitrifying potential were tested for their ability to denitrify under aerobic conditions. The activity of their denitrifying enzymes varied from partial inactivation by oxygen (strains NO2B9 and TCET1) to oxygen-independent activity in a strain named SGLY2 which was tentatively identified as Comamonas sp. The effect of different aeration conditions on growth and on denitrification of SGLY2 was studied more extensively. This strain was able to consume oxygen and nitrate simultaneously with the production of nitrogen and without build-up of nitrite. The dissimilatory nitrate-reductase of nitrate-adapted cells was found to be more active in the presence of oxygen than in micro-aerobic or strictly anaerobic conditions.


In this paper electro-optic characteristics of ZnSe have been investigated using density functional theory. The Kohn-Sham equations were solved using the full potential linear augmented plane wave approach (FP-LAPW). We used GGA, LDA+U and GGA+U approximations for the exchange correlation potential. The computations were done for energy levels from 0 to 14 eV considering the effect of d-orbital and proper choice of Ueff =U-J. The width of band gap has been corrected so that it is much closer to experimental result. The theoretical values of band gap and the refractive index have been improved comparing to their experimented values.


Tensor based singular spectrum analysis (SSA) has been introduced as an extension of traditional singular value decomposition (SVD) based SSA. In the SSA decomposition stage PARAFAC tensor factorization has been employed. Using tensor factorization methods enable SSA to perform much better in nonstationary and underdetermined cases. The results of applying the proposed method to both synthetic and real data show that this system outperforms the original SSA, when used for single channel data decomposition in nonstationary and underdetermined source separation.


Person detection is a crucial task for mobile robots navigating in human-populated environments. LiDAR sensors are promising for this task, thanks to their accurate depth measurements and large field of view. Two types of LiDAR sensors exist: the 2D LiDAR sensors, which scan a single plane, and the 3D LiDAR sensors, which scan multiple planes, thus forming a volume. How do they compare for the task of person detection? To answer this, we conduct a series of exper-iments, using the public, large-scale JackRabbot dataset and the state-of-the-art 2D and 3D LiDAR-based person detectors (DR-SPAAM and CenterPoint respectively). Our experiments include multiple aspects, ranging from the basic performance and speed comparison, to more detailed analysis on localization accuracy and robustness against distance and scene clutter. The insights from these experiments highlight the strengths and weaknesses of 2D and 3D LiDAR sensors as sources for person detection, and are especially valuable for designing mobile robots that will operate in close proximity to surrounding humans (e.g. service or social robot).


Radionuclide venography performed by foot vein injection of 99mTc MAA and 99mTc DTPA in a 34-year-old man approximately one year after inferior vena caval ligation demonstrated an unusual collateral pathway between the veins of the lower extremities and the portal vein, and also evidence for multiple hepatic emboli. This is a newly recognized sequela of inferior vena caval ligation.


Nonlinear electron dynamics in a coherent wave packet is investigated via Fokker-Planck equations. Electrons are trapped (and detrapped) by the coherent wave potential whose amplitude is large so that the electron bounce time in the potential well is smaller than the electron transit time through the packet. This effect is now included into the wave-induced friction and diffusion terms in the Fokker-Planck equation. The quasi-steady state distribution of the electrons is obtained to have a tail which is neither a quasilinear one nor a plateau. The wave induced steady current and the ratio of the current to the dissipated power are numerically calculated to be compared to those obtained from the quasilinear theory.


Extracorporal detoxication methods in newborns are most unavailable, contraindicated because of technical problems. Herein are reported the experiences with a blood pump unit that was miniaturized for hemodialysis, hemofiltration, and plasmapheresis in newborns. In three premature infants with acute renal failure of different etiology (two newborns with severe Rh-erythroblastosis, 1 premature infant with hypoproteinemia) 13 single-needle hemofiltrations and 6 single-needle plasmaphereses were performed with double head pump, special tube systems, and small modules. The age of the patients ranged from 1 to 14 days, body weight was between 800 and 2,800 g. Four umbilical veins and two femoral veins were used as vascular access. The ultrafiltration rate during the treatment averaged 0.3 ml/min in single-needle hemofiltration and the plasma filtrate flow rate 1.3 ml/min in single-needle plasmapheresis. All treatments were well tolerated. Four patients died due to complications unrelated to the treatment, two patients recovered. These preliminary results show that both hemofiltration and plasmapheresis may be carried out without major problems in premature infants and newborns.


The polysemic concept of public-private partnership (PPP) covers a great diversity of institutional arrangements. In this paper, we propose a typology based on the management of public projects that constitute partnerships with private firms. Our typology is founded on two key variables: (1) the proximity of the target and (2) the capacity to generate projects. We can then identify four distinct models of PPP: situational, elementary, symbiotic, and forward-looking. The management challenges, the risks, and the major issues particular to each type of PPP are described in order to enlighten management teams and contribute to the production of useful knowledge in the field.


The so-called min/max tolerance charts are popular for analysing tolerance accumulation in parts and assemblies, despite the fact that this method is limited to one-dimensional worst-case analysis. Since different chart construction rules apply to different tolerance classes, the user has to remember all the different rules to construct a valid tolerance chart. Constructing the charts manually, as is common practice in industry today, is time-consuming and error-prone. This paper presents procedures for automating tolerance charting. It requires a computer aided design (CAD) model with GD&T specifications as input. The automation is based on a data model called the constraint-feature-tolerance (CTF) graph and machine interpretable representation of charting rules specific to each tolerance class. This paper also presents procedures for automatically extracting dimension and tolerance stacks for any user defined analysis dimension, and automatic part arrangement in assemblies corresponding to worst case analyses. Important implementation issues are also discussed and several case studies are presented, the results of which have been verified by manual chart construction.


The effects of glucuronic acid on blood ATP (adenosine triphosphate), inorganic phosphorus and blood sugar were observed in nine diabetic patients and seven nondiabetic adults. The blood ATP (measured as seven minutes' hydrolyzed phosphorus) was elevated distinctly after an initial decrease by the intramuscular injection of 1000mg. of sodium glucuronate. This injection caused a decrease in blood inorganic phosphorus and also a depression of blood sugar in diabetics as well as in nondiabetics. There were no statistically significant differences in the maximum increase rate (in per cent) of blood ATP, and the maximum decrease rate of blood inorganic phosphorus between the diabetic group and the nondiabetic group.


At present, the issue of introducing virtual learning is gaining a key sound in the world of linguo-didactics. Almost all educational institutions choose virtual learning not only as a means to attract new enrolees, but also as a new working model that could combine and make effective various organizational, cultural, technical and commercial initiatives in a new format via the use of information technologies and the vast capacity of educational platforms. In this paper, the authors focus on the most successful Internet project in the field of teaching the Spanish language, the virtual platform of the Instituto Cervantes (the Cervantes Institute). The experience of the Cervantes Institute allowed the authors to systematize methodological principles of our work and it initiated the creation of a corpus of electronic training materials that allow to carry out remote work. It involves larger groups of students, correctly distributing the classroom activity in such a way that part of the assignments are performed at home during extracurricular time and further is discussed in class. The created virtual materials include phonetic, lexical, grammatical, socio-cultural components, as well as texts illustrating various spheres of communication of native speakers. Since the authors of the article work at a law institute, we believe that audio recordings of trial simulation, authentic speeches of politicians on issues of the legal and international sphere may be of particular interest.


The scope of this project was to create a traceability system for packing materials (bottles, caps and stickers) for a home care products factory in Athens, Greece. For confidentiality reasons the name of the company will not be mentioned. For this project it was decided to calculate the time needed in order to record all the necessary data for a quick and accurate traceability system. The factor of time is very important in cases, for example, where a specific batch of a product must be traced. Additionally, the time the operators would spend to write down all the information needed was also a concern in this project.
The research was focused in the comparison of a manual method where the staff of the factory had to fill in forms with the necessary information of every packing material used, as well as an electronic method where the codes of the materials would be scanned with PDAs without the need to manually write down any information.
The survey took place in 3 departments of the plant, which were studied separately in order to be easier to compare the results of the manual and the electronic system. These departments where the department of plastic production, the finishing lines and the silo which feed the finishing lines with bottles and caps. The comparison of the two methods of the project showed that the electronic method with the use of PDA and the appropriate software which was installed for this project, saved the workers 3.69 up to 13.21 seconds in every case where data would be recorded, depending on the workstation. An important advantage of the electronic method was the elimination of mistakes as the PDAs had the advantage of automatic verification of the data scanned from the packing materials with those of the specifications of each product.
During the application of this traceability system there were a number of problems that had to be solved. These problems concerned the pilot function of the system with the
large number of employees that where involved, and more specifically the operators of the production lines.
The final outcome of the project was considered to be successful, since with the electronic system data and product batches were able to retrieved considerably faster and with great accuracy. On the contrary, with the manual system a member of the workforce had to spend a large amount of time to find all the information needed for a recall or a recovery.


Sentence ordering is one of important tasks in NLP. Previous works mainly focused on improving its performance by using pair-wise strategy. However, it is nontrivial for pair-wise models to incorporate the contextual sentence information. In addition, error prorogation could be introduced by using the pipeline strategy in pair-wise models. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end neural approach to address the sentence ordering problem, which uses the pointer network (Ptr-Net) to alleviate the error propagation problem and utilize the whole contextual information. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model. Source codes and dataset of this paper are available.


The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) tegument protein VP22 encoded by the UL49 gene is essential for HSV-1 infection. However, its precise functions in the virus life cycle are unknown. A relatively important tool for disclosing these functions is an antiserum specifically detecting VP22 in the infected cell. To this end, a recombinant truncated VP22 protein consisting of C-terminal 45 aa fused to EYFP (enhanced yellow fluorescent protein) and His-tag was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified by the Ni2+-NTA affinity chromatography, and used for the preparation of antiserum in rabbits. Western blot and immunofluorescence assay showed that this antiserum specifically detected purified truncated VP22 as well as full-length VP22 in the HSV-1 infected cells. These results indicate that the prepared antiserum could serve as a valuable tool for further studies of VP22 functions.


Despite the high value of ramson (Allium ursinum) in medicine and nutrition, it is not cultivated in open fields due to the need for shading as well as weeding during the early crop stages. Research was carried out in an open field with the aim to improve A. ursinum growth, through its intercropping with Armoracia rusticana (horseradish). In the latter context, with and without sodium selenate application, ramson and horseradish showed reciprocal growth stimulation, as ramson biomass increased by 1.28 times and horseradish root biomass by 1.7 times. The biofortification level of horseradish roots increased from 5.9 to 9.6 times due to joint plant growth under selenium (Se) supply. The opposite phenomenon was recorded for ramson leaves, as the biofortification level decreased from 11.7 in the case of Se supplementation to 6.7 in plants supplied with sodium selenate when jointly cultivated with horseradish. Among the tested antioxidants, the highest increase due to joint cultivation and/or Se supply was recorded for ascorbic acid by 1.69 times in ramson leaves and 1.48 and 1.37 times in horseradish roots and leaves, respectively. All treatments significantly increased the total antioxidant activity (AOA) of horseradish leaves (by 1.33–1.49 times) but not roots. Comparison of the results obtained in field conditions with those obtained earlier for the Se biofortification of ramson in the natural habitat (forest) revealed significantly higher levels of the plant's antioxidant status under environmental stress (field) and a decrease in the correspondent differences as a consequence of Se biofortification. The estimation of allelopathic beneficial interaction between ramson and horseradish implies the efficiency of ramson growth and production of functional food with high levels of Se (Se–ramson leaves and Se–horseradish roots).


France is committed to minimizing its greenhouse gas emissions by focusing on the most energy-consuming sector, the residential and tertiary building sector. The renovation of existing buildings and the construction of energy efficient ones are therefore proposed as a possible solution. However, the concept of efficiency is ambiguous and difficult to measure and compare without common parameters and indicators. Indeed, a performance indicator is a decision support tool that describe the specific situation of something based on certain parameters. This article focuses on the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) measure in new nearly zero energy houses, based on CO 2 as a parameter. We reviewed the literature, standards and regulations in order to identify a selection of 10 CO 2 -IAQ performance indicators. We calculated each of them using a long term monitoring dataset (3 years) from two connected and occupied nearly zero energy houses in France (COMEPOS project). We performed the calculation during the heating seasons, in the living rooms and the parental bedrooms. Each room was equipped with a low-cost CO 2 concentration sensor sampling every minute. We compared the indicators values between them and to the thresholds of different requirements in order to highlight the relevance and the limits of the information provided by those common CO 2 -IAQ performance indicators. According to the selected indicator, the IAQ is differently classified (good/poor) in the two houses at the same room and year. The preliminary evaluations in bedrooms show a difference of 20-34% on the average concentration and a difference of 28-70% on the cumulative exposure greater than 1000 ppm. Thus, a house can be characterized differently depending on the indicator and the years evaluated.


According to current concepts, the composition of the atmosphere is largely determined by dynamic processes. The atmosphere represents a geochemical reservoir through which the elements are cycled by an exchange of matter with the oceans and with terrestrial surface waters and soils. Much of the exchange is mediated by biological processes, so that the biosphere is an important source of atmospheric constituents. A typical atmospheric cycle of an element such as sulfur or nitrogen begins with its release into the air as a volatile compound, usually in chemically reduced form. Thereafter the compound undergoes transport and chemical transformation within the atmosphere, but eventually the element is returned to the earth's surface by precipitation scavenging and dry deposition. The natural cycles of atmospheric sulfur and nitrogen are now massively perturbed by an additional emission of huge quantities of SO2 and NOx associated with the combustion of fossil fuels for energy production. It is thus necessary to study the unperturbed atmosphere in more detail in order to assess the impact of anthropogenic emissions upon remote atmospheric regions.


We report on the fabrication of hybrid composite poly 4-vinlyphenol (PVPh)/graphene thin film via cost-effective electrospray atomization deposition technique. Thin films fabricated through manipulating deposition technique in two different ways which are blending and layer by layer (LBL). For investigation of PVPh/graphene hybrid composite dielectric behavior in comparison to PVPh; three asymmetric MIS thin film capacitors were fabricated, where dielectric thin films (i) PVPh and (ii & iii) hybrid composite thin films PVPh/graphene (blended and LBL) were sandwiched between electrodes i.e. indium tin oxide (ITO) and p-type semiconductor poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The dielectric properties of the thin films were characterized for frequencies 1 to 100 kHz while utilizing the MIS thin film capacitors. The capacitance obtained at 1 kHz frequency for PVPh/graphene (LBL) dielectric layer at the voltage range ±10 volts was 8.5 mF cm−2 while for blended PVPh/graphene thin film the capacitance at the voltage range ±3 volts was 0.40 μF cm−2 and for pristine PVPh as dielectric layer the capacitance at voltage range ±1 volts was 1.45 μF cm−2. Similarly, even at higher frequencies up to 100 kHz, the PVPh/graphene (LBL) showed stable behavior. Thus, the composite PVPh/graphene (LBL) thin film has a better dielectric nature compared to the composite PVPh/graphene (blended) thin film, even at higher frequencies with larger operational voltage window. This distinguishing nature of the composite PVP/graphene (LBL) is attributed to increase in dielectric constant due to graphene flakes in between PVPh. For the thin films LBL and blended PVPh/graphene, the calculated dielectric constant at 10 kHz is 6.7 and 0.023 while at 100 kHz it is 2 and 0.0167, respectively.


Background: This study proposed an efficient technique for eradicating the upsurge in the number of cases of roads accidents caused by excessive intake of alcohol by drivers on the Nigerian roads. Material and methods : This study developed a prototype alcohol detection and engine locking system  by using an Arduino Uno microcontroller interfaced with an alcohol sensor along with an LCD screen and a DC motor to demonstrate the concept. The system uses MQ-3 alcohol sensor to continuously monitor the blood alcohol content (BAC) to detect the existence of liquor in the exhalation of a driver. By placing the sensor on the steering wheel, our system has the capacity to continuously check alcohol level from the driver's breath. The ignition will fail to start if the sensors detects content of alcohol in the driver's breath. In case the driver got drunk while driving, the sensor will still detect alcohol in his breath and stop the engine so that the car would not accelerate any further and the driver can park by the roadside. Results: Results from testing the proposed system adequately matched the requirements for starting a car's engine once the level of alcohol detected in the breath of the driver is higher than the prescribed level permissible by law. Conclusion : Experimental results show that the alcohol sensor was able to respond quickly when alcohol is detected and also have the ability to operate over a period. Keywords : MQ-3 Alcohol sensor, Arduino Uno ATmega328 microcontroller, Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), LCD.


This paper examines the effects of capital account liberalization (CAL) on foreign direct investment (FDI). We use the System Generalized-Method-of-Moments (GMM) estimator developed for the dynamic panel model for a sample of 14 Middle East countries from 1985 to 2009. We find new evidence that countries that are able to reap the benefits of the capital openness policy satisfy certain threshold conditions regarding the level of financial development and institutional quality. Our results are relevant for Middle East countries since many of them have engaged in a process of liberalization, have weak institutions and an inappropriate financial framework.


A capillary rise technique was developed for measuring the effect of the surface viscosities upon the displacement of air by liquids in glass capillaries. Measurements were made in two tubes with optically measured radii of 37.5 and 48.6 μm.

No surface viscous effects were observed with doubly distilled water or with octane, in good agreement with the Washburn equation. The behavior of a dilute aqueous solution of dodecyl sodium sulfate was easily distinguished from that corresponding to zero surface viscosities. The surface dilatational viscosity was found to be two orders of magnitude greater than the surface shear viscosity. Previous qualitative (Slattery, 1974, 1979) and quantitative (Giordano and Slattery, 1983) theories for the effect of the interfacial viscosities upon displacement are fully supported by this experimental study.


The insertion of a foreign substance, such as a breast implant into mammalian soft tissues, evokes a wound healing response that culminates in a dense connective-tissue envelope or capsule surrounding the implant. Several biodegradable products, such as Seprafilm (carboxymethylcellulose and hyaluronic acid) and Interceed (oxidized regenerated cellulose), have been demonstrated to inhibit adhesions in abdominal and gynecologic surgery. The ability of these cellulose compounds to inhibit capsule formation was addressed in this investigation. Twenty-eight rats were implanted intermuscularly with either plain silicone discs (10 animals), discs wrapped in Seprafilm (10 animals), or discs covered with Interceed (8 animals). Additional control animals (6 animals) consisted of two that had sham operations, two animals implanted with Seprafilm only, and two more implanted with Interceed only. Animals were sacrificed in pairs at varying time intervals after implantation (2, 4, 8, 12, and 16 wk), and the tissues around the silicone discs were analyzed with light microscopy. Control animals were sacrificed at 8 wk. Both Interceed and Seprafilm slowed the formation of a capsule around the implanted silicone discs as both products were degraded. Evidence of residual material, presumably Seprafilm and Interceed, was seen intracellularly in animals 3 to 4 mo, respectively, after implantation. However, neither material prevented the eventual formation of a fibrous capsule around the silicone discs. The results of this study suggest that encapsulating foreign substances with these types of biodegradable materials will not significantly hinder capsule formation. A more direct attack on the wound healing mechanism may provide a definitive solution for capsule problems with implanted materials.


A. Duration of Effects Groups of mice exposed to high densities of unipolar light air ions for 72 hours exhibited persistent alterations in the functional efficiency of their tracheas. These effects lasted at least 4 weeks, and in the case of animals treated with (+) ions ineluded diminished ciliary activity, pale and contracted tracheal mucosa, and enhanced vulnerability to trauma. Following treatment with ( ) ions, animals displayed increased ciliary activity with no other detectable changes. I t required at least 60 minutes of exposure to ions to induce such "permanent" functional changes. B. Minimal Effective Ion Densities The minimal ion densities producing changes in ciliary activity within an arbitrary period of 30 minutes were determined with extirpated tracheal strips from rabbits and guinea pigs. The threshold value for ( ) ions was approximately 2.5 X 10s ions/cm.~/sec, and that for (+) ions was in the range between 1 X 104 and 2.5 × 105 ions/cm.2/sec. The evidence indicates that ion-induced functional changes in the ciliated epithelium of the pulmonary tree are the results of direct contact of ions with surface ceils and do not involve partidpation of the central nervous system or circulation. So far as ciliary activity is concerned, the number of ions required to produce a change in rate is very small. Relatively short exposure of animals to high densities of light (-b) and ( ) air ions (20 minutes) has been shown to affect a number of tracheal * This research was supported by grants from the Atomic Energy Commission and the Committee on Research of the University of California. :~ The opinions contained in this report are not to be construed as reflecting the views of the Naval Service.


A cell is the basic functional unit of any living organism. A cell with a nucleus carries all the genetic information needed to produce all the proteins and other chemicals that are needed for the proper functioning or homeostasis of tissues and organs. The cells without the nucleus like erythrocyte besides carrying the essential chemicals also carry signatures of what is going on in different parts of the body. Therefore, a detailed knowledge of what goes on in a cell is important not only from the fundamental point of understanding life at the basic level but is also important for discovering targets for drugs at the molecular level and uncovering the cellular markers of the diseases that fail to show up in standard biochemical assays. The fundamental technique of imaging the cell is optical microscopy with its many variants like imaging and fluorescence life time imaging. In this very short lecture, aimed mainly at starting post-graduate students and researchers entering the field I briefly review the essential physics of microscopy, image formation and deconvolution of digitalised images with emphasis on spectral imaging and fluorescence imaging. I briefly describe a very flexible experimental set-up that has been operational in my group and the research problems that we are dealing with. I also attempt to delineate future topics of interest.


Thanks are due to Dr. Ucak and colleagues for their valuable research evaluating the levels of serum ghrelin in patients with psoriasis [1]. However, we wish to make some comments on methodology of their study.

Ghrelin is a hormone secreted mainly by stomach. Some types of antipsychotics, antidepressants, corticosteroids, bromocriptine, and anti-TNF-α therapy drugs were suggested to affect serum ghrelin levels [2, 3]. Also, dietary food supplements such as vitamin D and free fatty acids could affect these levels [4]. In this respect, the authors should define whether the participants use these kinds of drugs and dietary supplements or not.

In addition, several studies revealed that certain diseases such as functional dyspepsia, celiac disease, cachexia, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, ankylosing spondylitis, coronary artery disease, iron deficiency anemia, hepatocellular cancer, chronic liver disease, chronic renal disease, epilepsy, and Helicobacter pylori infection could affect serum ghrelin [5, 6]. The authors did not mention these contributing diseases in their paper.

Ucak and colleagues stated that they questioned the patients' alcohol and cigarette smoking habits. As known, serum ghrelin levels are associated with alcohol intake and smoking [7, 8]. In this regard, a regression analysis could be applied for these variables to examine whether they affect serum ghrelin levels. Therefore, interpretation of results with its current form seems problematic.

In conclusion, we believe that the study of Ucak et al. contributes important data to medical literature and could lead other researchers to design a study. However clarifying above concerns will provide clearer picture to the readers.


This study presents current recommendations of the Polish Association of Pediatric Surgeons (PTChD) regarding diagnostics and treatment of ovarian lesions in girls. They are based on many years of the authors' clinical experience as well as a review of international literature and include practical clinical guidelines. The recommendations were formulated in cooperation with the Polish Association of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (PTOHD), Polish Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Section of the Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (PTG) and Polish Pediatric Section of the Polish Society of Radiology (PLTR). Only better understanding of prepubertal ovarian biology and natural history of its pathology may help to introduce efficient and safe diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for girls. The prepared document has been supplemented with treatment algorithms.


A major problem which can be encountered when biological fluids are heated is the deposition of components from the fluid on the heating surface. This results in loss of efficiency in the heat transfer process and usually contributes to requirements for more severe cleaning regimes to return the surface to the original clean condition. Since proteins have been implicated as a major source of the problem in heat exchanger fouling, we studied the effect of process and fluid variables on deposition from protein solutions. An electrically heated stainless steel surface was exposed to egg albumin solutions flowing at a variety of temperatures, fluid flow rates, and concentrations. The system for studying the rate of burn-on is unique and has been described elsewhere. The surface temperatures of the stainless steel surface could be monitored and controlled to any desired temperature. Results of the study indicated: (a) fouling rate increased with an increase in protein concentration, (b) increasing the fluid flow rate did not have a significant effect on rate of fouling, (c) increasing the temperature difference increased fouling rate, and (d) surface finish did not influence fouling.


The present study describes a complex multiple cropping system of six crops which has evolved in a Lisu village in Chiang Mai during the last 17 years. The system involves relay planting of three viny legumes [cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), rice bean (Vigna umbellata) and lablab bean (Lablab purpureus)] after inter-cropping of maize and wax gourd (Benincasa hispida) or pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata). The relay-cropping of the three viny legumes could be considered as a locally evolved type of accelerated seasonal fallow management aimed at soil fertility replenishment and income generation in an intensified shifting cultivation system. The Lisu farmers adopted this system because of their prior experiences on market economy and their knowledge of multiple cropping technology through previous maize-opium based farming, as well as because of the availability of a large area of fertile land to sustain intensive cultivation without external inputs. The ability of the multiple cropping system to generate acceptable income and the availability of transportation for the products were also positive factors favoring its adoption. On the other hand, its lower profitability than competitive cropping systems, such as vegetable seed production, and its requirement for good transportation, large farm size and fertile soils constrained its expansion. The present study also revealed that external factors of economy and technology development are crucial in determining if environmentally beneficial cropping systems will continue in use in the long-term or be replaced with less environmentally friendly agricultural practices.


The author looks at emergence of class actions in Canadian litigation and considers the extent to which they provide access to justice or are just another profitable product line for lawyers. A class action is one in which a representative plaintiff sues on behalf of a defined class of claimants whose claims raise a common issue of fact or law. Article by Professor Garry D. Watson QC (Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, Torono and IALS Inns of Court Fellow). Published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and its Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.


The paper illustrates the Activity Weighted Velocities (AWV) methodology to compute Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) anharmonic spectra from Density Functional Theory (DFT) molecular dynamics. AWV calculates the spectra by the Fourier Transform of the time correlation functions of velocities, weighted by specific observables: the Atomic Polar Tensors (APTs) and the Atomic Axial Tensors (AATs). Indeed, AWV shows to correctly reproduce the experimental spectra for systems in the gas and liquid phases, both in the case of weakly and strongly interacting systems. The comparison with the experimental spectra is striking especially in the fingerprint region, as demonstrated by the three benchmark systems discussed: (1S)-Fenchone in the gas phase, (S)-(−)-Propylene oxide in the liquid phase, and (R)-(−)-2-butanol in the liquid phase. The time evolution of APTs and AATs can be adequately described by a linear combination of the tensors of a small set of appropriate reference structures, strongly reducing the computational cost without compromising accuracy. Additionally, AWV allows the partition of the spectral signal in its molecular components without any expensive postprocessing and any localization of the charge density or the wave function.


About 10 years ago in the US, an automotive OEM consortium formed the Oxygenated Fuels Task Force which in turn created the SAE Cooperative Research Project Group 2 to develop a simple rational method for qualifying materials. At that time the focus was Methanol/ Gasoline blends. This work resulted in SAE J1681, Gasoline/Methanol Mixtures for Materials Testing. Recently this document was rewritten to make it the single, worldwide, generic source for fuel system test fluids. The paper will describe the rationale for selecting the fuel surrogate fluids and why this new SAE standard should replace all existing test fuel or test fluid standards for fuel system materials testing.


Environment concern, sustainable products demand, and natural components conscious are currently global movement factors. Related to the global movement factors, citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus L.) is being widely used in folk medicine, and has insect repellent activity, fungal and bactericidal action. Its essential oil has high content of citronellal, citronellol, geraniol. The essential oil is mostly extracted from leaves which turns this plant with high commercial demand. However, to obtain the best therapeutic quality and productivity of medicinal plants, which culminates in greater quantity and quality of the active compounds, the proper management of the crop is fundamental, as several factors can interfere during its growth and development. Thus, we analyzed the growth of citronella plants submitted to different levels of shoot and root cuts. Five different proportions of root pruning (0, 25, 50, 75, 100%), after 145 days of seedling planting and four cuttings in the shoots: blunt; a cut at 145 DAP (days after planting) along with the root cut; a cut at 228 DAP; and cuts at 145 and 228 DAP (two cuts). Four harvesting for dry matter accumulation and photoassimilate partition data were performed. The treatment with 100% root cut, but without leaf cut, increased the total dry mass accumulation of the plant in relation to the other treatments, for the last analysis period, demonstrating a recovery. Thus, the application of two leaf cuts or no leaf cutting within the 100% root cut treatment for leaf dry mass accumulation is more effective when compared to the blunt root treatment.


In the present study, we investigate the impact of pulse power (Ppulse) on the ion flux and the properties of TiN films using reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering. Ppulse was adjusted in the range of 5–25 kW, while keeping the total average power constant through regulating the pulsing frequency. It is found that the required N2 flow, to produce stoichiometric TiN, decreases as Ppulse is increased, which is due to a decrease in the deposition rate. The plasma conditions when stoichiometric TiN is formed were investigated in detail. In situ ion mass spectrometry measurements of the ion energy distribution functions reveal two distinct ion populations, ions originating from sputtered atoms (Ti+, Ti2+, and N+) and ions originating from the working gas (Ar+, Ar2+, and N2+). The average ion energies (Eave) of the sputtered ions show an increase with increasing Ppulse, while Eave for the gas ions remains almost unaffected. The relative flux intensity Ti2+/Ti+ showed an increasing trend, from 0.28 to 0.47, as Ppulse was increased from 5 to 25 kW. The ion flux changes affect the growth of the TiN film such that 111-textured films are grown for low Ppulse while higher Ppulse results in mixed orientations. In addition, the hardness of the deposited film increases with increasing Ppulse, while the compressive film stress increases significantly at a higher Ppulse. In this way, optimum deposition conditions were identified at Ppulse = 8.3 kW, where a relatively low compressive stress of 0.89 GPa and high hardness of 22.67 GPa were measured.In the present study, we investigate the impact of pulse power (Ppulse) on the ion flux and the properties of TiN films using reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering. Ppulse was adjusted in the range of 5–25 kW, while keeping the total average power constant through regulating the pulsing frequency. It is found that the required N2 flow, to produce stoichiometric TiN, decreases as Ppulse is increased, which is due to a decrease in the deposition rate. The plasma conditions when stoichiometric TiN is formed were investigated in detail. In situ ion mass spectrometry measurements of the ion energy distribution functions reveal two distinct ion populations, ions originating from sputtered atoms (Ti+, Ti2+, and N+) and ions originating from the working gas (Ar+, Ar2+, and N2+). The average ion energies (Eave) of the sputtered ions show an increase with increasing Ppulse, while Eave for the gas ions remains almost unaffected. The relative flux intensity Ti2+/Ti+ showed an increasing trend, from 0.28 to...


Tumor spheroids are considered a valuable three dimensional (3D) tissue model to study various aspects of tumor physiology for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and drug screening as well as basic scientific endeavors, as several cell types can efficiently form spheroids by themselves in both suspension and adherent cell cultures. However, it is more desirable to utilize a 3D scaffold with tunable properties to create more physiologically relevant tumor spheroids as well as optimize their formation. In this study, bioactive spherical microgels supporting 3D cell culture are fabricated by a flow-focusing microfluidic device. Uniform-sized aqueous droplets of gel precursor solution dispersed with cells generated by the microfluidic device are photocrosslinked to fabricate cell-laden microgels. Their mechanical properties are controlled by the concentration of gel-forming polymer. Using breast adenocarcinoma cells, MCF-7, the effect of mechanical properties of microgels on their proliferation and the eventual spheroid formation was explored. Furthermore, the tumor cells are co-cultured with macrophages of fibroblasts, which are known to play a prominent role in tumor physiology, within the microgels to explore their role in spheroid formation. Taken together, the results from this study provide the design strategy for creating tumor spheroids utilizing mechanically-tunable microgels as 3D cell culture platform.


There are several forms of the uric acid free diet as I have elsewhere mentioned,1such as:1, that which consists of milk, cheese, potatoes and fruit, and contains no bread; 2, that which contains these things with more or less bread and breadstuffs, and 3, the form with which I am concerned to-day, in which bread and breadstuffs form the chief sources of nourishment and a small quantity of fruit and vegetables are taken merely as sauces for the bread. For the sake of comparison I shall give the approximate quantities required in each of these diets for a man of 140 pounds weight, who is supposed to be young and leading an active life, and therefore requiring a rather full diet, one that will yield 3.3 grs. of urea per pound of body weight per day. The milk, cheese, potato and fruit diet for this man would be


One of the goals of the European IMAGINE project, is to formulate strategies to improve traffic modelling for application in noise mapping. It is well known that the specific deceleration and acceleration dynamics of traffic at junctions can influence local noise emission. However, macroscopic traffic models do not always model intersections, and if they do, only the influence of intersections on travel time is incorporated. In these cases, it would be useful to know what increase or decrease in noise production can be expected at or near intersections. A correction factor for road crossings has been suggested in several national noise emission standards. The question is open whether such a correction factor should be included in future harmonized methods. In this paper, a case study is presented, consisting of a large set of microscopic traffic simulations and associated noise emission calculations, which provides some insight into the specific dynamics of the noise emission near different types of intersections. A spatial approach is used, in which inbound and outbound lanes are divided into deceleration, queuing and acceleration zones. Results from regression analysis on the numerical simulations indicate that meaningful relations between noise corrections and traffic flow parameters such as traffic intensity and composition can be deduced.


This review aimed at providing an overview of the prevalence and epidemiosurveillance of brucellosis in non-ruminants and humans in Pakistan during 2000-2020. Sero-prevalence of brucellosis has been reported in non-ruminants such as camels, equines, dogs and humans with the range of 0.5-21%, 16.23-62.6%, 9.2-63.8% and 2.0-70% respectively. Non-target species like Avian, reptiles and amphibians were also reported with the prevalence of 2.5%, 24.9% and 25% respectively. Ignorance and indifference make it endemic in ruminants and much-neglected disease in non-ruminants with less or no studies reported in canines. Vaccines are available and being used for ruminants while none is available for non-ruminants, which may serve as an important source of spreading disease in animals and humans. In Pakistan, it is considered as ignored disease in non-ruminants lacking effective policies for control and eradication. This review guides policymakers to draw guidelines regarding brucellosis control and eradication using one health approach.


As future naval ships become more electrically integrated, the ability to manage the total energy resources becomes critical. Currently these functions are available only through a centralized controller, which limits flexibility, reconfigurability, and reliability. These limitations can be avoided, and still provide system level coordination through distributed controls based on local information.


The cases of two patients with hypertensive hydrocephalus and Parinaud syndrome are reported. In both cases the ventriculographic studies showed a cystic expansion of the suprapineal recess. The upward gaze palsy was related with the expansion of the suprapineal recess. The radiological study of the posterior portion of the third ventricle in these cases is recomended. The use of inadequate devices in these situations may cause the worsing of the patient.


Bruxism is a parafunctional habit characterized by teeth grinding and clenching. Parafunctional habits system are any non functional neuromuscular habits of the stomatognathic system that is caused due to constant repettion of an act that is pleasant for an individual. Bruxers have been majorly divided as: nocturnal and diurnal. The multifactorial etiologic model of bruxism includes genetic, neurophysiologic, psychoemotional and pharmacological factors; as a result definitive understanding of bruxism has always been elusive. Stress is one of the major factors for diurnal bruxism. Owing to its multifactorial nature no single treatment strategy has been effective in controlling the muscle contraction among these patients. The consequences that it has on the natural dentition and dental implants and its relationship to temporomandibular joint disorders have gained interest over the past few years. Bruxism presents a varying trend among children and adults. As a result proper diagnosis and treatment planning holds utmost importance in the rehabilitation of the patients with bruxism.


Existing methods of administering ocular drugs are limited in either their safety or efficiency. Nanomedicine therapies have the potential to address this deficiency by creating vehicles that can control drug biodistribution. Dendrimers are synthetic polymeric nanoparticles with a unique highly organized branching structure. In recent years, promising results using dendrimer vehicles to deliver ocular drugs through different routes of administration have been reported. In this review, we briefly summarize these results with emphasis on the dendrimer modifications used to target different ocular structures.


In this paper we applied change point detection methods for failures detection in the drilling process. We calculated the change points on three drilling parameters, i.e., the weight on bit, top drive torque and rate of penetration. Using the concept of reliability, we measured the time between change points as the time between failures. The minimum of mean time between change points from those three parameters is suggested to be the time for monitoring the drilling process.


A new biosensor for specific determination of sucrose was developed using an oxidoreductase of Zymomonas mobilis and invertase. Cells of Z. mobilis were permeabilized with toluene in order to utilize the enzymes of glucose–fructose oxidoreductase and gluconolactonase inside the intact cells. Permeabilized cells and invertase were coimmobilized in a gelatin membrane, and a whole cell enzyme electrode was constructed by fixing the membrane on a pH electrode. The production of hydrogen ion was detected using the biosensor‐connected microcomputer, and the concentration of sucrose was determined by using both the initial rate and the steady‐state methods. Optimum conditions for biosensor response were pH 6.2 and temperature 35°C. The effect of interfering compounds on the electrode response was investigated, and the interference by various sugars was eliminated by determining sucrose concentration using the steady‐state method. The biosensor developed is simple and reproducible, and the calibration curve for sucrose is linear up to 70 g/L.


Heart rate variability (HRV) decreases in Parkinson's disease which could be a consequence of reduced motor activity besides being a marker of cardiovascular dysautonomia. The diurnal low frequency power and high frequency power decrease in advanced Parkinsonism. In this case, there is decreased low frequency (LF) but high frequency (HF) is found to be very high compared to LF, which needs explanation. Multiple lobed pattern on Poincare plot in this case increases SD1, which has an analogy to HF, therefore HF is increased. If we remove premature beats from the recording while analysing, and then frame Poincare plot, it would be a normal torpedo pattern and HF value will be decreased in this case like LF, as is normally found in Parkinsonism, which would truly reflect the HRV values due to autonomic effects. HRV report should be interpreted for autonomic dysfunction when Poincare plot is torpedo pattern as other patterns may signify some intrinsic disease of heart.


Nanoscale science and technology (NST), because of its incredible potential to alter the world we live in, has generated numerous reactions from scientists, engineers, investors, policy-makers, environmentalists, science-fiction writers, alarmists, techno-enthusiasts, and ethicists. In ethics, emphasis is placed on issues of control, access, associated risks, motives for developing the technology, cost/benefit, and potential societal, economical, environmental, ecclesiastical, educational, or political impact. Furthermore, a very few ethicists worry that NST might shake more fundamental definitions of self and other, as well as our relationship with our bodies or our natural environment. In order to better understand these ethical issues, this paper suggests the use of scenario planning (SP), an approach already widely utilized in strategy and decision making. Scenarios are systemic tools, which can help express, discuss, and evaluate different possible futures. SP takes a holistic view at the problem and involves numerous stakeholders with different viewpoints. In the end, SP provides a more transparent and democratic process for choosing the future. Moreover, SP can help unveil some previously unforeseen consequences of present decisions


Speech units are highly context-dependent, so taking contextual features into account is essential for speech modelling. Context is employed in HMM-based Text-to-Speech speech synthesis systems via context-dependent phone models. A very wide context is taken into account, represented by a large set of contextual factors. However, most of these factors probably have no significant influence on the speech, most of the time. To discover which combinations of features should be taken into account, decision tree-based context clustering is used. But the space of context-dependent models is vast, and the number of contexts seen in the training data is only a tiny fraction of this space, so the task of the decision tree is very hard: to generalise from observations of a tiny fraction of the space to the rest of the space, whilst ignoring uninformative or redundant context features. The structure of the context feature space has not been systematically studied for speech synthesis. In this paper we discover a dependency structure by learning a Bayesian Network over the joint distribution of the features and the speech. We demonstrate that it is possible to discard the majority of context features with minimal impact on quality, measured by a perceptual test.


We report on our progress from April 2004 through March 2005 on determining the effects of mitigative measures on productivity of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam, and on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam. This is a multi-year study with many objectives requiring more than one year to complete; therefore, findings from a given year may be part of more significant findings yet to be reported.


Abstract This paper presents an integrated design for an undergraduate introductory course control systems at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). The core features consist in combining traditional lecture and student led tutorials with weekly homework assignments which have been designed to encourage continuous learning efforts through a review of previous tutorial sessions and a preview on forthcoming lectures. The homework concept is implemented via an open source e-learning platform. A portable DC motor, available through the university library system, serves as an experimental setup, which is tightly integrated into lecture, tutorials and homework. Details on the implementation of the proposed design are given and it is evaluated based on data, which is e.g. collected by evaluation forms completed by students at the end of term.


As a creation platform for multifunctional materials, crystalline metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can integrate different chromophores through reticular chemistry to adjust their spatial arrangement and intermolecular interaction, in turn achieving the purpose of improving the nature of optoelectronic properties. Herein, a stepwise reticular synthesis approach is successfully used to construct a multicomponent MOF, in which the well-known bis-terpyridyl ruthenium chromophore is orderly arranged into the skeleton of the material. Remarkably, this method promotes the excited state lifetime of the bis-terpyridyl ruthenium core, by two orders of magnitude (from 0.39 to 22.09 ns), to the extent that it can produce singlet oxygen under visible light irradiation at room temperature. Meanwhile, the obtained multicomponent MOF has been established to have considerable porosity for exposure of substrates to the catalytic sites, rendering it suitable for heterogeneous photocatalysis, including as a photooxidation detoxifier for sulfur mustard simulant. Moreover, DFT and TDDFT calculations reveal that the synergistic charge transfer among different components in the MOF may play a crucial role in improving the excited state properties of the bis-terpyridyl ruthenium motif.


In complex organizations, such as large international engineering firms, practicing managers may possess administrative, enabling, and adaptive leadership styles. Each of these leadership styles must be balanced, but key performance indicators can drive imbalance in engineering management projects. We provide practicing managers with some insights to these leadership styles and their interaction to understand their benefits and challenges that may be overcome. Furthermore, we present a "balance check" that outlines symptoms of leadership imbalance to keep things from going awry.


Monitoring the stability of the software process in the lower level companies is a challenging issue to software engineers. In this paper, SPC is applied to software metrics. Defect Density, Review Performance and Rework percentage and results after applying the SPC to various processes of software are discussed and analyzed, using control charts, the most sophisticated tools of SPC. The difficulties in the application of Statistical Process Control to lower level software organization are observed and relevant suggestions are provided.


In this paper, we propose the reduced model for the full dynamics of a bicycle and analyze its nonlinear behavior under a proportional control law for steering. Based on the Gibbs-Appell equations for the Whipple bicycle, we obtain a second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) that governs the bicycle's controlled motion. Two types of equilibrium points for the governing equation are found, which correspond to the bicycle's uniform straight forward and circular motions, respectively. By applying the Hurwitz criterion to the linearized equation, we find that the steer coefficient must be negative, consistent with the human's intuition of turning toward a fall. Under this condition, a critical angular velocity of the rear wheel exists, above which the uniform straight forward motion is stable, and slightly below which a pair of symmetrical stable uniform circular motions will occur. These theoretical findings are verified by both numerical simulations and experiments performed on a powered autonomous bicycle.


BACKGROUND
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought many challenges to patient care delivery. The need for social distancing and relaxing of federal and state telemental health regulations paved the way for widespread adoption of direct-to-consumer (DTC) ambulatory mental health video visits.

METHODS
We present cases that demonstrate the use of video visits across 6 clinical areas, each serving a unique population of patients, in a large behavioral health system. The benefits and limitations of this modality are illustrated in children, adults, and older adults with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, intellectual disability, substance use disorders, neurocognitive disorders, and schizophrenia.

RESULTS
Although telephone visits were acceptable and necessary to serve some patients, there are many advantages to video visits in providing best patient care. Education and support for telemental health-delivered to both patients and clinicians-is critical to the success of the DTC model.

CONCLUSIONS
DTC telemental health is a widespread clinical tool used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because this model has many strengths and advantages compared with traditional telemental health delivered in a clinic, regulators and insurers should be open to its continued use postpandemic when clinically appropriate.


The current blocking and charge accumulation effects of an ITO/Si-rich SiOx/p-Si MOS diode with buried Si nano-dots and SiOx/Si interfacial Si nano-pyramids are characterized. The ITO/Si-rich SiOx/p-Si MOS diodes exhibits the 3.5 ± 0.2 nm large Si nano-dots with volume density of 4-5×1018 cm-3. At the SiOx/p-Si interface, the area density of Si nano-pyramids is increasing from 1.3×109 to 1.6×1011 cm-2, which greatly decreases turn-on voltage of the MOS diode from 182 to 52 V, thus enhancing the electro-luminescent power from 17.5 to 50.4 nW. The current blocking phenomenon of such a MOS diode become serious with lengthening step-voltage delay, indicating that a significant charge accumulation associated with a strong screening field is generated within Si-rich SiOx layer. It was observed that the turn-on voltage with Si nano-pyramids evidently decreases to 31.6 V under reverse biased conditions for tunneling holes. Counter-clockwise C-V hysteresis analysis reveals a flat-band voltage shift of 8.5 V for electron and -12.9 V for hole, showing nonlinear function with either Si nano-dot volume or density. The C-t retention shows higher charge loss rate for electrons (7.6%) than for holes (1.5%) within 0.5 hr due to low SiOx/Si nano-dot barrier.


The ability of opiates to be a complete anesthetic has been assessed in animals. These studies have investigated the serum levels of opiate required to produce a decrease in anesthetic requirement for a concomitantly administered inhalation anesthetic. A linear dose-response relation has been observed between opiate serum level and reduction in anesthetic requirement up to the level of 50% reduction in minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC). These studies have not demonstrated the production of one MAC anesthesia by the opiates. Recent EEG studies have provided another means of comparing the central nervous system effects of opiates and inhalation anesthetics. The serum levels of several opiates associated with a 50% reduction (IC50 or 50% inhibitory concentration) in maximal spectral edge frequency (SEF) have been reported. The free, unionized serum levels of each opiate at IC50 in humans or 50% MAC reduction in animals are remarkably similar. We calculated brain lipid opiate content at these serum levels using available physicochemical data. The calculated nanogram and molar brain lipid contents of the drugs fell within a 10-fold range while serum levels varied by 5000-fold. This similarity in membrane lipid content in association with EEG and anesthetic effects suggests that opiate "anesthesia" may involve a membrane effect in addition to the well established receptor interaction.


Triple negative (TN) breast cancers are defined by a lack of expression of estrogen, progesterone, and her-2/neu receptors. It is widely recognized that TN breast cancers have a poorer prognosis than other subtypes of breast caner. Given the lack of effective targeted therapies for TN breast cancer patients, understanding of the mechanisms of growth and invasion of these tumors will provide insight into developing novel approaches to lower the mortality from TN breast cancer. We utilized three TN breast cancer cell lines (HCC38, HCC1806, HCC1937) as model systems to characterize mechanisms of growth, migration, and invasion. FACS analyses demonstrated that these TN cell lines showed a phenotype of CD44+CD24-/lowepithelial specific antigen (ESA)+. An inhibitory antibody against exon v10 of CD44 significantly inhibited three-dimensional (3D) growth of tumor cells. Importantly, this antibody also inhibited alpha2beta1/alpha3beta1 integrins-mediated migration and invasion into matrigel. These results suggest that CD44 harboring exon 10 facilitates progression and metastasis of TN breast cancer cells in vivo by enhancing growth, migration, and invasion. We also demonstrated that this exon interacts with a cell surface tyrosine kinase, EphA2. Thus, we hypothesize that CD44 would form a molecular complex with EphA2 through exon v10 on TN breast cancer cells that plays a key role in facilitating invasion and metastasis. In order to develop novel reagents to inhibit TN breast cancer invasion and metastasis, we have utilized SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) to isolate DNA aptamers that specifically recognize exon v10 of CD44. DNA aptamers are functional molecules with the appropriate sequence and structure to form a complex with a target molecule. Typically, dissociation constants for these aptamer-target complexes are in the high pico-molar to low nano-molar range, which is comparable to antibodies. Given the fact of the ease of chemical synthesis and modifications of oligonucleotides, DNA aptamers that recognize cancer cells will be easier to develop and have a great impact for the next generation of strategies for cancer detection, diagnosis, and therapy. We describe the development of "function-blocking" DNA aptamers specific for exon v10 of CD44 that inhibits TN breast cancer invasion and metastasis. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr PD02-08.


Background To evaluate bilateral symmetry and anatomical variations of root morphology of permanent mandibular second molar using systematic evaluation of CBCT scans. Material and Methods This cross-sectional study involved the mandible which were imaged using serial axial cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) from 680 North Indian patients who visited dental hospital for various reasons unrelated to the study. CBCT Records with presence of bilateral fully erupted permanent mandibular second molars with fully formed apexes were selected. Results Bilaterally present two root and three canal configurations were most consistently seen (75.88 % and 59.11 %, respectively). The occurrence of two roots with two canals and four canals was 15.14% and 1.61% respectively. Mandibular second molar present with one extra root, radix entomolaris with three canals and four canals was 0.44% and 3.53% while radix paramolaris present with three canals and four canals 1.32% and 1.03% respectively. The occurrence of C-shaped root bilaterally with C shaped canal was 15.88% whereas the presence of one fused root bilaterally was 0.44%. The presence of four roots bilaterally with four canals was identified in only one CBCT scanned image (0.14%). The frequency distribution of root morphology on bilateral symmetrical analysis revealed 98.58 % bilateral symmetry. Conclusions In 402 CBCT scans, bilateral presence of two roots with three canals was the most typical root structure seen in mandibular second molars (59.11%). A rare variation found was the presence of four roots occurring bilaterally, seen in only 1 CBCT scan. Bilateral symmetrical analysis of root morphology revealed 98.58 % bilateral symmetry. Key words:Anatomic root variations, mandibular second molar, Cone Beam Computed Tomography scans, bilateral symmetry.


Currently popular object-oriented modelling methods, when applied to computer-based control systems, mostly produce incomplete and fragmented models consisting mainly of state transition diagrams and message passing diagrams. Such shortcomings can limit the model's usefulness in the development process. We present a formally-based object-oriented method to construct a precise and complete analysis model of the system, which can easily be converted into a simulation of the system or a prototype operating in the real environment.


This paper has two main objectives: first, to consider country specific determinants that attract services FDI, and second, to compare the importance of these determinants vis-a-vis traditional determinants that attract manufacturing FDI. Using OECD countries as our sample, and 1980 to 2003 as our time period, we consider the determinants of inward FDI in a panel setting. Our results provide empirical evidence to support the view that no new theories may be necessary to explain the determinants of services FDI.


The tremendous increase of the traffic demand in cellular networks imposes a massive densification of the traditional cellular infrastructure. The network architecture becomes heterogenous, in particular 4G networks where LTE micro eNodeBs are deployed to strengthen the coverage of macro eNodeBs.
 This densification yields major issues related to the energy consumption of the infrastructure. Indeed, there is fixed and significant amount of energy required to run each additional node, whatever the traffic load of the network. Mitigating this fixed energy consumption is therefore a major challenge from a societal and economical viewpoint.
 Extensive researches about energy-saving highlight that to save energy the better strategy is to switch off the radio part of nodes. This is the heart of wireless sensor networks energy-saving strategies, even though the objective for WSN is to maximize the battery life of each individual nodes.
 In this paper, we develop a parallel between the principles of WSN protocols and the requirements of cellular infrastructures. We then propose a distributed and localized algorithm to dynamically switch off and on the micro eNodeBs of an LTE heterogeneous network following the traffic demand evolution in time and analyze it in terms of energy savings. We show that one can expect energy savings of approximately 12\% when implementing sleep modes whereas the energy cost for sending the traffic decreases by 24\%.


(1) The compound eye of Musca exhibits characteristics which have heretofore frequently been considered evidence for color receptors: (a) The spectral sensitivity curve has several peaks whose relative heights can be altered by selective adaptation to colored lights, and (b) the shape of the retinal action potential varies with wave length. (2) The action spectrum for the red enhancement of on and off responses is compared with the "red receptor" calculated by Mazokhin-Porshnyakov from colorimetric data obtained in rapid color substitutions. Both have maxima at 615 to 620 mµ and appear to be different expressions of the same phenomenon. (3) A red receptor is absent. The evidence which suggests different types of receptors in the region 500 to 700 mµ can be accounted for by variations in the numbers of receptors stimulated. In red light there is a recruitment of additional ommatidia caused by leakage of long wave lengths through the pigment screen, and this spatial summation potentiates the on and off responses. The principal evidence is: (a) a white eye mutant which has no accessory screening pigments also lacks the peak of sensitivity in the red, even when adapted to violet light; (b) white-eyed flies give identical responses with large on and off effects at all wave lengths from 500 to 700 mµ; and (c) reducing the number of excited ommatidia by decreasing the size of the test spot makes the on and off transients smaller relative to the receptor component.


The growing of resistant apple varieties against the scab, impacts the Venturia inaequalis CKE. races development that can overcome the resistance. For this reason the main breeders object is to cumulate the different genetic mechanisms of resistance against this disease. Presented in this paper is the first genetic study of monosporic isolates in the Czech Republic. By means of RAPD and UPGMA methods which characterised the variability of 10 monosporic isolates from different localities and apple varieties. The monosporic isolate derived from the resistant genotype ( Vf gene) proved a 79% genetic similarity with the isolate derived from sensitive variety Top Red. The genetic similarity of other isolates did not prove the dependence either on a locality or a host variety. The Vf and Vm genes accumulation in apple germplasm by means of specific PCR markers was studied. It was confirmed that Vf gene donors are always heterozygous. Concurrently it was statistically confirmed that the donor of Vm gene (OR-45-T-132) is heterozygous, too. The accumulation of Vf and Vm major genes against the scab was validated in 25% of seedlings of the cross.


ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of hospital-acquired pneumonia and chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Iron is essential for bacterial growth, and P. aeruginosa expresses multiple iron uptake systems, whose role in lung infection deserves further investigation. P. aeruginosa Fe3+ uptake systems include the pyoverdine and pyochelin siderophores and two systems for heme uptake, all of which are dependent on the TonB energy transducer. P. aeruginosa also has the FeoB transporter for Fe2+ acquisition. To assess the roles of individual iron uptake systems in P. aeruginosa lung infection, single and double deletion mutants were generated in P. aeruginosa PAO1 and characterized in vitro, using iron-poor media and human serum, and in vivo, using a mouse model of lung infection. The iron uptake-null mutant (tonB1 feoB) and the Fe3+ transport mutant (tonB1) did not grow aerobically under low-iron conditions and were avirulent in the mouse model. Conversely, the wild type and the feoB, hasR phuR (heme uptake), and pchD (pyochelin) mutants grew in vitro and caused 60 to 90% mortality in mice. The pyoverdine mutant (pvdA) and the siderophore-null mutant (pvdA pchD) grew aerobically in iron-poor media but not in human serum, and they caused low mortality in mice (10 to 20%). To differentiate the roles of pyoverdine in iron uptake and virulence regulation, a pvdA fpvR double mutant defective in pyoverdine production but expressing wild-type levels of pyoverdine-regulated virulence factors was generated. Deletion of fpvR in the pvdA background partially restored the lethal phenotype, indicating that pyoverdine contributes to the pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa lung infection by combining iron transport and virulence-inducing capabilities.


Metastasis to the choroid from primary tumours elsewhere in the body is not an infrequent occurrence. Management of such metastasis may involve modalities such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, photocoagulation and surgical resection. The role of hormonal therapy is poorly defined in the management of these tumours. Herein regression of choroidal metastasis from primary breast carcinoma following antihormonal therapy with the antioestrogen drug Letrozole is reported.


This study aimed to evaluate the vaginal microecology in patients with severe vulvovaginal candidiasis (SVVC). Vaginal microecology was evaluated using vaginal secretions that were collected from 452 patients with SVVC, who were treated between September 2013 and April 2014. The predominant bacteria were lactobacilli (69.91% of the cases). The vaginal flora intensity was level II-III in 81.42% of the cases, and the vaginal flora diversity was level II-III in 77.65% of the cases. Level I cleanliness was exhibited by 276 patients (61.06%), compared to level II cleanliness in 75 patients (16.59%) and level III cleanliness in 101 patients (22.35%). Approximately 67% of the patients had a vaginal pH of <4.5. The patients with SVVC exhibited varying degrees of vaginal microecological disorders, although the predominant bacteria were still lactobacilli. Most cases exhibited vaginal intensity and diversity that were within the normal ranges.


This paper presents a procedure to improve the algorithm of Sangiorgi, Riccoand Venturi for the calculation of the time of flight in Monte Carlo simulations. The method is used to efficiently optimize the step function in which the total scattering probability is discretized. The optimization criterion suggested in this work can reduce the self-scattering events to less than 30% in a fairly wide range of temperatures, applied fields and doping levels. Different examples are presented to illustrate the advantages of the method.


The electroencephalogram (EEG) isconsidered to be one of the most scientifically exploitedsignals recorded from a human's organism. The difficultyencountered in the processing of the EEG signal stemsfrom its highly non-stationary and complex nature. Itappears that time-frequency (t-f) analysis of theelectroencephalogram is one of the most popularapproaches to the extraction of knowledge about braindynamics. This paper presents the Matching Pursuit (MP)method used for obtaining t-f features from braincomputerinterface (BCl) data, in this case the EEGsignals recorded from a subject performing imaginationof left and right hand movement. The emphasis in thepaper is put on an effective realization of MP with Gabordictionary due to its intensive computational load.Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been utilized to optimizethe performance of the t-f method under consideration,which has resulted in the implementation of a GeneticMatching Pursuit Algorithm (GMPA). The BCI data areclassified using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) basedon the set of features extracted with the help of theGMPA. The applicability of the technique to a BCI systemis verified on the basis of the classification accuracy (CA)rate.


Deep-sea hydrothermal vents discharge abundant reductive energy into oxidative seawater. Herein, we demonstrated that in situ measurements of redox potentials on the surfaces of active hydrothermal mineral deposits were more negative than the surrounding seawater potential, driving electrical current generation. We also demonstrated that negative potentials in the surface of minerals were widespread in the hydrothermal fields, regardless of the proximity to hydrothermal fluid discharges. Lab experiments verified that the negative potential of the mineral surface was induced by a distant electron transfer from the hydrothermal fluid through the metallic and catalytic properties of minerals. These results indicate that electric current is spontaneously and widely generated in natural mineral deposits in deep-sea hydrothermal fields. Our discovery provides important insights into the microbial communities that are supported by extracellular electron transfer and the prebiotic chemical and metabolic evolution of the ocean hydrothermal systems.


The rapidly evolving technological world requires engineering skills being up-to-date and relevant. This applies to industry employed workers, as well as the students pursuing college degree. To keep up with the rapid developments in technology the industry representatives need to constantly update their knowledge base. On the other hand, the current economy impacts the college students in such a way that requires many undergraduates to work to secure the funds for their education which in turn requires more flexible class schedule. In order to accommodate the needs of both groups: the university enrolled students and industry representatives, the educational units must adequately adjust their curriculum. The Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) program in the School of Technology (SoT) at Michigan Technological University is constantly revamping the curriculum to meet the expectations of industry by supplying qualified technicians and technologists who have extensive hands-on experience. To further enhance and make the curriculum model more flexible, all programs across in the SoT are developing and offering on-line courses in multiple disciplines. In this article we emphasize the online Electrical Machinery (EM) course development and implementation for currently enrolled in Michigan Technological University students and industry representatives looking to improve their knowledge in the subject. The online EM course will be offered in Track A of summer 2012 and will consist of online learning modulus, online quizzes, exams, and intense laboratories. Due to the hands-on nature of educational strategy, the laboratory component is an integral part of any course offered in the SoT, and the on-line EM course is no exception. The enrolled students will participate in intense laboratory sessions scheduled during two weekends. Considering the seven weeks duration of the summer Track A, the laboratory sessions will be conducted after the third and six weeks consecutively. Prior each laboratory session, the participating students will be required to pass multiple quizzes specifically designed to test their knowledge in the subject matters being exercised in the laboratory activities. Due to current presence of blended learning in the academia and on-going research on its effectiveness, any input from academic units participating in on-line courses development and implementation will increase the knowledge database. The introduction of the on-line version of the EM course in the curriculum will allow us to assess the effectiveness of blended learning and compare with the existing results of traditional/in-person course offerings. In this articles, we discuss the details of the on-line course structure including the theoretical topics and experimental exercises of the course, the technology that has been used for the on-line materials development, and the implementation of the assessment tools to evaluate the student's progress.


Deposition and etching of silicon trenches is an important manufacturing step for state of the art memory cells. Understanding and simulating the transport of gas species and surface evolution enables to achieve void-less filling of deep trenches, to predict the resulting profiles, and thus to optimize process parameters with respect to manufacturing throughput and the quality of the resulting memory cells. For the simulation of the SiO/sub 2/ deposition process from TEOS (Tetraethoxysilane), the level set method was used in addition to physical models. The level set algorithm devised minimizes computational effort while ensuring high accuracy by intertwining narrow banding and extending the speed function. In order to make the predictions of the simulation more accurate, model parameters were extracted by comparing the step coverages of the deposited layers in the simulation with those of SEM (scanning electron microscope) images.


We have considered a differential diagnosis of clinical hyperkalemia. The clinical signs and symptoms of patients with hyperkalemia are manifold and can involve many organ systems. The nonoliguric chronic renal failure patient with hyporeninemia and hypoaldosteronemia may have as one of his principal problems recurrent hyperkalemia. Treatment of this condition includes well-known modalities such as administration of calcium salts, NaHCO3, removal of potassium with resin or dialysis as well as placement of a transvenous pacemaker in anticipation of bradyarrhythmias or asystole.


We examine whether and how investors establish positions in options when they have negative information in the U.S. markets from August 2004 to January 2009. Our empirical results show that options seem to be actively and effectively used for the exploitation of negative information. General trading volumes and bid–ask spreads of options remarkably increase like those of stocks as the short sellers increase their selling pressure. Notably, we find that the difference between a stock's traded price and its implied price from the options market reaches its peak about 2 weeks before the short sale trading activity reaches its peak. We also observe that synthetic short positions measured by this difference are preferred over OTM put positions by investors with negative information. Finally, economically significant returns based on a strategy using the difference in the traded and implied stock prices as a trading signal support our evidence. Moreover, these profits confirm the findings of the previous research which argue that options are shelters for informed investors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 34:516–547, 2014


The goal of this thesis is to calculate properties of D-Mesons with QCD-Sum-Rules in order to understand the nature of D-Mesons with positive parity. The result is that such D-Mesons most probably are Mesons with a four quark rather than a two quark structure. In this thesis a spectral function which contains two resonances is used to calculate the decay constants of the first and the second resonance in the spectral function. Moreover, a Breit-Wigner curve instead of a delta-function is used to approximate the peaks of the resonances in the spectral function. The decay constants of the resonaces corresponding to the second peak in the spectral functions have never been calculated before.Also very practical problems are attacked, see the paragraph about the misscalculation of D-Meson Sum-Rules. Another topic of this thesis was the establishment of basical knowledge about QCD-Sum-Rules, the Operator-Product-Expansion and Dispersion-Integrals. A discussion of these topics and many explicite calculations are included.


Congenital heart disease, with a wide spectrum of severity, affects approximately 1% of all live births. The majority of congenital cardiac structural abnormalities occur in otherwise healthy children and total correction of the cardiac lesion usually results in a normal productive lifespan. Thromboembolic disease has been termed the new epidemic of paediatric tertiary care hospitals. Nowhere is this more evident than in cardiac and cardiac surgical patients. Improved survival for these patients over the last decade has been the result of tremendous advances in surgical techniques, availability of new drugs and new applications for old drugs, and developments in critical and supportive care. Despite this, one of the most frequent complications seen in survivors of congenital heart disease is thromboembolism, which include venous, arterial, and intracardiac thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, and embolism to the central nervous system (CNS) (fig 1⇓). Venous thromboembolic disease in children with congenital heart disease has a mortality of approximately 7%. Morbidity in the form of post-phlebitic syndrome (fig 2⇓) and recurrent venous thrombosis occurs in over 20% of children.

 Figure 1
 Magnetic resonance image of the brain demonstrating extensive ischaemic infarction caused by emboli from intracardiac thrombosis.

 Figure 2
 Post-phlebitic syndrome in a teenage girl, cured of her underlying cardiac anomaly. Her initial thrombosis was asymptomatic and secondary to venous access for cardiac catheterisation. Her course has been complicated by two episodes of venous ulceration, each of which took over four months to heal.

Infants and children with congenital heart disease constitute a major proportion of paediatric patients seen in tertiary hospitals with thromboembolism. Recent data show that almost 50% of infants less than 6 months old, and 30% of older children who suffer venous thromboembolic disease have underlying cardiac disorders. Similarly, almost 70% of infants (< 6 months) and 30% of children who suffer arterial thromboembolism have …


We have proposed a comprehensive model based on a Cosserat curve to investigate the strain-driven self-rolling mechanism for anomalous coiling of multilayer nanohelices from the biaxial-torque point of view. Special attention has been paid to the edge effects, which dominate the anomalous coiling and decrease the helicity angles to as small as 0. By quantitatively explaining the experiments, we have demonstrated that the edge effects not only generate the torsion torque, together with the initial stress perpendicular to the preferential winding direction, to turn the nanobelts, but also offset part of the initial uniaxial bent torque. Our derived expressions can be used experimentally to determine the geometry of multilayer nanohelices with all helicity angles. The present work has provided useful information for the future experimental investigation on multilayer nanohelices as well as their application in meta-/quantum-devices.


Aim: Proarrhythmic potential of donepezil was analyzed. Methods: Exp.1: We infused 0.1 and 1 mg/kg, i.v. of donepezil hydrochloride to the chronic atrioventricular block dogs (n=4). Exp.2: We infused 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg/kg, i. v. of the drug to the halothane-anesthetized dogs (n=4). Results: Exp.1: Low dose did not alter the variables. High dose increased ventricular rate, and induced non-sustained VT in 2 animals at 14-16 min, but TdP was not observed. Exp.2: Low dose did not affect the variables. Middle dose prolonged HV and QRS without altering the other variables. High dose increased heart rate, mean blood pressure, cardiac output, ventricular contraction, but decreased the preload to left ventricle and total peripheral resistance. The dose delayed the repolarization for 5-10 min, prolonged JTpeakc for 5-30 min, Tpeak-Tend at 5 min, HV for 5-15 min and refractory period at 5 min, but shortened AH at 15 and 30 min. Conclusion: The high dose would have increased adrenergic tone, indirectly stimulating Ca channel, which may explain its effects on JTpeakc and AH, whereas it may also directly inhibit Na and K channels, increasing ventricular refractoriness. Thus, temporal discordance between direct and indirect actions may well explain proarrhythmic profile of donepezil. Oral Sessions


PURPOSE
Update on cobalamin deficiencies in adults.

CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND KEY POINTS
More precise definitions establish real cobalamin deficiency and determine epidemiological features. Current data on cobalamin metabolism suggest the concept of non-dissociation of vitamin B12 from its carrier proteins (NDB12), a generalization of the food-cobalamin malabsorption concept. The new features of cobalamin deficiency include neurological, gynecological and vascular manifestations. Current treatment modalities include nasal and oral administration of cobalamin.

PROSPECTS AND PROJECTS
Validate the concept of NDB12 and the usefulness of oral cobalamin therapy, establish the relevance of the new clinical manifestations.


Quality inspection and long term reliability of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are critical for product assurance. In this work, the degradation of LCDs under both high temperature (~90°C) and high humidity (~near 100%) are characterized as a reference for related product reliability test in accelerating manner. Traditionally, manually inspection is performed for finding display defects such as Mura. Such an approach could be biased easily by subjective opinions and a more objective evaluation should be sought. In this paper, a computer-based inspection approach is proposed for addressing this need through a systematic design of LCD durability test. By capturing standard LCD display images during operation and perform essential image processing, it is possible to evaluate defect quantitatively. After each heating period, the LCD images are taken and analyzed either by Otsu thresholding or by analyzing their statistical properties in the gray level histograms. The results indicate that these image-based methods are highly correlated and therefore can be adapted as the measures of display qualities. The mean time to failure is characterized as 1500 hours under the testing condition. Meanwhile, both the Young's modulus and warpage testing of the polarizer and the diffuser membranes of the LCDs, as well as the essential finite element deformation analyses, are performed for correlating the display performance of the LCDs. It is found that the resulted warpage and the reported Mura are also highly correlated. This provides a rational approach for improving device longevity based on fundamental mechanics.


Biomaterials are used as implants for bone and dental disabilities. However, wear particles from the implants cause osteolysis following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Ceramic implants are considered safe and elicit a minimal response to cause periprosthetic osteolysis. However, few reports have highlighted the adverse effect of ceramic particles such as alumina (Al2O3) on various cell types. Hence, we aimed to investigate the effect of Al2O3 particles on osteoprogenitors. A comparative treatment of Al2O3, Ti, and UHMWPE particles to osteoprogenitors at a similar concentration of 200 μg/mL showed that only Al2O3 particles were able to suppress the early and late differentiation markers of osteoprogenitors, including collagen synthesis, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mRNA expression of Runx2, OSX, Col1α, and OCN. Al2O3 particles even induced inflammation and activated the NFkB signaling pathway in osteoprogenitors. Moreover, bone-forming signals such as the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway were inhibited by the Al2O3 particles. Al2O3 particles were found to induce the mRNA expression of WNT/β-catenin signaling antagonists such as DKK2, WIF, and sFRP1 several times in osteoprogenitors. Taken together, this study highlights a mechanistic view of the effect of Al2O3 particles on osteoprogenitors and suggests therapeutic targets such as NFĸB and WNT signaling pathways for ceramic particle-induced osteolysis.


Streptomycin was the first discovered aminoglycoside antibiotic. It has been widely applied in veterinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infection. However, the current detection methods are not satisfactory in terms of sensitivity and sample process, which makes them unsuitable for a pharmacokinetic study. A high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric method employing positive electrospray ionization was developed and validated for the determination of streptomycin concentration in mice plasma. A simple protein precipitation method was utilized to extract streptomycin as well as the internal standard (kanamycin) from mouse plasma. This assay method was validated in terms of specificity, sensitivity, precision, accuracy and recovery. This method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in mice following intramuscular administration of 200 mg/kg streptomycin. The lower limit of quantification of the developed assay method for streptomycin was 10 ng/mL. The intra-day and inter-day precision was evaluated with the coefficient of variations <14.3%, whereas the mean accuracy ranged from 87.0 to 105.0%. The samples were stable under the experimental conditions. The present method provides a robust, fast and sensitive analytical approach for the quantification of streptomycin in mouse plasma and has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in mice.


One of the fundamental elements of therapy in patients hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is mechanical ventilation (MV). MV enables sufficient gas exchange in patients with severe respiratory insufficiency, thus preserving the proper functioning of organs and systems. However, clinical and experimental studies show that mechanical ventilation may cause severe complications, e.g. lung injury (VALI, VILI), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and, on rare occasions, multiple organ failure (MOF). Mechanical ventilation and especially endotracheal intubation are associated also with higher risk of infectious complications of the respiratory system: ventilator-associated respiratory infection (VARI) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The complications of the MV listed above have a significant influence on the length of treatment and also on the increase of the costs of therapy and mortality of patients who stay in an ICU. These negative effects of supported breathing are the reasons for intensive research to find new biological markers of inflammation and lung injury, more sensitive and specific diagnostic instruments, more effective methods of therapy, and programs of prevention. The purpose of this article is the presentation of current knowledge concerning VAP-related infections, to allow pulmonologists and general practitioners to become more familiar with the problem. Basic and the most important data concerning the definition, epidemiology, pathophysiology, microbiology, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention of VAP have been included. Additionally, ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT) was discussed.


Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) is associated with various neuropathic degenerative diseases and is considered a novel target for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Elevated levels of HDAC2 trigger excitatory neurotransmission and reduce synaptic plasticity, synaptic number, and memory formation. In the current study, we identified HDAC2 inhibitors using an integrated structure and ligand-based approaches to drug design. Three pharmacophore models were generated by using different pharmacophoric features and validated using the Enrichment factor (EF), Güner-henry (GH) score, and percentage yield. The model of choice was used to screen a library of Zinc-15 compounds and interfering compounds were eliminated by using drug likeliness and PAINS filtering. Further, docking studies in three stages were carried out to obtain hits with good binding energies and were followed by ADMET studies yielding three virtual hits. The virtual hits, i.e. ZINC000008184553, ZINC0000013641114, and ZINC000032533141, were subjected to molecular dynamics simulation studies. Compound ZINC000008184553, identified as lead, was found to have optimal stability, low toxicity under simulated conditions, and may potentially inhibit HDAC2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.


The purpose of this study is to examine the current status of allergic diseases associated with the housing environment and the psychological attitude of residents towards relevant risk factors. This study surveyed 1,200 people. In the first round, 200 participants were questioned through direct survey methods, while 1,000 participants filled out an online survey in the second round. Selected study subjects consisted of allergic diseases known to be closely related to housing environment factors. With advice from medical experts, the analysis included the examination of the prevalence status regarding five types of allergy-related diseases-allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic dermatitis, asthma and headache-with the range of disease incidence set within the past ten years. The survey was conducted on all age groups except those nine years old and younger, and the findings are as follows. Allergic diseases were found to be more prevalent among women than men. Residents identified effective methods for the alleviation and treatment of allergic diseases as ventilation, use of environmentally-friendly finishing materials, maintenance of a clean living space through cleaning or washing, and sunlight exposure. Residents` understanding of allergic diseases varied depending on their experience with such diseases and residential characteristics.


Service quality is a key factor of the competitive capability of business consulting services providers – it helps strengthen the image, create references, establish long-term business relationships and reduce the perceived risk to the customer of such services. The existing service quality models are not suitable for application to the business-to-business (B2B) market due to differences in service characteristics and specific behavior of B2B customers. Business consulting services are highly intangible and complex to evaluate, with a large number of people involved generally both in their provision and use. Typically, they are implemented in the form of a project, characterized by a high degree of interaction between service providers and customers, who differ by their ability to be integrated in their service provision process. It is essential to adapt these services to specific customer needs, and the outcome of service provision may sometimes only be apparent a while after the consulting project has been completed. Therefore, there is no single, generally accepted model of conceptualizing and measuring the quality of B2B services such as business consulting services. Building from existing theoretical notions, the paper determines the suitability of Donabedian's service quality model for conceptualizing and measuring the perceived quality of business consulting services. Based on the results of the empirical research conducted on a sample of 110 managers of the companies which use them, the perceived quality of business consulting services was found to be a multidimensional construct of a higher order which is perceived by customers through such dimensions as service potential, process and results. Thus, the preliminary hypothesis of the paper was confirmed. Research results provide the basis for recommendations to be presented for use by the marketing management of consulting services providers as well as serving as suggestions for future research.