The aim of the research is to study the role of financial analysis in reducing and reducing credit risks in commercial banks. The problem of the study was that financial analysis is considered the most helpful means for management and other beneficiaries in making rational decisions in order to reduce credit risks, although many banks have Do not pay much attention to the effective role of financial analysis in reducing credit risks. The aim of the research is to identify the ability of financial analysis of its types to reduce bank credit risks, and to identify the extent to which banks rely on financial analysis as a tool for credit rationalization. The research also dealt with showing the role that the information available using financial analysis tools plays in the process of making rational decisions. Reducing bank credit risks. The study reached several results, including: the bank conducting a financial analysis before granting credit, relying on financial ratios in analyzing credit data that is the least risky, relying on a model for classifying credit and providing information that in turn reduces credit risks for commercial banks. The study also recommended A number of recommendations, including: attention to analyzing customer data before granting credit, and attention to developing models for classifying bank credits.


In the present study we investigated the direct effects of potential uremic toxins on the energy metabolism of cultured cardiac myocytes. High-energy phosphates were extracted with perchloric acid and determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Energy charge (calculated from the ratio of [ATP], [ADP] and [AMP] was significantly reduced by 20 mM urea and the combination of creatinine (5 mM) plus urea (200 mM). On the other hand, perfusion with culture media containing clinically relevant amounts of urea (20 mM) or creatinine (1 mM) increased the PCr/ATP ratio. This effect was more pronounced after application of an artificial uremic medium (consisting of uremic serum, urea, creatinine and cytokines) or high amounts of creatinine (5 mM) plus urea (200 mM). As contractility of myocytes is reduced due to application of uremic compounds or uremic serum, we attribute changes in contraction frequency or inotropy to dysregulation of calcium availability within the cell. In fact, the cardiodepressive action of uremic serum (2.5%) could be completely reversed by the calcium agonist, Bay K 8644, thus indicating disturbances in myocardial calcium homeostasis in uremia. Altered calcium regulation by uremic toxins might therefore be responsible for the observed changes in myocardial energy metabolism. These results might contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis of cardiac damage in end-stage renal disease.


Research Problem: To re-examine the issue of non-linearity in capital structure choices of firms through the application of the hitherto un-applied technique of 'panel data unconditional quantile regression' with a view to indirectly ascertain the applicability of Trade-off Theory, Agency Cost theory and Pecking Order Theory through the analysis of the predictions of these theories on the firm-specific determinants of capital structure of Indian manufacturing firms.

Research Objectives: (A) To choose the appropriate panel data model from three mutually exclusive panel data models ( Pooled Ordinary Least Squares Model, Fixed Effects Model and Random Effects Model ) for analysing the impact of firm-specific determinants of capital structure on the mean of the variable measuring capital structure ( say, "V") in respect of Indian manufacturing companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with a view to indirectly assess the applicability of Trade-Off Theory (TOT), Agency Cost Theory (ACT) and Pecking Order Theory (POT) for an average company with mean (average) level of leverage. (B) To apply 'unconditional quantile regression technique' on the chosen panel data model for analysing the differential impact ( that is, non-linear behaviour) of the firm-specific determinants of capital structure over the entire unconditional distribution of the variable "V" in respect of Indian manufacturing companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE ), with a view to assess indirectly the applicability of Trade-Offff Theory (TOT) , Agency Cost Theory (ACT) and Pecking Order Theory (POT) at different quantiles of the unconditional distribution of V, that is, for representative companies having varying (for example, 'very low', 'low', 'moderate', 'high' or 'very high') levels of leverage.

A representative company at a particular quantile of leverage represents a company with the corresponding level of leverage, for instance, a representative company at the 50th quantile represents a company with median (or moderate) level of leverage, or a representative company at the 10th quantile may be said to represent a company with very low level of leverage.


Purpose To investigate among primary care patients and their physicians in western Switzerland the prevalence of use, perceived usefulness, and communication about common treatments for chronic or recurrent low back pain (crLBP) including complementary medicine (CM). Patients and methods A cross-sectional cluster observational study involving 499 crLBP patients visiting 45 primary care physicians (PCPs) was conducted from November 1, 2015, to May 31, 2016. Patients and primary care physicians completed questionnaires about lifetime use and usefulness of 30 crLBP therapies. We conducted multivariate analyses of factors associated with therapy use, including sociodemographic variables, pain duration, insurance coverage, and primary care physicians' characteristics. Results The five most frequent modalities used at least once by patients were physiotherapy (81.8%), osteopathic treatment (63.4%), exercise therapy (53.4%), opioids (52.5%), and therapeutic massage (50.8%). For their PCPs, the five most useful therapies were physiotherapy, osteopathic treatment, yoga, meditation, and manual therapy. In multivariate analysis, the use of physiotherapy was significantly associated with longer pain duration; osteopathic treatment was associated with age under 75 years, female gender, higher education, and CM insurance coverage. Exercise therapy was associated with non-smoking and longer pain duration. Smokers were more likely and patients of PCPs with CM training were less likely to have used opioids. During their lifetime, 86.6% of the participants had used at least one CM therapy to manage their crLBP, with a mean of 3.3 (SD=2.9) therapies used per participant; 46.1% of participants reported that their PCP did not enquire about CM use. Among CM users, 64.7% informed their PCP about it. Conclusion Patients with crLBP use a variety of treatments, including self-prescribed and unreimbursed therapies, most frequently physiotherapy and osteopathy. The results suggest that PCPs should systematically discuss with their patients the treatments they tried to manage crLBP, including CM.


To evaluate the quality differences of four mainstream species of Berberidis Cortex,~1H-NMR metabolomics was applied to detect its primary and secondary metabolites, and the partial least squares discriminant analysis and analysis of variance were integrated to screen differential metabolites between species. Furthermore, diabetic rat model was established by high fat diet and streptozotocin to assess differences in antidiabetic activities among the four species. Sixteen compounds were simultaneously detected and identified, including alkaloids, organic acids, carbohydrates and amino acids. Interspecific difference markers were revealed as magnoflorine, jateorhi-zine, bufotenidine and saccharose for the first time. Berberis vernae and B. kansuensis presented superior activities on reducing blood glucose level, improving insulin resistance, increasing insulin sensibility and anti-inflammation. B. dictyophylla showed moderate antidiabe-tic effect, while B. diaphana rendered inferior antidiabetic capacity. Based on the contents of four differential markers and the results of antidiabetic activity evaluation, the quality of four Berberidis Cortex species was ranked as B.vernae≈B.kansuensis>B. dictyophylla>B. diaphana. These results provided references for species collation, quality standard establishment and exploitation of Berberidis Cortex. The antidiabetic activities of B. vernae and B. kansuensis as well as their mechanisms of action merit further study in the future.


Q-learning is widely used algorithm in reinforcement learning community. Under the lookup table setting, its convergence is well established. However, its behavior is known to be unstable with the linear function approximation case. This paper develops a new Q-learning algorithm that converges when linear function approximation is used. We prove that simply adding an appropriate regularization term ensures convergence of the algorithm. We prove its stability using a recent analysis tool based on switching system models. Moreover, we experimentally show that it converges in environments where Q-learning with linear function approximation has known to diverge. We also provide an error bound on the solution where the algorithm converges.


According to shortcomings of the present prediction approach to dynamics index of field development and the principle of wavelet neural network (WNN), this study provides a new dynamics index prediction model using WNN, which can be applied to the actual prediction, and studies the model solution. The case study shows the prediction approach of WNN is correct and feasible. Compared with the prediction method of artificial neural network, this new approach can not only effectively raise the prediction accuracy as well as the convergence rate, but also be an alternative for dynamics index prediction of field development.


Abstract Organic soybean is presently less than 0.1% of total world production partly because of inappropriate fertiliser regime on degraded tropical soils. Therefore, two field trials were carried out during the late cropping seasons (June – November) of 2017 and 2018 to evaluate the agronomic performance of three soybean varieties: TGx 1448-2E, TGx 1835-10E and TGx 1989-9F as affected by foliar organic fertilisers: Arati Baja, Arati Nawoz, DI Grow, and soil applied organic fertiliser (Aleshinloye Grade B), and the control. The experimental design was Randomised Complete Block Design in a 3 × 5 factorial arrangement with three replications. Data were collected on yield attributes and seed yield of soybeans. Significant varietal difference (P < 0.05) in both years was recorded for number and weight of pods and seeds per plant, 100 seed weight, harvest index, and grain yield, except number of seeds per plant in 2018. Fertiliser × Variety interaction effect significantly (P < 0.05) affected above-ground plant weight and pod weight per plant in both years. On average, application of organic fertilisers resulted in grain yield (1.30–2.28 t/ha) comparable with Nigeria's (0.97 t/ha) and Africa's (1.37 t/ha) but lower than the world's (2.85 t/ha) average values. The three foliar fertilisers and soil applied organic fertiliser enhanced seed yield of soybeans and are therefore recommended for soybean cultivation in the tropics.


A speedometer device using a plastic optical fibre is described. This device was specially designed for automotive applications and it is suitable for withstanding all of the environment hazards present in the car. The speedometer can measure speeds from 0 to 300 km h-1, with a SNR higher than 6 dB throughout the whole range.


The model‐based inversion tools for eddy current signals have been developed by the novel combination of neural networks and finite element modeling for quantitative flaw characterization in steam generator tubes. In the present work, interpretation of experimental eddy current signals was carried out in order to validate the developed inversion tools. A database was constructed using the synthetic flaw signals generated by the finite element modeling. The hybrid neural networks of a PNN classifier and BPNN size estimators were trained using the synthetic signals. Experimental eddy current signals were obtained from axisymmetric artificial flaws. Interpretations of flaws were carried out by feeding experimental signals into the neural networks. The results of interpretations were excellent, so that the developed inversion tools would be applicable to the interpretation of experimental eddy current signals.


Among the major addictions, cocaine is the only one without a therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is a wicked habit to kick without help, as some 1 million people who are dependent on the drug in the United States can attest. A noninvasive method now being tested in clinical trials by a small cadre of researchers may at last offer help. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), applied by running electric current through a coil held near the scalp, is thought to tweak the out-of-whack brain circuits that define cocaine addiction. TMS is already approved for treating depression. But the researchers testing TMS today in people addicted to cocaine are aiming to strengthen impulse control and to restore to normality a reward circuit that is abnormally active when users are presented with cues like photos of cocaine. Although the therapy has been used in an uncontrolled setting on hundreds of cocaine users in Italy, the trials now underway will provide the first rigorous, blinded tests of whether it works.


Objective : The objective of this study was to determine the effect journaling had on the degree of compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), and trauma/compassion fatigue (TCF) present in registered nurses (RNs). A secondary objective of this study was to gain knowledge about participants' experiences with journaling. Methods : This study was a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design with a qualitative component. A total of 66 registered nurses were recruited to participate in a journaling class. Each RN completed the Professional Quality of Life Scale Survey Revision IV (ProQOL R-IV) three times. In addition to the surveys, participants were asked to answer two open-ended questions. Results : CS, BO, and TCF all improved after taking the course. The overall change from Pre-survey to Post II-survey was statistically significant for compassion satisfaction ( p = .008); burnout ( p = .0001); and, trauma compassion fatigue ( p = .0001). During constant-comparative analysis three themes were identified as: 1) journaling allowed me to unleash my inner most feelings, 2) journaling helped me to articulate and understand my feelings concretely, and 3) journaling helped me make more reasonable decisions. Conclusions : This study provides valuable information about journaling having a positive effect over time on the ability of registered nurses to handle stress, increase CS, and decrease BO and TCF symptoms. While this information adds to the limited literature, further research needs to be conducted with a larger sample.


Several (accumulative) lifetime models were developed to assess the lifetime consumption of high-temperature components of steam and gas turbine power plants during flexible operation modes. These accumulative methods have several drawbacks, e.g. that measured loading profiles cannot be used within accumulative lifetime methods without manual corrections, and cannot be combined directly to sophisticated probabilistic methods. Although these methods are widely accepted and used for years, the accumulative lifetime prediction procedures need improvement regarding the lifetime consumption of thermal power plants during flexible operation modes. Furthermore, previous investigations show that the main influencing factor from the materials perspective, the critical damage threshold, cannot be statistically estimated from typical creep-fatigue experiments due to massive experimental effort and a low amount of available data.
 This paper seeks to investigate simple damage mechanics concepts applied to high-temperature components under creep-fatigue loading to demonstrate that these methods can overcome some drawbacks and use improvement potentials of traditional accumulative lifetime methods. Furthermore, damage mechanics models do not provide any reliability information, and the assessment of the resultant lifetime prediction is nearly impossible. At this point, probabilistic methods are used to quantify the missing information concerning failure probabilities and sensitivities and thus, the combination of both provides rigorous information for engineering judgment.
 Nearly 50 low cycle fatigue experiments of a high chromium cast steel, including dwell times and service-type cycles, are used to investigate the model properties of a simple damage evolution equation using the strain equivalence hypothesis. Furthermore, different temperatures from 300 °C to 625 °C and different strain ranges from 0.35% to 2% were applied during the experiments. The determination of the specimen stiffness allows a quantification of the damage evolution during the experiment. The model parameters are determined by Nelder-Mead optimization procedure, and the dependencies of the model parameters concerning to different temperatures and strain ranges are investigated. In this paper, polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) is used for uncertainty propagation of the model uncertainties while using non-intrusive methods (regression techniques). In a further post-processing step, the computed PCE coefficients of the damage variable are used to determine the probability of failure as a function of cycles and evolution of the probability density function (pdf).
 Except for the selected damage mechanics model which is considered simple, the advantages of using damage mechanics concepts combined with sophisticated probabilistic methods are presented in this paper.


This essay argues that in Wuthering Heights Heathcliff's form of love energizes a culture of both production and consumption. The story of Heathcliff's life provides an exciting and mysterious narrative of the origins of capitalist desire. He represents the fantasy that some erotically compelling power underlies this economy. It is, instead, Catherine's love that functions in opposition to the culture of capitalist accumulation. Catherine stands for a kind of love that undermines the desire necessary for capitalism to function smoothly. She offers an alternative to an economy of unsatisfied desire, threatening to undermine both a capitalist and patriarchal logic.


Background: Neratinib, an oral, irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor of multiple human epidermal growth factor receptors (HERs), is indicated for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with, HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer (eBC) to follow adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy in the United States (US). However, greater efficacy has been seen in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer and who initiated neratinib within 1 year of completing trastuzumab. Objective: This study explores the cost-effectiveness of neratinib versus placebo from a US third-party payer perspective in adult patients with HR+ HER2-overexpressed/amplified eBC and who are less than 1 year from the completion of prior adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy. Methods: A Markov model was constructed to model costs and health outcomes of neratinib and placebo over a lifetime horizon. The model consisted of five health states representing the primary stages of disease in eBC—disease-free, local recurrence, remission, distant recurrence, and dead—and corresponds to the primary and secondary endpoints in the neratinib ExteNET trial. Overall survival was modeled based on a combination of post-distant recurrence survival and general population mortality, assuming all cancer-related mortality would occur through the distant recurrence health state. Statistical extrapolation of invasive disease-free survival and post-distant recurrence survival were derived from the ExteNET clinical trial data as well as the proportion of local and distant recurrence and number of adverse events. Non-breast cancer-related mortality was derived from US life tables. Costs per treatment arm were calculated based on drug acquisition, administration, and monitoring costs as well as treatment costs for adverse events and health state-related medical resource use. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were estimated per health state, and disutilities were applied per adverse event independent of treatment. Utility values for the invasive disease-free survival health state and diarrhoea were estimated using the EQ-5D-3L data collected in ExteNET. Additional health state utilities and adverse events disutilities were identified from the literature. Costs were adjusted to 2020 US dollars. One-way (OWSA) and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (PSA) and scenario analyses were performed to investigate the robustness of the results. Further, analyses were performed to investigate the cost-effectiveness for the subgroup of patients who did not achieve a pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant therapy. Results: The results of the base case analysis showed that, compared with placebo, neratinib treatment generated an additional 0.88 incremental QALYs, 0.99 incremental life-years, and a resulting cost per QALY gained of $56,367. The results were robust across multiple scenario analyses with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) below $70,000. OWSA showed that the parameters that most influenced the results were variations in treatment-related costs, efficacy, and health state utility values. The PSA indicated that the probability of neratinib being cost-effective at a $100,000 per QALY threshold was above 75%. The analysis for the subgroup of patients who did not achieve a pCR after neoadjuvant therapy resulted in an improved ICER. Conclusions: The current cost-effectiveness analysis shows that neratinib is a cost-effective therapy for treating adult patients with HR+ HER2-overexpressed/amplified eBC and who are less than 1 year from the completion of prior adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy in the US and in patients who did not achieve a pCR after neoadjuvant treatment. Citation Format: Thor-Henrik Brodtkorb, Cheryl McDade, Deepa Lalla, Frankie Ann Holmes. Cost-effectiveness of neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early-stage, HR+, HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer who initiated neratinib within 1 year of completing trastuzumab in the US [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS9-33.


The manuscript by Zander et al. presents high-resolution geochemical records from biochemical varve sequence of Lake Zabinskie. The topic is very interesting and timely. The use of biogenic content as climatic proxy is underrepresented among varve studies, nearly missing, due to their more complex nature compared to for example clastic varves or minerogenic content of mixed varves. Exploring biochemical content of varved sediments provide new insights to climate studies and new opportunities for high-resolution climate reconstructions, not only for new locations but also for different seasons. Zander et al. use state-of-the-art methods and present high quality data with comprehensive statistical analyses. The manuscript is well written and the figures and tables are of high quality. The interpretations are logical and justified by data. I have only few minor comments to improve the manuscript and one technical issue related to manuscript structure.


Before establishment of Visva Bharati Granthan Vibhaga (VBGV) in 1923, Rabindranath Tagore's writings werepublished by his friends and family members and Adi Brahmasamaj Jantra (Press of Brahmasamaj, Calcutta). Rabindranath(1861-1941) received the Nobel Prize for Gitanjali (Song Offerings) in 1913 which is a collection of poems from differentkavyagrantha (book of poems). Copyright of Rabindranath Tagore's works given to Visva-Bharati expired in December2001. Private publishers have been free to publish the writings of Rabindranath Tagore since then. The present paper is anattempt to assess the quality of publication of Gitanjali published by private publishers before establishment of VBGV andafter expiry of copyright. It is observed that a small portion of Bengali publishers are publishing Gitanjali at a lower pricebut with good number of mistakes. Pre-VBGV publications also have mistakes.


403 Cell line identity is reportedly mistaken in an alarmingly high percentage of cases (16-30%). Short tandem repeat (STR) genotyping (microsatellite DNA fingerprinting) is the standard in forensics, theoretically providing unique profiles for every person on the planet. However, inherent genetic instability and/or selective pressures can sometimes cause slight alterations to STR profiles of cell lines, perhaps inhibiting wider use of the method in cancer research. We genotyped a large panel of pediatric cancer cell lines to assess the utility of STRs in identifying cell cultures and to determine when and to what degree microsatellite alterations (MSA) typically occur. We monitored costs and the occurrence of mistaken cell line identity to address the feasibility and necessity of the method. Polymerase chain reaction with the Applied Biosystems Ampf l STR TM Identifiler TM kit (16 loci amplified) was performed to obtain STR profiles for 124 cell lines we established and 51 lines from other investigators (175 total): 102 neuroblastoma (NB), 30 leukemia or lymphoma, 10 retinoblastoma, 10 Ewing's family tumor (ESFT), 8 rhabdomyosarcoma, 5 brain tumor, 5 carcinoma, 1 prostate, and 4 EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines. We genotyped 525 total samples, including patient material. Comparison to patient tissue or cell lines from the same patient with separate establishment dates verified identity of 57 lines. All other lines showed unique profiles. Cell lines showed 1-3 MSA compared to blood cells from the same patients in 5 of 12 NB and 1 leukemia. We found no variation between cell lines established from different anatomic sites in the same patient at the same time in 5 NB and 1 rhabdomyosarcoma. Cell lines established after therapy and/or progression of disease showed MSA compared to lines established at diagnosis from the same patients in 5 of 8 NB, 1 leukemia, and 1 ESFT. Leukemia and ESFT lines showed greater MSA than NB lines. We also compared cell line profiles before and after in vitro manipulations. Two of 3 NB cell lines showed 1-2 MSA after selection for resistance to retinoic acid. Two of 5 NB lines showed 1-2 MSA after retroviral transfection and marker selection. Two of 4 NB lines showed 3 MSA in relation to corresponding EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid lines. Of 65 cell lines with 2 or more samples at different passages in vitro, 21 showed MSA in at least 1 sample; several lines showed high MSA. Despite MSA, unambiguous identification was achieved in all 525 samples. Cell line identity was mistaken in 9% of samples (36 cross-contaminated/mislabeled, 12 mixtures). Profiles of mixtures were composites of two known cell line profiles in all cases and were distinguishable from lines with high MSA. Genotyping with Identifiler TM costs ~$30/sample. In conclusion, Identifiler TM can be feasibly used to reliably prevent artifacts of misidentification.


Background: Sequential low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) plus warfarin, LMWH plus edoxaban, and LMWH plus dabigatran regimens have already shown efficacy and safety in the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism (PE). The efficacy and safety of sequential LMWH plus rivaroxaban regimen in the treatment of acute PE have been understudied. Methods: A retrospective study was performed to explore the efficacy and safety of sequential therapy regimens of subcutaneous LMWH (nadroparin 86 IU/kg every 12 h for a week) followed by oral rivaroxaban (20 mg once daily for 3 months) for the management of patients with established acute PE without hemodynamic instability, compared with those of nadroparin plus dabigatran and nadroparin plus warfarin. Results: The number of patients with total resolution of PE were 238 (80.1%), 220 (78.0%), and 166 (62.6%), in the nadroparin + rivaroxaban, nadroparin + dabigatra, and nadroparin + warfarin groups, respectively. (p = 0.001) The prevalence of DVT at the 3-month follow-up visit was 18 (6.1%), 14 (5.0%), and 11 (4.2%), in the aforementioned three groups, respectively. (p = 0.559) The NT-proBNP level (pg/ml) at the 3-month follow-up visit was 122.5 (97.4–158.9), 131.7 (102.2–166.3), and 357.8 (275.4–433.2) in the three groups, respectively. (p = 0.001) The D-dimer level (ng/ml) at the 3-month follow-up visit was 387.3 (310.9–465.2), 432.5 (382.4–489.6), and 854.0 (721.5–993.7) in the three groups, respectively (p < 0.001). The number of patients with major bleeding events was 3(0.9%), 6(1.8%), and 18 (5.5%) in the three groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The regimen of sequential subcutaneous nadroparin at body-weight adjusted dose for a week followed by oral rivaroxaban at a dose of 20 mg once daily for 3 months is effective and safe in the initial treatment of patients with acute pulmonary embolism.


Hereditary defects in amino acid metabolism are involved in several neurological disorders, 1,5,7,14,17,22 and the urinary excretion pattern has been shown to be a useful diagnostic aid. 9 Qualification of the amino acid content of a sample can best be done on an automatic analyzer. However, this technique requires 24 16 to 48 hours 19 for each assay for physiological fluids, with only one sample being examined at a time. This approach is unsuitable for the large-scale study of clinical populations. A screening procedure is necessary so that large numbers of patients can be routinely examined and those with a frankly normal distribution pattern eliminated without time-consuming quantitative analysis. Rapidity and small expense have encouraged the use of circular paper chromatography as a screening technique, 6 but this approach sacrifices resolution for speed. The "group" separation that is achieved is often inadequate. Thin-layer chromatography, 20 as a routine tool


In the studies of 2014-2016 years on rich medium-loamy alluvial soils of the Moscow region in the cultivation of hybrids of onions Pervenets F1, Bennito F1 and Poisk 012 F1 in drip irrigation conditions in an annual crop, the best yield of Repka 45.1 t/ha, 47.9 t/ha and 59.9 t/ha, respectively. The greatest effect was obtained from the complex application of N90P90K90 (main) in combination with plant fertilization with potassium nitrate and Zircon growth regulator during the period of intensive growth of vegetative mass and the beginning of bulb formation for late Bennito F1 hybrids and Poisk 012 F1, and for the medium-unrided hybrid the Pervenets F1 system was the best N90P90K90+Zircon. This system allowed to obtain a high yield of standard products (up to 93%) with good bio-chemical quality of the onion. New technologies of cultivation of onions in an annual crop with the complex use of drip irrigation, fertilizers and new hybrids of intensive type, allow in the conditions of the Central non-Chernozem zone to obtain the yield of onion-turnip at the level of 50-60 t/ha, with the output of standard products 80-93%. The best biochemical quality indicators of bulbs were obtained with the complex application of fertilizers with the growth regulator Zircon, with the cultivation of hybrids Pervenets F1 and Bennito F1, and hybrid Poisk 012 F1 is not mature enough in the Moscow region. From the conducted research it can be concluded that the studied hybrids of onion Pervenets F1, Bennito F1 and Poisk 012 F1 when grown in annual crops in terms of Non-Chernozem zone of the Russian Federation use better fertilizing than the main fertilizer.


Leaf photosynthesis, a major determinant for yield sustainability in rice, is greatly conditioned by high temperature stress during growth. The effect of short-term high temperatures on leaf photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, Fv/Fm, SPAD readings and yield characteristics was studied in two Colombian rice cultivars. Two genotypes, cv. Fedearroz 50 (F50) and cv. Fedearroz 733 (F733) were used in pot experiments with heat stress treatment (Plants were exposed to 40°C for two and half hours for five consecutive days) and natural temperature (control) treatment. Heat treatments were carried out at the initiation of panicle primordial (IP) or grain-filling (GF) phases. The results showed that short-term high temperature stress produced a reduction on the photosynthesis rate in both cultivars either IP or GF phases. Similar trends were found on stomatal conductance in all cases due to high temperatures. Although Fv/Fm and SPAD readings were not affected by high temperatures, these variables diminished significantly among phenological phases. 'F733' rice plants showed higher number spikelet sterility due to heat stress treatments. These results seem to indicate that heat-tolerant cultivars of rice is associated with high levels of photosynthesis rate in leaves.


The genes encoding S. sonnei form I O antigen and V. cholerae B subunit were cloned into an expression vector containing asd gene of Streptococcus mutans by gene recombination. The final recombination plasmid was transformed into the asd mutant of S. flexneri 2a (strain T32). Analysis of LPS silver staining and western blotting indicated that the genes encoding CT-B and form I O antigen could stably express in the asd mutant T32 strain. Immune protection tests in mice showed that the recombinant strain constructed in this study could provide 100% protection against the challenge from S. flexneri 2a and S. Sonnei and also showed a good immune protection (70%) against V. cholerae. This recombinant strain has the following advantages: trivalent, stable and no vector drug resistance markers.


East Kanto region of Japan experienced a record heavy rainfall on 09-10 September 2015, caused severe damage of life and properties. Rainfall amount of this event was recorded by Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS) rain gauges at every 10 minute time interval. The maximum 24-hrs rainfall (0600 UTC 09 Sept 2015 to 0600 UTC 10 Sept 2015) was reached about 500 mm in some part of the Tochigi prefecture. Estimated rainfall rate from Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) C-band radar and X-band polarimetric Radar Information Network (XRAIN) are also available for the event at different scale. Spatial and temporal resolution of JMA radar data are 1000-m and 5-min and for XRAIN radar, it is 250-m and 1-min. Both estimated radar rainfall data were compared with rain gauge data to examine their performance. Based on 24-hrs total rainfall, JMA and XRAIN radar display different rainfall distribution especially in the case of higher rain intensities. Both radar data do not show the dependency of rainfall with respect to elevation for this case. In higher rainfall zone of the event, JMA radar rainfall is overestimated. XRAIN radar reflects some underestimation especially over mountain region, but it provides close rainfall with rain gauge data in the rest part of the Kanto region. XRAIN also shows remarkable variation of rainfall with respect to time but, it is almost not possible to get such information from the JMA radar because of its coarse spatial and temporal resolution observation.


In the magnetically torqued disc (MTD) model for hot star discs, as proposed and formulated by Cassinelli et al., stellar wind mass loss was taken to be uniform over the stellar surface. Here account is taken of the fact that as the stellar spin rate S-0 (= rootOmega(0)(2)R(3)/GM) is increased, and the stellar equator is gravity darkened, the equatorial mass flux and terminal speed are reduced, compared with the poles, for a given total M. As a result, the distribution of equatorial disc density, determined by the impact of northbound and southbound flows, is shifted further out from the star. This results, for high S-0(greater than or similar to0.5), in a fall in the disc mass and emission measure, and hence in the observed emission line equivalent width, scattering polarization and infrared emission. Consequently, contrary to expectations, critical rotation S-0 → 1 is not the optimum for creation of hot star discs which, in terms of emission measure for example, is found to occur in a broad peak around S-0 approximate to 0.5-0.6 depending slightly on the wind velocity law. The relationship of this analytic quasi-steady parametric MTD model to other work on magnetically guided winds is discussed. In particular, the failures of the MTD model for Be-star discs alleged by Owocki and ud-Doula are shown to revolve largely around open observational tests, rather than in the basic MTD physics, and around their use of insufficiently strong fields.


Summary The growth rate of Sarcoma 180 and of a mammary adenocarcinoma in potassium-deficient mice did not significantly differ from that in pair-fed control mice. The potassium concentration of these tumors in potassium-deficient mice was the same as in the control mice, although the potassium concentration of muscle and plasma was only half of that in the controls. The in vivo equilibration of K 42 in Sarcoma 180 showed that at least 80 per cent of the tissue potassium was exchangeable.


A new numerical scheme for obtaining the steady-state form of an internal solitary wave of large amplitude is presented. A stratified inviscid two-dimensional fluid under the Boussinesq approximation flowing between horizontal rigid boundaries is considered. The stratification is stable, and buoyancy is continuously differentiable throughout the domain of the flow. Solutions are obtained by tracing the buoyancy frequency along streamlines from the undisturbed far field. From this the vorticity field can be constructed and the streamfunction may then be obtained by inversion of Laplace's operator. The scheme is presented as an iterative solver, where the inversion of Laplace's operator is performed spectrally. The solutions agree well with previous results for stratification in which the buoyancy frequency is a discontinuous function. The new numerical scheme allows significantly larger amplitude waves to be computed than have been presented before and it is shown that waves with Richardson numbers as low as 0.062 can be computed straightforwardly. The method is also extended to deal in a novel way with closed streamlines when they occur in the domain. The new solutions are tested in independent fully nonlinear time-dependent simulations and are verified to be steady. Waves with regions of recirculation are also discussed.


Introduction: Many patients utilize the Emergency Room (ER) for primary care, resulting in overburdened ERs, strained resources, and delays in care. To combat this, many centers have adopted a Trauma/Acute Care Surgery (TACS) service providing specialty surgeons whose primary work is the unencumbered surgical availability to emergency surgery patients. To evaluate our programs' efficacy, we investigated cholecystectomies as a common urgent procedure representative of services provided. We hypothesized that the adoption of a TACS service would result in improved access to care as evidence by decreased ER visits prior to cholecystectomy, improved time to cholecystectomy, and decreased hospital length of stay (LOS). Methods: All patients that underwent urgent cholecystectomy from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 were reviewed. The unencumbered TACS surgeon was implemented on July 1, 2018. Prior ER visits involving biliary symptoms, time from admission to cholecystectomy, and hospital LOS were compared. Results: Of the 322 urgent cholecystectomies over the study period, 165 were performed prior and 157 following adoption of the TACS structure. The average number of ER visits for biliary symptoms prior to cholecystectomy decreased from 1.4 to 1.2 (p = 0.01). Time from admission to cholecystectomy was 28.3 hours and 27.3 hours respectively (p = 0.74). Average LOS decreased following the restructure (3.1 vs 2.5 days; p = 0.03). Conclusion: Implementation of an unencumbered TACS surgeon managing urgent surgical disease improves access to and delivery of surgical services for cholecystectomy patients in a safety net, level one trauma center. Further research is necessary to determine potential improvements in hospital cost and patient satisfaction.


Spectroscopic properties of Pr3+ and Er3+ -doped KPb2Br5 crystals were investigated for possible applications in eye-safe lasers as well as Ce3+-doped KPb2Cl5 and Eu2+-doped KPb2Cl5/KPb2Br5 for potential radiation detectors. The studied materials were synthesized through careful purification of starting materials including multi-pass zone-refinement and halogenation. The growth of the purified materials was then carried out through the vertical or horizontal Bridgman technique. Under resonant excitation, infrared (IR) emissions at ~1.5 μm and ~1.6 μm were observed from Er:KPb2Br5 and Pr:KPb2Br5 corresponding to the 4f-4f transitions of 4I13/2→4I15/2 and 3F4,3F3→3H4, respectively. Emission characteristics of the ~1.5 μm Er3+ and ~1.6 μm Pr3+ transitions including IR to visible upconversion emission studies were also discussed. Under xenon lamp excitation, spectroscopic results showed allowed 5d-4f Ce3+ emission centered at ~375 nm in Ce3+-doped KPb2Cl5. Fast photoluminescence decay time of ~30-50 ns was attained from Ce:KPb2Cl5, while X-ray excited emission at ~530 nm appeared to originate from the host KPb2Cl5 crystal. In addition, a commercial Ce:YAP (yttrium aluminum perovskite, YAlO3) crystal was included in this study for comparison. Eu2+ 5d-4f emissions were not observed from Eu2+-doped KPb2Cl5 and KPb2Br5 crystals.


The purpose of the present study is to analyse the changing structure and spatial forms of retailing activities in the city centre after the World War II. To reveal economic and social changes behind the declining business of small corner shops and rise of large shopping malls, the study was extended to three topics: • economic, social and environmental problems of city centres; • structural and organisational transformation of the retail sector and the spatial consequences of that; • central and local governmental attitudes towards the processes mentioned above in terms of town planning and retailing. The topics are discussed in the main sections of the paper, with strong emphasis on the changes of retailing in the city centre. To represent the local effects of the nation-wide structural changes, retailing and city centre development policies, the author studied the example of Leceister in details. To find a working definition for the area, the author used the approach of town planners. The paper focuses on the period between the early 1950s and the mid-1990s, a period when the scale and structure of the consumption and organisation of the retailing sector was changing considerably leading to the emergence of new spatial forms of retailing, such as out-of-town shopping malls, hypermarkets and shopping precincts. The periodisation corresponds with local and central governmental policies that followed the fluctuation of the demand and retail investments. The changes in the retail sector were determined by widespread processes such as the structural and organisational changes of the retail sector, deconcentration of the urban population and transformation of shopping behaviour.


Focusing on the tourism in Japan, this paper examined the seasonality of tourism demand in Japan by utilizing Gini coefficient and some kinds of entropy measures. Regarding the estimated Gini coefficient, it is large in Hokkaido, Hiroshima, and Okinawa, and small in Tokyo and Osaka. In addition, the east Japan great earthquake happened in 2011 might affect seasonal fluctuations of many prefectures. After the earthquake, the seasonal fluctuations expressed by the Gini coefficient seem to vary from year to year in spite of the general variation of the number of tourists. Several points were worth considering through the analysis by estimated entropy measure for the Japanese selected 10 prefectures in the sample period from the year 2008 to 2016. First, there is the one-time rapid increase in seasonality in tourism demand for major four prefectures in 2010 and rapid reversal in next year. In addition, the other two prefectures, have the same pattern in 2011 although the levels of fluctuations are relatively low. The examination by utilizing the estimated Theil measure shows that the highest concentration of seasonality is recorded for Tokyo and for the other prefectures located in the east and west areas in Japan just like the case of entropy measure. In addition, Miyagi and Fukushima follow the same pattern in next year. Okinawa prefecture have the highest seasonality in 2014 during the period under our study. The evolution patterns of seasonality for the prefectures described by the estimated relative Theil measure are almost the same as the ones measured by the two indicators described above. The analysis by the entropy decompositions at the intraand the inter-monthly levels are also conducted. The estimated seasonality of Japanese selected 10 prefectures that could be explained by the intra-monthly part of entropy measure revealed that the seasonality for the half of the total number of prefectures reflects a relative increase in 2010, and the one for the other two prefectures follows the same pattern in next year. The graphs of the estimated inter-monthly part of entropy measure described the increase in tourism demand seasonality in 2010 like the other measures. Tokyo experienced the relatively rapid reduction in seasonality in next year as a reactionary fall. Okinawa had a certain degree of increase in seasonality again in 2013, and had a fluctuation of seasonality during the following periods. Finally, consideration of the tourism seasonality based on the relation between interest groups origins and destinations by applying the entropy theory are implemented. The estimated entropy measures for annual amount of arrivals from origin (ii) to destination (jj) for the selected major six courses are examined. In particular, the seasonality for the routes Hokkaido→Tokyo, Kyoto→Tokyo, and Okinawa→Tokyo decreased rapidly in 2009, and increased drastically in 2010 as a rebound. In short, the routes from the three major areas to Tokyo indicate temporal growth of seasonality. All the measures based on the entropy theory show a very similar pattern in that the tourism seasonality has the temporal rapid growth in 2010 and the reactionary fall in 2011. Probably, the financial and economic crisis of global economy occurred around 2008 and 2009 had a negative influence on Japanese tourism in 2010. By the effect of the crisis, the number of visits or visiting frequency of tourism in Japan decreased, and its downturn might generate the concentration of tourism in specific season or month as a result of selective behavior by tourists during the hard times.


The factor V Leiden (FV Leiden) and prothrombin G20210A mutations, are the most common established genetic risk factors for deep vein thrombosis (DVT). However, the relationship. between these mutations and arterial thrombotic syndromes (coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, stroke) has not been established. Some studies have suggested a relationship between them, but other authors have considered it unlikely that these anomalies are a major risk factor for arterial thrombosis. From the clinical point of view, a question arises concerning the risk of repeated thrombosis in patients carrying one of these two mutations. The question is whether the recurrence is attributable to the mutations or to the presence of additional circumstantial risk factors. As the risk of repeated thrombosis varies considerably from one patient to another, decisions about long-term treatment require weighing the persistence of risk factors for vascular disease (venous and arterial), especially in selected cases such as young patients or patients with thrombosis of unusual localization.


It is easier to hear birds than see them, however, they still play an essential role in nature and they are excellent indicators of deteriorating environmental quality and pollution. Recent advances in Machine Learning and Convolutional Neural Networks allow us to detect and classify bird sounds, by doing this, we can assist researchers in monitoring the status and trends of bird populations and biodiversity in ecosystems. We propose a sound detection and classification pipeline for analyzing complex soundscape recordings and identify birdcalls in the background. Our pipeline learns from weak labels, classifies fine-grained bird vocalizations in the wild, and is robust against background sounds (e.g., airplanes, rain, etc). Our solution achieved 10th place of 816 teams at the BirdCLEF 2021 Challenge hosted on Kaggle.


Introduction The United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Rural Health funds Enterprise-Wide Initiatives (system-wide initiatives) to spread promising practices to rural Veterans. The Office requires that evaluations of Enterprise-Wide Initiatives use the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. This presents a unique opportunity to understand the experience of using RE-AIM across a series of evaluations. The authors conducted a study to document the benefits and pitfalls of using RE-AIM, capture the variety of ways that the team captured the elements of RE-AIM, and develop recommendations for the future use of RE-AIM in evaluation. Materials and methods The authors first conducted a document review to capture pre-existing information about how RE-AIM was used. They subsequently facilitated two focus groups to gather more detailed information from team members who had used RE-AIM. Finally, they used member-checking throughout the writing process to ensure accurate data representation and interpretation and to gather additional feedback. Results Four themes emerged from the document review, focus groups, and member checking. RE-AIM: provides parameters and controls the evaluation scope, "buckets" are logical, plays well with other frameworks, and can foster collaboration or silo within a team. Challenges and attributes for each RE-AIM dimension were also described. Discussion Overall, participants reported both strengths and challenges to using RE-AIM as an evaluation framework. The overarching theme around the challenges with RE-AIM dimensions was the importance of context. Many of these benefits and challenges of using RE-AIM may not be unique to RE-AIM and would likely occur when using any prescribed framework. The participants reported on the RE-AIM domains in a variety of ways in their evaluation reports and were not always able capture data as originally planned. Recommendations included: start with an evaluation framework (or frameworks) and revisit it throughout the evaluation, consider applying RE-AIM PRISM (Practical Robust Implementation Framework) to gain a broader perspective, and intentionally integrate quantitative and qualitative team members, regardless of the framework used.


The prospect of using a computer for the automatic analysis of the electrocardiogram has been under discussion for several years.' Last year the Department of Health sponsored a meeting of experts to assess the position and the applicability of the technique in Britain. The need for automation is evident from the increasing numbers ofE.C.G.s being recorded without any corresponding increase in the numbers of skilled interpreters. As a result standards of interpretation are becoming increasingly variable. Computers can carry out repetitive tasks faster and more reliably than people. As automatic E.C.G. reporting becomes available, the use of a physician for this purpose could come to be regarded as a misuse of professional time better reserved for personal contact with the patient. A computer-based reporting system can handle large numbers and can standardize reporting, give an accurate definition of the normal range, and avoid observer variation. Computers are expensive, so they must be used efficiently, but they can improve access to diagnostic facilities for remote centres and at night and at weekends. Programming requires the accurate definition and quantification of the values used in diagnosis. This allows the recognition and rejection of subjective assessments which defy quantification. Though there is generally satisfactory agreement between the diagnosis of the computer and that of the physician, fears have been expressed that the computer diagnosis may at times be inappropriate or in conffict with clinical views. Presentation of results in statistical terms, as a set of probabilities, may be difficult for clinicians to assimilate at first. In fact, despite the conceptual difficulties and the need for careful interpretation, presentation as a set of probabilities is a more realistic expression of the interpretation of an E.C.G. than a bald single diagnosis, which increases the risk of confusion from conffict with the clinical findings. Though clinicians have become familiar with a 12-lead E.C.G. system, modem three-lead systems (not a return to the old standard leads, but a system based on three orthogonal leads (x, y, z) giving transverse, vertical, and saggital data respectively) show no loss of important information and even reduce the range of normal variation. They are also more economical to handle automatically. Most of the three-lead systems available use unfamiliar electrode arrangements, but a relatively simple axial lead system is feasible.2 A preliminary period of familiarization for clinicians with x/y/z leads alongside conventional 12-lead records might be needed to win their acceptance of such a system, but the long-term advantages would be worthwhile. Conventional leads I, VF, and V2 are, in fact, close to such a system.3 Suitable instrumentation for such a service is available. It would include a three-lead channel E.C.G. machine with facilities for recording on magnetic tape for later analysis if necessary, or for direct transmission with patient identification to the computer, either on direct line or by telephone ifa system can be devised to meet G.P.O. requirements, together with arrangements to receive results by teletype. Multiple inputs to the data controller are needed so that the machine never becomes engaged. Comparison with any previous record is an essential feature, as in current conventional practice. Though the computer diagnosis may not be as refined as that of an experienced cardiologist it will probably be more accurate than many routine reports and is particularly applicable to routine service needs, as in surgical or maternity outpatients, or wards, or for an accident and emergency service, or in general practice. It has been calculated that for £1,500 about 100,000 E.C.G.s could be processed each year for seven years, giving a cost of lOp each. From the technician's point of view there is a net saving, as though the time needed to take the E.C.G. is longer, time spent mounting the E.C.G. is eliminated. The three-lead E.C.G. system and the concept of some uncertainty in E.C.G. diagnosis are problems which the profession should grasp and overcome. Different types of computer could perhaps be tried until physicians have obtained some first-hand experience in the field.


In this paper, we present a case study of a decision-support system deployment at The Alfred Hospital, in Melbourne, Australia. This work outlines Information and Communications Technology (ICT) affordances and their actualisations in time-critical clinical practices to enable better information processing. From our study findings, we present a stage-wise model describing the role played by ICT in the context of the Trauma Centre practices. This addresses a knowledge gap surrounding the role and impact of ICT in the delivery of quality improvements to processes and culture in time-critical environments, amid increasing expenditure on ICT globally. Our model has implications for research and practice, such that we observe for the first time how information standards, synergy and renewal are developed between the system and its users in order to reduce error rates in the healthcare context. Through the study findings, we demonstrate that healthcare quality can be further refined as ICT allows for knowledge dissemination and informs existing practices.


: This article discusses the problem of description in the works of Zygmunt Haupt in the wider context of the contemporary "descriptive turn" in literary studies. First, early critical readings and reviews of Haupt's exceptional descriptions, which the writer included in his stories even though he acknowledged a crisis of mimesis in literature, are discussed. Indeed, Haupt made a conscious effort to "justify description," which played an important role in his works, as Jerzy Stempowski noticed, either as part of a comprehensive vision of the outside world with tentatively invokes philosophical justifications or in moments during which Haupt's characters come into contact with reality in and through accidental openings or "windows." The article discusses these two respective methods of justifying description, drawing on speculative realism as well as the philosophy of Kazimierz Twardowski, which inspires the contemporary advocates of new philosophical realisms.


Background . Th e Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) is a useful self-report measure of academic motivation grounded in self-determination theory (E. Deci & R. Ryan). Objective . Th e aim of the present study was to evaluate the utility of the Russian version of the SRQ-A by reporting psychometric properties, examining the factorial structure of the SRQ-A, and assessing its construct validity in a large sample of primary and middle school children. Design . To validate the Russian version of the SRQ-A, two cross-sectional studies were conducted, one with primary school children, and the second with middle school children. Results . We developed and tested the Russian version of the SRQ-A on a sample of 1215 children, Grades 3–7, from three primary and three secondary (middle) schools in Russia. Th e multidimensional factorial structure of the original measure was tested with bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (B-ESEM) and con fi rmatory factor analysis (CFA). Construct validity was tested using correlational analyses with convergent and divergent measures. Th e SRQ-A showed good internal consistency for all subscales, with Cronbach's α ranging between 0.65 and 0.77 for the primary school children (Study 1), and 0.74 and 0.82 in a sample from the middle school children (Study 2). In both studies a simplex-structure pattern was con fi rmed, and the CFA model, with seven fi rst-order factors and two second-order factors for intrinsic regulation and extrinsic regulation, had an acceptable fi t. Th e results of both studies demonstrate that the subscales show good convergent and discriminant validity with respect to basic psychological needs, attitudes toward school, school well-being, and general well-being scales. Conclusion . In sum, the 26-item Russian SRQ-A is a reliable and valid self-report instrument for the assessment of self-determined types of motivation for primary and middle school children.


The safe and consistent design of connections in modern timber-framed structures requires an understanding of the structural properties of the timbers as well as the bearing and bending strength limitations of the where oak pegs used in construction. This paper addresses the bearing strength of white oak dowels in both red oak and Douglas fir timbers. The effects of peg grain orientation, peg diameter, peg-hole clearance, specimen grain orientation, and specimen wood species were studied. A modified bearing strength test was developed to eliminate localized crushing of the white oak dowel by the test machine. Bearing strength tests were performed on 183 wood specimens. The bearing strength of pegged connections was found to be relatively insensitive to the factors investigated and lower than bearing strengths using similar steel fasteners for all test configurations.


Platinum is commonly used as a catalyst for the oxidation of NO in exhaust gas purification systems. However, in addition to its high cost, the intrinsic NO + O → NO2 reaction is endothermic and the rate-limiting O2,gas dissociative adsorption is activated on Pt(111). In this paper, we show for the first time that the pseudomorphic Pt monolayer on 3d transition metals promotes a thermodynamically and kinetically favorable NO oxidation compared to pure Pt. Using density functional theory-based first principles calculations, we show that such results are attributed to the weaker binding of O and NO on the bimetallic surfaces and the change of the binding configuration of NO2 into a structure that promotes easier N–O bond formation. These results provide insights into the design of low-cost and efficient catalysts for NO oxidation.


The second edition of this textbook represents a substantial improvement over the first edition. The volume begins with an informative and readable chapter on the immune response and hypersensitivity reactions. This provides a good background of present knowledge of the fundamentals regarding antibody-mediated and cell-mediated hypersensitivities for the clinical chapters that follow. However, no mention is made of basophils in delayed-type hypersensitivity skin reactions, including the newer knowledge on Jones-Mote reactions (cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity). On the whole, the clinical chapters are well written and provide useful information on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of allergic diseases. References have been brought up to date. Chapters that are of particular interest to the dermatologist are those on allergens and other factors important in atopic disease (with a section on house dust and dust mites), allergy to stinging insects, urticaria and angioedema, atopic dermatitis, drug allergy, allergic contact dermatitis, and pruritus. The chapter


Decomposition rates of organic amendments in agricultural soils provide information on nutrient release and on changes in soil C stocks. They are usually determined using incubation of soil samples under controlled conditions. Our objective was to study decomposition of liquid and solid dairy cattle manures under field conditions following application to a loamy and a clay soil. Manures were applied in two consecutive years to silage corn at rates equivalent to 150 kg ha -1 total N providing 119 to 202 kg C ha -1 . Soil-surface CO 2 fluxes, temperature and water content were monitored weekly in manured and control (mineral fertilizer) plots. Initial decomposition rates following manure application were much slower in the first than in the second year. This lag phase was attributed to cool soil temperatures and to the time required by the soil microflora to adapt to a first addition of this exogenous organic substrate. During the first year, mineralization of manure organic C was lower in the clay (52% of manure C) than in the loamy (75%) soil, presumably as a result of less favorable aeration conditions and greater physical protection of organic substrates in the clay. Equal mineralization rates of liquid and solid manures during both years in the loamy soil indicated that the two manure types had similar decomposability. Slower decomposition of the solid than the liquid manure in the clay soil was attributed to poorer mixing with the soil (presence of clods) resulting in reduced access to the solid manure for soil decomposers. The results of this study evidenced that under field conditions manure C decomposition is not determined solely by manure characteristics but also by interactions between the manure type and soil physical properties such as texture.


OBJECTIVE
Different parts of the human spine have to accomplish different functions. But little is known about the exact distribution of forces within the spine and whether this is influenced by bone quality. The purpose of this study was to predict fields and extent of greatest load in compression in a human lumbar spine motion segment using a finite element model.

METHODS
A three dimensional isotrophic finite element model was generated using the software ANSYS 5.4. Spinal loading was performed in axial compression (600 N). The model was validated by biomechanical analysis using 12 human spinal segments that were loaded with the same forces. Prediction was done with different E-modulus for cancellous bone, representing a wide range of bone quality between osteoporotic and strong bone quality.

RESULTS
Load-sharing was influenced by bone quality: the weaker bone quality is, the higher is the extent of load that is passed through the posterior part of the spine.

CONCLUSION
This finite element model predicts that load-sharing in a lumbar spine segment with decreased bone mineral density is different from that in healthy segments. A decrease of bone mineral density is resulting in an increase of load that is passed through the posterior part of the lumbar spine. Keeping in mind the simplifications of this model, the results may influence surgical treatment of patients suffering from osteoporosis or osteolytic destructions of the lumbar spine.


There is large potential to increase cycling participation worldwide. Participation in cycling is associated with lower risk of mortality from any cause, and incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as positive mental health and well-being. The largest potential for health gains likely to come from increasing participation amongst those who do not currently cycle regularly, rather than encouraging those who already cycle regularly to cycle more. Replacing car journeys with cycling can lead to reductions in air pollution emissions and lower pollutant exposure to the general population. Important gaps and uncertainties in the existing evidence base include: the extent to which the health benefits associated with cycling participation are fully causal due to the observational nature of much of the existing evidence base; the real-world economic cost-benefits of pragmatic interventions to increase cycling participation; and the most effective (combination of) approaches to increase cycling participation. To address these uncertainties, large-scale, long-term randomised controlled trials are needed to: evaluate the effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness, of (combinations of) intervention approaches to induce sustained long-term increases in cycling participation in terms of increases in numbers of people cycling regularly and number of cycling journeys undertaken, across a range of population demographic groups; establish the effects of such interventions on relevant outcomes related to health and wellbeing, economic productivity and wider societal impacts; and provide more robust quantification of potential harms of increasing cycling participation, such as collision risks.


Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5), an atypical member of the cyclin-dependent kinase family, plays an important role in the nervous system. Recent studies have shown that CDK5 is also associated with tumors. However, few studies have been done to investigate the mechanism underlying the connection between CDK5 and cancers. To explore the role of CDK5 in cancers by using an extensive bioinformatics data mining process. We mined the transcriptional, survival, functions and structure of CDK5 gene through databases and in vitro experiments. We found that higher CDK5 expression levels in most cancer cell lines while lower expression in liver and brain cancer cell lines. High expression of CDK5 was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) in lung cancer. In addition, high expression level of CDK5 promoted lung cancer cells proliferation and metastasis. Inhibited CDK5 decreases CAP1 phosphorylation. CDK5 may prove to be a valid target of anticancer therapies.


The purpose of this paper is to pick up the threads of a debate about the ontology of becoming in spacetime that was triggered by a provocative article published by Nicholas Maxwell in 1985. This debate is itself merely a recent episode in a long dialogue that goes back at least as far as the time of Parmenides and Heraclitus (Savitt 2001). Here is the question around which this debate centres: is change or becoming the distinguishing feature of the natural or physical world, as suggested obscurely by Heraclitus and argued at length by Aristotle? (See Robinson 1987, Furley 1967, and Aristotle's Physics, in, e.g., McKeon 1941.) Or is our usual uncritical belief in the reality of change the product of some sort of perceptual illusion or intellectual error, as believed by Parmenides and a small host of recent authors such as Gödel (1949) and Julian Barbour (2002)? I won't be able to solve the whole of this momentous problem here. However, I intend both to set aside a few unwarranted assumptions which have for a long time dogged our thinking about the puzzle of becoming, and to assemble some tools which should aid in finding a solution to it. In particular, I will argue that we can do much better than is usually supposed in identifying structures which can both "live" within Minkowski spacetime and represent objective becoming. I shall also discuss whether such structures would necessarily contradict the Principle


This research aims to analyze the role played by firm visibility in moderating the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Firm Financial Performance (FFP). Based on the legitimacy theory, a firm's responses to stakeholder's expectations would be affected by its public visibility; we hypothesize a positive link between CSR and firm visibility. Moreover, visibility is expected to moderate the CSR-FFP relationship. We applied a Moderated Regression Analysis using the aggregate ESG scores as a CSR proxy on a panel data of listed French Companies (SBF120) over the period 2008–2017. Our findings are in line with legitimacy theory, suggesting that social initiatives would be mean to strengthen the legitimacy and to secure "license to operate". Furthermore, firm visibility would be a contingency variable that moderates positively CSR-FFP relationship.


Government in the -Nevil Government in the Federal Republic of The Executive at Work focuses on the government in the Federal Republic of Germany as an executive activity, as well as the institutional framework for the overall control and direction of public action. The effects of the decentralized structure of government on the behavior and relationships of political parties are also explored. This book is comprised of eight chapters and begins with a discussion on past institutional structures and procedures that have shaped particular ideas about law, politics, and government in West Germany, including the retention of a federal structure of government, constitutionalism, and the Rechtsstaat. The following chapters deal with the political framework of the Federal Republic of Germany; federal executive leadership; the federal administrative system; and federalism and decentralization in West German government. The bureaucracy, the problem of how to control the exercise of governmental powers, and the challenge of expanding government in West Germany are also considered. This monograph will be of interest to political scientists, politicians, government officials, and students of government and politics.


An important component of adaptable interactive systems is the ability to model the system's users. Previous systems have relied on user models tailored to the particular needs of that system alone. This paper presents the notion of a general user model, and describes some of our research on building a general user modelling facility that could be used by a variety of applications. This work focuses on the representation, maintenance, and acquisition issues of modelling long-term beliefs of the user, and describes a general facility for accomplishing these tasks.


Introduction Cancer, the most stressful event a person may experience often triggers depression. Depression among these groups of people, in turn, affects chemotherapy adherence, length of hospitalization, quality of life and cancer treatment outcome. Even though the problem is enormous studies that address it are limited. Therefore this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depression and associated factors among cancer patients on chemotherapy in Felege-Hiwot referral hospital and University of Gondar referral hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2019. A total of 302 cancer patients on chemotherapy were included. Depression was assessed using the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Binary logistic regression was used to select variables and determine Crude Odds Ratio (COR). Variables with P value < 0.2 were entered into multivariable logistic regression. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals for variables with P-value < 0.05 was estimated to show factors affecting depression among cancer patients. The fitness of the model was checked by using the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. Results The prevalence of depression among cancer patients on chemotherapy was 70.86% (95% CI: 65.38, 75.92). Educational status of college and above (AOR = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.43), Jobless (AOR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.58), Underweight(AOR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.10, 5.19)chemotherapy duration ≥ 6 months or more (AOR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.16, 4.79) were notably associated with depression. Conclusion The burden of depression among cancer patients in this study was high. We recommend concerned bodies working to curve the problem to intervene based on the identified risk factors. Improving educational status, reducing work stress and maintaining normal weight would reduce depression.


In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, hexose uptake is mediated by HXT proteins which belong to a superfamily of monosaccharide facilitators. We have identified three more genes that encode hexose transporters (HXT5, 6, 7). Genes HXT6 and HXT7 are almost identical and located in tandem 3′ adjacent to HXT3 on chromosome IV. We have constructed a set of congenic strains expressing none or any one of the seven known HXT genes and followed growth and flux rates for glucose utilization. The hxt null strain does not grow on glucose, fructose or mannose, and both glucose uptake and flux rate were below the detection level. Expression of either HXT1, 2, 3, 4, 6 or 7 is basically sufficient for aerobic growth on these sugars. In most of the constructs, glucose was the preferred substrate compared to fructose or mannose. There is a considerable variation in flux and growth rates with 1% glucose, dependent on the expression of the individual HXT genes. Expression of either HXT2, 6 or 7 in the null background is sufficient for growth on 0.1% glucose, while growth of strains with only HXT1, 3 or 4 requires higher (≥1%) glucose concentrations. These results demonstrate that individual HXT proteins can function independently as hexose transporters, and that most of the metabolically relevant HXT transporters from S. cerevisiae have been identified.


SUMMARY Once a software product has been released, a large number of software products may be derived from an original single product. Management and maintenance of product variants are important, but those are hardly cared because developers do not make efforts for the further maintainability in the initial phase of software development. However, history of products would be lost in typical cases and developers have only source code of products in the worst case. In this paper, we approximate the evolution history of software products using source code of them. Our key idea is that two successive products are the most similar pair of products in evolution history, and have many similar source files. We did an experiment to compare the analysis result with actual evolution history. The result shows 78% (on average) of edges in the extracted trees are consistent with the actual evolution history of the products.


An elliptical base rhombic monopole antenna and frequency notched EBRM are proposed for low loss omni-directional ultra-wideband applications. The impedance bandwidth of simple rhombic monopole is improved with the help of semi-elliptical base and optimized for impedance matching of the order of –15 dB within impedance bandwidth. Frequency notched EBRM is realized by a U-shaped slot and optimized for WLAN. The measured results confirm impedance matching level of –15 dB, notched function with insertion level of 1.68 dB and omni-directional coverage over the impedance bandwidth.


l-DOPA extradiol dioxygenases (DODAs) catalyze the production of betalains and hygroaurins pigments. The sequence of the DODAs found in Caryophyllales and Basidiomycetes are not conserved, although betalains are produced both by plants and fungi. Here we revise the coding region of the dodA gene of fly agaric [Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.] and describe an alternative start codon downstream that enables the heterologous expression of AmDODA, a promiscuous l-DOPA dioxygenase. AmDODA is 43-amino acid residues shorter than the recombinant DODA previously reported but catalyzes the formation of two isomeric seco-DOPAs that are the biosynthetic precursors of betalains and hygroaurins. The putative active site of AmDODA contains two distinct His-His-Glu motifs that can explain the dual cleavage of l-DOPA according to the mechanism proposed for non-heme iron-dependent dioxygenases. Upon addition of excess l-DOPA, both the betaxanthin and hygroaurin adducts of l-DOPA are produced. The kinetic parameters of enzymatic catalysis at pH 8.5 are similar to those reported for other l-DOPA dioxygenases. The rate constants for the conversion of l-DOPA into the betalamic acid and muscaflavin were estimated by kinetic modelling allowing the proposal of a mechanism of pigment formation. These results contribute to understanding the biosynthesis of bacterial, fungal and plant pigments, for the biotechnological production of hygroaurins, and for the development of more promiscuous dioxygenases for environmental remediation.


Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a highly specific tumor marker or trophoblastic neoplasms. Also in patients with non-trophoblastic tumors, hCG beta-related material has been frequently demonstrated in their urine. This material was termed beta-core fragment (beta-CF) since it is recognized by hCG beta-core directed antisera but not by hCG beta-carboxyterminal peptide (CTP) directed antisera. We measured the concentration of beta-CF in the urinary samples from patients with urothelial tumors and studied its clinical usefulness as a tumor marker. The concentration of beta-CF was expressed as ng/mg of creatinine in the urine and the cut-off value was 0.1 ng/mg.Cr. Thirty (61.2%) of 49 patients with bladder carcinoma had raised beta-CF levels and the positive rates were dependent upon pathological grade (25.0, 33.3 and 82.8% at G1, G2 and G3, respectively). The elevated urinary beta-CF were also detected in 5 of 7 patients with upper urinary tract carcinoma. However, there was no elevated urinary beta-CF level in prostate carcinoma. Serial determination in 13 patients with elevated beta-CF level prior to therapy showed that 12 patients had decreased concentrations after successful treatment, but 1 patient with persistently elevated urinary beta-CF level after treatment subsequently relapsed. The determination of urinary beta-CF may provide a useful tool in identifying and monitoring the response to treatment in patients with carcinomas of the bladder and the upper urinary tract.


Introduction: Malaria is one of the most serious infectious diseases at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Various membrane proteins are present in Plasmodium falciparum, the principal malaria pathogen. Among them, P. falciparum reticulocyte-binding protein homolog 5 (PfRh5) is indispensable for erythrocyte invasion, and has become a promising vaccine target. Basigin (CD147, EMMPRIN) has been identified as the erythrocyte receptor of PfRh5, and shown to be essential for the invasion of multiple strains of the pathogen. Areas covered: Fundamental information on basigin is fully described, including structure as a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and function based on its interactions with external molecules and with proteins within the same membrane. The involvement of basigin in many diseases such as cancer and inflammatory diseases is also described, the implication being that anti-basigin therapy might be helpful to treat certain illnesses. Finally, PfRh5 as a vaccine candidate is covered, and its interaction with basigin is evaluated. Expert opinion: The identification of basigin, a well-characterized membrane protein, as a receptor essential for malaria infection will contribute significantly to prevention and treatment of malaria. As an example, anti-basigin therapy can be considered an alternative approach to the treatment of drug-resistant malaria.


Objective: To determine the concordance of different Doppler echocardiographic criteria for "diastolic dysfunction" in patients with suspected heart failure but preserved left ventricular systolic function. Design: Prospective, descriptive study. Setting: Outpatient based direct access echocardiography service. Patients: Consecutive patients referred with suspected heart failure but preserved left ventricular systolic function. Measurements: Echocardiographic measurements of systolic and diastolic function. Eight published studies giving age and sex specific ranges for measures of diastolic function in healthy subjects were reviewed and the proportion of patients outside the normal limits for each of these published ranges was calculated. Results: There was very poor concordance between measures with up to a 16-fold difference in the prevalence of diastolic dysfunction in the overall patient cohort. Even for a given measure, there was relatively poor agreement between the published reference ranges. In subsets likely to include patients at high risk of having diastolic dysfunction, an increased prevalence of diastolic dysfunction was not evident with any measure in any patient subset. Conclusions: Our findings challenge the use of the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure based on the most commonly used echocardiographic criteria. Physicians should be cautious about echocardiographic reports describing diastolic dysfunction and only apply the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure with great care.


Having access to a scale is essential for individuals to engage in self‐weighing; however, few studies examine scale access, particularly among low‐income individuals. Our objectives were to (i) determine how many public housing residents have access to a scale and (ii) describe their self‐weighing habits. We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of public housing residents in Baltimore, MD, from August 2014 to August 2015. Participants answered questions about their access to a scale ('yes'/'no') and daily self‐weighing habits ('no scale/never or hardly ever' vs. 'some/about half/much of the time/always'). We used t‐tests or chi‐square tests to examine the association of scale access with respondent characteristics. Overall, 266 adults participated (48% response rate). Mean age was 45 years with 86% women, 95% black and 54% with obesity. Only 32% had access to a scale; however, 78% of those with this access reported engaging in some self‐weighing. Residents who lacked access to a scale were younger (P = 0.03), and more likely to be unemployed/disabled (P = 0.01) or food insecure (P < 0.01). While few public housing residents have access to a scale, those who do report daily self‐weighing with some regularity. Financial hardship may influence scale access in this population, as potential proxies of this status were associated with no scale access.


: The reasons for the high incidence of otitis media in the Inuit population are described. The disorder seems to be related to socio-economic conditions including the adoption of many Caucasian habits such as overcrowded housing and bottle feeding. The relative merits of improving socio-economic conditions combined with medical treatment, and of medical treatment alone, and surgical treatment are outlined.


Religious transformations in modern societies are not merely a discursive or demographic phenomenon, they also relate to religious architecture in urban space and affect the built environment at its core. Many churches, for instance, are in the process of reuse, closure, or even demolition. At the same time, there has been an increase in the construction of new mosques and a reorientation in synagogue architecture in Germany for the last twenty-five years. The three religious traditions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—undergo remarkable transformations with regard to the design and style of their places of worship. Often, however, these new designs are not easily 'readable' to visitors and believers alike. In addition, the role of contemporary religious architecture in its relation to urban space is changing. Which meanings do religious buildings convey, how are they positioned, and how do they structure urban space? In collaboration of the study of religions and architectural history, we approach these questions by means of studying the transformations of contemporary religious architecture in Germany in a comparative manner. We survey Jewish, Christian, and Muslim places of worship, that is, new constructions, reused, and demolished buildings in Germany since 1990. The selected buildings are studied in detail regarding their meaning and positioning in urban space. This article presents findings from an ongoing research project and opens new perspectives in the study of urban religion.


Coral reef terraces record joint variations of sea level and surface elevation. U/Th ratings on corals along with
topographic/bathymetric profiles and eustatic reconstitutions allow to locally determine the vertical rate of ground
motion, while numerical modelling of reef sequences allows to unravel the processes controlling the architecture of
sequences, and high-resolution DEMs facilitates the detailed mapping of the sequences of reef terraces. Alltogether,
these methods allow to extrapolate the local vertical rates towards an unprecedented resolution for 4D kinematics.
We applied our method to uplifting islands of the tectonically active Buton Archipelago, SE Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The area undergoes a general uplift revealed by the ubiquitous occurrence of uplifted and folded reef sequences.We
dated some 40 samples using U/Th, acquired sonar and dGPS profiles, and constructed high-res DEMs (Pleiades).
Local vertical rates (from 0.2 to 0.28 mm/yr) were determined. Detailed geomorphological mapping of the lateral
variations of the terraces are converted into time and space variations of uplift rates. Extrapolating the higher,
undated terraces permits to reconstruct the overall 4D geomorphology history over the last Ma. In turns, these
results give a unique view on the structural kinematics


ABSTRACT Background Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN) is a very rare paraneoplastic manifestation in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). It is an uncommon pattern of renal disease in such patients. Case presentation We report a case of an 82-year-old male who was admitted with acute kidney injury. Renal biopsy showed typical findings of light chain-associated ATIN with scattered inflammatory cells in the interstitium and associated active tubulitis. No other common manifestations of MM were present at the time of presentation, including hypercalcemia, hyperuricemia, proteinuria, bone pain or lytic bone lesions. Subsequent immunoassays revealed significant serum lambda light chain burden and Bence Jones protein in urine. Immunofluorescence demonstrated linear tubular basement membranes with positive staining for lambda light chain (3+). Electron microscopy (EM) further showed interstitial edema and inflammation. All the aforementioned findings are consistent with ATIN and supported the diagnosis of MM. Conclusions In conclusion, light chain-associated ATIN should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute interstitial nephritis. Henceforth, serum free light chains as well as serum and urine protein electrophoresis should be included in the workup of such patients.


BACKGROUND
Mycophenolate mofetil is an immunosuppressive agent frequently used in regimens to prevent allograft rejection. In this review we focus on mycophenolate mofetil as a potential drug for chronic autoimmune diseases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We searched PubMed for relevant literature and present two case histories.

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION
Treatment with mycophenolate mofetil is best documented in lupus nephritis. In this context, some studies have documented an effect equal to cyclophosphamide for induction treatment, and equal to azathioprine, and better than cyclophosphamide for remission maintenance. Mycophenolate mofetil is today an alternative, although experimental, agent for the treatment of certain autoimmune diseases when conventional drugs have failed or are not tolerated; in the future it may become more widely used for immunosuppression. To establish the role for mycophenolate mofetil, more prospective controlled multicentre studies are warranted.


To strengthen the connection between requirements and design during the early stages of architectural design, a designer would like to have notations to help visualize the incremental refinement of an architecture from initially abstract descriptions to increasingly concrete components and interactions, all the while maintaining a clear focus on the relevant requirements at each step. We propose the combined use of a goal-oriented language GRL and a scenarios-oriented architectural notation UCM. Goals are used in the refinement of functional and non-functional requirements, the exploration of alternatives, and their operationalization into architectural constructs. The scenario notation is used to depict the incremental elaboration and realization of requirements into architectural design. The approach is illustrated with an example from the telecom domain.


Metamorphic Testing (MT) has been arrived as a better alternative in the area of testing to alleviate the complex test oracle problem. MT transforms the general attribute relations as Metamorphic Relations to ensure the correctness of test output (expectation) and to generate the follow-up test cases for hidden bug detection. Test Automation is a prominent testing technique to minimize the test execution time, cost, resources and improves the test result accuracy. As on many testing methodologies have been introduced the test automation for their excellence, but MT is still suffering to introduce complete automation due to some problems are: Selection of compatible base test suite, Availability and Applicability analysis of MRs, Automatic MT Execution and follow-up test cases generation. In this paper we introduced a generic framework as Metamorphic Testing Automation Framework (MTAF) to address the above specified problems in automation of MT. Our framework is an integrated environment with feasible Metamorphic Testing Automation (MTA) solutions, which are layered as loosely coupled components to make framework potable and independent. MTAF uses testing tools as base test suite for test case design automation and reuses the base suite test cases to generate follow-up test cases for efficient testing with more test cases. Experimental results of MTAF framework proven that, instead of using the individual testing methodologies separately, we can use them with MT as MTAF framework to identify the hidden bugs of an application effectively, which may cause to big failures in future.


Social media has become part of daily life in the modern world. News media companies (NMC) use social network sites including Facebook pages to let net users keep updated. Public expression is important to NMC for making valuable journals, but it is not cost-effective to collect millions of feedback by human effort, which can instead be automated by sentiment analysis. This chapter presents a mobile application called Facemarize that summarizes the contents of news media Facebook pages using sentiment analysis. The sentiment of user comments can be quickly analyzed and summarized with emotion detection. The sentiment analysis achieves an accuracy of over 80%. In a survey with 30 participants including journalists, journalism students, and journalism graduates, the application gets at least 4.9 marks (in a 7-point Likert scale) on the usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning, and satisfaction with a mean reliability score of 3.9 (out of 5), showing the effectiveness of the application.


In this thesis, the sense of olfaction and its links to behavior was studied in the cetoniid chafers Pachnoda interrupta and P. marginata, and the bark beetle Ips typographus. P. interrupta is a pest on sorghum in Ethiopia, and I. typographus is a spruce pest in the palearctic, and an aim was to uncover new control methods. In I. typographus, the olfactory receptors (ORs) that determine response specificity in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) were investigated. Phylogenetic analysis showed that I. typographus and Tribolium castaneum ORs form a Coleoptera-specific subgroup. At the next level of the olfactory system, ORN response to food odorants was compared between P. interrupta and P. marginata. Both are opportunistic polyphages on fruits and flowers, but are present in disparate habitats. P. interrupta is found in savannah, and P. marginata in tropical Africa. The two species showed a high degree of overlap in their ORN arrays, indicating that a similar sensory strategy for food search is viable in both habitats. Field trapping with compounds eliciting strong ORN response identified a powerful attractant for P. interrupta, 2,3-butane diol. In a P. interrupta study, coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection identified antennally active compounds from sorghum, Sorghum bicolor, and another food host, Abutilon figarianum. Field tests indicated that single compounds (e.g. methyl salicylate) were more important than mixtures in attraction to these two hosts. Field studies of mating and aggregation in P. interrupta showed that unmated females were attractive to males, and to both sexes when combined with food. Female-specific compounds were identified by mass spectrometric comparison of male and female extracts. Field tests of these established that phenylacetaldehyde was highly attractive to both sexes, implying that it is part of the P. interrupta pheromone. These findings create novel possibilities for control. Phenylacetaldehyde and attractive food compounds could be used for mass trapping of P. interrupta. The identified I. typographus ORs make a search for pheromone and repellent receptors possible. Compounds that hyper-excite these receptors could be used for mass trapping or disruption of host search.


Traveling wave (TW) sapphire whispering gallery resonator (WGR) is considered to be a very attractive device for low phase noise microwave frequency sources. However, it was found that TW WGR with distributed coupling is very sensible to the parameters of the coupling and excitation of the pure TW in high-Q WGR is a big challenge. This paper deals with a novel sapphire TW WGR based on orthogonal lumped couplings and 3-db quadrature directional couplers. A general theoretical background of the proposed TW WGR as well as its 3D finite element analysis and experimental results are presented. Finally a novel ultra low phase noise oscillator configuration based on the TW WGR directional filter is proposed


Minkowski functionals of the whole structure (also known as intrinsic volumes or quermassintegrals) play an important role in the geometrical characterization of spatial structures. Nevertheless, facing the complex spatial structure, the global functionals appear to be not discriminating enough. Searching for a finer geometrical characterization of the structure, we study the particular local extensions of the Minkowski functionals - the local Minkowski measures. In the present work, these local measures are considered in the Stochastic Geometry framework, i.e. applied to the random closed sets. Their behaviour for the simulated germ-grain models and relationship with the quantitative descriptor used in material science (particle elongation) are numerically studied.


Artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant strides in recent years toward resolving a wide range of biological issues, including a number of occurrences connected to cancer. Deep learning is an adaptable sector of AI that enables the automatic extraction of features. It is increasingly being used in various fields of cancer research, both scientific and clinical. In this study, several current applications of AI in oncology, including the situations in which deep learning has effectively addressed intractable disputes, are discussed. This study also discusses the challenges that need to be surmounted before such an application of AI may be implemented more broadly. Similarly, it brings to light resources and data sets that can assist in maximizing the potential of AI. Essential insights in oncology may be generated based on the development of novel methodologies and uses of AI, making it possible for substantial changes to be made to clinical practice.