Background Early life malnutrition in the prenatal and postnatal life is well recognized to have long-term implications on the development of offspring and neonate key metabolic organs and their function including adipose tissue later in life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of malnutrition in prenatal and early postnatal life on the expandability and functional traits of adipose tissues in adulthood. Twin-pregnant ewes were fed NORM (~ requirements), LOW (50% of NORM) or HIGH (150% and 110% of energy and protein, respectively) diets the last 6 weeks pre-partum (term ~ 147-days). Lambs received moderate, low fat (CONV) or high-carbohydrate-high-fat (HCHF) diets from 3-days until 6-months of age and thereafter CONV diet. At 2½ years of age, histomorphometric and gene expression patterns were characterized in subcutaneous (SUB), perirenal (PER), mesenteric (MES) and epicardial (EPI) adipose tissue.Results SUB had sex-specific (males < females) upper-limits for adipocyte size and cell-number-indices, irrespective of early life nutrition. PER mass and contents of adipocytes were highest in females and HIGH males while adipocyte cross sectional area was lowest in LOW males. Pre- and postnatal nutrition affected gene expression sex-specifically in SUB and PER, but unrelated to morphological changes. In PER, LOW/LOW males were specific targets of gene expression changes. The EPI was affected by postnatal nutrition as HCHF sheep had enlarged adipocytes and upregulated expressions for adipogenic and lipogenic genes.Conclusion Upper-limits for SUB expandability were markedly lower in males. Major targets for prenatal malnutrition were PER and males. LOW males had the lowest PER expandability, whereas HIGH males had an adaptive advantage observed as increased hypertrophic ability equivalent to females. Fixed expandability in SUB meant PER became a determining factor for ectopic fat deposition, rendering LOW males particularly predisposed for obesity-associated metabolic risks. EPI, in contrast to other adipose tissues, was a particular target of early postnatal obesity, resulting in adipocyte hypertrophy in adulthood.


We consider a multi-trait evolutionary (game theoretic)
version of a two class (juvenile-adult) semelparous Leslie model. We prove the
existence of both a continuum of positive equilibria and a continuum of
synchronous 2-cycles as the result of a bifurcation that occurs from the
extinction equilibrium when the net reproductive number $R_{0}$ increases
through $1$. We give criteria for the direction of bifurcation and for the
stability or instability of each bifurcating branch. Semelparous Leslie models
have imprimitive projection matrices. As a result (unlike matrix models with
primitive projection matrices) the direction of bifurcation does not solely
determine the stability of a bifurcating continuum. Only forward bifurcating
branches can be stable and which of the two is stable depends on the intensity
of between-class competitive interactions. These results generalize earlier
results for single trait models. We give an example that illustrates how the
dynamic alternative can change when the number of evolving traits changes from
one to two.


SUMMARY: A group of 62 strains, mostly members of the genera Micrococcus and Sarcina, has been subjected to a numerical-taxonomic analysis. All 57 characters have been scored according to the scale 0 to 5 and an appropriate formula has been used for the calculation of similarity. The method of clustering of organisms applied here is a modification of the original 'single-linkage method'. Eleven 85-phenons were found and the rank of species has been attributed to them. On the basis of existing taxonomic studies it appears probable that aerobic sarcinas must be considered as members of the genus Micrococcus and that they are R-dissociated forms of proteolytic micrococci.


There are some documents where text lines are not parallel to each other i.e. different text lines of a single page may have different inclinations (orientations) with the horizontal lines. To enhance the ability of document analysis system, we need text line extraction in multiple orientations. In this papers we propose a robust technique (a) to detect text lines of arbitrary orientation in a single document page, and (b) to detect skew angle of individual text line. We use here a bottom-up approach where the connected components are at first labeled. They are then clustered into word groups. Text lines of arbitrary orientation are segmented from the estimation of these word groups. From an experiment of 3045 text lines we obtained an accuracy of 97.7% by the proposed method.


More effective and tailored drug delivery systems (DDS) are continuously investigated, tested, and, eventually, marketed. In the last 30 yr, the pharmaceutical industry has made substantial steps in this direction. Drug products containing proteins and peptides, as therapeutic agents, are a perfect example of these two intimately correlated aspects: route of administration and quality of life. In the past 60 yr, hormones, serum proteins, and enzymes have been extensively used in therapy as active ingredients. But recently, molecular biology and, especially, recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology have made tremendous progress resulting in the availability of a wide variety of peptideand protein-based therapeutics for poorly controlled diseases. For this class of drugs, however, the parenteral route represents today the predominant route of administration, as the bioavailability of alternative routes is extremely low and variable. The development of a successful nonparenteral delivery system for proteins implies challenges including the protection of the therapeutic agent from hostile physiological conditions, otherwise detrimental for the biological activity, and gentle manufacturing conditions to maintain the original molecular conformation of the protein. One such agent widely studied as model protein is insulin, a 51 amino acid polypeptide, used in therapy for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by hyperglycemia that affects a sizeable portion of the population worldwide, estimated to increase in the next 20 yr of more than 30% reaching the size of an epidemic. Furthermore, the complications coupled with it are debilitating and at times fatal. For these reasons, a chronic therapy is required. To maintain normal glucose levels in the blood and mimic the physiological profile of the secretion of the protein, frequent daily injections (up to four) of insulin are needed. One of the most promising new methods of nonparenteral protein delivery is oral delivery. For this process, various types of specialized polymeric carriers are used. For example, hydrogels have been studied as suitable candidates for oral drug delivery of peptides. Particularly the complexing hydrogels that respond to pH changes in the surrounding environment have been extensively studied. For example, we developed new cross-linked copolymers composed of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted on poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) backbone, henceforth designated as P(MAA-g-EG), by UV-initiated bulk-free radical polymerization. They possess the unique characteristic to form interpolymer complexes in response to changes in pH of the environmental fluids. The interpolymer complexes are formed owing to hydrogen bonding between the protonated carboxylic acid group of PMAA and the ether group of the PEG chain. In particular, they remain in the collapsed state at low pH values, similar to those found in the stomach. Therefore, the release of the protein is impeded, and the protein entrapped in the network can be protected from the undesirable conditions found in the stomach. When the pH rises up to approximately 6, the network swells. This unusual behavior seems very promising for an oral formulation that would be able to release the labile therapeutic agent only in a more favorable environment such as that encountered in the upper small intestine. The expansion of the system would allow the polymeric chains to interact with the mucosal lining, causing the tight junctions to slightly separate, thus enhancing the transport of the protein into the systemic circulation.


We present a Temporal Exemplar-based Bayesian Networks (TEBNs) for facial expression recognition. The proposed Bayesian Networks (BNs) consists of three layers: Observation layer, Exemplars layer and Prior Knowledge layer. In the Exemplars layer, exemplar-based model is integrated with BNs to improve the accuracy of probability estimation. In the Prior Knowledge layer, static BNs is extended to Temporal BNs by considering historical observations to model temporal behavior of facial expression. Experiment on CMU expression database illustrates that the proposed TEBNs is very efficient in modeling the evolution of facial deformation.


The precise role of ceramide in NF-κB signaling remains unclear. The recent observation of differential sphingomyelin synthase (SMS) activity in normal (low SMS) versusSV40-transformed (high SMS) WI38 human lung fibroblasts provides an opportunity to assess the involvement of ceramide and SMS in NF-κB activation. Treatment of normal WI38 fibroblasts with bacterial sphingomyelinase resulted in a 4-fold elevation of ceramide and blocked NF-κB activation by serum stimulation. Such inhibition was not observed in SV40-transformed fibroblasts. Under regular growth conditions, after sphingomyelinase was washed out, normal WI38 did not show SM re-synthesis nor NF-κB activation. In SV40-WI38, on the other hand, sphingomyelinase washout induced resynthesis of SM due to the action of SMS on ceramide generated at the plasma membrane. NF-κB activation correlated with SM resynthesis. This activation was abrogated by D609, which inhibited SM resynthesis but not the initial formation of ceramide. The differential activity of SMS may explain the effects of ceramide in NF-κB signaling: in the absence of significant SMS activity, ceramide inhibits NF-κB, whereas with high SMS, the conversion of the ceramide signal to a diacylglycerol signal by the action of SMS stimulates NF-κB. These results also suggest a role for SMS in regulating NF-κB.


A simple, precise and stability-indicating reversed-phase liquid chromatography method was developed and validated for the determination of vildagliptin (VLG) in pharmaceutical dosage form. The chromatographic separation was obtained within 6 min and was linear in the range of 20-80 µg/mL (r(2) = 0.9999). Limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 0.63 and 2.82 µg/mL, respectively. The method was validated in accordance with International Conference on Harmonization acceptance criteria for specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness and system suitability. Stress studies were carried out and no interference of the degradation products was observed. The excipients did not interfere in the determination of VLG. Furthermore, the main degradation product obtained from the stress studies (thermal, oxidative and alkaline hydrolysis) was evaluated for mass spectrometry and its molecular structure was predicted. The proposed method was successfully applied for the quantitative analysis of VLG in tablet dosage form, which will help to improve quality control and contribute to stability studies of pharmaceutical tablets containing this drug.


The COVID-19 pandemic led to the implementation of the Work From Home (WFH) policy. The impact of this policy is to replace the process of teaching and learning activities by using an online learning system. In this industrial era 4.0, the integration of web applications is very much needed in problem-solving learning. One that can be used to integrate web applications in learning through project-based learning. The focus of this research is to study the effects of online project-based learning applications on mathematics students' visual thinking continuum. Instruments used in the form of rubric virtual mind maps, audio-visual and virtual posters are used to observe students' visual thinking continuum. The instrument was analyzed with the Rasch measurement model software named WINSTEPS. This study used one group pretest-posttest design to see the effect of integrating web applications in learning through project-based learning analyzed using SPSS. The results of instrument analysis for rubric virtual mind maps, audio-visual products, and virtual posters on measure person obtained good person reliability, MNSQ infit, and MNSQ OUTFIT the average rating is very good. For the ZSTD infit and the ZSTD outfit, the average value is close to 0.0 so that the quality of the person's reliability is good. The results of the conformity quality of the items with the model studied from the fit order items obtained the value of Outfit mean square (MNSQ), Outfit Z-standard (ZSTD), and the value of Point Measure Correlation (Pt Mean Corr) for the three instruments met good criteria. The results of the analysis of paired samples test from 54 respondents obtained p <0.05 so that the base learning project has the effect of increasing students' visual thinking continuum. Implementation of online project-based learning in mathematics learning is an alternative that can be used to improve students' creative problem-solving skills in online learning


: The Internet has democratized archiving in new ways. A dominant form of the new digital archive is the fan archive, which seeks to preserve and make accessible highly specific sections of popular culture. The will to archive is driven by affect and fans help to foster a sense of devotion and representation through their archival work. By analysing the role Korean pop (K-pop) fan archives have played in fostering the Korean wave, this paper will explore how archives not only represent communities but also construct their own. In doing so, it suggests emerging archival practices arise most prominently in the affective space, unbound by traditionalism.


In this short note, we show that a group acting geometrically on a CAT(0) cube complex with virtually abelian hyperplane-stabilisers must decompose virtually as a free product of free abelian groups and surface groups.


INTRODUCTION
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the complications after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), and recovery of erectile function is quantitatively related to the preservation of the neurovascular bundles (NVBs).

AIM
The aim of our study was to assess, in patients submitted to a nerve-sparing RRP, the capability of a dedicated 3D isotropic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2-weighted sequence in the depiction of postsurgical changes of NVB formation.

METHODS
Fifty-three consecutive patients underwent a bilateral nerve-sparing RRP. Two postoperative magnetic resonance (MR) examinations and International Index of Erectile Function Five-Item (IIEF-5) questionnaire were carried out at 6 and 12 months. Morphological imaging of the postprostatectomy fossa was performed by first acquiring turbo spin echo T2-weighted sequences in the axial and coronal planes and then with 3D T2-weighted isotropic sequence on axial plane. Image findings were scored using a relative 5-point classification (0 = normal; I = mild; II = mild to moderate; III = moderate; IV = severe alterations) and correlated with postoperative IIEF-5 score questionnaire.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The degree of association between the alteration score values obtained by postoperative MR morphologic evaluation for MR sequence and IIEF-5 score.

RESULTS
Image interpretation was performed by two radiologists, that scoring MR alterations by the use of axial and multiplanar reconstruction 3D T2 isotropic sequence. The radiologists placed 43.30% of patients in class 0 (23/53 normal or quite normal), 32.00% in class I (17/53 mild), 11.40% in class II (6/53 mild to moderate), 7.50% in class III (4/53 moderate), and 5.70% in class IV (3/53 severe). In all cases, the correlation and regression analyses between the 3D T2 isotropic sequence and IIEF-5 score, resulted in higher coefficient values (rho = 0.45; P = 0.0010).

CONCLUSION
The MRI protocol and NVB change classification score proposed in this study would represent an additional tool in the postoperative phase of those patients with ED.


The ability to prioritize among contents in working memory (WM) is critical for successful control of thought and behavior. Recent work has demonstrated that prioritization in WM can be implemented by representing different states of priority in different representational formats. Here, we explored the mechanisms underlying WM prioritization by simulating the double serial retrocuing (DSR) task with recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Visualization of stimulus representational dynamics using principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the network represented trial context (order of presentation) and priority via different mechanisms. Ordinal context, a stable property lasting the duration of the trial, was accomplished by segregating representations into orthogonal subspaces. Priority, which changed multiple times during a trial, was accomplished by separating representations into different manifolds within each subspace. We assessed the generality of these mechanism by applying dimensionality reduction and multiclass decoding to fMRI and EEG datasets and found that priority and context are represented differently along the dorsal visual stream, and that behavioral performance is sensitive to trial-by-trial efficacy of priority coding, but not context coding.


This research was carried out to determine the empowerment strategies school principals should implement and the reasons for not being empowering. It was conducted with four elementary school teachers and four school principals in a city in the Aegean Region in the 2017-2018 academic year. In the study, descriptive phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used. According to the results, it was revealed that the empowerment strategies to be implemented by school principals were classified under the categories of physical and psychological support, communication, school functioning, and teacher autonomy. The reasons for not making teacher empowerment by school principals were determined as personal, administrative, financial, and limited authority reasons. What the Ministry of National Education should do for teacher empowerment was revealed. They should adopt policies that support personal development and teacher autonomy, increase the authority of school principals, and make changes in the legislation. Following the findings, various suggestions were made on such issues as increasing financial resources that hinder empowerment.


We present data and argument to show that in Tetris-a real-time, interactive video game-certain cognitive and perceptual problems ore more quicktv, easily, and reliably solved by performing actions in the world than by performing computational actions in the head atone. We have found that some of the translations and rotations made by players of this video game are best understood as actions that use the world to improve cognition. These actions are not used to implement a plan, or to implement a reaction; they are used to change the world in order to simplify the problem-solving task. Thus, we distinguish pragmatic octionsactions performed to bring one physically closer to a goal-from epistemic actions -actions performed to uncover informatioan that is hidden or hard to compute mentally. To illustrate the need for epistemic actions, we first develop a standard information-processing model of Tetris cognition and show that it cannot explain performance data from human players of the game-even when we relax the assumption of fully sequential processing. Standard models disregard many actions taken by players because they appear unmotivated or superfluous. However, we show that such actions are actually far from superfluous; they play a valuable role in improving human performance. We argue that traditional accounts are limited because they regard action as having o single function: to change the world. By recognizing a second function of action-an epistemic function-we can explain many of the actions that a traditional model cannot. Although our argument is supported by numerous examples specifically from Tetris, we outline how the new category of epistemic action can be incorporated into theories of action more generally.

http://wexler.free.fr/library/files/kirsh (1994) on distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic action.pdf


This article intends to contribute with some reflections about contemporary clinical approach concerning humanized health assistance based on the review of literature indexed and published in Brazil at BVS and Scielo between 1987 and 2007, including some authors referred in these studies and published in the same period, when considered essential to consubstantiate the discussions presented. Matters are also discussed regarding humanized health care based on public policies and health related professional practices, as well as the possibilities for extending discussions related to the need of inclusion of theses principles in various stages of the health professional background, from undergraduate studies. In addition, some propositions are presented to contribute with the education of the healthcare professional, as well as subsidies for the reflection related to curricular proposals and opportunities offered by university professors, who may strongly influence the professional education and, further, with the health assistance and health services practices.


Food iron and lead absorption were measured simultaneously in 28 subjects by extrinsically labeling three consecutive meals with the radioactive tracers, iron 59-sulfate and lead 203-chloride. Absorption was measured directly in all subjects by whole-body counting and indirectly in 15 subjects by assessing subsequent levels of tracer in blood. Iron status of the subjects ranged from iron deficient to replete, thus providing a wide range of iron absorption. Statistically significant positive correlations were obtained between food-iron and lead absorption measured by whole-body counting and also between the tracer levels of iron and lead in the blood. However, the correlation between the absorption of the two elements was not strong, as evidenced by the fact that only 50% of the subjects who hyperabsorbed iron also hyperabsorbed lead.


A new compsognathid dinosaur, Sinocalliopteryx gigas gen. et sp. nov., is erected based on a complete skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, northeastern China. It shares the features with Huaxiagnathus orientalis in having a manus as long as the humerus plus radius, very large and subequally long manual claws I and II, and reduced olecranon process on the ulna. But it differs from Huaxiagnathus orientalis in having the much large size, a very long maxillary process of premaxilla not extending the vertical level of the maxillary antorbital fossa, and the proportionally longer ulna and so on. Sinocalliopteryx gigas gen. et sp. nov. represents the largest species among the known compsognathid dinosaurs, suggesting the tendency of the body enlargement in compsognathids to some extent. The long filamentous integuments are attached to the whole body of this compsognathid, confirming that such integuments evolved firstly in the basal coelurosaurs. This new giant compsognathid was a fierce carnivorous theropod, as shown further by an incomplete dromaeosaurid leg inside its abdominal cavity.


Botryomycosis is a bacterial infection characterized by the presence of grains of organisms in the tissue. Although Staphylococcus aureus is the most common causative agent, other bacteria have been reported to cause botryomycosis. Several factors have been hypothesized to be important in the pathogenesis of botryomycosis, including foreign bodies, quantity and virulence of organisms, and host immunity. The resulting infection tends to be resistant to antibiotic therapy. We report a case of botryomycosis of the hand caused by Moraxella nonliquefaciens, an organism of low virulence not previously associated with botryomycosis, and discuss the factors that may have led to this infection. This infection was successfully treated by excision and grafting.


A new method of structural graph matching is introduced and compared against an existing method and against the maximum common subgraph. The method is approximate with polynomial bounds on both memory and on the worst-case compute effort. Methods work on arbitrary types of graphs and tests with strongly regular graphs are included. No node or edge colors are needed in the methods; the common subgraph is extracted based on structural comparisons only. Monte Carlo trials are benchmarked with 100% additional (clutter) nodes. Results are shown to be typically within 1-2 nodes of the maximum common subgraph. Over 7500 test trials are reported with graphs up to 100 nodes.


For sodium-exchanged montmorillonites, the induced thermoluminescence glow curve intensity was found to be proportional to the octahedral layer charge deficiency of the clay. Both potassium- and lithium-fixed samples demonstrated an increase in thermoluminescence glow curve intensity indicating that the fixation of cations on both clay surfaces and inside the crystal structure of clay minerals introduces new electron traps to the system. The average electron trap activation energy is highest for potassium-fixed clays while cation fixation and heating a given clay reduced the maximum temperature and half-width of the induced thermoluminescence glow curve.--Modified journal abstract.


This study examined the impact of different student academic profiles on students' perceptions of school functioning within a modified alternating day, block-8 (A/B) schedule. Five academic profiles of students were identified using reports of their grades, satisfaction with their achievement, attributions of success to effort or ability, attributions of achievement to scheduling, and attitudes toward school. Average and high achievers, who were satisfied with their achievement and believed school is important, had the highest levels of school functioning and the highest support for block scheduling. Lower achievers had the least support for block scheduling, the worst teacher relations, and the worst perceptions of student behavior. Low achievers who believed that school is important and were displeased with their grades had the most difficulty managing school within a block schedule. Results suggest the need for further faculty development and additional student support.


This thesis deals with experimental aspects of morphological and functional correlations at the histological and biochemical levels in various normal and neoplastic tissues. A physiological section examines functions and effects of the normal foetal testis, and a clinicopathological section is concerned with morphological and functional features of testicular and adrenocortical neoplasms. The normal foetal testis. The foetal testis is hormonally active, producing androgenic steroids which cause masculinisation of the sex ducts and urogenital sinus: and a separate Mullerian inhibitory factor (MIF) which actively suppresses the female sex duct. MIF is not a steroid molecule in free form, and at least part of it is a protein. I set up an organ culture bioassay system to study aspects of Mullerian duct inhibition. Foetal rat genital tracts, containing Mullerian and Wolffian ducts, were explanted from foetal rats and maintained in organ culture for 3 days. The development of gonads and sex ducts in vitro followed the normal in vivo pattern. The Wolffian ducts were stabilised by androgens, by autologous or homologous foetal rat testes, and by heterologous human foetal testes. The Mullerian ducts regressed in the presence of autologous, homologous or heterologous foetal testes. On theoretical grounds, I wondered if foetal testicular progesterone, probably attached to a carrier protein analogous to the androgen binding protein produced by the adult testicular Sertoli cells, may be involved in Mullerian duct inhibition. Addition of progesterone to the culture medium did cause Mullerian duct regression, but it was difficult to be certain that this was a specific physiological effect rather than a non-specific cytotoxic effect. Progesterone v/as also found to stabilise the Wolffian duct in organ culture. Substantiation of the possible physiological role of foetal testicular progesterone necessitated verification that the foetal testis is capable of progesterone production and secretion. This was attempted using monolayer cultures of rat foetal testes maintained with and without trophic hormonal stimulation. The endogenous steroid production and secretion was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) for progesterone and testosterone, and by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) which could efficiently separate, identify and quantitate 47 different standard steroid molecules. A testosterone RIA had been established in our laboratory, and I developed a similar assay for progesterone paying particular attention to precision, sensitivity, specificity and choice of method for separating free and bound labelled progesterone. HPLC was used to examine the profile of steroids secreted by the foetal testicular cells in monolayer culture. Foetal testes secrete testosterone and progesterone in monolayer culture. Testes from 14


The standard adiabatic approximation to phasing of gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries uses the post-Newtonian expansions of the binding energy and gravitational wave flux both truncated at the same relative post-Newtonian order. Motivated by the eventual need to go beyond the adiabatic approximation we must view the problem as the dynamics of the binary under conservative post-Newtonian forces and gravitational radiation damping. From the viewpoint of the dynamics of the binary, the standard approximation at leading order is equivalent to retaining the 0PN and 2.5PN terms in the acceleration and neglecting the intervening 1PN and 2PN terms. A complete mathematically consistent treatment of the acceleration at leading order should include all PN terms up to 2.5PN without any gaps. These define the standard and complete non-adiabatic approximants respectively. We propose a new and simple complete adiabatic approximant constructed from the energy and flux functions. At the leading order it uses the 2PN energy function rather than the 0PN one in the standard approximation so that in spirit it corresponds to the dynamics where there are no missing post-Newtonian terms in the acceleration. We compare the overlaps of the standard and complete adiabatic approximant templates with the exact waveform (in the adiabatic approximation) for a test-particle orbiting a Schwarzschild black hole. Overlaps are computed using both the white-noise spectrum and the initial LIGO noise spectrum. The complete adiabatic approximants lead to a remarkable improvement in the effectualness (i.e. larger overlaps with the exact signal) at lower PN (< 3PN) orders. However, standard adiabatic approximants of order � 3PN are nearly as good as the complete adiabatic approximants for the construction of effectual templates. In general, faithfulness (i.e. smaller biases in the estimation of parameters) of complete approximants is also better than that of standard approximants. Standard and complete approximants beyond the adiabatic approximation are next studied using the Lagrangian models of Buonanno, Chen and Vallisneri in the test mass limit. A limited extension of the results to the case of comparable mass binaries is provided. In this case, standard adiabatic approximants achieve an effectualness of 0.965 at order 3PN. If the comparable mass case is qualitatively similar to the test mass case then neither the improvement of the accuracy of energy function from 3PN to 4PN nor the improvement of the accuracy of flux function from 3.5PN to 4PN will result in a significant improvement in effectualness in the comparable mass case for terrestrial laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors.


The invention relates to suspensions for trucks and trailers and to systems for clamping an axle housing to a combination suspension support member and spring in such a way that the axle housing is clamped and compressed uniformly on all four sides whereby there is no appreciable tendency for the axle housing to collapse or become deformed so as to require frequent retorquing of the clamping bolts. The system uses interfitting bottom and top axle housing wraps. The bottom axle wrap has upwardly extending sides engaging opposite sides of the axle housing either directly or against interfitting downward extensions on the top axle housing wrap. Vertical clamping bolts cause the upwardly extending sides on the bottom wrap to press inwardly against the sides of the axle housing.


The tragedy of the age of integration (1954 onward) in the United States is that it overlapped with the demise of the social-wage state and with the rise of the neo-liberal social order. Whereas the civil rights movement fought for the wid est provision of dignity, the guardians of the American state have reduced this vision to one concession: that all people will have certain rights vested in the state. When the US Congress passed the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, it ended legal segregation in the US. That, combined with the judicial decisions that culminated in 1954 in the Brown v. Board of Education decision, was immense, and its victory should not be underestimated or misunderstood. Within a generation, people's struggles had destroyed the statutory acceptance of Jim Crow and put in its place high-minded ideas of equal rights. By the logic of bourgeois democracy, the state is the guardian of those rights—the right to vote, along with all the other rights assembled in the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution. The problem is that the state, by the late 1960s, was not the same institution. The guardians of the state had dismantled the social-wage state, leaving citizens with high-minded norms as it gutted the institutions that could respond to them. The first-class visions of the civil rights movement would col lapse into the second-class nightmare of our times.


Preserving an effective ridge during prosthodontic treatment constitutes a prerequisite of successful denture production. An innovative material combining propolis extract with bovine bone graft is regarded as effective in inducing expression of TGF-β and IL-1β, in addition to proliferation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. To determine the combination effect of propolis extract and bovine bone graft on the expression of IL-1 and TGF-β. 28 Cavia cobaya subjects were divided into four groups, each containing seven members. Group I subjects were administered poly ethylene glycol (PEG), Group II subjects received bovine bone graft with PEG, Group III subjects were treated with propolis extract with PEG, and Group IV subjects were given a combination of bovine bone graft, propolis extract and PEG. On day 30, the subjects were sacrificed and paraffin blocks were prepared for immunohistochemical examination. The expressions of IL-1 and TGF-β were subsequently counted with a light microscope at 400x magnification. Finally, one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests were performed (p > 0.05). Significant differences existed in the expression of IL-1β and TGF-β between the four groups, the highest expression of TGF-β and the lowest expression of IL-1β both occurring in Group IV. The combination of propolis extract and bovine bone graft increases TGF-β expression in osteoblast cell formation, reduces IL-1β expression, and decreases the number of osteoclast cells during alveolar bone regeneration. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2020; 13(3): 935-938)


The detection of low flying targets with small radar cross section (RCS), known as low observables, such as cruise missiles and stealth airplanes adds a new dimension to radar signal design and radar signal processing. A high resolution look-down radar is very attractive since it takes advantage of target shape to overcome difficulties encountered with small RCS. The look-down geometry, however, imposes three requirements: 1) the radar should detect targets with small relative velocities from almost zero to about the velocity of sound with no blind speeds, 2) it should minimize ground clutter by using short pulses, and 3) the radar signal must have a thumbtack ambiguity function. We investigate a look-down radar that eliminates time side lobes of compressed signal correlation functions to improve range resolution, reduces ground clutter to enhance receiver dynamic range, and uses thumbtack resolution function to resolve moving low observable targets from the surface of the Earth. The side lobe elimination technique transforms the correlation function of a coded waveform, based on complementary codes, to the correlation function of a single pulse. Features of side lobe elimination technique along with clutter cancellation circuits are presented in terms of blind speeds and range-velocity resolution function. >


The conventional concept of uroflowmetry (UFM) is to equip the urine-receiving container like a toilet device (s) with various sensors. A UFM device based on an airborne ultrasound continuous wave Doppler system was developed to satisfy the need of measuring urinary flow anytime and anywhere in an easy, natural, and repeated manner. It is a non-contact, indirect measuring device that can be easily worn by the test subjects who urinate. The prototype of the new UFM device was used to collect urination data from normal adult volunteers. Data could be collected with the new UFM device, and the Doppler spectrum (urination pattern) could be evaluated in chronological order for each volunteer's urination. It was confirmed from the examination of effectiveness that there is a potential for the clinical application of the new device, but at the present stage it is not yet clinically applicable. The results obtained suggest that the device may greatly change the concept of urodynamics, depending on future progress. However, accuracy in collecting samples and analyzing data will have to be further improved using the latest engineering technology.


India is now seeing an uptick in COVID-19-induced Mucormycosis or "black fungus" cases in certain regions, despite still grappling with a crippling second wave of coronavirus infections. Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, is a severe but rare fungal infection caused by the mucormycetes, a group of moulds. It usually affects those with health problems or who are taking drugs that limit the body's ability to combat germs and illness. The resurgence in black fungus infections may be attributed to the use of steroids in the management of COVID infection, as well as the fact that many COVID patients had diabetes as co-morbidity. Despite its occurrence since the beginning of the pandemic, there are still unanswered concerns regarding the origin of this fungal infection. The author existing report of black fungus morbidity during the latest COVID-19 crisis in this selective study are early detection of this potentially life-threatening illness and timely care was critical in lowering mortality rates.


The evolutionary importance of ontogenetic change has been noted since Darwin. However, most analyses of phenotypic evolution focus on single landmark ages. Here, we present an inheritance study that quantifies genetic variation in pigmentation across early-age (i.e., birth to 180 days) development in 2 populations of the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. The populations are phenotypically distinct and geographically isolated (Manitoba, CA and Northern California, USA). There were highly significant differences between populations for the developmental trajectory of mean pigmentation, with the Manitoba population exhibiting a mean pigmentation level that increased across ontogeny, whereas the California population exhibited mean pigmentation that was invariant across ontogeny. Subsequent quantitative genetic analyses revealed heritable variation at all ages in Manitoba but low levels of phenotypic and genetic variation in California at all ages. A quantitative genetic decomposition of the longitudinal genetic variance-covariance matrix for the age-specific pigmentation phenotypes in the Manitoba population revealed 2 primary orthogonal axes that explained most ( approximately 100%) of the pigmentation variation across ontogeny. The primary axis, explaining 93% of the genetic variation, is an axis of genetic variation whose principal value loadings change from positive to negative across development, suggesting that the most rapid evolutionary response to selection on pigmentation variation will occur in the direction characterized by a tradeoff in early-age versus late-age pigmentation phenotypes. Pigmentation is known to be ecologically important and subject to rapid evolution under selection. Our study shows that significant differences exist between these 2 populations for their capacity to respond to selection on pigmentation which is not only influenced by the population of origin but also by the developmental process. We suggest that developmental timing may be a potential explanatory mechanism for the difference between the populations.


Background: Immunization with L1 major capsid protein in the form of the pentavalent capsomeres or 360mer virus‐like particles (VLPs) generates high and long‐lived titers of neutralizing antibodies and protection primarily against the human papillomavirus (HPV) type from which the vaccine was derived. Consequently, multivalent L1 VLP vaccines have been developed to expand the breadth of coverage, e.g. Cervarix which contains L1 VLPs that are derived from HPV16 and HPV18 and formulated in alum and monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) adjuvant. Vaccination with L2 minor capsid protein induces lower titer, but more broadly neutralizing and protective antibody responses in animals. To enhance cross‐protection we generated multi‐type L2 proteins by fusing cross‐neutralizing epitopes of divergent HPV types, e.g. 11‐88×5 that is a concatamer of L2 residues 11–88 of HPV1, HPV5, HPV6, HPV16 and HPV18. Objectives: A low cost HPV vaccine that yields cross‐protective antibodies and broad protection against more than a dozen oncogenic HPV types is urgently needed. We sought to combine the advantages of each protective antigen by immunization with titrated doses of multi‐type L2 11‐88×5 in alum+MPL, or with either HPV16 L1 capsomeres or Cervarix and to assess the importance of adjuvant for L2 dose sparing. Methods: Mice were vaccinated three times every alternate week and bled two weeks later. Serum antibody titers were determined by ELISA using HPV16 L1 VLP or L2 11‐88×5antigen, as well as in vitro HPV pseudovirion neutralization assays. Results: The absolute titers and dose response to 11‐88×5 were similar in mice vaccinated with 11‐88×5 alone or in combination with either L1 capsomeres or VLPs. HPV16 L1 VLP generated significantly higher HPV16 neutralization titers than L1 capsomeres, and the capsomeres induce higher titers than 11‐88×5. Importantly, the serum IgG titers specific to HPV16 L1 VLP were not influenced by vaccination with L1 capsomeres or VLP in the presence of L2 11‐88×5. The in vitro neutralization titers elicited by vaccination with 11‐88×5 in the combinations tested were not significantly different at two weeks after immunization but there was a trend at four months for reduced cross‐neutralization when 11‐88×5 was combined with L1 VLP but not capsomeres. Conclusions: There is no evidence of interference between the L1 and L2 serum antibody response to co‐administration of L1 capsomeres, but not VLP, with multi‐type L2 vaccines based on neutralization titers. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):A143.


BACKGROUND: An emerging innovation for the treatment of polluted air consists in using a liquid–solid biphasic system, in which the sequestering phase contains inert polymer beads. The different polymers tested here for this purpose were; Hytrel® G3548L, Hytrel® G4078W, styrene butadiene copolymer, 28% and 31%, silicone rubber, PEBAX® 2533, and rubber tires. The selection of the most effective polymer(s) first requires a determination of the uptake of the pollutants by the solid phase in terms of key polymer properties such as partition coefficient, diffusion coefficient and biodegradability.

RESULTS: A significant difference was found in the uptake levels of α-pinene from the gas phase for the different polymers tested. Based on partition coefficient measurements, relatively non-polar polymers such as Kraton® tend to uptake α-pinene better than polar ones, such as Hytrel®. A reduction in the partition coefficient of α-pinene into polymers in the presence of water has also been observed. It was also proven that the tested polymers are not biodegradable.

CONCLUSIONS: The uptake of α-pinene by the different polymers tested was determined and it was shown that such polymers could be used for air pollution control. Furthermore, their non-biodegradability justifies their use as absorbents. This paper provides a new opportunity to work with biofilters (BFs)/biotrickling filters (BTFs) using polymers as a sequestering phase. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry


Report about central obstetrical monitoring system (Biomonitor Kombinat VEB Messgerätewerk Zwönitz). The following bed-side monitors have been used: BMT-504 (Kombinat V-B Messgerätewerk Zwönitz), HP 8020 A (Hewlett Packard), FM-3 (Kranzbühler). The FECG and CTG or other fetal, maternal and neonatal functions from six single obstetrical rooms have been registrated in a central work room by means of a 6-channel-recorder (6-NEK-4) and a 6-channel-scope (USG-101). The mother and newborn can be supervised by means of television. This central fetal monitoring system gives the following advantages. There is no disturbance of the patient because the recording and warning events takes place in a central work room. The service of the recorders and scopes is simplified. The room-saving arrangement of bed-side monitors on instrument brackets. Recorders and instrument trolleys have been spared. Preparation of CTG computer analysis. The continuous cardiotocography of all labors (2000/year) by means of the central fetal monitoring has been realized with two midwifes and one physician around the clock. The installation of a fetal central monitoring system is for reconstruction or construction of obstetrical departments to take in consideration.


Intracellular Ca(2+) signals are commonly studied with fluorescent Ca(2+) indicator dyes and microscopy techniques. However, quantitative analysis of Ca(2+) imaging data is time consuming and subject to bias. Automated signal analysis algorithms based on region of interest (ROI) detection have been implemented for one-dimensional line scan measurements, but there is no current algorithm which integrates optimized identification and analysis of ROIs in two-dimensional image sequences. Here an algorithm for rapid acquisition and analysis of ROIs in image sequences is described. It utilizes ellipses fit to noise filtered signals in order to determine optimal ROI placement, and computes Ca(2+) signal parameters of amplitude, duration and spatial spread. This algorithm was implemented as a freely available plugin for ImageJ (NIH) software. Together with analysis scripts written for the open source statistical processing software R, this approach provides a high-capacity pipeline for performing quick statistical analysis of experimental output. The authors suggest that use of this analysis protocol will lead to a more complete and unbiased characterization of physiologic Ca(2+) signaling.


A physical vapor deposition based molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) thin film is demonstrated as an efficient reverse-electron recombination barrier layer (RBL) at the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) interface in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Thin films of MoO3 show an average optical transmittance of ∼77% in a spectral range of 350–800 nm with bandgap value of ∼3.1 eV. For an optimum thickness of MoO3, deposited for 5 minutes, the resulting DSSCs showed 15% enhancement in efficiency (η) compared to the reference DSSC which did not use MoO3 RBL; this suggests that MoO3 is effectively suppressing interfacial recombination at the FTO/TiO2 interface. Further, increasing the thickness of MoO3 RBL at the FTO/TiO2 interface (20 minutes deposition) is observed to impede charge transport, as noticed with 55% reduction in η compared to the reference DSSC. Thin film MoO3 RBL with an optimum thickness value at the FTO/TiO2 interface efficiently blocks the leaky transport pathways in the mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticle layer and facilitates efficient charge transport as confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.


The international politics of climate change invokes the imagination of various potential global futures, ranging from techno-optimist visions of ecological modernisation to apocalyptic nightmares of climate chaos. This article argues that most dominant framings of the future in climate policy imaginaries tend to be depoliticised and linear visions of universal, homogenous time, with little spatio-temporal or ecological plurality. This article aims to convince IR scholars of climate politics that Africanfuturist climate fiction novels can contribute to the decolonisation of climate politics through radically different socio-climatic imaginaries to those that dominate mainstream imaginations of climate futures. The Africanfuturist climate fiction novels of authors such as Nnedi Okorafor, Lauren Beukes and Doris Lessing imagine different spaces, temporalities, ecologies and politics. Reading them as climate theory, they offer the possibility of a more decolonised climate politics, in which issues of land and climate justice, loss and damage, extractive political economies and the racialised and gendered violence of capitalism are central.


General hospital psychiatric units in "gateway cities" frequently serve both a local resident population and a community of diplomats and international travelers. The psychiatric unit of a private general hospital in Washington, D.C., serves Foreign Service officials and their families stationed overseas and foreign diplomats stationed in the nation's capital as well as local residents. The international community has helped shape the service philosophy of the unit toward an individualistic model with close ties to the medical and surgical units. Several brief case studies describe the effects an expatriate life style and a transcultural milieu can have on typical mental illnesses.


Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the most potent vasoconstrictor peptide known. It exerts its actions through two pharmacologically different receptors: ETA and ETB receptors. In the renal vasculature, there is a majority of ETB receptors in the efferent arteriole, whereas a greater amount of ETA receptors are located in the afferent arteriole. The nephron is rich in ETB receptors, especially in the thick ascending limb and collecting ducts, while containing a smaller amount of ETA receptors. High levels of circulating or renal ET-1 have been described in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension or diabetes, diseases also associated to renal inflammation. Despite extensive evidence associating high levels of ET-1 to increased renal inflammation, the molecular mechanism(s) by which ET-1 leads to renal immune infiltration and/or immune activation remains unknown. In this minireview, we propose that the ET-1/ETA pathway mediates an increase in renal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, initially a survival mechanism that if prolonged, leads to the eventual death of the cell via apoptosis.


Since 1995,Derrida's deconstructive translation thought has always been a hot topic in China.Some results have been achieved on Derrida's translation thought research;but there are still some misunderstandings about his thought on translation.This paper intends to employ some words in his works or interview to clarify some misunderstandings about Derrida's translation thought.


The study investigated the role of adrenergic receptors in glucose, fructose-, and galactose- induced increases in intestinal glucose uptake. Experiments were carried out on fasted male anaesthetized Nigerian local dogs divided into seven groups (with five dogs per group). Group I dogs were administered normal saline and served as control. Dogs in groups II, III and IV were intravenously infused with glucose (1.1 mg/kg/min), fructose (1.1 mg/kg/min) and galactose (1.1 mg/kg/min) respectively. Another three groups, V, VI and VII were pretreated with prazosin (0.2mg/kg), propranolol (0.5mg/kg) or a combination of prazosin (0.2mg/kg) and propranolol (0.5mg/kg) followed by glucose infusion, frutose infusion or galactose infusion respectively. Through a midline laparatomy, the upper jejunum was cannulated for blood flow measurement and blood samples were obtained for measurement of glucose content of the arterial blood and venous blood from the upper jejunal segment. Glucose uptake was calculated as the product of jejunal blood flow and the difference between arterial and venous glucose levels (A-V glucose). The results showed that pretreatment of the animal with prazosin had no effect on glucose and galactose induced increases in glucose uptake. However, pretreatment with propranolol completely abolished glucose, fructose and galactose-induced increases in intestinal glucose uptake. Prazosin also significantly reduced galactose-induced increase in intestinal glucose uptake. The results suggest that the increases in intestinal glucose uptake induced by glucose and fructose are mediated mostly by beta adrenergic receptors while that of galactose is mediated by both alpha and beta adrenergic receptors.


Deficit of lamin A/C or emerin causes genetically transmitted Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD). As lamins are considered to be mediators of oxidative stress, the antioxidant/oxidant status was examined. The total oxidant/antioxidant status in serum was examined in 29 cases of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. The study included 12 autosomal-dominant laminopathies (AD-EDMD), 17 X-linked emerinopathies (X-EDMD) and 20 age-matched normal subjects. Total oxidant status (TOS) was reduced in all cases, and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was found to be decreased in the majority of the patients (in 82.8%). A relationship between TOS level and disease progression was noted. No correlation between TOS/TAC level and cardiological or neurological parameters was detected. The results of the study indicate disturbances of redox balance in EDMD patients. Determination of TOS/TAC might help to assess the progress of the disease and the potential effectiveness of antioxidant therapy.


The increasing amount of space debris requires huge efforts for the tracking networks in order to maintain the orbits of all the objects. The precise knowledge of the positions of space debris objects is fundamental for collision avoidance maneuvers performed by satellite operators and for future active debris removal missions. It is very well known that the accuracy of an orbit determination process depends on the kind of observables used, their accuracy, the length of the observed arc, the number of observations, the observer orbit, and the observer-target geometry of the observations. In this thesis an in-depth study is carried out to understand how the mentioned parameters influence the orbit determination accuracy and how we can improve the quality of the estimated orbits. After a brief introduction on the least squares adjustment algorithm and on the way of propagating and manipulating the resulting covariance matrix, we will focus essentially on the influence of the object-observer relative geometry and of the use of different observables for the orbit determination of space debris. The object-observer relative geometry is approached as an information gain problem and it is studied using simulations and covariance analysis. The main aim of the covariance analysis is to identify the optimal follow-up strategy as a function of the object-observer geometry, the interval between follow-up observations and the shape of the orbit. This analysis is applied to every orbital regime but particular attention is dedicated to the highly-populated space debris orbits. Furthermore, several particular cases are analyzed with this method: more than two
follow-ups observations, the influence of a second observing station, and the introduction of the distance as second observable. The study on the combination of different types of observables is carried out investigating the influence of addition of the laser range measurements to the classical optical astrometric observations in terms of improved accuracy of the determined orbit. In particular, after some validation tests to prove the effectiveness of the implemented algorithm, it will be shown how different kinds of observables influence the accuracies of the estimated orbital parameters. Then, the influence of the observation geometry is analyzed and finally the improvements achieved on the orbit prediction, for different orbital regimes, will be shown. All the mentioned tests are performed using real ranges from the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) stations and real angular/laser measurements provided by sensors of the Swiss Optical Ground Station and Geodynamics Observatory Zimmerwald owned by the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB).


Sendai virus (SeV) is an enveloped virus with a negative-stranded RNA genome and is a member of the family Paramyxoviridae. SeV-based vectors replicate exclusively in the cytoplasm of transduced cells, and do not go through a DNA phase; therefore, there is no concern about the unwanted integration of foreign sequences into the host chromosomal DNA, which indeed caused a life-threatening disease in a few limited ceases. Human ES cells are expected to have clinical applications as well as to serve as a basic research tool. Foreign genes are often transferred into ES cells for genetic marking or regulating differentiation. We have previously shown that SeV vector can introduce a foreign gene efficiently and stably into cynomolgus monkey ES cells while preserving the pluripotency. The transgene expression, however, should be suppressed in cases of unexpected toxicity or when only a temporal transgene expression is necessary. Since SeV is an RNA virus, we have examined whether anti-RNA virus agents are able to remove the SeV vector from transduced ES cells. The F-defective SeV vector carrying the GFP gene was constructed. Cynomolgus ES cells were transduced with the vector at 10 MOI per cell (transduction efficiency 60%). Fluorescent ES-cell colonies were plucked 1 month post-transduction and propagated in the regular FBS-supplemented medium (GFP-positive cells > 90%). The cells were treated with anti-viral agents which were reported to suppress the replication of SeV; ribavirin (12–20 μM), papaverine (1–100 μM), and/or prostaglandin A1 (PGA1; 0.3–30 μM). The regular culture medium was DMEM/F12 with 15% FBS. The serum-free culture medium was DMEM/F12 with 20% Knockout serum replacement (KSR, Invitrogen). Although the GFP expression in ES cells was suppressed by treatment with either ribavirin or papaverine, the cells showed differentiated phenotypes. Treatment with PGA1 led to the apoptosis of ES cells at lower concentrations than those required to suppress the GFP expression. Treatment with a mixture of these three agents successfully suppressed the GFP expression in the SSEA-4-negative, differentiated population. On the other hand, cultivation of the transduced ES cells in the KSR-supplemented medium, a widely used serum-free recipe for ES cell cultures, resulted in the complete suppression of GFP expression in ES cells in the undifferentiated state. The SeV genome and GFP gene were undetectable even by RNA-PCR. KSR was originally developed to maintain ES cells in an undifferentiated state, and this is the first report about its unexpected antiviral activities. The anti-viral effect of KSR was cancelled by the addition of 15% FBS. KSR, however, had no effect on the SeV-mediated expression of GFP in LLC-MK2, a standard control cell line for SeV transduction. Unfortunately, information on the composition of KSR is not available, and we cannot explain the mechanism by which KSR eradicates the SeV genome. Although none of the antiviral agents alone; ribavirin, papaverine, or PGA1, is effective at suppressing SeV vector-mediated transgene expression in ES cells, a mixture of the three agents may be useful for suppressing the transgene expression after the differentiation of the transduced ES cells. On the other hand, KSR should be useful in terms of eradicating the SeV genome from transduced ES cells as well as maintaining the pluripotency.


Although the regulatory mechanisms for the age-related rise in proliferation and reduction in apoptosis in the colonic mucosa are yet to be fully delineated, we have demonstrated that these events are associated with increased expression and activation of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR)/ErbB-1 and some of its receptor family members (EGFRs), indicating their involvement in these processes. However, the downstream signaling events of EGFR and/or its family members regulating age-related changes in mucosal proliferation and apoptosis remain to be delineated. Cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory protein-1 (CARP-1), a novel growth signaling regulator that we isolated, participates in EGFR-dependent signaling. In the current investigation, we examined the involvement of CARP-1 in colonic mucosal growth-related processes during aging. We report that the age-related reduction in apoptosis in the colonic mucosa is associated with increased expression and tyrosine phosphorylation of not only EGFR but also ErbB-2 and ErbB-3. In contrast, protein and mRNA levels of CARP-1 as well as tyrosine phosphorylation of CARP-1 are decreased. Additionally, we have observed that administration of wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity that accelerates apoptosis in the colonic mucosa of aged rats, causes a marked increase in expression and tyrosine phosphorylation of CARP-1. The age-related decline in CARP-1 expression could partly be attributed to increased methylation of the CARP-1 promoter. Taken together, our data suggest that not only EGFR but also its other members are involved in regulating colonic mucosal growth during aging and that CARP-1 may play a crucial role in transducing EGFRs signals.


Why have both Great Britain and the United States been unable to create effective training and work programs for the unemployed? Desmond King contends that the answer lies in the liberal political origins of these programs. Integrating extensive, previously untapped archival and documentary materials with an analysis of the sources of political support for work-welfare programs, King shows that policymakers in both Great Britain and the United States have tried to achieve conflicting goals through these programs. The goal of work-welfare policy in both countries has been to provide financial aid, training, and placement services for the unemployed. In order to muster support for these programs, however, work-welfare programs had to incorporate liberal requirements that they not interfere with private market forces, and that they prevent the "undeserving" from obtaining benefits. For King, the attempt to integrate these incompatible functions is the defining feature of British and American policies as well as the cause of their failure.


Variables studied in this evaluation of the Battelle type drop-weight tear test (DWTT) include operator, test machine, specimen thickness, notch type, and strength level of the material tested. Operator and machine variations were found to be small. For a given material, increasing the specimen thickness raises the plateau energy and the transition temperature. Energy at a given percent shear is proportional to thickness. Notches examined include pressed notch, machined notch, fatigue crack, and crack starter weld. Continued use of the pressed notch is recommended. Side grooved DWTT specimen is used to compare the toughness of heat affected zones of welded specimens to that of the base metal.


Tumor marker screening by insurers is one of the most significant and controversial developments in insurance testing. The debate is ongoing. Key dimensions of the issue have been recently described.1,2 We do not wish to reiterate any of those dimensions, nor do we wish to comment favorably or unfavorably on tumor marker screening by insurers. Rather, we believe there are some important and interesting theoretical considerations for the evaluation of cancer screening tests in clinical or insurance medicine. This article illustrates the biologic variability of two malignancies which may not be widely appreciated. New work has shown dichotomous populations within groups of patients known to have monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) and childhood neuroblastoma. In addition, this article elucidates the role of lead time bias and length bias in the interpretation of screening tests. This has significance for all screening tests, not just cancer screening tests or tumor marker screening tests.


We study a change-point problem for random fields based on a univariate detection of outliers via the $3\sigma$-rule in order to recognize inhomogeneities in porous media. In particular, we focus on fibre reinforced polymers modeled by stochastic fibre processes with high fibre intensity and search for abrupt changes in the direction of the fibres. As a measure of change, the entropy of the directional distribution is locally estimated within a window that scans the region to be analyzed.


Ecopreneurship is an idea that has not been explored by researchers explicitly and become a learning innovation in the 21 st century, but, implicitly this concept is believed to have been implemented in some elementary schools but no further research, therefore, this study aims to prove and give the description of ecopreneurship development in elementary school. This study used a qualitative approach through the descriptive method with the subject of research is 22 teachers in elementary school. Based on the research that has been done can be seen that the development of ecopreneurship in elementary school was integrated in the curriculum content in schools that have implications for the creation of intracurricular learning, extracurricular learning and display room based on the ecopreneurship's concept. Quantitatively, it can be seen that 81.2% of teachers have tried to apply the principles of ecology in classroom learning and 54.5% of teachers have tried to associate it with the principle of entrepreneurship. The results of this study become the basis of researchers in conducting further research, in addition to the results of this study is expected to be a reference for elementary school teachers in developing current learning in 21 st century and it becomes a preventive effort, especially for Indonesia in preparing itself to Indonesia Gold 2045.


A 3-UPU translational parallel mechanism (TPM) is one of typical TPMs. Several types of 3-UPU TPMs have been proposed in the literature. Despite comprehensive studies on 3-UPU TPMs in which the joint axes on the base and the moving platform are coplanar, only a few 3-UPU TPMs with a skewed base and moving platform have been proposed. However, the impact of link parameters on singularity loci of such TPMs has not been systematically investigated. The advances in computing CGS (comprehensive Gröbner system) or Gröbner cover of parametric polynomial systems provide an efficient tool for solving this problem. This paper presents a systematic classification of 3-UPU TPMs, especially those with a skewed base and moving platform, based on constraint singularity loci. First, the constraint singularity equation of a 3-UPU TPM is derived. To simplify this equation, the coordinate frame on the base (or moving platform) is set up such that the centers of three U joints are located on different coordinate axes. Using Gröbner Cover, the 3-UPU TPMs are classified into 20 types based on the constraint singularity loci. Finally, a novel 3-UPU TPM is proposed. Unlike most of existing 3-UPU TPMs which can transit to two or more 3-DOF operation modes at a constraint singular configuration, the proposed 3-UPU TPM can only transit to one general 3-DOF operation mode in a constraint singular configuration. The singularity locus divides the workspace of this 3-UPU TPM into two constraint singularity-free regions. This work provides a solid foundation for the design of 3-UPU TPMs and a starting point for the classification of a general 3-UPU parallel mechanism.


Corals exchange nutrients and dissolved gases with the surrounding environment for metabolic purposes. A recent study demonstrated that corals can actively stir quiescent water columns and produce vortical flows that enhance mass transfer rates by up to 400%. Here, three-dimensional immersed-boundary simulations of the flow through a Pocillopora meandrina colony demonstrate that the passive geometric features of the branching colony produce highly vortical internal flows that enhance mass transfer at the interior of the colony, compensating almost exactly for flows speed reductions there of up to 64% so that the advection time scale remains roughly constant throughout the colony.Corals exchange nutrients and dissolved gases with the surrounding environment for metabolic purposes. A recent study demonstrated that corals can actively stir quiescent water columns and produce vortical flows that enhance mass transfer rates by up to 400%. Here, three-dimensional immersed-boundary simulations of the flow through a Pocillopora meandrina colony demonstrate that the passive geometric features of the branching colony produce highly vortical internal flows that enhance mass transfer at the interior of the colony, compensating almost exactly for flows speed reductions there of up to 64% so that the advection time scale remains roughly constant throughout the colony.


The focus of this article is teaching Russian language in secondary school, viewed through the lens of four demographic indicators – gender, age, professional experience, intensity of teaching Russian language. For this purpose, the results obtained from a large-scale survey conducted among Russian language teachers were analyzed, to which 238 people responded (36 from the city of Sofia and 202 from other cities and villages of the country). The analysis of the results shows: a tendency towards aging of Russian language teachers, a high concentration of language teaching in the city, the choice of the language mainly as a second foreign language. Based on these results, conclusions are drawn, some of which seem disturbing.


We use the British Household Panel Study to analyse change over birth cohorts in patterns of social mobility in England, Scotland and Wales. In several respects, our conclusions are similar to those reached by other authors on the basis of wider comparisons. There has been a large growth in non-manual employment since the middle of the twentieth century. This led first to a rise in upward mobility, but, as parents of younger people have now themselves benefited from that, has more recently forced people downward from their middle-class origins. These changes have largely not been a growth in relative social mobility: it is change induced by the occupational structure. The conclusions apply both to current class and to the class which people entered when they first entered the labour market. The patterns of relative mobility could not be explained statistically by measures of the respondents' educational attainment. The conclusions were broadly the same for the three countries, but there was some evidence that in the youngest cohort (people born between 1967 and 1976) experience of people from Wales was diverging from that of people from England and Scotland, with rather greater amounts of downward mobility. There were two methodological conclusions. Out-migration from country of birth within the UK did not seem to make any important difference to our results. That is encouraging for analysis of surveys confined to one of the three countries, because it suggests that losing track of out-migrants would not distort the results. The second methodological conclusion is that the comparative study of social mobility can find interesting topics to investigate at social levels lower than that of the state, here the comparison of the three countries which make up Britain.


This paper traces the history of TEX, the open source typesetting program. TEX was an early and very successful open source project that imposed its standards in a particularly competitive environment and inspired many advances in the typesetting industry. Developed over three decades, TEX came into competition with a variety of open source and proprietary alternatives. I argue from this case study that open source developers derive direct and indirect network externalities from the use of their software by others and must therefore consider non-developers' needs to make their software more attractive to a broader audience and more competitive with proprietary alternatives.


The alteration of structural and biological properties of human plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) exposed to oxidative conditions is in part ascribed to lipid peroxidation. The objective of this investigation was to measure quantitatively several parameters in oxidizing LDL indicative for lipid peroxidation. Exposure of freshly prepared EDTA-free LDL to an oxygen-saturated buffer led to a complete depletion of alpha- and gamma-tocopherol within 6 hr, thereafter lipid peroxidation commenced as indicated by the kinetics of the loss of linoleic (18:2) and arachidonic (20:4) acids, the formation of aldehydic lipid peroxidation products and fluorescent apoB. Within 24 hr of oxidation, on average 79 nmol of 18:2 (initial 345) and 12.8 nmol of 20.4 (initial 25.6) were oxidized per mg of LDL and the sample contained in total 7.1 nmol of aldehydes with the following molar distribution: 36.6% malonaldehyde, 25% hexanal, 8.9% propanal, 8.2% 4-hydroxynonenal, 7.6% butanal, 4.1% 2.4-heptadienal, 3.4% pentanal, 3.4% 4-hydroxyhexenal, and 2.5% 4-hydroxyoctenal. Malonaldehyde was predominantly (93%) in the aqueous phase, whereas the other aldehydes remained mostly (34-98%) within the LDL particle, where the total aldehyde concentration was in the range of 12 mM. Oxidized LDL exhibited a 1.6-fold enhanced electrophoretic mobility. Similarily, native LDL incubated for 5 hr with aldehydes showed increased electrophoretic mobility. At equal concentrations (5 mM) 4-hydroxynonenal was most effective, followed by 2,4-heptadienal, hexanal, and malonaldehyde. This study reports for the first time the rate and extent of the change of LDL constituents occurring during lipid peroxidation.


The work of painter Vittore Carpaccio throws new light on the gender ideals pervasive in Venetian society during the late fifteenth century. Recent conservation research has revealed that the artist's most famous work, a rare domestic panel depicting two sumptuously attired women seated on a rooftop terrace or altana (Museo Correr, Venice) was, in fact, only the lower half of a painting whose upper portion depicted men hunting on the Venetian lagoon (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles). Yet scholars have continued to address the separated panels as if they each constituted an artistic whole, rather than addressing the complexities of the recomposed panel's iconography. In this article, the entire painting is analyzed as a construction of contemporary notions of gender difference. The image is read as an accurate depiction of aspects of Venetian life, while also serving as an allegory of courtship through the representation of female passivity and virtue in contrast to male aggression in the midst of the hunt.


We investigated a hybrid thin film microstrip line with a polyimide (1 μm)/CoZrNb (1 μm)/polyimide (1 μm) sandwich structure and a polyimide (3 μm) microstrip line on the basis of electromagnetic field analysis, and we evaluated their characteristics for the fabricated device. Results showed that the distributed inductance of the polyimide thin film microstrip line depends on the operating frequency, because of the frequency-dependent magnetic shielding of the bottom ground plane. In the case of a hybrid thin film microstrip line, the distributed inductance is nearly constant, hence the characteristic impedance also becomes constant in the wide-band frequency range.


The role of UN missions in post-conflict societies has progressed through peace-keeping and peace-making to a more recent emphasis on peace-building. To accompany this new focus, the UN has articulated a rule of law agenda, two central components of which are promoting international norms and standards and facilitating national ownership. This paper explores the self-sanctioned role the UN has awarded itself in promoting the rule of law in post-conflict societies by exploring each one of these two central components and their interaction.Meritorious in their own right, the potential of these two components of the rule of law agenda may position the UN in situations where both cannot be satisfied contemporaneously. In implementing its rule of law agenda, the United Nations will likely come to face the prospect of a local authority seeking to differ from international norms and standards. In such circumstances, the UN's rule of law agenda makes conflictual promises. The choices and prioritization that the UN will be called upon to make in such circumstances will reveal much about how it conceptualizes its role in promoting the rule of law in post-conflict societies. This paper seeks to delineate the nature of the choices confronting the United Nations in pursuit of its rule of law agenda.


So one day, 'twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year, the weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark, and rain fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook again. There they all sat round the fire, busy with this thing and that. But just then, all at once something gave three taps on the window-pane. Then the father went out to see what was the matter; and, when he got out of doors, what should he see but a great big White Bear.


Abstract Polyolefins used in building materials and furniture require the use of flame-retardant (FR) additives to improve their fire safety. Such additives should be safe to humans and the environment, and preferably bio-based. In the present work, the FR performance of unmodified and chemically modified technical lignins was compared to that of the ammonium polyphosphate/pentaerythritol (APP/PER) intumescent system in a polypropylene (PP) matrix. Micro-scale combustion calorimetry (MCC) was used to study the peak heat release rate (PHR), temperature at PHR (TPHR), total heat release (THR) and char yield upon thermal decomposition of milligram-scale specimens. The PP/lignin composites showed up to 41% lower PHR and up to 36% lower THR compared to pure PP as well as large char residues. Based on the same parameters, especially the PP/lignin composites made with modified lignins outperformed the reference PP/APP/PER system and the PP/APP/lignin composites where unmodified lignin was used with APP. The most promising PP/lignin composites were prepared with partially demethylated/demethoxylated and depolymerised kraft lignin ('CatLignin'), modified by the Mannich reaction to a nitrogen content of 13.5%.


Novel trisubstituted ethylenes, dimethyl and dimethoxy ring-substituted octyl phenylcyanoacrylates, RPhCH=C(CN)CO2CH2(CH2)6CH3 (where R is 2,3-dimethyl, 2,4-dimethyl, 2,5-dimethyl, 2,6-dimethyl, 3,4-dimethyl, 3,5-dimethyl, 2,3-dimethoxy, 2,4-dimethoxy, 2,5-dimethoxy, 2,6-dimethoxy, 3,4-dimethoxy, 3,5-dimethoxy) were prepared and copolymerized with styrene. The ethylenes were synthesized by the piperidine catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring-disubstituted benzaldehydes and octyl cyanoacetate, and characterized by CHN analysis, IR, 1H and 13C NMR. All the ethylenes were copolymerized with styrene in solution with radical initiation (ABCN) at 70C. The compositions of the copolymers were calculated from nitrogen analysis.


Background and Objectives: Postoperative malignant hyperthermia (MH) occurs after discontinuation of volatile anesthetics or in the early postoperative period after general anesthesia. We experienced a case of atypical postoperative MH identified by dark reddish-brown urine produced 40 min after the end of eighth general anesthesia in an 11-year-old male with cheilognathopalatoschisis. Case Report: Anesthesia was induced using thiamylal, fentanyl citrate, remifentanil, rocuronium, and maintained with sevoflurane, fentanyl citrate, remifentanil. The patient was observed clenching his teeth, tachycardia, profuse perspiration, shivering-like motion, and hyperpnoea from the end of the operation to return to the HCU ward, whereas the maximum of axillary temperature was 37.9°C. Although these abnormal symptoms and vital signs were disappeared, abnormally high level of CK, AST, ALT, LDH, ALP, and myoglobinuria were recognized. We decided to not administer dantrolene hydrate because his vital signs and daily activity were restored to those observed preoperatively. However, the patient was continued infusion therapy for 9 days after the operation until the blood and urine test values returned to the preoperative ones. Conclusions: We experienced atypical postoperative MH identified by dark reddish-brown urine 40 min after the end of eighth general anesthesia. We decided not to administer dantrolene hydrate because his vital signs and daily activity were restored to those observed preoperatively when we recognized abnormally high level of CK, AST, ALT, LDH, ALP, and myoglobinuria. Consequently, rhabdomyolysis continued and in 9 days, the abnormally high values of CK, AST, ALT, LDH, and ALP recovered to the reference value.


ABSTRACT Wei, H., 2020. Ecological evolution governance of marine fishery communities-evolutionary game model-based analysis. In: Qiu, Y.; Zhu, H., and Fang, X. (eds.), Current Advancements in Marine and Coastal Research for Technological and Sociological Applications. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 107, pp. 323-327. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The main reasons for China's current problems in the management of the marine ecological environment in offshore waters are a single body and means of governance, unclear responsibilities for sea-related management, insufficient awareness of ecological and environmental protection, a weak sense of synergy and inadequate coordination mechanisms. This paper examines inter-governmental collaborative governance to enhance the awareness of collaborative governance among multiple subjects and strengthen the participation of the public, enterprises, NGOs and media in marine ecological environmental protection, in order to promote collaborative governance among multiple subjects and achieve inter-administrative marine development and protection.


In this paper, we propose methods to perform large-scale circuit simulation for MOSFET circuits containing lossy coupled transmission lines that have been encountered in modern circuit design community. We utilize the fast multi-rate ITA (Iterated Timing Analysis) algorithm and a full time-domain transmission line calculation algorithm based on the Method of Characteristic. Various methods to speedup the transmission line calculation algorithm have been presented. All proposed methods have been implemented and tested to justify their superior performance.


: In this study, to predict the effect of beach nourishment at Haeundae Beach, the waves and wave-induced currents were compared before and after beach nourishment using the XBEACH model. Representative wave conditions were determined for the data observed during 2014 (KHOA). Then, the Hs,max and Hs,1/10 values, and their prevalent directions, were used in the numerical modeling input data. A variable grid system was used for the 5 km × 2.5 km model areas, and irregular waves based on the JONSWAP spectrum were given as incident wave conditions. In the summer season, eastward wave-induced currents were developed along the beach by the incident wave direction. Before the beach nourishment, the maximum speed around the surf zone was 1.2 – 1.5 m/s in the central zone of the beach, whereas the maximum speed increased to 1.4 – 1.6 m/s at the same areas when the currents toward Mipo Harbor were blocked as an effect of the groins after the beach nourishment. In the winter season, westward wave-induced currents were developed along the beach by the incident wave direction. After the beach nourishment, the maximum current speed increased slightly around the surf zone in the central area of the beach, and the littoral current speed decreased at the submerged breakwaters located at Dongbaek Island. As a result, after the beach nourishment, the maximum wave-induced currents increased about 10% in the surf zone of the central area of the beach.


BACKGROUND
Dental implant placement requires precise planning with regard to anatomic limitations and restorative goals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the match between the positions and axes of the planned and placed implants using stereolithographic (SLA) surgical guides.

METHODS
Ninety-four implants were placed using SLA surgical guides generated from computed tomography (CT) between 2005 and 2006. Radiographic templates were used for all subjects during CT imaging. After obtaining three-dimensional CT images, each implant was virtually placed on the CT images. SLA surgical guides, fabricated using an SLA machine with a laser beam to polymerize the liquid photo-polymerized resin, were used during implant placement. A new CT scan was taken for each subject following implant placement. Special software was used to fuse the images of the planned and placed implants, and the locations and axes were compared.

RESULTS
Compared to the planned implants, the placed implants showed angular deviation of 4.9 degrees+/-2.36 degrees, whereas the mean linear deviation was 1.22+/-0.85 mm at the implant neck and 1.51+/-1 mm at the implant apex. Compared to the implant planning, the angular deviation and linear deviation at the neck and apex of the placed maxillary implants were 5.31 degrees+/-0.36 degrees, 1.04+/-0.56 mm, and 1.57+/-0.97 mm, respectively, whereas corresponding figures for placed mandibular implants were 4.44 degrees+/-0.31 degrees, 1.42+/-1.05 mm, and 1.44+/-1.03 mm, respectively.

CONCLUSION
SLA surgical guides using CT data may be reliable in implant placement and make flapless implant placement possible.


Spacetimes are given which describe the snapping of cosmic strings. A string pair exists in an initially static or black-hole universe. Once snapped, each end recoils at the speed of light, swallowing the string in its path. Gravitational shock waves emanate from the moment of snapping. When the radiation has receded, compactified flat space remains. The creation of such strings by the time-reversed process is almost impossible.


A smart multi-pipette for hand-held operation of microfluidic devices is presented and applied to cytotoxicity assays and micro-droplet generation. This method enables a continuous-flow and accurate pumping simply by pushing the plunger of the smart multi-pipette, thereby obviating the need for auxiliary equipment and special expertise in microfluidics. We applied the smart multi-pipette to a cytotoxicity assay using a gradient-generating device and water droplet generation using a T-junction device. In combination with general microfluidic devices, the smart multi-pipette enables the devices to successfully perform their own functions.


Body image disorders are closely associated with eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and intentions. In foreign science and practice, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS) by M. Thompson and J. Gray is widely used for diagnosing body image disorders. The purpose of the present study was to adapt the CDRS on a population sample of Russian-speaking respondents. Five hundred and sixty respondents completed the Russian-language versions of the CDRS, Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). To assess the convergent and concurrent validity of the Russian CDRS, the r-Pearson correlation coefficient was used. Sex and age differences in body image were examined using the Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that real and ideal body images according to the CDRS correlated statistically significantly with the EDI and DASS-21 scores, as well as reported weight and BMI. These findings proved the convergent and concurrent validity of the adapted instrument. Females and older respondents reported a greater discrepancy between real and ideal body images than did males and younger respondents. In conclusion, the Russian CDRS showed convergent and concurrent validity.


The IEC 61346 standard establishes general principles for structuring the information of technical systems. This paper discusses the ideas shown in the Standard emphasizing the fact that some parts of it are ambiguous and can lead to different interpretations of the basic concepts. Consequently, we derive a concrete interpretation of the standard that tries to remove the ambiguities. By removing ambiguities the Standard can be used as the basis for developing an industrial Software platform. Automation applications built on the platform benefit from a consistent data model, which can be used to query the application and exchange data with other applications.


Nicholas Rivera, Jamison Sloan, Ido Kaminer, and Marin Soljačić Department of Physics, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel. Abstract Light and matter can now interact in a regime where their coupling is stronger than their bare energies. This deep-strong coupling (DSC) regime of quantum electrodynamics promises to challenge many conventional assumptions about the physics of light and matter. Here, we show how light and matter interactions in this regime give rise to electromagnetic nonlinearities dramatically different from those of naturally existing materials. Excitations in the DSC regime act as photons with a linear energy spectrum up to a critical excitation number, after which, the system suddenly becomes strongly anharmonic, thus acting as an effective intensity-dependent nonlinearity of an extremely high order. We show that this behavior allows for N-photon blockade (with N 1), enabling qualitatively new kinds of quantum light sources. For example, this nonlinearity forms the basis for a new type of gain medium, which when integrated into a laser or maser, produces large Fock states (rather than coherent states). Such Fock states could in principle have photon numbers orders of magnitude larger than any realized previously, and would be protected from dissipation by a new type of equilibrium between nonlinear gain and linear loss. We discuss paths to experimental realization of the effects described here.


This paper proposes a control strategy for Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECSs) aiming in both maximum power harvesting from the wind turbine and minimum power loss of the electrical generator. Thus, maximum efficiency along the whole wind energy conversion process is achieved and additionally expansion of the exploitable wind speed region towards the lower-speed range is accomplished. A squirrel cage induction generator connected to the power grid by means of two back-to-back converters is used. Field oriented control is applied and a system of two Search Controllers (SCs) is introduced for the control of the d- and q-axis stator current components of the generator. The maximum power at the wind turbine is achieved through the one SC by adjusting the q-axis current and through this, the generator speed. Another SC is introduced in order to maximize the efficiency of the electrical generator by controlling its flux-linkage. The dynamic performance of the system is improved by introducing control loops that compensate the delayed response of the flux-linkage to the d-axis current component and provide improved torque control operation. Several experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and operational improvements of the proposed control system.


Background: As the Covid-19 pandemic increased exponentially across the globe, it has threatened the human lives and uprooted the economy of various cities and nations, besides having a major impact on the environment. In a matter of a few months, the world has transformed its way of living. The global disruption caused by the Covid-19 has brought about several effects on the environment and climate. Hence, a scientometric study of the India's publications in impact of Covid-19 on environment has been conducted to identify the emerging research trends in this field. Methods: The study downloaded India's publications on this topic from the Scopus database using a well-defined research strategy, which was based on using all keywords related to Covid-19 in "Keyword" and "Title" search tags of Scopus database. The search was subsequently restricted to "Environmental Sciences" subject, and limited to "India" yielding 805 records. Results: The 805 Indian publications were published on `Covid-19 and Environmental Sciences" as searched in Scopus database and these have received 8275 citations, averaging 10.28 citations per paper. The 30.19% and 36.64% share of India's publications received external funding support and involve international collaboration. Among India's foreign collaborating partner countries, USA contributed the largest share (27.80%), followed by U.K. (21.02%), China and Saudi Arabia (14.24% each) and Australia (13.9%). Among 380 participating organizations, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, New Delhi contributed the largest number of papers (31, 26 and 26 papers) and Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi (47.5 and 4.68), Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences (28.29 and 2.79) and Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (19.75 and 1.95) registered the largest citation impact. Among 945 participating authors, M. Kumar, S. Gautam and R. Kumar contributed the largest number of papers (25, 13 and 10 papers) and A. Narayanasamy (61.17 and 6.03), S. Gautam. (30.46 and 3.0) and M. Joshi (27.29 and 2.69) registered the largest citation impact. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Science of the Total Environment and Environmental Science and Pollution Research contributed the largest number of papers (76, 60 and 45 papers) and Environmental Pollution (12.0), Aerosol and Air Quality Research (11.12), Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (10.50) registered the largest citation impact of paper. The most significant keywords associated with "Covid-19 and Environmental Science" along with their frequency are: Air Quality (124), Air Pollution (96), Particulate Matter (91), Atmospheric Pollution (65), Environmental Monitoring (52), etc. Conclusion: The results of the present study are focused on evaluation of the India's contribution, focusing on both national and international issues using quantitative and qualitative methods. Such a study has allowed us to visualize the research trends that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic and will facilitate the researchers to identify significant hotspots and latest trends in the field.


An interferometric CT technique is applied to observe a 3-D flow field induced by shock waves. A small duct model with a pair of circular ducts is introduced in the test section of shock tube. In our previous study, 3-D density distribution is reconstructed from projection data by FBP (Filtered Back Projection) method. To improve the precision of reconstructed image, MLEM (Maximum Likelihood Estimation Maximum) and ART algorithm are newly applied to our 3-D interferometric CT measurement of unsteady density field. The noise in the reconstructed image is reduced by MLEM and ART algorithm.


The world has faced a quite serious problem, namely decreasing environmental quality. As data released by UNEP in 2011 and 2012, that some indicators of the environmental quality are getting worse as occurs in Indonesia. Indonesia has the second highest biodiversity in the world after Brazil, but before that diversity has been successfully learned and utilized, nature is already damaged. It is marked by the loss of natural forest, coral reef damage, and so on. If there is not immediately respond, the environment will not able to support human life in a sustainable manner. Therefore, inculcation is important as the value to students who will use nature as the next generation. Planting can be realized through education, it is known the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). One kind of learning is biology which has the same material curriculum and will be integrated with Islamic material. The author hopes that in the next will be born the students who are able to support the sustainability of development. Both because of scientific awareness of science taught through biology or awareness of God's command taught through his fusion with religion. This paper used an explorative writing that is qualitative-descriptive and pure research. The results concluded that the learning of integration-interconnection of Islam and science in biology learning can help the success of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).