Globalisation, economic forces and technological advancements are changing the way law is practised. Clients are seeking innovative solutions to an increasingly broad range of legal challenges. They want greater connectivity and streamlined delivery of legal services. The rate of change has accelerated in response to remote working, with the digital maturity of legal firms advancing more rapidly than ever before, utilising technology such as electronic billing practices, digital mailrooms, e- discovery, digital document signing and workflow automation.
Newly developed and deployed legal technology within the sector has increased demand for lawyers with the skills to adapt and thrive in a technological environment. Law firms favour graduates with a 'technology mindset' and aptitude to think beyond the traditional professional services model. The Monash University Faculty of Law, one of the leading law schools in Australia with a pioneering clinical program, has established a Law Tech Clinic (LTC). The LTC provides a unique opportunity for students to work on real client matters and receive end-to-end industry input to develop client-ready applications.
This paper describes the LTC's structure and how the clinic is designed to educate students on the changing demands of the legal industry, providing practical knowledge on legal technology usage to advance legal services. This paper outlines how the LTC enables students to develop professional and practical legal skills that will help them become successful entrepreneurial lawyers, adept at integrating technology with innovative legal services. Further, this paper demonstrates how the Monash Clinical Program, with a strong focus on best practice in clinical legal education, provides a perfect forum to run such a clinic. We demonstrate how students work with technological systems to assist industry partners, law firms and other organisations and provide accessible legal services to their clients.2 Finally, this paper highlights how the LTC educates students on technological advances in legal practice, equipping them with frameworks for the knowledge, skills and attributes to be technologically proficient future legal practitioners. Although this discussion is in the Australian context, it can also apply to other jurisdictions as the associated issues with legal technology and its effects on legal practice are occurring globally.


The article is devoted to problems in interaction between steel surface actually stainless steel one and the melt of copper based alloys. Conditions of base material properties decreasing have been determined including well-known effect of brittleness under the melt action. Authors studied effect of penetration of copper along the borders of steel grains. Possibility of stainless steel brazing process by brass brazing alloys have been proved and realized.


Setting curve is a tool very used for energetic optimization of pumping water supply systems. In this research we analyze other applications such as skeletonization, sectorization, determining  network capacity and demand increase process, result of urban population growth in horizontal and/or vertical. We also study its characteristics caused by leaks, changes in minimum pressure and changes in roughness of network pipes. Based on these properties and potential applications, setting curve becomes a very useful tool for planning, design, management and maintenance of water supply networks.


The article deals with the development in Russian-Estonian relations during the crises of 2007 and 2014, taking into consideration the balance between political and economic factors in the decision-making by Estonian government. A number of special aspects, trends and problems in trade and investment ties are detected. The aim of the study is to uncover key motivation behind the actions of both Russia and Estonia, to identify the drivers for economic and political development in the region, and to work out recommendations to adjust them. The questions put forward by the authors of this article could not be more topical at the time, when Russian economic situation is obviously getting worse and capital flight (to the neighboring EU Member States) is likely to increase. The method of the study is comparative analysis of the impact on economic ties made by Russian-Estonian crisis of 2007 and the current international tension around Ukraine. The regional fossil fuel market and the possibilities of Gazprom involvement in its development are also analyzed. It is concluded that political motives are still important for Estonian decision-making, though they are balanced out by measures of business support (despite some of these measures being taken by the EU bodies). The role of political factor for the Russian side is increasing. It is acknowledged that there is a growing number of missed economic opportunities in the Russian Northwest.


The IgG fraction of equine antithymocyte globulin administered by the intravenous and intramuscular route to two patients with severe thermal injury was associated with survival of the skin allografts to 19 and 42 days. In the second patient the IgG fraction was discontinued 28 days after skin grafting and rejection occurred 14 days later while the patient was receiving azathioprine and 1% topical hydrocortisone cream to the skin allografts. Although no comparison can be made between the immunosuppressive properties of antithymocyte globulin, azathioprine and topical steroids, skin allograft survival was prolonged temporarily until autograft skin from previous donor sites could be obtained. The use of skin allografts protected by immunosuppressive therapy in patients with severe thermal injury deserves further consideration.


We propose a deep learning strategy to compute the mean curvature of an implicit level-set representation of an interface. Our approach is based on fitting neural networks to synthetic datasets of pairs of nodal $\phi$ values and curvatures obtained from circular interfaces immersed in different uniform resolutions. These neural networks are multilayer perceptrons that ingest sample level-set values of grid points along a free boundary and output the dimensionless curvature at the center vertices of each sampled neighborhood. Evaluations with irregular (smooth and sharp) interfaces, in both uniform and adaptive meshes, show that our deep learning approach is systematically superior to conventional numerical approximation in the $L^2$ and $L^\infty$ norms. Our methodology is also less sensitive to steep curvatures and approximates them well with samples collected with fewer iterations of the reinitialization equation, often needed to regularize the underlying implicit function. Additionally, we show that an application-dependent map of local resolutions to neural networks can be constructed and employed to estimate interface curvatures more efficiently than using typically expensive numerical schemes while still attaining comparable or higher precision.


The tomato is considered the second vegetable of economic importance in Brazil and for the success of its cultivation, depends to a large extenton the use of quality seedlings, since a well formed seedling will give rise to a plant with high productive potential. Adequate water availability is important to produce good seedlings, but failing that, commercial polymers inserted into the substrate can be used. The objective of this work was to study the effects on the development of cherry tomatoes in different doses of polymers applied to the substrate and different levels of irrigation until the transplant phase using fuzzy modeling. For this study, we used data from an experiment conducted at the Faculty of Technology of Presidente Prudente.The input variables of the developed system based on fuzzy rules were Polymer and Irrigation, and for both were defined 5 fuzzy sets. The output variables wereshoot length (CPA), root length (CR) and seedling dry mass (MSM). For the SBRF output variables, 5 fuzzy sets were also defined. The analysis of the effects of polymer doses and irrigation levels on tomato seedlings was performed using three -dimensionalgraphs and contour maps of the output variables. This analysis allowed us to conclude that, for irrigation levels below the maximum (daily irrigation), the use of 2 grams of polymers refers to the best conditions of the variables shoot length, root lengthand dry mass of the seedling.


A new genus and three new species of the microchiropteran family Mystacinidae are described from Miocene freshwater limestones in northern Australia. The type species, Icarops breviceps new genus and species, is from the middle Miocene Bullock Creek deposit, Northern Territory; I. aenae new species and I. paradox new species are from the slightly older (early Miocene) Wayne's Wok and Neville's Garden Sites at Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. Fossil mystacinids are rare in each deposit and represented so far only by lower teeth and dentary fragments. They are characterized by a suite of apomorphies shared only with Quaternary mystacinids endemic to New Zealand. The family Mystacinidae has no pre-Pleistocene record and its relationships to other groups of bats remain unclear. Possible sister-groups include South American noctilionoids and the cosmopolitan molossoids and/or vespertilionoids. The presence of plesiomorphic mystacinids in the Australian Tertiary suggests an Australian origin for the family.


For the first time working MEMS resonators have been produced using low-temperature deposited (550degC) ultrananocrystallinetrade diamond (UNCDtrade) films. Using a lumped-element model to fit experimental data, UNCD materials properties such as a Young's modulus of 710 GPa and an acoustic velocity of 14,243 m/s have been deduced. This is the highest acoustic velocity measured to date for a diamond MEMS structural layer deposited at low temperatures. A 10 MHz resonator shows a DC-tunability of the resonance frequency of 15% between 15 and 25 V and the breakdown voltage behavior shows electrostatic breakdown rather than electro-mechanical pull-down for higher frequency devices. Good resonant frequency reproducibility is observed when cycling the resonators over bias voltages from 15 to 25 V and over RF power levels of -10 to 10 dBm


Kawasaki disease (KD) is a common childhood systemic vasculitis with a special predilection for coronary arteries. Even after more than five decades of the initial description of the disease, the etiology of KD remains an enigma. This transcriptome data re-analysis study aimed to elucidate the underlying pathogenesis of KD using a bioinformatic approach to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to delineate common pathways involved in KD. Array datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were extracted and subjected to comparative meta-analysis for the identification of prominent DEGs. Fifteen hub genes with high connectivity were selected from these DEGs (IL1B, ITGAM, TLR2, CXCL8, SPI1, S100A12, MMP9, PRF1, TLR8, TREM1, CD44, UBB, FCER1G, IL7R, and FCGR1A). Of these 15 genes, five genes (CXCL8, FCGR1A, IL1B, TLR2, and TLR8) were found to be involved in neutrophil degranulation. To gain further insight into the molecular mechanism, a protein–protein network was established. Significantly enriched pathways based on the above-mentioned genes were mainly centered on biological regulation and signaling events. In addition, the pathway analysis also indicated that the majority of the DEGs in KD were enriched in systemic lupus erythematosus, suggesting a strong interplay between immunological and genetic factors in the pathogenesis of KD. These findings could significantly aid in identifying therapeutic targets and understanding KD biosignatures to design a biomarker panel for early diagnosis and severity of the disease.


Only some individuals with obesity develop liver fibrosis due to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD-fibrosis). We determined whether detailed assessment of lifestyle factors in addition to physical, biochemical and genetic factors helps in identification of these patients. A total of 100 patients with obesity (mean BMI 40.0 ± 0.6 kg/m2) referred for bariatric surgery at the Helsinki University Hospital underwent a liver biopsy to evaluate liver histology. Physical activity was determined by accelerometer recordings and by the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire, diet by the FINRISK Food Frequency Questionnaire, and other lifestyle factors, such as sleep patterns and smoking, by face-to-face interviews. Physical and biochemical parameters and genetic risk score (GRS based on variants in PNPLA3, TM6SF2, MBOAT7 and HSD17B13) were measured. Of all participants 49% had NAFLD-fibrosis. Independent predictors of NAFLD-fibrosis were low moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, high red meat intake, low carbohydrate intake, smoking, HbA1c, triglycerides and GRS. A model including these factors (areas under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) 0.90 (95% CI 0.84–0.96)) identified NAFLD-fibrosis significantly more accurately than a model including all but lifestyle factors (AUROC 0.82 (95% CI 0.73–0.91)) or models including lifestyle, physical and biochemical, or genetic factors alone. Assessment of lifestyle parameters in addition to physical, biochemical and genetic factors helps to identify obese patients with NAFLD-fibrosis.


Eight pigeons responded under a concurrent-chain schedule for rewards differing in both delay and amount, the larger reward being associated with the longer delay. Preference was examined as the absolute durations of the terminal-link delays were increased at four different delay ratios. Difficulties with other experiments of this type were controlled for by the use of (a) a single-tape initial link to equalize terminal-link entries, (b) a blackout following the more immediate reward to equalize terminal-link length, and (c) a photocell to measure reinforcer duration more accurately. Preference for the larger reward changed systematically as delays increased in all conditions, decreasing for the 6:1, 3:1, and 3:2 ratios, and increasing for the 1:1 ratio. These results were similar to, but significantly different from, those of previous investigations. The implications of these results for various models of concurrent-chain behavior are discussed.


This paper presents a cost effective fine-pitch flip chip solution to meet the increasing demand for the high performance small form factor packages. Tape Automated Bonding (TAB)-BGA package utilizes thermo-compression to bond a flip chip onto a film based substrate instead of reflow soldering. This approach allows for fine-pitch connection that can save significant substrate area, which can be especially cost effective for some package designs that can reduce the conductive layer count from 2 to 1 [1]. For second level interconnects, typical BGA approach was taken for easy adoption. Successfully implementing TAB-BGA has several technical challenges. Applying underfill under the fine-pitch flip chip without creating voids can be difficult. One way to overcome this challenge is by using no filler underfill and overmold type flip chip; however, that can potentially lead to high water absorption rate and delamination issues. Furthermore, board level reliability, especially temperature cycle, can have high failure rate for this type of single layer package structure [2]. To overcome these challenges, flexible PI film based substrate has been used to reduce the residual stress within the package. In addition, Epoxy Molding Compound (EMC) with low modulus at high temperature and solder resist stress buffer layer have been applied to improve the package and board level reliability.


Studies of sulfide vein mineralization at Point Delgada, California, suggest that the mineralizing process was intimately associated with the San Andreas fault system and/or plate-margin tectonism. The deposits occur along north-south to northeast-southwest-trending tension faults that intersect and cross a major northwest-trending fault previously considered to be a major trace of the San Andreas fault. Galena and sphalerite are concentrated near the intersection of the principal mineralized vein with the fault, suggesting that brecciated rocks at this intersection acted as a major conduit for hydrothermal circulation.Fluid inclusion data show that the sulfide mineralization occurred at a depth of at least 400 m, probably at a temperature of about 250 degrees C. Mineralization fluids were in the salinity range of 10.5 to 5.2 equivalent weight percent NaCl. Sodium and potassium were depleted from the mineralizing fluids in the early stages of mineralization, and traces of argentian tetrahedrite and cassiterite in the fluid inclusions probably account for some of the anomalous values of silver and tin in galena and sphalerite.The age of mineralization, based on K-Ar dating of adularia, is 13.8 + or - 0.4 m.y. This age suggests that the purported trace of the San Andreas fault crossed by the sulfide veins has been largely inactive since middle Miocene time.Lead isotope and geochemical data suggest that base and precious metals in the sulfide veins were derived largely from arc-related sedimentary rocks. The heat source for hydrothermal circulation may have been associated with intrusion of asthenosphere into a triangular slab window opened southeast of the northward-propagating Mendocino triple junction shortly before 13.8 m.y. ago.


THE AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY has been frequently categorized as a cyclical industry, and the question of earning power under recession conditions has been frequently raised. Clearly, there is a relationship, however vague and difused, between air travel and general economic activity, although thus far attempts to nail down useful correlations between airline volume or revenues and major indicators have yielded scant result. These notes are predicated on the bland assumption that a slowing of business will be eventually reflected in some slowing of traffic gains and that a sufficiently steep or long recession might be reflected in an absolute, albeit temporary decline in traffic volume or revenues. We shall not attempt to define the adverbs "eventually" or "sufficiently" or to pinpoint the impact of a still hypothetical recession upon air travel. We have posed, instead, the more manageable question, "What traffic increase would be required under present and foreseeable conditions to maintain operating profits at the level of the previous non-recession year?". These comments are directed primarily to the domestic trunk carriers but may be applicable in part to the local service and international carriers; naturally these general notes obscure important differences between the eleven domestic trunk carriers.


ABSTRACT Fish cell lines are widely used for the studies of developmental biology, virology, biology of aging, and nutrition physiology. However, little is known about their physicochemical properties. Here, we report the phospholipid compositions and mechanical properties of cell membranes derived from freshwater, anadromous and marine fish species. Biophysical analyses revealed that fish cell lines have highly deformable cell membranes with significantly low membrane tensions and Young's moduli compared with those of mammalian cell lines. The induction of cellular senescence by DNA demethylation using 5-Aza-2ʹ-deoxycytidine significantly reduced the deformability of fish cell membrane, but hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress did not affect the deformability. Mass spectrometry analysis of phospholipids revealed that the level of phosphatidylethanolamine molecules containing polyunsaturated fatty acids significantly increased during the 5-Aza-2ʹ-deoxycytidine-induced cellular senescence. Fish cell lines provide a useful model system for studying the changes in the physicochemical properties of cell membranes during cellular senescence. Abbreviations: 2D-TLC: two-dimensional thin layer chromatography; 5-Aza-dC: 5-Aza-2ʹ-deoxycytidine; DHA: docosahexaenoic acid; EPA: eicosapentaenoic acid; FBS: fetal bovine serum; PC: phosphatidylcholine; PE: phosphatidylethanolamine; PI: phosphatidylinositol; PS: phosphatidylserine; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acid; SA-β-gal: senescence-associated beta-galactosidase; SM: sphingomyelin Graphic abstract Fish cells have highly deformable cell membranes and induction of cellular senescence significantly affected the deformability and phospholipid species of the membrane.


Asymmetric syntheses of the enantiomers of the naturally occurring
atropisomerically chiral 1,2′-linked bi(naphthoquinone)s
8′-hydroxyisodiospyrin and isodiospyrin have allowed their absolute
configurations to be assigned by X-ray and circular dichroism spectral
studies of synthetic intermediates.


We present a novel method, based on encoder mapping OCT imaging, for real-time guidance of core biopsy procedures. This method provides real-time feedback to the interventional radiologist, such that he/she can reorient the needle during the biopsy and sample the most representative area of the suspicious mass that is being investigated. This aspect is very important for tailoring therapy to the specific cancer based on biomarker analysis, which will become one of the next big advances in our search for the optimal cancer therapy. To enable individualized treatment, the genetic constitution and the DNA repair status in the affected areas is needed for each patient. Thus, representative sampling of the tumor is needed for analyzing various biomarkers, which are used as a tool to personalize cancer therapy. The encoder-based OCT enables samping of large size masses and provides full control on the imaging probe, which is passed through the bore of the biopsy guidance needle. The OCT image is built gradually, based on the feedback of an optical encoder which senses the incremental movement of the needle with a few microns resolution. Tissue mapping is independent of the needle speed, while it is advanced through the tissue. The OCT frame is analyzed in real-time and tissue cellularity is reported in a very simple manner (pie chart). Our preliminary study on a rabbit model of cancer has demonstrated the capability of this technology for accurately differentiating between viable cancer and heterogeneous or necrotic tissue.


ABSTRACT
Dwi, Septiyanti Cahyani. 2016. "The Interpretation of Methaphor Symbolys Based on the Language Code on Fujita Maiko's Song Lyrics in Love Story Best: Hiiro No Kakera Album". Thesis. Department of Japanese Studies Faculty of Humanities. Diponegoro University. The Advisor Nur Hastuti, S.S., M.Hum.o
 Song lyric is a literature work that ret'presents the poet's idea/ thought/ feeling. The investigated issues.
 The investigated issues in this research are the meaning of metaphor symbols based on the language code on Fujita Maiko's Song Lyrics in Love StoryBest: Hiiro No Kakera 「緋色の欠片」 album and how the sadness that was felt by Fujita Maiko towards the song lyrics that was created in the album.
 Providing data method with Library Research was used in this research. In the other hand, semiotic method (signifier and signified) was used to analyze the data. The song lyrics that were sang by Fujita Maiko as data for this research were taken from the internet were taken from Love Story Best: Hiiro No Kakera album.
 The result of the research showed that 9 private symbol metaphor, 8 blank symbol metaphor, 6 air phenomena natural symbol metaphor, 2 plant's life phenomena natural symbol metaphor, and 1 animal's life phenomena natural symbol metaphor.
Key words: song lyrics, semiotic, metaphor, language code.


Coastal and marine ecosystems provide a host of services that are of vital importance to human well-being. We estimate the values of several provisioning, regulating, and recreational services using a combination of valuation methods. We find that the total value of these services in India was approximately ₹1.9 trillion (or US$0.11 trillion in purchase price parity [PPP] terms) in 2012–13, which constitutes about 2.4% of India's net national product that year. Recreational services account for the largest share (45%), followed by regulating services (35%) and provisioning services (20%). These estimates do not include all the services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems; therefore, our estimates should be treated as a conservative underestimate of their total economic value. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such attempt at the national level in India.


Clathrin mediated endocytosis (CME) in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe critically depends on the connection between the lipid membrane and F-actin. The fission yeast endocytic protein End4 (homologous to Sla2 in budding yeast and HIP1R in human) contains a N-terminal domain that binds to PIP2 on the membrane, and a C-terminal THATCH domain that is postulated to be a binding partner of F-actin in vivo. Purified THATCH domain of the budding yeast Sla2, however, shows low affinity to F-actin in vitro. We tested if isolated THATCH domain still has low affinity to F-actin in vivo, using TEV protease (TEVp)-mediated protein cleaving to separate the THATCH domain from the rest of End4. Our results indicate that the isolated THATCH domain of End4 is unable to bind F-actin independently in vivo, consistent with the low affinity of the THATCH domain to F-actin measured from in vitro binding assays.


The prospects for the success of malaria control depend, in part, on the basic reproductive number for malaria, R 0. Here, we estimate R 0 in a novel way for 121 African populations, and thereby increase the number of R 0 estimates for malaria by an order of magnitude. The estimates range from around one to more than 3,000. We also consider malaria transmission and control in finite human populations, of size H. We show that classic formulas approximate the expected number of mosquitoes that could trace infection back to one mosquito after one parasite generation, Z 0(H), but they overestimate the expected number of infected humans per infected human, R 0(H). Heterogeneous biting increases R 0 and, as we show, Z 0(H), but we also show that it sometimes reduces R 0(H); those who are bitten most both infect many vectors and absorb infectious bites. The large range of R 0 estimates strongly supports the long-held notion that malaria control presents variable challenges across its transmission spectrum. In populations where R 0 is highest, malaria control will require multiple, integrated methods that target those who are bitten most. Therefore, strategic planning for malaria control should consider R 0, the spatial scale of transmission, human population density, and heterogeneous biting.


The authors question the clinical status of factitious disorder with psychological symptoms as a mental disorder. In particular, they argue that unresolved issues regarding the motivational basis of this disorder and the lack of clearly delineated inclusion, exclusion, and outcome criteria seriously compromise its diagnostic legitimacy. Two case reports are presented to illustrate these difficulties. Future studies should consider these empirical and conceptual difficulties in refining the diagnosis of factitious disorder with psychological symptoms for DSM-IV.


Michaelides, MA, Parpa, KM, Henry, LJ, Thompson, GB, and Brown, BS. Assessment of physical fitness aspects and their relationship to firefighters' job abilities. J Strength Cond Res 25(4): 956-965, 2011-The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between various fitness parameters and firefighting performance on an "Ability Test" (AT) that included a set of 6 simulated firefighting tasks. The relationships between each fitness parameter and each task of the AT were determined. Ninety firefighters participated in this study (age 33 ± 7 years). The AT completion time was associated with abdominal strength (r = −0.53, p < 0.01), relative power (r = −0.44, p < 0.01), upper-body muscular endurance (push-ups, r = −0.27, p < 0.05) (sit-ups, r = −0.41, p < 0.01), and upper-body strength (1 repetition maximum bench press, r = −0.41, p < 0.01). In addition, poor performance on the AT was associated with high resting heart rate (r = 0.36, p < 0.01), high body mass index (r = 0.34, p < 0.01), high body fat (BF)% (r = 0.57, p < 0.01), increasing age (r = 0.42, p < 0.01), and large waist size (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analyses indicated that a significant (F[5, 53] = 14.02, p < 0.01) proportion (60%) of the variation observed in the AT was explained by the variation of the fitness parameters used in the model. This study demonstrated that fitness variables, such as abdominal strength, power (step test), push-ups, resting Hr, and BF%, contributed significantly to the predictive power of firefighters' AT performance. The findings of this study may be useful to fire department instructors and trainers in the design and implementation of training programs that are more specifically tailored to improving both individual firefighting skills and general fire suppression performance.


At the first international congress on paediatric nursing, hosted by The International Paediatric Association (IPA) as part of their 1998 congress meeting in Amsterdam, the nurses there launched the International Association of Paediatric Nurses (IAPN). The Dutch Association of Pediatric Nurses, with the support of the International Pediatric Association (IPA), was highly instrumental in developing the IAPN and subsequently the Paediatric Nursing Association of Europe, which was established in April 2003 as a regional group of the IAPN to encourage collaboration between professional organizations for nurses caring for children and young people in Europe. Prime movers in these initiatives have been JCYPN board members Corry van den Hoed-Heerschop, from the Dutch Association of Paediatric Nursing, and Dr Imelda Coyne, newly appointed associate professor and director of children's nursing research at Trinity College Dublin. This is highly significant, not only because it demonstrates the growing maturity of a profession dedicated to the care of sick children everywhere, but also because of these individuals' willingness to actively collaborate with other professionals in the pursuit of this goal.


There is an achievement gap between children from poor family backgrounds and others; this is not unique to the UK, but found in all other countries of the OECD. This article examines the reasons why children from poorer backgrounds do not, on average, do as well academically at school as those from more advantaged backgrounds. It argues that the family, income and material resources are highly significant, although schools also play an important role. Possible implications for policy are discussed together with associated tensions.


The increase of connections between national economies generated an enhance of foreign currency activities, thus being necessary a continous arrangement /adaptation both for foreign currency policy and course policy to market mechanisms/devices. In Romania were registered frequently modifications of foreign currency policy, thank to the need to create a legal frame appropriate to the market economy and the financial tools evolution. In this work I have presented the main features of foreign currency regime and the course policy registered after 1990. Too, it is illustrate the co-ordinates for an optimum foreign currency policy strategy of Romania in the modern economical conditions.


The meconium disease represents a problem of great impact over the vital prognosis of the newborn, the mortality of this disease being rated in various studies between 30 and 50%. The meconial disease that reunites the meconial ileus and the meconial peritonitis is often associated with cystic fibrosis a disease of general impact over the entire organism increasing the gravity and influencing the vital prognosis of these patients. The authors' purpose is to evaluate the results obtained after the treatment of the meconial disease in the Pediatric Surgery Clinic of the Emergency Hospital of Craiova over a period of 10 years. The study has been made on a number of 16 cases of meconial ileus, plug and peritonitis analising the difficulty of the diagnostic process, the preoperative care as well as the possibilities of surgical treatment. The surgical treatment is composed of multiple procedures including simple suture of the bowel defect and segmentary bowel resections with primary anastomosis and/or secondary anastomosis after ileostoma. The mortality on the studied cases was of 37.5% despite recent progresses achieved in postoperative care of these type of patients.


Lysine succinylation is an extremely important protein post-translational modification that plays a fundamental role in regulating various biological reactions, and dysfunction of this process is associated with a number of diseases. Thus, determining which Lys residues in an uncharacterized protein sequence are succinylated underpins both basic research and drug development endeavors. To solve this problem, we have developed a predictor called pSuc-PseRat. The features of the pSuc-PseRat predictor are derived from two aspects: (1) the binary encoding from succinylated sites and non-succinylated sites; (2) the sequence-coupling effects between succinylated sites and non-succinylated sites. Eleven gradient boosting machine classifiers were trained with these features to build the predictor. The pSuc-PseRat predictor achieved an average ACU (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) score of 0.805 in the fivefold cross-validation set and performed better than existing predictors on two comprehensive independent test sets. A freely available web server has been developed for pSuc-PseRat.


Fusobacterium nucleatum is a Gram-negative anaerobe associated with various human infections, including periodontal diseases and preterm birth. A novel FadA adhesin was recently identified for host-cell binding. It consists of 129 amino acid residues, with an 18-amino acid signal peptide. Expression of FadA in Escherichia coli enhanced bacterial binding to host epithelial and endothelial cells. In both E. coli and F. nucleatum, FadA exists in two forms, the intact pre-FadA and the secreted mature FadA (mFadA), with pre-FadA anchored in the inner membrane and mFadA secreted outside the bacteria. Pre-FadA and mFadA formed high Mr complexes. When each form was purified to a single species, mFadA was soluble at neutral pH, whereas pre-FadA was insoluble. Pre-FadA became soluble when mixed with mFadA or under acidic pH. When fluorescence-labeled mFadA alone was added to the epithelial cells, no binding was detected. However, when mixed with nonlabeled pre-FadA, binding and invasion of mFadA into epithelial cells was observed. FadA is a unique bacterial adhesin/invasin in that it utilizes its own two forms for both structural and functional purposes. The pre-FadA-mFadA complex is probably anchored in the inner membrane and protrudes through the outer membrane. Internalization of the pre-FadA-mFadA ensures invasion of the bacteria into the host cells.


The authors report the presence of high titer antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD65) until age 24 months in two asymptomatic newborns of a woman with stiff-person syndrome (SPS). No signs of SPS were detectable in the two children at ages 6 and 8 years. This observation indicates that other cofactors are involved in the pathogenesis of SPS.


Abstract Few attempts have been made to estimate numbers and densities of Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus). It is understandable that the many challenges involved in these efforts have made it difficult to produce rigorous estimates. A crude estimate of ∼20,000 Andean bears was derived by extrapolating the lowest observed density of American black bears (Ursus americanus) across the range of Andean bears. A second estimate, based on rangewide genetic diversity, produced a wide range of values; however, the low end of the confidence interval roughly matched the population estimate based on minimum black bear density. A mark–recapture analysis of 3 camera-trapped bears in Bolivia also yielded a similar density (4.4–6 bears/100 km2), but overlapping home ranges of 2 radiocollared bears at that same site suggested a higher density (≥12 bears/100 km2). Neither of these estimates can be considered reliable or representative of the wider population because of the small sample sizes. Moreover, the effective sampling area for the camera-trapping study was uncertain. A DNA hair-trapping mark–recapture study in Ecuador sampled a greater number of bears (n  =  25) within a larger study area, but a male-biased sex ratio suggested that closure was violated, precluding a simple estimate of density based on the area of the trapping grid. Also, low capture rates in what was perceived (from incidence of bear sign) as prime bear habitat might be indicative of a sampling bias. These issues are not simply incorporated into confidence intervals (CIs): CIs only include uncertainty due to sampling error, not biased sampling or an ambiguous sampling area. Whereas these (low density) estimates may provide guidance for conservation, their greatest usefulness may be in providing directions for improvement of future studies of Andean bears, as well as bears in Asia, which also lack rigorous population estimates.


This normative study presents a clinically applicable method with which to obtain Psychoacoustical Tuning Curves: data are obtained with clinical audiometers, and measurements are performed on normal-hearing non-trained volunteers. A simultaneous masking method with test frequency of 4,000 Hz was used, withmasking being incremented in 5 dB or 1 dB steps. One group of subjects was tested three times with 5 dB incrementing steps to evaluate the method's reproducibility. A second group of subjects was measured twice with 1 dB incrementing steps, to compare the reproducibility of the 1-dB step measurements, and the difference between the 1-dB step and 5-dB step measurements. All the data were evaluated as normative values. The method presented proves to have a good reproducibility. Although testing with 1-dB incrementing steps provides more accurate measurements and curves with steeper slopes, the 5-dB incrementing step method is more practicable. Interest variability evaluation indicates that differences between two measurements performed on the same person exceeding 120 Hz (2 SD) bandwidth can be interpreted as significant.


Aim. To describe intensive care managers' experiences of premises and resources of care in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background. Intensive care units (ICUs) were enormously pressured during the COVID-19 pandemic from many ill patients, requiring advanced care. Hospital and community volunteers increased staff strength. Obligatorily, recruitments were also conducted using transfer of staff from different hospital departments. However, there is little knowledge about intensive care managers' (ICMs) experiences of leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted from March to April 2022. Semistructured interviews were held with 12 ICMs who were purposively sampled from the ICU in ten Swedish hospitals. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results. Two themes emerged: a dramatic change of the intensive care landscape and we could handle more than we thought, but at a steep price. Participants described that the ICUs had to perform extraordinary changes at a very fast pace, which initially created a sense of cohesion. Training and introduction to war-like conditions associated with uncertainty meant that ICMs had to support ICU staff in prioritising interventions. Participants described how ICUs stood strong against a pandemic, but stress, worries, and anxiety took a heavy toll on ICU staff and ICMs. The pandemic eroded the resilience in ICUs. Participants described a deterioration in health and said that sick leaves and resignations occurred. Conclusion. Our findings show ICMs' experiences as a field of tension between resources and demands, whereby the changes created a heavy burden that left intensive care weakened. Implications for Nursing Management. Findings emphasised the importance of creating working conditions using human resources and materials in order to rebuild resilience in intensive care with the ability to conduct safe patient care.


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The voluntary hospitals were amongst the most original and enduring monuments of Georgian England. Financed on the seemingly flimsy basis of voluntary benefactions and annual subscriptions, they nevertheless flourished in the eighteenth century and subsequently became the leading medical institutions of the industrial age. By entitling even the small subscriber to recommend patients, they recruited substantial support amongst the large class of shopkeepers and traders; by weighting this power in proportion to the size of the contribution, they nevertheless preserved the pre-eminence of local magnates. By making subscription open to men and women of all confessions, they worked for the hegemony and unity of property against the threat of religious divisions; by enlisting subscribers as governors, they rewarded the act of giving with a share of power. Managed by honorary committees elected annually from the subscribers themselves, they enabled the shopkeeper to join the grandee in a common enterprise; by restricting committee membership to male subscribers, they kept within bounds the participation of 'the sex'. Through the annual publication of the financial accounts, the subscribers' names, and the numbers of patients `cured' and `relieved', they ensured probity of management, gave publicity to the subscribers great and small, and assured those subscribers that their money had been well spent. With their strong local roots, they promoted a sense of civic identity; by bringing together local medical men as honorary consultants, they helped to forge a professional medical community; by constructing a new context for medicine, they led to innovations in medical practice and teaching. And by making charity dependent upon the channel of personal recommendation, they exacted a political tribute from the sick poor who sought the benefit of their facilities. To each individual patient the hospitals made available a massive though brief donation of help in a time of need. To the poor collectively they offered a profound and highly visible subordination, translating the practice and rhetoric of personal dependence into an institutional setting).


As in the past decades the trend of ever growing demand for food remains to be the major challenges to world agriculture. The farmers to give up their traditional practices and local crops as well as limited adoption of new technologies had hampered the agricultural transformation in Africa including Ethiopia. As a result of slow adoption of new technologies and inputs of production, productivity of crops has been low for many decades. which in turn made citizens dependent on aid for many years. Therefore, promotion of rice in the country and assessment and expansion of improved package with appropriate extension method is required to alleviate food shortage problem of the area and to exploit the currently uncultivated flooded and swampy plains. This book therefore provides for policymakers, extension educators, technical assistants, agricultural researchers, NGOs and other development agents involved in agricultural development to know the contribution of rice for the efficient allocation of the country major resources for research, extension and development programs and to utilize swampy and flood prone potential areas of the country to alleviate food insecurity.


Discovery of personalized, which is also called as patient-specific, signaling mechanism is helpful for better understanding of cancer progress and optimal design of treatment strategy. However, this would require algorithms that are not restricted by grouped samples and that account for personalized signaling pathways of individuals. Here, we introduce such algorithms in an open-source software program that we called as Personalized Signaling Pathway Prediction (PSPP). In the PSPP, we developed a new network-based approach, PathCrawl, to address the personalized signaling pathway from a patient9s multi-dimensional genomic data, such as RNA gene expression, DNA methylation, DNA mutation, etc. The PathCrawl takes advantages of the Evolutionary Multiple-objective Optimization model to iteratively optimize molecules and signaling interactions in the candidate signaling network of a cancer, based on multiple-dimensional variations derived from the multi-dimensional genomic data of this patient. The PSPP employs a randomized process to evaluate the statistical significance of the identified signaling molecules and interactions. We applied the PSPP to study two glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients from TCGA, with identical physical conditions (male, white, and 65 years old), but different vital and tumor statuses. One patient (TCGA-19-2623) is alive and tumor-free after radiotherapy and one cycle chemotherapy with Temodar, whereas another patient (TCGA-06-2567) is dead with tumor after the same treatments. In order to involve the known GBM genes and associated signaling information into the candidate signaling network, we considered our previous published cancer signaling elements, cancer signaling bridges (CSBs) in this study. This network comprises 41 GBM proteins in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, 721 CSB proteins, 4,924 upstream signaling proteins, 3,723 protein complexes, and 22,056 signaling interactions. The genomic data from primary tumor include mRNA gene expression (AffymetrixU133A), DNA methylation (IlluminaMethylation27), and DNA copy number (AgilentCGH244A). The identified patient-specific signaling pathways are useful to explain why a patient is survived but another not. We found that the dead patient highly activated a calcium- and zinc-binding protein, S100AB (P The advantage of the PSPP is that the novel computational method is able to study the signaling mechanism from patient to patient. It will be also helpful to discover the signaling mechanisms associated with other clinical outcomes, such as drug resistance, tumor recurrence, and tumor phenotype. Citation Format: Guangxu Jin, Liang Liu, Ruisheng Wang, Keqin Liu, Kyle Mastsuo, Kun Wei, Xiaobo Zhou. Computational analysis of patient-to-patient signaling heterogeneity elucidates patient-specific clinical outcomes. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-304. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-304


A study was launched in 2005 to systematize and compare a series of ten contrasting past and on-going experiences in which research has been conducted with local actors (such as farmers and farmers' organizations, but also extension services, governments, private sector, etc.). The main objectives of this study are (i) to draw lessons in terms of research approaches, modalities, methods, tools, and results and (ii) to propose guidelines to improve the design and conduct of research projects focusing on the conception of innovations in partnership among multiple stakeholders. Cross-analysis of the case studies was pursued in three directions: (1) the balance reached between problem resolution, knowledge generation and empowerment of local actors, (2) the formalization of partnerships and (3) the modalities adopted for steering activities and for partnership governance. Assessing the distance between actual project practices followed in each experience, and what could be called an "ideal" action-research process, rigorously based on established A-R concepts, lies at the heart of this analysis. Preliminary results confirm that each experience is the result of an encounter among specific individuals, who purposefully broke away from paradigms reigning locally or institutionally for effecting change. It also shows that the research and innovation process is not a linear process with different well planned phases and cycles, but results from how projects deal with tensions between stakeholders and how they generate the adjustments necessary to achieve eventual success in problem-solving and generate knowledge. The diverse set-ups co-constructed among stakeholders are not only means to achieve common objectives, but they also embody high-stake challenges throughout the project life. To keep the spirit of the partnership, it may be useful to formalize mutual commitments: this helps to avoid the disruptive consequences of the corresponding power struggles, and eventually deliver useful outputs. Effective involvement of farmers' organizations in partnership with research is both critical yet difficult to achieve, because of the time needed to build trust, elaborate a common language and achieve needed commitments. It also requires professionals to develop new skills such as mediators. Finally, even projects that do not follow strictly the established principles of action research seem to achieve noteworthy results. These latter vary however greatly from one project to another in terms of knowledge production, learning process, and problem solving. (Resume d'auteur)


A rare case hyperlipoproteinemia in a 22-day-old infant who presented not only high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides but also an ocular manifestation described as lipemia retinalis. The fundus abnormality cleared as the lipid profile improved. Lipemia retinalis is an important and reliable parameter of high levels of chylomicrons and triglycerides and should be considered as a significant clue while diagnosing.


This article highlights the problem of the use of chemical preservatives in the food industry. The prospects of implementation natural substances with an antimicrobial effect for prolonging shelf life and improving the quality of food products are also discussed. Methods for isolating of antimicrobial substances from epithelial and mucous tissues of animal origin are proposed, taking into account the minimization of losses of their biological activity in accordance with the structure of protein-peptide molecules. Based on the results of the determination of antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using flow cytometry, stains Eva Green and PI, the most promising raw materials were determined and the feasibility of using weakly acid extraction followed by trypsinolysis for releasing antimicrobial substances from preprotein molecules and ultrafiltration for purification from high-molecular compounds were investigated.


This paper evaluates price linkages within the supply chain of rice markets in Cross River State using weekly prices in three urban markets located in major rice producing areas of the State. The Johansen cointegration test indicated one cointegrating vector both at the 1% and 5% level of significance. The results of the study indicate that the supply chain (farmgate-assembler-wholesaler-retailer) in Cross River is integrated. Though the price changes may vary in the short run between the different levels (farmgate-assembler-wholesaler-retailer), they were expected to move together as a system in the long run. The study recommends that facilitative policies that will enhance the provision of infrastructures such as good roads, market structures and efficient market information network systems should be formulated and implemented. Also, the government should provide price regulatory services to enhance market integration and reduce market exploitation by intermediaries especially in the short run. Keywords : Cointegration, supply chain, price linkages, rice markets Journal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR) Vol. 11, No. 1, 2011


A killer pellet is an impurity pellet that is injected into a tokamak plasma in order to terminate a discharge without causing serious damage to the tokamak machine. In JT-60U neon ice pellets have been injected into OH and NB heated plasmas and fast plasma shutdowns have been demonstrated without large vertical displacement. The heat pulse on the divertor plate has been greatly reduced by killer pellet injection (KPI), but a low-power heat flux tail with a long time duration is observed. The total energy on the divertor plate increases with longer heat flux tail, so it has been reduced by shortening the tail. Runaway electron (RE) generation has been observed just after KPI and/or in the later phase of the plasma current quench. However, RE generation has been avoided when large magnetic perturbations are excited. These experimental results clearly show that KPI is a credible fast shutdown method avoiding large vertical displacement, reducing heat flux on the divertor plate, and avoiding (or minimizing) RE generation.


Nanostructure-enabled hierarchical assembly holds promise for efficient biocatalyst immobilization for improved stability in bioprocessing. In this work we demonstrate the use of a hierarchical assembly immobilization strategy to enhance the physicochemical properties and stability of lipase B from Candida antarctica (CaLB). CaLB was complexed with iron oxide nanoparticles followed by interfacial assembly at the surface of an oil-in-water emulsion. Subsequent ring opening polymerization of the oil provided cross-linked microparticles that displayed an increase in catalytic efficiency when compared to the native enzyme and Novozym 435. The hierarchical immobilized enzyme assembly showed no leakage from the support in 50% acetonitrile and could be magnetically recovered across five cycles. Immobilized lipase exhibited enhanced thermal and pH stability, providing 72% activity retention after 24 h at 50 °C (pH 7.0) and 62% activity retention after 24 h at pH 3.0 (30 °C); conditions resulting in complete deactivation of the native lipase.


Objective: To evaluate the long-term safety and performance of four different vibroplasty couplers (round window, oval window, CliP and Bell coupler) in combination with an active middle ear implant. Methods: This was a multicentre, prospective, long-term study including 5 German hospitals. Thirty adult subjects suffering from conductive or mixed hearing loss were initially enrolled for the study, 24 of these were included in the final analysis with up to 36 months of postsurgical follow-up data. Bone conduction and air conduction were measured pre- and postoperatively to evalu ate safety. Postoperative aided sound field thresholds and Freiburger monosyllable word recognition scores were compared to unaided pre-implantation results to confirm performance. Additional speech tests compared postoperative unaided with aided results. To determine patient satisfaction, an established quality-of-life questionnaire developed for conventional hearing aid usage was administered to all subjects. Results: Mean postoperative bone conduction thresholds remained stable throughout the whole study period. Mean functional gain for all couplers investigated was 38.5 ± 11.4 dB HL (12 months) and 38.8 ± 12.5 dB HL (36 months). Mean word recognition scores at 65 dB SPL increased from 2.9% in the unaided by 64.2% to 67.1% in the aided situation. The mean postoperative speech reception in quiet (or 50% understanding of words in sentences) shows a speech intelligibility improvement at 36 months of 17.8 ± 12.4 dB SPL over the unaided condition. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improved by 5.9 ± 7.2 dB SNR over the unaided condition. High subjective device satisfaction was reflected by the International Inventory for Hearing Aids scored very positively. Conclusion: A significant improvement was seen with all couplers, and audiological performance did not significantly differ between 12 and 36 months after surgery.


The purpose of this study is to present the rational decision process for new ward office building site. AHP Technique used in this study considers both quantitative and qualitative factors on the basis of decision maker's intuitive, reasonable or unreasonable judgement by giving weight through mutual comparision of publicity factors. The evaluaion factors were refer to another five ward office there were executed these kinds of new site selection before. These standards are composed of 6 middle groups and classified into 9 detailed standards. Alternative building sites are five places in this district. The final evauation standards are Accessibility, Urban Expansion Possibility, Distrct balance, Enviornment, Financing, Development easiness. And It became clear that the priority of evaluation is Financing > Urban expansion > Accessibility > Development easiness > District balance > Enviornment. In conclusion, it was determined that alternative ` E ` is the most adequate place for new ward office building.


Over the last two decades, the probabilistic assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures under seismic hazard has been developed rapidly. However, little attention has been devoted to the assessment of the seismic reliability of corroded structures. This paper presents a framework for computing the time-dependent seismic reliability of concrete bridges in an earthquake prone region and a marine environment. It includes: (a) estimate of seismic capacity of corroded RC components; (b) seismic and airborne chloride hazard assessment; and (c) seismic reliability of bridges with corrosion damage. The effects of seismic hazard, hazard associated with airborne chloride, and spatial distribution of steel corrosion on the time-dependent seismic reliability are investigated in this paper. The findings show that the time-dependent reliability of concrete bridge depends on both the seismic and airborne chloride hazards, and that the spatial distribution of steel corrosion has to be taken into consideration in the seismic reliability analysis.


Objectives. The aim was to evaluate the incidence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection in Greenland, to assess the value of the test "Helicobacter antigen in faeces" as a diagnostic tool and to determine the level of antibiotic resistance. Study design. 100 consecutive patients with dyspepsia who visited for endoscopic gastric examination were included. The patients had to be born in Greenland and to be ≥ 18 years old. Methods. Samples for HP antibody in blood, HP antigen in faeces, urease test on biopsies were collected from the patients. Gastric biopsies were cultured for HP bacteria, and antibiotic resistance was tested. Patients with positive urease test and/or antigen in faeces and/or positive culture were treated simultaneously with Amoxicillin, Metronidazole and Esomeprazole for 1 week. Patients with duodenal or gastric ulcer were endoscopically re-examined 8 weeks later. Patients with proven HP infection but without ulcer submitted a faeces sample 8 weeks after the eradication. Results. 77 patients were considered HP infected, and received treatment. Only 32% of them were eradicated sufficiently. Conclusion. HP antigen in faeces test is useful as a diagnostic tool and for control of therapy. A change in strategy of HP treatment in Greenland is a must, presumably preceded by an elucidation of microbial sensitivity.


It is of utmost importance to shed lights on the issues related to 'writing'. There are in fact many reasons for such an interest on the part of both the teacher and the student. Writing represents, first, one of the major criteria of assessment of any student who is supposed to interact with subjects, topics, problems, theses, hypotheses, analyses and discussions while s/he 'writes'. Writing for a student is, therefore, a necessary daily activity that reflects his/her ideas and understandings for the issues the curriculum proposes or for any other issue. Writing, secondly, is a hindrance for many students who find certain difficulties in conveying the appropriate meaning using the appropriate linguistic structures. This paper will present the effects of reading on writing and try to provide a clear and plain definition of creative writing in a way that will help students or writers in general to overcome the problems they may have in writing or to improve their linguistic production.


The Double-eyed fig parrot Cyclopsitta diophthalma has three subspecies in Australia which occur in isolated populations. Since 1987 Currumbin Sanctuary has been involved in a breeding programme for the Red-browed fig parrot Cyclopsitta diophthalma macleayana, to develop techniques which might be applied for the management of the highly threatened Coxen's fig parrot Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni should the subspecies come into captivity in the future. The aim of the programme is primarily to produce parent-reared offspring, which would be most suited to reintroduction, but the work also involves egg-fostering trials and cross-fostering of chicks. The results of the breeding programme, the problems encountered and additional conservation work carried out by Currumbin Sanctuary are described.


Cancer therapies commonly slow rather than cure disease and most patients ultimately relapse. Phenotypic variability and dynamics are a cause for relapsing disease and pose significant challenges to a successful cure. Here we show at the single-cell level that T lymphoma and leukemia cells are programmed to occupy a rare transient, drug-resistant state. Our work defines a panel of drug-resistance markers allowing early identification of the cells programmed to resist treatment and cause relapsing disease. Single-cell analyses in T cell lymphoma and leukemia lines reveal a small fraction of cells resisting cytotoxic drugs such as doxorubicin, methotrexate, and vorinostat. Repeat treatment cycles in recovered colonies indicate the transient and intrinsic nature of this drug resistant state. In cell fate analyses of bulk populations and xenograft tumors treated we observed that drug treatment leads to selective survival of label-retaining cells. Those cells then lead to population recovery and re-growth of tumors consistent with a relapse-inducing phenotype of the slow-cycling state. This was further supported by directly exposing isolated single cells to anticancer drugs with selective recovery and clonal expansion of cells in a pre-existing slow-cycling state at the time of drug exposure. Repeated exposure does not decrease the chemosensitivity of the surviving clones indicating that the drug-resistant state is transient and non-heritable. Label-retaining cells from different T cell lymphoma and leukemia lines display a transcriptional profile distinct from the parental population which is maintained in treatment-surviving cells. Cell line-independent similarities suggest T lineage-specific rather than disease-specific drug-resistance expression program. In particular, early growth response proteins 1-3 (Egr1-3) show increased expression levels in label-retaining cells serving as a biomarker for the drug-resistant subset of malignant T cells. Since Egr2 is critical for the induction of T cell anergy and activation, its overexpression in drug-resistant cells suggests a dual role of lineage-specific anergy mechanisms programming drug-response variability in malignant T cells. Tracing analyses demonstrated that single cells readily revert their phenotype to establish a clonal population with original heterogeneity indicating the dynamic nature of the slow-cycling state. This indicates that every single cell has a strong inherent drive to program daughter cells to occupy a rare transient slow-cycling state providing a high degree of stress- and, ultimately, treatment-resistance. The described resistance marker expression profile allows early identification of the drug-resistant state and helps to identify therapeutic targets in the rare-cell programming to prevent cells entering the relapse-inducing state in T cell leukemia and lymphoma. Citation Format: Hamidullah Khan, Sushmita Roy, Ashish Anshu, Wasakorn Kittipongdaja, Stefan M. Schieke. Single cell dynamics maintain an intrinsic drug resistant state in T cell leukemia and lymphoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2178.


This paper investigates the passivity of the Moog Ladder Filter and its simulation. First, the linearized system is analyzed. Results based on the energy stored in the capacitors lead to a stability domain which is available for time-varying control parameters meanwhile it is sub-optimal for time-invariant ones. A second storage function is proposed, from which the largest stability domain is recovered for a time-invariant Q-parameter. Sufficient conditions for stability are given. Second, the study is adapted to the nonlinear case by introducing a third storage function. Then, a simulation based on the standard bilinear transform is derived and the dissipativity of this numerical version is examined. Simulations show that passivity is not unconditionally guaranteed, but mostly fulfilled, and that typical behaviours of the Moog filter, including self-oscillations, are properly reproduced.


In plants, oxidative stress is result of disruption of the cellular redox metabolism and is caused by a variety of stress conditions (abiotic and/or biotic). This leads to the induction of several mechanisms that protect against disruption of the redox balance, as well as mechanisms to assist in recovery from toxicity/damage caused by increased cellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The superoxide dismutase enzymes (SODs) are key component of the reactive oxygen species gene network and represent the first line of defense against ROS, by converting superoxide radicals (O2−) to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water (H2O). Therefore, SODs play an important role in protection against oxidative stress in all aerobic organisms. In this thesis, I describe the characterization of an SOD isoform from Populus, hipI-SOD, which has a high iso-electric point. The global response to oxidative stress is also discussed. Different forms of hipI-SOD transcripts were found in vascular tissue, one of which was produced by alternative splicing. HipI-SOD proteins were found to be mainly localized extracellularly, in the primary and secondary cell walls of vascular tissues. These results together with analysis of transgenic Populus trees with suppressed expression of hipI-SOD strongly indicate roles for hipI-SOD in regulating ROS levels in vascular tissue. ROS are important regulators of plant stress responses. Nevertheless, oxidative stress often affects plants growth and development. In order to understand the basis of oxidative stress tolerance, the diversity of stress responses needs to be investigated. To achieve this we first developed an O2PLS-based multivariate methodology for the integration of multiple datasets originating from three different platforms (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics). Subsequently this data integration method was utilized for a comprehensive study of the overall responses to oxidative stress in Populus. The findings may facilitate the development of stress-tolerant plants with improved survival rates and yields under stressed conditions.


Background and aims Severe sepsis is often characterised by disturbances in cardiac function, popularly known as sepsis induced myocardial dysfunction (SIMD). SIMD may be systolic (SD), diastolic (DD) or global. Diastolic dysfunction has been infrequently reported in only a few studies on adult patients till date. Detecting DD early in the course has important therapeutic and prognostic implications in the management of septic shock. Our aim was therefore, to determine the prevalence and outcome of DD in children with septic shock and to generate evidence for possible early clinical predictors of DD in such patients. Methods Consecutive children ≤17 years of age with fluid refractory septic shock and not on mechanical ventilation admitted to our ICU from June 2011 to August 2012 were included. DD was defined as an abnormal 'E', mitral annulus velocity on tissue Doppler imaging at admission. Results A total of 56 children were included. The prevalence of DD was 41.1% (95% CI: 27.8 to 54.4) and the mortality rate was 43% in those with DD. On univariable analysis of possible early predictors of DD, we observed that children with DD tended to have higher mean CVP (13 vs. 6; p < 0.0001) and greater positivity for cTnT (70% vs. 36%, p = 0.01) as compared to others. On multivariable analysis, only an increased CVP remained significant (adjOR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.12, 2.14, p = 0.008). Conclusion Diastolic dysfunction is common in children with fluid refractory septic shock and immediate outcome may be poorer in such patients. Increased CVP after initial fluid resuscitation may be an early indicator of DD and warrant urgent bedside echocardiography.


Are visual face processing mechanisms the same in the left and right cerebral hemispheres? The possibility of such 'duplicated processing' seems puzzling in terms of neural resource usage, and we currently lack a precise characterization of the lateral differences in face processing. To address this need, we have undertaken a three-pronged approach. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed cortical sensitivity to facial semblance, the modulatory effects of context and temporal response dynamics. Results on all three fronts revealed systematic hemispheric differences. We found that: (i) activation patterns in the left fusiform gyrus correlate with image-level face-semblance, while those in the right correlate with categorical face/non-face judgements. (ii) Context exerts significant excitatory/inhibitory influence in the left, but has limited effect on the right. (iii) Face-selectivity persists in the right even after activity on the left has returned to baseline. These results provide important clues regarding the functional architecture of face processing, suggesting that the left hemisphere is involved in processing 'low-level' face semblance, and perhaps is a precursor to categorical 'deep' analyses on the right.


In Neal Stephenson's 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash , hacker Hiro Protagonist, aided by a virtual Librarian, works to save the world from a cybernetic and biological virus that will enslave the information elite (hackers and programmers). The text proposes questions for an information culture like ours facing technological and informational calamity. What will become of the gap between the information rich and poor? What is the future of public access to information? Can librarians in the digital library (cybrarians) be successful educators? If librarians embrace technology, will it be at the expense of humanism? Can the cybrarian continue to act as an agent of culture and enlightenment, as in the past? This article examines the external world that makes living in an internal virtual world necessary, then explores the issue of whether the Librarian is a harmful or beneficial creation, and finally considers the Librarian as a force for civility.


Patients with chronic granulomatous disease are predisposed to infections by catalase-positive organisms in the environment. Chromobacterium violaceum is a catalase-positive bacterium whose saprophytic source in this country is the subtropical soil and water of the southeastern United States. Two patients with chronic granulomatous disease, followed at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, acquired C. violaceum infections in Florida. All 10 cases previously reported were acquired in Florida and Louisiana, and reports for which dates were available showed that all infections were acquired from June to September. Seven of 10 patients died; one patient was studied and found to have chronic granulomatous disease. Thus, at least three of the 12 known patients have had underlying chronic granulomatous disease. We suggest that C. violaceum infections occur with unusual frequency in patients with a common underlying predisposing disorder; C. violaceum poses a potential threat to patients with chronic granulomatous disease living in or visiting the endemic states.


The circadian clock is an important determinant of individual fitness that is entrained by local conditions. In addition to known abiotic inputs that entrain the circadian clock, individual pathogenic soil bacteria affect the circadian period of plant hosts. Yet, in nature, plants interact with diverse microbial communities including hundreds to thousands of microbial taxa, and the effect of these communities on clock function remains unclear. In Arabidopsis thaliana, we used diverse rhizosphere inoculates and both wild-type and clock mutant genotypes to test the effect of complex rhizosphere microbial communities on the host circadian clock. Host plants with an intact rhizosphere microbiome expressed a circadian period that was closer to 24 hrs in duration and significantly shorter (by 60 minutes on average) relative to plants grown with a disrupted microbiome. Wild-type host genotypes differed significantly in clock sensitivity to microbiome treatments, where the effect was most pronounced in the Landsberg erecta genotype and least in the Columbia genotype. Rhizosphere microbes collected from a host genotype with a short-period phenotype (toc1-21) and used as inoculate significantly shortened the long-period phenotype of the ztl-1 clock mutant genotype. The results indicate that complex rhizosphere microbial communities significantly affect host clock function.


Objective. Throughout history and across all cultures, many people have believed in some form of afterlife. Recent surveys show that most people worldwide believe they will survive after bodily death. Those who do not believe would require substantial empirical evidence to influence their skepticism. This study's objective was to evaluate what types of evidence might persuade academic professionals that some aspect of consciousness survives after bodily death. Method. We surveyed academic professionals and collected demographic and professional background data, personal confidence in survival, and paranormal belief ratings. Respondents also rated the persuasiveness of 10 relevant experiments and the likelihood of their success. These data were analyzed over all participants and partitioned by confidence in survival. Results. Professional academics (N = 442) completed the survey. Gender was a significant predictor of confidence in survival, paranormal belief, and many persuasiveness ratings, with females having higher scores than males. Older age was a positive predictor for persuasiveness ratings of a proposed experiment involving after-death communication. Confidence in survival and paranormal beliefs were highly correlated. The highest persuasiveness ratings were for a controlled, prospective experiment that resulted in veridical out-of-body perceptions during  a near-death experience, a mediumship experiment, and a reincarnation experiment. The least persuasive proposed experiment was survival in the form of computer-based artificial intelligence. Conclusion. Academics hold a wide range of beliefs and confidence in survival. Successful experiments designed to test for survival may influence skeptics' prior beliefs.


The rolling pad instability is caused by electromagnetic interactions in systems of horizontal layers with strongly different electric conductivities. We analyze the instability for a simplified model of a liquid metal battery (LMB), a promising device for large-scale stationary energy storage. Numerical simulations of the flow and the dynamics of electromagnetically coupled interfacial waves are performed using OpenFOAM. The work confirms the earlier conclusions that the instability is a significant factor affecting battery's operation. The critical role played by the ratio between the density differences across the two interfaces is elucidated. It is found that the ratio determines the stability characteristics and the type (symmetrically or antisymmetrically coupled) of dominant interfacial waves.


Computational models in neuroscience typically contain many parameters that are poorly constrained by experimental data. Uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis provide rigorous procedures to quantify how the model output depends on this parameter uncertainty. Unfortunately, the application of such methods is not yet standard within the field of neuroscience. Here we present Uncertainpy, an open-source Python toolbox, tailored to perform uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis of neuroscience models. Uncertainpy aims to make it easy and quick to get started with uncertainty analysis, without any need for detailed prior knowledge. The toolbox allows uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis to be performed on already existing models without needing to modify the model equations or model implementation. Uncertainpy bases its analysis on polynomial chaos expansions, which are more efficient than the more standard Monte-Carlo based approaches. Uncertainpy is tailored for neuroscience applications by its built-in capability for calculating characteristic features in the model output. The toolbox does not merely perform a point-to- point comparison of the "raw" model output (e.g. membrane voltage traces), but can also calculate the uncertainty and sensitivity of salient model response features such as spike timing, action potential width, mean interspike interval, and other features relevant for various neural and neural network models. Uncertainpy comes with several common models and features built in, and including custom models and new features is easy. The aim of the current paper is to present Uncertainpy for the neuroscience community in a user- oriented manner. To demonstrate its broad applicability, we perform an uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis on three case studies relevant for neuroscience: the original Hodgkin-Huxley point-neuron model for action potential generation, a multi-compartmental model of a thalamic interneuron implemented in the NEURON simulator, and a sparsely connected recurrent network model implemented in the NEST simulator. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A major challenge in computational neuroscience is to specify the often large number of parameters that define the neuron and neural network models. Many of these parameters have an inherent variability, and some may even be actively regulated and change with time. It is important to know how the uncertainty in model parameters affects the model predictions. To address this need we here present Uncertainpy, an open-source Python toolbox tailored to perform uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis of neuroscience models.


For scientific and sustainable management of water resources, hydrologic and meteorologic data series need to be often extended. This paper proposes a hybrid approach, named WA‐CM (wavelet analysis–cloud model), for data series extension. Wavelet analysis has time‐frequency localization features, known as "mathematics microscope," that can decompose and reconstruct hydrologic and meteorologic series by wavelet transform. The cloud model is a mathematical representation of fuzziness and randomness and has strong robustness for uncertain data. The WA‐CM approach first employs the wavelet transform to decompose the measured nonstationary series and then uses the cloud model to develop an extension model for each decomposition layer series. The final extension is obtained by summing the results of extension of each layer. Two kinds of meteorologic and hydrologic data sets with different characteristics and different influence of human activity from six (three pairs) representative stations are used to illustrate the WA‐CM approach. The approach is also compared with four other methods, which are conventional correlation extension method, Kendall‐Theil robust line method, artificial neural network method (back propagation, multilayer perceptron, and radial basis function), and single cloud model method. To evaluate the model performance completely and thoroughly, five measures are used, which are relative error, mean relative error, standard deviation of relative error, root mean square error, and Thiel inequality coefficient. Results show that the WA‐CM approach is effective, feasible, and accurate and is found to be better than other four methods compared. The theory employed and the approach developed here can be applied to extension of data in other areas as well.


PURPOSE
To present a case of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) after late traumatic LASIK flap loss.

METHODS
The initial LASIK procedure was performed in 2003 with a Moria M2 microkeratome and NIDEK EC-5000 excimer laser using a 5.0/9.0-mm aspheric ablation pattern, resulting in 20/20(+) uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and plano refraction. Traumatic flap loss of the right eye occurred in 2007. The patient was treated for the trauma, and PRK for -5.00 -1.25 × 090° was performed 2 months later.

RESULTS
Posttraumatic flap loss UDVA was 20/200 in the right eye, with corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) of 20/25(+2). After PRK with mitomycin C (MMC), UDVA was 20/15 2 months postoperatively and was maintained through the last postoperative follow-up in 2010 (approximately 3 years after PRK).

CONCLUSIONS
Treating a patient with traumatic LASIK flap loss can be done by careful, conservative treatment of the abrasion followed by correction of the refractive error using PRK with MMC.


In Reply.— We thank Drs Berman, Bohlmann, Marshall, Stanford, and Corkery and Mr Loehr for their interest and insights regarding our article. The model was purposely kept as simple as possible (by varying indebtedness and cost-of-living data only) to enhance both its comprehension by the reader and its applicability to most young physicians. We believe it does portray a realistic financial picture of the economic realities facing most medical students and residents. The criticisms of the model offered by Mr Loehr carry some validity, but they do not change its conclusions. Though salary figures do vary somewhat by region (by $1000 to $2000 per year), 1 the higher salaries typically occur in geographic areas with a higher cost of living and would not significantly impact (by more than a few thousand dollars) the indebtedness predictions in our model. Additionally, although Guaranteed Student Loans are legally available up to $7500 per


Faced with unprecedented challenges, the adult social care sector in England has seen increasing attention given to the potential of volunteers to contribute to service provision. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored the contribution made by volunteers to social care services for older people. The article draws attention to the difficulties associated with recruiting and training volunteers to work in the sector, particularly during a period of reduced public expenditure, which is putting the sector under strain. Given the challenges faced, the article considers whether it is appropriate to involve volunteers in care work.


The frictional performance of the clutch mating surfaces varies transiently during clutch engagement. The friction characteristics depend on the clamp load, relative slip speed of the mating surfaces and the generated contact temperature. These operating conditions affect the characteristics and lead to clutch take-up judder during engagement. To study this phenomenon as well as issues relating to clutch wear, it is essential to evaluate the friction lining characteristics. This paper replicates the clutch conditions through careful experimentation with a fully instrumented pin-on-disc tribometer. It is shown that the kinetic coefficient of friction for the clutch friction lining material in contact with the sinusoidal wavy and rough surface of pressure plate decreases with rising contact temperature and increasing slip speed.


Cooperative communications delivers spatial diversity for a communication system through the collaborated transmission of network users. Assisted by the intelligent relay selection, opportunistic cooperative communications in which the best relay is always selected for signal re-transmission can deliver a diversity gain on the order of number of relay candidates. It has the advantages of requiring low implementation complexity, alleviating user interference and reducing network power consumption. This paper proposes the coded opportunistic cooperative communication systems in which the widely used Reed-Solomon convolutional concatenated (RSCC) code is applied. Two coded opportunistic cooperative schemes are considered, the coded opportunistic amplify-and-forward (COAF) and the coded opportunistic decode-and-forward (CODF). Information theoretic analyses in term of their diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) are re-investigated. Those analyses are substantiated by the design of a practical RSCC coded system and its frame error rate (FER) performance.


Streaming media systems buffer media data at the client to improve reconstruction quality at the cost of latency. Reconstruction quality may be further improved with rate-distortion optimized packet transmission. In this paper we show how the tradeoff between buffering latency and reconstruction quality can be improved with adaptive media playout (AMP) - the client-controlled manipulation of the playout speeds of media frames. We then show how to incorporate AMP into an existing framework for rate-distortion optimized packet transmission. The resulting receiver-driven scheme jointly optimizes packet transmissions and playout speeds with respect to rate, distortion and the subjective cost of playout speed variations. Results for a short media clip show a more than 2 dB improvement in mean PSNR for R-D optimized transmission combined with a moderate amount of AMP, over R-D optimized transmission alone.


ABSTRACT
Stunting or stunted body growth is a form of malnutrition characterized by height for age below the standard deviation (<-2 SD). (WHO, 2005). Stunted children have an IQ of 5-10 points lower than normal children (Henningham, H.B & McGregor, 2005). West Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province is 1 of 100 priority intervention locations for stunting reduction in 2018 (Director General of Public Health, 2018). Based on the 2013 Riskesdas data, the incidence of stunting in West Bangka Regency was 5,999, with details of 3,319 children aged 0-1 years and 2,680 children aged 1-2 years spread across 10 villages, namely Ibul Village, Air Nyatoh, Peradong, Pangek, Simpang Tiga, Berang in Simpang Teritip District; Tuik and Tugang Villages in Kelapa District; Rukam and Tumbak Petar Villages in Jebus District. This type of research is an explanatory research (Explanatory Research). The research method is a survey with a cross-sectional approach because the causal variables that occur in the research object are measured and collected at the same time. This research uses a quantitative approach. Based on the results of the Rank Spearman Correlation test, the relationship between hemoglobin levels and birth weight (r = 0.018; p = 0.899) means that hemoglobin levels are not related to birth weight. Keywords: Mother's Hemoglobin, Baby Weight


We study the interface states formed in a heterostructure composed of two semi-infinite two-dimensional photonic crystals with different filing fractions. Photonic band structure calculations by means of a supercell technique show that localized interface states are absent in this simple heterostructure; they can be created either by lateral lattice slipping or by increasing the interface separation.


This study examined the effect of foreign direct investment on a developing economy. The study employed multiple regression models to estimate the relationship that exists between sectorial inflow of foreign direct investment and Nigeria economic growth. Augmented Dickey Fuller Test, Johansen Co-integration test, normalized co-integrating equations, parsimonious vector error correction model and pair-wise causality tests were used to conduct the investigations and analysis. The findings of the result reveal that foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector have positive but no significant effect, foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector have positive and significant effect, foreign direct investment in the mining and querying sector have negative but no significant effect, foreign direct investment in the transport and communication sector have positive and significant effect while foreign direct investment in the oil and gas sector have positive and significant effect on Nigeria real gross domestic products. The study concludes that the oil and gas sector have the greatest impact on Nigeria economic growth followed by manufacturing, agricultural, transport and communication sectors while mining and quarrying reduces gross domestic product. Nigerian policy makers should design sectoral policy reforms with the intention of creating an enabling business environment, improve infrastructure, address issues of insecurity in the north and south that hinder foreign direct investment in mining and quarrying sectors. Furthermore, there is the need to strengthen policy cohesion with regards to foreign direct investments to ensure that mining and quarrying sectors perform as well as the oil and gas sector. Data Article Ozuzu and Isukul; AJEBA, 21(3): 43-55, 2021; Article no.AJEBA.65916 44


This excerpt comes from the last section of Inner Voices by Melissa Hui, and repeats some of the rhythmic and melodic ideas from the first section of the piece ('Excerpt I'), and adds more layers to the texture ('fields of colour'). The gentle ending drifts off into a peaceful silence.


. Pain is one sensation which often annoying and gives a direct functional impact to the body. Some of the sufferers try to recover this sensation by using traditional medicines that usually natural. The medicines are made of plants. For example makuto dewo Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl.). in the other hand, we may also familiar with Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) that is well known of its ability in curing some disease. Essentially, this research is made not only to analyze the effectivity of the combination of Makuto dewo essence and Virgin Coconut Oil in curing the pain, but also to find out the exact composition of those ingredients in produsing the maximum analgesic ability. This research was a pure experimental one used simple randomize design. The analgesic ability was evaluated by using chemical stimulant method. It used 63 white female rat divided randomizely into 9 group. The first group (negative control) was given aquadest. The second group (positive group) was given paracetamol. The third to ninth group (treatment group)was given the pure essence of makuto dewo and pure Virgin Coconut Oil and combination of them with camparison range 1:1/4; 1:1/2; 1:1; 1:2; 1:4. the análisis started by monitoring the wriggle responses with 5 minutes respites in 1 hours. It could be started 10 minutes right alter the objects were treated with chemical stimulant of 1% asetic acid with dose 50 mg/kgBB intraperitoneally. The accumulative amount of the wriggles were changed into resistant percentages of the wriggles using Handersooth-Forsaith method. Based on this research, there was a fact that the analgesic ability of the combination of makuto dewo pure essence and VCO with the comparison range 1:1/4; 1:1/2; 1:1; 1:2; 1:4 for 61,90%, 56,24%, 63,03%, 60,32%, 68,71%. Separately, the analgesic ability of makuto dewo pure essence was 57,14% and pure VCO was 58,05%. Conclusively, the process of adding VCO in makuto dewo essence effectively produced the analgesic ability in curing the pain. The biggest analgesic ability was produced by the combining those ingredients in 4 : 1 comparison range. Key Word : Analgesic, essence of makuto dewo, Virgin Coconut Oil xviii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI


This article considers the objection to abortion that a woman who voluntarily engages in sexual activity is responsible for her fetus and so cannot have an abortion. The conclusion argued for is that the conceptions of responsibility that can ground the objection that are considered do not necessitate a requirement on the part of a pregnant woman to carry her pregnancy to term. Thus, the iterations of the responsibility objection presented cannot be used to curtail reproductive choice.


This study investigated the impact of teaching physics via modeling on theacquisition of energy and momentum conservation concepts. The sample consisted of 91 female students selected from 11th grade female students in two schools in Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate in Oman. The experimental group (n = 45) was taught via the modeling method, and the control group (n = 46) was taught using a traditional method. The study lasted six weeks during the second semester of the academic year 2013/2014. A teacher guide for teaching by models was designed and validated by a group of experts. To measure the acquisition of physics concepts, energy and momentum, an achievement test was used. The test consisted of 20 multiple-choice questions. Its reliability was measured by test-retest method (r = 0.79). The results revealed a statistically significant difference (p < .05) between the means of the experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group. The study recommends that science teachers ought to use models and modeling in their teaching. Workshops to train supervisors, in-service teachers and pre-service teachers in the construction and development of scientific models need to be conducted


In order to improve the effect of experimental teaching of the course "computer organization principle", a design method of "computer organization principle" virtual experiment based upon object-oriented idea is put forward, in which the virtual experiment of ALU part is designed and debugged. Utilizing VC++ and Photoshop, arithmetic unit experiment in Tec-xp of the course computer organization principle is realized simulately, and the function of Am2901 is validated in the experiment. The result displays dynamic and in real-time effect, which acts just the same as the real hardware equipment. The virtual platform provides the students their own experimental environment freely, and a practical way for virtual experiment of computer hardware courses is supplied in the paper.


Taking urban domestic sludge as the research object, a slag-based modifying agent was used to modify sludge under different dosages and curing times, and the solidification effect of six heavy metals in the sludge, namely Zn, Cr, Cu, Pb, As, and Cd, were evaluated by analyzing stability efficiency and morphological changes. The results showed that the stability efficiency improved as curing time and dosage increased, reaching the maximum when the curing time was 14 d and the dosage was 50%. Under these conditions, Cu reached the maximum of 69.62%, and the most rapid growth was observed when dosages were 5%-20%. Through the regression analysis of adding amount, maintenance time and stability efficiency, it was found that the fitting correlation coefficient Cu was the highest 0.97, with a strong degree of fitting and a strong interaction between adding amount and maintenance time, which had a significant influence on the stability efficiency. In addition, Pb and As were the residual state, Cu and Cr were oxidizable state and residue state, Zn and Cd were reducible and extractable state as the main forms in the sludge after modifying, respectively. With the increase of curing time or dosage, the residual state of each heavy metal increased by 7%-86%. The results showed that the slag-based modifying agent could effectively solidify heavy metals in sludge and reused solid wastes such as sludge.


The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the bat swing speed immediately after the ball impact and the dynamics of the torso during the follow through in baseball batting. The batting motion and ground reaction forces acting on each foot for 29 collegiate baseball players were recorded using a motion capture system and two force plates. The biomechanical variables of the torso joint (i.e., the virtual joint that divides the torso between upper and lower) were calculated. For right-handed batters, the torque power of the right rotation in the torso joint was negative. Additionally, the bat head speed immediately after the ball impact was significantly correlated with the negative (i.e., right) peak rotation torque of the torso joint (r = > -.591, p < 0.001) and the negative peak power in the right rotation torque of the torso joint (r = > -.577, p = 0.001). These results suggest that the left external abdominal oblique muscle is in eccentric contraction during the follow through in baseball batting. Moreover, the results imply that the higher the bat head speed immediately after the ball impact, the higher the possibility to strain the abdominal oblique muscle.


The localization of ribosomes, RNA polymerase (RNAP) and the nucleoid of Pseudomonas putida cells has been inspected with genetic, microscopical and physiological approaches. To this end, strains of P. putida were constructed with fluorescent tags to either ribosomal proteins or the RNAP or both. Their relative positions in respect to the bacterial DNA revealed the separation of the ribosomal pool from the nucleoid, which however co-localized entirely with the tridimensional distribution of RNAP. This split was kept under all growth conditions: exponential versus stationary and different carbon sources. To test the robustness of what appeared to be a phase separation phenomenon, different types of perturbations were entered. In one case, cells were grown under conditions known to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoate granules that caused a mechanical impact in the cytoplasm - which failed to destroy the split between the translation versus transcription machineries. However, both chloramphenicol and rifampicin blurred - but not eliminated - the boundaries between the phases. The picture that emerges from all these data is not only that the different components of the gene expression hardware are physically divided but also that a large share of the mRNAs ought to move from their site of transcription towards ribosome-rich regions of the cell.