This research use descriptive desain about occupational commitment. In this research will be tell in more thorough and detail about the reasons someone choose, decide and have commitement in one job as tenure in the university. Occupational commitment as the degree of attachment to an occupation, where involvement on this occupational define by occupational commitment component that dominate (Meyer, Allen and Smith, 1993). Occupational commitment has three components, Affective Occupational Commitment, Continuance Occupational Commitment, and Normative Occupational Commitment. This research give quesionner to 80 sample from all faculty in university "x". Validity value for Affective Occupational Commitment is between 0.515 – 0.764, 0.395 – 0.818 for continuance occupational commitment and 0.319 – 0.777 for normative occupational commitment. Then realibility value this questioner for affective occupational commitment is 0,842, continuance occupational commitment is 0,768 and normative occupational commitment is 0,8. Based on this research, 58% tenure choose, decide and have commitment in this job based on affective occupational commitment. Then 38% tenure hold in this profession based on normative occupational commitment and 4% tenure have commitment based on continuance occupational commitment. Based on this research, university must make program or policy that will made tenure more motivated to commit in this profession. Beside that, this research can be basic to other reasercher to research about factor that influence occupational commitment.

Keywords: occupational, commitment and tenure


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of YOD1 overexpression on the proliferation and migration of human oral keratinocytes (HOKs), and to clarify whether the mechanisms involve transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling.

METHODS
HOKs were transfected with the plasmid pEGFP-N3-YOD1 containing YOD1. The mRNA levels of YOD1 and TGF-β were determined by qPCR. The protein expressions of YOD1, TGF-β, Smad2/3, Smad4, and phospho-Smad2/3 were determined by western blotting. Cell proliferation and migration were evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and wound healing assay, respectively.

RESULTS
The mRNA and protein levels of YOD1 were higher in HOKs transfected with YOD1. YOD1 overexpression significantly enhanced the migration of HOKs. The mRNA and protein levels of TGF-β3 were increased by YOD1 overexpression. HOKs transfected with YOD1 exhibited increased phospho-Smad2/3 levels.

CONCLUSION
YOD1 overexpression enhances cell migration by promoting TGF-β3 signaling which may play an important role in lip and palate formation. YOD1 mutation may contribute to aberrant TGF-β3 signaling associated with decreased cell migration resulting in NSCLP.


This article discusses the issues and evidence concerning the relationship between schizophrenia and personality. We examine personality dimensions in individuals with schizophrenia, both before and after the onset of their psychoses, and in their relatives. Schizophrenia is associated with high levels of peculiarity and neuroticism and with low levels of extraversion. The relationships between schizophrenia and both psychopathy and creativity remain unclear. Personality dimensions vary in the manner in which they are associated with a variety of correlates of psychopathology, such as prognosis. We recommend that psychopathologists interested in schizophrenia devote more attention to the study of personality.


The demographics, motivations, rewards, satisfaction, and commitment of Canadian career and later-life older entrepreneurs were examined. The two groups of respondents exhibited noteworthy contrasts. In terms of demographics, later-life older entrepreneurs were significantly less likely than career older entrepreneurs to be in management, and they were more likely to be female, unmarried, working alone, and engaged part-time. In terms of motivations, the career-long pursuit of entrepreneurship is strongly connected with the urge for independence; with a more singular approach to business, as registered by a significantly lower motivation for achieving work–life balance; and with higher values attached to start-up rewards, career success, and overall satisfaction with the business. By comparison, later-life older entrepreneurs focus significantly more on intrinsic rewards like work–life balance and achieving personal fulfillment. However, both groups posted high, statistically indistinguishable satisfaction with their businesses and commitment to self-employment.


This document defines a YANG data model for configuring and managing
BGP, including protocol, policy, and operational aspects based on data
center, carrier and content provider operational requirements.


Background: To evaluate the relationship between methylation status of blood leukocyte DNA and risk of gastric cancer, a population-based study was conducted in Linqu County. Methods: Methylation levels of IGFII and N33 were determined by quantitative methylation-specific PCR. The temporal trend of methylation levels during gastric cancer development was investigated in 133 gastric cancer cases from two cohorts with pre– and/or post–gastric cancer samples. As the references of pre-GCs, 204 intestinal metaplasia (IM) or dysplasia (DYS) subjects who did not progress to gastric cancer during the follow-up period were selected. Meanwhile, 285 subjects with superficial gastritis/chronic atrophic gastritis (SG/CAG) were also selected as controls. Results: IGFII median methylation level was significantly higher in gastric cancer cases than those with SG/CAG (61.47% vs. 49.73%; P < 0.001). IGFII and N33 methylation levels were elevated at least 5 years ahead of clinical gastric cancer diagnosis comparing with SG/CAG (63.38% vs. 49.73% for IGFII, 9.12% vs. 5.70% for N33; all P < 0.001). Furthermore, the frequency of hypermethylated IGFII was markedly increased in IM or DYS subjects who progressed to gastric cancer in contrast to those who remained with IM and DYS, and adjusted ORs were 12.52 [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.81–41.15] for IM and 10.12 (95% CI, 2.68–38.22) for DYS. Similar results were also found for N33 in subjects with IM (OR, 3.77; 95% CI, 1.20–11.86). Conclusions: Our findings suggested that hypermethylated IGFII and N33 in blood leukocyte DNA were associated with risk of gastric cancer in a Chinese population. Impact: IGFII and N33 methylation status may be related to gastric carcinogenesis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(10); 2019–26. ©2014 AACR.


We have defined the Conscious Turing Machine (CTM) for the purpose of investigating a Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) approach to consciousness. For this, we have hewn to the TCS demand for simplicity and understandability. The CTM is consequently and intentionally a simple machine. It is not a model of the brain, though its design has greatly benefited - and continues to benefit - from neuroscience and psychology. The CTM is a model of and for consciousness. Although it is developed to understand consciousness, the CTM offers a thoughtful and novel guide to the creation of an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). For example, the CTM has an enormous number of powerful processors, some with specialized expertise, others unspecialized but poised to develop an expertise. For whatever problem must be dealt with, the CTM has an excellent way to utilize those processors that have the required knowledge, ability, and time to work on the problem, even if it is not aware of which ones these may be.


Particulate nitrate (NO3-) has currently become the major component of fine particles in the North China Plain (NCP) during winter haze episodes. However, the contributions of formation pathways to ground NO3- in the NCP are not fully understood. Herein, the NO3- formation pathways were comprehensively investigated based on model simulations combined with two-month field measurements at a rural site in the winter NCP. The results indicated that the nocturnal chemistry of N2O5 hydrolysis aloft could contribute evidently to ground NO3- at the rural site during the pollution episodes with high aerosol water contents, achieving the contribution percentages of 25.2-30.4% of the total. In addition to the commonly proposed vertical mixing of breaking nocturnal boundary layer in the early morning, two additional transport pathways (frontal downdrafts and downslope mountain breezes) in the nighttime were found to make higher contributions to ground NO3-. Considering the dominant role (69.6-74.8%) of diurnal chemistry in NO3- formation, reduction of NOx emissions in the daytime may be an effective control measure for reducing regional NO3- in the NCP.


At least three different techniques are available for preparing computer-aided designed (CAD) and computer-aided manufactured (CAM) inlays and veneers. This paper details a clinical case in which 13 Cerec CAD-CAM inlays have been functioning for 3 years. Advantages and limitations of this system are discussed.


In the present work, sol-gel method is used for obtaining synthesized Al doped ZnO nanocrystalline powders. In the experiments, zinc acetate (Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O) is used as starting material, methanol as organic solvent and mono ethanol ammine as surfactant. Aluminium sulphate is used for doping Al. All the sols were mixed in appropriate proportions so that there is 8% Al doping in ZnO. Prepared nanopowder was given pellet shape by applying pressure of 260 MPa. Pellets were annealed in air at different temperatures from 300oC to 600oC for 3 hours. Pellet samples made were categorized AZ-8 (8% Al doped in ZnO). The activation energy values for sample AZ-8 from the Arrhenius plot is found to be 0.036 eV for temperature range 60°C to 140°C and 0.016 eV for temperature range 180°C to 200°C. This sensing element shows lower values of activation energies in the two regions indicating that this sensing element has lower operating temperatures and may be used at room temperature as well. A sudden increase in the current has been observed from the V-I characteristics graph of this sensing element. The humidity sensing studies of these samples were also analyzed. The sample AZ-8 annealed at 600oC is showing the best results with sensitivity of 23.60 MΩ/%RH. The crystallite size from XRD for the sensing element AZ-8 is in the 13-38 nm range. The average grain size as measured from SEM micrograph of this sensing element is found to be 95 nm suggesting agglomeration of the crystallites to form larger grains.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Radiosurgery has been used in a few cases of cerebral arteriovenous malformations in children. From data of our series and from literature, we tried to determine the place of this therapeutic modality for treatment of pediatric cAVMs.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
From the whole series of 705 patients treated by radiosurgery between January 84 and December 1998, 55 were under 15 years of age. Revelation mode was hemorrhage (70.9%), seizures (12.7%), headaches (10.9%) and neurological progressive deficits (1.8%). Size ranged from 5 to 50 mm (mean: 22 mm) and volume ranged from 1 to 16 cc (mean: 4 cc). Treatments prior radiosurgery were embolization alone (28%), surgery alone (16.7%), embolization plus surgery (5.5%). Distribution of cerebral arteriovenous malformations according to Spetzler & Martin's grading were 10% in grade I, 35% in grade II, 40% in grade III, 15% in grade IV and 0% in grade V.

RESULTS
Overall obliteration rate was 59% with an exaustibility rate of 80%. Obliteration rate was dependent on size and volume (100% for<1 cc cerebral arteriovenous malformations sized, 73% from 1-4 cc, 40% from 4-10 cc and 100% (but n=1)>10 cc; p=0.019), sex (84.2% for boys and 40% for girls), of angioarchitecture and Dmin (p=0.01). After multivariate analysis, only Dmin was nearly correlated with the obliteration rate (b=0.462 7; SE=0.244 0; p=0.057). Actuarial risk of hemorrhage was 2.12% per year per patient. Patients with seizures were seizure-free without any drugs after radiosurgery in 80% of cases. Parenchymal changes were mainly hypersignals spT2 in MRI.

CONCLUSION
Radiosurgery seems to be an efficient treatment with a low morbidity for cerebral arteriovenous malformations in children.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the typical proportions of diagnoses for patients presenting with dizziness or vertigo based on clinical speciality and to assess the change in proportions of diagnoses over time.

DATA SOURCES
Following PRISMA guidelines, systematic searches of PubMed and CINAHL databases and follow-up reference searches were performed for articles published in English up to October 2016.

STUDY SELECTION
Analysis of searches yielded 42 studies meeting the criteria of case series of adult patients with dizziness and/or vertigo presenting to general practice, emergency departments or specialist outpatient clinics.

DATA EXTRACTION
Data comprising demographics, diagnostic cases, and the total number of cases were recorded and independently tested, followed by a risk of bias analysis.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Sample size weighted proportions expressed as percentages with confidence intervals were calculated and compared using χ analysis and a reference proportion formed by the combination of Ear Nose and Throat and Neurotology case series published between 2010 and 2016. Analysis of diagnostic trends over time used Poisson regression with consideration for overdispersion.

CONCLUSIONS
This systematic review of case series demonstrated significant differences in the proportions of diagnoses for patients presenting with dizziness or vertigo, depending on the specialty making the diagnosis. ENT proportions were dominated by BPPV, Psychogenic and Menière's disease diagnostic categories, whereas emergency proportions were dominated by Other, Cardiac, and Neurological categories. Analysis of case series proportions over time revealed increases in diagnoses such as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo and Vestibular Migraine, and a corresponding decrease in the diagnoses of Menière's disease.


Those land cover maps have widely been used in various fields, such as environmental studies, military strategies as well as in decision-makings. This study proposes a method to extract training data, automatically and classify the cover using ingle satellite images and national land cover maps, provided by the Ministry of Environment. For this purpose, as the initial training data, those three were used; the unsupervised classification, the ISODATA, and the existing land cover maps. The class was classified and named automatically using the class information in the existing land cover maps to overcome the difficulty in selecting classification by each class and in naming class by the unsupervised classification; so as achieve difficulty in selecting the training data in supervised classification. The extracted initial training data were utilized as the training data of MLC for the land cover classification of target satellite images, which increase the accuracy of unsupervised classification. Finally, the land cover maps could be extracted from updated training data that has been applied by an iterative method. Also, in order to reduce salt and pepper occurring in the pixel classification method, the MRF was applied in each repeated phase to enhance the accuracy of classification. It was verified quantitatively and visually that the proposed method could effectively generate the land cover maps.


The hands of adult males of many dendrobatid poison frogs and their relatives possess swelling formed by glandular tissue hypothesized to secrete courtship pheromones delivered to the female during cephalic amplexus. Variation in the occurrence and external morphology of the swelling of finger IV has provided important evidence for dendrobatoid systematics for decades, but its underlying structure has not been investigated. We undertook a detailed comparative analysis of the integument of the hand, including both external morphology and histology, of 36 species representing the diversity of dendrobatoid frogs and several close relatives. The swelling is caused by four densely packed, hypertrophic, morpho‐histochemical types of specialized mucous glands (SMGs). We observed type I SMGs on fingers II–V and the wrist, including areas that are not swollen, types II and IV exclusively on finger IV, and type III on finger IV and the wrist. Type I SMGs occur either in isolation or together with types II, III, or IV; types II, III, and IV never occur together or without type I. We delimited 15 characters to account for the variation in external morphology and the occurrence of SMGs. Our data suggest that type I SMGs are a new synapomorphy for Dendrobatoidea and that type II SMGs originated in either the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Dendrobatidae or independently in the MRCAs of Aromobatidae and Colostethinae, respectively, while types III and IV are restricted to Anomaloglossus. The discovery of these SMGs adds a new dimension to studies of poison frog reproductive biology, which have investigated acoustic, visual, and tactile cues in courtship, mating, and parental care across the diversity of Dendrobatoidea for decades but have almost entirely overlooked the possible role of chemical cues.


This paper addresses the problem of optimum shape design of flexible manipulators that maximizes the fundamental frequency of vibration under a specified total weight constraint. Successive iteration schemes are developed to solve the unconstrained optimum shape design problem analytically using the variational approach, while nonlinear programming methods are used to solve the constrained optimum shape design problem numerically. In addition, since the tip load greatly influences the optimum frequency of a flexible arm and it is unavoidable for the arm to handle multiple tip loads, a minimax design method is proposed to construct the optimum shape under a finite range of tip loads. It is shown that the fundamental frequency of a flexible manipulator can be increased substantially through the optimum tapering of the cross section of its link. The results of this paper suggest a practical method of building flexible manipulators which can move faster under a given weight without causing serious vibration problems, thereby increasing productivity. >


NFAT (Nuclear Factor of Activated T cells) is a family of five calcium-induced, calcineurin-dependent transcription factors, characterized as master regulators of inducible gene expression in T lymphocytes. In various tissues (including bone, cartilage and adipose tissue), NFAT factors have also been found to regulate processes of cellular adaptation and differentiation. NFAT family members are also expressed in human CD34 + hematopoietic progenitor cells as well as in mesenchymal stem cells; however, a biological function of NFAT in these cells, such as a role in hematopoietic differentiation, has not yet been described. To determine a potential role for NFAT in hematopoiesis, we characterized the steady-state hematopoiesis in NFATc2 knockout (KO) mice by analyzing peripheral blood, bone marrow and extramedullary tissue (spleen and liver) of KO and age-matched wildtype (WT) mice by cytology, histopathology as well as flow cytometry. No significant abnormalities were observed in KO mice of young age (6–12 weeks). NFATc2 KO mice of older age (>12 months), however, were found to be anemic, with a significant decrease in red blood cell counts as well as in hemoglobin and hematocrit values, and also showed decreased numbers of peripheral blood platelets as compared to the WT. In contrast, no significant differences between WT and KO were found in total counts of white blood cells or in leukocyte differentials. Femora of NFATc2 KO mice appeared macroscopically pale and, upon elutriation, gave yield to less than 50% of bone marrow cells compared to the WT, indicating bone marrow hypoplasia. Further analysis of bone marrow differentials by morphology and flow cytometry showed a profound decrease in erythroid cells as well as in megakaryocytes. Histopathological examination of KO bone marrow sections revealed evidence of bone marrow sclerosis, as indicated by an increase in bone trabeculae and osteoblasts within the marrow space. In some mice, an increase in reticulin fiber content was also noted. Interestingly, both liver and spleens of NFATc2 KO mice showed clear evidence for extramedullary hematopoiesis, suggesting that displacement of hematopoietic cells by the bone marrow stroma may be a possible cause of the observed cytopenias. These results show that NFATc2 knockout mice over their lifespan develop a phenotype, which clinically resembles human osteomyelofibrosis/-sclerosis. The underlying mechanism for the observed hematopoietic abnormalities has to be defined, in particular the respective contribution of hematopoietic and bone marrow stroma cells. Given that NFAT factors are expressed at considerable levels in both hematopoietic progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem cells, our results should encourage further studies on the yet undefined role of these transcription factors within the bone marrow hematopoietic niche.


Polybromophenylsilsesquioxane (BrxOPS), where x = 5.3 (p:m = 65:25), because of its octahedral structure and nanometer size, represents a potentially very useful nanoconstruction site. We report here that Br5.3OPS reacts readily with borates of phenyl, biphenyl, naphthyl, 9,9-dimethylfluorene, and thiophene using standard Suzuki conditions to produce the corresponding polyaromatic and heteroaromatics with complete substitution of all bromines. The resulting materials, because of the 3-D octahedral structure, are completely soluble in a variety of common organic solvents. They are also stable to temperatures exceeding 400 °C in air, making them quite robust and easily processable. UV−vis spectra of these materials are red-shifted 20−30 nm from the simple organics, suggesting some conjugation with the silica cage core. Photoluminescence measurements show standard aromatic π−π* behavior with typical quantum efficiencies except for the 9,9-dimethylfluorene compound, which has an unexpectedly high quantum effi...


Plastic waste is a relevant challenge for waste management sector and further technological means has to be urgently researched. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIR), as a non-destructive, cost-effective and mature technology, is currently operational in some waste-sorting facilities. However, NIR remains challenging to discriminate different black plastics because black targets have low reflectance in the its spectral region. Therefore, this study aimed to address the problem in black plastic classification. Seven kinds of plastics: High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyamide 66 (PA66), Polycarbonate (PC) and Polypropylene (PP), were prepared for analysis, in which black plastic accounted for half of the total samples (84/159). Some methods such as partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA), soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and convolutional neural network (CNN) were used to classify the plastics. Coupling with proper preprocessing methods, PLS-DA and LDA could provide an accuracy of 57.00%, and SIMCA of 69.98%. Meanwhile, the NIR spectra fed into the CNN model as one-dimensional data, the accuracy of CNN model could reach 98.00%. Compared to the SIMCA, PLS-DA and LDA, the accuracy of CNN provided an average improvement of 28-41%. Results demonstrated that NIR spectra combined with CNN gave an excellent accuracy which was potential to solve the bottleneck problem of black plastic discrimination.


INTRODUCTION: Tissue engineering seeks to develop physiologically appropriate tissues to restore, maintain or improve function in clinical contexts, provide platforms to study basic biological processes and screen drug candidates/delivery strategies. It aims to reduce use of patient tissue and associated morbidity at donor sites; improve economics and efficacy of drug development/ screening and replace animal testing with human tissues. The overall field has suffered from the lack of a complete toolset to control physical and biological parameters of these complex cultures and make them compatible with microsurgery. We have pioneered approaches to form microvascular networks within 3-D tissue scaffolds.1


Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to establish the usefulness of indirect measurement of peripheral venous pressure (PVP) in the evaluation of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), comparing them with a normal control population. Methods: Eighteen female SSc patients (eight patients presenting cutaneous ischemic ulcers) were submitted to indirect measurement of the PVP (by plethysmography), and data were compared with a control group of 18 healthy women, paired by age. Results: Arterial pressure levels were similar in both groups. PVP levels were significantly decreased in the SSc patients (58.9 ± 11.6 mmHg in the SSc group and 96.9 ± 7.1 mmHg in the control group; p < 0.0001); in the SSc group, patients with ischemic ulcers presented PVP levels significantly decreased compared with those patients without ulcers (50.6 ± 10.8 mmHg in the ulcer group and 65.5 ± 7.2 mmHg in the group without ulcers; p = 0.006). Conclusions: It can be concluded that decreased PVP in SSc is associated with a decrease in the blood flow of these patients, predisposing them to cutaneous ischemic ulcers.


The nearby star α Oph (Ras Alhague) is a rapidly rotating A5IV star spinning at ∼ 89% of its breakup velocity. This system has been imaged extensively by interferometric techniques, giving a precise geometric model of the star's oblateness and the resulting temperature variation on the stellar surface. Fortuitously, α Oph has a previously known stellar companion, and characterization of the orbit provides an independent, dynamically based check of both the host star and the companion mass. Such measurements are crucial to constrain models of such rapidly rotating stars. In this study, we combine eight years of adaptive optics imaging data from the Palomar, AEOS, and CFHT telescopes to derive an improved, astrometric characterization of the companion orbit. We also use photometry from these observations to derive a model-based estimate of the companion mass. A fit was performed on the photocenter motion of this system to extract a component mass ratio. We find masses of 2.40+0.23−0.37 M☉ and 0.85+0.06−0.04 M☉ for α Oph A and α Oph B, respectively. Previous orbital studies of this system found a mass too high for this system, inconsistent with stellar evolutionary calculations. Our measurements of the host star mass are more consistent with these evolutionary calculations, but with slightly higher uncertainties. In addition to the dynamically derived masses, we use IJHK photometry to derive a model-based mass for α Oph B, of 0.77 ± 0.05 M☉ marginally consistent with the dynamical masses derived from our orbit. Our model fits predict a periastron passage on 2012 April 19, with the two components having a 50 mas separation from 2012 March to May. A modest amount of interferometric and radial velocity data during this period could provide a mass determination of this star at the few percent level.


Recently a floating vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) concept that integrates a VAWT with a steel fishing cage has been developed by leading authors. In order to fathom the kinetic characteristics and performance of this floater under wind and wave joint loads, a series of model tests have been carried out in the ocean basin located at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School. The wind generation system of this facility allows turbulent wind to be produced such that examination of wind-wave joint actions can be extended to a number of stochastic scenarios. With a scale of 1/40th, the physical models of the floating VAWT and the platform of a steel fishing cage are introduced first. Details are also given to instrumentations and measurement methods. Then, thrust-wind speed tests, free-decay tests, and basin wind-wave tests are respectively carried out to probe the primary dynamic performance of the floating system. The second-order hydrodynamic effects are observed in tests, but they play a secondary role in the response of VAWTs as compared to aerodynamic effects. The aerodynamic loads can induce the obvious low-frequency response at surge and pitch eigen-frequencies, while for heave motion response its contribution is smaller. Additionally, test results reveal that third-per-revolution (3P) effects are insignificant in the platform's surge, pitch and heave dynamic responses.


Trust is the principle foundation of partnering and relationship management. Successful partnering can only be achieved when a cooperative relationship is built between partners. In order to build either a long or short-term relationship, trust is a major component because of the increase in openness it engenders between parties. This paper discusses how procurement methods in the construction industry are changing and moving towards a more relationship-based contracting approach. This paper details the role of trust in facilitating relationship-based contracting from a general perspective to its implications for a construction project. The authors indicate how changes in procurement culture towards sustainable business relationships benefit different parties in the industry and have the potential to achieve empowerment and regional development. This paper is based on research undertaken in the public sector in Queensland, Australia.


The polychaete Capitella sp. A, collected in a NW Mediterranean fish farm (Les Cases d'Alcanar, Tarragona, Spain), was cultured for the first time under experimental conditions with different organically enriched sediments to study the differences in development and growth. The species proved to be dioecious and had lecithotrophic development. Sizes of individuals and duration of the developmental stages varied widely, as in most known species of Capitella. In organically enriched sediments, the juveniles were seen one day after hatching and immature females (i.e. with yellow ovaries) after 52 days. Females may reach maturity (i.e. show white intra-coelomic oocytes) at about 64 days old, and the species had a life span of 167 days. According to its development, Capitella sp. A differs from all known lecithotrophic species of the genus. The results also proved that organically enrichment enhanced growth and survival, whereas lowering food can cause morphological alterations such as reduced size in male genital spines.


During the recently completed East Pacific Investigation of Climate Processes in the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere System (EPIC) field program, the NOAA research vessel Ronald H. Brown (RHB) was deployed in the east Pacific Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) for approximately 3 weeks near 10 deg. N, 95 deg. W. One of the principal objectives of the EPIC-ITCZ program was to observe the modulation of convection by synoptic-scale easterly waves and the air-sea coupling process in this poorly sampled region of the east Pacific. Data from the experiment will be used as validation to improve forecast models. The RHB carried a variety of platforms during EPIC to sample atmospheric and oceanic phenomena, including a scanning C-band Doppler radar, radiation flux instrumentation, air-sea flux system, Doppler lidar, 35 GHz cloud radar, UHF wind profiler, sea surface temperature (SST) sensors, as well as standard surface meteorological instrumentation and a suite of rain gauges. This presentation will focus on the analysis of C-band radar data that was collected on 10 September, 2001 as the ship passed through an easterly wave which later developed into hurricane Ivo. The ship captured approximately 12 hours of convection associated with the tropical disturbance. During this period, the domain sampled by the radar (approximately 71,000 sq km) contained a significant number of echo features. Specifically, the fraction of the domain containing radar echo above 10 dBZ reached 80% for over 2 hours and remained near 60% for a continuous six hour period. Animation of radar images showed distinct rotation in echo features associated with the easterly wave passage. Despite an approximate 4 C drop in surface air temperature and sustained winds approaching 20 m/ s, the SST remained nearly constant throughout the observation period (approx. 29.5 C). Peak values of latent and sensible heat flux exceeded 400 and 100 W /sq m, respectively. The radar documented the change in precipitation vertical structure as the ship passed through regions of significant convection with echo tops approaching 14 km and 30 dBZ echo tops extending to near 9 km embedded in regions that were predominantly stratiform in nature. Single Doppler retrievals (Extended Velocity Azimuth Display) were conducted continuously at 10-minute resolution for approximately 4 hours in the latter part of the observation period, and documented the transition from convection (low-level convergence, upper level divergence) to stratiform (mid-level convergence sandwiched between upper and lower level divergence) kinematic structure.


Pathophysiological changes in infection or inflammation are associated with alterations in the production of numerous absorption-, distribution-, metabolism-, and excretion-related proteins. However, little information is available on the effects of inflammation on the expression levels and activities of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. We examined the effects of acute (on day 7) and chronic (on day 21) inflammation on the expression of ABC transporters in some major tissues in rats. Adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) in rats was used as an animal model of inflammation. The mRNA levels of mdr1a and mdr1b encoding P-glycoprotein (P-gp) decreased significantly in the liver of AA rats on day 21. Hepatic protein levels of P-gp, Mrp2, and Bcrp decreased significantly in the membrane but not in the homogenate of AA rats after 7 days and after 21 days of treatment with adjuvant. Recently, ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) proteins have been found to show linker activity for some transporters and F-actin. We examined the expression levels and functions of ERM proteins in AA because the membrane localization of ABC transporters was decreased without any change in total expression levels. In this review, we summarize our recent work and reports of ERM proteins relevant to ABC transporters.


We show that the maximin average redundancy in pattern coding is eventually larger than 1.84 (n/log n)1/3 for messages of length n. This improves recent results on pattern redundancy, although it does not fill the gap between known lower- and upper-bounds. The pattern of a string is obtained by replacing each symbol by the index of its first occurrence. The problem of pattern coding is of interest because strongly universal codes have been proved to exist for patterns while universal message coding is impossible for memoryless sources on an infinite alphabet. The proof uses fine combinatorial results on partitions with small summands.


Service innovation for searching creative chef has become an issue of hospitality human resource management (HRM) website. Creative Chef has been the key of competitive advantage not only for culinary industry but also for hospitality HRM website. The purpose of this research is to explore chef's creativity for the service innovation of hospitality HRM website. Qualitative method was conducted to reveal the origin of chef's creativity. The Result shows that model of personal characteristics and environmental factors can help to identify creative chef for hospitality HRM website and culinary industry.


This paper proposes the use of Factored Translation Models (FTMs) for improving a Speech into Sign Language Translation System. These FTMs allow incorporating syntactic-semantic information during the translation process. This new information permits to reduce significantly the translation error rate. This paper also analyses different alternatives for dealing with the non-relevant words. The speech into sign language translation system has been developed and evaluated in a specific application domain: the renewal of Identity Documents and Driver's License. The translation system uses a phrase-based translation system (Moses). The evaluation results reveal that the BLEU (BiLingual Evaluation Understudy) has improved from 69.1% to 73.9% and the mSER (multiple references Sign Error Rate) has been reduced from 30.6% to 24.8%.


Coal combustion is investigated in both air and oxy-fuel conditions in a pilot-scale entrained flow reactor able to provide high temperatures, heating rates and residence times. Measurements are carried out with different levels of complexity and are aimed at: assessing the thermal field inside the reactor; evaluating conversions of devolatilization or char combustion tests; identifying phenomena such as volatiles ignition and measuring the ignition delay time. Computational Fluid Dynamics was also used in order to provide a better understanding of the experimental evidences. Among the results, the ignition delay time was found to be larger in oxy-fuel conditions than in air, mainly because of the larger specific heat of the oxy-fuel environment. The proposed investigation may help the qualification of advanced experimental apparatus as entrained flow reactors, with the purpose to make them suitable for heterogeneous kinetics studies in oxy-fuel conditions.


Three-dimensional (3-D) integration technologies using through-silicon vias (TSV's) are described. We have developed a 3-D integration technology using TSV's based on a wafer-to-wafer bonding method for the fabrication of new 3-D LSIs. A 3-D image sensor chip, 3-D shared memory chip, 3-D artificial retina chip and 3-D microprocessor test chip have been fabricated by using this technology. In addition, we have developed a new 3-D integration technology based on a reconfigured wafer-to-wafer bonding method called a super-chip integration. A number of known good dies (KGDs) are simultaneously aligned and bonded onto lower chips or wafers with high alignment accuracy by using a new self-assembly technique in a super-chip integration.


In this article, we present a novel assay to probe the interactions between heparin and heparin-binding peptides based on CALNN pentapeptide-stabilized gold nanoparticles. This assay relies on rapid aggregation of gold nanoparticles and dramatic retardation in the presence of a large excess of heparin due to the binding of peptides to heparin. Using this method, the dissociation constant ( K d) and melting temperature ( T m) of three different peptides against heparin were determined. The results from capillary electrophoresis demonstrated that K d values measured by this method were comparatively accurate. It was found that the peptide with the lowest K d did not have the highest T m. Structural analysis by circular dichroism was performed to explain this phenomenon. A comparison with the results from affinity chromatography indicates that electrostatic interactions only are not the major determinant of the affinity between heparin and peptide, but other interactions such as hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic interactions may play important roles in the overall interactions. This novel assay is inexpensive, label-free, and easy to implement in the laboratories, does not suffer precipitation of the heparin-peptide complex or their conformational changes caused by surface immobilization, and is expected to be a useful complement to other existing methods.


An Exploration of Fairness examines a concept that is simultaneously simple and extraordinarily complex – fairness. Simple in that we often intuitively understand situations to be fair or unfair. Complex, in that the notion of fairness is very much grounded in where we are situated, including race, gender, class, economic status, country, and life experience. There is considerable scholarship on the concept of fairness, but this volume is unique in the broad range of research disciplines that have come together to examine in depth what is meant by fairness, how it can be achieved, measured, shared. From its application in law, economics and business to how it can be interpreted in cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology and kinesiology, it integrates the visual and performing arts as essential features of fairness. Through this interdisciplinary lens, the ethical and normative dimensions of fairness are understood, drawing on its historical and philosophical origins and its role in citizenship and political obligation. Each discipline, each chapter, informs the others, to deepen our understanding of fairness.


There is a continuous effort by animation experts to create increasingly realistic and more human-like digital characters. However, as virtual characters become more human they risk evoking a sense of unease in their audience. This sensation, called the Uncanny Valley effect, is widely acknowledged both in the popular media and scientific research but empirical evidence for the hypothesis has remained inconsistent. In this paper, we investigate the neural responses to computer-generated faces in a cognitive neuroscience study. We record brain activity from participants (N = 40)} using electroencephalography (EEG) while they watch videos of real humans and computer-generated virtual characters. Our results show distinct differences in neural responses for highly realistic computer-generated faces such as Digital Emily compared with real humans. These differences are unique only to agents that are highly photorealistic, i.e. the `uncanny' response. Based on these specific neural correlates we train a support vector machine~(SVM) to measure the probability of an uncanny response for any given computer-generated character from EEG data. This allows the ordering of animated characters based on their level of `uncanniness'.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To determine the status of filtering bleb function following pars plana vitrectomy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The authors retrospectively reviewed patients with functioning filtering blebs undergoing pars plana vitrectomy.

RESULTS
Twenty-three eyes with functioning filtering blebs underwent pars plana vitrectomy. Postoperatively, 7/23 (30 percent) of the eyes had moderate (5 to 20 mm Hg) intraocular pressure (IOP), 8/23 of the eyes had IOP persistently greater than 20 mm Hg, and 7/23 of the eyes had IOP of less than 5 mm Hg. One of 7 eyes that underwent vitrectomy within 6 weeks after trabeculectomy maintained bleb function, whereas 6 of 16 eyes that underwent trabeculectomy 6 weeks or later maintained bleb function. Loss of bleb function occurred in the early postoperative period in the majority of the patients. Prior antimetabolite therapy was not associated with preservation of bleb function.

CONCLUSION
There is a substantial risk of bleb failure following vitrectomy, which is in part related to the often severe nature of the diseases requiring vitreoretinal surgery.


In the last few years there has been increasing interest in the development of 3-D display in medical imaging
techniques. 3-D imaging is capable of enhancing the anatomic information of the images. This technique
facilitates the localization of normal and pathologic structures and the understanding of spatial relationships.
Computer reconstructed 3-D VIews of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) have improved image interpretation by clinicians especially in reconstructive and orthopaedic
surgery. Although the advantageous features of 3-D display are well recognized for radiologic
imaging methods, 3-D data acquisition in ultrasonography has not yet found broad clinical acceptance. This
has been mainly due to the lack of hardware appropriate for clinical use and the time required for data processing
of high resolution 3-D images. However, recently some experimental solutions


Maize mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA's were prepared from normal (fertile) lines or single crosses and from members of the T, C, and S groups of male-sterile cytoplasms. Restriction endonucleases HindIII, BamI, EcoRI, and SalI were used to restrict the DNA, and the resultant fragments were electrophoresed in agarose gels. The results show that the N (fertile), T, C, and S cytoplasms each contained distinct mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). These distinctive patterns were unaffected by nuclear genotype. No evidence of paternal inheritance of mtDNA was observed. Chloroplast DNA (ctDNA) from the N, C, and T cytoplasms was indistinguishable by HindIII, SalI, or EcoRI endonuclease digestion. The S cytoplasm ctDNA, however, was slightly different from that of other cytoplasms, as indicated by a slight displacement of one band in HindIII digests. The molecular weight of maize ctDNA was estimated to be as high as 88 x 10(6). Estimates of the minimum molecular weight of maize mtDNA ranged from 116-131 x 10(6), but the patterns were to complex for an unambiguous determination. Based on HindIII data, a comparison of the molecular weight of mtDNA bands common to the N, T. C, and S cytoplasms suggests that C cytoplasm most closely resembles N cytoplasm. The T and S sources are more divergent from the C and N cytoplasms. These results indicate a possible gradation of relatedness among male-sterile cytoplasms. The marked variation in mtDNA, with apparently less variation in ctDNA, represents circumstantial, but compelling, evidence that mtDNA may be involved in the male sterility and disease susceptibility traits in maize.


In some men with germ cell maturation arrest, spermatogenesis can be resumed during in-vitro culture of testicular biopsy samples. In this study, we examined whether similar differentiation events can be induced in cultured germ cells from cryopreserved testicular biopsy specimens. Fresh and cryopreserved aliquots of the same testicular biopsy samples were cultured in medium supplemented with FSH and testosterone. After 24 and 48 h of culture, the progression of spermatogenesis and the percentage of Sertoli cells with DNA damage, detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL), were evaluated. Spermatogenesis progressed in a similar way in fresh and cryopreserved aliquots over the first 24 h of culture. However, in contrast to fresh aliquots, no additional progress of spermatogenesis was detected between the 24 and 48 h time points. The percentage of TUNEL-positive Sertoli cells in fresh aliquots showed only a moderate increase after 24 h of culture, whereas most Sertoli cells from cryopreserved aliquots became TUNEL-positive during the same culture period. These data show that limited progression of spermatogenesis can be achieved by culturing cryopreserved testicular biopsy specimens for 24 h, but no additional benefit can be expected from prolonging the culture beyond this time point.


Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironment of deposition of sediments penetrated by Akukwa-1 Well was carried out with a total of 253ditch cuttings using the conventional maceration technique for recovering of acid insoluble organic-walled microfossils from sediments. Sedimentological description delineated five (5) lithological units within the well, which included those of Nkporo Shale, Mamu Formation, Ajali Sandstone, Nsukka Formation and Imo Shale. A total of 14 genera and 35 species of dinoflagellate cyst were identified. The recovered dinocysts were used to establish palaeoenvironment which ranged from marginal to shallow marine, the forms were also used to propose four (4) informal dinoflagellate cyst zonations labelled (A-D) based on the first and last occurrences of two or more species. They included Zone A (Apectodinium paniculatum zone), occurring at 7990ft(Maastrichtian), zone B(Paleocystodinium australinium zone) occurring between 7990ft -4000ft (Upper Maastrichtian), zone C(Apectodinium homomorphum zone) occurring between 4000ft -2550ft (Upper Maastrichtian), and zone D(Homotryblum palladium zone) occurring between 5550ft-1520ft(Paleocene- Early Eocene). The erected dinocyst zones were correlated with the existing biozones in tropical areas of Africa and northern South America.


Maps of mean monthly surface temperature and precipitation for Alaska and adjacent areas of Canada, produced by Oregon State University's Spatial Climate Analysis Service (SCAS) and the Alaska Geospatial Data Clearinghouse (AGDC), were analyzed. Because both sets of maps are generally available and in use by the community, there is a need to document differences between the processes and input data sets used by the two groups to produce their respective set of maps and to identify similarities and differences between the two sets of maps and possible reasons for the differences. These differences do not affect the observed large-scale patterns of seasonal and annual variability. Alaska is divided into interior and coastal zones, with consistent but different variability, separated by a transition region. The transition region has high interannual variability but low long-term mean variability. Both data sets support the four major ecosystems and ecosystem transition zone identified in our earlier work. Differences between the two sets of maps do occur, however, on the regional scale; they reflect differences in physiographic domains and in the treatment of these domains by the two groups (AGDC, SCAS). These differences also provide guidance for an improved observational network for Alaska. On the basis of validation with independent in situ data, we conclude that the data set produced by SCAS provides the best spatial coverage of Alaskan long-term mean monthly surface temperature and precipitation currently available.


Three asymmetrical dithienosilole monomers with different electron withdrawing groups (nonanoyl group, octyl cyanoacetate or malononitrile) were synthesized and a series of silicon containing conjugated polymers (PBDTDTSi-1, PBDTDTSi-2 to PBDTDTSi-3) were prepared from these asymmetrical dithienosilole building blocks via microwave assisted polymerization. Density functional theory (DFT) quantum chemistry calculations were employed for the optimization of molecular structures, deep understanding of the electronic structures and their photophysical properties. When these polymers were utilized as the donor materials for polymer solar cells (PSCs), the influence of side chains on the photovoltaic performance was investigated and all the polymers presented high open-circuit voltage above 1.0 V. PSCs with a blend of PBDTDTSi-1:PC71BM (1 : 4, by weight) as the active layer showed the highest power conversion efficiency of 3.29%, with an open-circuit voltage of 1.07 V, a short-circuit current density of 7.53 mA cm−2, and a fill factor of 0.41. Our research revealed that the variation of substituents on the dithienosilole moieties had a great influence on the morphology of blend films and charge carrier mobilities, which are crucial to the performance of PSCs.


Based on the conserved protein sequence of thioredoxins from yeast and other organisms, two primers were synthesized for polymerase chain reaction of yeast genomic DNA. A 34-base pair (bp) sequence around the active site of yeast thioredoxin was obtained from the polymerase chain reaction product. This specific sequence was used as a probe in Southern blot analysis of total yeast genomic DNA digested with various restriction enzymes. Under conditions of high stringency, more than one DNA species hybridized with the probe, suggesting that more than one gene encodes yeast genomic library. Two Sau3A1 fragments, 825 and 2045 bp, respectively, from two different clones were cloned into pUC13. Sequence analysis of these fragments gave two different open reading frames without introns. The 825-bp Sau3A1 fragment encodes a 103-amino acid residue protein named thioredoxin I. The 2045-bp Sau3A1 fragment contains a sequence encoding thioredoxin II which has 102 amino acid residues. This is the first report of the cloning and sequencing of eukaryotic thioredoxin genes from any source. Both yeast thioredoxins contain a dithiol active site sequence, Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys. Thioredoxins I and II show 78% amino acid sequence identity. They display more amino acid sequence similarity with mammalian thioredoxin than with Escherichia coli and plant chloroplast thioredoxins.


Autophagy is a catabolic membrane-trafficking process that occurs in all eukaryotic cells and leads to the hydrolytic degradation of cytosolic material in the vacuolar or lysosomal lumen. Mitophagy, a selective form of autophagy targeting mitochondria, is poorly understood at present. Several recent reports suggest that mitophagy is a selective process that targets damaged mitochondria, whereas other studies imply a role formitophagy in cell death processes. In a screen for protein phosphatase homologs that functionally interact with the autophagy-dedicated protein kinase Atg1p in yeast, we have identified Aup1p, encoded by Saccharomyces cerevisiae reading frame YCR079w. Aup1p is highly similar to a family of protein phosphatase homologs in animal cells that are predicted to localize to mitochondria based on sequence analysis. Interestingly, we found thatAup1p localizes to themitochondrial intermembrane space and is required for efficient mitophagy in stationary phase cells. Viability studies demonstrate that Aup1p is required for efficient survival of cells in prolonged stationary phase cultures, implying a pro-survival role for mitophagy under our working conditions. Our data suggest that Aup1pmay be part of a signal transduction mechanism that marks mitochondria for sequestration into autophagosomes.


Recently, a man has been actively working to obtain new types of malts that are used as raw materials for food production. The study aim is to develop methods for obtain ing malts from buckwheat grain. The study objects are five malt samples obtained from buckwheat grain: light (control), two caramel (subtypes I and II) and two dark (subtypes I and II). The manufacture methods of colored malts differed in the use of conversion procedures for dark and conversion and fermentation procedures for caramel, as well as thermal load level during drying. There are indicators of buckwheat malt: moisture mass fraction, extract and protein substances, Kohlbach number, amine nitrogen content, color, viscosity, titrated acidity. The thesis consists of technological schemes for obtaining light and dark malts from buckwheat. The types of malt obtained differed in organoleptic and physico-chemical properties. Caramel malt samples had a weak malt aroma and a sweet taste with a nutty taste, more pronounced in subtype II. Dark malt samples had the ab sence of a nutty taste. Higher extractivity, lower Kohlbach number and amine nitrogen levels, and higher chromaticity for caramel II and dark II compared to the control sample led to the main differences in physico-chemical parameters. The results showed that the viscosity of buckwheat malt samples 3 and 5 was 1.12 and 1.03 mPa∙s. The resulting malt from buckwheat can be recommended for the gluten-free food products (kvass, malt and low-alcohol fermented beverages, confectionery, etc.) manufacture in order to improve their flavor characteristics.


Portopulmonary hypertension is characterized by a chronic liver disease associated with a mean pulmonary artery pressure >25 mmHg at rest, an increased pulmonary vascular resistance and a capillary pulmonary pressure <15 mmHg with portal hypertension. Schistosomiasis may be an aetiology of this syndrome, however, few cases have been reported. We describe the first cases of portopulmonary hypertension with schistosomiasis in Malagasy patients. There were 2 men aged of 18 and 20 from hyperendemic area of schistosomiasis in Madagascar Both had a history of repeated water contact. They presented a dyspnea associated with ascites and oedema. Clinical examination showed portal and pulmonary hypertension with right ventricular heart failure. Cardiac examination revealed a systolic murmur and splint of the second heart pulmonary Pulmonary hypertension was confirmed by cardiac ultrasonogaphy Serology of bilharzias was positive. Parasitological examination showed eggs of S. mansoni. The treatment based on salt-free diet, spironolactone and praziquantel led to a better evolution of symptoms (case 1). Symptoms of right heart failure remained for the second patient even though improvement was noted. In tropical countries, schistosomiasis may be one of the cause of portopulmonary hypertension and may appear in early age. Its treatment remains difficult as the drugs recommended are not affordable.


Background/Objectives: Aims to study the projection mapping technology which will project the multi-phase solid image in the curved display real time in the performance. Methods/Statistical analysis: Analyze the shape of the object to be mapped for the project and based on the analyzed characteristics, the structure of the installation of the applicable project to the actual object and the projection mapping production tool shall be developed and be applied to the elastic shape. Findings: According to the analysis result of the curved display, one projector did not suit the image and the distortion of the image occurred. According, it was divided into the four sections and projection mapping was made to minimize the problems, and the projection production tool which applied the geometric matching technology, edge blending technology, UDP telecommunication method etc based on the grid for the image matching using the Max/Msp was developed and the actual face shaped curved display was applied. Improvements/Applications: In order to conduct projection map precisely to the actuator moving real time, Z-depth should be considered and the advanced technology which matches the three dimensional mapping image should be applied.


Modern obstetrics is concerned with the health and well-being of both the mother and the unborn child. During the first two thirds of this century there was a pronounced decrease in maternal mortality and morbidity related to pregnancy. More recently, using the techniques of amniocentesis, antepartum fetal heart rate testing and ultrasound, obstetricians have been able to more accurately assess the health of a fetus. This knowledge has resulted in decreased perinatal mortality and morbidity and, when rigorously applied, a decrease in fetal loss.


Reducing eutrophication in our surface waters caused by nutrient overload is of importance in order to ensure an environment in ecological balance for future generations. Municipal wastewater treatment plants are the main point source of nutrients emissions. Effluent water can be treated by introducing a final advanced treatment step to existing wastewater treatment plants. The present thesis concerns addition of coagulation, polymer aided flocculation and discfiltration using a 10 μm media in tertiary treatment to reduce total phosphorous concentrations in municipal wastewater treatment plant effluents to < 0.1mg/l. Experiments were conducted in laboratory scale, using modified jar test and test tube filtration methodology, and in pilot scale. The pilot experiments were conducted as a two year study at Ruhleben WWTP in Berlin, Germany (OXERAM project), followed by two months at Lundakraverket WWTP, Landskrona, Sweden, and three weeks at Sjolunda WWTP, Malmo, Sweden. Various chemicals and combination of chemicals were tested at various doses. Furthermore diverse process conditions regarding hydraulic retention time and mixing intensity were applied to study the impact and to optimize chemical utilization, effluent water quality and discfilter performance. The preferred chemicals were polyaluminumchloride (PACl) as coagulant and as flocculant aid, polyacrylamide based cationic synthetic powder polymer of high molecular weight and medium to high charge density. Both iron chloride (FeCl3) and anionic powder polymers of polyacrylamide was producing an effluent similar in quality but filtration rate was reduced. Residual iron (Fe3+) in the effluent and polymer dosing was higher when dosing anionic polymer. The secondary effluents were on average containing 0.3 mg/l total phosphorus of which about 0.1 mg/l was identified as orthophosphate, 10 mg/l of suspended solids and 30-50 mg COD/l. Treating these effluents, the required dose to obtain an effluent containing < 0.1 mg/l total phosphorus was on average about 1.9 mg Al3+/l and 0.6 mg/l synthetic cationic polymer as active material for an optimized coagulation/flocculation process. Using iron instead of aluminum as a coagulant, a dose of about 5 mgFe3+/l and an increased polymer dosing to about 1-1.5 mg/l was required. Experiments were conducted on wastewater treatment plants with various process configurations including plants with activated sludge, BIODENIPHO ® and plants with activated sludge and biofilm systems. The required dose to achieve < 0.1 mg/l total phosphorous in the effluent was on a molar basis identified to be similar for the three pilot plant experiments. A molar ratio of 5-7 moleAl3+/mole influent total phosphorus was shown to be applicable and 0.07-0.1 mg polymer / mg influent suspended solids was to be applied. These findings are of interest if load proportional dosing relying on online measurement of influent phosphorus and suspended solids is to be considered. Mixing intensity in the coagulation and flocculating stage was shown to influence the discfiltration process in achieving optimum chemical utilization, effluent water quality and discfilter performance. Mixing intensity, defined as the mean velocity gradient G, of up to 270 s-1 in the coagulation stage and 150 s-1 in the flocculation stage was found to be applicable and an improvement in chemical utilization and increased filtration rates without loss in effluent water quality was observed. This is higher than normally recommended for other processes such as sedimentation or dissolved air flotation and a tradeoff between decreased chemical usage, improved filtration rate and an increased energy demand for mixing has to be considered. Furthermore for improved performance, a useful mixing intensity was identified to be G=150-250 s-1 for coagulation and G=120-170 s-1 for flocculation and to be combined with a hydraulic retention time around 2-3 minutes in coagulation and 6-8 minutes in the flocculation. Moreover, it is also argued that a hydraulic retention time of 1.5 minutes in the coagulation and 4 minutes in flocculation could be applied when designing for peak flow conditions and this would not have an impact on overall performance to obtain an average TP of < 0.1 mg/l. It was observed that the chemicals and dosages was affecting the performance of the pilot in a similar way as observed in the laboratory experiments regarding effluent water quality and filtration rates, thus the laboratory jar and test tube filtration experiment were qualitatively estimating performance of a pilot plant and therefore it can reduce time for optimization and the duration of pilot experiments would be shortened. It was also shown that the measuring of total phosphorus with the cuvette method relying on the formation of molybdenum blue was comparable with the more advanced ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry) method. Furthermore, the general improvement in effluent water quality from the coagulation, flocculation and discfiltration process was shown to give secondary benefits by improving the ozone utilization in reducing micro pollutants in secondary effluents. Applying coagulation, flocculation and discfiltration prior to ozonation the applicable ozone dose could be reduced by about 1.5 mg/l for the same micro pollutant reduction. (Less)


Practical considerations in the design of an optically multiplexed ladar fiber-optic linear position sensing system are discussed including network architecture, bus fiber count, fault location, sensor separation and network efficiency. The results of a six channel multiplexing experiment using a single laser diode are presented.


Glioblastomas are the most common malignant primary brain tumours in adults and one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers. No effective treatment exits actually for this tumour and new therapeutic approaches are needed for this disease. One possible innovative approach involves the nanoparticle-mediated specific delivery of drugs and/or genetic material to glioblastoma cells where they can provide therapeutic benefits. In the present work, we have synthesised and characterised several second generation amphiphilic polylysine dendrons to be used as siRNA carriers. We have found that, in addition to their siRNA binding properties, these new compounds inhibit the proliferation of two glioblastoma cell lines while being nontoxic for non-tumoural central nervous system cells like neurons and glia, cell types that share the anatomical space with glioblastoma cells during the course of the disease. The selective toxicity of these nanoparticles to glioblastoma cells, as compared to neurons and glial cells, involves mitochondrial depolarisation and reactive oxygen species production. This selective toxicity, together with the ability to complex and release siRNA, suggests that these new polylysine dendrons might offer a scaffold in the development of future nanoparticles designed to restrict the proliferation of glioblastoma cells.


Jaroslav Bukovina: Sentiment of a society and large-cap stock liquidity. The impact of sentiment in the sample of small and young companies due to higher transaction and information costs is a generally agreed notion. On the contrary, such impact is less likely in the sample of large-cap stock companies. However, this paper goes beyond this notion and shows that we can study the influence of sentiment even at the level of large-cap companies due to the following reasons. Firstly, the paper is unique by employment of social media Facebook data as a proxy for the sentiment of a society related to the individual corporation. Such data have a potential to provide deeper insights in a society's behavior. Secondly, the author proposes the volume of trade or liquidity as a variable which incorporates sentiment in a society better than stock returns. Empirical results confirm this prediction. Overall, the paper shows the existence of the negative link between sentiment in the society and volume of trade at the level of large-cap corporations.


At a time when worldwide water shortage is increasing, seawater is being viewed as an inexhaustible supply of freshwater via the process of seawater desalination. As a result, seawater desalination is becoming more popular, especially in areas where freshwater is scarce, such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which accounts for half of all global saltwater desalination activities. To enhance the efficiency of saltwater desalination, thermal and membrane-based desalination technologies are continually being developed and hybridized systems established. Brine is an unavoidable product of seawater desalination and is commonly disposed of in oceans and seas, where it has negative effects on the surrounding marine environment and its biodiversity due to the resultant increased salinity and temperature, as well as the presence of chemicals. Furthermore, the quality and amount of brine are influenced by several parameters, including the input quality and quantity, the desalination process, and the discharge method. The intensity of brine's influence on the marine biota is determined by a number of factors; nevertheless, marine species differ in their tolerance to brine's effects. Desalination technology is improving to maximize water recovery and reduce the volume of brine produced, with the objective of eventually reaching zero liquid discharge and limiting harmful effects on the marine environment. Meanwhile, proper systems for analyzing the effects of seawater desalination facilities on the marine ecology must be implemented. This review study will look at all of the factors that determine the physicochemical features of desalination brine, with a focus on its impact on marine chemistry and biodiversity. More crucially, the most cutting-edge brine management methods will be investigated for long-term desalination and a healthy marine ecosystem.


Paradoxically, some TRPV1 agonists are, at the organismal level, both non-pungent and clinically useful as topical analgesics. Here, we describe the scaled-up synthesis and characterization in mouse models of a novel, non-pungent vanilloid. Potent analgesic ac-tivity was observed in models of neuropathic pain, and the compound blocked capsaicin induced allodynia, showing dermal accu-mulation with little transdermal absorption. Finally, it displayed much weaker systemic toxicity compared to capsaicin and was negative in assays of genotoxicity.


Stochastic models for triangular data are derived and applied to claims reserving data. The standard actuarial technique, the so-called "chain-ladder technique" is given a sound statistical foundation and considered as a linear model. This linear model, the '"Chain Ladder Linear Model" is extended to encompass Bayesian, empirical Bayes and dynamic estimation. The empirical Bayes results are given a credibility theory interpretation, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches are highlighted. Finally, the methods are extended to two-dimensional systems and results based on classical time series and Kalman filtering theory are produced. The empirical Bayes estimation results are very useful, practically, and can be compared to the Kalman filter estimates. They have the advantage that no prior information is required: the Kalman filter method requires the state and observation variances to be specified. For illustration purposes the estimates from the empirical Bayes procedure are used. The empirical Bayes results can also be compared with credibility theory estimators, although they retain the general statistical advantages of the linear modelling approach. For the classical theory, unbiased estimates of outstanding claims, reserves and variances are derived, and prediction intervals for total outstanding claims are produced. Maximum likelihood theory is utilised to derive the distributions of quantities relating to the column parameters which have actuarial interpretations. The row totals are also considered. Bayesian estimates of similar quantities are derived for the methods based on Bayes theory.


The toxic effects of digitoxin and ouabain were studied in 65 cats anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital or with urethane-chloralose. 1. A consistent relationship was found between the appearance of cardiac irregularities and the fatal dose of each glucoside. Cardiac irregularities occurred after the infusion of about 75% of the fatal dose of digitoxin; with ouabain, they appeared after the injection of about 60% of the fatal dose. 2. This difference in the cardiac action between digitoxin and ouabain was found to be the same regardless of the type of anesthesia employed. 3. Atropine delayed the occurrence of irregularities following ouabain until about 75% of the fatal dose had been injected; it did not influence significantly the occurrence of irregularities produced by digitoxin. 4. The results are interpreted as evidence for a difference in the cardiac action between digitoxin and ouabain in cats. Ouabain exerts an effect upon the vagus which can be suppressed by atropine; digitoxin does not have this effect.


This article investigates the need and ability of competitive intelligence (CI) departments to become accountable for the work they produce. Synthesis of current literature on CI and advertising effectiveness measures resulted in the creation of a Competitive Intelligence Measurement Model (CIMM), which provides concrete generic measures for determining CI effectiveness. Additionally, the model aids in the calculation of the return on competitive intelligence investment (ROCII). CIMM classifies CI output into two categories: short-term tactical CI output and long-term strategic CI output. The model describes measures needed to determine effectiveness of CI output and explains how to calculate ROCII. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Stȩpniak [Linear Algebra Appl. 151 (1991)] considered the problem of equivalence of the Löwner partial order of nonnegative definite matrices and the Löwner partial order of squares of those matrices. The paper was an important starting point for investigations of the problem of how an order between two matrices A and B from different sets of matrices can be preserved for the squares of the corresponding matrices A and B, in the sense of the Löwner partial ordering, the star partial ordering, the minus partial ordering, and the sharp partial ordering. Many papers have since been published (mostly coauthored by J.K. Baksalary to whom the present paper is dedicated) that generalize the results in two directions: by widening the class of matrices considered and by replacing the squares by arbitrary powers. In the present paper we make a résumé of some of these results and suggest some further generalizations for polynomials of the matrices considered.


Galaxy is a web-based and open-source scientific data-processing platform. Researchers compose pipelines in Galaxy to analyse scientific data. These pipelines, also known as workflows, can be complex and difficult to create from thousands of tools, especially for researchers new to Galaxy. To make creating workflows easier, faster and less error-prone, a predictive system is developed to recommend tools facilitating further analysis. A model is created to recommend tools by analysing workflows, composed by researchers on the European Galaxy server, using a deep learning approach. The higher-order dependencies in workflows, represented as directed acyclic graphs, are learned by training a gated recurrent units (GRU) neural network, a variant of a recurrent neural network (RNN). The weights of tools used in the neural network training are derived from their usage frequencies over a period of time. The hyper-parameters of the neural network are optimised using Bayesian optimisation. An accuracy of 97% in predicting tools is achieved by the model for precision@1, precision@2 and precision@3 metrics. It is accessed by a Galaxy API to recommend tools in real-time. Multiple user interface (UI) integrations on the server communicate with this API to apprise researchers of these recommended tools interactively. Contact email@example.com email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com


This review describes shortly phenomena that take place in different parts of central nervous system (CNS) after the spinal cord injury: 1/ due to axotomy many of neurones present outside the cavity of lesion (even those of supraspinal origin) can atrophy or die as an effect of necrosis or apoptosis; 2/ at the injury site itself, the primary and secondary effects lead to increased cell loss and the scar or cyst formation that are the mechanical barrier for regenerating axons; 3/ due to abolished conduction across the injury site the spinal cord circuitry below the lesion is deprived of supraspinal inputs. Then this review presents the new therapeutic strategies that were developed recently to obtain at least partial recovery of motor functions after spinal cord injury. The cell body can be rescued by applying various factors that increase intrinsic neural repair (e.g. neurotrophins or anti-apoptotic agents). To enhance the axonal regrowth through the lesion cavity, the scar and cyst formation can be reduced by constructing the bridges using e.g. the Schwann cells, fetal tissue, stem cells, olfactory ensheating glial cells, or by application of macrophages. To induce partial restoration of some functions that are controlled by neural circuitry below the lesion the various methods for enhancing the plasticity in segmental circuitry were developed (e.g. rehabilitation by locomotor training or intraspinal transplantation of monoaminergic cells). As a consequence of the great unpredictability of effects obtained after injury at different parts of the spinal cord the various strategies for repair need to be coordinated for optimal recovery.


Background: Respiratory tract infections (RTI) in immunosuppressed pediatric patients with malignancies or after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Prospective data on the incidence and clinical role of infections by respiratory viruses in this population have been lacking. Methods: In this prospective study, 191 children between 0 and 18 years of age were investigated by real-time polymerase chain reaction for the presence of 8 common respiratory virus types in transnasal aspirations. The study included 110 children with leukemia, lymphoma, or solid tumors (subgroup 1); 31 children after HSCT (subgroup 2); and 50 immunocompetent control patients. Results: In comparison with the control group, immunocompromised children showed a significantly higher incidence of positive virus tests (subgroup 1: 53%; subgroup 2: 81%; controls: 24%; P<0.0001), and more frequently experienced ensuing viral infections in the lower respiratory tract (subgroup 1: 74%; subgroup 2: 88%; controls: 25%; P<0.0001). Sixteen percent of these children had coinfections by 2 or more viruses and revealed more severe respiratory illness. Conclusions: The present epidemiologic study on viral upper RTI in immunocompromised children revealed a high virus-associated morbidity which was particularly prominent in HSCT recipients. In these children, detection of viral coinfections was identified as a risk factor for a severe course of lower RTI.


This study examined the performance of selected quoted deposit banks of Nigeria and
liquidity management. Secondary data used was extracted from the financial statements of 15 money deposit banks out of population of 17 deposit money banks on the
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for 2012–2017 (six years). The descriptive research
design was used. The data collected was analyzed using ordinary least square method
(OLS). Liquidity management was measured using capital ratio (CTR), current ratio
(CR) and cash ratio (CSR), while performance was measured using return on assets
(ROA). Based on the results of the study, liquidity management proxied by capital ratio,
current ratio and cash ratio and performance of the firm proxied by return on assets
are positively related. The result shows that liquidity management is an essential factor
in business operations and consequently leads to business profitability. Hence proper
liquidity management helps solve the agency theory problem of agency costs that arise
when control of companies is separated from the ownership, whereby managers are
able to employ the firm's resources for personal gains instead of maximizing the value
of the firm or the shareholders' wealth. The value of the firm and the shareholders'
wealth can be maximized through the firm's profitability via effective and efficient liquidity management.


Adipose tissue secretes many regulatory factors called adipokines. Adipokines affect the metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates. They also influence the regulation of the immune system and inflammation. The current study aimed to evaluate the association between markers related to obesity, diabesity and adipokines and metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity in young men. The study included 98 healthy participants. We divided participants into three subgroups based on body mass index and metabolic health definition: 49 metabolically healthy normal-weight patients, 27 metabolically healthy obese patients and 22 metabolically unhealthy obese patients. The 14 metabolic markers selected were measured in serum or plasma. The analysis showed associations between markers related to obesity, diabesity and adipokines in metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese participants. The decreased level of adipsin (p < 0.05) was only associated with metabolically healthy obesity, not with metabolically unhealthy obesity. The decreased level of ghrelin (p < 0.001) and increased level of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (p < 0.01) were only associated with metabolically unhealthy obesity, not with metabolically healthy obesity. The decreased level of adiponectin and increased levels of leptin, c-peptide, insulin and angiopoietin-like 3 protein were associated with metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity. In conclusion, our data show that metabolically healthy obesity was more similar to metabolically unhealthy obesity in terms of the analyzed markers related to obesity and diabesity.


ABO and Rhesus blood groups are the most important blood groups that are useful for transfusion purposes. The ABO and Rhesus blood groups vary in different populatios. Therefore, this study was aimed at providing information on the distribution of ABO and Rhesus blood groups among Medical students in Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria. A total of 95 medical students were randomly selected among the medical students of Bowen University, Iwo and tested. The blood samples were collected by cubital venipuncture. A drop of each anti-sera A, B and D was added and mixed with each blood sample and then rocked gently for 60 seconds to observed agglutination. The results showed variation in the percentage frequency distribution among the students. Blood group O among the ABO blood groups has the highest percentage frequency (51.6%) while blood group AB has the least percentage frequency (3.2%). The Rhesus distribution also varies among the four ABO blood groups. The total percentage of Rhesus-positive was 93.7% and that of Rhesus-negative was found to be 6.3%. Therefore, blood group O and Rhesus-positive has the highest frequency while blood group AB and Rhesus-negative has the least frequency among the Bowen University, Iwo medical students. The present study gives vital information regarding the management of blood bank and transfusion services in the community.


The effect of surface tilt on results of nanoindentation tests is studied for Berkovich, cube corner and conical indenters. The true projected areas are calculated as a function of tilt angle and orientation using the exact three dimensional geometry of each indenter. The true area is compared with the area when there is no tilt and the resulting error in hardness and modulus are discussed. It is found that the error increases with increasing tilt angle, and magnitude of the error increases as the equivalent cone angle of the indenter increases.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


New DDCsystem for batch-type coil annealing furnace was developed at Kashima cold strip mill. The purposes o f the system are; 1) Improvement of fuel consumption by combustion control 2) Improvement of operations by full use of CRT display and printer 3) Improvement of reliability and maintenance by the introduction of distributed control system. The characteristic of new combustion control is to lower the set point of the furnace temperature as low as possible, keeping the heating rate of the coil similar to that of conventional combustion control. This system was achieved by adoption of a distributed micro-computer control system.


AIMS
  This paper describes online recruitment and the email interviewing data collection method with women diagnosed with a viral sexually transmitted infection. The paper highlights the advantages of the method to researchers and participants when conducting research where face-to-face participation may difficult.

BACKGROUND
  Online recruitment and in-depth email interviewing have been used by only a small number of nurses internationally. The method enables inclusion of people who might otherwise be excluded from research, for reasons such as geographical distance, incompatible time frames, clinicians''gate-keeping' and participants' desire for anonymity for physical or emotional reasons.

METHODS
  In-depth email interviews were conducted with 26 women in New Zealand, United States of America, Canada and England who had a diagnosis of either human papilloma virus or genital herpes simplex virus. Data were collected during 2007-2008 and analysed using a poststructuralist, feminist thematic analysis.

RESULTS
  Participant retention was high. Women emphasized satisfaction with the process. Asynchronous interviews allowed for additional reflexivity in the researcher's responses and rich data generation.

CONCLUSION
  This method has the potential to enable nurses to include vulnerable and relatively inaccessible participants in 'sensitive' research. In-depth email interviews may generate rich data through a process participants deem to be of personal value.


Accurate topographic data are critical to restoration science and planning for the Everglades region of South Florida, USA. They are needed to monitor and simulate water level, water depth and hydroperiod and are used in scientific research on hydrologic and biologic processes. Because large wetland environments and data acquisition challenge conventional ground-based and remotely sensed data collection methods, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) adapted a classical data collection instrument to global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies. Data acquired with this instrument were processed using geostatistics to yield sub-water level elevation values with centimetre accuracy (±15 cm). The developed database framework, modelling philosophy and metadata protocol allow for continued, collaborative model revision and expansion, given additional elevation or other ancillary data.


A general problem in radiotherapy is to locate anatomical structures and other landmarks relative to the skin surface and reference markings. The authors have developed a computer program named COMPEN that enables the reconstruction of the skin surface from a pair of isocentric radiographs when fine metal chains are draped over the patient's skin. It is unnecessary to correlate particular points on the chains and in practice the images of the chains are simply traced into the computer using a digitiser. This program was originally developed to facilitate the production of tissue-deficit compensators but has been of value in contour production, lymph node localisation using lymphoscintigraphy and brachytherapy dose calculations.


Introduction: As the pulmonary tuberculosis is still rampant in our country inspite of directly observed treatment short course( DOTS). Recently it has been observed that diabetic patients having pulmonary tuberculosis have more morbidity and mortality hence it gives us the impetus to know whether pulmonary tuberculosis is leading to development of diabetes . Hence we had undertaken this study to know the prevalence of diabetes in these early diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients and assessing the pattern of drug resistance. Acute severe stress, fever, and malnutrition stimulate the stress hormones which is the cause of increased blood sugar level. Material and Methods : The study was done on 200 patients in the postgraduate department of Medicine and Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases, S.N. Medical College and Hospital, Agra. All newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients who were non diabetics,nonsmokers and does not have any chronic disease were taken.These patients after detail clinical examination were adviced oral glucose tolerance test(OGTT) and sputum culture sensitivity and devided into group A,(euglycemic),B impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and C(diabetic) on the basis of blood sugar level. Results: The prevalence of group B and C were 22.5% and 7.5% respectively.The development of multi drug resistance (MDR) tuberculosis accounted for nearly 37.5% in diabetics which is significantaly greater in comparison to IGT (33.3%) and nondiabetics (1.2%). Conclusionl: 1). The prevalence of frank diabetes and IGT in pulmonary tuberculosis is more than normal patients. 2). Response to therapy in the form of anti tuberculosis (ATT) has shown that some patients become euglycemic after 3 months of therapy. 3). MDR is more common in group C. 4). Group B and C patients have become acid fast bacilli ( AFB) negative relatively later than group A.


Current therapies for oncogenic kinase-driven cancers often involve kinase inhibitors. While the efficacy of these therapies is often striking, eventual relapse due to acquired resistance is common. For example, first-generation BRAF inhibitors are making a major impact on the disease-course in BRAF-mutant cancers and metastatic melanoma in particular. Nonetheless, many patients relapse and relapsed tumors generally display BRAF pathway re-activation. In order to improve the durability and tolerability of therapy, Plexxikon has been pursuing multiple strategies. Since the well-documented RAF inhibitor paradox is implicated as a contributor to drug resistance as well as unwanted side effects, we have designed a series of compounds that exhibit potent anti-BRAF efficacy without causing paradoxical pathway activation in RAS mutant cells. These compounds, dubbed Paradox Breakers, are also active against certain BRAF isoforms that are resistant to inhibition by first-generation compounds. Furthermore, we believe that macrophages in the tumor microenvironment are likely to enable resistance to BRAF inhibition. Therefore, we are pursuing studies to co-target BRAF in tumors and macrophages in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, inhibiting oncogenic KIT mutations is a validated therapeutic approach to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). The use of clinically approved kinase inhibitors such as imatinib frequently reveals secondary or acquired mutations that render these first-generation KIT inhibitors ineffective. Some of the acquired mutations reside in exon 17, coding for amino acids in the activation loop of the folded protein. This set of mutations has been shown to constitutively activate the receptor. Using a scaffold-based drug discovery approach, we have successfully identified a novel KIT exon 17 mutant-targeted inhibitor that shows minimal cross-reactivity in a kinome wide screen. This inhibitor shows robust efficacy in a patient-derived, imatinib-resistant GIST xenograft (Molecular Response). Plans to develop these approaches into clinical projects will be discussed. Citation Format: Gideon Bollag (on behalf of the Plexxikon team). Strategies to overcome acquired resistance to kinase inhibitors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Precision Medicine Series: Drug Sensitivity and Resistance: Improving Cancer Therapy; Jun 18-21, 2014; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2015;21(4 Suppl): Abstract nr IA15.


The use of electrical stimulation became a very active area of research in the mid 1970's because of its ability to tenderize meat and increase quality-indicating characteristics of the carcass. Various mechanisms have been investigated as to how electrical stimulation tenderizes meat and changes some of its properties, primarily color. This paper reviews the proposed mechanisms of tenderization and variables associated with its application.


Three dimensional (3D) porous silicon/reduced graphene oxide (Si/rGO) composites with typical networks have suffered damage during electrode preparation, which evidently affects the cycle and rate capabilities of Si/rGO anodes. Here, a controllable evaporation dry method is proposed to fabricate structure-preserved 3D porous Si/rGO anode materials by tuning the pore size distribution of the networks. As a result, after evaporation drying for 3.5 h, the optimal sample of 3D porous Si/rGO anode (denoted as Si–G-3.5) with a pore size of ∼500 nm could preserve its 3D network during the electrode preparation process. While the structures of Si/rGO composites with different drying times (denoted as Si–G-0, Si–G-2.5 and Si–G-4) failed to be preserved. Consequently, The Si–G-3.5 anode exhibits a high reversible specific capacity of 1563 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1, 90% capacity retention after 100 cycles and superior rate capability (955 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1).


This paper presents a solution to bridging the abstract and concrete syntax of a Web rule languages by using model transformations. Current specifications of Web rule languages such as Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) or RuleML define their abstract syntax (e.g., metamodel) and concrete syntax (e.g., XML schema) separately. Although the recent research in the area of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) demonstrates that such a separation of two types of syntax is a good practice (due to the complexity of languages), one should also have tools that check validity of rules written in a concrete syntax with respect to the abstract syntax of the rule language. In this study, we use the REWERSE I1 Rule Markup Language (R2ML), SWRL, and Object Constraint Language (OCL), whose abstract syntax is defined by using metamodeling, while their textual concrete syntax is defined by using either XML/RDF schema or Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) syntax. We bridge this gap by a bi-directional transformation defined in a model transformation language (ATLAS Transformation Language, ATL). This transformation allowed us to discover a number of issues in both web rule language metamodels and their corresponding concrete syntax, and thus make them fully compatible. This solution also enables for sharing web rules between different web rule languages.


OBJECTIVES
Inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics by healthcare professionals is a worldwide concern. The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of antibiotic prescription among oral healthcare providers in India.

METHODS
A one-page questionnaire was sent to 1600 oral healthcare practitioners registered under the Indian Dental Association by using multistage sampling; 552 (34.5%) responded to the survey. The data were analysed using the χ(2) test and multiple logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
Of 552 questionnaire respondents, 405 (73.4%) chose amoxicillin in non-allergic patients, alone [279 (50.5%)] or associated with clavulanic acid [126 (22.8%)]. The average duration of antibiotic therapy was 4.26 ± 1.26 days. The drug of first choice for patients with an allergy to penicillin was erythromycin [242 (43.8%) of respondents]. A majority prescribed antibiotics for irreversible pulpitis and acute apical periodontitis [395 (71.6%)] and necrotic pulp, acute apical periodontitis and no swelling [326 (59.1%)]. Five hundred and ten (92.4%) of the oral healthcare providers overprescribed antibiotics.

CONCLUSIONS
Oral healthcare providers in India are overprescribing, which could be a major contributor to the world problem of antimicrobial resistance. As there is overprescription of antibiotics by Indian oral healthcare providers, there is an urgent need to raise public and professional awareness regarding the risks of antibiotic use.


Healthy human periodontal and peri-implant (ITI Bonefit) keratinized gingival tissues were studied immunohistochemically to evaluate the possible presence of structural differences in the extracellular matrix protein localization. Collagen types I, III, IV, and VII and fibronectin showed similar distribution in these tissues. Compared to the periodontal tissues, collagen type V was localized in higher amounts in the lamina propria of the peri-implant gingival tissues. Collagen type VI stained the periodontal tissues as a delicate microfibrillar network contrasting to the not well-stained peri-implant gingival tissues. The data show that structural differences between these tissues are present. The structural differences may be responsible for the defense of peri-implant keratinized gingival connective tissues to bacterial penetration, because of the high amount of the collagen type V component, which is responsible for the higher collagenase stability.


Allergic conditions are extremely common and have increased considerably in frequency in the past few decades. These range from relatively mild symptoms, which sufferers can manage themselves, right through to very serious allergies, which can be life-threatening. This book, written by a practising GP and an allergy specialist, is in the popular Q and A format of the "Your Questions Answered" series. It provides succinct, expert information on all types of allergies, with an emphasis on evidence-based, up-to-date knowledge. Although aimed mainly at the primary care practitioner, it also addresses many questions asked about allergy by general physicians, medical students, practice nurses and people with allergies. The book discusses all aspects of diagnosis and management and includes some frequently asked patient questions, in non-medical language. It also identifies sources of further information, from websites to patient associations and self-help organizations.


Abstract This study examines how extraposition constructions with adjectives, such as it is important to honour those who have done honour to us (CB) function in the deontic and directive domain. It is found that in these two domains, which correlate with different sets of adjectives, the adjectival expressions can function on two distinct levels, either relating to the real world (State of Affairs [SoA]-related), or relating to the speaker's argumentative goals (speaker-related). These levels have also been noted for other linguistic categories, such as interclausal relations (e.g., Davies, On the semantics of syntax: Mood and condition in English, Croom Helm, 1979; Sweetser, From etymology to pragmatics, Cambridge University Press, 1990; Verstraete, Rethinking the coordinate–subordinate dichotomy: Interpersonal grammar and the analysis of adverbial clauses in English, Mouton de Gruyter, 2007). Within the set of speaker-related uses, a further distinction will be proposed between text-building uses and mental focus on a proposition uses. The first type serves to build arguments, or to specify or justify the organization of a text. The second type is used to make the hearer focus mentally on a propositional content. It will be argued that this latter type is a partially filled construction in the sense of Goldberg (Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure, University of Chicago Press, 1995). In this sense, this study proposes a constructionally motivated typology of extraposition constructions in the deontic-directive domain.


According to the experiences of the Malmö Haemophilia Centre, the best way to avoid recurrent joint bleedings and synovitis in haemophilic patients and to prevent progressive joint disease is prophylactic factor treatment. If prophylaxis is impracticable and also in patients with factor inhibitors, radioactive synoviorthesis seems to be a good treatment option if started early.