The relatively recent developments in mass spectrometry (MS) have provided novel opportunities for this technology to impact modern medicine. One of those opportunities is in biomarker discovery and diagnostics. Key developments in sample preparation have enabled a greater range of clinical samples to be characterized at a deeper level using MS. While most of these developments have focused on blood, tissues have also been an important resource. Fresh tissues, however, are difficult to obtain for research purposes and require significant resources for long-term storage. There are millions of archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues within pathology departments worldwide representing every possible tissue type including tumors that are rare or very small. Owing to the chemical technique used to preserve FFPE tissues, they were considered intractable to many newer proteomics techniques and primarily only useful for immunohistochemistry. In the past couple of decades, however, researchers have been able to develop methods to extract proteins from FFPE tissues in a form making them analyzable using state-of-the-art technologies such as MS and protein arrays. This review will discuss the history of these developments and provide examples of how they are currently being used to identify biomarkers and diagnose diseases such as cancer.


Background COVID-19 household transmissibility remains unclear in Pakistan. To understand the dynamics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus disease epidemiology, this study estimated Secondary Attack Rate (SAR) among household and close contacts of index cases in Pakistan using a statistical transmission model. Methodology A retrospective cohort study was conducted using an inclusive contact tracing dataset from the provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to estimate SAR. We considered the probability of an infected person transmitting the infection to close contacts regardless of residential addresses. This means that close contacts were identified irrespective of their relationship with the index case. We assessed demographic determinants of COVID-19 infectivity and transmissibility. For this purpose based on evolving evidence, and as CDC recommends fully vaccinated people get tested 5–7 days after close contact with a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Therefore we followed the same procedure in the close contacts for secondary infection. Findings During the study period from 15th May 2020 to 15th Jan 2021, a total of 339 (33.9%) index cases were studied from 1000 cases initially notified. Among close contact groups (n = 739), households were identified with an assumed mean incubation period of 8.2+4.3 days and a maximum incubation period of 15 days. SAR estimated here is among the household contacts. 117 secondary cases from 739 household contacts, with SAR 11.1% (95% CI 9.0–13.6). All together (240) SAR achieved was 32.48% (95% CI; 29.12–37.87) for symptomatic and confirmed cases. The potential risk factors for SAR identified here included; old age group (>45 years of age), male (gender), household members >5, and residency in urban areas and for index cases high age group. Overall local reproductive number (R) based on the observed household contact frequencies for index/primary cases was 0.9 (95% CI 0.47–1.21) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 1.3 (95% CI 0.73–1.56) in Punjab. Conclusions SAR estimated here was high especially in the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. The results highlight the need to adopt rigorous preventive measures to cut the chain of viral transmission and prevent another wave of COVID-19.


Abstract Background Higher cognitive ability is associated with favourable health characteristics. The relation between ability and alcohol consumption, and their interplay with other health characteristics, is unclear. We aimed to assess the relationship between cognitive ability and alcohol consumption and to assess whether alcohol consumption relates differently to health characteristics across strata of ability. Methods For 63 120 Norwegian males, data on cognitive ability in early adulthood were linked to midlife data on alcohol consumption frequency (times per month, 0–30) and other health characteristics, including cardiovascular risk factors and mental distress. Relations were assessed using linear regression and reported as unstandardised beta coefficients [95% confidence interval (CI)]. Results The mean ± s.d. frequency of total alcohol consumption in the sample was 4.0 ± 3.8 times per month. In the low, medium, and high group of ability, the frequencies were 3.0 ± 3.3, 3.7 ± 3.5, and 4.7 ± 4.1, respectively. In the full sample, alcohol consumption was associated with physical activity, heart rate, fat mass, smoking, and mental distress. Most notably, each additional day of consumption was associated with a 0.54% (0.44–0.64) and 0.14% (0.09–0.18) increase in the probability of current smoking and mental distress, respectively. In each strata of ability (low, medium, high), estimates were 0.87% (0.57–1.17), 0.48% (0.31–0.66) and 0.49% (0.36–0.62) for current smoking, and 0.44% (0.28–0.60), 0.10% (0.02–0.18), and 0.09% (0.03–0.15) for mental distress, respectively. Conclusions Participants with low cognitive ability drink less frequently, but in this group, more frequent alcohol consumption is more strongly associated with adverse health characteristics.


Many technical mechanisms across computer security for attribution, identification, and classification are neither sufficient nor necessary for forensically valid digital investigations; yet they are often claimed as useful or necessary. Similarly, when forensic research is evaluated using the viewpoints held by computer security venues, the challenges, constraints, and usefulness of the work is often misjudged. In this paper, we point out many key aspects of digital forensics with the goal of ensuring that research seeking to advance the discipline will have the highest possible adoption rate by practitioners. We enumerate general legal and practical constraints placed on forensic investigators that set the field apart. We point out the assumptions, often limited or incorrect, made about forensics in past work, and discuss how these assumptions limit the impact of contributions.


Summary1. Percentage of diploid nuclei observed in livers of young adult hypophysectomized rats is greater than that seen in control animals of comparable age and weight. 2. In the hypophysectomized rat there is a small but significant increase in percentage of binucleate liver cells. 3. Total reduction in mitotic index in 125–135 g rats is no greater in 21 days hypophysectomized rats than in the unoperated animals; however, rate of change may be more rapid in operated animals.


The study reported here examined the long-term impact of Russell 2000 Index rebalancing on portfolio evaluation. A buy-and-hold index portfolio outperformed the annually rebalanced index in the 1979–2004 period by an average of 2.22 percent over one year and 17.29 percent over five years. Although short-term momentum and the poor long-term returns of new issues partially explain these returns, index deletions were found to provide significantly higher factor-adjusted returns than index additions. Some small-capitalization fund managers appear to capture a portion of these benefits. The strongest performing funds enhanced their factor-adjusted returns by an average of 1.45 percent per year by holding index deletions and/or avoiding index additions. Among the weakest performing funds, higher returns from holding index deletions were offset by the poor returns of new issues added to the index. Thus, index methodology may provide a structural incentive for portfolio managers to drift from their benchmarks.


Very few people, even students of history, know the real Andrew Johnson, Perhaps no national figure has been the victim of so much abuse and vilification founded on prejudice and passion. Johnson has suffered much by comparison with Lincoln, the martyred President. Time, however, has shown that he was Just as great, perhaps even greater than the man whose place he had to fill, for Johnson had to go through the fiery furnace of Reconstruction from which a kind Providence delivered Lincoln. |W. S. Woodward in The Monitor, December, 1929, aptly remarks, "The mud so profusely thrown upon Johnson has been fairly well scraped off by his latest biographers." And Winston says that the decision of the Supreme Court in October, 1926, regarding the Myers ease, putting Johnson in the right and Congress in the wrong, has made a fair- minded public anxious to learn the truth concerning such a man.


This article describes a joint project conducted from 1991 until 1993 by the Japanese National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) and the German Fraunhofer institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). Some first outcomes, and different alternatives on how to use the data for trend interpretation and priority setting, are described.

The Japanese Delphi survey is conducted every five years and was first undertaken in 1971. In 1992, NISTEP and ISI agreed on a joint project. About 3000 Japanese experts were asked to answer more than 1000 questions based on 16 different technological areas. With financial aid from the Federal German Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT) the Japanese fifth Delphi survey was replicated in Germany. The Japanese questions were translated and more than 1000 German experts responded to the questionnaires and judged the possible technological development within the next 20 to 30 years. The aim of this joint project is to compare the Japanese and the German answers in order to analyse possible differences and to understand the cultural influences on technology assessment.


This paper sets out to investigate Iraqi EFL learns' failure and difficulty in interpreting proverbs of justice pragmatically. It starts with theoretical presentation of proverbs as tackled and discussed by linguists and those interested in studying the importance of proverbs in language use. This includes mainly a theoretical analysis of proverbs syntactically, semantically and pragmatically illustrating the general meanings of the proverbs cited in this paper. Then, a test on EFL learners is administered to verify the assumptions of the paper. The test , represented by a group of proverbs (specifically proverbs of justice) written on papers and given to learners for the purpose of interpreting them, is applied to Fourth year stage/ Department of English/ College of Education (IbnRushd)/ University of Baghdad for the academic year 2010-2011. The responses of the learners are then analyzed aiming at clarifying the factors which lead to misinterpret them. The responses show that learners greatly misinterpret proverbs of justice mainly due to lack of pragmatic knowledge. They are also misinterpreted due to certain linguistic factors including lack of semantic knowledge and, in certain cases, total lack of linguistic knowledge. All such attributes lead to misinterpreting such kind of proverbs which are important aspect of language in general and significant means of expressive communication in particular.


Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) aims to reduce the number and size of skin incisions. The authors compared systemic stress and perioperative outcome of SILS and laparoscopic (LAP) cholecystectomy. Twenty-nine subjects (8 males and 21 females; mean age = 47 years; mean body mass index = 27) were included in the study. There was no statistical difference in mean operative time (LAP = 89 minutes; SILS = 113 minutes; P = ns), and no intraoperative complications were reported. There were no statistically significant differences observed in white cell count, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α between SILS and LAP groups. The mean hospital length of stay (LAP = 1.8 days; SILS = 1.4 days) and Visual Analogue Scale scores for pain at 6 hours (LAP = 5.14; SILS = 4.46) and 24 hours (LAP = 3.9; SILS = 2.815) were similar with no perioperative morbidity. These results suggest that the systemic stress response in LAP and SILS cholecystectomy does not appear to be significantly different. SILS cholecystectomy appears safe with no perioperative morbidity or complications encountered in this series.


The relationship between the boundaries for Hill and Lagrange stability in orbital element space is modified in the case of resonantly interacting planets. Hill stability requires the ordering of the planets to remain constant, while Lagrange stability also requires all planets to remain bound to the central star. The Hill stability boundary is defined analytically, but no equations exist to define the Lagrange boundary, so we perform numerical experiments to estimate the location of this boundary. To explore the effect of resonances, we consider orbital element space near the conditions in the HD 82943 and 55 Cnc systems. Previous studies have shown that, for nonresonant systems, the two stability boundaries are nearly coincident. However, the Hill stability formulae are not applicable to resonant systems, and our investigation shows how the two boundaries diverge in the presence of a mean-motion resonance, while confirming that the Hill and Lagrange boundaries are similar otherwise. In resonance the region of stability is larger than the domain defined by the analytic formula for Hill stability. We find that nearly all known resonant interactions currently lie in this unexpectedly stable region, i.e., where the orbits would be unstable according to the nonresonant Hill stability formula. This result bears on the dynamical packing of planetary systems, showing how quantifying planetary systems' dynamical interactions (such as proximity to the Hill stability boundary) provides new constraints on planet formation models.


Background: The hospitalization and mortality rate for gastroduodenal ulcer in the elderly remain very high. It may be attributed to increase prescriptions for gastroduodenal damaging drugs, including the non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The aim of this study was to determine the profile of elderly patients' characteristics who had undergone esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) at Kariadi Hospital. Method : A cross sectional study was conducted in elderly patients with non-variceal EGD at Kariadi Hospital, Semarang between Januari 2009 and December 2010. Analysis statistic was performed using chi-square test, with SPSS version 19. Results : Among records for a total of 164 cases of eldery patients who had undergone EGD, 90 patients were enrolled in this study. There were 64 (71.1%) male patients and the most chief complaint was hematemesis (22.2%). The most common indication for EGD was upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding (55.6%). EGD results demonstrated that the most common finding was mild abnormalities (56.7%). Gastric ulcer was found in EGD results in 38.0% cases with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (PR = 5.5; 95% CI = 1.7-17.9; p = 0.002). Moreover, the gastric ulcer was also found in 42.3% among NSAIDs users (PR = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.2-8.6). Conclusion : Upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding is the most common indication for EGD in elderly patients at Kariadi Hospital, Semarang. The most EGD image was only mild abnormalities followed by gastric ulcer. In the study, upper gastrointestinal bleeding is associated with high incidence of gastric ulcer, which also correlated with high incidence of NSAIDs utilization. Keywords : elderly, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, co-morbidities


Many researchers and practitioners find statistics confusing. This course aims to give attendees an understanding of the meaning of the various statistics they see in papers or need to use in their own work. The course builds on the instructor's previous tutorials and master classes including at CHI 2022, and on his recently book "Statistics for HCI: Making Sense of Quantitative Data". The course will focus especially on material you will not find in a conventional textbook or statistics course including aspects of statistical 'craft' skill, and offer attendees an introduction to some of the instructor's extensive online material.


The Earth's mean surface air temperature has warmed by ~1C over the last 100 years and is projected to increase at a faster rate in the future, accompanied by changes in precipitation patterns and increases in the occurrence of extreme weather events. In western North America, projected increases in mean annual temperatures range from ~1−3.5C by the 2050s, and while projected changes in precipitation patterns are more complex to model, more frequent and severe droughts are expected in many areas. For long-lived tree species, because of their relatively slow rates of migration, climate change will likely result in a mismatch between the climate that trees are currently adapted to and the climate that trees will experience in the future. Individual trees or populations exposed to climate conditions outside their climatic niches will be maladapted, resulting in compromised productivity and increased vulnerability to disturbance, specifically insects and pathogens. In western North America, as elsewhere, several recent assessments have concluded forests are being affected by climate change, and will become increasingly vulnerable to mortality as a result of the direct and indirect effects of climate change. Droughts associated with higher temperatures may accelerate levels of tree mortality, for example, as elevated temperatures increase metabolic rates without increasing photosynthesis rates, thus compromising a tree's ability to create defenses against insects and pathogens. As a result, distributions of the climatic niches of some tree species in western North America are predicted to change by up to 200% during this century based on bioclimate envelope modeling. We discuss the science of climate change, the implications of predicted climatic changes to forest ecosystems in western North America, and the essential roles of forest managers and researchers in addressing climate change.


Accurately estimating the software size, cost, effort and schedule is probably the biggest challenge facing software developers today. It has major implications for the management of software development because both the overestimates and underestimates have direct impact for causing damage to software companies. Lot of models have been proposed over the years by various researchers for carrying out effort estimations. Also some of the studies for early stage effort estimations suggest the importance of early estimations. New paradigms offer alternatives to estimate the software development effort, in particular the Computational Intelligence (CI) that exploits mechanisms of interaction between humans and processes domain knowledge with the intention of building intelligent systems (IS). Among IS, Artificial Neural Network and Fuzzy Logic are the two most popular soft computing techniques for software development effort estimation. In this paper neural network models and Mamdani FIS model have been used to predict the early stage effort estimations using the student dataset. It has been found that Mamdani FIS was able to predict the early stage efforts more efficiently in comparison to the neural network models based models.


The most severe impact of the Ebola epidemic, which began in Guinea in December 2013 and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone, has been in lost human lives and suffering. This report, prepared for the World Economic Forum at Davos, focuses on the indirect, economic costs, in particular the effects on economic output in 2015. Most of the economic cost is driven by aversion behavior, which consists of both the actions taken by individuals to avoid exposure to the illness and actions taken by investors in anticipation of those individual choices. The report first estimates the impact of the epidemic on gross domestic product (GDP) in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Here the report builds on sector-specific analysis to update World Bank forecasts for the three countries, and incorporates recent results of World Bank-financed cellphone surveys in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The authors evaluate the economic effects of the epidemic on the continent, beyond the three hardest-hit countries, using assessments by World Bank country economists across the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, the report updates estimates from the global economic model of the research arm of the World Bank, to quantify the 2015 impact of the potential spread of the epidemic to other countries. Updated general equilibrium analysis suggests that further spread of the epidemic to other African economies, if the epidemic is not contained and instances of infection continue to occur in other countries, can potentially exact an economic toll of the order of 6 billion dollars. The results underscore the importance of: (a) Ebola and broader pandemic preparedness in African countries; and (b) reaching the goal of zero new cases as soon as possible in the three most affected countries.


The gold standard for breast biopsy procedures is currently an open excision of the suspected lesion. However, an excisional biopsy inevitably makes a scar. The cost and morbidity associated with this procedure has prompted many physicians to evaluate less invasive, alternative procedures. More recently, image-guided percutaneous core-needle biopsy has become a frequently used method for diagnosing palpable and non-palpable breast lesions. Although sensitivity rates for core-needle biopsy are high, it has the disadvantage of histological underestimation, which renders the management of atypical ductal hyperplasia, papillary lesions, and fibroepithelial lesions somewhat difficult. Vacuum assisted breast biopsy (VABB) was developed to overcome some of these negative aspects of core-needle biopsy. VABB allows for a sufficient specimen to be obtained with a single insertion and can provide a more accurate diagnosis and completely remove the lesion under real-time ultrasonic guidance. The advantage of complete lesion removal with VABB is to reduce or eliminate sampling error, to decrease the likelihood of a histological underestimation, to decrease imaging-histological discordance, to decrease the re-biopsy rate, and to diminish the likelihood of subsequent growth on follow-up. In recent years, with the advancement of VABB instruments and techniques, many outcome studies have reported on the use of VABB for resecting benign breast lesions with a curative intent. VABB is highly accurate for diagnosing suspicious breast lesions and is highly successful at treating presumed benign breast lesions. Thus, in the near future, VABB will be routinely offered to all appropriately selected patients.


Background Planning a pregnancy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) meets several issues, mostly concerning potential drug toxicity and disease flares. Objectives The purpose of this study is to evaluate pregnancy planning, RA activity during pregnancy and postpartum, pregnancy and fetal outcomes in a Romanian cohort of female patients diagnosed with RA. Methods We designed an observational ambispective study which included 36 RA Caucasian females with obstetric history after the onset of RA (14 - prospective, 22 - retrospective). The cases were obtained from several Clinics of Rheumatology from Romania. Results The mean age at inclusion is 39.88 years, age at RA diagnosis 24.97 years and mean age at conception 31.03 years. We recorded a total number of 65 pregnancies: 29 deliveries at term, 3 premature births, 12 elective abortions, 20 spontaneous abortions (attributed to trombophilia, methotrexate [MTX], Leflunomide and Toxoplasmosis gondii) and 1 ongoing. 24/36 (66.6%) had only one pregnancy after the onset of RA and 7/36 (19.4%) were multipares before the diagnosis. 47.6% had at least one unplanned pregnancy, while being on treatment with DMARDs. Concerning the exposure to synthetical DMARDs during the pregnacy: 5 patients received Leflunomide and 2 received MTX during the first trimester, the pregnancy outcomes being: 2 spontaneous abortion, 2 elective abortions, 2 normal birth, 1- premature twin pregnancy. In case of biologic DMARDs: 2 were exposed to Etanercept until weeks 2 and 3 (normal birth), and 1 to Infliximab – week 4 (elective abortion). In patients receiving Rituximab the washout period varied from 4 weeks in 2 pregnancies (1- spontaneous abortion and 1 normal birth) to 48 weeks (2 normal births and 1 premature). We registred 3 patients on biological therapy, which stopped the treatment with 2 years before the planned preganncy (Etanercept), respectivelly 6 months (Etanercept and Adalimumab) 66.6 of our patients were in Remission or Low Disease Activity (DAS28CRP) at preconception. Maintaing or improvement of the disease activity during the pregnancy were the principal trend in our population, excepting 2 situations. The average pregnancy length was 35.2 weeks, with 3 preterm deliveries and the mean birthweight was 2624 grams. No fetal abnormality was identified Five patients never had a new flare postpartum, while in the others the mean time to flare postpartum was 9 weeks Conclusions Patients with RA can have successful pregnancies. The pregnancy is planned in about half of cases. Pregnancy decreases disease activity, but many deliveries are followed by RA flares. No fetal abnormalities were diagnosed. References Pregnancy in autoimmune rheumatic diseases: The importance of counselling for old and new challengesL.Andreoli, C Bazzani M.Tarabo-relli, R. Reggia, A. Lojacono, A. Brucato, P.L Meroni, A. Tincani, Autoimmunity Reviews 10 (2010) 51–54 Disclosure of Interest None declared


The economies for most developing countries primarily depend on agriculture. Studying the physicochemical properties of soil is important for sustainable management of the agricultural resources and economic growth. Soil acidity is one of the main reasons for nutrient depletion as well as causes of fertility decline that affects crop production. The main objective of this investigation is to assess the acidity status and physicochemical properties of soil in different land use types in Alket Wonzi Watershed, Farta district, Northwest Ethiopia. Soil samples were taken at 0-25 cm depth, on four land use types viz., natural forest, cultivated land, plantation forest and grazing land. The result soils in the natural forest had significantly (p<0.05) higher soil pH and lower exchangeable acidity (p<0.01). Similarly, significantly higher (p<0.01) exchangeable bases (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+), total nitrogen, organic matter, available potassium, cation exchange capacity and clay content was also registered from soil of the natural forest compared to the other land use types. The study further revealed that there was significant (p<0.05) difference in available phosphorus among the different land use types. However, there was no significant difference in silt fraction, sand, bulk density and exchangeable sodium under soils of different land uses. The results obtained from the study indicated that soils of grazing, cultivated land and plantation forest are strongly acidic (pH<5.5). Therefore, appropriate reclamation method should be lunched to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability of the study area.


It is frequently suggested that the globalisation of financial markets has been responsible for reducing the scope for independent monetary policy action by strengthening the relationship between national fixed income markets. An associated concern is that the linkages between these markets become stronger in times of financial market stress. This paper reports a decomposition of the relationship between the government bond markets of Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is found that the yield curves for each of these markets are influenced by international factors. Furthermore the impact of these increases significantly during times of financial stress. It is also found that while the total covariation between these markets is relatively stable, components of the covariance can vary substantially over time.


The Audio CD Pack contains a copy of the book along with an audio CD with a recording of the complete text in both British and American English. Listen and read to discover all about your amazing body ...How many bones are there in your skeleton? What do your white blood cells do?Word count3,869


This study was conducted for the innovative image of Kyongju as a tourist destination. Using 45 image attributes extracted through panel discussions of specialists, author conducted a factor analysis and multiple regression estimate. Four grouping factors were found to be combination of tradition and modern, traditional custom and accessibility of information, cleanliness of accommodations and tourism facilities, seasonal factors and pleasure facilities, which all have a strong relationship with tourist satisfaction Marketing implications for future-oriented strategies and policies were discussed in the conclusion.


Salt has been used since early times as a food preservative and as a cultural symbol. To plumb the antiquity and explore the evolution of the use of salt for food preservation in the Land of Israel we studied and analyzed a variety of historical sources (mostly textual), that will be presented and discussed after the appropriate introductions. Our main conclusion from this study is that in addition to the technological evolution of food preservation by salt, which spread throughout history to a variety of foodstuffs, the geographical perspective exerted a distinctive influence in respect of availability of salt and the climatic conditions, as did the related cultural perspective.


T HE AIM OF THIS PAPER is to set out, as briefly as possible, some of the chief methodological issues in the study of science in Greek antiquity. What are the main difficulties confronting such a study, what can it hope to achieve, what indeed is it a study of? It used to be assumed that one can straightforwardly pose problems to do with the "origins" of science and the meaning of "science" in antiquity. As will become apparent, I believe the questions have to be reformulated to be investigable. I shall begin with two fundamental principles, one borrowed from the philosophy of science, the other from social anthropology. The first relates to the distinction between observation and theory, the second to that between actors' and observers' categories. Applying the latter to the Greek case, I shall then focus on one of its fundamental features, namely its pluralism. That in turn will provide a basis to tackle, finally, the problems of the validity of the question of origins and the usefulness of the category of science.


This paper mainly researches the problem that enterprises select equipment resource in manufacturing resources sharing system. There are many influencing factors and some are uncertain or unqualified in the selection, therefore this paper using AHP and grey correlation analysis to evaluate and select. Firstly, the selection index system of equipment resource according to AHP is established, and then selection model based on multi-hierarchical grey correlation analysis is constructed. Applying this model to help enterprise select equipment can avoid errors resulted from human objective cognition difference and equalitarianism. The select result is more scientific and reasonable, and more in line with the enterprise requirements.


A microbial insecticide "Bt-Plus" has been developed to enhance an insecticidal efficacy of an entomopathogenic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). However, its wettable powder formulation is not preferred by farmers and industry producers due to relatively high cost. This study aimed to develop a soluble concentrate formulation of Bt-Plus. To this end, an optimal mixture ratio of two bacterial culture broths was determined to be 5:4 (v/v) of Bt and Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn) along with 10% ethanol preservative. In addition, Bt broth was concentrated by 10 times to apply the mixture at 1,000 times fold dilution. The resulting liquid formulation was sprayed on cabbage crop field infested by late instar larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. The field assay showed about 77% control efficacy at 7 days after treatment, which was comparable to those of current commercial biopesticides targeting P. xylostella. For storage test in both low and room temperatures, the liquid formation showed a relatively stable control efficacy at least for a month. To develop a quality control technique to exhibit a stable control efficacy of Bt-Plus, Bt spore density (5 × 10 11 spores/mL) and eight active component concentrations of Xn bacterial metabolites in the formulation products have been proposed in this study.


Current project management literature with regard to global projects is dominated by a practitioner-driven approach treating projects as fundamentally similar and universal across countries even if they are unique phenomena defined by their purpose, resources, and contextual variables. This paper contributes to that literature by considering implications from cultural and institutional theory. The paper discusses how processes in global projects are influenced by cultural and institutional differences between the project participants. The paper provides a framework and methodology for studying the effects and management of cultural and institutional differences in global projects. Tentative findings based on studying multicultural construction projects in Middle East and Europe illustrate how cultural and institutional differences can lead to unforeseeable costs, time overruns and quality problems. At the same time, these differences can also be a source of creative tension leading to innovations and successful outcomes. The paper concludes with implications for further research.


Abdominal injuries caused by traffic accidents have severe consequences and are major causes of death in the United States. Several experiments were performed in the past on post-mortem human surrogate (PMHS) to quantify the abdominal tolerance under impact loading. However, some concerns were raised regarding the PMHS storage and its influence on the biomechanical response of internal organs. To better examine the freezing and decay effects, this study analyzed the data obtained from indentation performed on porcine abdominal organs. Porcine kidney and liver specimens were cut with a custom blade assembly from fresh organs. Indentation ramp-hold tests were first conducted on fresh specimens, which submerged in physiological saline at room temperature during testing. Specimens were then preserved using two different storage methods (cooling and freezing) and retested after 20 days at the room temperature. Quasi-linear viscoelastic model was utilized to model the indentation data, and statistical analysis was conducted to investigate the significance of the model parameters. Significant differences between freezing and cooling effects were found for liver, and the instantaneous responses were significantly changed for both kidney and liver. It is believed that the results of this study may help in development of appropriate preservation methodologies for abdominal organs and better understanding the published results of the abdominal tests performed under impact loading corresponding to vehicle accidents.


A core-shell molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticle with biological enzyme functional characteristics was developed by oxidative polymerization of template protein and polydopamine on the surface of protease-copper phosphate hybrid nanoflowers by molecular imprinting technology and enzyme immobilization technology. The obtained molecularly imprinted polymer showed specific binding characteristics with the template protein. It recognized and enriched the target molecules through the surface molecularly imprinted sites of the shell structure. In addition, the bound target molecules were further degraded into fragments by nanozymes with biological enzyme characteristics in the core. In this study, molecular imprinting technology and biotechnology were combined to obtain bifunctional molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles that can not only enrich template molecules but also degrade them into fragments. Herein, we selected interleukin 6 (IL-6), the target molecule of cytokine release syndrome (CRS), as a template molecule, and reported a molecularly imprinted polymer with degrading enzyme properties that can rapidly reduce IL-6 levels in vivo, including a molecularly imprinted layer that can recognize and bind IL-6 and nanozymes that can degrade IL-6 and deactivate it. It is used to clear the excessive secretion of IL-6 in CRS and reduce the level of IL-6 in the body to achieve the purpose of adjuvant treatment of CRS.


Confidence and proficiency in diagnosing and treating a variety of diseases is of obvious importance to veterinary students. Traditional teaching methods relying on live-animal laboratories or teaching-hospital cases may not provide the breadth and depth of experience necessary to promote optimal development of confidence and skills. These settings also raise concerns about expense, about animal welfare when animals are used in teaching laboratories, and about the stress and potential risks associated with client-owned pets in the teaching hospital. A one-week course implemented in our veterinary curriculum provides the opportunity for students to develop self-assurance and experience in sample collection and interpretation skills in a realistic, clinical-model setting. This course provides students with significantly improved levels of confidence when performing procedures and interpreting results from a variety of procedures and helps prepare them to become clinicians entering the practice of veterinary medicine.


Duty by Institution at duty Market, Hygiene and Gardening is the development of hygiene area and beauty of urban region. this Area development is maximally hence from Environment Ministry will give the appreciation in the form of " Appreciation Adipura". Research On duty Market, Hygiene And Gardening of Kampar representing government organization which obliged to give the service as well as possible to society. Special for the hygiene of Bangkinang required a Hygiene Officer which with quality and delay comprehending its function as hygiene officer reaching of cleanest town so that get the Appreciation of Adipura of hygiene area. In line with formula of is problem of and target of research hence method analyse the data used in this research Doubled Analysis Regretion where Coefficient of regretion variable motivate the (X1) = 0,137 this show the level of the variable influence to labour capacity. Koefisen Regresi of leadership variable (X3) = 0,364. this show the level of the variable influence to labour capacity. For the Coefficient of regresi 0,776 representing constant value showing positive sign with the meaning without existence of variable motivate the, discipline and leadership hence labour capacity will go up equal to 0,776 times .


We demonstrated by immunoperoxidase staining that a half of cancer tissues surgically resected contained pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor-immunoreactive cells. Immunoreactivity in cancer tissues was detected in both early and advanced cancers. Human cell lines (BxPC-3, MIA PaCa-2, PANC-1, KATO-III, COLO 201, SW 403, WIHOVCAR 3, HeLa Ohio, A549 and SK X HEp-1) expressed pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor.


The inferior vena cava (IVC) is a retroperitoneal key organ whose location and integrity must be checked in every scan. Computerized tomography (CT) of IVC provides interesting diagnostic elements which are complementary to the angiographic study: congenital abnormalities, even if they scarcely occur, are nevertheless important to detect, in order to prevent any mistake in the interpretation of the scan. Acquired abnormalities, are frequent. Today CT seems to be the most accurate method of exploration of neoplastic involvement in primary IVC tumors or external compression by retroperitoneal fibrosis. It is a non traumatic method allowing the visualization of the head of a caval thrombus inprecisely defined by phlebo-cavography. To summarize, a good scanning knowledge of the IVC and its abnormalities appears necessary, either to prevent any mistaken interpretation or to specify a pathological element with regard to a vascular exploration.


ABSTRACT The quest for substance, capability, and strategic autonomy goes on – or does it? Is the objective of CSDP territorial defence and strategic autonomy, or crisis management and softer security concerns like peacekeeping, border management, protection of shipping lanes, and/or cyber security? The Union needs to move beyond familiar complaints about the lack of common strategic culture and EU intrusion into NATO responsibilities. Geostrategic and economic imperatives dictate that the EU should progress CSDP beyond civilian crisis management in the EU Neighbourhood, and military training and security sector reform (SSR). The Strategic Compass must signal CSDP clarity of objectives, coherence, enhanced capability, and appropriate burden sharing with NATO. The response to the Strategic Compass must build European strategic autonomy in ways that strengthen NATO. For military strategic and economic reasons, both the EU and the post-Brexit UK need intensive cooperation to maintain their geostrategic relevance and strengthen the NATO alliance. This paper reflects on prospects for the EU Strategic Compass and offers timely analysis of recent trends in EU foreign and security policy and expresses cautious optimism regarding the enhanced European strategic autonomy/actorness.


This examination of Submerged Cultural Resource Management (SCRM) is divided into four sections. The first section explains the background of SCRM. Underwater archaeology plays a major part in the SCRM process and therefore, its background is important to know. The background section explains how underwater archaeology came to be and how it eventually became incorporated into Submerged Cultural Resource Management. The last three sections deal with the three-phase process of SCRM. The background search, testing, and mitigation phases are all explained using both the example of an underwater archaeology field school as well as generic, theoretical examples. All four sections link together to show just how important Submerged Cultural Resource Management is to preserving our world's maritime and terrestrial history.


Plasmodia of the acellular slime mold, Physarum polycephalum, were treated with an osmium tetroxide fixative containing potassium pyroantimonate to precipitate calcium and thereby localize calcium binding sites and sites of increased calcium concentration. Dense calcium pyroantimonate precipitates were detected within the nucleoli. The distribution of these precipitates during interphase and mitosis coincides with the distribution of the unique minichromosomes in Physarum, i.e., the numerous short pieces of extrachromosomal nucleolar chromatin containing segments of amplified DNA coding for ribosomal RNA. Calcium pyroantimonate precipitates were present as frequent dense granules in the mitochondrial matrix and as fine precipitates in the mitochondrial nucleoid. Large calcium-containing precipitates were seen within cytoplasmic vacuoles, confirming reports by others. In addition, we have identified calcium binding sites along the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane. The distribution of calcium within the plasmodium is discussed in relation to the assembly of the mitotic spindle and the regulation of cell motility.


Foreign language "camps" and international festivals have become standard extracurricular activities in the U.S. The "International Potpourri" combined features of both. It was a two-week residential summer enrichment program held in 1986 and 1987 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas for gifted and talented rising ninth and tenth graders. The purpose was to present the basics of French, German, Spanish and Japanese languages and cultures to superior students who had little or no previous foreign language study. This was accomplished through a variety of intensive activities centering on beginning conversation, songs, dances, craft and food workshops, field trips, travelogues and guest speakers. In addition, the participants engaged in discussion sessions with professional counselors, where the affective needs of the gifted and talented adolescent were addressed. This essay describes the program's successful marriage of two areas increasingly emphasized in Arkansas today: Gifted and Talented and Foreign Language Education.


The plant lectin, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), produced differential effects on insulin binding by insulin receptors from rat adipocytes, rat liver, human placenta, and human monocytes. Treatment of adipocyte membranes with WGA (1 μg/ml) markedly enhanced insulin binding (500% of control, 100%) conducted with 5 × 10-10 M 125I-insulin. The lectin's effect on insulin binding by liver membranes was significantly less (260% of control) and required a larger WGA concentration (5 μg/ml) to produce the stimulation. Insulin binding by placental membranes was increased only slightly (140%) by WGA, and monocytes failed to respond. The rate of insulin dissociation from the membrane preparations was decreased by lectin treatment. This effect was most prominent with adipocyte membranes, followed next by liver membranes, whereas only a slight inhibition was found with placental membranes. Scatchard analysis of the adipocyte receptor binding data indicated that WGA treatment completely linearizes the normally curvilinear plot to one high-affinity component (Kd of 0.22 nM) and decreases total insulin binding capacity by 60%. Similar effects were found with liver membranes, except that the extent of the changes was not as dramatic. WGA treatment did not linearize the Scatchard plot determined for placental membranes. Adipocyte and liver receptors solubilized by Triton X-100 responded to WGA, although the response was less in the former (350% above control, 100%) and greater in the latter (500%). Solubilization of placental receptors did not improve their response to the lectin. These results suggest differences in the structure of the insulin receptors from different tissues. Furthermore, the effects of WGA on adipocyte and liver receptors indicate the potential usefulness of this lectin in studies of acute changes in the the insulin binding properties of these insulin target tissues.


Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infections and resulting diseases are a worldwide threat to pig production. PCV2 bears a uniqueness that allows for us to understand more about chronic infections and the immune system in general. The virus can be phylogenetically subdivided into PCV2a to PCV2h genotypes. Although vaccination against PCV2 has been seen to prevent the manifestation of PCV disease, PCV2 still lingers as subclinical infections in all developmental stages of pigs. The "slow and low" tactic gives PCV2 a particular advantage in a host's immune surveillance. Since the inception of the PCV2 associated panzootic, research scientists have been trying to understand the pathogenicity of PCV2. Different research groups found that one genotype group member was more pathogenic than others. We found, in our weaner infection model with in vivo transfection of different recombinant PCV2 genotype group members that these viruses alter T cell maturation in the thymus, including host's central tolerance. Here, we extend these original observations by showing that PCV2 infected cells were also found in proximity within the female and male reproductive organs of stillborn pig fetuses. These PCV2 pools were sufficient in infecting three and half-day-old embryos in sows. Furthermore, the dominant PCV2 group member was more pathogenic in our weaner infection model. PCV2 pre-immunocompetence infection makes PCV2 recognized by central immune tolerance as belonging to the host. This also explains why pathogenicity is not a genetically intrinsic characteristic of PCV2; however, the dominance of any one PCV2 genotype group member leads to a more efficient deletion of the T cells against that specific genotype group member in the thymus.


Piezing is a garment which harnesses energy from the natural gestures of the human body in motion. Around the joints of the elbows and hips, the garment is embedded with piezoelectric material elements which generate an electric potential in response to applied mechanical stress. The electric potential is then stored as voltage in a centralized small battery and later can be discharged into a device. As a concept, Piezing explores a decentralized and self-reliant energy model for embedded interaction, pushing forward possibilities for mobility.


Dissimilar joint of low-alloy ferritic steel and austenitic stainless steel has been widely used in industries. In this study, the austenitic stainless steel A240-TP.316 and low-alloy ferritic steel A387-Gr.11 were welded together by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) method with constant and pulsed currents. Two types of filler metals, i.e. ER309L and ERNiCr-3, were used in this investigation. The microstructure of the dissimilar weldment was characterized by conventional metallography using optical and scanning electron microscopes and by energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS). The mechanical properties of test samples were evaluated by tension, charpy impact and microhardness experiments. It was found that the samples welded by pulsed current exhibit relatively higher impact energies mainly due to their lower heat input induction and creation of intense mixing in the welding pool. Consequently, the formation of undesirable microstructural features such as carbon depleted zone, transmission region and unmixed zones were reduced in the pulsed current welded specimens. Among all the filler metals used, the nickel based filler metal was found to be suitable since in this case, the migration of carbon into the welding pool was limited and therefore, the risk of transition region formation as compared with other filler metals decreased.


Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the microshear bond strength (μSBS) and ultramorphological characterization of glass ionomer (GI) cements; conventional GI cement (Fuji IX, CGI), resin modified GI (Fuji II LC, RMGI) and nano-ionomer (Ketac N100, NI) to enamel, dentin and cementum substrates. Materials and Methods: Forty-five lower molars were sectioned above the cemento-enamel junction. The occlusal surfaces were ground flat to obtain enamel and dentin substrates, meanwhile the cervical one-third of the root portion were utilized to evaluate the bonding efficacy to cementum substrate. Each substrate received microcylinders from the three tested materials; which were applied according to manufacturer instructions. μSBS was assessed using a universal testing machine. The data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey ′ s post-hoc test. Modes of failure were examined using stereomicroscope at ×25 magnification. Interfacial analysis of the bonded specimens was carried out using environmental field emission scanning electron microscope. Results: Two-way ANOVA revealed that materials, substrates and their interaction had a statistically significant effect on the mean μSBS values at P values; ˂0.0001, 0.0108 and 0.0037 respectively. RMGI showed statistically significant the highest μSBS values to all examined tooth substrates. CGI and RMGI show substrate independent bonding efficiency, meanwhile; NI showed higher μSBS values to dentin and cementum compared to enamel. Conclusion: Despite technological development of GI materials, mainly the nano-particles use, better results have not been achieved for both investigations, when compared to RMGI, independent of tooth substrate.


The increased availability of inexpensive sensors, tremendous processing capabilities (even in mobile devices), high-bandwidth wireless networks, and vast quantities of data storage have made it much more practical to continuously collect streams of low-level data about people and their environments. This approach enables researchers to compile detailed records of various contextual factors surrounding people's interactions with their world. Their locations, physiological states, contact with other people, situated uses of devices, and other digital traces can potentially be recorded and analyzed. Each of these kinds of data can be collected at virtually any frequency, with or without participant knowledge or intervention, and for extended periods of time. Due to the automated nature of the method, a large number of samples can be gathered quickly and with relatively low overhead by the researchers during sessions in the fi eld. However, the degree of automation involved in this method requires a number of pragmatic and analytic considerations, beginning with careful experimental design to ensure appropriate sensor design, and including how the study is deployed, participant training, privacy safeguards, and data storage requirements. Sensor Data Streams


The protective effects of FK565 against systemic infections with herpes simplex virus (HSV) and murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), respiratory tract infection with influenza virus and zosteriform rash with HSV investigated in mice. FK565 showed excellent protective activities against systemic infections with both acyclovir (ACV)-sensitive and -resistant HSV at intravenous and subcutaneous doses of 0.1 and 1 mg/kg and oral dose of 1 mg/kg. FK565 showed superior protective activities at subcutaneous doses of 0.01 and 0.1 mg/kg compared to ACV at subcutaneous dose of 15 mg/kg against MCMV infection. In respiratory tract infection with influenza virus, FK565 showed potent protective effects at intravenous, subcutaneous and oral doses of 0.001 to 1 mg/kg. FK565 markedly inhibited zosteriform spread of HSV on the flank skin at an intravenous dose of 0.1 mg/kg and the mice given FK565 survived longer than the control mice. The peritoneal exudate cells from FK565-treated mice suppressed the growth of HSV in mouse embryo fibroblast more strongly than those from the control mice, although FK565 had no direct antiviral activity against HSV. These findings suggest that FK565 enhanced the host defense ability against viral infections by nonspecific activation of macrophages.


Education has a two-fold function; that of continuity, as it reproduces the cultural models within a Community; and that of change, of innovation, as it contributes to the development of individuals who in their tum will constitute the dynamic elements of that Community, and all that with the interpersonal relations as the basic starting point. Therefore, Education and Community are inseparable elements in the development of Society, and such must be observed in an appropiate analysis of the psychoeducational reality. From this point of view, the teachers of the Deparment of Social Psychology at the Teachers' Training School have organised during the academic year 88-89, some Seminars under the title of "Education and Community" in which we try to give a general view on some of the many psichosocial aspects that affect the educational process. We deal with topics such as: - Education as social interaction. - Education and Environmental Psychology. - Conflicts within Education. - Communication in the educational process. - Participation of the educational community


In this paper, an adaptive selective predictive coding method is proposed for intraframe coding techniques. The adopted techniques overcome the complexity residual ideal case (i.e., residual does not become random noise) where the residual still suffers from the existence of redundancy. The suggested techniques attempt to sift over any redundancy embedded in the residual where the quality improves than that of traditional predictive coding, selective predictive coding and of fixed predictor coding.


We advance the state of the art in biomolecular interaction extraction with three contributions: (i) We show that deep, Abstract Meaning Representations (AMR) significantly improve the accuracy of a biomolecular interaction extraction system when compared to a baseline that relies solely on surface- and syntax-based features; (ii) In contrast with previous approaches that infer relations on a sentence-by-sentence basis, we expand our framework to enable consistent predictions over sets of sentences (documents); (iii) We further modify and expand a graph kernel learning framework to enable concurrent exploitation of automatically induced AMR (semantic) and dependency structure (syntactic) representations. Our experiments show that our approach yields interaction extraction systems that are more robust in environments where there is a significant mismatch between training and test conditions.


Recent structural models for valuing callable corporate bonds show that both callability and default options have important implications for the interest-rate sensitivity of yield spreads and the bond duration. Special attention is given to the interaction between the two risks. In this article, the authors test the main implications of these models. Specifically, they examine the interest-rate elasticity of the call spread and that of the default spread, allowing for interaction between both spreads. Furthermore, they examine the impact of both risks and their interaction on the effective duration of corporate bonds. They also test theoretical predictions regarding corporate bond sensitivity to firm value. Their findings support the predictions of the theory for bonds carrying a standard fixed-price call option and those carrying the newer make-whole option.


The constant growth of mobile users and high performance requirements of applications imply new challenges for deployment of wireless communication systems, which despite all the limitations should tend for the quality of the subscriber experience. The downlink packet scheduling plays an important role in the fourth generation systems, because it is responsible for intelligently allocate radio resources to users, according to an algorithm set. In the study carried out a downlink packet scheduler based on an evolutionary algorithm was developed; the obtained performance is comparable to conventional packet schedulers.


The concept and features of college teachers' soft abilities are defined. The features of College Teachers' Soft Ability are: not easy to train and develop; talent's deep characteristic; capable of effectively predict high working performance. The method to establish the Soft Ability indicator system is: to be sure about job requirements on hard abilities involving knowledge and technique via college teachers' job analysis; then to use behavioral event interview to determine the essential condition of soft abilities related to high performance. The method to measure College Teachers' Soft Abilities in recruitment and selection is to firstly change soft ability as specific work behavior, and then make measurement by methods of employment interview, evaluation and behavior observation.


Starting a teaching career is always problematic for many teachers because of the discrepancies that exist between theory and practice. Novice teachers usually encounter many difficulties when they try to make use of the theoretical background they acquired during their educational phase at the university. They are often faced by many challenges that require a certain training that is unfortunately missing from their curriculum. The present research paper aims at confirming the discrepancy hypothesis and exploring ways of bridging the gap between teachers' training and classroom practices in the Algerian Middle schools so as to equip teachers with the necessary didactic tools to carry out their mission in the most favourable conditions. To reach our aim, we interviewed two inspectors in charge of the eastern region. The findings revealed the mismatch between theory and practice, besides we came up with the conclusion that a successful teaching can only be achieved through the integration of practical courses and pre-service training in order to bridge the gap between what is theoretically taught to future teachers and the requirements of the actual classroom practices.


As the complexity of deep neural networks (DNNs) trend to grow to absorb the increasing sizes of data, memory and energy consumption has been receiving more and more attentions for industrial applications, especially on mobile devices. This paper presents a novel structure based on functional hashing to compress DNNs, namely FunHashNN. For each entry in a deep net, FunHashNN uses multiple low-cost hash functions to fetch values in the compression space, and then employs a small reconstruction network to recover that entry. The reconstruction network is plugged into the whole network and trained jointly. FunHashNN includes the recently proposed HashedNets as a degenerated case, and benefits from larger value capacity and less reconstruction loss. We further discuss extensions with dual space hashing and multi-hops. On several benchmark datasets, FunHashNN demonstrates high compression ratios with little loss on prediction accuracy.


The purpose of the study was to investigate the wife and husband role division in household financial management between dual-income household and single-income household. Household financial management included the following five categories: financial planning, consumption/expenditure management, savings/investment management, risk management and credit management. Data for this research was collected through 610 married women living in Seoul, Korea. Using SAS-PC program, Chi-square and t-test Analyses were executed. The results showed that dual- and single-income households tend to have different perspectives on marital role division in household management. Wives of dual-income households had more significant roles in financial management rather than wives of single income households. Especially, wives of dual-income managed more active credit management and saving/investment management. On the other hand, wives of single-income households played a major role in making decision over cheap items than that of wives of dual-income household.


: Information asymmetry between issuing firm, the investment bank and the various classes of investors brings about the problem of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) underpricing. The empirical research determined that the degree of underpricing is dynamic and various markets forces interact simultaneously in observing the variation in pricing the new equity issues. By covering the twelve-year period, this paper gives analytical evidence of underpricing of initial public offerings in Croatia. By identified determinants of IPO underpricing, which are explained with the help of agency theory, signaling and behavioral theories, the paper points out to the significance of regulatory framework in this corporate governance segment.


Application of the geoelectrical imaging method with capacitively coupled (i.e. non-invasive) sensor arrays to the 3D tomographic reconstruction of man-made objects or structures buried at shallow depth. We present the results of proof-of-concept experiments using representative targets under controlled laboratory conditions. The study demonstrates that the approach can be used to reconstruct and visualise concealed objects, simulating a range of threats. The experimental work has confirmed the predictions from numerical simulations and reinforced the key constraints. 3D geoelectrical imaging could complement and enhance capabilities in security and defence for quantitative, volumetric and structural characterisation of the subsurface. In principle, the methodology is suitable for use on natural ground as well as on vertical walls or engineered structures (e.g. roads, foundations), including within buildings.


ABSTRACT The end of the first working program of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) provided an opportunity to draw lessons from its work. This perspective paper captures insights from ecosystem services (ES) researchers and practitioners, largely drawing from the European context (referred to herein as 'ES community'), on this key science–policy interface. We synthesize reflections from a workshop on how (i) IPBES can engage the ES community; (ii) the ES community can engage with IPBES; and (iii) individual scientists can contribute. We note that IPBES constitutes a great advancement towards multidisciplinarity and inclusivity in ES research and practice. Key reflections for IPBES are that funding and visibility at ES research events could be improved, the contribution and selection processes could be more transparent, and communication with experts improved. Key reflections for the ES community include a need to improve policy-relevance by integrating more social scientists, researchers from developing countries, early-career scientists and policy-makers. Key reflections directed towards individual scientists include contributing (pro)actively to science–policy interface initiatives such as IPBES and increasing transdisciplinary research. These reflections intend to contribute to the awareness of challenges and opportunities for institutions, groups and individuals working on ES.


This chapter presents a model of a novel adaptive online knowledge assessment system and tests the efficiency of its implementation. System enables continual and cumulative knowledge assessment, comprised of sequence of at least two interconnected assessments, carried-out throughout a reasonably long period of time. Important characteristics of the system are: (a) introduction of new course topics in every subsequent assessment, (b) re-assessment of earlier course topics in every subsequent assessment iteration, (c) in an adaptive manner, based on student's achievements during previous assessments. Personalized post-assessment feedback guides each student in preparations for upcoming assessments. The efficiency has been tested on a sample of 78 students. Results indicate that the proposed adaptive system is efficient on an individual learning goal level.


In 32 patients with macroprolactinomas or functionless pituitary macroadenomas biochemical and clinical data were correlated with PRL immunocytochemistry. Serum PRL levels revealed a positive correlation with tumour PRL content. Hyperprolactinaemia of 3000 mU/l or more was found only in patients with PRL-positive tumours. In 15 patients with borderline hyperprolactinaemia (below 3000 mU/l), 7 PRL-positive and 8 PRL-negative macroadenomas were found, and in 9 normoprolactinaemic patients 4 PRL-positive and 5 PRL-negative macroadenomas. Patients with PRL-immunostainable tumours had significantly higher median basal serum PRL (P less than or equal to 0.05) than patients with PRL-negative tumours. PRL stimulation after TRH, basal and GnRH-stimulated FSH and LH did not show significant differences between the two groups. A discriminant analysis using 6 biochemical variables was attempted to differentiate between PRL-negative and -positive tumours, which would be helpful in patients with borderline hyperprolactinaemia. Dopamine agonist therapy led to suppression of serum PRL with few exceptions in patients with PRL-positive and -negative tumours, whereas shrinkage was only observed in PRL-immunostainable tumours with high serum PRL levels (over 18,000 mU/l). All patients with PRL-negative tumours showed no change or even growth of the tumour despite dopamine agonist therapy. Our observations indicate that a pituitary macroadenoma associated with serum PRL of more than 3000 mU/l is most probably a prolactinoma (tumour immunostainable for PRL). Dopamine agonist therapy is effective in PRL suppression and tumour shrinkage in most of these patients. Macroadenomas without hormone hypersecretion or with borderline hyperprolactinaemia below 3000 mU/l may or may not contain PRL-immunostainable cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Background: World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This review presents the geographical distribution of COVID-19 as of 31st May 2020, the virus pathogenesis, the evolution of total confirmed cases and global death toll of COVID-19 from 31st December 2019 to 31st May 2020 on the 5 continents and to display the immunological basis of the disease.
Methods: Literatures were found by searching online databases. The evolution of total confirmed cases and total confirmed deaths, every two weeks, were plotted using GraphPad Prism 5.1 software.
Results: As of 31st May 2020 at 10:00 am, WHO reported 218 countries and territories concerned by COVID-19 on the 5 continents, with 5934936 total confirmed cases and 367166 total deaths. SARS-CoV-2 has a spherical shape with some pleomorphism. The infection pathogenesis significantly depends on the binding between spike protein and its receptor (ACE2 principally). Clinical manifestations of the disease vary according to host immunity and range from mild to fulminant.. The main mechanism for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the "cytokine storm".  The virus employs many strategies to evade the immune response.
Conclusion: COVID-19 has wreaked a lot of havoc. Investigations are still ongoing for the development of treatment and vaccines. In the meantime, measures are being taken to prevent and limit contacts.
Keywords: COVID-19, epidemiology, pathogenesis, immunological response


OBJECTIVE
To test cognitive-developmental, social-cognitive, motivational, and cognitive hypotheses about the psychological mechanisms underlying children's risk perception.

METHOD
Youth (N = 1315) ranging from 9 to 17 years of age completed measures assessing adolescent egocentrism, personal experience with four negative health events, how much they worried about the health events, and their perceived skill for event-related activities. The measures were completed twice, 12 months apart.

RESULTS
Lacking personal experience with and worrying less about health threats were significant predictors of more optimistically biased risk perception a year later.

CONCLUSIONS
The lack of experience with and not worrying about serious health consequences may desensitize children to potential health risks. Clinical applications for health education programs are discussed.


The translation of religious texts has always been a perilous undertaking, especially when it concerns a sacred text. Indeed, seeing translation as an act of communication requires a knowledge of the communicative parameters that constitute it. The translator-speaker, who plays the role of intermediary, must create an interaction at the level of meaning and its semantic components. From this emerges the role of the addressee as the main protagonist and the only interpretative force of the message. Thus, the process of negotiation manages the translating activity, since the transfer of a message is not only reduced to a process of reformulation of the source text in another language, but, largely exceeds this compartmentalization. We will first discuss the challenges and stakes of the translation of religious texts, which we have chosen to illustrate with examples that make this aspect clear. Then, we will insist on the question of the translation as a semantic negotiation, considering that there is a confrontation between transmitter and receiver from the point of view of knowledge, historical and linguistic references. Indeed, this facet of the pyramid where the cultural dimension of translation and interpretation is played out remains unknown and implicit. It is quite easy to reveal what is related to the cultural, social and historical reality of a particular receiver. But that is not enough to communicate, it is also necessary to question the cultural references of this one, the representations conveyed by the language. Indeed, we have chosen to present examples of the Holy Qur'an translated by translators of different religions, and given that some translations have deviated from the noble mission of translation, in this case, the faithful transmission of the meaning, without any objectivity whatsoever, especially when it is a sacred text whose inimitability is not to be proven or tested. Thus, the difficulty in our choice stems, on the one hand, from the sacred character of the chosen writing, and on the other hand, from the nature of research in this field which is condemned to remain always relative. Since several elements control the translation of the sacred text, namely, the language, the tradition and the personal factors of the translator. Finally, the field of religious translation requires a great deal of precision and neutrality, and a constant rethinking of the fact that the slightest subjective or cultural interpretation could call into question our research work. Thus, when it comes to cultural transfer, the translator's task is to take into consideration the knowledge that already exists in the target culture about the source culture. Indeed, it is necessary to know how to relate the knowledge concerning the target culture to the knowledge via the source culture. The translator is the first receiver who receives and interprets the message; he will therefore try to understand the source culture with his own knowledge and value judgments. The translator is indeed a mediator because he assumes two roles, that of receiver and reader of the source message, however, the translator having a task of reader which must be different from that of the normal reader, since he must undoubtedly appropriate the competence of mediator in communication which crosses with the function of transmitter of the translated message. Moreover, this same message undergoes a second transfer; the target reader receives it and interprets it in turn according to his own ideological and cultural schemes. Thus, the process of the translated text is not limited to a single phase, but, it enchains back and forth during which the text acquires the imprint of the translator who makes the transfer. Without forgetting to negotiate the meaning by respecting all the circumstances of the original text. So, to what extent can this semantic negotiation communicate the said and the unsaid of the text? .


SIGNIFICANCE
Inflammation and immunity can be associated with varying degrees of heme release from hemoproteins, eventually leading to cellular and tissue iron (Fe) overload, oxidative stress, and tissue damage. Presumably, these deleterious effects contribute to the pathogenesis of systemic infections.

RECENT ADVANCES
Heme release from hemoglobin sensitizes parenchyma cells to undergo programmed cell death in response to proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor. This cytotoxic effect is driven by a mechanism involving intracellular accumulation of free radicals, which sustain the activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling transduction pathway. While heme catabolism by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) prevents programmed cell death, this cytoprotective effect requires the co-expression of ferritin H (heart/heavy) chain (FTH), which controls the pro-oxidant effect of labile Fe released from the protoporphyrin IX ring of heme. This antioxidant effect of FTH restrains JNK activation, whereas JNK activation inhibits FTH expression, a cross talk that controls metabolic adaptation to cellular Fe overload associated with systemic infections.

CRITICAL ISSUES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Identification and characterization of the mechanisms via which FTH provides metabolic adaptation to tissue Fe overload should provide valuable information to our current understanding of the pathogenesis of systemic infections as well as other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.


【Today most companies are designing their automobile shapes by using 3 dimensional CAD software, CATIA. And they used to design 2 dimensional press dies to do some elastic work on their products, but they are currently trying to make use of 3 dimensional software, Pro-Engineer. In this case, they have to change the 3 dimensional product design data to the proper format data for the following process. This paper will show the data loss and the deformation during data transfer between CATIA and Pro-Engineer, and then suggest a solution for these problems. Product's surface will be automatically placed by automatic press tipping angle setting in CATIA to prevent the product from being stuck m the press die. The 2 dimensional section view which is based on the tipping angle setting is created by Z-map. And, to remove the data loss and the data deformation in Pro-Engineer, the product surface are delivered to the next process after it is changed to the 2 dimensional Z-map curves in CATIA. Finally, this paper suggests an algorithm to develop the automatic design program for the press layout which regenerates product shape surface from the previous process.】


This paper addresses the application of rotor speed signal for the detection and diagnosis of ball bearing faults in rotating electrical machines. Many existing techniques for bearing fault diagnosis (BFD) rely on vibration signals or current signals. However, vibration- or current-based BFD techniques suffer from various challenges that must be addressed. As an alternative, this paper takes the initial step of investigating the efficiency of rotor speed monitoring for BFD. The bearing failure modes are reviewed and their effects on the rotor speed signal are described. Based on this analysis, a novel BFD technique, the rotor speed-based BFD (RSB-BFD) method under variable speed and constant load conditions, is proposed to provide a benefit in terms of cost and simplicity. The proposed RSB-BFD method exploits the absolute value-based principal component analysis (PCA), which improves the performance of classical PCA by using the absolute value of weights and the sum square error. The performance and effectiveness of the RSB-BFD method is demonstrated using an experimental setup with a set of realistic bearing faults in the outer race, inner race, and balls.


The foundation of case-based prospective payment is the case classification system. The purpose of classification systems is to group together patients with similar treatment requirements. The systems described in this issue take a variety of theoretical and practical approaches to classification. The critical issue in comparing these systems is whether the variation in treatment requirements which is not explained by the classification system is associated with particular groups of patients, particular hospitals, or particular groups of hospitals in such a way as to result in unfair reimbursement. We suggest criteria for comparing classification systems and a research agenda for clarifying the fairness of different approaches.


Si+ and Ar+ ion implantation and rapid thermal annealing were investigated by double-crystal rocking curve analysis using a five-reflection beam conditioner. Theoretical simulation using X-ray dynamical diffraction theory enabled detailed strain-depth profiles to be calculated. Observation of diffuse scattering in the rocking-curve tails also allowed qualitative assessment of defect growth on annealing. It was found that, for implant doses of 1013 and 1014 atoms cm-2 at 100 keV, the strain was annealed out at 1100 degrees C. However, doses of 1015 atoms cm-2 or greater resulted in the growth of interstitial-type defects on annealing. Double Si+ implantation (2*1015, 150 keV+2*1015, 50 keV) and annealing at 1100 degrees C produced a strained, defective layer well below the surface at 0.3 mu m depth.


In this paper we derive refinements of the Jensen type inequalities in the case of real Stieltjes measure , not necessarily positive, which are generalizations of Jensen's inequality and its reverses for positive measures. Furthermore, we investigate the exponential and logarithmic convexity of the difference between the left-hand and the right-hand side of these inequalities and give several examples of the families of functions for which the obtained results can be applied. The outcome is a new class of Cauchy-type means.


This study determined the licensed and 'off label' (outside the terms of the licence) use of newly marketed medicines in children (2–11 years) and adolescents (12–17 years), by general practitioners in England. In addition, the incidence rates during the first month of therapy (ID1) for three adverse events, in these groups were compared with those of adults (≥18 years). The use of these drugs was monitored in 63 individual prescription‐event monitoring (PEM) studies, conducted to monitor the safety of these medicines. Patients and drug exposures were identified from dispensed prescriptions. Outcome data (events and demographic information) were obtained from questionnaires. Although only six of these 63 drugs were licensed for use in children, 44 of the 63 drugs were used to treat children. For the majority of the drugs there was no specific reference to adolescents in the data sheets therefore it has been assumed that the drugs were licensed for those aged ≥12 years unless specified otherwise; 55 have been taken as licensed for use in adolescents. Over 690,000 patients were included in the 63 PEM studies, 9081 (1.3%) of these were children and 15,256 (2.2%) were adolescents. 78% of the 9081 children and 93% of the 15,256 adolescents were treated with 'licensed' drugs. There was a significant difference in the incidence rate for rash and nausea/vomiting, two adverse events commonly reported during treatment with lamotrigine, between children and adolescents compared to adults. This survey has shown that although only a small proportion (10%) of newly marketed drugs were licensed for use in children the majority of children (78%) were treated with these licensed products but 22% of children received drugs 'off label' during the first few years that the drug was marketed and a small number of children and adolescents were given drugs contraindicated in these age ranges. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In this work, numerical solutions of the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes and Euler equations using explicit MacCormack method on multi-block structured mesh are presented for steady state and unsteady state compressible fluid flows. The multi-block technique and generalized coordinate system are used to develop a numerical solver which can be applied for a large range of compressible flow problems on complex geometries without modifying the governing equations and numerical method. Besides that the numerical method is based on a finite difference approach and the generalized coordinates introduced allow the application of the boundary conditions easily. The subsonic flow over a backward facing step and supersonic flow over a curved ramp are presented, and the results are compared with the experimental and numerical data.


This paper demonstrates an alternative to the conventional wisdom that microprocessors require a flat impedance spectrum across a broad range of frequencies in order to deliver maximum operating frequency. Delivering this impedance requires large amounts of on-die capacitance. We show that proper co-design of the clock and power distribution networks can relax this requirement, saving the area and leakage power needed for on-die decoupling. Measurements made on a 130 nm processor demonstrate the approach.


Non-sexist writing guidelines have been produced since the middle of the 20th century but often cause controversy. Taking only one aspect of such language reform, the feminisation of agentives, the present study aims to compare two similarly-structured, grammatically-gendered languages, French and Spanish, with regard to the visibility of women in the print media.
After reviewing research that shows the use of masculine gendered agentives can induce, or reinforce, stereotypes which obscure female agency, prior studies of feminisation are classified by methodology and data source showing that little previous research has taken advantage of corpus techniques to analyse naturally occurring data, nor is there a significant body of contrastive research comparing feminisation strategies across languages or across countries with the same language. The collation of a cross-continental and cross-language corpus of media references to named people is therefore proposed and executed to allow both quantitative and qualitative analysis of naturally-occurring feminisations (or, indeed, their absence).
Using electronic techniques, a corpus of over 5,000 references to named individuals was collated from press websites in France, Spain, Canada and Argentina. The form of the agentives referring to women was compared to strategies suggested in the UN-produced guidelines on gender neutral language, for French and Spanish, and discrepancies were classified. Classification of the agentives' morphology was also made, to assign a 'predicted' base gender to each agentive. Quantitative and qualitative analyses performed on the data then drive the discussion of similarities and differences in feminisation strategies, across the chosen languages and countries. The study shows that prestige agentives cause feminisation difficulties across both languages, independently of morphology, whilst also identifying issues that are specific to one language group or one area. Possible reasons for both the similarities and differences are suggested and in turn suggest areas for further research using similar, corpus-based techniques.


This paper proposes a numerical approximation technique, called the Finite Difference Quadrature (FDQ) Method, to efficiently model interconnects. A discrete modeling approach, FDQ adapts grid points along the interconnects to compute the finite difference between adjacent grid points by using global approximation frameworks. Similarly to Gaussian quadrature methods to compute the numerical integrals, FDQ uses a global quadrature method to compute the numerical finite differences. As a global approximation technique, FDQ needs much sparser grid points than conventional Finite Difference (FD) methods to achieve comparable accuracy. Low order FDQ-based equivalent-circuit models have been incorporated into HSPICE, showing comparable accuracy yet higher efficiency and wider applicability.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Medical malpractice occurs in cases, where a patient experiences damage as a result of the doctor's deviation from the standard practice or care. As in all medical specialties, thoracic surgeons may face medical malpractice claims. METHODS: Among the files reviewed by the First Board of Specialization of the Council of Forensic Medicine between January 01, 2010, and December 21, 2015, cases with malpractice allegations against thoracic surgeons were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Fifty-nine of the cases were male (72.8%), and 22 were female (27.2%). The mean age was 51.13±18.97 years, and the most common age range was >60 years (n=35, 43.2%). Medical malpractice was confirmed in 11 (13.6%) of the cases. A diagnostic error was the most common cause of error (n=7, 63.6%), and the most common cause of a diagnostic error was failure to diagnose a condition on time (n=4, 36.4%). The most frequent diagnosis was "injuries due to trauma" (n=54, 66.7%), followed by lung cancer (n=9, 11.1%). It was found that 80.2% (n=65) of the doctors intervened with the patient as a consultant. Complications developed in 48 (59.3%) of the cases. The most common complication was pneumonia (n=7, 14.6%). CONCLUSION: This was the first study in Turkey that included cases of medical malpractice claims that involved thoracic surgeons. We think that examining cases with medical malpractice claims will help physicians not only better understand the characteristics of malpractice claims but also develop strategies to prevent malpractice claims.


A mild prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) is present in females (2:1). To elucidate the pathogenetic role of sex steroids on the disease, we studied 76 women affected by MS, compared to 50 healthy women (mean age +/- SD, 34.9 +/- 0.9 vs. 33.4 +/- 1.7 years). The menarche was at mean age of 12.3 +/- 0.2 vs. 12.4 +/- 0.2. Interval between menses was 28.0 +/- 0.3 vs 27.8 +/- 0.3 days, with duration of menstrual flow of 5.0 +/- 0.2 vs. 5.0 +/- 0.2 days. Oligo- or amenorrhea was present in 20% of patients and in 16% of controls. Oral contraceptives were assumed by 21% of patients and 34% of controls (n.s.). Premenstrual symptoms were found in 43% of patients and in 46% of controls (n.s.). The incidence of hyperandrogenism (greasy skin, acne and hirsutism), evaluated by a specific questionnaire, was higher and statistically significant in MS patients than in controls (28% vs. 10%, p<0.05). Further studies, including a complete clinical and laboratory evaluation of gonadal function, are necessary in order to clarify whether hyperandrogenism may influence MS disease activity.


The metabolism in vitro of [4-14C]testosterone to reduced derivatives was studied in the pituitary gland, hypothalamus and hyperstriatum dorsale of cockerels from hatch to sexual maturity. The most important metabolites were 5 beta-dihydrotestosterone (5 beta-DHT), 5 beta-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol (5 beta-3 alpha-diol) and 5 beta-androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diol. Trace amounts of androstenedione and, in the hypothalamus only, of 5 alpha-DHT were also detected. The amounts of 5 beta-reduced metabolites produced by all neuroendocrine tissues declined progressively during maturation with the steepest fall occurring during the first 2 weeks after hatch. At all ages studied, 5 beta-DHT was formed to the greatest extent by the hyperstriatum dorsale, to a lesser extent by the hypothalamus and in the smallest quantities by the pituitary gland. In the three tissues studied, 5 beta-3 alpha-diol tended to be formed to the greatest extent by the pituitary gland. No significant change was observed in the metabolism of testosterone to reduced derivatives in any of the neuroendocrine tissues after castration. It was concluded that in the cockerel, unlike the rat, a change in 5 alpha-reductase activity of the neuroendocrine tissues is unlikely to be involved in the initiation of puberty. The physiological significance of 5 beta-reductase activity in the neuroendocrine tissues remains to be established.


The federation of authority in global public computing systems poses major resource management challenges, as different stakeholders may have different views on how server resources are to be apportioned. Ultimately, the complexity of declaring and managing potentially overlapping federated policies often leads to the absence of high-level resource management systems from global public computing platforms. In this paper we propose a practical system that allows the different stakeholders to independently express federated policies, provides mechanisms for resolving potential constraint overlaps automatically, and reaches decentralised resource allocation decisions. We demonstrate experimentally that the system scales gracefully, introduces only a very low performance overhead, and is suitable for operating in realistically large and complex settings.


The precision of modern length interferometry and geodetic surveying far exceeds the accuracy, which is ultimately limited by the inadequacy of currently used equations for the refractive index of the atmosphere. I have critically reviewed recent research at the National Physical Laboratory, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, and elsewhere that has led to revised formulas and data for the dispersion and density of the major components of the atmosphere. I have combined selected formulas from these sources to yield a set of equations that match recently reported measurements to within the experimental error, and that are expected to be reliable over very wide ranges of atmospheric parameters and wavelength.


Brazil is presently going through its worse electricity supply crisis in fifty years. This happens after seven year efforts of market-oriented reforms, and inevitably raises the issue of whether the design and rhythm of the reform have been correct. The roots of the present crisis lie in a long period of underinvestment dating from the eighties; sector reforms were aimed at correcting this situation, but have been unsuccessful thus far. This article discusses the causes of this failure and attempts a way out of the present problems. The present crisis requires an emergency answer, but also a long term policy. I argue that such a policy must be based upon the acknowledgement that electricity demand in Brazil will tend to grow fast for the foreseeable future and that sector reform must be based upon dynamic rather than static efficiency. Furthermore, the large Brazilian hydropower system requires special treatment if we are to have investment in hydro and in thermal plants.


ABSTRACT Autophagy is a cellular self-degradative pathway. Our study unveiled a novel mechanism mediated by OFD1, the protein mutated in Oral-Facial-Digital type I syndrome, based on selective degradation of autophagic proteins, which enables cells to calibrate their self-degradation. We demonstrated that unrestrained autophagy contributes to renal cysts observed in Ofd1 mutants.


The purpose of the study was to determine athletes'perceptions of the sources of role ambiguity in interactive sport teams. Athletes (N = 151; 97 females and 54 males) were asked to identify why ambiguity might exist in relation to the scope of their role responsibilities, the behaviors necessary to fulfill those responsibilities, the evaluation of their role performance, and the consequences of not successfully fulfilling their role responsibilities. Results revealed an extensive set of possible sources for each dimension of role ambiguity that emerged from the responses that included factors associated with the role sender (e.g., coach), the focal person (e.g., the athlete), and the situation. The types and frequency of factors differed among the various dimensions of ambiguity thereby lending support to the necessity of considering role ambiguity in sport as a multidimensional construct. The relevance of the results to sport and future intervention research is discussed.


We consider the problem of estimating an expected outcome from a stochastic simulation model. Our goal is to develop a theoretical framework on importance sampling for such estimation. By investigating the variance of an importance sampling estimator, we propose a two-stage procedure that involves a regression stage and a sampling stage to construct the final estimator. We introduce a parametric and a nonparametric regression estimator in the first stage and study how the allocation between the two stages affects the performance of the final estimator. We analyze the variance reduction rates and derive oracle properties of both methods. We evaluate the empirical performances of the methods using two numerical examples and a case study on wind turbine reliability evaluation.


Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a glycolipid-anchored protein located on the cell surface that is implicated in the promotion of metastasis. New fluorescent probes for the detection of uPAR expression that feature a rapid "turn-on" response are here reported. They consist of a donor-p-acceptor-based fluorophore conjugated with a uPAR-binding AE105 peptide. The resulting AE105-coupled uPAR-targeting probes are weakly emissive in aqueous buffer solutions; however, a fluorescence "turn-on" signal is instantly triggered upon specific binding to uPAR (KD = 63.2 nM for P1 and 49.5 nM for P2), which restricts the rotational deactivation of the fluorophore. Applications of the probes were demonstrated in the imaging of uPAR overexpressed on the membrane of cancer cell and in a cell-based uPAR inhibitor assay.


Defenses against flooding distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) commonly respond to the attack by dropping the excess traffic, thus reducing the overload at the victim. The major challenge is the differentiation of the legitimate from the attack traffic, so that the dropping policies can be selectively applied. We propose D-WARD, a source-end DDoS defense system that achieves autonomous attack detection and surgically accurate response, thanks to its novel traffic profiling techniques, the adaptive response and the source-end deployment. Moderate traffic volumes seen near the sources, even during the attacks, enable extensive statistics gathering and profiling, facilitating high response selectiveness. D-WARD inflicts an extremely low collateral damage to the legitimate traffic, while quickly detecting and severely rate-limiting outgoing attacks. D-WARD has been extensively evaluated in a controlled testbed environment and in real network operation. Results of selected tests are presented in the paper.


Accurate assessment of bone mineral density (BMD) is critically important in clinical practice, and conveniently enabled via quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Meanwhile, dual-energy QCT (DEQCT) enables enhanced detection of small changes in BMD relative to single-energy QCT (SEQCT). In the present study, we aimed to investigate the accuracy of QCT methods, with particular emphasis on a new dual-energy approach, in comparison to single-energy and conventional dual-energy techniques. We used a sinogram-based analytical CT simulator to model the complete chain of CT data acquisitions, and assessed performance of SEQCT and different DEQCT techniques in quantification of BMD. We demonstrate a 120% reduction in error when using a proposed dual-energy Simultaneous Equation by Constrained Least-squares method, enabling more accurate bone mineral measurements.