We reported previously that high hydrostatic pressure-injured stationary phase cells of Escherichia coli K-12 lost their intrinsic deoxycholate tolerance. The AcrAB-TolC multi-drug resistance pump driven by proton motive force has been argued to be responsible for the tolerance to deoxycholate. In this report, we tested the sensitivity of the AcrAB-TolC (three components) pump to high hydrostatic pressure treatment (HPT). E. coli K-12 treated with HPT became sensitive to AcrAB-TolC-specific drugs such as ethidium bromide, but not to tetracycline which is pumped out by a one-component transporter, Tet. Only E. coli K-12 overproducing both AcrAB and TolC exhibited restored tolerance to deoxycholate after HPT but not E. coli overproducing either TolC or AcrAB. These observations strongly suggest that three-component pumps such as AcrAB-TolC are more susceptible to HPT than one-component pumps such as Tet, resulting in the differential loss of deoxycholate tolerance in high hydrostatic pressure-injured E. coli cells.


PURPOSE
Although thalidomide (Thal) was introduced successfully in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), the optimal Thal dosage and schedule are still controversial. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the effect of Thal in MM is dose dependent and whether the outcome might be improved when the Thal dosage is adjusted to parameters reflecting body size.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
From December 1998 to March 2001, 83 patients with relapsed MM were enrolled in a clinical Phase II trial and treated with a maximum Thal dosage of 400 mg daily. We performed a retrospective analysis and studied the effect of the cumulative 3-month Thal dosage on progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) together with age and the pretreatment levels of beta2-microglobulin, C-reactive protein, albumin, and hemoglobin in a Cox regression model.

RESULTS
After a median follow-up time of 17 months (range, 1-30 months), the estimated 12-month progression-free survival and OS were 45% (SE = 6%) and 86% (SE = 4%) for the whole patient group. After backward selection, hemoglobin (P = 0.002) and the cumulative 3-month Thal dosage (P = 0.002) were the remaining factors for OS. The effect on OS could not be improved when the cumulative 3-month Thal dosage was adjusted to parameters reflecting body size such as height, weight, body surface area, or body mass index in comparison with Thal alone.

CONCLUSIONS
Our retrospective analysis demonstrates that the cumulative 3-month Thal dosage is one of the major prognostic factors for OS, supporting the hypothesis of a dose-dependent effect of Thal in relapsed MM.


The existence of 100% efficient (i.e., capacity-achieving) fixed-rate codes for input-constrained, noiseless channels is guaranteed provided the channel has rational capacity. A class of M-ary runlength-limited (M,d,/spl infin/) constraints was shown in previous work to have rational capacity. In this correspondence we present a code construction procedure for obtaining 100% efficient codes with the fewest number of encoder states for all (M,d,/spl infin/) constraints with rational capacity. The decoders are sliding-block decoders with sliding window size d+1.


PHYSICS PUBLISHINGOver the past few months, the Russian Academy of Sciences has threatened to end a publishing agreement with the American Institute of Physics (AIP), which currently translates and distributes English-language versions of several RAS physics journals, and instead produce the two most profitable journals in its own publishing company. During negotiations in Moscow at the end of last month, the academy told the AIP it could continue publishing the journals for just one more year if it increases the royalties it pays to RAS by 50%. Russian journal staff claim that an agreement was reached on those terms; AIP officials, when contacted by Science , declined to comment.


This collection provides students and researchers with a new and lively understanding of the role of institutions in the production, reception, and meaning of literature in the period 1700–1900. The period saw a fundamental transition from a patronage system to a marketplace in which institutions played an important mediating role between writers and readers, a shift with consequences that continue to resonate today. Often producers themselves, institutions processed and claimed authority over a variety of cultural domains that never simply tessellated into any unified system. The collection's primary concerns are British and imperial environments, with a comparative German case study, but it offers encouragement for its approaches to be taken up in a variety of other cultural contexts. From the Post Office to museums, from bricks and mortar to less tangible institutions like authorship and genre, this collection opens up a new field for literary studies.


Coalbed methane (CBM) is a kind of important energy resources in the world. Liquefaction is a good option for recovery of CBM. Generally, CBM consists of a lot of nitrogen besides methane, which is usually required to be separated by adsorption before liquefaction, or by distillation after liquefaction. For the CBM adsorption-liquefaction processes, two novel processes are proposed, which integrate the two parts of adsorption and liquefaction together by utilizing the residue pressure of the waste nitrogen: the released nitrogen expanded directly to precool CBM, or further compressed and then expanded to liquefy CBM. Taking the unit product liquefaction power consumption as the major index and nitrogen content of CBM feed gas together with residue pressure of waste nitrogen as variables, the system performance of these two integrated processes is studied and compared with that of the nitrogen expansion liquefaction process without integration. By simulation and calculation with HYSYS, it is confirmed that system power consumption can be reduced by both methods to utilize the residue pressure, and for CBM with high nitrogen content, the energy conservation effect is considerable, furthermore, it is better to use waste nitrogen to precool CBM than to liquefy it.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Laminin is an extracellular matrix molecule which promotes neurite outgrowth from a variety of neurons in culture. However, the reported effectiveness of laminin on neurite outgrowth from retinal ganglion cells in rat and that from chick have been contradictory. In chick, embryonic retinal ganglion cells show strong laminin-dependent neurite outgrowth which is lost during development. In contrast, in rat, laminin promotes neurite outgrowth from adult, but not embryonic retinal ganglion cells. We have reexamined the response of adult and embryonic mouse retinal ganglion cells to laminin in culture. We found, first, that both adult and embryonic retinal neurites respond to laminin with neurite outgrowth in serum-free medium. Second, we found that the addition of serum to the medium greatly inhibits the outgrowth of neurites from embryonic, but not adult, retinal explants. This inhibition appears specific for neurite outgrowth involving laminin receptors, since embryonic explants showed extensive neurite outgrowth in the presence of serum when astrocytes were used as a substrate. These developmental differences in the effect of serum on laminin-dependent neurite outgrowth may indicate maturational changes in surface molecules on optic fibers related to regenerative failure in the adult CNS.


BACKGROUND: Several East Asian studies have examined the role of revascularization in the context of hemorrhagic moyamoya disease (MMD) and found a decrease in postoperative rehemorrhage rates. To date, no data exist comparing revascularization with conservative management in North American patients with hemorrhagic MMD. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical outcomes of conservative management vs surgical revascularization for North American patients with hemorrhagic MMD and investigate the effect of revascularization timing. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the mortality and stroke-free survival of patients with MMD presenting with hemorrhagic stroke between 1994 and 2015. RESULTS: The diagnosis of hemorrhagic MMD was established in 38 patients. Seventeen patients were managed conservatively, and 21 were surgically revascularized. Twelve patients underwent revascularization within 6 months of hemorrhage, and 9 underwent surgery in a delayed fashion. Six conservatively managed patients (35.3%) died within the follow-up period compared with 0 (0%) surgically revascularized patients, P = .004. Conservatively managed patients also experienced an increased number of postoperative strokes, P = .037, and shorter stroke-free survival compared with patients undergoing revascularization, P = .047. On multivariate analysis, increased age, worse baseline modified Rankin score, and conservative management were independently associated with worse neurological outcomes, P < .05. Early revascularization was associated with higher rates of postoperative seizures, P = .033, and wound complications, P = .031, compared with those who underwent delayed surgery. CONCLUSION: Conservative management in a North American patient cohort was associated with greater mortality and worsened neurological outcomes compared with those undergoing revascularization. Early revascularization was associated with higher rates of postoperative seizures and wound complications, although these risks must be balanced against the risk of rehemorrhage.


Purpose – This chapter answers the question 'what does a transformed institution look like' by presenting a framework for institutional transformation to mainstream diversity. It exemplifies the framework by assessing how well English higher education institutions (HEIs) are doing with respect to mainstreaming. Relevant examples of change from the case studies are identified.

Methodology/approach – Reports from two institutional change programmes in the United Kingdom and the European Universities Charter on Lifelong Learning are synthesised to create a framework for change to mainstream diversity. The framework is used to assess the progress of English HEIs. This analysis is based on data from a thematic review of the Widening Participation Strategic Assessments (WPSAs) prepared by each of the 129 English HEIs. Each WPSA was coded up. Query reports were read and re-read to identify common approaches and themes.

Findings – The 12 item framework for mainstreaming diversity demonstrates that institutions need to attend to both infrastructure (policies, processes and procedures) and the institutional culture (the understandings and implementation of a strategy). The analysis suggests that English HEIs are making good progress towards this challenging agenda of change.

Research limitations – The WPSAs are a subjective account of WP, and claims have not been checked. Furthermore, WPSAs were written at a specific time and so only provide a snap-shot of institutional approaches to diversity.

Practical implications – This chapter assists institutions to think about, plan and evaluate institutional transformation.

Social implications – This approach puts diversity at the centre of HEIs.

Originality/value – The chapter provides an original framework to assist institutions to assess their progress with regard to institutional transformation to engage a diverse student body.


Summary The 80th anniversary of the birth of dr Milivoje Matić is a trigger for a reassessment of his contribution to physical culture. By individually analysing Matić's contributions in each of his works between 1961 and 1998, we come to the conclusion that in some of his publications exist sparks of "philosophical fragments", which are necessary for comprehending the author's belief that Matić has made it possible to discuss a possibility of a philosophical aspect and a constitution of the philosophy of physical culture in our country. M. Matić gives pointers which signify an event which would be prognostic on a permanent progress in our profession, in the context of education as a whole, domestically and abroad. In this discussion, the topic of Matić's contribution to the analysis of physical education in the philosophy of physical culture, and in the context of the sign of direction in the domestic education reform, the domestic physical education reform should be observed and analysed from the aspect of transversal connections which repeatedly link deliberation of the theory and practice of physical education.


This paper reports on the use of ensemble learning to classify the sentiment of tweets as being either positive or negative. Tweets were chosen because Twitter is both a popular tool and a public, human annotated dataset was made available as part of the SEMVAL 2013 competition. We report on an approach to classification thatcontrasts single machine learning algorithms with a combination of algorithms in an ensemble learningapproach. The single machines learning algorithms used were Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Naive Bayes (NB) while the method of ensemble learning was the arbiter tree. Our system achieved an F score using thearbiter tree at 83.55% which was the same as SVM but quite slightly than Naive Bayes algorithm.


Author(s): Kang, Byeongkeun | Advisor(s): Nguyen, Truong Q. | Abstract: As semantic segmentation provides the class and the location of objects in a captured scene, it has been one of the core algorithms in many computer vision applications including autonomous driving, robot navigation, surveillance camera system, and human-machine interaction. Most of these applications demand high accuracy, robustness, and efficiency to understand a captured scene accurately in a timely manner in order to avoid accidents, to provide a meaningful warning, and to communicate naturally. We address this needs by using two popular approaches: random forest and deep neural network.We start by introducing a cascaded random forest for binary class segmentation. The framework first detects regions of interest and then segments foreground in the regions. Since the detection reduces the regions for the segmentation forest, the cascaded scheme improves efficiency and accuracy. We then explore learning more robust representations in a random forest. Since predetermined constraints in typical feature extractors restrict learning and extracting optimal features, we present a random forest framework that learns the weights, shapes, and sparsities of feature extractors. We propose an unconstrained filter, an iterative optimization algorithm for learning, a processing pipeline for inference. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves real-time semantic segmentation using limited computational and memory resources.Moreover, we present a method to learn/extract depth-adaptive features in a deep neural network. It accomplishes a step toward depth-invariant feature learning and extracting. Since typical neural networks receive inputs from predetermined locations regardless of the distance from the camera, it is challenging to generalize the features of objects at various distances. Hence, we propose the depth-adaptive multiscale convolution layer consisting of the adaptive perception neuron and the in-layer multiscale neuron. The adaptive neuron is to adjust the receptive field at each spatial location using the depth information. The multiscale neuron is to learn features at multiple scales. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods without any additional layers or pre/post-processing.Lastly, we present applications of segmentation including sign language fingerspelling recognition and hand articulation tracking. We also present a potential data augmentation method using generative adversarial networks.


Many real world materials exhibit complex subsurface scattering of light. This internal light interaction creates the perception of translucency for the human visual system. Translucent materials and simulation of the subsurface scattering of light has become an expected necessity for generating warmth and realism in computer generated imagery. The light transport within heterogenous materials, such as marble, has proved challenging to model and render. The current material models available to digital artists have been limited to homogeneous subsurface scattering despite a few publications documenting success at simulating heterogeneous light transport. While the publications successfully simulate this complex phenomenon, the material descriptions have been highly specialized and far from intuitive. By combining the measurable properties of heterogeneous translucent materials with the defining properties of translucency, as perceived by the human visual system, a description of heterogeneous translucent materials that is suitable for artist use in a film production pipeline can be achieved. Development of the material description focuses on integration with the film pipeline, ease of use, and reasonable approximation of heterogeneous translucency based on perception. Methods of material manipulation are explored to determine which properties should be modifiable by artists while maintaining the perception of heterogenous translucency.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the characteristics of prenatally and postnatally diagnosed ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) in children.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We reviewed the records of 74 children who underwent pyeloplasty or nephrectomy for UPJO between 1995 and 2000. The patients were divided into 2 groups: prenatally and postnatally diagnosed UPJO. In each group, we compared age at surgery, gender, affected side, anteroposterior diameter (APD) of the renal pelvis, surgical findings, and renal function as determined by creatinine clearance.

RESULTS
Of the 74 children, 44 (59.4%) had a prenatal diagnosis of UPJO and 30 (40.6%) had a postnatal diagnosis despite the fact that all had had a fetal ultrasonography. Median age at the time of surgery was 6.3 years (4 months to 16 years) for children with postnatal UPJO and 3.6 months (1 month to 4 years) for the prenatal group. Forty-three percent of the children in the postnatal group and 25% in the prenatal group were females. Clinical manifestations in children with postnatal UPJO included abdominal pain in 13 (43%) patients, pyelonephritis in 7 (23%), urinary tract infection in 5 (16.6%), and occasional findings upon ultrasound in 5 (16.6%). Excretory urography suggested obstruction in most children. The surgical findings included ureteral kinks due to adhesions in 93.3% of postnatally diagnosed UPJO cases and in 27.3% of prenatal cases (p < 0.01). A reduction in mean creatinine clearance of hydronephrotic kidneys was observed for both groups when compared to reference values for the respective ages, but this difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
Postnatally diagnosed UPJO may be considered, at least in part, an entity different from prenatally detected obstruction due to its peculiar characteristics, i.e., postnatal UPJO more frequently affects females, manifests later in life with urinary infection or abdominal pain, and is frequently associated with ureteral kinking.


Objetive: to determine the prevalence and behavior of musculoskeletal pain in workers handling and loads up in an airport services and specialist courier company by applying Nordic Questionnaire. Materials and Methods: It was conducted a descriptive study. Nordic Questionnaire was administered to 74 men of 98 cargo handlers an airport services company, with no limit on work time or age. We assessed working conditions for ergonomic risks. The data was analyzed using SPSS® version 16.0, obtaining frequency distributions for qualitative variables, in addition to obtaining measures of central tendency and dispersion for quantitative variables. Results: It was found that the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the study population was 88% (65 workers). 42 workers had pain in more than one body segment and 23 in only one. The lumbar region had the highest prevalence with 70% (52 cases) followed by wrists / hands with 30% (22 cases) and neck with 28% (21 cases) in the same period. Conclusions: It is recommended, among other actions, to generate control measures in the individual and the work environment as active and frequent training of workers who are exposed. It is also recommended to create tools to improve the cargo handling system and work teams that reduce physical exertion. Palabras clave: skeletal muscle, injuries, occupational health, work.


ABSTRACT:It is well understood that developing countries have large informal sectors. The informal sector, however, has a theoretically ambiguous effect on development. Some view informality as one aspect that comes from lacking full development, while others see informal activity as a restraint to growth. We argue that this ambiguity is because its impact is conditional on both the size of the locale and the existing institutional environment. Good institutions facilitate productive activity and voluntary exchange when informal networks are insufficient. Informal activity facilitates economic growth most effectively in smaller communities. We explore how the conditional effects vary across different population sizes. This diverges with the view that informality and formal activity are substitutes. We hypothesize that instead they can be complimentary in certain aspects. Using data from 5,505 Brazilian municipalities, we analyze the relationship between (formal) institutions, informality, and development. We use three separate measures for institutional quality: governance quality, de facto law provisions, and distribution of political power. In a previous study, these indicators were found to be positively associated with economic performance. Following the previous literature, we define the informal sector as those that do not contribute to the country's social security. In our baseline results, we find inconsistent results between the conditionality of institutional quality and informality. Only once we include the conditionality of population size do we find that formal institutions and informal production tend to be substitutable in areas with large populations, and complementary in small municipalities. We emphasize our differential effects, which have less potential endogeneity concerns. However, we stress that our results should not be interpreted as causal. Our results do highlight the importance of informal networks to economic development, especially in small locales. Future research may be warranted to address causality, as well as exploring the cultural aspect associated with informal networks and population size.


Steel winding ropes which are heterogeneous in nature are subjected to severe working conditions and their behaviour vary on different environment and nature of service. Due to this, they are subjected to rope deterioration such as corrosion, abrasion and broken wire leading to rope failure (Singh, S.D. and Ghara, B., Steel Wire Rope Condition Monitoring by Non-Destructive Investigation and Evaluation while on Installation/Service, 15th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, Rome, Italy, 2000). Deterioration of a rope during its lifetime leads to a reduction of the rope safety and to its possible destruction. There are rejection criteria for ropes in national and international rules on the safe use of drive ropes. All wire ropes wear out eventually, gradually losing work capability throughout its useful life making periodic inspections, lubrication and tensioning necessary. Defects detected during a non-destructive evaluation can help pinpoint the factors leading to an eventual rope failure. Many ropes have to be retired due to damage caused by other, outside sources. Non-destructive evaluation can help the client to diagnose these conditions before its too late.


The regulatory and institutional environment may influence bank risk taking behavior, especially in emerging market economies. The resulting excess risk may hamper bank stability. This article investigates the influence of institutional factors on bank's excess risk and ratings, particularly Moody's Bank Financial Strength Rating (BFSR). Following the results of Poon et al. (1999) (A Multivariate Analysis of the Determinants of Moody's Bank Financial Strength Ratings, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money 9, pp. 267-283), we apply a two-step ordered logit model to a sample of rated banks in emerging markets. This methodology allows to distinguish the influence of the environment on excess risk from the impact of excess risk on the rating's quality. We find that this type of environment affects the quality of the rating, particularly the quality of the institutions, which influences the efficiency and the credibility of regulatory discipline and prudential supervision.


Our inquiry into the substantive appeal of the new natural lawyers' views concerning gender and sexuality needs to proceed in three stages. First, in the present chapter we explore some of the key arguments that have been advanced – both philosophically and in constitutional litigation – to explain the moral and constitutional wrongs associated with discrimination relating to gender and sexual orientation, and in the broader social attitudes known as sexism and homophobia. We consider arguments based on respect for privacy, equality, and autonomy (with its concomitant opposition to what we describe as moral slavery). We argue that autonomy constitutes the strongest argument of the three, and that it may indeed be treated as the value underpinning arguments based upon privacy and equality. Although these three arguments reach radically different conclusions from those advanced by the new natural lawyers, the exercise is analogous to that engaged in by Finnis and George when they (respectively) advocated a conservative interpretation of relevant U.S. constitutional provisions in Romer v. Evans and Lawrence v. Texas , in that we accept – as they do – that judges do and should take account of philosophical arguments when determining the proper scope of such provisions. We thus set out, as a possible constitutional principle giving voice to the autonomy argument in the U.S. context, the theory of opposition to moral slavery (advanced by one of us in previous writings).


Deprivation is a major risk to population health, in particular when experienced during childhood. Poor health in the early years accumulates and is expressed in adult health inequalities. Policy makers may aim to mitigate against the ill effects of deprivation by trying to increase social mobility and facilitating moves towards better earnings and living conditions or by protecting against the effects of downward moves and the experience of deprivation. This paper uses address change and property value data at the individual and family level to examine whether poor health outcomes occur more frequently among people who move between addresses and particularly those who move to properties with lower property values. We use the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, linking health and demographic data from 2001 and 2011 Censuses to house valuations for a representative 28% of the population aged 10 – 64 years ( N = 342,681). Young persons (aged 10 – 15 years) living in a house valued at over £ 160,000 were half as likely to be reported as having mental ill health as those living in a house valued under £ 75,000 (OR = 0.49, CI: 0.31 – 0.78). There was no strong evidence that upward or downward mobility affected mental health or physical health for young people, but ill health of working aged persons showed a strong association with moving to houses of lower value. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the dynamics of social mobility and health and in terms of how various policies towards poverty may influence population health.


When creating filled polymer composite materials, difficulties often arise due to poor compatibility of polymers with modifying additives. To solve such problems, surface-active substances (SAS) are successfully used in many industries, but they are practically not used in polymer processing. This is largely due to the insufficient assortment of surfactants produced that are suitable for introduction into polymers, especially film-forming ones. Anionic and nonionic surfactants are used in the synthesis and processing of elastomers, but they are not used in the production of film materials. As for the use of cationic surfactants, there are still no data at all. They differ from other types of surfactants in a variety of structures, in the number and relative positions of cationic centers and hydrophobic radicals, and also in antimicrobial properties. The prospects of using quaternary ammonium salts for the modification of packaging materials are shown. The expediency of using cationic surfactants for the modification of polymeric materials is proved. It is shown that the use of quaternary ammonium salts improves the physical and mechanical properties of films based on polyethylene and polypropylene. It is proved that cationic surfactants are technologically compatible with polyolefins, which allows the processing of polymer compositions by extrusion. Today, the most common polymers for food packaging are polyethylene and polypropylene. This is due to their low cost, safety in contact with food products, and suitability for processing into films of different thicknesses. More and more attention is being paid to the creation of packaging materials with antimicrobial properties. The imparting of such properties is achieved by introducing an antimicrobial additive into the polymer melt. It is most expedient to introduce additives directly into the melt of the polymer composition during processing, since, for example, during the extrusion process, polymer homogenization with the additive.


Readers comment on problems with the definition of myocardial infarction (December 2013) and on the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis (November 2013).


A method for predicting the field penetrating a circumferential opening in a body of revolution is described here. This method employs the method of moments and an aperture equivalence theorem. The former permits rotationally symmetric cavities with otherwise arbitrary contours. The latter improves the sensitivity of field computation when the aperture height is tiny and/or points deep within the cavity are sought. This method is evaluated with comparison to classical theory and experiment via application to spherical and cylindrical cavities. Results for a missile-like cavity irradiated by an obliquely incident plane wave are given. A computer program and user manual is available.


Diagnosing dengue is challenging and problematic as clinical symptoms of dengue show similar clinical presentations with another vector-borne diseases, such as chikungunya and malaria particularly in the initial stages of infection. There are several laboratory methods available for dengue diagnosis, however, some of them are costly, time-consuming and need specialized laboratory staff, who may not be widely available in hospital in challenging settings. This study was a cross-sectional study that evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of SD Bioline Dengue Duo for primary and secondary DENV infection in Jakarta, Indonesia between 2010 and 2011. In addition, we investigated the kinetics of NS1 as well as anti-DENV antibodies. A panel of sera samples from 102 patients experiencing fever within the last 48 hours was tested. DENV infection was confirmed using gold standard tests, Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) or virus isolation in C6/36 cell line or increased antibody titer by ELISA. The type of immune response towards the infection was determined by measurement of antibody titers on convalescent phases by HI test. The sensitivity of SD Bioline Dengue Duo was higher in primary infection [93.11% (95% CI: 92.7-100)] than in secondary infection [86.11% (95% CI: 82.7-100)]. The specificity of NS1 antigen detection kit was 100%. NS1 detection rate reduced over the course of the illness and was lowest on day 7 in both primary and secondary infection. However, decreased of NS1 detection was recovered by increased antibody detection. Thus, a combination of DENV NS1 antigen test and IgM and IgG test in the early stages of dengue infection should be conducted to obtain a more accurate early diagnosis, thus allowing appropriate treatment to be made and reducing mortality if the disease is allowed to progress to a severe stage.


The Space Ultra-Low Frequency Radio Observatory (SULFRO) concept is a constellation consisting of a micro-satellite Mothership and 12 nano-satellite Daughters each being equipped with an omni-directional antenna system that enables observing 'all the sky all the time' in the 1-100MHz frequency range. The constellation is in a Lissajous or Halo orbit around the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), in a passive formation flying mode. The Daughters' three dipole antennas detect low frequency radio waves and transmit the digitized data to the Mothership, where data correlation and digital signal processing are done to reduce the data volume for transmission back to the Earth. This paper presents a concept design of the satellite systems for such a space radio telescope array, using the recent microand Nanosatellite technologies and products. A preliminary concept design is presented for the 13 satellites involved in this mission, with brief discussion on the subsystems and technologies involved. Technical issues and potential solutions are discussed and further elaborated for the key technologies that enable such a complex science mission with links to the recent satellite engineering experiences.


Mobile e-Healthcare implementation in South Africa has the potential to improve the delivery and access to healthcare services. However implementation of Mobile e-Healthcare continues to face various challenges such as inadequate policy, lack of management support, poor infrastructure and concerns around security of information, especially in the rural and remote areas. This study aims at identifying the issues and challenges of implementing Mobile e-Healthcare in South Africa and then develop a framework which healthcare facilities can use as a guide for successful implementation of a Mobile e-Healthcare system. An exploratory study was conducted at the beginning of the study, followed by a literature study. A questionnaire was then developed from findings of literature and exploratory study and used to conduct a survey among 200 healthcare professionals and managers in Limpopo Province. Permission and ethical clearance was obtained from Tshwane University Technology and Limpopo Healthcare Department. Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS was used to test the hypotheses. Lack of management support was identified as the biggest challenge whereas, the Acceptance and Use readiness and its sub-components have the strongest ability to predict preparedness to implement Mobile e-Healthcare. This study has developed and validated a Framework for assessing a healthcare facility readiness to implement a Mobile e-Healthcare system which is the gap identified from literature. Policy and decision makers will be able to use the developed model as an important reference when a healthcare facility is implementing a Mobile e-Healthcare system International, African Journals online (AJOL), Index Copernicus, African Index Medicus (WHO), Excerpta medica (EMBASE), CAB Abstracts, SCOPUS, Global Health Abstracts, Asian Science Index, Index Veterinarius


We present a minimisation method for computing the ground state of systems of coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations. We employ a spectral decomposition of the solution into Hermite basis functions. Inserting the spectral representation into the energy functional yields a constrained nonlinear minimisation problem. For its numerical solution, we use a Newton-like method with an approximate line-search strategy. We analyse this method and prove global convergence. Appropriate starting values for the minimisation process are determined by a continuation strategy. Numerical examples with three-component two-dimensional condensates are included. These experiments demonstrate the reliability of our method and nicely illustrate the effect of phase segregation. 1 A system of Gross–Pitaevskii equations


We propose a scheme to significantly enhance the cross-Kerr (CK) nonlinearity between photons and phonons in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system (OMS) with two-photon driving. This CK nonlinear enhancement originates from the parametric-driving-induced squeezing and the underlying nonlinear optomechanical interaction. Moreover, the noise of the squeezed mode can be suppressed completely by introducing a squeezed vacuum reservoir. As a result of this dramatic nonlinear enhancement and the suppressed noise, we demonstrate the feasibility of the quantum nondemolition measurement of the phonon number in an originally weak coupled OMS. In addition, the photon-phonon blockade phenomenon is also investigated in this regime, which allows for performing manipulations between photons and phonons. This Letter offers a promising route towards the potential application for the OMS in quantum information processing and quantum networks.


A critical review of all beam-reversal phase-shift measurements carried out on NBS-6 (NBS-5) since 1973 is presented. The analysis takes into account a recent study of frequency shifts in atomic-beam frequency standards resulting from overlapping tails of adjacent lines. A strongly correlated variation of the cavity phase difference with time is shown, which appears to fit nicely on an exponential decay curve with a time constant of 3.7 years. The suggestion is made that some mechanical relaxation in the microwave structure may be responsible for this phenomenon. Furthermore, the line-pulling model seems to suggest a better explanation for observations previously attributed to distributed cavity phase shift. Verification of these interpretations through more involved evaluations may allow substantial reductions in the error budget for the standard.


This qualitative study investigates how white teachers at a German Catholic comprehensive school conceptualize issues of "race" and racism in the context of being a "School without Racism – School with Courage" (SOR-SMC). By collecting signatures and exhibiting yearly projects, more than 3,300 schools in Germany brand their school to be "without racism". I found the branding of my researched school to be a form of "anti-racialism" that opposed "race" and racism as concepts but did not tackle any underlying racist structures (Goldberg 2009, 10). The teachers I interviewed took the SOR-SMC branding for granted and assumed that the school was racism-free. They thereby engaged in silent racism and reproduced racist connotations and structures without challenging them (Trepagnier 2001). Being anti -racist is not accomplished by declaring a school as racism-free. Instead, white teachers need to understand that anti-racism involves a deeper engagement with the structures that keep "racial" inequality in place (Goldberg 2009, 10).


When a left-circularly polarised Gaussian light beam, which has spin angular momentum (SAM) J(sp) = sigmah = 1h per photon, is incident along one of the optic axes of a slab of biaxial crystal it undergoes internal conical diffraction and propagates as a hollow cone of light in the crystal. The emergent beam is a superposition of equal amplitude zero and first order Bessel like beams. The zero order beam is left-circularly polarised with zero orbital angular momentum (OAM) J(orb) = [see text]h = 0, while the first order beam is right-circularly polarized but carries OAM of J(orb) = 1h per photon. Thus, taken together the two beams have zero SAM and J(orb) = (1/2)h per photon. In this paper we examine internal conical diffraction of an elliptically polarised beam, which has fractional SAM, and demonstrate an all-optical process for the generation light beams with fractional OAM up to +/- 1h.


We report a dual-color total-internal-reflection (TIR)-based chip that can generate two overlapping evanescent fields with different wavelengths for simultaneous imaging of two types of fluorophores. We derived a general relationship among the dimensions of the components of the chip to guarantee the overlap of two evanescent fields. Optical simulation results also confirm the generation and overlap of two evanescent fields. Using Si bulk micromachining and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) casting, our fabrication method integrates all miniaturized optical components into one monolithic PDMS chip. Thus, assembly is unnecessary, and misalignment is avoided. Our PDMS chip can be employed with various sample delivery platforms, such as glass slide, flow cell, microchannel, etc. We first demonstrated the capability of the chip by imaging TIR fluorescent spots of a mixture of two fluorophores, namely, fluorescein and tetramethylrhodamine. We then employed the chip to observe the Brownian motion of a mixture of nile-red and dragon-green 500-nm microbeads. Our chip could potentially be integrated into a micro-total analysis system for highly sensitive and high-resolution dual-fluorescence imaging applications.


hnRNP K has been reported to be overexpressed in myeloid leukemia and it is downregulated during all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induced differentiation of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) cells. The aim of the present study was to establish role of hnRNP K in APL using responsive (NB4) and resistant (NB4-R2) cells to the all-trans retinoic acid treatment as well as the possible role of hnRNPK in ATRA-induced cellular differentiation. After demonstration, by Western blotting analysis, that hnRNP K is overexpressed (10 fold) in APL (NB4 and NB4-R2) cell lines compared to controls (bone marrow and polymorphonuclear cells), we knocked-down the protein by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) interference in these cell lines and assessed involvement of hnRNP K in ATRA-induced differentiation, by flow cytometry in cells incubated with Cd11bPE antibody, as well as the contribution of hnRNP K to proliferation, with growth curve, using Trypan Blue, and survival, by propidium iodide incorporation analysis in flow cytometer. The knockdown of hnRNP K in NB4 (72%) and NB4-R2 (60%) leads to loss of viability mainly in NB4-R2 (42,43% of viability) vs NB4 (75,33% of viability). The loss of viability was more accentuated after ATRA treatment, NB4-R2 (6,13% of viability) vs NB4 (70% of viability). hnRNP K knockdown increases APL cells differentiation and was more accentuated in association with ATRA treatment, NB4-R2 (+59,13%) vs NB4 ( +14,06%). Furthermore, knockdown of hnRNP K leads to decreased in proliferation in NB4 (-95,98%) and NB4-R2 (-97,5%). hnRNP K knockdown promotes decrease of Bcl-xl, PML-RARα, procaspase-3 and increases of SET protein levels in both cells, demonstrated by Western blotting. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase ERK is a positive hnRNP K regulator, so the treatment with the ERK inhibitor at 10 μM U0126 produces effects similar to hnRNP K knockdown on cell viability in NB4-R2 cells, and in levels of BCL-xl and SET proteins. We concluded that, hnRNP K knockdown decreases the cell proliferation and viability of NB4 and NB4-R2 cells and increases cell differentiation, via MEK-ERK-hnRNP K-SET signaling. hnRNP K represent a potential target in APL ATRA resistant cells. Citation Format: Karina Stringhetta Padovani, Maria Sol Brassesco Annichini, Eduardo Magalhaes Rego, Carlos Curti, Lewis Joel Greene, Andreia Machado Leopoldino. hnRNP K in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells NB4 and NB4-R2: Involvement in cell survival and differentiation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Developmental Biology and Cancer; Nov 30-Dec 3, 2015; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(4_Suppl):Abstract nr B37.


Flow of wind direction and type of soil like silt content, moisture content are the factors that mainly affects the emission rates of the dust due to various mining activities. Opencast mining activities like drilling, blasting etc. result in emission of dust which eventually dispersed and migrated to the surrounding environment. Additionally other parameters like wind speed, wind rose and frequency distributi on etc also influence emission rates. The wind characteristics thus developed will be very useful for estimation and prediction of likely impact in the surrounding environment using dispersion models.


This study describes the performance of the mentors in a blended graduate-level training program  of teachers in the field of secondary school mathematics. We codified and analyzed the mentors'  comments on the projects presented by the groups of in-service teachers for whom they (the  mentors) were responsible. To do this, we developed a structure of categories and codes based on  a combination of a literature review, a model of teacher learning, and a cyclical review of the  data. We performed two types of analysis: frequency and cluster. The first analysis permitted us  to characterize the common actions shared by most of the mentors. From the second, we established three profiles of the mentors' actions.


The introduction gives an overview of current IMO activities concerning the disposal of ships at the end of their life-cycle and an overview of composite materials applications in ships. After a brief discussion of relatively unproblematic aluminum alloys, the article focuses on problems for composite materials. There is little experience for end of life treatment of composites in general and in the shipbuilding industry in particular. New legislation might regulate handling and disposal of these materials even further. The article identifies existing solutions as well as open questions.


One of the chief jurisprudential considerations of the new South Africa must be access to justice. Whilst various possibilities for the realization of this imperative are aired periodically, the principles on which the civil jurisdiction of the courts is based are seldom considered in this regard. However, complex and arcane rules of jurisdiction can place what this article argues to be unfair and largely pointless limitations on a plaintiff, particularly in respect of magistrates' and small claims courts' actions. Section 28(1)(d) of the Magistrates' Courts Act, for example, which confers jurisdiction on a court in relation to the locality of the cause of action, can proveparticularly problematic in the case of claims based on contract. Jurisdiction cannot be conferred under this provision unless every "element" of the contract – offer, acceptance, performance and/or breach, has occurred within the same magisterial district. This article examines the many practical problems which arise as a result, as well as various interpretations of the existing case law, which may serve to alleviate these problems to a certain extent. The authors conclude, however, that legislative reform may be the only way in which to truly solve the many dilemmas which arise in practice.


Object of this paper is to emphasize some dissipative aspects of steels in high cycle fatigue from the thermographic point of view by relating anelastic and microplastic behaviours to loading levels respectively below and above the fatigue limit. To this aim, the Two Curves thermographic Method has been modified by using both a parabola and a power curve as regression laws instead of the traditional linear ones. Two new thermal parameters have also been considered, the thermal increment and the subtended area by the thermal profile at a very low number of cycles. Experimental data referred to C45 standard and 25CrMo4 notched steel specimens have been processed using both original and modified Two Curves methodologies and both traditional and new thermographic parameters. All changes introduced in the present paper provide good results both in terms of fatigue limit values and for as concerns the rapidity of the fatigue tests.


In the current paper the author discusses headgear represented on Kušān medallions showing the bust of King Huviška. Most likely those medallions are depicting pre-Islamic lamellar helmets, well known from for example on the Sasanian, Bīsetūn capital currently held in Ṭāq-e Bostān Museum, Iran. The author will try to compare the presented lamellar constructions with known finds of such helmets of the pre-Islamic era.


The network geographical information system faces some difficulties that the Web language does not support vector graphics.Thus delivering a great deal of variety spatial data is limited by the network bandwidth currently etc.Aimed at solving these problems in the geography information system,this paper analyse SVG technique and its advantages,puts forward system structure and work principle of WebGIS based on SVG technique.In this way,application of SVG technique has the good development foreground in WebGIS.


[Purpose] This study was aimed at determining the validity of the muscle-to-fat ratio as an indicator for the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome by establishing an optimal cutoff value. [Subjects and Methods] Data from the first and second year of the fifth Korea National Health Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were used. A total of 6,256 subjects were included in the study. Diagnostic accuracy was measured by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. [Results] The receiver operating characteristic curve for the muscle-to-fat ratio, which represents the diagnostic power for predicting metabolic syndrome, was 0.713 in men and 0.721 in women. The optimal cutoff value for the prediction and diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was 3.09 kg/kg in men and 1.83 kg/kg in women. Intergroup differences based on the muscle-to-fat ratio indicated that the low-ratio group had higher values for all indicators of metabolic syndrome than the high-ratio group. [Conclusion] The muscle-to-fat ratio can be used as an indicator for the prediction and diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, and early prevention and management of metabolic syndrome can help in improving public health.


Groundwaters recovered from the Salar de Punta Negra and Monturaqui basins in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile exhibit distinctly different isotopic, major, trace, and porphyry copper elemental compositions related to contrasting morphostructural, geochemical, and hydrodynamic settings. Comparison of these distinct groundwater signatures with groundwaters from known porphyry copper deposits (Salar de Hamburgo and Spence Deposit), can be used to determine if either basin might be prospective for porphyry copper mineralization. Groundwaters within the Punta Negra Basin exhibit geochemical characteristics consistent with other closed basin settings throughout the arid Andes. Elemental and isotopic compositions within the Punta Negra Basin reflect closed basin evaporitic processes consistent with the hyperarid, volcanic setting of the central Andes. Pathfinder metals and isotopic compositions are not consistent with porphyry copper type mineralization as described for groundwaters within the Salar de Hamburgo Basin, and the Spence Deposit. Within the Monturaqui Basin the geochemical composition of groundwaters are characteristic of diffuse hydrothermal activity. Sulfur isotopic composition within the waters of the northern Monturaqui Basin exhibit δ34SCDT isotopic signatures that fall within the range for sulfide mineralization as reported for groundwaters in and around the Spence Deposit and the Salar de Hamburgo. However, porphyry copper related elements within the Monturaqui Basin are impoverished relative to groundwaters of the Spence and Escondida Deposit. Such impoverishment in porphyry related elements, taken in conjunction with enriched δ13CPDB compositions, elevated groundwater temperatures, groundwater compositions dominated by HCO3, SO4, and Si, and the proximity of the Monturaqui Basin to the current magmatic arc are consistent with a volcanic hydrothermal origin. In summary, the groundwater geochemistry of the Monturaqui and Punta Negra Basins are not indicative of porphyry copper-type mineralization. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Hydrochemistry related to exploration and environmental issues collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/hydrochemistry-related-to-exploration-and-environmental-issues


We consider the classical utility maximization problem which arises in consumer theory of economics. The utility maximization problem has been always considered in the literature (1,4,7) as concave maximization problem. So far less attention paid to parametric utility maximization problems. We consider parametric utility maximization problems with one parameter which is treated as time variable. We propose a new method and algorithm for solving the above problem.


The following articles are being highlighted as part of Circulation's Topic Review series. This series will summarize the most important manuscripts, as selected by the editors, published in Circulation and the Circulation subspecialty journals. The studies included in this article represent the articles based on clinical trials that were published in Circulation in 2009 and 2010.


Poverty law scholars have increasingly encouraged legal services practitioners to move away from conventional litigation-based practice and instead to envision their role as helping clients to recognize their potential to help themselves. According to these new perspectives, poverty lawyers should spend more time listening to client concerns, helping clients to become problem-solvers, finding spaces for community voices, and encouraging the formation of grassroots organizations. In contrast to these scholarly visions of lawyering, however, federally-funded Legal Services programs where most poverty lawyers practice remain entrenched in a practice that emphasizes high-volume litigation as a strategy for fighting poverty. This Article traces the development of the Legal Services Corporation and discusses some of the regulatory and institutional impediments to moving beyond the traditional litigation model. Next, it describes a community legal education program at a Chicago legal services program. The Article concludes by arguing that community education is an important, and overlooked, strategy for working with marginalized groups that can bring everyday poverty practice more in line with emerging models of client-centered community lawyering.


The study was designed to survey the curricular requirements, types of clinical experience, and materials/ techniques used in teaching programs for all-ceramic restorations in Scandinavian dental schools. All 13 dental schools responded. Ten offered some clinical experience to pre-doctoral students, but only one required one all-ceramic restoration. The departments of fixed prosthodontics had the main teaching responsibility. All-ceramic crowns were taught at 9, veneers at 7, and inlays/onlays at 10 dental schools. A wide range of different teaching concepts, materials, and views on indications and contraindications was reported. It appears as if all-ceramic restorations are regarded as experimental by the teaching institutions, although the dental industry and some practitioners strongly recommend these types of restorations.


An electrodeposition process to grow high-purity CdSe films from low-purity materials is described. Purity control was achieved by optimising the deposition potential and impurity masking with EDTA. Auger depth profiles of CdSe films were used to examine their stoichiometry and impurity content. The photo-anodic performance of CdSe film depends on annealing history and etching conditions. Optimum annealing and etching conditions are reported to achieve the best efficiency. A typical n-CdSe/ Ni/(S22-,S2-)/Ni solar cell yielded an open-circuit voltage of 500 mV, short-circuit current of 10 mA cm-2 and 3.6% efficiency under 50 mW cm-2 illumination from a tungsten-halogen lamp.


Referencing related literature and drawing upon our experience, observation and talks with specialists, we have realized that the problem of difficulty encountered by Arab learners of English in general and by Jordanian university English students in particular is sporadically addressed by researchers. They mention it along with their focus on errors committed by those EFL learners. At the university, English majors study English language, linguistics, and literature courses over a period of four years. While enrolling in the English program, they encounter difficulties or problems like teaching methods, cultural and language problems and teaching settings which negatively affect their language proficiency and, thus, graduate committing gross errors in various language skills, pointing to their weakness, low proficiency and unsatisfactory achievement which do not meet teachers' and society's expectations. The present paper is meant to diagnose the problems that confront university Jordanian English majors and to propose some solutions including strict requirements on transfer students, a TOEFL score of 500, and a small class size intended to play a role in reforming the present status quo of English departments, thus upgrading their outputs, and helping students improve their level linguistically and extra linguistically.


Polypropylene carbonate (PPC), a biodegradable aliphatic polyester, exhibits one particular advantage over other polyesters, which is that following degradation in vivo, it primarily produces H2O and CO2, causing minimal side effects. Although PPC exhibits limited mechanical strength, and is therefore not able to serve as a scaffold to support tissue regeneration, it may be suitable for drug delivery; however, this requires further investigation. In the present study, electrospinning was applied to generate PPC polymers containing sirolimus, a cell growth‑inhibiting drug which is used to treat restenosis. The properties of PPC‑sirolimus polymers were examined using scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and in vitro degradation assays. Drug loading and entrapment efficiency were determined, and in vitro sirolimus‑release from the polymer was assessed. Furthermore, the effect of PPC‑sirolimus polymers on cell growth was measured using an MTT assay in vitro. The results of the present study demonstrated that electrospun PPC polymers formed a uniform three‑dimensional, grid‑intertwined, net‑like structure; the surface of the polymers was smooth and the diameter was ~3 µm. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis demonstrated that sirolimus existed in an amorphous state in the polymer. Following soaking in PBS for 4 weeks, the polymer swelled and the net‑like structure broke down and fragmented. Sirolimus loading and entrapment efficiency were 10.3±3.2 and 95.1±10.6%, respectively. Sirolimus‑release from PPC‑sirolimus polymers continued for 28 days in PBS. PPC‑sirolimus markedly inhibited the growth of rat aortic adventitial fibroblast cells, an effect which was not observed with PPC alone. The results of the present study suggest that PPC polymers are a promising alternative drug carrier for sirolimus.


Considering deep sequence learning for practical application, two representative RNNs - LSTM and GRU may come to mind first. Nevertheless, is there no chance for other RNNs? Will there be a better RNN in the future? In this work, we propose a novel, succinct and promising RNN - Fusion Recurrent Neural Network (Fusion RNN). Fusion RNN is composed of Fusion module and Transport module every time step. Fusion module realizes the multi-round fusion of the input and hidden state vector. Transport module which mainly refers to simple recurrent network calculate the hidden state and prepare to pass it to the next time step. Furthermore, in order to evaluate Fusion RNN's sequence feature extraction capability, we choose a representative data mining task for sequence data, estimated time of arrival (ETA) and present a novel model based on Fusion RNN. We contrast our method and other variants of RNN for ETA under massive vehicle travel data from DiDi Chuxing. The results demonstrate that for ETA, Fusion RNN is comparable to state-of-the-art LSTM and GRU which are more complicated than Fusion RNN.


The nonstationary elasto-electrodynamics problem for an anisotropic piezoceramic cylinder of finite size with circumpolarization of material is considered for the case when the tangential stresses and the electric potential influence on the radial outside of the cylinder as the arbitrary functions of axial coordinate and time. The new closed solution is obtained by the method of expansion in vector eigenfunctions in the form of structural algorithm of finite transformations. The constructed algorithm allows to determine the eigenfrequencies, stress-strain state of the element, and all the components of the induced electric field.


Pathological Internet use (PIU) occurs when excessive Internet use results in addictive symptoms that exert detrimental consequences on one's overall functioning and well-being. Poor family functioning has been found to be associated with youths' addictive Internet use, and parental use of active and restrictive mediation has been found to reduce online risk. The current study aims to test if parental active and restrictive mediation strategies are negatively associated with youths' PIU. Additionally, it also tests the effectiveness of these strategies as a function of the broader family environment with measures of parent-child attachment, family communication, and the youth's comfort with living at home. The data of 3,079 students in Singapore were analyzed through a series of logistic regressions. The results revealed that the family environment for students with PIU was significantly less positive. Only restrictive mediation was found to be negatively associated with PIU. This relation was stronger for higher levels of attachment, communication, and comfort at home, implying that the effectiveness of restrictive mediation varies with the degree of warmth and support in the general family environment. The implications are discussed.


"SLICK" MAPPING IN ZŁOTY STOK REGION The "slick" mapping carried out in the region of Zloty Stok represents an attempt at utilizing this method of analyzing heavy minerals in the search for primary arsenic and copper deposits, and possibly too for cassiterite or tungsten minerals. The examinations executed here gave negative results as to the probability of the arsenic ore body hitherto known at Zloty Stok extending further. On the other hand, the analysis of heavy minerals revealed that the marginal part of the syenite in the Zloty Stok region is most probably connected with the occurrence of copper ores. No cassiterite was detected in the collected samples. Besides information on occurring raw materials, the discussed method of mapping made it possible to draw mineralogical conclusions too. The distinguished associations of heavy minerals, consisting of 1) staurolite, garnet, andalusite, tourmaline, and 2) zircon, garnet, sillimanite, characterize two different rock complexes, i.e. metamorphic rocks and rocks of a syenite massif. Moreover, the analysis of heavy minerals might prove useful for revisions in the geological map, since by the use of web analyses a conformity has been revealed between the boundary of syenite and metamorphic rocks, shown in the geological map; and the boundary indicated by examinations of slick samples; in a similar way. The conformity observed during these examinations between the appearance of hornblende in samples and the occurrence of the hornblende shists in the series of metamorphic rocks indicate the possibility of application of heavy minerals analysis for correction of geological map. During laboratory examinations, observations were made as to the quantitative content of heavy minerals in the individual fractions of slick samples; it was determined that an accurately executed analysis of the fraction containing grains of less than 0:25 mm. size yields a satisfactory pictured of the content of heavy minerals in the entire slick sample.


This paper presents the results from in-flight measurements of single event upsets (SEU) in static random access memories (SRAM) caused by the atmospheric radiation environment at aircraft altitudes. The memory devices were carried on commercial airlines at high altitude and mainly high latitudes. The SEUs were monitored by a Component Upset Test Equipment (CUTE), designed for this experiment. The in flight results are compared to ground based testing with neutrons from three different sources.


In this paper we discuss the mechanism of multipoint relays (MPRs) to efficiently do the flooding of broadcast messages in the mobile wireless networks. Multipoint relaying is a technique to reduce the number of redundant re-transmissions while diffusing a broadcast message in the network. We discuss the principle and the functioning of MPRs, and propose a heuristic to select these MPRs in a mobile wireless environment. We also analyze the complexity of this heuristic and prove that the computation of a multipoin- t relay set with minimal size is NP-complete. Finally, we present some simulation results to show the efficiency of multipoint relays.


There are many algorithms to improve the network traffic and to avoid losing packets in the network. This paper proposed determining the shortest paths for hops, which are in the middle of the source and destination. The shortest path in this paper means the fastest path between them. Recently, dynamic routing algorithm is currently used now but this paper suggests the fastest paths between the source and the destination is by using the record of the network traffic history. People are using the networking and the network traffic is always corresponding to how many people use the networking in specific time. Therefore, I can predict the network condition by referring to the history of network traffic record, and then the shortest path can be produced without using RIP too much. It will be helpful to improve the network traffic.


In the nanoscale regime, the double-gate MOSFET can provide superior short-channel behavior. For this structure, device scaling issues are explored. Gate length scaling will be limited by the ability to control off-state leakage current due to quantum tunneling and thermionic emission between the source and drain as well as band-to-band tunneling between the body and drain. Lateral S/D doping abruptness requirements for gate length scaling are examined. V/sub T/ control will be challenging as a single gate material for both NMOS and PMOS devices cannot provide low yet symmetrical V/sub T/'s. CMOS integration will thus require dual gate workfunction tuning, channel doping, or asymmetrical double-gates to adjust V/sub T/. Advantages of using alternative channel materials to facilitate scaling are investigated.


This paper sheds light on the limitations of ChatGPT's understanding capabilities, focusing on simple inference tasks that are typically easy for humans but appear to be challenging for the model. Specifically, we target (i) grammatically-specified entailments, (ii) premises with evidential adverbs of uncertainty, and (iii) monotonicity entailments. We present expert-designed evaluation sets for these inference types and conduct experiments in a zero-shot setup. Our results show that the model struggles with these types of inferences, exhibiting moderate to low accuracy. Moreover, while ChatGPT demonstrates knowledge of the underlying linguistic concepts when prompted directly, it often fails to incorporate this knowledge to make correct inferences. Even more strikingly, further experiments show that embedding the premise under presupposition triggers or non-factive verbs causes the model to predict entailment more frequently {regardless} of the correct semantic label. Overall these results suggest that, despite GPT's celebrated language understanding capacity, ChatGPT has blindspots with respect to certain types of entailment, and that certain entailment-cancelling features act as ``blinds'' overshadowing the semantics of the embedded premise. Our analyses emphasize the need for further research into the linguistic comprehension and reasoning capabilities of LLMs, in order to improve their reliability, and establish their trustworthiness for real-world applications.


Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STECs) contamination of produce, as a result of contact with ruminant fecal material, has been associated with serious foodborne illness. Bacteriophages (phages) that infect STECs have primarily been reported to be of cattle origin. However, they likely exist in other environments or in animals that share habitats with cattle, such as goats. To explore the presence and diversity of phages specific to STEC O157 and the top six non-O157 STECs in goat-associated environments, environmental samples consisting of feces (goat and cattle) and soil samples were collected monthly for six months from an organic produce farm. A variety of phages belonging to the Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, and Podoviridae families were isolated from all goat fecal and half of the soil samples. The most commonly isolated phages belonged to Myoviridae and were lytic against STEC O103. The isolated phages had different host ranges, but collectively, showed lytic activity against O157 and the top six non-O157 STEC strains excluding O121. Two non-O157 STECs (O174: H21 and O-antigen-negative: H18) were isolated from soil and cattle feces, respectively. Although prior studies have reported that goats shed STEC into the environment, the findings of the current study suggest that goat feces may also contain lytic STEC-specific phages. The phages of goat origin have the capacity to infect STECs implicated in causing foodborne outbreaks, making them potential candidates for biocontrol pending additional characterization steps. Further work is needed to determine if the addition of goats to the farm environment could potentially reduce the presence of STECs.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of both intensity and volume of training during a 2 d-wk-1 in-season resistance-training program (RTP) for American football players. Fifty-three National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III football players were tested in the 1 repetition maximum (1RM) bench press and 1RM squat on the first day of summer training camp (PRE) and during the final week of the regular season (POST). Subjects were required to perform 3 sets of 6–8 repetitions per exercise. Significant strength improvements in squat were observed from PRE (155.0 ± 31.8 kg) to POST (163.3 ± 30.0 kg), whereas no PRE to POST changes in bench press were seen (124.7 ± 21.0 kg vs.123.9 ± 18.6 kg, respectively). Training volume and training compliance were not related to strength improvement. Further analysis showed that athletes training at ≥80% of their PRE 1RM had significantly greater strength improvements than athletes training at <80% of their PRE 1RM, for both bench press and squat. Strength improvements can be seen in American football players, during an in-season RTP, as long as exercise intensity is ≥80% of the 1RM.


Tackling the environmental impact of global supply chain networks has emerged as a key priority for governments and corporations. To that effect, regulatory interventions, such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, have been proposed and are gradually being implemented. In addition, as consumers become more environmentally sensitive, corporate social responsibility related issues are also posing additional pressures on companies to develop green policies. At the same time, environmentally friendly supply chain practices enable firms to achieve economic sustainability by developing a competitive advantage. As a result, supply chain stakeholders need firstly to capture comprehensively the environmental footprint of their supply chains and then to bring sustainability into their growth strategy. To that effect, this paper proposes a first-effort methodological framework for the management of the carbon footprint across the supply chain and during the product's life cycle.


Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease accompanied by immune abnormalities. A number of autoantibodies such as anti-centromere, anti-topoisomerase I, anti-RNA polymerase III and anti-U3 (fibrillarin) antibodies were proven to be of great diagnostic and prognostic factors in patients with scleroderma. Certain studies have reported the presence of antinuclear, anti-SSA (Ro) and/or anti-SSB (La), anti-Pm/Scl, anti-endothelial cell and anti-nucleosome antibodies in patients with systemic sclerosis. However, the clinical relevance of these autoantibodies is yet to be fully elucidated. Objectives Our aim was to assess clinical features, capillaroscopic abnormalities and autoantibody titers in patients with systemic sclerosis as well as analyze relationships between these parameters. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study on 36 adult patients who satisfied ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria for systemic sclerosis.We recorded disease duration. current symptoms and classified patients as limited cutaneous (lc) SSc and diffuse cutaneous (dc) SSc. Skin involvement was assessed using the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS). We performed nailfold videocapillaroscopy using a FEDMED Digitale 100N at a magnification of 200X. Thoracic Xrays were done to establish the presence of pulmonary fibrosis. Ultrasounds were performed by a single examiner to evaluate pulmonary artery pressure. Blood samples were drawn to measure anti-topoisomerase 1, anti-centromere, anti-SSA (Ro), anti-SSB (La), anti-U1RNP and anti-nucleosome antibody titers (ELISA). Patient characteristics were included in a database and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics v20. Results Our study group was composed of 20 dc SSc (55.6%) and 16 lc SSc (44.4%) patients. Severity of capillary changes correlated with mRSS values (p,0.01), anti-topoisomerase I (p=0.006), anti-SSA (p=0.01) and anti-nucleosome antibodies (p=0.02). We found positive associations between the presence of dysphagia, anti-centromere (p=0.009) and anti-SSA (p<0.01) titers in patients with lc SSc. Anti-centromere antibody positivity also correlated with pulmonary hypertension (p=0,011) and pulmonary fibrosis (p=0,04) in these patients. Anti-SSA antibodies correlated with pulmonary hypertension (p<0.01) and capillaroscopic changes (p=0.024) in dc SSc. Conclusions Our findings support the relationship between autoantibody titers, systemic involvement and microvascular changes in scleroderma patients. Non-specific autoantibodies such as anti-nucleosome and anti-SSA antibodies were associated with microvascular changes in our study group. Further studies in this field may provide new information on SSc pathogenesis and possibly novel targets for treatment in scleroderma patients. References Fuschiotti P. Current perspectives on the immunopathogenesis of systemic sclerosis. ImmunoTargets and Therapy. 2016;5:21–35. doi: 10.2147/ITT.S82037. Choi MY, Fritzler MJ. Progress in understanding the diagnostic and pathogenic role of autoantibodies associated with systemic sclerosis. Current Opinion in Rheumatology. 2016;28(6):586–594. doi: 10.1097/BOR.0000000000000325. Rezus E. Reumatologie, "Gr. T. Popa", UMF. Iasi, 2014, 162–183. Rezus E. Sclerodermia Sistemica in Reumatologie, "Gr. T. Popa", UMFIasi, 2014, 162–183. ISBN: 978-606-544-255-9. Pattanaik D, Brown M, Postlethwaite BC, Postlethwaite AE. Pathogenesis of Systemic Sclerosis. Frontiers in Immunology. 2015;6:272. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00272. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Mast cells are thought to contribute significantly to the pathology and mortality associated with anaphylaxis and other allergic disorders. However, studies using genetically mast cell–deficient WBB6F1-KitW/KitW-v and congenic wild-type (WBB6F1-+/+) mice indicate that mast cells can also promote health, by participating in natural immune responses to bacterial infection. We previously reported that repetitive administration of the c-kit ligand, stem cell factor (SCF), can increase mast cell numbers in normal mice in vivo. In vitro studies have indicated that SCF can also modulate mast cell effector function. We now report that treatment with SCF can significantly improve the survival of normal C57BL/6 mice in a model of acute bacterial peritonitis, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Experiments in mast cell–reconstituted WBB6F1-KitW/KitW-v mice indicate that this effect of SCF treatment reflects, at least in part, the actions of SCF on mast cells. Repetitive administration of SCF also can enhance survival in mice that genetically lack tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, demonstrating that the ability of SCF treatment to improve survival after CLP does not solely reflect effects of SCF on mast cell– dependent (or –independent) production of TNF-α. These findings identify c-kit and mast cells as potential therapeutic targets for enhancing innate immune responses.


The productivity of swamp buffaloes under three production systems namely intensive, semi-intensive and integrated with oil palm was evaluated. Birth, weaning, and yearling weights were 26.8, 85.7 and 137.4 kg for calves under intensive; 27.2, 125.2 and 217.2 kg for calves under semi-intensive; and 24.7, 118.9 and 205.3 kg for calves under integrated production systems respectively. The average daily gain from birth to one year old and preweaning calf mortality were 0.3 kg/day and 25.6% under intensive; 0.52 kg/day and 12.7% under semiintensive; and 0.51 kg/day and 7% under integrated production systems respectively. Calving rate and calving interval of the dams were 57.3% and 481 days under intensive; 66.7% and 439 days under semi-intensive; and 47.2% and 496 days under integrated production systems respectively. Results of the study showed that reproductive performance of swamp buffaloes can be improved through semi-intensive production system and nutrition was implicated for the improved reproductive performance.


We present a differential geometric analysis of manipulability for holonomic multiple robot systems containing active and passive joints. Our analysis treats both redundant and nonredundant systems, including the case of redundant actuation, in a uniform manner. Dynamic characteristics of the robot system and manipulated object can also be naturally included by an appropriate choice of Riemannian metric. Our geometric framework also suggests a classification of kinematic singularities into three basic types: (i) those corresponding to singular points of the joint configuration space (configuration space singularities), (ii) those induced by the choice of actuated joints (actuator singularities), and (iii) those configurations in which the end-effector loses one or more degrees of freedom of available motion (end-effector singularities). The proposed geometric classification provides a high-level taxonomy for kinematic singularities that is independent of the choice of local coordinates used to describe the robot kinematics.


mariner family transposons are widespread among eukaryotic organisms. These transposons are apparently horizontally transmitted among diverse eukaryotes and can also transpose in vitro in the absence of added cofactors. Here we show that transposons derived from the mariner element Himar1 can efficiently transpose in bacteria in vivo. We have developed simple transposition systems by using minitransposons, made up of short inverted repeats flanking antibiotic resistance markers. These elements can efficiently transpose after expression of transposase from an appropriate bacterial promoter. We found that transposition of mariner-based elements in Escherichia coli produces diverse insertion mutations in either a targeted plasmid or a chromosomal gene. With Himar1-derived transposons we were able to isolate phage-resistant mutants of both E. coli and Mycobacterium smegmatis. mariner-based transposons will provide valuable tools for mutagenesis and genetic manipulation of bacteria that currently lack well developed genetic systems.


As a widely used insulating medium, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a greenhouse gas with very high global warming potential (GWP). Some carbon-fluoride gases have potential to replace SF6 in insulating applications. In order to reveal their different dielectric performance, this paper is devoted to a comparative study of dielectric breakdown properties for SF6 and four carbon-fluoride insulating gases i.e. CF3I, C2F6, C3F8, and c-C4F8 mixed with CO2, N2, and CF4 based on the numerical solution of Boltzmann equation. The electron energy distribution function (EEDF), reduced ionization coefficients α/N, reduced electron attachment coefficients η/N, and reduced critical electric field strength (E/N)cr are compared for various gas mixtures. Generally c-C4F8 presents the largest dielectric strength among the four carbon-fluoride insulating gases whichever buffer gas is mixed, while C2F6 presents the lowest dielectric strength. In terms of (E/N)cr and GWP, CF3I is a good eco-friendly insulating medium. However, with the addition of buffer gases, the (E/N)cr of CF3I mixtures declines more quickly than other mixtures. It is also found that the mixing of CF4 makes insulating mixtures depend more linearly on the proportions of buffer gas than CO2 and N2.As a widely used insulating medium, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a greenhouse gas with very high global warming potential (GWP). Some carbon-fluoride gases have potential to replace SF6 in insulating applications. In order to reveal their different dielectric performance, this paper is devoted to a comparative study of dielectric breakdown properties for SF6 and four carbon-fluoride insulating gases i.e. CF3I, C2F6, C3F8, and c-C4F8 mixed with CO2, N2, and CF4 based on the numerical solution of Boltzmann equation. The electron energy distribution function (EEDF), reduced ionization coefficients α/N, reduced electron attachment coefficients η/N, and reduced critical electric field strength (E/N)cr are compared for various gas mixtures. Generally c-C4F8 presents the largest dielectric strength among the four carbon-fluoride insulating gases whichever buffer gas is mixed, while C2F6 presents the lowest dielectric strength. In terms of (E/N)cr and GWP, CF3I is a good eco-friendly insulating medium. However, w...


Spring break travel is a growing market and has become a relevant research object. Specifically, binge drinking, illicit drug use and high-risk sexual behaviour have become the focus of academic attention. Identifying such behaviour is relevant in designing policies for tourism management, particularly for the reduction of negative implications of such behaviours. This descriptive study aimed to identify the motivations, alcohol consumption, drug use and sexual behavioural patterns of spring break travellers in Acapulco, Mexico. Based on a quantitative approach, a total of 173 male and 112 female North American students were surveyed during spring break 2010. The study revealed that the party reputation of a destination is one of the main reasons for spring break travel. Binge drinking and the use of illegal drugs were reported by a significant number of students. Furthermore, high-risk sexual behaviour and the students' self recognition of being at high risk of acquiring STDs appeared as relevant issues during the study.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to predict the amount of energy consumption by using a suitable statistical method in some sectors and energy carriers, which has shown a significant correlation with greenhouse gas emissions.

Design/methodology/approach
After studying the correlation between energy consumption rates in different sectors of energy consumption and some energy carriers with greenhouse gas distribution (CO2, SO2, NOX and SPM), the most effective factors on pollution emission will be first identified and then predicted for the next 20 years (2015 to 2004). Furthermore, to determine the appropriate method for forecasting, two approaches titled "trend analysis" and "double exponential smoothing" will be applied on data, collected from 1967 to 2014, and their capabilities in anticipating will be compared to each other contributing MSD, MAD, MAPE indices and also the actual and projected time series comparison. After predicting the energy consumption in the sectors and energy carriers, the growth rate of consumption in the next 20 years is also calculated.

Findings
Correlation study shows that four energy sectors (industry sector, agriculture, transportation and household-general-commercial) and two energy carriers (electricity and natural gas) have shown remarkable correlation with greenhouse gas emissions. To predict the energy consumption in mentioned sectors and carriers, it is proven that double exponential smoothing method is more capable in predicting. The study shows that among the demand sectors, the industry will account for the highest consumption rate. Electricity will experience the highest rate among the energy careers. In fact, producing this amount of electricity causes emissions of greenhouse gases.

Research limitations/implications
Access to the data and categorized data was one of the main limitations.

Practical implications
By identifying the sectors and energy carriers that have the highest consumption growth rate in the next 20 years, it can be said that greenhouse gas emissions, which show remarkable correlation with these sectors and carriers, will also increase dramatically. So, their stricter control seems to be necessary. On the other hand, to control a particular greenhouse gas, it is possible to focus on the amount of energy consumed in the sectors and carriers that have a significant correlation with this pollutant. These results will lead to more targeted policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Social implications
The tendency of communities toward industrialization along with population growth will doubtlessly lead to more consumption of fossil fuels. An immediate aftermath of burning fuels is greenhouse gas emission resulting in destructive effects on the environment and ecosystems. Identifying the factors affecting the pollutants resulted from consumption of fossil fuels is significant in controlling the emissions.

Originality/value
Such analyses help policymakers make more informed and targeted decisions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make safer and more appropriate policies and investment.


Abstract ALSUntangled reviews alternative and off-label treatments for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (PALS). Here we review glucocorticoids. Neuroinflammation plays a prominent role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathogenesis, so some hypothesize that glucocorticoids might be an effective ALS therapy through their immunosuppressive effects. In this paper, we review the available evidence for glucocorticoids in ALS, including one pre-clinical study with a genetic mouse model of ALS, nine case reports (ranging from 1 to 26 patients each), and four clinical trials. We also review the possible side effects (including steroid myopathy) and the costs of therapy. We graded the level of evidence as follows: Mechanism, D; Pre-Clinical, F; Cases, B; Trials, F; Risks, C. Our review of the current evidence concludes that glucocorticoids do not offer clinical benefit in ALS and confer serious risks. Thus, ALSUntangled does not recommend glucocorticoids as a treatment for ALS.


Phytoplankton species were enumerated from 72 samples collected biweekly during the upwelling season (May to August) of 2001�2010 to test for effects of interannual variations in upwelling and decadal basin-scale variability on phytoplankton species composition and commu- nity structure. Cluster analysis of phytoplankton community structure identified 7 groups; 1 group was dominated by dinoflagellates while the other groups were dominated by diatoms but with variable ratios of diatom-to-dinoflagellate abundance ranging from 4 to 847. The most abundant diatoms were Thalassiosira spp., Chaetoceros spp., Asterionellopsis glacialis, Cylindrotheca closterium, Leptocylindrus spp., Nitzschia and Pseudo-nitzschia spp., with dominance varying among the 7 groups. Variations in phytoplankton community structure were not related to the strength of upwelling within a given year; rather, differences were related to when a sample was collected within an upwelling/downwelling cycle. Community structure was also analyzed by non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination. The x-axis scores of the ordination, which is an index of community structure, were correlated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) but not with seasonally averaged coastal upwelling strength. Positive values of the index corresponded with positive PDO years (2002�2007), and negative index values with negative PDO years (2001, 2008�2010). Thus changes in the sign of the PDO seem to be more influential in explaining the interannual variations in phytoplankton community structure than seasonally averaged coastal upwelling.


This paper describes our study on high-resolution measurements of the distribution of the radio frequency (RF) magnetic near field from a coplanar waveguide (CPW) with a size similar to power and ground lines in radio frequency integrated circuit chips using a magnetic force microscope tip and amplitude modulation of the line current. Cantilever resonance frequency modulation of approximately 25 kHz supplies the CPW with current and carrier frequencies up to 0.1 GHz. The CPW has a signal line width of 3 μm and a ground line width of 50 μm. The oscillation amplitudes of the tip with and without a DC magnetic field indicates that the distribution of the RF magnetic near field in the proximity of the CPW can be observed for a carrier frequency up to 0.1 GHz. This result also suggests that this method has potential as a new technique for high-resolution RF field measurements.


The paper provides basic information on the industry of fragrant and flavouring substances. These substances are used in perfuming various products, in particular cosmetics and detergents, as well as in aromatizing food products. The current situation and problems in this field are discussed with respect to Czech Republic. Activities of the Department of Organic Technology of the Institute of Chemical Technology , Prague in research and implementation of new technologies are described.


Abstract. Grouping image tokens is an intermediate step needed to arrive at meaningful image representation and summarization. Usually, perceptual cues, for instance, gestalt properties inform token grouping. However, they do not take into account structural continuities that could be derived from other tokens belonging to similar structures irrespective of their location. We propose an image representation that encodes structural constraints emerging from local binary patterns (LBP), which provides a long-distance measure of similarity but in a structurally connected way. Our representation provides a grouping of pixels or larger image tokens that is free of numeric similarity measures and could therefore be extended to nonmetric spaces. The representation lends itself nicely to ubiquitous image processing applications such as connected component labeling and segmentation. We test our proposed representation on the perceptual grouping or segmentation task on the popular Berkeley segmentation dataset (BSD500) that with respect to human segmented images achieves an average F-measure of 0.559. Our algorithm achieves a high average recall of 0.787 and is therefore well-suited to other applications such as object retrieval and category-independent object recognition. The proposed merging heuristic based on levels of singular tree component has shown promising results on the BSD500 dataset and currently ranks 12th among all benchmarked algorithms, but contrary to the others, it requires no data-driven training or specialized preprocessing.


In this paper, discharge characteristics of air in the vertical arrangement of three rods(dome-shaped, cylinder-shaped, and needle-shaped rod) and plane gap having propane flame on the plane electrode are examined under the application of a.c. and d.c. high-voltages. As the result of the experiment, flashover voltages in the presence of the flame are substantially lowered than those in the absence of flame, and relative a.c. flashover voltages in the dome-shaped, cylinder-shaped, and needle-shaped rod gaps are found 32.5%, 32.1%, and 26.4% respectively. The polarity effects with the d.c. voltages are shown, and flashover voltages in negative polarity are much lowered than those in positive one. The negative flashover voltages in the dome-shaped and cylinder-shaped gaps are found 18.3% and 18.7% respectively, but the positive ones are found 53.5% and 43.2% respectively. In the needle-shaped rod gaps, meanwhile, the flame is extinguished by corona wind, and the quenching voltages are found 28.4% under the application of a.c. voltages. The ion winds of corona and the reduction of air density are the main factors of flashover reduction owing to the flame in the case of a.c. voltages, but the electrifications of the positive ion by thermal ionization besides the above factors are remarkably found in the case of d.c. voltages.


Ruf et al. report hyponatremia to be an excellent predictor of outcome in patients with advanced cirrhosis and that the presence of hyponatremia significantly increases the efficacy of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) to predict waitlist mortality.1 Furthermore, they suggest hyponatremia to be incorporated into the MELD formula. However, we believe that with the emergence of aquaretics (i.e., V2-receptor antagonists) for treatment of hyponatremia these suggestions should be viewed with caution. These drugs, which are expected to be approved by the FDA this year, have been shown to reverse hyponatremia efficiently in patients with advanced liver disease.2,3 While it has yet to be shown that treatment with aquaretics increases survival in this patient population, the prevalence of hyponatremia will certainly decrease with the more widespread use of these drugs. Furthermore, it can be assumed that the management of ascites will also be affected due to the aquaretic effect of these drugs. With the emergence of these new drugs and the anticipated change of the incidence of hyponatremia in this patient population, we believe that the suggestion to incorporate serum sodium into the MELD score might be premature and will need to be reconsidered after the full impact of these drugs have been evaluated. Hendrik Koller, MD Alexander Rosenkranz Department of Nephrology Medical University Innsbruck Innsbruck, Austria


This paper studies the hybrid flow-shop scheduling problem with no-wait restrictions. The production process consists of two machine centers, one has a single machine and the other has more than one parallel machine. A greedy heuristic named least deviation algorithm is designed and its worst case performance is analyzed. Computational results are also given to show the algorithm's average performance compared with some other algorithms. The least deviation algorithm outperforms the others in most cases tested here, and it is of low computational complexity and is easy to carry out,thus it is of favorable application value.


To evaluate the expression of genes that involved in hypothyroidism by multiple alignment of nucleotide sequences of genes study the functional unit of genes that involve in production of thyroid hormones. The thyroid gland is part of endocrine gland and regulates much vital body function (breathing, heart rate, body weight, body temperature also involve in development, growth, protein production and  it also control the central and peripheral nervous system, muscle strength and menstrual cycle). Hypothyroidism is a condition in which thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. To find the genetics information than by using bioinformatics tools several genes that were involved in hypothyroidism were identified but six genes TSHR, TPO, THRB, TG, IYD, DUOX2 and their motifs were studied in detail to understand the basic domains involved in this disease.


Existing multi-view representation learning methods typically follow a specific-to-uniform pipeline, extracting latent features from each view and then fusing or aligning them to obtain the unified object representation. However, the manually pre-specified fusion functions and aligning criteria could potentially degrade the quality of the derived representation. To overcome them, we propose a novel uniform-to-specific multi-view learning framework from a meta-learning perspective, where the unified representation no longer involves manual manipulation but is automatically derived from a meta-learner named MetaViewer. Specifically, we formulated the extraction and fusion of view-specific latent features as a nested optimization problem and solved it by using a bi-level optimization scheme. In this way, MetaViewer automatically fuses view-specific features into a unified one and learns the optimal fusion scheme by observing reconstruction processes from the unified to the specific over all views. Extensive experimental results in downstream classification and clustering tasks demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method.