We demonstrate a new feature of Mossbauer diffraction that is useful for studies of atomic arrangements in materials - that Mossbauer diffraction can measure the autocorrelation function of 57Fe atoms as a function of their chemical environment. To acquire the experimental data, we built a Debye-Scherrer type powder diffractometer with a 57Co radiation source and a large angle position sensitive detector. By working with polycrystalline materials near the kinematical limit of diffraction, the broadening of nuclear energy levels is not severe, so the spectroscopic capabilities of Mossbauer scattering are preserved. The sample was polycrystalline 57Fe3Al with the ordered DO3 structure. The two sites for the 57Fe atoms, the Wyckoff 4(b) and 8(c) sites, differ in both their chemical environment (0Al versus 4Al 1nn) and in their spatial arrangement (face-centered cubic, fcc, with lattice parameter 2a0 versus simple cubic, sc, with lattice parameter a0). Diffraction peaks from the fcc structure were detected when the incident radiation was tuned to the Mossbauer resonance of the Wyckoff 4(b) Fe site, but not for tuning to the 8(c) site, thereby distinguishing the spatial arrangements of these two Fe sites. Thus, the validity of chemical environment selectivity was proven.

The phase change of the Mossbauer scattering near resonance affects the interference of diffracted waves from different chemical environments. Interference effects between x-ray Rayleigh scattering and Mossbauer scattering from the 57Fe3Al sample were observed, as were interference effects involving the different components of the Mossbauer spectra. A simple oscillator model was used successfully to calculate the interference effects seen in the experimental data.


High-pressure homogenization (HPH) is a non-thermal technology widely studied to replace, partially or in total, the conventional thermal preservation processes used in the food industry, thus minimizing undesirable changes in the nutritional and sensory characteristics of liquid products. The main effect of HPH is the size reduction of dispersed particles thus affecting physical stability of the products, despite also inactivating microorganisms, preserving bioactive compounds, and maintaining sensory characteristics. During the process, the fluid is driven under high-pressure through a micrometric gap inside the valve. Phenomena including cavitation, shear and turbulence are responsible for the changes in the fluid. From this perspective, the present paper reviews the effects of HPH on the inactivation of microorganisms and preservation of bioactive compounds of fruit juices treated with this technology. The juice matrices reported were apple, apricot, banana, blackberry, carrot, kiwifruit, mandarin, mango, orange, peach, pomegranate, rosehip, strawberry and tomato. The paper elucidates the potential application of HPH to fruit juice processing aiming at producing safe products with high nutritional and sensory quality.


The users of the bike is currently doing a lot of camping in the open sky. Security becomes one of the problems when in nature. Camping cyclists often feel a sense of worry when leaving the bike. Based on these needs, it is necessary additional design part on the bike that made the frame set up the tent. The method used in the design is the canoe method. This method is used to determine the desires of bicycle users based on the level of customer satisfaction to the product of tents and bicycle merging. The results of the study were 13 attributes included in the servqual dimension. Grouping attributes based on canoe categories are 6 attributes including attractive category, 2 must be attributes, 4 one-dimensional attributes, and 1 indifferent attribute. The size of the tents that are made has a length of 200 cm, width 240 cm and height 160 cm.


In this paper we present FSMIQ, a novel image retrieval system that is based on fuzzy similarity metrics. FSMIQ uses shape and color information to generate a 2630 byte long information vector that describes the shape and color distribution in the image. This information is generated by the application of the discrete wavelet transform to the YIQ color space and picking the appropriate information by quantization of the Y channel coefficients and using fuzzy linguistic variables for color description. The information vectors that correspond to the images in a given database are used for the queries. Queries are carried out using the generalized Tversky index, a similarity index that is based on human similarity perception, which has been developed by the authors. Different retrieval results are calculated for shape and color; a final data fusion process takes place to provide the overall results. For examining the efficiency of FSMIQ, we use the AVRR and IAVRR metrics proposed by Flickner et al. (1995). Our experiments indicate very good performance, both visually and based on the aforementioned metrics.


The study is focused on the leafhopper tribe Adelungiini (Megophthalminae) of Iran and based on the specimens collected since 1970s to 2018 and deposited in the Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Teheran (Iran) and in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, Saint Petersburg (Russia). Achrus caligonicolus Dlabola, 1981 and Achrus taghizadehi Dlabola, 1981 are placed in synonymy under Achrus albicosta (Kusnezov, 1929) and Melicharella pascualis Dubovsky, 1968 is placed in synonymy under Melicharella basalis Dlabola, 1960. Five species: Dalus leopardinus (Haupt, 1917), Melicharella basalis Dlabola, 1960, Platyproctus agraphopteron Bergevin, 1932, P. omani (Kameswara Rao et Ramakrishnan, 1983), and Zubara lycii Al-ne'ami et Linnavuori, 1982 are recorded for the first time from Iran, representing three new generic records from the country. Male genitalia of D. leopardinus and Adelungia elegans Melichar, 1902 are illustrated here for the first time. A revised checklist of Adelungiini of Iran, with a key to species and maps of their distribution are provided.


Bluetooth is a short-range communication system facilitating ad hoc networking between various devices and terminals, using Gaussian-frequency-shift-keying modulation. In this paper, the authors present and analyze a novel receiver structure for Bluetooth, which is based on zero-crossing detection in combination with zero-forcing block linear equalization. Simulation results are presented, showing a favorable performance compared to other detectors


Abstract. Significance: Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is a powerful technique to distinguish the unique molecular environment of fluorophores. FLIM measures the time a fluorophore remains in an excited state before emitting a photon, and detects molecular variations of fluorophores that are not apparent with spectral techniques alone. FLIM is sensitive to multiple biomedical processes including disease progression and drug efficacy. Aim: We provide an overview of FLIM principles, instrumentation, and analysis while highlighting the latest developments and biological applications. Approach: This review covers FLIM principles and theory, including advantages over intensity-based fluorescence measurements. Fundamentals of FLIM instrumentation in time- and frequency-domains are summarized, along with recent developments. Image segmentation and analysis strategies that quantify spatial and molecular features of cellular heterogeneity are reviewed. Finally, representative applications are provided including high-resolution FLIM of cell- and organelle-level molecular changes, use of exogenous and endogenous fluorophores, and imaging protein-protein interactions with Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). Advantages and limitations of FLIM are also discussed. Conclusions: FLIM is advantageous for probing molecular environments of fluorophores to inform on fluorophore behavior that cannot be elucidated with intensity measurements alone. Development of FLIM technologies, analysis, and applications will further advance biological research and clinical assessments.


Stochastically switching force terms appear frequently in models of biological systems under the action of active agents such as proteins. The interaction of switching forces and Brownian motion can create an "effective thermal equilibrium," even though the system does not obey a potential function. In order to extend the field of energy landscape analysis to understand stability and transitions in switching systems, we derive the quasipotential that defines this effective equilibrium for a general overdamped Langevin system with a force switching according to a continuous-time Markov chain process. Combined with the string method for computing most-probable transition paths, we apply our method to an idealized system and show the appearance of previously unreported numerical challenges. We present modifications to the algorithms to overcome these challenges and show validity by demonstrating agreement between our computed quasipotential barrier and asymptotic Monte Carlo transition times in the system.


Time and space are fundamental elements in the perceptual decision-making mechanism. However, because signals perceived by multiple senses have different sensory characteristics, it is challenging to understand the causal structure of spatial and temporal properties obtained through audition and vision. This thesis focuses on the mutual influence between spatial and temporal property in perception, and how sources of information integrate to enhance the quality of sensory experiences. The studies in this thesis modulate sensory expectation and perceptual weighting of audio-visual signals to investigate how human brain makes sensory predictions with the uncertainty. Chapter One provides a review of psychophysical methods and decision models for signal detection and discrimination. In addition, it introduces the sensory processing of spatial and temporal information in auditory and visual mechanism. Chapter Two to Five are empirical chapters that use psychophysical approach to examine the interdependency in perceived time and space, with a focus in discrimination performance and perceived biases. The results suggest that audio-visual perception is subject to a range of perceptual factors, such as signal reliability, perceptual latency and the perceptual task. Chapter Six concludes the finding and summarizes the outcome in a broader research context. Overall, this thesis contributes to the current knowledge of audio-visual processing of temporal and spatial information in human perception.


Full-waveform inversion (FWI) is rapidly becoming a standard tool for high-resolution velocity estimation. However, the application of this method is usually limited to low frequencies due to the high computational cost of the wavefield propagation and the inversion scheme. To mitigate this problem, we have developed a rapid expansion method (REM) for numerical wavefield extrapolation inside the FWI workflow. This method approximated the partial time derivative of the wave equation using Chebyshev polynomials instead of the conventional finite-difference (FD) approximation. This allowed the REM to accurately propagate wavefields with bigger time steps, thus improving the computational efficiency of FWI. We have compared high-frequency FWI results using REM and the traditional FD approximation of the time derivative to illustrate the ability of REM to remain stable and free of numerical dispersion noise even with large grid and time samplings. In addition, we studied a step-length estimation scheme with the objective of avoiding an extra forward wavefield propagation during the line search at each FWI iteration. In this scheme, we estimated the step-length value based on prior iterations and validated this value using the Wolfe conditions. If the value was accepted, then the forward modeling was availed in the next iteration and no extra propagation was necessary. We tried seven different step-length estimation methods, from which we highlighted the adaptive Barzilai-Borwein method when combined with the steepest-descent inversion scheme, and the unitary step length for the L-BFGS algorithm. Through synthetic numerical results, we showed how this scheme could achieve convergence, while keeping the number of extra forward modelings way below the number of FWI iterations.


Regulation of wound pH from alkaline to acidic is a simple and powerful approach to reduce wound microbial colonization and infection. Here, we present a nanocomposite material possessing intrinsic acidic surface pH as an innovative antimicrobial wound dressing. This material comprises an agarose matrix nanocomposite containing nanoparticles (NPs) of the cesium salt of phosphotungstic heteropolyacid (Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40). Self-supporting films were prepared by a casting method incorporating 5-20 wt % Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 NPs into the matrix. Films are flexible with tensile strengths between 28.55 and 32.15 MPa and exhibit broad biocidal activity against neutralophilic pathogens, including Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi. The nano-antimicrobial Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 functions as an efficient and self-controlled proton delivery agent that lowers the surface pH of the nanocomposites to the range 7.0 > pH ≥ 3.0. Nanocomposite films containing 20 wt % Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 NPs presented a surface pH of 3.0 and highest antimicrobial activity. Using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, we demonstrated that the antimicrobial mechanism of the nanocomposites is acid-induced because of the transcriptional induction of glutamate-dependent acid resistance genes in Escherichia coli. Additionally, nanocomposite films do not damage skin according to an in vivo rabbit skin model with no derived edema or erythema. The wound care safety of this material is due to low release of heavy metal heteropolyanions ([PW12O40]3-), no nanoparticle leaching, and proton controlled release resulting in nonirritating acid levels for human skin models.


A new particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique for electromagnetic applications is proposed. The method is based on quantum mechanics rather than the Newtonian rules assumed in all previous versions of PSO, which we refer to as classical PSO. A general procedure is suggested to derive many different versions of the quantum PSO algorithm (QPSO). The QPSO is applied first to linear array antenna synthesis, which is one of the standard problems used by antenna engineers. The performance of the QPSO is compared against an improved version of the classical PSO. The new algorithm outperforms the classical one most of the time in convergence speed and achieves better levels for the cost function. As another application, the algorithm is used to find a set of infinitesimal dipoles that produces the same near and far fields of a circular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA). In addition, the QPSO method is employed to find an equivalent circuit model for the DRA that can be used to predict some interesting parameters like the Q-factor. The QPSO contains only one control parameter that can be tuned easily by trial and error or by suggested simple linear variation. Based on our understanding of the physical background of the method, various explanations of the theoretical aspects of the algorithm are presented


Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid sp–sp2 carbon systems are an appealing subject for science and technology. For these materials, topology and structure significantly affect electronic and vibrational properties. We investigate here by periodic density-functional theory (DFT) calculations the Raman and IR spectra of 2D carbon crystals belonging to the family of graphdiynes (GDYs) and having different structures and topologies. By joining DFT calculations with symmetry analysis, we assign the IR and Raman modes in the spectra of all the investigated systems. On this basis, we discuss how the modulation of the Raman and IR active bands depends on the different interactions between sp and sp2 domains. The symmetry-based classification allows identifying the marker bands sensitive to the different peculiar topologies. These results show the effectiveness of vibrational spectroscopy for the characterization of new nanostructures, deepening the knowledge of the subtle interactions that take place in these 2D materials.


Translation systems that automatically extract transfer mappings (rules or examples) from bilingual corpora have been hampered by the difficulty of achieving accurate alignment and acquiring high quality mappings. We describe an algorithm that uses a best-first strategy and a small alignment grammar to significantly improve the quality of the transfer mappings extracted. For each mapping, frequencies are computed and sufficient context is retained to distinguish competing mappings during translation. Variants of the algorithm are run against a corpus containing 200K sentence pairs and evaluated based on the quality of resulting translations.


The most risky and difficult procedure your company performs is hiring an employee. No matter how much you check resumes, references, educational transcripts, police/court records, and other data, you could still wind up making a big mistake. You're not alone. Studies show that one out of every four job applicants falsify the job application in some way. Turnover is expensive! Shrinkage is expensive! Absenteeism is expensive! The old saying, "quick to hire quick to fire" happens too often. TeleScreen's automated interviewing process will not slow down your hiring process. Interview results are available immediately following the completion of each interview. Are you tired of hiring someone and spending valuable time and resources to train the individual, only to have them terminate within 30 days? TeleScreen can assist you in reducing turnover and shrinkage and put the savings where it belongs, on your company's bottom line. Enhance your selection process to help ensure an applicant meets your criteria by pre-screening your applicants. "We have 4 Denny's locations that use TeleScreen's services. We have noticed that it has been a great tool for pre-screening. The managers now have more time because TeleScreen actually identifies many of the applicants that do not meet the criteria. We only sit down and interview applicants that have passed the TeleScreen. We have noticed that it has helped some on the quality of employees we have hired. It has raised the bar by disqualifying some applicants that might have been hired otherwise. We like TeleScreen because it enables you to watch how the applicant follows directions by taking the card and doing what it says and answering the questions and then following back up with the store to see if they qualify. It tells us about the potential employee's patience, ability to follow directions, attitude and ability to stay focused on a task. We would recommend this process to other companies because it is a great tool for hiring employees, saving time in the process and raising the bar with your staff."


The aim with this thesis has been to increase the knowledge about nonionic microemulsions and how they behave with increasing temperature.

I have studied Nonionic Microemulsions made from C12E5, water and oil, with predominally hexadecane as oil, but also with octane, decane, dodecane and tetradecane as oil.

I have worked with microemulsions at fixed surfactant to oil volume ratio of 0.815:1 and with balanced (bicontinuous) microemulsions.

The microemulsions were studied at the temperature of emulsification boundary TEFB and their expected behavior there was as hard spheres. Careful investigation shows that there is a previously unknown growth with droplet concentration at TEFB. This growth is bigger the longer the oil chain.

The growth is to elongated aggregates with axial ratios of up to 2 for long oil chains and volume ratios of 0.4 at TEFB.

When increasing the temperature from TEFB the aggregates become bigger and more elongated similarly to a prolate with axial ratios 2-4 before the microemulsion becomes bicontinuous.

The longer the oil is, the lower the axial ratios are at which the change into bicontinuous structure occurs. The temperature increase needed for the change to bicontinuous is also smaller the longer the oils are.

The growth of the aggregates shows a monomodal distribution and not a bimodal as was previously suggested.

This was shown with contrast variation SANS experiments. There was no growth of the intensity at the match point with temperature as would be expected with bimodal distribution.

The main techniques used in the thesis are 2H-NMR relaxation, NMR self-diffusion, Static and Dynamic Light Scattering, Small Angle X-Ray Scattering of solution samples and Small Angle Neutron Scattering both with contrast variation and with the droplets matched.

The conclusion is that the behavior is explained with the increase of saddle splay modulus in the Helfrich equation for the free energy density, while bending modulus does not change, with increasing oil length.


Abstract Recently, the Yukon has seen a large growth in agricultural activity. Crops of commercial interest for local consumption and the export market include domestic berries, especially haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.). However, information on the pollination of these crops in our northern climate is lacking. To begin addressing this knowledge gap, we characterized foraging habits of on-farm bees in southwest Yukon by: 1) identifying pollen collected by bees occupying solitary bee houses; and 2) identifying and counting insect visitors to haskap flowers. Results show that cavity-nesting bees collect a wide variety of pollen including pollen from haskap, and that bumble bees (Bombus spp.) were much more common on haskap flowers than domestic honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), other bee species, syrphid flies, and butterflies. The number of bumble bees per haskap flower was also higher than reported elsewhere in Canada. The ability of bumble bees to be active in cool temperatures and the proximity of the study farms to natural ecosystems likely explain the prevalence of bumble bees in this study. In Yukon, it is still possible to support insect pollinators by maintaining natural areas among agricultural lands. Such undeveloped lands are, at present, typical of agricultural landscapes in subarctic Canada.


This is the second in a series of three articles

People who are seeking asylum are not a homogeneous population. Coming from different countries and cultures, they have had, in their own and other countries, a wide range of experiences that may affect their health and nutritional state. In the United Kingdom they face the effects of poverty, dependence, and lack of cohesive social support.1 All these factors undermine both physical and mental health. Additionally, racial discrimination can result in inequalities in health and have an impact on opportunities in and quality of life.2

Refugees' experiences also shape their acceptance and expectations of health care in the United Kingdom.3 Those from countries with no well developed primary healthcare system may expect hospital referral for conditions that in Britain are treated in primary care. This can lead to disappointment for refugees and irritation for health workers, who may also feel overwhelmed by the many and varying needs of asylum seekers, some of which are non-medical but nevertheless affect health. Addressing even a few of these needs may be of considerable benefit.

Previous studies in the United Kingdom have found that one in six refugees has a physical health problem severe enough to affect their life and two thirds have experienced anxiety or depression. 4 5 Disentangling the web of history, symptoms—which may be minimised or exaggerated for a range of reasons—and current coping mechanisms requires patience and often several sessions. Medication should be as simple as possible.

#### Summary points

Asylum seekers and refugees are not a homogeneous group of people, and have differing experiences and expectations of health and of health care

Symptoms of psychological distress are common, but do not necessarily signify mental illness

Trained interpreters or advocates, rather than family members or friends, should be used wherever possible …


Abstract 370 Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a complex hematological disorder characterized by the expansion of blood cells deficient in the surface complement inhibitors CD55 and CD59; affected erythrocytes suffer from uncontrolled complement activation on their surface, and subsequent membrane attack complex (MAC)-mediated intravascular hemolysis. The anti-C5 antibody eculizumab has proven effective in controlling intravascular hemolysis in vivo , leading to remarkable clinical benefit in almost all PNH patients. Yet, we have demonstrated that persistent C3 activation occurring during eculizumab treatment may lead to progressive C3 deposition on affected erythrocyte and subsequent C3-mediated extravascular hemolysis, possibly limiting the hematological benefit of anti-C5 treatment (Risitano et al, Blood 2009). Thus, upstream inhibition of the complement cascade seems an appropriate strategy to improve the results of current anti-complement treatment; indeed, we have recently documented that the CD21/factor H (FH) fusion protein TT30 efficiently prevents both hemolysis and C3 deposition of PNH erythrocytes (Risitano et al, Blood 2012). Here we used the same in vitro model to evaluate two novel complement inhibitors that both act at the level of C3 convertases. Cp30 is an analog of the peptidic inhibitor compstatin, which is a 13-residue disulphide-bridged peptide that selectively binds to C3 and its activate fragment C3b. Compstatin and its analogues thereby prevent the initiation, amplification and terminal damage of the complement cascade via all its major pathways (classical, alternative, and mannose/lectin). Cp30 is one of the analogues developed to increase potency and stability of compstatin. Mini-FH, on the other hand, is an engineered 43kDa protein that combines the regulatory and surface-recognition activities of FH while showing increased affinity for the opsonins C3b, iC3b and C3d. Indeed, mini-FH retained both convertase decay acceleration and cofactor activities typical of endogenous human FH, resulting in a potent and selective inhibition of activation and amplification of the complement alternative pathway, without affecting the classical and the mannose/lectin pathway. Erythrocytes from PNH patients were washed and incubated in ABO-matched sera and exposed to pH-lowering to activate the alternative pathway, both in absence and presence of Cp30, mini-FH, and appropriate controls. Assessment of hemolysis and of C3 activation and deposition on PNH erythrocytes was performed by flow cytometry analyses of erythrocytes using anti-C3 and anti-CD59 antibodies, as previously described (Risitano et al Blood 2012). In absence of inhibitors, >90% of PNH erythrocytes lysed within 24 hours of incubation. Cp30 demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibition of hemolysis, with an IC 50 of 4 μM and full inhibition at 8 μM. Cp30 also prevented deposition of any C3 fragment on the surface of surviving PNH erythrocyte. Similarly, mini-FH also showed dose-dependent inhibition of hemolysis, with an IC 50 of 0.05 μM and full inhibition at 0.1 μM. Notably, both full-length fH and fH SCR1-4 were much less efficient in preventing hemolysis and C3 deposition (IC 50 ∼ 0.5 μM; full inhibition >1 μM), supporting the higher potency of the engineered protein mini-FH. As expected, mini-FH also prevented surface deposition of C3 fragments on PNH erythrocytes. In conclusion, we confirm that inhibition of early phases of complement activation efficiently prevents hemolysis of PNH erythrocytes and their opsonization with C3 fragments in vitro . This effect may be obtained using either broad or pathway-specific inhibitors of C3 convertase, namely Cp30 and mini-FH, respectively. Thus, both strategies promise to prevent in vivo both MAC-mediated intravascular and C3-mediated extravascular hemolysis; however, according to their effect on specific complement pathways, they likely entail distinct patterns of potential risks. Our study provides the rationale for future translational plans to investigate the risk-to-benefit of these novel complement modulators in PNH. Disclosures: Risitano: Alexion: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.


Objectives: Acute peripheral infection is associated with central and peripheral inflammation, increased oxidative stress, and adaptive sickness behaviors. Sulforaphane (SFN) activates the transcription factor nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which upregulates antioxidant genes and lowers inflammation. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of SFN on proinflammatory markers and Nrf2 target genes in hippocampus and liver of mice challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and to evaluate sickness response following the LPS immune challenge. Methods: Adult Balb/c mice received SFN (50 mg/kg, i.p.) for 3 days before being injected i.p. with LPS (1 µg) to mimic an acute peripheral infection. Sickness behaviors were measured at baseline and 6 hours after LPS. Expression of proinflammatory mediators and antioxidant genes were analyzed in hippocampus and liver 6 hours after LPS. Results: SFN elevated Nrf2 target genes and reduced expression of proinflammatory mediators in hippocampus and liver, but did not improve LPS-induced sickness response. Discussion: The nutritional bioactive SFN displays potent anti-inflammatory properties against LPS-induced inflammation in vitro, but has not been previously assessed in vivo during peripheral infection as a potential treatment for sickness behavior. These data indicate that SFN has anti-inflammatory effects in both brain and periphery, but that longer exposure to SFN may be necessary to reduce sickness behavior.


In a recent paper (2004, "Elasto-Plastic Normal Contact of Three-Dimensional Fractal Surfaces Using Halfspace Theory," J. Tribol., 126, pp. 28-33) the author developed a halfspace model for the elasto-plastic normal contact of rough surfaces. This model is now used to study the influence of intrinsic surface parameters on constitutive contact laws, such as load-gap relation and load-area relation, for a specific type of surface topography known as fractal-regular surfaces. Numerical investigations show that the fractal dimension has only minor influence on the load-gap relationship, which is mostly determined by the dimensionless ratio between the transition length and the rms values of the height data. Due to the fractal nature of the surfaces at the small wavelength limit, initial deformation will always be in the plastic range. The load-area relation becomes then completely independent of the geometric surface parameters and is determined by material properties alone, at least if the predicted plastic deformation occurs at a length scale larger than the atomic scale.


Rice is a staple food crop of increasing importance in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Its production is often hampered by parasitic weed infestations, like Striga asiatica (an obligate parasitic weed) in rainfed uplands, and, more recently, Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (a facultative parasitic weed) in rainfed lowlands. Facultative parasites are able to complete their life cycle without a host plant. Obligate parasites need a host plant and have developed a synchronization mechanism: their seeds will only germinate after sensing root exudates of a host plant. This study partly focussed on farmer perception of the parasitic weed problem. Surveys and workshops with farmers and other stakeholders in three rice growing areas in Tanzania revealed that farmers are aware of the locally occurring parasitic weed species. Even though they know of a wide range of potential control options, they mainly practise hand weeding to control the parasitic weeds. Adoption of other methods is hampered by trade-offs (e.g. crop rotation reduces the area grown with rice; resistant varieties lack the preferred aroma, taste and grain size). Additionally, alternatives are often not available or affordable (e.g. fertilisesr, herbicides), or information on control efficacy under field conditions is simply missing. Based on informal discussions with farmers, altered sowing time, short-duration rice varieties and organic/inorganic fertilisers were selected for field testing. These measures are partially based on knowledge on the ecology of Striga species. In the absence of a suitable host, seeds will go back into a state of secondary dormancy. Delayed sowing might thus be a feasible escape mechanism. As a result of delayed sowing, the rice crop might encounter drought stress during grain filling. For that reason, this measure was tested for three rice varieties with a different maturity time (early, intermediate, late). Use of fertilisers was chosen since parasitic weeds are identified as indicators of poor soil fertility. Several hypotheses for the relation between fertility and the occurrence of parasitic weeds exist. Well-fertilised plants might simply be more vigorous and are generally producing a lower amount of root exudates. In pot experiments this was shown to result in fewer Striga infections, but whether such a reduced infection level will also be observed under field conditions is not known. Furthermore, organic fertilisers and better growing plants will over time result in a higher soil organic matter content. The associated soil microbial life might shorten the life time of the seeds of the parasite, thereby reducing the weed seed bank. Whether these mechanisms are equally effective against the facultative R. fistulosa, is difficult to foresee. All three measures were tested during three to four seasons in both S. asiatica and R. fistulosa infested fields in Kyela district, south-west Tanzania. The trials undertook farmer-participatory evaluation of the suitability of the management options. Striga asiatica number and biomass decreased with a delay in sowing time. This strategy proved most suitable when combined with an improved early-maturing variety, through which drought stress during grain filling could be avoided. Contrastingly, R. fistulosa biomass was increased, and concomitant rice yields decreased with delayed sowing times. Planting rice at the onset of the rainy season resulted in reduced R. fistulosa infection and higher rice grain yields. Clearly, manipulating rice sowing time showed to be an effective strategy to reduce parasitic weed infection and associated yield losses, but the manner in which this strategy should be employed strongly depends on parasitic weed species and ecosystem. Only in years with low parasitic weed infestation levels and in the absence of ordinary weeds, fertilisation with either organic or inorganic soil amendments had a positive effect on rice grain yield. Fertilisation frequently stimulated R. fistulosa infection, and had a modest but inconsistent decreasing effect on S. asiatica. Obviously, the addition of soil amendments, even for a period of four years, is not the silver bullet approach to minimize parasitic weed problems. In a final year, farmer groups selected their own preferred strategies and evaluated them at the end of the cropping season. Sowing time was adjusted according to the earlier findings. The early sowing time under lowland conditions favoured the traditional late maturing rice variety. Under upland conditions, farmers were more impressed with a newly developed, early maturing, resistant rice variety. Organic fertilizers, particularly rice husks, in combination with mineral fertilizers were the preferred soil amendment. The poor access to newly developed varieties, the absence of preferred quality traits in these new varieties and the lack of financial means of smallholder farmers prevent a rapid and wide-spread adoption of most measures. It is argued that it takes a wider effort, including innovations at institutional level, to sustainably solve the parasitic weed problem in rainfed rice.


Due to their selectivity biocatalytic hydroxylations catalysed by monooxygenases or dioxygenases arouse considerable interest. The most studied and distributed type of monooxygenases are cytochromes P-450, which are a supergene family of proteins that catalyse the oxidation of lipophilic compounds through the insertion of 1 oxygen atom of O2 into the substrate. For biocatalytic processes those cytochromes deserve attention, are involved in the catabolism of nutrients in microorganisms or in the metabolism of physiological substrates in higher eucaryotes. Mammalian cytochromes P-450, which catalyse the oxidation of xenobiotics (synthetic drugs, pesticides, hazardous waste compounds, are hardly suitable for this purpose. Processes with immobilized cytochromes P-450 can be excluded. The use of wild or genetically transformed strains of microorganisms is a suitable way.


The perennial salt marsh grass Spartina anglica is one of the classic examples of allopolyploid speciation. It originated on the south coast of England at the end of the nineteenth century following chromosome doubling in S. × townsmdii, a hybrid between the native British S. marilima and a species introduced from the United States, S. alterniflora. The nature of the origin of S. anglica is beyond doubt; however, it is not known whether it had a single or multiple origin. In order to address this problem we undertook a survey of the genetic variation in the parental species of S. anglica using isozyme electrophoresis. The results show that S. alterniflora has no detectable variation and that S. maritima has extremely low levels of variation. These results, unfortunately, prevent the question of a single or multiple origin from being answered. Possible reasons for the low levels of variation and its influence on the future of the species are discussed. Another problem concerning the parental species is the rapid decline of S. maritima in Britain. It is often assumed that the major factor in this regression is the invasion of its habitats by S. anglica. We have examined the status of S. marilima throughout its range in Britain and have found that S. anglica rarely co-occurs with S. maritima. We propose that the decline of S. maritima is largely due to the physical erosion of its habitats and that this erosion may produce suitable habitats for colonization by S. anglica.


Considering the availability of serological and molecular biological methods, the bioassay has been paled into insignificance, although it is the only experimental method that can be used to demonstrate the infectivity of a virus. We compared goodness-of-fit and predictability power of five models for the quantification of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) based on local lesion assays: the Kleczkowski model, Furumoto and Mickey models I and II, the Gokhale and Bald model (growth curve model), and the modified Poisson model. For this purpose, mechanical inoculations onto Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi nc and N. glutionosa L. with defined virus concentrations were first performed with half-leaf randomization in a Latin square design. Subsequently, models were implemented using Python software and fitted to the number of local lesions. All models could fit to the data for quantifying ToBRFV based on local lesions, among which the modified Poisson model had the best prediction of virus concentration in spike samples based on local lesions, although data of individual indicator plants showed variations. More accurate modeling was obtained from the test plant N. glutinosa than from N. tabacum cv. Xanthi nc. The position of the half-leaves on the test plants had no significant effect on the number of local lesions.


While generative deep neural networks (DNNs) have demonstrated their capacity for creating novel musical compositions, less attention has been paid to the challenges and potential of co-creating with these musical AIs, especially for novices. In a needfinding study with a widely used, interactive musical AI, we found that the AI can overwhelm users with the amount of musical content it generates, and frustrate them with its non-deterministic output. To better match co-creation needs, we developed AI-steering tools, consisting of Voice Lanes that restrict content generation to particular voices; Example-Based Sliders to control the similarity of generated content to an existing example; Semantic Sliders to nudge music generation in high-level directions (happy/sad, conventional/surprising); and Multiple Alternatives of generated content to audition and choose from. In a summative study (N=21), we discovered the tools not only increased users' trust, control, comprehension, and sense of collaboration with the AI, but also contributed to a greater sense of self-efficacy and ownership of the composition relative to the AI.


Image analysis usually refers to processing of images with the goal of finding objects presented in the image. Image segmentation is one of the most critical tasks in automatic image analysis. The nonextensive entropy, also known as Tsallis entropy, is a recent development in statistical mechanics and has been considered as a useful measure in describing termostatistical properties of physical systems. In this new formalism a real quantity q was introduced as parameter for physical systems that presents long range interactions, long time memories and fractal-type structures. In image processing, one of the most efficient techniques for image segmentation is entropy- based thresholding. This approach uses the Shannon entropy from the information theory considering the gray level image histogram as a probability distribution. In this work, it was applied the Tsallis entropy as a generalized entropy formalism for information theory. For the first time it was proposed an image thresholding method using a nonextensive relative entropy.


Abstract. Since conventional techniques using periodontal probes have inherent drawbacks in the diagnosis of different grades of gingival inflammation, development of noninvasive screening devices becomes significant. Diffuse reflectance (DR) spectra recorded with white light illumination is utilized to detect periodontal inflammation from the oxygenated hemoglobin absorption ratio R620/R575. A multispectral imaging system is utilized to record narrow-band DR images at 575 and 620 nm from the anterior sextant of the gingivia of 15 healthy volunteers and 25 patients (N=40). An experienced periodontist assesses the level of gingival inflammation at each site through periodontal probing and assigns diagnosis as healthy, mild, moderate, or severe inflammation. The DR image ratio R620/R575 computed for each pixel (8-µm resolution) from the monochrome images is pseudo-color-mapped to identify gingival inflammation sites. The DR image ratio values at each site are compared with clinical diagnosis to estimate the specificity and sensitivity of the DR imaging technique in inflammation mapping. The high diagnostic accuracy is utilized to detect underlying inflammation in six patients with a previous history of periodontitis.


Abstract Two films made in 1970, Peau d'âne/Donkey Skin (Demy, 1970) and Tristana (Buñuel, 1970), illustrate the double star persona of Catherine Deneuve, both 'soft' and 'hard', and capable of adapting both to genre cinema and auteur cinema. They mark the end of Deneuve's rapid rise to stardom in the 1960s, and raise the issue of how her persona might develop at a time when sophisticated stars were less in favour. The article considers these issues in the context of her double persona, 'soft' in Demy's film, and 'hard' in Buñuel's.


Nowadays, transformer networks have demonstrated superior performance in many computer vision tasks. In a multi-view 3D reconstruction algorithm following this paradigm, self-attention processing has to deal with intricate image tokens including massive information when facing heavy amounts of view input. The curse of information content leads to the extreme difficulty of model learning. To alleviate this problem, recent methods compress the token number representing each view or discard the attention operations between the tokens from different views. Obviously, they give a negative impact on performance. Therefore, we propose long-range grouping attention (LGA) based on the divide-and-conquer principle. Tokens from all views are grouped for separate attention operations. The tokens in each group are sampled from all views and can provide macro representation for the resided view. The richness of feature learning is guaranteed by the diversity among different groups. An effective and efficient encoder can be established which connects inter-view features using LGA and extract intra-view features using the standard self-attention layer. Moreover, a novel progressive upsampling decoder is also designed for voxel generation with relatively high resolution. Hinging on the above, we construct a powerful transformer-based network, called LRGT. Experimental results on ShapeNet verify our method achieves SOTA accuracy in multi-view reconstruction. Code will be available at https://github.com/LiyingCV/Long-Range-Grouping-Transformer.


The authors propose a postmodern critique of modernist leadership traits research and offer a robust theoretical and methodological alternative to overcome the ambiguous conceptual use of transformational and charismatic leadership traits. A content analysis of leadership studies from 1999 to 2008 in peer-reviewed journals and management texts was conducted to identify those salient characteristics often associated with leadership traits. Given the evasive nature of the researched phenomenon and the lack of typical quantitative rigor, our quasi-meta-analysis revealed 10 distinctive intrapersonal and interpersonal referents or social perceptions used by researchers when describing leadership traits and the effects of those traits on workers in general. Based on the 10 organizational and social icons deduced from the content analysis, the authors offered a postmodern leadership evaluation matrix as a substitute performance metric in an organizational setting, thus eliminating modernist conceptual ambiguities tied to the leader–worker dyadic in varying organizational contexts. The findings suggest that leadership researchers should consider complex behavioral decision-making processes that result in emergent group performances instead of focusing on a leader's ephemeral behavioral traits.


Tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) has proved to be a state-of-the-art technique for the structure of synthetic and biological compounds. One opportunity for MS-MS is the study of modified deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) bases resulting from the attachment of carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The determination of PAH-DNA adducts, formed in vivo via a one-electron oxidation or a diol-epoxide mechanism, requires high efficiency separation and very sensitive techniques. This is because the analyte will occur in complex biological mixtures and at low femtomole levels, considering that one modification occurs for 10(6) or 10(8) bases. This paper reviews various approaches to the separation and mass spectrometric structural determination of DNA adducts. The main emphasis of our research is the sub-picomolar detection and identification of DNA-PAH adducts, particularly those formed via a one-electron oxidation mechanism.


Background DISH is characterized by ossification of entheses and ligaments, especially the anterior spinal longitudinal ligament. It is almost asymptomatic, although polyarticular pain, morning stiffness, and limited spinal motion have been described. The etiology is unknown and its prevalence varies according to the population evaluated. Several factors may be associated with DISH, in particular: obesity, high waist circumference ratio (WC), hypertension, diabetes, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia. Recently, it has been reported that DISH patients are frequently affected by metabolic syndrome (MetS) and exhibit an increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity. Objectives Evaluate the prevalence of DISH and its relationship with vascular risk factors (VRFs) in patients with severe cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs). Methods 521 consecutive patients admitted to a cardiac intensive rehabilitation program were enrolled. Only subjects undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), heart valve replacement (HVR) or affected by congestive heart failure (CHF) entered the study. Patients underwent to rheumatologic examination, blood sample collections including fasting glucose, triglycerides, total and HDL-cholesterol, ESR, CRP, and chest radiographs. Waist circumference, body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure were recorded. Information about gender, age, smoking habit and previous CVDs were collected. MetS was diagnosed according to NCEP criteria. DISH was established when the radiological criteria of Resnick and Niwayama were fulfilled. Results 422 subjects were eligible for this study. The total prevalence of DISH in the setting was 30.2%. In details, 29,9%, 22% and 40.2% in CABG, CVR and CHF groups respectively. Patients with DISH showed a significantly higher BMI, WC and older age. No significant differences were observed according to other VRFs. Conclusions This is the first study aimed to assess the prevalence of DISH in patients affected by severe CVDs. Only older age, higher BMI and WC were significantly associated with DISH. Of interest, increasing evidences demonstrate that adipose tissue is metabolically active representing a source of inflammatory mediators, known as adipokines. Moreover, obesity may be associated with the insulin-resistance syndrome. As previously suggested, insulin, promoting the differentiation of mesenchymal cells into chondrocytes with enchondral ossification, might contribute to the ossification of entheses. However, the role played by insulin and other growth factors in the pathogenesis of DISH needs further investigations. In conclusion, even if DISH may exhibit low clinical expression, subjects affected by severe atherosclerotic CVDs reporting limited spinal motion and back pain should be investigated for DISH. References Mader R et al. Extraspinal manifestations of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. Rheumatology 2009;48:1478–1481 Mader R et al. Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Risk in Patients with Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2009;38:361-365 Kiss C et al. Risk factors for diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis: a case control study. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2002;41:27-30. Akune T et al. Insulin secretory response is positively associated with the extent of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine. J Bone Joint Surg 2001;3A:1537-44 Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The aim of this descriptive case series was to determine the frequency of various gastrointestinal symptoms of the COVID-19 patients along with the respiratory symptoms. Secondary outcome was to determine the effect of various co-morbid conditions and various sign and symptoms on the length of hospital stay and outcome of disease Material: In this descriptive case series type study, carried out in the COVID ward in the Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, all patients diagnosed with COVID-19 by consultant physician in the out-patient department and ward were included. Written informed consent was taken from all the participants of the study after explaining the primary objective of the study. The study was carried out from 01-07-2019 to 31-12-2019. Primary objective of this study was to determine the various gastrointestinal symptoms of the COVID-19 patients along with the respiratory symptoms Results: Among the 386 patients enrolled in the study, 60% were male and 40% were female. Mean age of the patients was 54.14 SD 16.3 years, with around 71% cases of age above 45 years. Abdominal pain, anosmia and diarrhea were the most common GI complaints. Over all, 26% of the patients of COVID had GI symptoms. Conclusion: GI complaints such as anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping have been documented in COVID-19 individuals even in the absence of respiratory problems. As a result, COVID-19 disease must be explored in individuals who have mostly GI complaints.


Purpose of review Urinary tract infection is the second most common bacterial infection in children. It may cause renal scarring leading to secondary hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Recent information has greatly improved our understanding of the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection and renal scarring. Recent findings Urothelium, an anatomical barrier for innate immune responses, expresses toll-like receptors with the capacity to recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Engagement of toll-like receptors can lead to uroepithelial cell activation and production of inflammatory mediators. These include complement proteins, other bactericidal peptides, cytokines, chemokines, defensins and adhesion molecules. The resulting inflammatory infiltrate serves to aid bacterial clearance but can also lead to renal damage. Furthermore, interactions between urinary proteins, such as Tamm-Horsfall protein, and TLR-4 add to the complexity of this defense system. Interindividual variability in cellular response may in part be responsible for variable clinical outcomes. Polymorphisms in a number of candidate genes in this host defense mechanism may be involved in determining those patients who are susceptible to recurrent infections and renal scarring following urinary tract infection. Summary Further understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms of urinary tract infection and translating these bench data to the bedside holds the promise of improving diagnosis and therapeutic strategies of treating urinary tract infection and preventing recurrence and renal scarring.


Aim: To highlight various prophylactic intra and post operative measures to reduce the complications. Methods: Cataract surgery was conducted on 100 patients at Basaveshwara Teaching and General Hospital, Gulbarga. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group A of 50 patients were subjected to ECCE with PCIOL and group B of 50 patients to SICS with PCIOL. Results: On the first post operative day 5 cases of corneal edema (10%) developed in SICS and 4 cases (8%) in ECCE. Striate keratitis developed in 4 cases of SICS (8%) and 3 ECCE (6%). Nearly 62% patients in SICS accepted cylinder between 0.25 0.75 D while 52% cases in ECCE group in this category. Conclusion: Corneal complication like striate keratopathy (8%) and corneal edema (10%) were transient and resolved by 1 week in SICS group. Post operative astigmatism of less than 1D was seen in 62% in MSICS group. Thus advances in cataract surgery have reduced the incidence of corneal complication and helped in early visual rehabilitation and minimization of post operative astigmatism by careful selection of incision type and location for MSICS. Year:2014; Volume: 1 Aricle ID: MD03;Pages:6 BioMed Research The Open Access Publisher www.bmrjournals.com


BACKGROUND
HIV infection causes chronic activation of cytotoxic CD8+ T-lymphocytes, which is partly responsible for the hallmark of the disease--progressive loss of CD4+ T-lymphocytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate an influence of HIV infection and long-term antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on expression of the activation molecules CD38 on CD8+ T-lymphocytes.

METHODS
A group of 16 HIV-positive patients treated with HAART was followed for 12 months. Also, we examined 10 persons with a newly diagnosed HIV infection that were not treated with HAART. Expression of CD38 molecules on CD8+ T-lymphocytes was determined with five-parameter cytometric analysis using monoclonal antibodies as well as their mean fluorescence intensity (MFI).

RESULTS
The percentage of CD8+/CD38+ T-lymphocytes in HIV-positive patients treated with HAART significantly decreased during the follow-up period from 46.1 I 3.7 to 35.2 I 3.8 (p = 0,01). Furthermore, the percentage of these cells correlated negatively with the number of CD4+T-lymphocytes at the beginning and the end of the study (r = -0,679, p < 0.01; r = -0,51, p = 0,05, respectively). There was no correlation between these parameters in persons with newly diagnosed HIV infection. However, the percentage of CD8+/CD38+ T-lymphocytes in these patients was significantly higher than in persons treated with HAART (68.5 I 5.3 vs. 35.2 I 3.8, p < 0,01).

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings support the importance of expression of CD38 antigen on CD8+ T-lymphocytes as a biological and clinical marker of HIV infection and indicate its usefulness for monitoring of the efficacy of HAART therapy.


AIM
To examine the effects of a simulated emergency airway management education program on the self-efficacy and clinical performance among nurses in intensive care units.

METHODS
A one-group, pre- and post-test design was used. Thirty-five nurses who were working in adult intensive care units participated in this study. The simulation education program included lectures, skill demonstration, skill training, team-based practice, and debriefing. Self-efficacy and clinical performance questionnaires were completed before the program and 1 week after its completion. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and the paired t-test to compare the mean differences between the pre-test and post-test. The scores before and after education were compared.

RESULTS
After education, there was a significant improvement in the nurses' self-efficacy and clinical performance in emergency airway management situations.

CONCLUSION
Simulation education effectively improved the self-efficacy and clinical performance of the nurses who were working in intensive care units. Based on the program for clinical nurses within a hospital, it will provide information that might advance clinical nursing education.


A presidential mandate delivered in 2004 requiring all physicians to use electronic billing and records systems within the next decade makes sense to both the medical community and patients. The question is how to effectively integrate the nationwide Healthcare Information Technology system into practices, given its estimated cost of $17.2 billion over the next 17 years. Lease financing provides a viable option for acquiring the computers and software needed to run the new medical billing and records systems, as well as other critical diagnostic equipment. This article addresses the typical reasons why those in the medical field choose to lease equipment, the basic types of leases available, main components of a lease document, tax treatments and implications, and questions that should be asked before signing a lease contract.


2 children with upper urinary tract obstruction from Candida fungus balls are reported. A presumptive diagnosis, made on the basis of clinical and radiological findings, was confirmed by microscopic examination of urinary sediment. Medical treatment was successful in both patients. Since Candida infections can occur in patients with altered host resistance, this should alert clinicians to the possibility of fungal involvement when radiolucent filling defects are found in the renal pelvis. Such a presumptive diagnosis can then lead to a correct approach with conservation of renal function.


Writing constitutes one of the main skills that second language learners find difficulty in. One area they find difficult in the process of writing compositions is the correct use of capital letters.
This study is an attempt to describe the common errors that pupils commit in the use of capitalisation in written texts. Since the use of capital letters constitutes an important area in the overall assessment of pupils' written texts, this study provided necessary information to guide teachers of Language Arts in preparing pupils for writing tasks. The main objective therefore was to categorise and determine the extent to which errors are committed by Junior Secondary School pupils.
In order to obtain data for this study, three Junior Secondary Schools were selected in the Bo Municipality. Fifty pupils were randomly selected from each of the three schools, comprising twenty-five from JSS 2 and twenty-five from JSS 3. This gave a total of one hundred and fifty pupils in all. The pupils were given a task to write a composition of at least one hundred and fifty words under normal examination conditions.
The study revealed that pupils had generally not understood the rule involved in the use of capital letters. The areas where errors were more prominent involved proper nouns, beginning of a sentence, poor background knowledge of letter shapes, overgeneralisation and not capitalising the first word in the closing of a letter.


The growth-interaction (GI) process is used for the spatiotemporal modeling of measurements of locations and radii at breast height made at three different time points of the individual trees in 10 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) plots from the Swedish National Forest Inventory. The GI process places trees at random locations in the study region and assigns sizes to the trees, which interact and grow with time. It has been used to model plots in previous studies and to improve the fit we suggest some modifications: a different location assignment strategy and a different open-growth (growth under negligible competition) function. We believe that the calibration data contain trees that are too small to reflect the open growth properly, which primarily affects the carrying capacity parameter. To better represent the open growth of Scots pines, we evaluate the open growth from a separate set of data (size and age measurements of older and larger single Scots pines). A linear relationship is found between the plot's estimated site indices and the sizes, and this is exploited in the estimation of the carrying capacity. We finally estimate the remaining GI process parameters and test the goodness of fit on simulated predictions from the fitted model.


The article analyzes the international experience of improving energy efficiency due to increasing the level of energy production from renewable sources and technological changes. Empirical verification of the related hypothesis has been carried out for the USA, China, India, Germany and Russia using econometric tools. The necessity of the transition to a new energy structure based on the active introduction of energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy sources, integrated systems and intellectual energy services based on an open grid architecture is substantiated. The posed hypotheses confirm the following: the production of energy from renewable sources is increasing in all countries, not only in the countries with the lack of fossil energy sources (Germany, India, China), but also in the USA and Russia; the growth of energy consumption caused by the growth of the economy and the population is humped due to the introduction of energy-efficient technologies and due to an increase in the share of renewable energy; growth in the share of renewable sources in energy consumption and total factor productivity increases energy efficiency in terms of GDP per unit of energy used in Germany, India and Russia.


The fine structure of the retinal photoreceptors has been studied by light and electron microscopy in the short-tailed stingray (Dasyatis brevicaudata). The duplex retina of this elasmobranch contains rods and cones in a ratio of about 10:1. No multiple receptors were noted nor was a repeating or mosaic arrangement of the cones obvious. Only light-adapted specimens were studied but retinomotor movements of the photoreceptors were felt to be minimal or absent. The rods are large cylindrical cells with inner and outer segments of much the same diameter. Cones are short stout cells with a conical outer segment and a wider inner segment. Rod outer segment discs show peripheral incisures while cones do not. The inner segment of rods and cones are rich in organelles indicating much synthetic activity. The nuclei of rods and cones appear quite similar but cone nuclei are invariably at least partially protruded through the external limiting membrane which is formed by a series of zonulae adherentes between photoreceptor cells and Müller cells. The synaptic region of both rods and cones display both invaginated (ribbon) synapses and superficial (conventional) synapses.


Increasing number of studies demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) may play key roles in various cancer carcinogenesis and progression, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the expressions, roles and mechanisms of miR-510 in NSCLC have, up to now, been largely undefined. In vivo assay showed that miR-510 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues compared with that in adjacent non-tumor lung tissues. MmiR-510 expression was significantly correlated with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. In vitro assay indicated expressions of miR-510 were also increased in NSCLC cell lines. Downregulation of miR-510 suppressed NSCLC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. We identified SRC kinase signaling inhibitor 1 (SRCIN1) as a direct target gene of miR-510 in NSCLC. Expression of SRCIN1 was downregulated in lung cancer cell and negatively correlated with miR-510 expression in tumor tissues. Downregulation of SRCIN1, leading to inhibition of miR-510 expression, reversed cell proliferation and invasion in NSCLC cells. These results showed that miR-510 acted as an oncogenic miRNA in NSCLC, partly by targeting SRCIN1, suggesting that miR-510 can be a potential approach for the treatment of patients with malignant lung cancer.


The plastic fiber humidity sensor, the mechanism of which is based on an ionization reaction between water vapor and the fluorescent dye-doped polymer cladding, was studied. The conditions under which to obtain the maximum sensitivity were derived from the theory and experimental data. Under these conditions, the fluorescent plastic fiber could be used as an excellent optical humidity sensor head with good linearity over the wide humidity range. Due to its reproducibility and fast response property, its application to a breathing-condition monitor became possible.


The mechanistic basis for the biological properties of Morus alba flavonoid extract (MFE) and chemotherapy drug of doxorubicin on human colon cancer HT-29 cell line death are unknown. The effect of doxorubicin and flavonoid extract on colon cancer HT-29 cell line death and identification of APC gene expression and PARP concentration of HT-29 cell line were investigated. The results showed that flavonoid extract and doxorubicin induce a dose dependent cell death in HT-29 cell line. MFE and doxorubicin exert a cytotoxic effect on human colon cancer HT-29 cell line by probably promoting or induction of apoptosis.


Abnormalities of the placenta are a major factor contributing to early death in cloned bovine conceptuses. This is primarily due to incomplete chromatin remodeling and reprogramming of the donor nucleus. It is unknown whether genetic aberrations of genes crucial for placental development can be detected in pre-implantation cloned bovine embryos. This study looked at the expression profile of four genes in single bovine blastocysts derived from in vivo, in vitro produced (IVP), or cloning techniques, including handmade cloning (HMC) and serial HMC (SHMC). The genes studied included acrogranin, caudal type homeobox 2 (cdx2), estrogen-receptor-related receptor beta (essrb), and the mammalian relative of DnaJ (MRJ). These genes play a role in trophoblast regulation and placental development. Messenger RNA expression was analyzed by using PCR following cDNA amplification by means of SMART cDNA synthesis (Clontech, Palo alto, CA, USA). Primers were designed from homologous human and mouse sequence. PCR products were sequenced for verification. Five single blastocysts were analyzed from each of the following treatments: in vivo, IVP, HMC, and SHMC. Pooled (n = 10) IVP blastocyst cDNA produced by standard RT was used as a positive control. Grade 1 Day 7 blastocysts were selected for all treatments. Amplified cDNA was tested using control genes polyA, IFN-τ and GDF9. In vitro-produced embryos were matured, fertilized and cultured as published by Ruddock et al. (2004 Biol. Reprod. 70, 1131). Cloned HMC embryos were produced as described by Tecirlioglu et al. (2003 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 15, 361). Serial HMC embryos were produced as per the HMC embryos, followed by a second round of nuclear transfer at the pronuclear stage. The pooled IVP, in vivo, and IVP blastocysts expressed all four genes of interest. In the HMC-cloned embryos, all four genes were expressed. However, in the SHMC cloned embryos, although MRJ was found to be expressed in all blastocysts, three of the five blastocysts did not express acrogranin. Similarly, two SHMC embryos did not express cdx2, and essrb was weakly expressed in three of the five embryos analyzed. Initial pregnancy rates of HMC and SHMC embryo transfers are similar. Further pregnancy results are pending. These results indicate that aberrations of genes crucial for placental development can be detected in single cloned blastocysts. It also suggests that failed implantation and/or placental defects may stem from patterned genetic defects in the pre-implantation embryo. An increase in the number of embryos analyzed would further strengthen results. These genes could act as markers to identify cloning techniques that produce more embryos with normal genetic profiles. The benefits of developing a screening tool to assess abnormalities in single pre-implantation embryos would be significant.


Field surveys were carried out to evaluate the floristic diversity and biological spectrum of Lower Tanawal, District Abbottabad in different seasons during 2016-2018. This study area was divided into 80 stands on the basis of physiognomy of the vegetation. Life form classes and leaf spectra were classified following Raunkier's methodology. In total, 286 plant species belonging to 86 families were recorded, out of which herbaceous growth form dominated the study area with 187 species, followed by shrub with 54 species. Among all 86 families, Asteraceae was found to be the most dominant family with 25 species, followed by Fabaceae with 24 species and Rosaceae with 20 species. Based on life form classes, Therophytic life form was the leading class with 113 species (39.5104%), followed by Nanophanerophytes with 45 species (15.7342%). In leaf size spectra, Microphylls dominated the flora with 88 species (30.7692%), followed by Mesophyll with 81 species (28.3216%). This study shows the complete floristic composition that may be important as reference work for future ethnobotanical, ecological and conservational studies.


The aim of a study was immunocytochemical analysis of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptors in uterine leiomyomas cells derived from patients who underwent an operation in three different phases: in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (12 cases), in the luteal phase (20 cases) and in the postmenopausal age (18 cases). The examined receptors reflect the tissue sensibility to activity of sex steroid hormones and play an important role in the pathogenesis of uterine leiomyomas. Performed studies showed that expression of ER and PgR does not depend on the phase of the menstrual cycle and that it seems to be similar like in the postmenopausal stage. In all groups PgR expression was significantly higher then the expression of ER. In the group of patients in which the surgery was performed during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle was demonstrated negatively correlation (-0.4846) between the expression of ER in relation to the expression of PgR.


Globalization is a two-edged sword. While it has created unprecedented economic opportunities, it has also intensified social inequalities within and across national borders. The increasing rate of transnational labor migration has left unskilled migrant workers especially vulnerable to abuses and exploitation. One group that faces particular problems are migrant women working as domestic workers. The global demand for female domestic workers has grown exponentially and women from Southeast Asia have joined the ranks of transnational female migrants working as domestic maids in North America, the Middle East, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. While there are no precise figures on the numbers of transnational female migrants from Southeast Asia working as domestic maids, it is estimated that they number in the millions.1 This group of workers faces numerous problems, including low wages, high debt repayments, harsh working conditions (including the absence of rest days), constant surveillance by employers, and physical and sexual abuse (see Anderson 2000; Chin 1998; Constable 1997; Parrenas 2001). Sending and receiving states, as well as traditional labor organizations, have been slow to respond to these issues, and it has been left to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to campaign for the women's right to better working conditions. The most visible migrant worker NGOs are Filipino migrant worker groups based in Hong Kong, Japan, and the Philippines (see Ball and Piper 2002; Gurowitz 1999; Law 2003; Law and Nadeu 1999; Piper 2003; Piper and Uhlin 2002; Sim 2003). This visibility reflects the significant proportion of female domestic workers from the Philippines who work in the region, pre-existing social and political movements (particularly those associated with the Catholic Church), and the Philippines' strong history of trade unionism. Migrant worker organizations are also becoming more active in other major receiving countries in the region, including Malaysia (Chin 2003; Gurowitz 2000), Indonesia (Ford 2006), and Singapore (Lyons 2005b). Despite the growing scholarly interest in migrant worker activism in the Asia-Pacific, there has been little attempt to explore the links between organizations that support the rights of female migrant workers and feminist or women's rights organizations. Such an analysis can contribute to a better understanding of the barriers and possibilities for cross-border gender activism. Migrant work is a particularly useful site from which to explore this issue because it brings the nationstate to the fore and compels us to consider the extent to which feminist concerns transcend national borders. Migrant workers are archetypal transnationals, crossing borders to live and work outside the protection of their "home" nation-state. As women these workers face gendered forms of oppression in the workplace (typically the private space of the home), and as migrants they are caught within class-, race-, and nationalitybased hierarchies that structure transnational migratory flow. These issues create a range of challenges for both local and international activists as they seek to address the needs of female migrant workers. Foremost among these challenges is the question of whether the plight of migrant workers can be understood as a feminist issue, and if so, how differences of nationality, class, and ethnicity can be bridged in order for gender-based migrant worker activism to be successful. In this essay I examine the extent to which migrant women have become the target of women's rights activism by focusing on two organizations advocating for women's rights in one of Southeast Asia's major migrant labor-receiving countries. Singapore is an important case study because it hosts a large migrant worker population, representing approximately one-fifth of its total population of 4.48 million (Singapore Department of Statistics 2007). Female domestic workers make up a significant proportion of this total. …


Zen is one of Mahayana Buddhism which is propagated in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and many counties in the West. In Thailand Zen was known widespread because of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu's translated works. Furthermore, he has studied and applied its teachings for developing Thai society through establishing Suan Mokkhabalarama. There is the center of study and practice the Dhamma which reflects the concept of Zen, such as Spiritual Theater, Curved Stone Court, Natural Uposatha, Dhamma Ships, Avalokiteshavara Bodhisattva's Statue, and Nalike Pond. These places are strongly influenced by Dhamma puzzle of Koan and Zen garden arrangement which emphasize the cultivation of wisdom, living simple and in harmony with nature. In the term of Dhamma teaching Buddhadasa Bhikkhu mixes the principle of Theravada and Zen teachings properly, that is the principle of working with empty mind.


Introduction: Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that is primarily caused by asbestos exposure. However, cases of mesothelioma without asbestos exposure suggest the involvement of other risk factors. Sarcomatoid mesothelioma, which is characterized by spindle-shaped cells, is a particularly aggressive subtype with limited treatment options. Case presentation: The authors present a case of a 72-year-old man with no history of asbestos exposure who presented with abdominal pain, fatigue, and weight loss. Imaging revealed a large cystic mass in the liver. A Liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of sarcomatoid mesothelioma. Immunohistochemistry results further supported this diagnosis. Due to the advanced stage and tumor size, surgical resection was not feasible. Palliative chemotherapy was initiated, but the patient's condition deteriorated rapidly, leading to his demise. Conclusion: This case highlights the complexity of mesothelioma and the need for further research to identify the nonasbestos-related risk factors. Understanding alternative causative agents and mechanisms is crucial for the early detection, the development of targeted therapies, and improving patient outcomes. The presented case contributes to the existing literature and aligns with the Surgical CAse REport (SCARE) Criteria.


ABSTRACT As a result of the climatic and the geo-morphological peculiarities of South-eastern Europe and of the historical development of its vegetation, especially during the Tertiary and Quaternary, at the present this part of the Old Continent possesses the largest number of forest tree species presenting valuable genetic resources. Today this part of Europe includes three phytogeographic regions: European Deciduous Forest Zone, European Steppe-and-Forest-Steppe Zone and Mediterranean Sclerophyllic Forest Zone, which possess significant vegetation diversity. The horizontal zonal differentiation from 35° to 48° northern latitude and the vertical altitudinal range in the big mountain massifs as Rila-Rhodopes, Balkan Mts., Carpathians, Dinar Chain, Olymp, Pind and other mountains determine to a great extent the wide phyto-geographic range of species—from boreal to Mediterranean ones. The natural phytogeographic links of South-eastern Europe with Asia Minor and Caucasus enrich the flora of this region. The composition of the deciduous forests is dominated mainly by representatives of Fagaceae, Aceraceae, Tiliaceae, Betulaceae, Rosaceae, Oleaceae, Salicaceae, Ulmaceae, Juglandaceae, Platanaceae and other families. The conifers are from Pinaceae, Cupressaceae and Taxaceae families, of greater economic importance being the species from genera Pinus, Picea, Abies and Larix. The conservation of the forest genetic resources in this region is performed by the in situ and ex situ methods, predominantly by the first one.


Abstract Approaches to improving people's mental health fall across a spectrum from those targeting risk and protective factors in healthy individuals to those targeting individuals with mental illness. Common to all approaches is a focus on mental health literacy, improving people's knowledge about mental health and how it is fostered. Communication designers are not typically involved early in the development of mental health literacy campaigns or products, reflecting a prioritization of the mental health content. This article reports on the benefits of an interdisciplinary collaboration between mental health clinicians, undergraduate communication design students and tertiary design educators, called Visualizing Mental Health, which takes a different approach. Mental health concepts are used to inspire designers to create unique prototypes including games, apps, toys, and books. The development of these prototypes emerges from design thinking and creative idea generation methods. A key to the development of these outcomes is a focus on deliberately open-ended briefing, through which the creative skills of participating communication designers are expressed prior to finalization of client parameters. This approach in a mental health intervention context over a six-year period has attracted attention from mental health sector funding and led to the development of pilotable interventions into mental health literacy.


and delinquency, as counted at present, are a mixture of all sorts of persons and acts. The same deed by a different person or at a different age or in another place might have a different interpretation. Variance in judging the seriousness of acts arises even more frequently out of differences in group mores and customs. Above all, proof is offered of the fallacy of evaluating crime records in terms only of official figures; we must know the unoflicial as well as the official count. Voluntary agencies deal not only with substantial numbers of delinquents that never get to court but also with much of the really serious anti-social behavior. And because of the differences in attitude toward various sorts of misdeeds, a great many never reach either the voluntary or the official agencies. In short, there is so much that artificially determines the qualitative factors in delinquency that any abstruse methods of quantitative analysis or the results of such methods must be looked upon, to say the least, with grave suspicion, MAURICE TAYLOR The Federation of the Jewish Philanthropies of Pittsburgh


This article examines the pursuit of gender equality rights before the European Court of Human Rights from a comparative perspective. Drawing on material from case reports from a number of European countries, this article investigates the application of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the non-discrimination provision) to instances of gender discrimination. Using a theoretical framework of 'intersectionality', this article suggests that many cases that arguably have a gender component to them are not viewed as such by the European Court of Human Rights. Instead, they are treated as generic claims raising other civil or political rights and are thereby stripped of their important gender dimension. Two recent cases of the Court brought against Bulgaria (MC and Bevacqua) are, however, celebrated for a more gender specific analysis of the 'private' harms suffered by the victims in these cases.


Fusion of expressions with emotions not only works as art but can miraculously stand medicinal for treating the hearts of gloom and dark. The hues and cries, and the evils and shams that have robbed modern day life of its joys and beauty, inspire and elevate the academicians to come up with the tools and techniques for changing the mindsets of the people that let them enjoy the beauty of nature on the planet Earth. Popular statement by William Wordsworth that poetry happens out of 'emotions recollected in tranquillity' can serve a significant research question in devising and designing poetry as an art for life sake. This mode of reception is not only heart throbbing but also activates human senses to rediscover the undiscovered path to appreciate or criticise the social systems and the reading of genres that we have created. The present paper is an attempt at reading folklore and cultural texts that resonate and reverberate not only in the physical realizations of an individual's body, heart and mind but also open vast scope of including such form of arts and reception in giving strength to the establishments that are working towards the health of man and environment as part of emerging trends in global education.


Mauritius belongs to a select group of developing countries where contractual savings-savings with insurance companies and pension funds-exceed 40 percent of GDP and represent a major potential force in the local financial system. Pension funds account for 75 percent of contractual savings. Contractual savings institutions invest in government securities, housing loans, corporate securities, real estate and bank deposits. They currently hold 35 percent of government securities and also account for 36 percent of total outstanding housing loans.Given their strong demand for long-duration assets, they can stimulate the issue of long-term government bonds (both inflation-linked and zero-coupon) and the development of corporate debentures, mortgage bonds, and mortgage-backed securities.Mauritius has a balanced and well-managed multipillar pension system. In addition to several public components, such as the Basic Retirement Pension, the National Pensions Fund (NPF), the National Savings Fund, and the Civil Service Pension Scheme, there are over 1,000 funded occupational pension schemes that play an increasingly important part in the whole system. The funded schemes are divided into two main groups-those insured and/or administered by insurance companies, and those that are self-administered and are registered with the Registrar of Associations. Coverage of the funded schemes is estimated at about 10 percent of the labor force. Together with the unfunded civil service scheme, occupational pension schemes cover about 100,000 employees or 20 percent of the labor force. All types of pension funds, including the public ones, report low operating costs. This reflects the absence of marketing and selling costs and, in the case of large private pension funds, the assumption of some costs by sponsoring employers. The investment performance of the self-administered funds was less than fully satisfactory in the late 1990s, reflecting poor returns on the local and foreign equity markets. Funds insured or administered by insurance companies as well the NPF performed better during this period because of their heavier allocations in government securities and housing loans. However, over a longer period, the private pension funds probably outperformed the NPF. The regulatory framework, though fragmented, is not unreasonable. It has many important provisions, such as observance of internationally acceptable accounting and actuarial standards and minimum vesting and portability rules, and it does not impose prescribed limits on investments. However, consolidation and modernization of the regulatory framework is required, while supervision, which is currently nonexistent, needs to be developed and to be proactive.


Abstract Classic understanding of logic as an instrument of cognition, which, in effect, pertain rather to human's mind than to reality itself, gives rise to the fundamental mapping problem of reconciliation of this reality with any possible practices of its representations in thought. In other words, it is essentially not the same thing that can be thought and that can be. However, after unusual and highly abstract (essentially geometric) Grothendieck constructions gave rise to so called categorial analysis of logic, it became possible to show, that (up to categorial equivalence) Parmenides after all was right.


Background and aims: The lack of reliable data on mortality in Iran until the last few decades has caused the early stages of the epidemiological transition to remain unknown. As such, the current study was an attempt to examine the stages and timing of the epidemiological transition in Iran in a historical effort. Methods: This study is descriptive-analytical, and its data and information have been collected using the library method. Results: The historical course of the emergence of epidemics in Iran after Islam to before the Islamic Revolution is divided into four periods: (1) The period after Islam to the Safavid period (650-1501 AD): The era of plague and famine, (2) Safavid to Qajar period (1501-1796 AD): The era of continued widespread outbreaks and intermittent occurrence of plague, (3) Qajar period (1796-1925 AD): The era of subsidence of the plague and widespread cholera, and finally (4) Pahlavi period (1925-1979 AD): The era of the decline of epidemic diseases. Conclusion: The continuous and substantial reduction in deaths led simultaneously to a reduction in the incidence and scope of epidemics and an increase in chronic diseases, and this process is expected to accelerate in the future.


Increasing interest is being shown in blood viscosity and the whole field of haemorheology. This study presents a newly constructed rotational Couette type viscometer which operates via a commercially available desk top computer and a digital plotter. The influence of haematocrit on blood viscosity is shown and the study also presents blood viscosity values of six to eight healthy men at 24 degrees C and 37 degrees C. At 37 degrees C values are shown both at natural haematocrit and at haematocrit 45%.


We present two all-optical label processing schemes for pure differential phase shift keying packets. The two techniques are based on the already used optical correlators and on a novel time-to-wavelength conversion of the label information. They require that the label information is encoded by using pulse position modulation, which makes the label processor simpler and can allow very fast processing speed. We investigate and compare the efficiency in terms of packet overhead of pulse position modulation coded labels with ordinary binary coding and show that pulse position modulation is still attractive for medium-size network and for system implementing optical label swapping. We then experimentally demonstrate that the two techniques can distinguish several labels at distinct outputs. Both operate at low optical power, asynchronously, and could allow for photonic integration. Scalability and processing speeds of the two systems are discussed. We also show that the two label processors can be used to implement an optical label swapping system. Experimental results show that the two labels are distinguished at two distinct ports and erased from the incoming packet, so that a new label can be inserted. Scalability and processing speed are discussed as well


Rice is the dominant staple food and the major source of rural livelihood in South India. Along with crop sub-sector as a whole, however, the rice production too is experiencing profit squeeze from rising input cost and declining farm size due to growing rural population. The production and productivity growth in rice is lagging behind with the changes in agriculture production portfolio in the region during1990's. This study examines supply response of rice to various price and non-price factors using district level panel data from 1970-71 to 2007-08 for the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India. The two states together account for about 20 % of rice production in India and thus have an important bearing on the food security of the country. The district level panel data are analyzed using simultaneous equation model. Empirical results indicate that public investments in rural infrastructure, rural literacy, and technology have strong effects on long run rice supply response in South India. The long run output supply elasticity with respect to its own price is strong but has a lower elasticity compared to non-prices factors including climatic variables. Thus, long run productivity and production growth in rice is possible through investments in rural infrastructure and technology along with provisions for input supply and market development. Improvements in investment priority will strengthen mitigation to climate factors and provide long run incentive to farmers to invest their labor and capital in rice production in the region.


Long gap esophageal atresia in which a primary anastomosis cannot be achieved remains a challenge. Elongation of the esophagus by traction on the 2 ends has been previously described. With the advent of thoracoscopic repair of esophageal atresia, there have thus far been no reports of thoracoscopic repair of long gap esophageal atresia. This paper describes the first successful repair of long gap esophageal atresia by thoracoscopic traction of the 2 esophageal ends and delayed thoracoscopic anastomosis.


Summary Objective: To understand the situation of scientific research environment of leprosy prevention and control personnel in China, and to provide policy basis for improving its scientific research conditions, improving the scientific research ability of leprosy prevention and control, and then improving the prevention and treatment level of leprosy. Methods Through multi-stage stratified random sampling, 95 organizations and 351 leprosy prevention and control personnel were recruited. by using homemade organization interview questionnaire and scientific research environment satisfaction questionnaire. Results The overall satisfaction of the scientific research environment of leprosy prevention and control personnel in china was low (14.6%). Single factor analysis shows that the satisfaction of leprosy epidemic areas category IIwith the use of scientific research funds and the difficulty of applying for the research projects is high;and the satisfaction of scientific research at the county level and below institutions is higher than that of provincial and ministerial institutions;and the standard of scientific research award of the skin disease hospitals (Institutes) is higher than that of the CDCs. The respondents considered that the main problems at present were poor scientific research conditions, lack of scientific research and academic atmosphere, and respondents generally agreed that the construction of scientific research infrastructure was the prioritize issue that needed to be solved urgently at present. Conclusion The satisfaction of the current research environment of leprosy prevention and treatment personnel in China is not high. The construction of scientific research infrastructure and scientific research technology platform, as well as the introduction, training and reform of compensation system of leprosy prevention and treatment talents, need to be improved.


Motor imagery (MI), the mental simulation of movement in the absence of overt motor output, has demonstrated potential as a technique to support rehabilitation of movement in neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Existing evidence suggests that MI is largely preserved in PD, but previous studies have typically examined global measures of MI and have not considered the potential impact of individual differences in symptom presentation on MI. The present study investigated the influence of severity of overall motor symptoms, bradykinesia and tremor on MI vividness scores in 44 individuals with mild to moderate idiopathic PD. Linear mixed effects modelling revealed that imagery modality and the severity of left side bradykinesia significantly influenced MI vividness ratings. Consistent with previous findings, participants rated visual motor imagery (VMI) to be more vivid than kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI). Greater severity of left side bradykinesia (but not right side bradykinesia) predicted increased vividness of KMI, while tremor severity and overall motor symptom severity did not predict vividness of MI. The specificity of the effect of bradykinesia to the left side may reflect greater premorbid vividness for the dominant (right) side or increased attention to more effortful movements on the left side of the body resulting in more vivid motor imagery.


RESUMÉ Understanding the world trade collapse The collapse in world trade volumes at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 was exceptional by historical standards. This paper shows that world demand (to which trade has become more responsive in recent decades) can explain most of the collapse in world trade, but that tight credit conditions have likely amplified the short-term trade response. Credit tightening likely accelerated the trade decline through trade finance constraints and its relatively larger impact on trade-intensive sectors. A portion of the trade decline remains unexplained, which may reflect a possible breakdown in global supply chains. Looking ahead, the pace of normalisation in financial conditions and the future evolution of global supply integration will affect the speed of recovery in trade and global output. JEL classification codes: F10; F17; E0


Investigation of bioavailability of calcium, magnesium and iron by the dynamics of their content in the hair testified high level of absorption of these elements from the natural mineral water as a result of its intake. Peculiarities of natural calcium containing mineral waters intake influence on the calcium-magnesium metabolism at patients with digestive organs pathology and osteoporosis risk factors was studied. This effect quantitatively depended on the concentration of calcium and magnesium in the serum at the beginning of treatment and on their content in the mineral water. The revealed regularities serve as the basis for the differential use of natural mineral waters with biologically significant levels of calcium in the programs of primary prophylaxis of osteoporosis and treatment of calcium-deficit conditions.


We report a patient who underwent laparoscopic enucleation for a nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. The patient was a 55‐year‐old man who had a 12‐ × 11‐mm tumor close to the main pancreatic duct (MPD) in the pancreatic body. To avoid and detect injury to the main pancreatic duct during operation, a nasopancreatic drainage stent (NPDS) was endoscopically placed prior to the operation. According to the NPDS, the relation between the tumor and MPD was easily identified by laparoscopic ultrasonography during enucleation, thus enabling the resecting line to be determined. Moreover, after enucleation, pancreatography through the NPDS was able to clarify the absence of injury to the MPD. The NPDS was removed postoperatively, and the patient was discharged uneventfully on postoperative day 8. Preoperative placement of the NPDS seems to be a useful option for performing safe laparoscopic enucleation of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, especially when the lesion is located close to the MPD.