Among other papers concerned wholly or partly with negative terms in syllogistic theory are those by Thomas (XV 141), Wedberg (XV 142), and Shepherdson (XXII 381). Thomas's system does not apply to empty classes and. all three papers have a different sort of purpose and scope from the present paper so that comparisons cannot profitably be made. Reichenbach mentions that a classification of syllogisms similar to his is to be found in Hilbert and Ackermann XV 59(1), and gives other references to the literature. J. A. FARIS


The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) high-energy gamma-ray observatory has recently been completed on the slopes of the Sierra Negra volcano in central Mexico. HAWC consists of 300 Water Cherenkov Detectors, each containing 180 m$^3$ of ultra-purified water, that cover a total surface area of 20,000 m$^2$. It detects and reconstructs cosmic- and gamma-ray showers in the energy range of 100 GeV to 100 TeV. The HAWC trigger for the highest energy gammas reaches an effective area of 10$^5$ m$^2$ but many of them are poorly reconstructed because the shower core falls outside the array. An upgrade that increases the present fraction of well reconstructed showers above 10 TeV by a factor of 3-4 can be done with a sparse outrigger array of small water Cherenkov detectors that pinpoint the core position and by that improve the angular resolution of the reconstructed showers. Such an outrigger array would be of the order of 200 small water Cherenkov detectors of 2.5 m$^3$ placed over an area four times larger than HAWC. Detailed simulations are being performed to optimize the layout.


The objective of this paper is to develop statistical methodology for non‐inferiority hypotheses to censored, exponentially distributed time to event endpoints. Motivated by a recent clinical trial in depression, we consider a gold standard design where a test group is compared with an active reference and with a placebo group. The test problem is formulated in terms of a retention of effect hypothesis. Thus, the proposed Wald‐type test procedure assures that the effect of the test group is better than a pre‐specified proportion Δ of the treatment effect of the reference group compared with the placebo group. A sample size allocation rule to achieve optimal power is presented, which only depends on the pre‐specified Δ and the probabilities for the occurrence of censoring. In addition, a pretest is presented for either the reference or the test group to ensure assay sensitivity in the complete test procedure. The actual type I error and the sample size formula of the proposed tests are explored asymptotically by means of a simulation study showing good small sample characteristics. To illustrate the procedure a randomized, double blind clinical trial in depression is evaluated. An R‐package for implementation of the proposed tests and for sample size determination accompanies this paper on the author's web page. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Mechanization in plucking has become imperative to improve the profitability and efficiency in tea industry. Continuous shear harvesting of tea shoots creates a stress on plant thereby changing the texture of the crop shoots termed as "leaf leatheriness". Objective of the study was to generate data on the formation of leaf leatheriness due to continuous shear harvesting and to propose the remedial measures. A factorial block design experiment was conducted with a 'Chinery' clone UPASI-9. Results indicated that continuous shear harvesting for a period of six months resulted in the accumulation of total wax content when compared to the hand plucked crop shoots which contributed to the leatheriness of crop shoots. Significant increase in the banji content in the harvest was also noticed due to continuous shear harvesting. Foliar applied chemicals influenced the reduction in banji shoots in the shear harvested treatments. Among the foliar applied treatments, reduction in the total wax content in the continuously shear harvested plots was obtained by the foliar application of KNO 3 (2%) + Urea (1%) followed by KNO 3 (2%) and Ca(NO 3 ) 2 (2%) when compared with control. Study concluded that foliar application of KNO 3 (2%) alone or in combination with Urea (1%) is beneficial in alleviating the leaf leatheriness caused due to continuous shear harvesting without deterioration of quality characteristics with a prophylactic effect to improve the yield of tea plants.


Despite the wealth of research on partnering in construction, comparatively little work has attempted to understand partnering as a socially constructed and emergent phenomenon (Bresnen, 2009). Taking a practice‐based approach, this paper deploys the concept of boundary object (e.g. Star and Griesemer, 1989) to explore the mechanisms associated with partnering in the construction industry context. Building upon the observations that such objects are themselves emergent phenomena and can either enable or hinder communication/knowledge sharing, the paper uses exploratory case study research to examine the ways in which the mechanisms used to initiate and develop a partnering relationship (charters, contracts, selection mechanisms and the like) are used to achieve integration across organizational boundaries. The analysis emphasizes the highly situated and localized nature of partnering in practice and assesses the implications for attempts to develop more generic and precise definitions and guidelines for implementing partnering in the industry more widely.


A high-resolution tropical Pacific Ocean model coupled to a medium-resolution atmospheric general circulation model has been integrated for 2 years. A seasonal cycle was included. The atmospheric model when forced with climatological seasonally varying sea surface temperatures simulates the surface stress and net surface heating over the tropical Pacific Ocean to within the uncertainty in the climatological estimates in these quantities. When coupled, however, the models drift into an annually recurring anomalous state, similar in many respects to the El Nino Southern Oscillation observed in the ocean and atmosphere. The model results emphasize the role of off-equatorial anomalies in temperature, atmospheric heating and wind response. Air—sea heat exchange is found to be dominant in determining sea surface temperature changes in these off-equatorial regions. Both cloud and evaporative feedbacks are important in the anomalous surface heat budget.


It has been suggested that routine antenatal prophylactic anti-D should be introduced for prevention of Rhesus D (RhD) haemolytic disease. Before making changes to the current prevention program it is important, therefore, to have up-to-date data on affected infants. Pregnant women with anti-D antibodies between September 1994 and February 1997 were identified by the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service. The records of 124 women and 130 babies were examined. 26% of planned deliveries occurred in hospitals without paediatric cover. Rhesus isoimmunisation affected 78 babies. Fifty-nine infants were admitted to one of seven neonatal units. There were 2 stillbirths and 1 neonatal death. Two infants have severe neurodevelopmental delay. There is still significant morbidity associated with RhD haemolytic disease. Care for RhD affected pregnancies should be centralised to guarantee training opportunities and maintenance of expertise. The current management of these pregnancies should be re-examined before changing the Rhesus prevention program.


A retrospective epidemiological study was done on 41 deaths among patients treated for TB in the Klang Chest Clinic for the year 1999. The findings revealed a male preponderance of TB deaths with Indians having the highest case fatality rate (8.6%). The majority of deaths occurred within the 25-44 year age group. Of those cases diagnosed as Pulmonary TB, 69% were diagnosed as far-advanced, at presentation, based on chest x-rays reported. Eighty three percent of these patients were still on treatment when they died. HIV was the most common co-existing disease condition and was implicated in 14.6% of the deaths. The recommendations include implementation of clinical guidelines on TB screening for HIV patients, a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the current TB surveillance programme and for chest x-rays of all sputum smear negative patients to be reported by the radiologist to reduce the risk of misdiagnosis.


Objective. To investigate the effect of strategic feedback and metacognitive processes on learners' ability to predict performance and improve self-awareness. Methods. Strategic faculty and peer feedback, as well as self-assessments, were implemented in a professional pharmacy elective course throughout the semester, focused on three case-based oral presentations. After each presentation, students utilized an objective rubric to determine self-predicted and peer-predicted scores. Actual scores from faculty were compared to students' predicted scores. Results. Students' ability to predict presentation scores did not improve over time; however, students were able to accurately estimate performance in certain rubric sections on individual presentations (depth of problem, presentation). Students were generally overconfident in predicting their performance. When broken down into tertiles, top performing students were more accurate in their self-assessments compared to bottom performing students. Bottom performing students were highly overconfident in their assessment. Conclusion. Self-awareness is essential for professionals, though difficult to cultivate and improve in one semester. Incorporating longitudinal, continuous feedback and metacognitive skills may help learners become more aware of their own performance and devise a plan for enhancement.


Christopher Rowland's deeply scholarly account of William Blake's relationship with the Bible marks Blake out as a theologian as well as a poet and artist. At the heart of the book is a fascination with biblical exegesis as an imaginative activity, and it is this that makes Rowland's work a truly valuable contribution to Blake studies and to the growing body of critical literature that takes the relationship between literature and theology as its subject. Notwithstanding a strong literary interest, Rowland's objectives are clearly theological. He writes, "Engagement with [Blake's] work reshapes the way in which one reads the Bible, views and experiences the world, and for that matter, God" (1). By developing and nuancing our understanding of Blake's sense of the way text participates in affective religion, he shows how reading Blake might perform such immense tasks. Rather than encouraging us to see text as simply the dead letter of Urizenic law, Rowland takes on one of the fundamental contraries in Blake's art and tackles the idea of text as a living body, born again in each imaginative interpretation, and effective insofar as it is affective for the individual reader.


ABSTRACT Many transcription factors and DNA binding proteins play essential roles in the development of organs in which they are highly and/or specifically expressed. Embryonic stem cell (ESC)-associated transcript 15-1 (ECAT15-1) and ECAT15-2, also known as developmental pluripotency-associated 4 (Dppa4) and Dppa2, respectively, are enriched in mouse ESCs and preimplantation embryos, and their genes encode homologous proteins with a common DNA binding domain known as the SAP motif. Previously, ECAT15-1 was shown to be important in lung development, while it is dispensable in early development. In this study, we generated ECAT15-2 single and ECAT15-1 ECAT15-2 double knockout (double KO) mice and found that almost all mutants, like ECAT15-1 mutants, died around birth with respiratory defects. Paradoxically, the expression of neither ECAT15-1 nor ECAT15-2 was detected in lung organogenesis. Several genes, such as Nkx2-5, Gata4, and Pitx2, were downregulated in the ECAT15-2-null lung. On the other hand, genomic DNA of these genes showed inactive chromatin statuses in ECAT15-2-null ESCs, but not in wild-type ESCs. The chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay revealed that ECAT15-2 binds to the regulatory region of Nkx2-5 in ESCs. These data suggest that ECAT15-2 has important roles in lung development, where it is no longer expressed, by leaving epigenetic marks from earlier developmental stages.


This paper describes an experiment undertaken to demonstrate anatomically the representation of the horizontal and the vertical meridian of the visual fields in areas V2 and V3 of the same hemisphere. [3H]Proline was injected into V1 in the region of horizontal meridian representation at 30° from the centre of gaze in an animal in which the corpus callosum had been sectioned. The histology of the prestriate cortex revealed two small patches of label, separated by a 500 μm gap, between two regions of callosal fibre degeneration. The centre of the 500 μm gap was taken to be the boundary between V2 and V3. This demonstration leaves no doubt that not only are the two areas topographically organized but they both receive a direct input from area 17 (V1).


In the present work, we investigate the hydrodynamic behavior of a turbulent bore, such as tsunami bore and tidal bore, generated by the removal of a gate with water impounded on one side. The bore generation system is similar to that used in a general dam-break problem. In order to the numerical simulation of the formation and propagation of a bore, we consider the incompressible flows of two immiscible fluids, liquid and gas, governed by the Navier-Stokes equations. The interface tracking between two fluids is achieved by the volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique and the M-type cubic interpolated propagation (MCIP) scheme is used to solve the Navier-Stokes equations. The MCIP method is a low diffusive and stable scheme and is generally extended the original one-dimensional CIP to higher dimensions, using a fractional step technique. Further, large eddy simulation (LES) closure scheme, a cost-effective approach to turbulence simulation, is used to predict the evolution of quantities associated with turbulence. In order to verify the applicability of the developed numerical model to the bore simulation, laboratory experiments are performed in a wave tank. Comparisons are made between the numerical results by the present model and the experimental data and good agreement is achieved.


Multi-resolution analysis with high vanishing moment wavelets provides a framework to efficiently approximate smooth functions. However, it is a well-known fact that wavelet approximation usually cannot achieve the same order of approximation in the vicinity of discontinuous points of functions as that in the smooth regions. Ringing artefacts in the reconstructed functions inevitably appear around discontinuous points. To reduce these artefacts, the authors propose to locally smooth piecewise smooth functions at the discontinuous points, prior to applying the wavelet transform, via a smoothing transform. The numerical experiments for one- and two-dimensional signals show the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.


Heterostructured (HS) materials are a novel class of materials with mechanical properties that are superior over their conventional homogeneous counterparts. They are composed of HS zones with a dramatic difference in mechanical behaviors, which produces a synergistic effect on mechanical properties that are above the prediction by the rule-of-mixtures. Among all heterostructures, the two most studied are grain-size gradient structure and heterolamellar structure. These two heterostructures produce typical heterogeneous deformation during tensile deformation, producing long-range back stress in the soft zones and forward stress in the hard zones, which collectively produces hetero deformation-induced (HDI) stress to enhance the yield strength before yielding, and HDI hardening after yielding to retain ductility. In this article, we will focus on these two types of heterostructures. The issues, concerns, and progress are reviewed with the emphasis on the synergistic effect of mechanical properties, the fundamentals of several special plastic behaviors (e.g., strain gradient, HDI hardening and strain hardening), the plastic deformation mechanism, and the relationship between the microstructure and properties.


We examine the problem of the gravitational collapse using higher dimensional Husain spacetime for the null fluid. The equations of state chosen to solve the field equations contain linear, quadratic and arbitrary powers of the radial parameter. The resulting mass evolution is discussed for each case.


Dear Sir, We read with interest the article by Sharma et al. [1], which reports outcome following closure of loop ileostomy in 5401 patients. In this large series the authors divide postoperative morbidity into major and minor. The paper advises counselling patients on the risks of the procedure, and acknowledges that one of these is anastomotic leakage. However, because of the data used to calculate the results in this study, the authors are unable to give any outcome for anastomotic leak rate. This is probably the most clinically important outcome in this group of patients, since avoiding the sequelae of anastomotic leakage is often the reason for a defunctioning ileostomy in the first place. The use of surrogate markers of outcome such as 'organ space infection' does not provide the same information. The authors also acknowledge that a limitation of their paper is that the data are only collected for 30 days postoperatively, meaning that the rate of incisional hernia, another important outcome, is also unknown. This large data set surely offered an opportunity to provide a baseline rate of specific end-points, against which individual centres can measure their performance. It would also have been possible to analyse the factors associated with increased risk of anastomotic leakage. A previous large meta-analysis [2] of complications in 6107 patients undergoing ileostomy closure showed that the rate of anastomotic leakage in individual series varied from 0 to 8.3% with an overall rate of 1.4%. It is possible that this variation results from either the exact definition of anastomotic leakage being used or actual variation in outcome due to technical and operative factors [3]. There has been increasing emphasis placed recently on the importance of selecting appropriate outcomes relevant to patients, the public and professionals [4]. Although the paper by Sharma et al. reports the largest single data set so far, its reliance on retrospective data originally generated for another purpose limits the applicability of the results. Current work to develop 'core outcome sets' for reporting of outcomes in each clinical area is ongoing [4]. Until this project delivers its aims of achieving universal recording of outcome, perhaps only prospectively recorded data or accurate coding to reflect specific complications can achieve this. In the meantime counselling patients on the exact risks may need to rely on data collected from the centre where the procedure is being carried out.


The γn → π 0 n differential cross section evaluated for 27 energy bins span the photon-energy range 290–813 MeV ( W = 1.195 – 1.553 GeV) and the pion c.m. polar production angles, ranging from 18 ◦ to 162 ◦ , making use of model-dependent nuclear corrections to extract π 0 production data on the neutron from measurements on the deuteron target. Additionally, the total photoabsorption cross section was measured. The tagged photon beam produced by the 883-MeV electron beam of the Mainz Microtron MAMI was used for the π 0 -meson production. Our accumulation of 3 . 6 × 10 6 γn → π 0 n events allowed a detailed study of the reaction dynamics. Our data are in reasonable agreement with previous A2 measurements and extend them to lower energies. The data are compared to predictions of previous SAID, MAID, and BnGa partial-wave analyses and to the latest SAID fit MA19 that included our data. Selected photon decay amplitudes N ∗ → γn at the resonance poles are determined for the first time.


The presented study was intended to design two validated, simple, and precise chromatographic methods for the determination of chlorzoxazone (CHZ) and diclofenac potassium (DIC) in the presence of chlorzoxazone nephrotoxic degradation product, 2-amino-4-chlorophenol (ACP) which was reported to be its main impurity. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was the first method where chromatographic separation was performed on ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C8 column using methanol—water—phosphoric acid (75:25:0.05, by volume) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mLmin−1. CHZ, DIC, and ACP retention times were found to be 4.26, 7.94, and 3.17, respectively, using photodiode array detector (DAD) at 230 nm. The calibration curves showed good linear relationships in the concentration ranges of 3–45 μg mL−1 for CHZ, 3–40 μg mL−1 for DIC, and 5–45 μg mL−1 for ACP. The second method was thin-layer chromatography (TLC) at which chromatographic separation was carried out on Merck TLC silica gel 60 F254 aluminum plates followed by measurement of separated bands at 230 nm and using chloroform—ethanol—triethylamine (9:1:0.1, by volume) as the developing system. The studied components were successfully separated with significantly different RF values (CHZ, RF = 0.63; DIC, RF = 0.35; ACP, RF = 0.42). Linearity was constructed in the range of 1.2–5 μg band−1 for CHZ, 0.5–4 μg band−1 for DIC, and 0.4–4 μg band−1 for ACP. The developed methods were applied to Declophen plus® capsules, and no interference from excipients was observed. The methods were validated as per the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) guidelines, and they were compared favorably with the reported method.


The active region for emission of radiation by an electron driven by a strong laser field in the proximity of a stationary scattering centre is localized in space and time. It is argued that the extension of this region can be controlled by changing the velocity of the electron, and that information on this extension is contained in the duration and in the spectrum of the emitted radiation pulse.


This article assesses Taiwan's strategic options in relation to the US. From Taipei's perspective, the first strategic option is to maintain the interest of the US and this is largely done by emphasizing the threat posed by a rising China. The second strategic option relates to gaining more support from the US through highlighting the island republic's democratic credentials. Importantly, limitations exist in Taiwan's strategic options in part because they are subject to positive responses from the US as well as reactions from China. For Taipei, a middle power, the key therefore is achieving an optimal mix of strategies while overcoming any deficiencies in order to enhance its national security.


The natural filtration of the infinite-dimensional contact superalgebra over an algebraic closed field of positive characteristic is proved to be invariant under automorphisms by characterizing ad-nilpotent elements and the subalgebras generated by certain adnilpotent elements. Moreover, we obtain an intrinsic characterization of contact superalgebras and a property of automorphisms of these Lie superalgebras.


In this paper we present the DyMAC aspectcomponent model that supports the specification of aspectual dependencies: these are explicit dependencies between advised and advising components involved in an aspect-oriented composition. DyMAC advocates a pure black-box approach to aspectoriented composition and aspectual dependencies further extend this approach. The component model avoids explicit dependencies of aspects on the implementation of a component: syntactically as well as semantically. We validate the concept in the context of one of the major application domains of aspect-component models: AO-middleware. Aspectual dependencies can express required middleware services as explicit dependencies in the component specification. They untangle the composition of the component with the middleware. Middleware services can be well-modularized in reusable advising components with explicit interfaces that specify the aspectual behaviour.


Since the amount of information on the internet is growing rapidly, it is not easy for a user to find relevant information for his/her query. To tackle this issue, much attention has been paid to Automatic Document Summarization. The key point in any successful document summarizer is a good document representation. The traditional approaches based on word overlapping mostly fail to produce that kind of representation. Word embedding, distributed representation of words, has shown an excellent performance that allows words to match on semantic level. Naively concatenating word embeddings makes the common word dominant which in turn diminish the representation quality. In this paper, we employ word embeddings to improve the weighting schemes for calculating the input matrix of Latent Semantic Analysis method. Two embedding-based weighting schemes are proposed and then combined to calculate the values of this matrix. The new weighting schemes are modified versions of the augment weight and the entropy frequency. The new schemes combine the strength of the traditional weighting schemes and word embedding. The proposed approach is experimentally evaluated on three well-known English datasets, DUC 2002, DUC 2004 and Multilingual 2015 Single-document Summarization for English. The proposed model performs comprehensively better compared to the state-of-the-art methods, by at least 1% ROUGE points, leading to a conclusion that it provides a better document representation and a better document summary as a result.


Typical products made of case hardening steel are transmission parts like gear wheels, pinions and crown wheels. Case hardening produces a carbon-rich surface and provides the parts with both enhanced hardness and fatigue life. However, variations in machinability are regularly observed when producing the same part out of different material batches. This leads to a non-robust production process with increased manufacturing costs as well as unforeseen stops and maintenance of machines. In this study, emphasis is laid on studying the effect of microstructure variations on machinability in case hardening steels. Different microstructures have been produced by changing holding time and temperature in the annealing process. The microstructure was altered as much as possible with respect to pearlite nodular size, pearlite morphology and amount of pro-eutectoid ferrite. Since a homogeneous material is required, relatively small sample diameters had to be used. Therefore, the machinability ranking (with respect to tool wear) was performed with help of the Volvo Standard Machinability Test which is a short-term test. Additionally, chip breakability was evaluated and measurements of cutting forces and surface roughness were performed.
The tests have shown that a case hardening steel with larger pearlite nodular size (produced by a higher austenitizing temperature) provides better chip breakability but also an increased tool wear compared to a material with smaller pearlite nodular size. Hence, to achieve a more robust production process for case hardening steels, it might be necessary to include pearlite nodular size and/or amount of pro-eutectoid ferrite in the materials specification. Moreover, the different tests have revealed that hardness is not a suitable criterion for machinability.


The long-prevailing image of a clear delimitation between core city and suburbs has been increasingly questioned in research. New qualitative approaches are necessary to describe the urban-suburban relationship based on a sociocultural heterogenization of suburbs and the spread of suburban lifestyles into inner cities. The concept of inner-city suburbanization is one approach to define spaces as urban or suburban regardless of geographical location. Drawing upon this concept, the present paper explores suburban lifestyles in the inner-city area of Leipzig and their role in the socio-spatial urban transformation. For this purpose, we identify and map owner-occupied middle-class family housing estates in central urban locations. Using qualitative individual and focus group interviews with the residents, complemented by site observation, we explore to what extent these single-family houses resemble traditional suburbs in terms of morphology and social structure in four different case studies. All of the cases show how suburban qualities, such as homeownership and socio-economical homogeneity, go hand in hand with the benefits of their urban locations. This hybrid character reflects the dissolution of the classical place-specific distinctions between urban and suburban environments and patterns. Simultaneously, dynamics of upgrading and social exclusion from housing unfold in the residential areas, where middle-class family housing estates emerge. Thus, we raise the question of the interrelation between inner-city suburbanization processes and gentrification trends in Leipzig.


There is little research evidence of carbon footprints becoming a decisive factor when making product purchase decisions. Consumer attitudes towards disposal methods of returned items as a predictor of their intention to continue patronising the products was used as a proxy to assess the influence of carbon footprints in consumer purchase preferences. There is evidence in this study that consumers accept the reconstitution of returned appliances and clothing items, but they themselves are not prepared to repurchase from mainline stores those brands that are known to be selling as reconstituted items in alternative stores or charity shops. Notwithstanding manufacturers' attempts to build brand equity with smaller carbon footprints by responsible disposal of returned items, it may be prudent for producers not to publicise the availability of their reconstituted brands in alternative/charity stores, because prime consumers might be inhibited from patronising the pristine brands in mainstream stores. Reconciling the double-mindedness of consumer attitudes towards smaller carbon footprints may foreshadow major changes to the way products are positioned in future.


Objective Hypothyroidism usually appears in the second decade of life and is thought to be associated with iron overload in patients with thalassemia major. This study aimed to evaluate thyroid dysfunctions in patients with beta-thalassemia major and to see if they appear in the earlier period of life. Methods Thyroid function and iron load status were evaluated in 90 children with a mean age of 7.17±3.78 years with beta-thalassemia major by measuring serum free thyroxin (FT4), serum free triiodothyronine (FT3), total thyroxin (T3), serum total triiodothyronine (T4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and ferritin levels from serum of patients admitted to the Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine University of Dicle between March 2005 and July 2009. A control group formed from an age-sex matched healthy children with a mean age of 6.98±3.66 years was also included. A standard thyrotropin releasing hormone test was applied to 3 patients who had high TSH levels and were classified as subclinical primer hypothyroidism. The study was designed according to the Declaration of Helsinki and informed consent was obtained from the parents of all participants. Findings All thyroid parameters in patients were in the normal ranges compared with the controls except three of them which had high TSH levels. Serum ferritin level (2703±1649 ng/mL) in patients was significantly higher than in controls (81.5±15.5 ng/mL). Conclusion The work implies that hypothyroidism could be even seen in the first decade of life in patients with beta-thalassemia major in spite of improved hematological cares.


Peripheral blood lymphocytes from a Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata) were co-cultivated with lethally irradiated MT-2 cells that carry abundant type C virus particles (ATLV) isolated from a patient with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). After six weeks, a lymphoid cell line designated Si-1 was established from the simian lymphocytes. The Si-1 line was E-, SIg-, Leu-1-, OKI1+, EBNA-, ATLA+ and ATLV+. Co-cultivation of peripheral blood lymphocytes from three anti-ATLA positive and two negative healthy adults resulted in the establishment of three lymphoid cell lines derived either from an anti-ATLA positive donor or both donors. All three cell lines were E+, SIg-, Leu-1+, OKI1+, EBNA-, ATLA+ and ATLV+. This mixed lymphocyte culture technique provides a simple means for the isolation of ATLV from healthy ATLV carriers.


The material analysed comprises 207 patients with newly detected lung tbc treated in the Clinic of ++Phthisiopneumonology of the BMA during 1980-1984. The age and sex of patients, radiological picture, detuberculization resulting from the combined therapy with 4 drugs with RMP, 3 drugs + RMP and with 3 drugs without RMP were taken into account, so as was the weekly rhythm of negativity and the forms of lung tbc. The material included 143 men (69%) and 64 women (31%). The highest proportion of hospitalized patients due to lung tbc among men was within the age range from 41 to 60 years (38.5%) while among women from 21 to 40 years 42.2%). Most frequent lung tbc were hemogenous (38.2% of cases) next 26.1% were the infiltrative forms. Total tbc negativity was achieved in 98.3% of cases and the rhythm of negative sputum appeared to be markedly faster when 4 drugs were combined with RMP. Summing up, in all newly detected cases with negative sputum with radiologically active lung tbc a clinical improvement has been achieved, and the radiologically seen improvement included 92.6% of cases.


The stimuli used in laboratory studies on speech perception tend to be produced by younger talkers in ideal conditions. However, talker characteristics are much more variable in the real world, and include changes in speech due to normal aging and changes due to the environment. The first goal of this study was to investigate how the characteristics of older talkers affect listeners on a speech intelligibility test. The second goal was to investigate the extent to which older talkers can improve their intelligibility in a difficult communication situation. Eight healthy older talkers were selected who varied on their natural speech and voice characteristics. Talkers recorded the NU6 test in four conditions: speaking normally in quiet and in babble noise, and speaking as if to a listener with hearing loss in quiet and in babble noise. These recordings formed a new set of test materials that incorporated differences in talker characteristics as well as differences due to the communication environment. Young adult listeners with normal hearing were tested on these recordings in babble noise at -2 dB SNR. Listeners performed better on word recognition when talkers spoke in noise than when talkers spoke in quiet. Speech spoken as if to someone with hearing loss did not lead to better word recognition accuracy than speech spoken normally. Talkers varied on their overall intelligibility, with a range of 18 percentage points between the least and most intelligible talkers. Talkers were able to increase their intelligibility to the same extent when speaking in noise, regardless of their baseline intelligibility. Therefore, the characteristics of older talkers may dictate their baseline intelligibility, but they do not limit the extent to which talkers can increase intelligibility by changing their speech production.


Background: Burnout is a common mental problem in medical students. For those who are following medical studies abroad there is a higher risk of suffering this syndrome, due to the combination of academic stress and the stress derived from their new living situation. This study was performed with the purpose of testing the following hypothesis: in medical students enrolled in medical programs abroad, abilities associated with professionalism and family support play a protective role in the prevention of suffering burnout. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zagreb, where a fully English medical program is offered. The general version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS) was used as a dependent variable, while Jefferson Scales of empathy, teamwork, and physician lifelong learning and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults were used as predictive variables. In addition, information related to sex, country of birth, native language, age, academic achievement, and living situation were collected in a socio-demographic form. Linear regression models were applied to identify predictors of burnout. Results: In a sample composed of 188 medical students (38 Croatians and 144 foreigners from 28 countries), 18% of the global score in the MBI-GS was explained by lifelong learning and family loneliness. A separate analysis for each domain of the MBI-GS allowed the creation of three models: the first model explained 19% of the variance of the "exhaustion" domain by "country of birth", "living with parents", "academic year", and "cynicism"; a second model explained 24% of the variance of the "cynicism" domain by "academic year", "empathy", "lifelong learning", and "exhaustion"; and finally, a third model explained 24% of the variance of the "professional efficacy" domain by "lifelong learning", "family loneliness", and "cynicism". All obtained models presented an effect size between medium and large, as well as matching the required conditions for statistical inference. Conclusions: These findings confirm the important role that family plays as a source of support for medical students. Empathy and lifelong learning, two specific elements of medical professionalism, appear as protective factors in the prevention of burnout in international students.


Country of origin effect is one key factor, often ignored, of brands. In today's business world, companies need to understand the implications of COO effects on their products and brands. This paper looks at the influence of COO on consumers' product evaluations and purchase intentions. In particular, Spanish COO is chosen as the study context. The first phase of the paper involves the analysis of the implications of COO on consumer behavior through a study of previous literature. In a second phase an empirical study is conducted in order to analyse consumer's evaluations of COO and the perceptions of Spanish COO products. The analysis illustrates the relevance of COO for different product categories, the perceptions of Spanish origin products, and the associations of Spain as country of origin. The last phase leads to the implications of Spanish COO on brands and addresses the positive/negative effect of the "made in Spain" for brands' image. The findings of the research have implications for Spanish firms in order to develop strategies to counter / leverage the impact of COO on their brands.


PURPOSE
Hemodynamic performance of aortic valve bioprostheses is essential for reliable function and durability. So far, the supra-annularly implanted stentless Sorin Freedom Solo (SFS) demonstrated unsurpassed hemodynamic properties. As contemporary stented and externally mounted pericardial bioprostheses, like the Labcor Dokimos Plus (LDP), also improve hemodynamic performance, these types of valves were compared in this study.

METHODS
A total of 218 patients, who underwent aortic valve replacement with the LDP or the SFS, were matched retrospectively 1:1 on variables affecting hemodynamic measurements: implanted valve size, age, sex, and body surface area (BSA). With matching tolerance for valve size and gender of 0%, for age and BSA of 5%, 57 patient-pairs were yielded. Operative data, clinical, and hemodynamic outcome were analyzed.

RESULTS
Except for slightly higher left ventricular function and lower procedural times in the SFS group, preoperative, operative, and postoperative characteristics of patient-pairs did not differ significantly. Mean pressure gradients, effective orifice areas (EOAs), and indexed EOAs were comparable. Corresponding to valve sizes of 21, 23, 25, and 27 mm, the indexed EOAs of the LDP and SFS prostheses were 1.08 ± 0.33, 0.92 ± 0.19, 0.93 ± 0.24, 0.99 ± 0.13 cm2/m2 and 0.81 ± 0.13, 0.92 ± 0.28, 0.95 ± 0.20, 1.04 ± 0.27 cm2/m2, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Contemporary stented and stentless pericardial bioprostheses showed excellent hemodynamic properties without significant differences in EOAs and indexed EOAs.


In an attempt to find alternative control methods for stored products insects, extracts of seven plant species (Cassia senna, Caesalpinia gilliesii, Thespesia populnea var. acutiloba, Chrysanthemum frutescens, Euonymus japonicus, Bauhinia purpurea, and Cassia fistula) were evaluated under laboratory conditions for their ability to protect wheat (Triticum spp.) grains against Trogoderma granarium insect. Moreover, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was carried to identify the chemical components of the most effective plant extract against T. granarium. Furthermore, the safety of the most effective plant extract was evaluated with respect to biochemical and histological changes in treated rats relative to control. The results revealed that, the tested botanical extracts showed high efficiency against T. granarium with respect to mortality and progeny of the adults. C. senna was the most effective botanical extract against T. granarium. The GC-MS analysis of the most effective plant extract showed the presence of different bioactive compounds that is known by its insecticidal activity. The most effective plant extract showed no toxicity on treated rats relative to control with respect to biochemical and histological changes. The results suggest the ability of using these plant extracts for wheat grains protection as a safe alternative to insecticides.


Abstract Reproductive isolation barriers maintain the integrity of species by preventing interspecific gene flow. They involve temporal, habitat or behavioral isolation acting before fertilization, and postzygotic isolation manifested as hybrid mortality or sterility. One of the approaches of how to study reproductive isolation barriers is through the analysis of hybrid zones. In this paper, we describe the structure of a hybrid zone between two crested newt species (Triturus cristatus and T. carnifex) in the southern part of the Czech Republic using morphological, microsatellite, and mitochondrial (mtDNA) markers. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that the structure of the hybrid zone is maintained by species‐specific habitat preferences. Comparing the genetic structure of populations with geographical and ecological parameters, we found that the hybrid zone was structured primarily geographically, with T. cristatus‐like populations occurring in the northeast and T. carnifex‐like populations in the southwest. Despite T. cristatus tending to occur in deeper ponds and T. carnifex on localities with more shading, the effect of both ecological parameters on the structure of the zone was minimal. Next, we corroborated that T. carnifex individuals and some hybrids possess mtDNA of T. dobrogicus, whose nuclear background was not detected in the studied hybrid zone. Hybridization between T. carnifex and T. dobrogicus (resulting in unidirectional mtDNA introgression) had to predate subsequent formation of the hybrid zone between T. cristatus and T. carnifex. Populations of crested newts in the southern part of the Czech Republic thus represent a genetic mosaic of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of three species.


A 59‐year‐old man inadvertently received a 10‐fold increase in his twice‐daily oral dose of tacrolimus 1 mg that resulted in trough blood levels above 90 ng/ml for over a week. The patient had end‐stage renal disease secondary to diabetes mellitus and had received a kidney transplant from his daughter 3 months earlier. Despite the numerous adverse effects commonly reported with tacrolimus, such as mild nephrotoxicity, nausea, tremors, and elevated liver enzyme levels, our patient's acute but prolonged overdose resulted in minimal signs and symptoms of toxicity. Nevertheless, education regarding the importance of accurate dosing, close monitoring, potential drug interactions, and the various capsule colors should be provided to all patients who receive tacrolimus, as well as their physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, in order to prevent as many errors as possible.


The Igκ locus is recombined following initiation of a signaling cascade during the early pre-B stage of B cell development. The Ig κ3′ enhancer plays an important role in normal B cell development by regulating κ locus activation. Quantitative analyses of κ3′ enhancer chromatin structure by restriction endonuclease accessibility and protein association by chromatin immunoprecipitation in a developmental series of primary murine B cells and murine B cell lines demonstrate that the enhancer is activated progressively through multiple steps as cells mature. Moderate κ3′ chromatin accessibility and low levels of protein association in pro-B cells are increased substantially as the cells progress from pro- to pre-B, then eventually mature B cell stages. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays suggest transcriptional regulators of the κ3′ enhancer, specifically PU.1 and IFN regulatory factor-4, exploit enhanced accessibility by increasing association as cells mature. Characterization of histone acetylation patterns at the κ3′ enhancer and experimental inhibition of histone deacetylation suggest changes therein may determine changes in enzyme and transcription factor accessibility. This analysis demonstrates κ activation is a multistep process initiated in early B cell precursors before Igμ recombination and finalized only after the pre-B cell stage.


Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is a new paradigm that has been proposed to deal with the design of current complex applications. Complexity is also the tendency within the automation domain, where integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are, among others, requirements demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. MDE relies on the concept of model, as a way to represent the relevant aspects of a system from a point of view, abstracting the irrelevant issues. The final design emerges through the different phases of the development cycle, and this can be achieved through model transformations. The use of models within the development cycle implies the need of modeling language implementations offering not only system descriptions but also model validation in order to assure design consistency. This paper focuses on the definition of modeling languages as well as on validation mechanisms using manufacturing standards. The steps to define Markup Languages using CAEX (Computer Aided Engineering eXchange) and MathML (a language for defining mathematical constraints) are defined and applied to a multi-view description of a manufacturing cell.


We outline the possibility of optical trapping and tweezing with Super-Gaussian beam profiles. We show that the trapping strength can be tuned continuously by adjusting the order of a Super-Gaussian beam, approaching that of a perfect Gaussian and perfect flat-top beam at the two extremes.


Recent years have seen the rise of vibration problems associated with structures, which are more delicate and intricate, machines, which are faster and more complex, and production processes, which are automated and interlinked. The occurred problems are direct related with demands of lower investment, running and maintenance costs in coincidence with the requirements of increased productivity and efficiency. Consequently, there has been the necessity for a better understanding of vibration causes and the dynamic response of complex machinery as well as single components. Shown are basics of comprehensive vibration analysis based on an aimed instrumentation of the unit to be supervised and the state of art in monitoring using statistical time values for general signal description and threshold comparison, envelope analysis and spectrum, phase and correlation analysis of multi sensor arrangements. Hints are also given to data reduction using cepstral and hocerence analysis in combination with the extraction of machine or fault specific characteristical patterns as input values of vector or neural classification.


Vibration analysis has found widespread application for condition monitoring in a variety of applications and industries. With the continual development of cheaper and more powerful processing hardware, such systems have developed from utilizing simple checks on amplitude to those based around sophisticated spectral analysis. The paper presents application of the model based diagnostic method for early detection of faults in rotating machinery. The proposed diagnostics system based on modal analysis methods (OMA and OMAX methods). In the paper the diagnostic system based on such modelling is presented. The proposed system was verified during research on a specialized test rig, which can generate vibration signals.


The American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) produces a tart red fruit and is native to northeastern and north central North America. In recent years its popularity has increased due to claims of potential health benefits. While most fruit are processed into juice, sauce or other products, a growing market for fresh fruit exists. To expand fresh market opportunities, fruit must be stored for extend periods of time. During storage, substantial losses of fresh cranberries can result from decay and physiological breakdown. Incidence of both decay and physiological breakdown are influenced by cultural practices, harvest methods, and storage conditions. Plant cultivar, age and vigor, soil fertility, water availability, and the presence of both abiotic and biotic stresses can influence fruit quality and market life. Bruising that occurs during harvest and postharvest handling can induce physiological breakdown and substantially reduce market life. Proper management of relative humidity (RH) and temperature during storage are also critical to maximize storage life. High RH can increase rates of decay and physiological breakdown; optimum storage humidities are around 80%. Cranberry fruit have been reported to be chilling sensitive and fruit stored at 0°C often have greater quality loss than fruit stored at 2 to 7°C. However, greater losses at low temperatures could be a result of high RH rather than low temperature. A variety of postharvest technologies have been tested to extend cranberry storage life, including controlled atmospheres, heat treatments, irradiation, and fumigation, but none have been shown to provide consistent benefits. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and associated lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are a prevalent and progressive condition in aging men. To investigate the efficacy and safety of Afalaza in men with BPH at risk of progression the multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial was performed. Derived by technological treatment of antibodies to prostate-specific antigen and endothelial NO synthase Afalaza was previously proved to modulate its molecular targets. METHODS: 249 patients of 45-60 years old with BPH and moderate LUTS, total prostate volume (TPV) ≥ 30 cm3, maximum urine flow rate (Qmax) of 10-15 ml/s, and serum prostatic specific antigen (PSA) <4 ng/ml were randomly assigned to receive either Afalaza (n=125) or placebo (n=124) for 12 months. Interactive voice/web response randomization system based on a random number generator was used for patients` randomization. Changes in BPH/LUTS symptoms (according to the International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS]), Qmax, TPV, PSA, BPH clinical progression, occurrence of acute urinary retention (AUR) events or BPH-related surgery were estimated as the study endpoints. The study was conducted in accordance with the all ethic principles and was approved by the National Ethics Committee. RESULTS: IPSS mean (±standard deviation) change was -3.7±3.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) -4.3 to -3.2) after 12 months of Afalaza (vs. -2.9±2.4; 95% CI -3.3 to -2.4 in placebo; p=0.02). Qmax growth was 2.5±4.3 ml/s (vs. 1.4±3.3 in placebo; p=0.049), TPV reduced by 11.8±16.0% (vs. 6.5±14.7%; p=0.01), and PSA remained unchanged. Afalaza therapy resulted in a significant decrease in the total sum of BPH progression symptoms (p=0.01). The maximum effect of Afalaza was registered after 12 months without a tendency to form a plateau. During the study, no patient experienced AUR or BPH-related surgery. The incidence of adverse events (AEs) did not differ between the groups, nor were there any serious AEs. CONCLUSIONS: 12-month Afalaza therapy is effective and safe for patients with BPH/LUTS. The endpoints measurements revealed the significant advantage of Afalaza compared to placebo in the overall symptoms` benefit, decrease in TPV and a decline in the risk of BPH progression. To confirm and detail the findings further research will be provided. Source of Funding: The study was funded by a grant from OOO NPF MATERIA MEDICA HOLDING.


Philips believes that in order to keep creating real and sustainable value for its stakeholders, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of trends of economy paradigm. As the trends show, to transform towards transformation paradigm and sustain future growth and profitability, understanding challenges and identifying opportunities in the healthcare field are essential for Philips. The current healthcare field faces a lot of challenges and needs disruptive innovations. Integrated, patient-centric, and efficient care delivery models are urgently needed. Value-based care was proposed under the background. It emphasizes improving healthcare outcomes while reducing cost. Philips also believes value-based care is the ideal healthcare delivery system. To transform towards value-based care, Philips collaborates with local hospitals to initiate value-based care studios. Selecting suitable projects to run in studios is vital while there are no guidelines or toolkit to help project selection. My assignment is to design a project selection toolkit for Philips' value-based care studios. After exploratory research and design iterations, finally, an improved project selection journey and corresponding tools to help each phase of the improved project selection journey are designed. They aim to provide suitable information in suitable time to facilitate productive discussion and decision making in project selection process.


There are many different methods which are used in the field of human reliability assessment. It should be noted that each method has its own specificities that make it more or less suitable for a particular use in practice. Therefore, this paper is focused on characterizing and comparing of the selected first generation methods THERP, HEART and SPAR-H. This comparison is aimed to possibilities of methods application, the availability of sources of information, the utilization of the dependence of tasks, the amount and the positive or negative influence of the performance influencing factors and the way of determining the human error probability. PORÓWNANIE WYBRANYCH METOD OCENY NIEZAWODNOŚCI CZŁOWIEKA


Nasopharyngeal colonization precedes invasive pneumococcal disease. HIV infection increases rates of invasive disease; its effect on colonization is unknown. In a longitudinal cohort of HIV-positive/negative Zambian mothers, HIV increased the risk of colonization (RR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3– 2.8) and repeated colonizations (RR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1–5.3), and reduced time to new colonization (p=0.01). Repeated colonizations with homologous sero/factor-types occurred only among HIV-positive mothers. Pediatric serotypes 6, 19 and 23 accounted for the excess colonization in the HIV-positive mothers. HIV significantly increases the risk of pneumococcal colonization. Increased colonization by pediatric serotypes suggests a potential role for the 7-valent pneumococcal vaccine.


Monte Carlo track chemistry simulations were used to determine the yields (or G-values) of hydrogen peroxide in the radiolysis of neutral water and dilute aqueous bromide solutions by low linear energy transfer (LET ∼ 0.3 keV μm−1) radiation (e.g., γ-rays from 60Co, fast electrons or high-energy protons) and tritium β-particles (mean LET ∼ 6 keV μm−1) at 25 °C. We investigated the influence of Br− ions, as selective scavengers of ˙OH radical precursors of H2O2, on the inhibition of G(H2O2) for these two types of radiation. Studying this system under a wide range of Br− concentrations (5 × 10−7 to 0.2 M) and using a well-accepted mechanism for radiolysis in the presence or absence of air, we examined the chemical changes in the scavengeability of H2O2 produced by 300 MeV irradiating protons (used in this work to reproduce the effects of 60Co γ/fast electron radiolysis) and tritium β-electron radiolysis. We found that these changes could be related to differences in the initial spatial distributions of radiolytic species (i.e., the structure of the electron tracks, the low-energy β-electrons of tritium depositing their energy almost entirely as cylindrical "short tracks" and the energetic Compton electrons produced by γ-radiolysis forming mainly spherical "spurs"), in full agreement with previous experimental and theoretical work. Simulations showed that the short track geometry of higher LET tritium β-electrons in both water and aqueous bromide solutions favored a clear increase in G(H2O2) compared to 60Co γ-rays. Moreover, the presence of oxygen was seen to scavenge hydrated electrons (eaq−) and H˙ atoms on the ∼10−7 s time scale, thereby protecting H2O2 from further reactions with these species in the homogeneous stage of radiolysis. This protection against eaq− and H˙ atoms therefore led to an increase in the long time H2O2 yields, as seen experimentally. Finally, for both deaerated and aerated solutions, the H2O2 yield in tritium β-radiolysis was found to be more easily suppressed than in the case of cobalt γ-radiolysis, and interpreted by the quantitatively different chemistry between spurs and short tracks. These differences in the scavengeability of H2O2 precursors in passing from 300 MeV irradiating protons to tritium β-electron irradiation were in good agreement with experimental data, thereby lending strong support to the picture of tritium β-radiolysis in terms of short tracks of high local LET.


The need for prehospital resuscitative hysterotomy/perimortem caesarean section is rare. The procedures can be daunting and clinically challenging for practitioners. Maternal death can be averted by swift and decisive action. This guideline serves to inform prehospital practitioners about conducting maternal resuscitation following cardiac arrest, provides an evidence-based framework to support decision making and highlights areas for improvement in prehospital care.


Control diagram of standard deviation σ is one of variable control diagrams used to control dispersion process. This control diagram is built by the assumption that the data is in normal distribution with the minimum μ and variants σ2. In phase I, control diagram of standard deviation formed by standard deviation predicted by the data taken during K period when each of them is n-size. There are 3 predictors of standard deviation based on ś, Ř   and ŝ  . If there is a outlier data, the standard deviation predictors can be unbalanced, so the power of control diagram of standard deviation becomes bad.  This research describes control diagram of standard deviation phase I that has the quality of Robust with its function to filter the data, so standard deviation predictor can be obtained by the method of Řs and MDi,s . The result of robust predictor on phase I used to control process of next phase (phase II). This method is implemented on power data of thread in PT. World Yamatex Spinning Mills II Karawang regency. The results show that the predictor Řs is bigger than MDi,s .


Abstract A Lycian sarcophagus located in the ancient city of Pinara, southwest Turkey, shows a clockwise rotation of 6.37° with respect to its north–south oriented foundation. Considering the seismotectonic potential of the area, this rotation has been attributed to earthquake ground motion before. We present a 3D model of the sarcophagus based on 11.5 million points from a 3D laser scan. The sarcophagus shows a crater in the eastern side of the coffin, which was most probably caused by the detonation of an explosive charge during looting. As the direction of the rotation agrees with the sense of motion expected from a blast, we will attempt to quantify whether the rotation has a natural, seismogenic, or anthropogenic cause. With a rigid block model we studied the feasibility of an explosion or earthquake ground motion as the reason for the rotation of the coffin. Scaled recorded ground motions from local earthquakes and a strong-motion record from the recent L'Aquila, Italy, earthquake ( M w  6.3) were used to study the sarcophagus dynamic reactions. The calculations show that the geometry of the structure requires large peak ground acceleration amplitudes to initiate rocking (above 4 m/s 2 ); this rocking in turn is necessary to produce rotation around the vertical axis by translational movements. The size of the explosion is back-calculated from the crater size and compared with duration and amplitude of an impulse necessary to rotate the coffin. The small rotations resulting from all earthquake simulations and the plausible explosion size necessary to rotate the coffin by the observed amount make an explosion a much more probable cause for the rotation of the sarcophagus than an earthquake.


This practical guide advises prospective parents on how and whether to make use of the water birth method. It has become popular as part of the trend towards natural childbirth, because it offers relief from labour pains without drugs and also seem to cause less trauma for babies. This book enables parents to make responsible decisions about using this method, in full awareness of the ins and outs of water birth. Also, it should be of interest to midwives and doctors. It is written by a doctor and therapist in Cornwall who have built up much experience of this new birthing solution.


Mouse Glial Cells Missing a (mGCMa) belongs to a small family of transcription factors named after the prototypical GCM from Drosophila. mGCMa was expected to regulate gliogenesis, but instead found to be primarily expressed during development in trophoblasts of chorion and labyrinth. Its deletion causes abnormal placental labyrinth formation and results in embryonic lethality. Here we identify kidney and thymus as sites of mGCMa expression. In thymus, mGCMa is restricted to few small clusters of cells, in kidney to the S3 segment of proximal tubules. mGCMa expression is primarily postnatal, arguing for a role in organ function rather than organ development. q 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.


OBJECTIVE
The current study investigated the differential impact cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) on Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) performance in a large, cognitively healthy, older adult sample across 4 years.

METHOD
Participants were 486 individuals recruited through a longitudinal aging research study in the southeastern United States. Participants were 69.3% female, an average of 69.96 years old (SD = 6.58), 16.32 years of education (SD = 2.27), and Mini-Mental Status Exam score of 29.12 (SD = 1.16). Participants completed the RBANS at baseline and yearly thereafter, as well as the Uniform Data Set demographic and health questionnaires and the Geriatric Depression Scale.

RESULTS
Multilevel modeling was conducted using standardized RBANS index scores. Overall, across indices, performance generally improved across time consistent with practice effects from repeated testing. Some CVRFs were associated with worse performance over time. For example, individuals with hypertension performed more poorly on immediate memory over time (t = -2.06, p < .05). Other CVRFs (e.g., BMI) were not associated with baseline performance or performance over time. (p > .05).

CONCLUSIONS
CVRFs differentially affect RBANS performance over time. These results extend previous cross-sectional findings regarding the impact of different cardiovascular health risks to a large, cognitively healthy, longitudinal sample.


The adaptive significance of sociality in European badgers (Meles meles) is often explained on the basis of ecological factors, but little is known about their social interactions. Here, we investigate how allo-marking of conspecifics with subcaudal gland secretions might serve as a behavioural mechanism to create a shared group-odour, thus functioning simultaneously to maintain group cohesion, and as an individual advertisement signal. The odour of subcaudal secretions, which encodes group-membership and individual-specific information, is partly generated by the bacterial flora in the subcaudal pouch. Studying the interactions of 40 different adults from two social groups, we analysed 3021 instances of allo-marking, which may be either mutual, i.e. two badgers pressing their subcaudal pouches against each other simultaneously (155 events) or sequential, i.e. one badger marking the body of another individual (2866 events). Sequential marking is significantly more frequent than mutual marking, although both occur significantly more often during the mating season and the cub-rearing season than at other times. Whereas mutual marking appears to be independent of individual-specific parameters, sequential allo-marking is strongly influenced by sex, age, and reproductive status. We propose that mutual marking generates a common group-smell by facilitating the exchange of pouch bacteria, thus aiding in group-cohesion, while sequential marking serves two purposes, to distribute the common group-smell, and to advertise individual-specific, fitness-related information. Strong correlation of the frequencies of sequential and mutual allo-marking as well as the allo-grooming behaviour between particular clusters of group members suggests the existence of sub-groups within badger groups.


The idea and some methods of chaos and fractal to generate the 3D graphics and image are introduced at the beginning of this paper. Then we take the generation of a ball graphic as the example to analyses the shortcoming of the traditional algorithm on the computer. A new algorithm based on fractal theory was constructed to make up this shortcoming. What¿s more, some application of chaos in the generation of graphics and image processing in computer area are mentioned. Base on that, the way of terrain generation by the fractal theory is discussed in detail. On the above, the generation method of terrain is expressed and herein we make some advanced research on the application of chaos theory and fractal technology in pattern recognition area. Some characteristic points were selected from a terrain picture and used as seeds. Then we recognize and simulate the terrain by the generation algorithm of terrain.


Type 2 diabetes is a complex and pleomorphic metabolic disorder arising from a complex interaction between genes and the environment. During the last decade there has been an outpouring of studies providing clues into the genetic architecture underlying type 2 diabetes mellitus. This review provides an overview of the genetics of type 2 diabetes in the context of recent progress in the understanding of the genetic susceptibility of the disease. Approximately 40 variants have been identified so far and the identification of these susceptibility loci for diabetes has introduced novel genes, pathways and mechanisms of diabetes pathogenesis. The genetic loci so far identified account for only a small fraction (approximately 10%) of the overall heritable risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Uncovering the missing heritability is essential to the progress of type 2 diabetes genetic studies and to the translation of genetic information into clinical practice. However, it may be a long time before all the susceptibility genes are found. It may take even more time before their roles in different pathways have been elucidated and the mechanisms involved in their interaction with other factors in the disease etiology clarified.


Phosphatidylcholine is the major lipid component in mammalian membranes. Phosphatidylcholine synthesis increases in C3H10T1/2 fibroblasts during the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle. Previous studies demonstrated that the mRNA encoding CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase α (CTα) increases during S phase (Golfman, L. S., Bakovic, M., and Vance, D. E. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 43688-43692) and that this activation is driven by increased binding of Sp1 to the CTα promoter (Banchio, C., Schang, L. M., and Vance, D. E. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 32457-32464). We now demonstrate that cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) phosphorylation of Sp1 activates CTα transcription during S phase. Sp1 binds in a phosphorylated state to the CTα promoter. Sp1 binding is enhanced by association with cyclin A/E and CDK2, both in vivo and in vitro. In cells that overexpress Sp1, co-expression of cyclin A and CDK2 induces a high and constant level of CTα expression, whereas reduction in the expression of cyclin A, cyclin E, and CDK2 eliminates the induction of CTα expression in S phase. Furthermore, CTα expression is decreased in cells overexpressing a dominant-negative form of CDK2 and in cells treated with the CDK2 kinase inhibitors roscovitine and olomoucine. These results enhance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the expression of CTα in preparation for cell division.


The cultivation of pupils' sports interests is related to the formation of pupils' sports habits and their physical health in the future. At present, the physical condition of primary and secondary school students in China is not optimistic. Basketball, as a part of school sports, is widely carried out in schools in China. Scientific organization of basketball teaching in primary schools can better improve the physical quality of pupils and cultivate their interest in basketball. Pupils are still in the stage of physical and mental development, and their bones, muscles and nervous system are not well developed, their attention is easy to be distracted, and they can not carry out large amount of exercise, so they should focus on motivational exercise and basic teaching. As a means of teaching, games can improve pupils' interest in the practice and stimulate their intrinsic motivation to participate in basketball, which should be appropriately increased in teaching.


As part of the post-WWII emergence of a natural healing community, there was an explosion of scholarship advancing the clinical science of broad-scope chiropractic and of naturopathy. As other chiropractic colleges were acceding to a demand by the National Chiropractic Association to disband their naturopathy degree programs, Dr Budden held steadfast to his program and introduced this scholarship into his Western States Curriculum, including the Western American Naturopathic Association's (ANA's) Basic Naturopathy, edited by H. Riley Spitler, DC, ND. Two other broad-scope careers, those of A. R. Hedges, DC, ND, and of Wallace Martin Bleything, DC, ND, became interwoven with Budden, Carroll, Western States, and the Western ANA.


This research explores globalisation and Indonesian football. Understanding that football around the globe has transformed rapidly in the past few decades, with the rise of mega clubs, global competition, rising income, TV coverage, and Internet, the research considers what these changes mean for Persib, a legendary football club in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, as well as for their fanatic supporters known as bobotoh, particularly Viking – the largest group of Persib fans. It analyses the development of Persib by focusing on local and national mass media and the development of media technologies. Given the financial, technological and organizational changes of Persib and the application of FIFA football regulations to Indonesian football, this research argues that Persib has been significantly affected by international patterns of globalisation. The findings also indicate that in their development bobotoh have been innovative in their responses to the commercialization of the club. Unlike the Western culture of football fandom, bobotoh have transformed themselves from a group providing a space for small informal Persib-related gatherings to a serious business endeavour, supporting and accommodating their members with Viking and Persib-related merchandises. Also, it is argued that as bobotoh has continuously associated themselves with a football fan group socially recognized as a group glorifying masculine traits in which they use Viking and other groups of Persib supporters as their vehicles for self-identification, socialization, and expression of their private and collective identities.


While prehistoric hunting of marine mammals and caribou by eastern Arctic prehistoric groups is well documented, the relationship between Paleoeskimo groups and the fox has received little attention. The open-air Dorset site of Tayara (KbFk-7), in southern Hudson Strait, Nunavik, is exceptional in that it contains numerous fox remains, of which 70% have been identified as Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) and 30% as red fox (Vulpes vulpes). By analyzing the profiles of anatomical parts and examining cut marks on the bones, the authors have been able to identify the various stages in Dorset use of the carcass—skinning, butchering (disarticulating and filleting)—and also to examine the general ways in which fox was exploited. We found that these early Dorset people actively hunted foxes, which are still abundant on Qikirtaq Island where KbFk-7 is located. The whole carcass was carried to the camp, where the animal was skinned and the meat was removed from the bones for consumption. At the Tayara site, Paleoeskimo people exploited foxes not only for their pelts, but also as a valuable source of protein.


In situ micro-four-point-probe conductivity measurements in ultrahigh vacuum revealed that the Si(111)-striped incommensurate-Pb surface showed the superconductivity transition at 1.1 K. Both of the hexagonal and rectangular phases of Si(111)√[7]×√[3]-In surface showed superconductivity at 2.4 and 2.8 K, respectively. By applying magnetic field perpendicular to the surface, the upper critical field was deduced to be 0.1-1 T. The derived Ginzburg-Landau coherence length of the Cooper pairs was several tens of nm, which was much smaller than the Pippard's coherence length estimated from the band structures. The short coherence length is determined by the carrier mean free path.


OBJECTIVES
We examined the prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders among Latinos residing in the United States.

METHODS
We used data from the National Latino and Asian American Study, which included a nationally representative sample of Latinos. We calculated weighted prevalence rates of lifetime and past-year psychiatric disorders across different sociodemographic, ethnic, and immigration groups.

RESULTS
Lifetime psychiatric disorder prevalence estimates were 28.1% for men and 30.2% for women. Puerto Ricans had the highest overall prevalence rate among the Latino ethnic groups assessed. Increased rates of psychiatric disorders were observed among US-born, English-language-proficient, and third-generation Latinos.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results provide important information about potential correlates of psychiatric problems among Latinos that can inform clinical practice and guide program development. Stressors associated with cultural transmutation may exert particular pressure on Latino men. Continued attention to environmental influences, especially among third-generation Latinos, is an important area for substance abuse program development.


Over thirty in-pile experiments were performed to investigate fuel disruption behavior for LMFBR loss of flow (LOF) accidents. These experiments reproduced the heating transients for a variety of accidents ranging from slow LOF accidents to rapid LOF-driven-TOP accidents. In all experiments the timing and mode of the fuel disruption were observed with a high speed camera, enabling detailed comparisons with a fuel pin code, SANDPIN. This code transient intra- and inter-granular fission gas behavior to predict the macroscopic fuel behavior, such as fission gas induced swelling and frothing, cracking and breakup of solid fuel, and fuel vapor pressure driven dispersal. This report reviews the different modes of fuel disruption as seen in the experiments and then describes the mechanism responsible for the disruption. An analysis is presented that describes a set of conditions specifying the mode of fuel disruption and the heating conditions required to produce the disruption. The heating conditions are described in terms of heating rate (K/s), temperature gradient, and fuel temperature. A fuel disruption map is presented which plots heating rate as a function of fuel temperature to illustrate the different criteria for disruption. Although this approach to describing fuel disruption oversimplifies the fission gas processes modeledmore » by SANDPIN, it does illustrate the criteria used to determine which fuel disruption mechanism is dominant and on what major fission gas parameters it depends.« less


This paper summarizes the Global Road Damage Detection Challenge (GRDDC), a Big Data Cup organized as a part of the IEEE International Conference on Big Data'2020. The Big Data Cup challenges involve a released dataset and a well-defined problem with clear evaluation metrics. The challenges run on a data competition platform that maintains a leaderboard for the participants. In the presented case, the data constitute 26336 road images collected from India, Japan, and the Czech Republic to propose methods for automatically detecting road damages in these countries. In total, 121 teams from several countries registered for this competition. The submitted solutions were evaluated using two datasets test1 and test2, comprising 2,631 and 2,664 images. This paper encapsulates the top 12 solutions proposed by these teams. The best performing model utilizes YOLO-based ensemble learning to yield an F1 score of 0.67 on test1 and 0.66 on test2. The paper concludes with a review of the facets that worked well for the presented challenge and those that could be improved in future challenges.


This paper gives the definition of function projective synchronization with less conservative demand for a scaling function, and investigates the function projective synchronization in partially linear drive-response chaotic systems. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, it has been shown that the function projective synchronization with desired scaling function can be realized by simple control law. Moreover it does not need scaling function to be differentiable, bounded and non-vanished. The numerical simulations are provided to verify the theoretical result.


Application of quantum dissipation theory to electronic dynamics has been limited to model systems with few energy levels, and its numerical solutions are mostly restricted to high temperatures. A highly accurate and efficient numerical algorithm, which is based on the Chebyshev spectral method, is developed to integrate a single-particle Liouville-von Neumann equation, and the two long-standing limitations of quantum dissipation theory are resolved in the context of quantum transport. Its computational time scales to O(N(3)) with N being the number of orbitals involved, which leads to a reality for the quantum mechanical simulation of real open systems containing hundreds or thousands of atomic orbitals. More importantly, the algorithm spans both finite and zero temperatures. Numerical calculations are carried out to simulate the transient current through a metallic wire containing up to 1000 orbitals.


This article aims to explore the analytical framework and its basic premises to consider the situation of current societies as multiple second modernities under glocalization and deals with Japan as its case study. This paper analyses different patterns of relationships among the individual, the intermediate group and the state in each region/local area, and tracks the transformation of those patterns in the contemporary society. Sometimes the structural tension inherent in modern society between traditional and more 'contractual' elements after modern, is expressed in the institutional patterns of the relations among the individual, the intermediate group and the state in each area. In current society, which is the age of multiple second modernities, the relational pattern is expressed in the configuration of individuality (not individual), intermediate networks (not intermediate group) and transforming state (not just state). To observe the distinctness of each locality in plurality, we need to consider not only the institutional structure of these three factors but also the more fundamental logic for collectivity/individual formation in each society in question. Considering the example of Nagai Kafū's and H.G. Wells' works, the article investigates this issue. In considering these issues, the article focuses on contemporary Japan as one of the cases of the multiple second modernities under glocalization based on the observation of Japan's historical and cultural distinctness. Summary


Antagonistic coevolution between hosts and parasites in spatially structured populations can result in local adaptation of parasites. Traditionally parasite local adaptation has been investigated in field transplant experiments or in the laboratory under a constant environment. Despite the conceptual importance of local adaptation in studies of (co)evolution, to date no study has provided a comparative analysis of these two methods. Here, using information on pathogen population dynamics, I tested local adaptation of the specialist phytopathogen, Podosphaera plantaginis, to its host, Plantago lanceolata at three different spatial scales: sympatric host population, sympatric host metapopulation and allopatric host metapopulations. The experiment was carried out as a field transplant experiment with greenhouse‐reared host plants from these three different origins introduced into four pathogen populations. In contrast to results of an earlier study performed with these same host and parasite populations under laboratory conditions, I did not find any evidence for parasite local adaptation. For interactions governed by strain‐specific resistance, field studies may not be sensitive enough to detect mean parasite population virulence. Given that parasite transmission potential may be mediated by the abiotic environment and genotype‐by‐environment interactions, I suggest that relevant environmental variation should be incorporated into laboratory studies of parasite local adaptation.


Responding to the need for detailed descriptions of analytical practices in transdisciplinary projects and to showcase a way to use qualitative data in secondary analysis, the authors delineate their respective analytic processes. The social scientist used constructivist grounded theory analysis and the dance choreographer used an innovative kinesthetic analysis. In the authors' attempts to integrate their analyses, they discovered a new analytic direction—examination of the "paused" and/or "rejected" data. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs130245


THE INTRAVENOUS use of corticotropin (ACTH) in the treatment of optic neuritis merits serious consideration. It is my purpose in this paper to review the current literature on the subject and to illustrate the use of the drug by reporting my experience in the successful treatment of a patient with intravenous administration of corticotropin. The case presented itself shortly after publication of the recent article by Gordon and associates 1 on their experiences with corticotropin and cortisone therapy in acute ocular conditions, in which they stated that "intravenous drip ACTH is the most effective weapon available today," and after Dr. Allan Wood's report at a meeting of the New York Academy of Medicine, Section of Ophthalmology, on the effectiveness of the intravenous use of corticotropin. Current literature on the use of corticotropin in all fields of medicine is voluminous, but relatively few articles are concerned with its intravenous use. 2


In solid tumors, hypoxia and anoikis are two common phenomena occurred in the central of region, inducing a series of genes to switch metabolic pathways, prevent apoptosis and promote continuous growth of cancer cells. Herein, we reported that CITED2 (CBP/p300-interacting transactivators with glutamic acid (E)/aspartic acid (D)-rich C-terminal domain 2) responded to hypoxia and anoikis induction, preventing lung cancer cells from cell cycle arrest. We found that hypoxia induced CITED2 through a HIF2α dependent pathway; moreover, three-dimensional (3D) growth of lung cancer cells induced the expression of CITED2. 3D growth condition elicited anoikis-mediated cell cycle arrest, which was further potentiated by hypoxia stimulation. Knockdown of CITED2 or HIF2α in lung cancer cells enhanced anoikis, causing G1/S cell cycle arrest. Soft agar analysis displayed that both HIF2α and CITED2 are necessary for anchorage-independent cell growth under the hypoxic condition. Spheroid assay indicated that HIF2α-CITED2 signaling axis plays an important role in spheroid formation. Pearson correlation analysis showed that CITED2 was associated with HIF2α expression in lung adenocarcinoma. Kaplan Meier analysis revealed that CITED2 expression was correlated with poor survival outcomes in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Thus, our findings support the notion that CITED2 plays a critical role in hypoxia- and anokis- mediated cancer cell growth with the potential as a prognostic biomarker for predicting lung cancer progression. Citation Format: Ming-Han Kuo, Chia Ee Chan, Yu-Ting Chou. CITED2, an emerging regulator in hypoxia- and anoikis- mediated cancer cell growth. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2852.


In large-scale distributed linear transform problems, coded computation plays an important role to reduce the delay caused by slow machines. However, existing coded schemes could end up destroying the significant sparsity that exists in large-scale machine learning problems, and in turn increase the computational delay. In this paper, we propose a coded computation strategy, referred to as diagonal code, that achieves the optimum recovery threshold and the optimum computation load. Furthermore, by leveraging the ideas from random proposal graph theory, we design a random code that achieves a constant computation load, which significantly outperforms the existing best known result. We apply our schemes to the distributed gradient descent problem and demonstrate the advantage of the approach over current fastest coded schemes.


Background: End-of-life doulas are an emerging, non-medical support and advocacy role for the dying and their caregivers. As more and more people are dying at home, research shows end-of-life doulas are increasingly in demand as non-medical advocates and companions for the dying, and their friends and families. Compassionate communities are essential to those who wish to die at home by helping to avoid carer stress and burnout associated with physical and emotional labour when a person is at end of life. However, compassionate community models are top-down in nature as they focus on public policy, missing a domestic-scale, standardised design applicable when someone wishes to die at home. This gap affects care networks and communications and arguably hinders the work of end-of-life doulas. Aim: Findings from original qualitative research with end-of-life doulas in four countries demonstrated the importance of compassionate communities for death literacy and support for a person at end of life and their networks and that all practitioners were using ad hoc, variable approaches to compassionate community formation and maintenance. A micro-level standardised and replicable model for organising and maintaining compassionate communities for end-of-life doulas which completes the established compassionate community model was developed to fill this gap and provide a vital tool for end-of-life doulas and training programmes internationally. Methods: Thematic analysis of research data from qualitative semi-structured interviews with end-of-life doulas in four countries was undertaken and considered as a cohort as well as by country. Conclusions: A model was developed that addresses a gap in international approaches to practice, offering a standardised way to discuss, teach, and implement compassionate communities for end-of-life doulas in a variety of countries and languages. This article discusses the research and model in detail.


A study of Coulomb field effects in internal bremsstrahlung (IB) has been undertaken by measuring the IB spectra for the allowed beta emitters 32P, 35S and 45Ca in the photon energy intervals of 50-1600 keV, 25-150 keV and 30-240 keV respectively. The experimental results show increasing positive departures from the KUB and Coulomb corrected theories of Lewis and Ford (1957), and Nilsson (1956), with decreasing beta end-point energy. In the case of 35S the experimental results are 40% higher than the more exact theory of Struzynksi and Pollock (see Nucl. Phys., vol.79, p.113 of 1966) for this isotope.


Recently, we proposed a novel technique for design sensitivity analysis of high-frequency structures with respect to localized perturbations in conductive parameters. Here, we generalize the technique to include shape and material variations and utilize the response sensitivities in gradient-based optimization. Our technique belongs to the class of adjoint-variable methods. Thus, it computes the response and its gradient with only two electromagnetic (EM) simulations-of the original and the adjoint problems-regardless of the number of design parameters. For the first time, adjoint sensitivities with respect to conductive, dielectric-magnetic material and shape perturbations are computed via EM solvers on structured grids. Our approximate sensitivity analysis does not require analytical derivatives of the system matrix. This makes the technique versatile and easy to implement. The technique defaults to exact sensitivities with analytical system matrix derivatives when global design parameters are being perturbed. We discuss the accuracy of the approximate sensitivities, as well as the practicality of the exact sensitivities in specific design problems. We also discuss implementations in gradient-based optimization and illustrate them through simulation and design with the frequency domain transmission line method (FD-TLM).


A β,β-dimethyl-substituted ketene silyl acetal reduces p-chloranil to produce the carbon-oxygen adduct, the hydrolysis of which yields the corresponding hydro-quinone ether (3). The structure of 3 has been determined by the X-ray crystal analysis. On the other hand, the reaction of a nonsubstituted ketene silyl acetal with p-fluoranil yields the carbon-carbon adduct selectively. The mechanistic difference between the C-O and C-C bond formation is elucidated based on the kinetic study.


Research in international schools has lagged behind the growth of such schools (Lee et al, 2012). This paper offers support to international school leaders by identifying the ten most important characteristics of international schools as reported by three significant stakeholder groups (administrators/teachers, parents and students) in one case study international school. An initial phase utilised a Delphi framework whereby interviews led to the identification of 68 separate items, ranging from school ethos to teachers' credentials, which formed the basis of a follow-up questionnaire which was implemented following piloting. It was found that for 46 of the 68 items the three stakeholder groups were not statistically independent, sharing a common perspective on these items' relative importance. Similarly, four items appeared in all three stakeholder groups' top ten, while six items appeared in two out of three stakeholder groups' top ten.


We study the role new gauge interactions in extensions of the standard model play in air showers initiated by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Hadron-hadron events remain dominated by quantum chromodynamics, while projectiles and/or targets from beyond the standard model permit us to see qualitative differences arising due to the new interactions.


A 62-year-old man who had acute rectal obstruction due to a large rectal cancer is presented. He underwent emergency laparoscopic colostomy. We used the laparoscopic puncture needle to inject analgesia with the novel transperitoneal approach. In this procedure, both ultrasound and laparoscopic images assisted with the accurate injection of analgesic to the correct layer. The combination of laparoscopic visualization and ultrasound imaging ensured infiltration of analgesic into the correct layer without causing damage to the bowel. Twenty-four hours postoperatively, the patient's pain intensity as assessed by the numeric rating scale was 0-1 during coughing, and a continuous intravenous analgesic was not needed. Colostomy is often necessary in colon obstruction. Epidural anesthesia for postoperative pain cannot be used in patients with a coagulation disorder. We report the use of a novel laparoscopic rectus sheath block for colostomy. There has been no literature described about the nerve block with transperitoneal approach. The laparoscopic rectus sheath block was performed safely and had enough analgesic efficacy for postoperative pain. This technique could be considered as an optional anesthetic regimen in acute situations.


This paper aims to examine the effects of animosity on consumers' willingness to buy hybrid products (i.e. products that involve affiliations of two or more countries - such as branded in Japan but made in China). By examining the Chinese consumers' animosity towards the Japanese, the study's findings revealed a high level of animosity present that resulted in the Chinese consumers' unwillingness to buy Japanese products. More importantly, results showed that the Chinese consumers are not any more receptive to hybrid products as such domestic affiliations have not diluted the animosity.


The synthesis and emission of light by living organisms, known as Bioluminescence, constituted a stumbling block for Darwin. He couldn't figure out why this phenomenon arose in different animals at seemingly random intervals. However, we now know that bioluminescence has evolved at least 40 times on land and in the sea separately [1].

Bioluminescence was not discovered by Darwin.Around 350 BC, Greek philosopher Aristotle noted that bioluminescence is a sort of "cool" light that does not emit heat. Researchers have discovered that this type of chemiluminescence creates bluegreen light as a result of an enzyme called luciferase oxidizing a molecule called luciferin (the "lightbringer").More than 75% of deep-sea animals are thought to be able to generate their own light. Bioluminescent lures, like fishing rods, are used by anglerfish to entice prey to their enormous mouths. Surprisingly, Photo bacterium, a bacterium that lives in symbiosis with the anglerfish inside its esca, produces the anglerfish's light (lure) [2].

Humans have discovered innovative ways to use bioluminescence to their advantage throughout history. Tribes have utilized glowing mushrooms to light their way through impenetrable jungles, for example, while miners have utilized fireflies as an early safety lamp. Researchers are turning to bioluminescence as a potential source of green energy again, maybe motivated by these applications. Our typical street lamps may be replaced by lighting trees and structures in the nottoo-distant future. Aliivibrio fisheri bioluminescence is being utilized to evaluate water toxicity. When exposed to contaminants, the bacterial culture's light output diminishes, signaling the presence of a contaminant. Bioluminescence has even been used in combat. In November 1918, bioluminescent organisms assisted in the sinking of the final German U-boat during World War One. The submarine is said to have passed through a bioluminescent bloom, leaving a luminous trail that the allies were able to track. It has also served as a safeguard. The wounds of some of the injured troops began to glow after one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, at Shiloh. The occurrence became known as "Angel's Glow," since the luminous wounds healed more swiftly and cleanly. Photorhabdus luminescent, a soil-dwelling bacterium that emits antimicrobial c, was most likely responsible for the glow [3].

The medicinal applications [4] of bioluminescence have perhaps sparked the most interest. Green fluorescent protein was given the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for its discovery and development (GFP). Unlike the bioluminescence mechanism described so far, GFP is found naturally in the crystal jellyfish Aquaria Victoria, which is fluorescent