Background: Oral structures are known to have their uniqueness. Among these, the tongue has many characteristics that make it suitable for identity recognition. In this study, tongue imprints through digital photography and tongue impressions were used.
The aim of the study was to determine sexual dimorphism based on tongue morphology and fingerprints.
 Materials and methods: The study included 120 subjects (60 males and 60 females) in the age group of 18 to 35 who were excluded from any systemic illness and were reportedly healthy. The tongue photography was recorded using and the impression was made using the alginate material. In the present study, images of the dorsal part of the tongue were taken for 60 males & 60 females and a database was formed which were studied for the features such as tongue shape, tongue tip, dorsal morphological features. The alginate impression (lingual impression) of the dorsal and lateral borders of the tongue was done to study the minute details. The gender dimorphism was evaluated with this respect and the results were compared with fingerprints which were evaluated using Acree's method. The same was compared with their respective blood groups too. The ethnicity of the subject was also noted.
Results: Tongue prints in the assessment of sexual dimorphism with relation to morphology were found to be significant with a p-value of 0.043 and the fingerprint in relation to the assessment of sexual dimorphism was also significant but all the other comparisons were found to be insignificant.
Conclusion: In the present study, it was concluded that tongue prints based on tongue morphology can be a reliable source of identification with respect to sexual dimorphism. However, more studies with a larger sample size with relevance to ethnicity may be useful in bringing out a conclusive result in this aspect.
Keywords: Tongue prints; lingual impression; uniqueness; fingerprints; sexual dimorphism.


Transport coefficients are derived from first principles for fully ionized two components high density plasma. The theory considers ion and electron dynamic effects through a quantum mechanical collective approach. Formulas, in analytical forms, are obtained and are in agreement with existing models.


Platelets, as main actors of the first stage of the healing process, play an important role in tissue repair. Their granules contain many active substances, particularly over 30 growth factors with significant effects on the resident cells at the site of injury, such as mesenchymal stem cells, chondrocytes, fibroblasts, osteoblasts. This potential may be increased by the concentration of the platelets, using platelet-rich plasma/fibrin products. In the four families of platelet concentrates, 2 families contain also significant concentrations of leukocytes: L-PRP (Leukocyte- and Platelet-Rich Plasma) and L-PRF (Leukocyte- and Platelet-Rich Fibrin). Inductive properties of platelet concentrates were widely described. However, they present also antimicrobial effects. The antibacterial effects of L-PRP were highlighted in only a few in vitro studies. Strong activity comparable to gentamicin and oxacillin for L-PRP against methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) was already demonstrated. L-PRP also inhibited the growth of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli. Some authors also reported clinical observations about the reduction of infections and the induction of healing processes after the use of platelet concentrates in cardiac, orthopaedic, oral and maxillofacial surgery. However, very little is yet known about the antibacterial effects of these concentrates. In this manuscript, the current data about the antimicrobial agents and cells present in the platelet-rich plasma/fibrin are highlighted and discussed, in order to introduce this new key chapter of the platelet concentrate technology history.


The bluefin damselfish, Abudefduf luridus is commonly found in rocky shallow waters of the Macaronesian Islands. During the breeding season males prepare and defend nests in an open rock within their territories. Females deposit egg masses in single layers (clutches) and return to their territories after spawning. Males care for the eggs until the hatching of planktonic larvae. Behaviour observations have shown that deserted nests are generally reoccupied by other males who take care of present eggs and begin attracting females, similar to the redlip blenny (Santos 1995). Competition for territories is high and is a central factor of mating and reproductive success of the males. A. luridus is, therefore, a promising case study species for the genetic analysis of reproductive strategies and male mating success. For this purpose, we present in this paper the development of microsatellite markers for further population analysis. Genomic DNA from A. luridus muscle tissue was isolated using a phenol–chloroform extraction protocol (Sambrook et al . 1989). Approximately 10 μ g of DNA was digested with Sau 3A (Gibco) and size selected (300–800 bp) by 1.5% LMP (low melting point) agarose gel electrophoresis. Microsatellite enriched partial genomic library was performed according to the procedure of Kijas et al. (1994) with modifications. Size-selected fragments were ligated to adaptors (AdapF: 5 ′ CTCTTGCTTACGCGTGGACTC-3 ′ and AdapR: 5 ′ GATCGAGTCGACGCGTAAGCAAGAGCACA-3 ′ ) and hybridized with 5 ′ biotinylated, 3 ′ aminated (CT) 15 oligonucleotides bound to streptavidin-coated magnetic spheres (magnesphere, Promega, Madison, WI). The hybridization was followed by several washing steps in 2 × SSPE (0.3 m NaCl, 20 m m NaH 2 PO 4 H 2 O, 2 m m EDTA, pH 7.4) and the enriched DNA was then eluted in water. DNA fragments were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified, using AdapF as a primer, and ligated into Bam HI digested and dephosphorylated pUC19 vector (Promega). The ligation was performed overnight cycling between 10 ° C 30 s and 30 ° C 30 s, in 10 μ L using, 50 ng vector, 50 ng purified PCR product, 30 m m Tris-HCl pH 7.8; 10 m m MgCl 2 ; 10 m m DTT; 1 m m ATP and 10 U of T 4 ligase (Promega, madison, WI). One tenth of the ligation was transformed into 50 μ L Escherichia coli DH5 α supercompetent cells (Gibco BRL) following Sambrook et al. (1989). A total of 400 colonies were screened according to the method described in Waldbieser (1995), based on PCR amplification with pUC19 forward or reverse universal primers and a (CT) 10 primer. Forty-six clones with a clear amplification were digested with Pvu II restriction enzyme (Gibco) to determine the insert size. Thirty positive clones were selected and sequenced using the dideoxy chain termination method (Sanger et al . 1977). The sequencing reactions were performed manually (T7 sequencing Kit, Pharmacia), using α 35S dATP and forward/reverse M13 universal primers. Sequencing products were then separated by electrophoresis on standard acrylamide denaturing gels. Among them, seven sequences allowed the definition of primers (Table 1). Clear amplification was obtained with the following conditions: 20 μ L total volume containing 20–50 ng of genomic DNA, 20 m m TrisHCl (pH 8.4), 50 m m KCl, 0.5–1.5 m m MgCl 2 (Table 1), 60 μ m of dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP, 12 μ m dATP, 0.16 μ L α 35S dATP (12.5 mCi/mL, 1250 Ci/mmol), 2 μ m each primer, 1 U Taq DNA polymerase (Gibco Brl Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD). The PCR was performed in a Robocycler (Stratagene Cloning Systems, La Jolla, CA) and consisted of an initial denaturation of 4 min at 94 ° C followed by 30 cycles for 60 s at 94 ° C, 60 s at annealing temperature (Table 1), and 60 s at 72 ° C, with a final elongation of 10 min at 72 ° C. Microsatellite polymorphism was analysed in 25 adult individuals from three populations from the islands of Açores and Madeira. Parameters and tests were computed using the genpop software version 3.1b (Raymond & Rousset 1995). The seven loci show a relatively high polymorphism, with 2– 13 alleles per locus. Both expected and observed heterozygosity were very similar over all populations (Table 1) for each locus, except for locus 5. Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium could not be rejected in each population, except for the same locus. A genotypic disequilibrium was found between locus 3 and 7 in population 2 ( P < 0.05) and over all populations ( P < 0.05). No genotypic nor genic differentiation was found between populations. This could be due to the small sample sizes ( n = 11, 9 and 5).


and WHY THIS NOTE? Fruits and vegetables are an important source of micronutrients in the diet. Inadequate consumption of these foods contributes to an estimated 2.7 million deaths per year from chronic diseases and is the sixth main risk factor for mortality in the world. Intake of fruits and vegetables in Kenya is below recommended levels. Fruits and vegetables are not only nutritious for humans bacteria and other foodborne pathogens also thrive on these foods, making them important sources of foodborne illness.


This study was conducted in 2003-2007 and involved 22 modern semi-industrial poultry farms (layers) located in the suburban areas of Bamako District and of Sikasso and Segou towns. It was found out that in 1163 layers, the global post- vaccination immunity level was 93.9 % for Newcastle Disease with 89, 6 %, 92.3% and 96.3 % in Segou, Sikasso and Bamako respectively. However, for Gumboro Disease, an overall immunization coverage of 50.5 % was obtained in layers with variations depending on the sites (40.7% in Sikasso, 64.0% in Segou and 49 9% in Bamako). Examination of 89 fecal samples collected in poultry farms in Bamako District peri-urban area showed internal parasites in 23 cases ( 25.8%), and species identified were Ascaridia gallii (EPG values ranging from 50 to 100) and Eimeria spp . (EPG value equal to 50). In addition, analysis of 28 fecal samples collected from farms in Segou identified 5 cases of infection (17.8%) with very high parasite loads for Heterakis with an EPG value of 1600 eggs/g of faeces and Ascaris (1300 eggs/g of feces). Out of 34 fecal samples collected in layer farms in Sikasso, 3 (8.8 %) contained coccidia (50 eggs/g of faeces). The study showed that in semi-industrial poultry farms, layers are inadequately immunized against Gumboro disease and markedly better immunised against Newcastle Disease. It also shows that deworming patterns in most farms are inadequate. Keywords : Poultry farming; Prophylaxis schemes; Diseases; Mali


Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) comprises considerable proportion of total area and total power for almost all VLSI chips as cache memory for the System on Chip (SOC) and it is considered to be more intense in upcoming time in both handy devices and high-performance processors. Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) plays a most significant role in the microprocessor world, but as the technology is scaled down in nanometers, leakage current, leakage power and delay are the most common problems for SRAM cell which is basically designed in low power application. By using low-power FinFET based SRAM cell, we can accomplish higher steadfastness and enhanced battery life for handy devices. Our objective of this work is to improve delay and power consumption in proposed nanoscale 6T FinFET SRAM cell structure. The total leakage of FinFET SRAM cell is reduced by 23% after applying self controllable voltage level technique. The power consumption and write delay as well as read delay of proposed 6T FinFET based SRAM cell structure improves  on CADENCE VIRTUOSO tool at 22nm technology scale.


This article reviews historical and physical exam findings suggestive of lung cancer, along with basic concepts pertaining to sputum cytology, bronchoscopy, needle biopsy, chest x-ray screening, and the management of solitary nodules.


Electric motors are widely used since they are more efficient and environmentally friendly compared to internal combustion engines. Studies in the fields of electric motors and battery management systems etc. used in electric vehicles are increasing day by day. In this study, electric motor design and performance analyzes to be used in electric vehicles are made. Accordingly, firstly, an induction motor design is carried out by considering the design parameters of the induction motor used in Tesla Model S. Then, by taking the stator core of this induction motor as a reference, an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor design, which is very common and advantageous in electric vehicles, is designed. By considering the air gap, magnet angle, magnet thickness, magnet width and magnet type parameters of this motor, the results of analyzes are evaluated in terms of efficiency and torque ripple. As a result of analyzes, efficiency of the final design has been improved by 4.78% compared to the reference induction motor. In addition, the torque ripple of the final design has been improved by 55.17% compared to the initial design of the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor.


This paper describes a channel-selection approach for simplifying deep neural networks. Specifically, we propose a new type of generic network layer, called pruning layer, to seamlessly augment a given pre-trained model for compression. Each pruning layer, comprising $1 \times 1$ depth-wise kernels, is represented with a dual format: one is real-valued and the other is binary. The former enables a two-phase optimization process of network pruning to operate with an end-to-end differentiable network, and the latter yields the mask information for channel selection. Our method progressively performs the pruning task layer-wise, and achieves channel selection according to a sparsity criterion to favor pruning more channels. We also develop a cost-aware mechanism to prevent the compression from sacrificing the expected network performance. Our results for compressing several benchmark deep networks on image classification and semantic segmentation are comparable to those by state-of-the-art.


Cellulase is an enzyme has great industrial importance. It is used as cellulose hydrolyzing enzyme and produces small sugar components i.e. glucose, cellobiose and other oligomers. In the present study we tried to isolate the fungal organism, Rhizopus and Aspergillus, from agriculture soil since the fungi have been always the best effective microorganism source for cellulose production. The enzyme production was increased with incubation time during submerge fermentation process by both fungal isolates using caboxy methyl cellulose as substrate whereas more enzyme activity was shows by Aspergillus spp than Rhizopus spp.


BACKGROUND
Effective cancer surveillance is critical for understanding disparities in current cancer incidence and treatment. The years ahead will see significant changes in how surveillance can be done.

METHODS
Scenarios developed for the Cancer Surveillance Futures Project identify 4 paths for the next decade (Growth--Advances in science and technology for health care and cancer control; Stagnation--Hard times, slow and unequal progress on many fronts; Choice--Creating a healthy marketplace for health care; and Transformation--Accelerating cancer control for all).

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
In terms of getting to near-term and longer term success with cancer surveillance, the Intercultural Cancer Council and C-Change have made several recommendations including consistent collection of socioeconomic status, risk factors, and treatment information as well as community involvement in collecting cancer information and developing cancer control approaches, developing data standards, and broadening cancer surveillance to include treatment quality, risk factor data, and preneoplastic events.


Since the introduction of endoscopic sinus surgery, a number of significant technological advances, as well as an improved understanding of disease pathogenesis and management, have enabled major evolutions in surgical techniques. Modifications to surgical instruments, imaging, the development of the microdebrider, and other newer instrumentation have all contributed to the current level of patient success associated with endoscopic intranasal techniques. At the same time, it has become evident that anatomic variations are less important in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis than was previously thought, and that ventilation alone is insufficient to resolve well-established disease. This paper reviews the changes that have occurred in endoscopic sinus surgery over the past 20 years since the techniques were first introduced into the United States, and the technologies that have enabled these changes and the development of extended endoscopic techniques. Continuing developments of interactive computer-guided surgery, endoscopic 3-dimensional imagery, robotics, and improved adjunctive therapies will further extend the role of endoscopic transnasal approaches to an expanded number of skull base and intracranial lesions.


Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are the indispensable component of the bone marrow, being the common precursors for adipocytes and osteoblasts. We show here that adipogenic differentiation resulted in increase in the production of adipocyte markers, such as adiponectin,fatty-acid binding proteins (FABP4), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), as well as the receptor activator of nuclear-κB ligand (RANKL). Co-culture of osteoclast precursors (OCPs) with BMSCs-derived adipocytes significantly enhanced osteoclast differentiation with low-dose RANKL, whose levels alone could not promote osteoclastogenesis. These results demonstrate for the first time that adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs plays a pivotal role in maintaining bone homeostasis.


Until the middle of the nineteenth century, when internal disorder and the impact of Western influences began to work striking changes in the structure of Chinese governmental finance, the revenue of the Ch'ing dynasty may be divided into five main categories. The first and most important was the land tax, which was imposed on most agricultural land throughout the empire and provided the major portion of the funds with which the routine administrative operations of both the central and provincial governments were financed. The second, far smaller in amount than the first, was the grain tribute, which was imposed like the land tax on agricultural land but was levied only in certain areas and was devoted normally to the feeding of the official population of Peking, including the metropolitan garrison, the court, and the metropolitan bureaucracy. The third was the governmental monopoly of the production and distribution of salt. The fourth and fifth categories were respectively the regular (or "native") customs and certain miscellaneous indirect taxes.


We discuss the attempt to establish the Hospital Proletario in the capital of the state of Paraiba in the 1930s. To this end, we problematized the coverage in the newspaper A Uniao on this episode. The involvement of different actors - workers, associations and physicians - reveals the emergence of a new way of thinking and implementing healthcare policies. According to the Vargas government's national construction plan, actions like this were intended to ensure healthy workers - ready for the market and useful for the country. Despite its failure, the hospital project provided evidence of the different concepts of worker health during the Vargas Era. We identified the concepts of "health interdependence," "social medicine," "regulated citizenship" and the "labor movement."


FATE OF MICROPOLLUTANTS IN BIOSOLIDS DURING PYROLYSIS John Ross Marquette University, 2014 Approximately 250 tons of organic micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, antimicrobials, and hormones, are discharged to the environment during land application of wastewater biosolids. Reusing wastewater biosolids is vital to the sustainability of wastewater treatment, but current treatment processes do not remove micropollutants from biosolids in an efficient manner. Pyrolysis―the heating of biomass to temperatures between 400 and 800 °C under oxygen-free conditions―was proposed as a biosolids treatment process that could produce a beneficial soil amendment product, biochar, and remove micropollutants. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of pyrolysis temperature and residence time on the removal of micropollutants in biosolids as well as to characterize the ultimate fate of micropollutants following pyrolysis. Batch pyrolysis experiments were conducted on i) sand samples spiked with micropollutants to quantify the fate and breakdown products in a clean system and on ii) biosolids to determine removal in an actual biosolids matrix. Triclosan, triclocarban, nonylphenol and estradiol were selected for analysis because of their high abundance in biosolids and variable chemical properties. Extraction methods were developed using an Accelerated Solvent Extractor and samples were quantified via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Pyrolysis of biosolids was conducted for 60-minutes and removal of triclosan and triclocarban (to below quantification limit) was achieved at 300 °C and 200 °C, respectively. Substantial removal (>90%) of nonylphenol was achieved at 300 °C, but 600 °C was required to remove nonylphenol to below the quantification limit. The pyrolysis reaction time to remove 90% of micropollutants was later determined to be less than 5 minutes at 500 °C. Micropollutant fate studies revealed that pyrolysis both volatilizes and degrades micropollutants. Micropollutants with high vapor pressure were more likely to volatilize before undergoing transformations. Reductive dehalogenation was a suspected degradation pathway for chlorinated organic compounds as dechlorinated triclocarban products and suspected dechlorinated triclosan products were identified. Results from the pyrolysis experiments demonstrate that micropollutants can be removed (to below quantification limit) from the biochar and transferred to the pyrolysis gas and oil where they are destined for combustion. In summary, pyrolysis is a viable biosolids management technology to mitigate the discharge of micropollutants to the environment when land applying biosolids.


In the literature, there have been intensive studies on typing (sorting) systems for the polyadic z-calculus, originated by Milner's sorting discipline [10] based on name match' ing. The proposed systems, so far, are categorized into the twogroups systems by name matching and ones by structure matching (possibly with subtyping) and obtain similar results. A natural question arises "Is there any relationship between the two paradigms ?". With this motivation, the present paper gives deeper investigations on typing systems between the two approaches. For this purpose, a sorting system by name mat' ching, a quite similar to the system in [7], and a typing system by structure matching with subtyping, a slight extension of the system in [12] , are presented, along with several basic properties. Then, correspondence between the sorting system and the typing system is investigated via transformations both form sortings to typings and from typings to sortings. It is shown that if a process is well-sorted w.r./. a safe sorting in the sort ing system, then it is well-typed w. r. t. the transformed typigg in the typing system, but not vice versa. This result can be straightforwardly extended to Liu and Walker's consistent sortings. Under a certain condition, we can show the reverse implication. Furtheremore, on the other direction from typings to sortings, it is shown that the derived typing from the sorting which is the result of applying transformation to a typing coincides with the original typing. However, the derived sorting from the typing which is the result of applying transformation to a sorting is proved to be a proper specialization of the original sorting.


Background: Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are a major public health concern. This study aims to investigate the profiles and epidemiological characteristics of acute RTIs and respiratory pathogens in Palestinian hospitalized patients.
Methods: Clinical samples from hospitalized patients with symptoms of acute RTIs admitted between January 2011 and December 2016 are referred to Palestinian Central Public Health Laboratory (PHCL) to identify the causative pathogen. Patients' demographic information and the results of the molecular identification were retrieved from the electronic database at the PHCL. The results of the detections were analyzed to explore the distribution of pathogens resulting in hospitalization among patients with RTIs across age, gender, region, year and season.
Results: A total of 15413 patients with acute RTIs were hospitalized during the study period. The causal agent was identified only in 28.7% of the patients. Overall, influenza viruses were the most common cause of RTIs among hospitalized Palestinian patients in the West Bank. The elderly population (≥60 years old) had the highest rates. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis ) followed influenza, respectively. Children showed the highest hospitalization rates for these two infections along with adenovirus, enterovirus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Outbreaks of RTIs occurred mainly during winter (between December and March).
Conclusions: Influenza viruses are the major cause acute RTIs among hospitalized patients in the West Bank. Children and elderlies have the highest risk for RTIs. The reoccurrence of B. pertussis in spite of vaccination is alarming and requires further investigation.


This reader provides a critical perspective on work with children and young people at a time of change. Written by experts with a wide range of academic and professional experience, it examines the ways that ideas inform practice, explores recent changes in the organisation of services, especially moves towards greater integration, and explores what it means to be a critical, reflective practitioner. Covering the whole age range from early years to youth, the book will be relevant to anyone working with children and young people, for example in social work, education, healthcare, youth work, youth justice and leisure services


Creative regions contribute to a higher standard of living, are attractive to start-ups, create new jobs, reduce brain drain and attract applicants for university education. The paper aims to compare selected indicators of implementation of start-ups and creative potential in the regions of Slovakia at NUTS 3 level and to quantify their mutual relationship. Benchmarking of 8 Slovak NUTS 3 level regions is based on 2 comparisons, namely: 6 indicators of start-ups implementation (frequency of start-ups, creation of radical innovations, employment in fast-growing companies, venture capital awareness, crowdfunding awareness and possibilities of counselling in the implementation of start-ups) and 6 indicators of creative potential (openness and diversity, human capital, cultural environment, technologies, institutional environment and creative outputs). Numerical values of these indicators are obtained from secondary research studies – e. g. modified Slovak Creative Index, Regional Innovation Scoreboard, Slovak Start-up Report and websites of innovation incubators and crowdfunding platforms. To obtain the true values of these criteria, the analysis of secondary data – desk research and the method of pairwise comparison with 91 respondents (students of Slovak universities of economic orientation with Slovak or Ukrainian nationality) was used to determine the real significance (weights) of the criteria. According to pairwise comparison, the most important indicator of start-up implementation is possibilities of counselling and the most important indicator of creative potential is creative outputs. Consequently, the relationship between the two comparisons is quantified. The global benchmark based on the implementation of start-ups is the Bratislava region, as well as in the case with creative potential. There is a strong correlation (85.5 %) between the scores of the compared regions. The final ranking of the 5 regions out of 8 in both comparisons is also the same. The theoretical contribution is extending of the issue of benchmarking from traditional understanding (products, services, processes) to spatial understanding (region). The main practical contribution of the paper is to identify the weaknesses of each of the compared regions through benchmarking. Its implementation can be the basis for the development of regional strategies and the introduction of new study programs at universities.
Keywords: benchmarking, creative potential, region, Slovak Republic, Start-UP.


In this paper I support the thesis that the mirror neurons system is involved in the perception of actions. This thesis is in contrast with the dominant view on the mirror neurons system, which consider this mechanism involved in action understanding. The paper is subdivided in two parts. In the first part of the paper I criticize the dominant view by means of the ordinary language analysis applied to the concept of «action understanding». In the second part of the paper I will offer an alternative interpretation supporting the thesis that the mirror neurons system is involved in perception. In order to demonstrate it, I will show that the concept of perception emerging from recent neuroscientific data is in contrast with the one adopted by classic cognitive neuroscience, and in line with my proposal. This alternative reading will help to solve theoretical issues concerning the interpretation of empirical data on the mirror neurons system.


Islands are increasingly used to protect endangered populations from the negative impacts of invasive species. Quarantine efforts on islands are typically undervalued, however. Using a field-based removal experiment, we estimate the economic value of quarantine efforts aimed at keeping invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) off Australian islands. We estimate a mean density of 3444 [2744, 4386] individual toads per km2 and a mean per-night detection probability of 0.1 [0.07,0.13]. Using a removal model and estimates of economic costs incurred during toad removal, we estimate that eradicating cane toads would cost AUD$96,556 per km2. Across islands that have been prioritized for conservation benefit across the toads predicted range, we estimate the remaining value of toad quarantine to be more than $1.3 billion. The value of a proposed waterless barrier on the mainland to prevent the spread of toads into the Pilbara was in excess of $26 billion. We conclude that quarantine of toads across Australia provides substantial value in prevented eradication costs.


For the analysis of affected sib pairs (ASPs), a variety of test statistics is applied in genomewide scans with microsatellite markers. Even in multipoint analyses, these statistics might not fully exploit the power of a given sample, because they do not account for incomplete informativity of an ASP. For meta-analyses of linkage and association studies, it has been shown recently that weighting by informativity increases statistical power. With this idea in mind, the first aim of this article was to introduce a new class of tests for ASPs that are based on the mean test. To take into account how much informativity an ASP contributes, we weighted families inversely proportional to their marker informativity. The weighting scheme is obtained by use of the de Finetti representation of the distribution of identity-by-descent values. We derive the limiting distribution of the weighted mean test and demonstrate the validity of the proposed test. We show that it can be much more powerful than the classical mean test in the case of low marker informativity. In the second part of the article, we propose a Monte Carlo simulation approach for evaluating significance among ASPs. We demonstrate the validity of the simulation approach for both the classical and the weighted mean test. Finally, we illustrate the use of the weighted mean test by reanalyzing two published data sets. In both applications, the maximum LOD score of the weighted mean test is 0.6 higher than that of the classical mean test.


ABSTRACT: A major blood group antigenic epitope was identified on human pulmonary surfactant protein A (SPA). MAb and polyclonal antibodies generated against purified human SP-A aggregated blood group A human erythrocytes and immunostaine epithelial cells in a variety of human tissues, consistent with the tissue distribution of major blood group antigens. SP-A MAb (MAb-8) agglutinated red cells and immunostained tissues from A or AB blood groups, but did not react with cells or tissues from O or B individuals. MAb-8 immunostaining of tissue from blood group A individuals was ablated by incubation with blood group A red cells. MAb and polyclonal antibodies directed against A blood group antigens reacted strongly with purified SP-A obtained from a blood group A individual with alveolar proteinosis. MAb and polyclonal antibodies specific for B blood group antigen failed to react with SP-A from this patient or from patients who were in blood group B. Reactivity of anti-blood group MAb was lost after treatment of SP-A with endoglycosidase-F, demonstrating its reactivity with an epitope dependent on the asparagine-linked oligosaccharide at asparagine 187. Reactivity of MAb-8 with SP-A persisted after endoglycosidase-F treatment, but was lost after digestion with collegenase as assessed by Western blot after SDS-PAGE. Reactivity of MAb to SP-A was sensitive to β-elimination, supporting the presence of another blood group antigenic site distinct from the epitope dependent on the asparagine-linked carbohydrate. The finding that the SP-A molecule contains a major blood group epitope has implication for the clinical use of surfactant replacement preparations and diagnostic reagents based on this protein.


Bearing-fault-diagnosis problem can be conceived as a pattern recognition problem, which includes three main phases: feature extraction, feature selection and feature classification. Thus, to improve the performance of the whole bearing-fault-diagnosis system, the performance of each phase must be improved. The aim of this study is threefold. First, in the feature extraction step, a new feature extraction technique based on non-local-means de-noising and empirical mode decomposition is developed to more accurately obtain fault-characteristic information. Second, in the feature selection phase, a novel two-stage feature selection, hybrid distance evaluation technique (DET)–particle swarm optimisation (PSO), is proposed by combining DET and PSO to select the superior combining feature subset that discriminates well among classes. Third, in the classification phase, a comparison among three types of popular classifiers: K-nearest neighbours, probabilistic neural network and support-vector machine is done to figure out the sensitivity of each classifier corresponding to the irrelevant and redundant features and the curse of dimensionality; then, find out a most suitable classifier incorporating with feature selection phase. The experimental results for the vibration signal of the bearing are shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed fault-diagnosis scheme.


ABSTRACT
Introduction. Obesity is a condition that increases the challenges in the surgical process. Obesity increases the risk of sleep apnea and affects anaesthetics. This case report aims to discuss the management of anaesthesia in a patient with morbid obesity.
Case. Female, 26 years old, with intramural uterine myoma and morbid obesity, will undergo myomectomy per laparotomy with ASA II physical status, performed anaesthesia with general anaesthesia intubation technique using the anaesthetic agent Propofol 1-2.5 mg/kg titration until the patient falls asleep, fentanyl 1-2 mcg/kg, then the patient was intubated in a ramped position with sleep non-apnea. After it was confirmed that the ETT was entered, 30 mg of a muscle relaxant (atracurium) was added. The operation lasts 1 hour 30 minutes, with a bleeding 250 cc, hemodynamically stable.Conclusion. Morbid obesity has extraordinary implications for anaesthetic management. Various considerations for patients with morbid obesity are needed starting from the preoperative, intraoperative, to postoperative periods. Regional anaesthesia is preferred because the physiological function of unhealthy obese patients is impaired due to excess body weight. Selection of anaesthetic agent and calculation of drug dose is crucial to know because there is a change in the volume of distribution. The pharmacokinetics of most general anaesthetics are affected by the adipose tissue mass, produce a prolonged drug effect, and less predictable.


We study reversible polymerization of rings. In this stochastic process, two monomers bond and, as a consequence, two disjoint rings may merge into a compound ring or a single ring may split into two fragment rings. This aggregation-fragmentation process exhibits a percolation transition with a finite-ring phase in which all rings have microscopic length and a giant-ring phase where macroscopic rings account for a finite fraction of the entire mass. Interestingly, while the total mass of the giant rings is a deterministic quantity, their total number and their sizes are stochastic quantities. The size distribution of the macroscopic rings is universal, although the span of this distribution increases with time. Moreover, the average number of giant rings scales logarithmically with system size. We introduce a card-shuffling algorithm for efficient simulation of the ring formation process and we present numerical verification of the theoretical predictions.


Gaining knowledge about the biodiversity of an area is a prerequisite to understanding and protecting the inhabiting species. Very little is known about cetacean species and their distribution in Qatar marine waters. The Al Shaheen offshore oil extraction platforms situated in the Arabian Gulf 85 km NE of Qatar mainland have been identified as a hotspot for plankton feeding whale sharks and cetacean species have been sighted consistently in the area during whale shark surveys. Several different species of cetaceans have been sighted but no official records have been published nor has any monitoring been carried out so far. It is important for conservation and management to understand the ecological consequences of human utilisation of marine habitats. Anthropogenic noise in the marine environment is increasing as a consequence of such utilisation and may have a great impact on the behaviour and overall fitness of marine mammals in the vicinity of noise sources (Richardson et al. 1995). A 2 year monitoring project around a Danish Maersk gas production platform initiated in 2013 has indicated that production platforms potentially act as a hotspot for harbour porpoises regardless of the increased noise levels from the ongoing human activities (Balle et al. 2014). It is possible that a similar positive effect is seen with the cetacean species sighted in the Al Shaheen area. Alternatively, Al Shaheen may have a high natural productivity, attracting large fish and cetaceans. Using state of the art marine acoustic technology, 2 passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) stations using Wildlife Acoustic SM3M+ broadband loggers (384 kHz sample rate, 16 bit, -165dB re 1V/µPa single hydrophones) with Sub Sea Sonic AR-60-E acoustic releasers were deployed in August 2014. One station (AlShaheen800) was deployed within 800 m of an operating production platform and a reference station (Alshaheen12800) at 12 kilometres distance within the Al Shaheen area. Here, we will present preliminary diurnal and seasonal variation from the first three deployment periods (Aug-Oct 2014, Feb-Apr 2015 and May-July 2015) and visual identification of 3 species (dwarf spinner dolphin, long-beaked common dolphin and indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin) encountered in the Al Shaheen area. To our knowledge, this is the first time the dwarf spinner dolphin has been sighted in the Arabian Gulf. We also wish to stress the requirement for an ongoing monitoring effort (visually and acoustically) to further understand and document the distribution of cetacean species inhabiting the Al Shaheen area. Balle, Jeppe Dalgaard, Clausen, Karin Tubbert, Mikkelsen, Lonnie, Wisniewska, Danuta Maria & Teilmann, Jonas 2014. Harbour Porpoises and noise around an operating oil and gas production platform in the North Sea – Status report. Nature Agency, Danish Ministry of Environment. Richardson, W.J., Malme, C.I., Green Jr., C.R., Thomson, D.H., 1995. Marine Mammals and Noise. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA.


We establish some new common fixed point theorems of single-valued and multivalued mappings operating between complete ordered locally convex spaces under weaker assumptions. As an application, we prove a new minimax theorem of existence of a solution of a game.


The defining characteristic of a networked control system (NCS) is having a feedback loop that passes through a computer network. Contrasting to this time delay introduced by the network, a delay-dependent stabilization condition of discrete-time linear system with time-varying delays is proposed. Based on this condition, the stabilization controller and H/sub /spl infin// controller of NCS are constructed and the solutions of these controllers are given through an iterative procedure of a linear matrix inequality (LMI) minimum problem which is derived from cone complementarity linearization algorithm. A numerical example is given to illustrate the proposed results.


Barium titanate (BTO) hollow particles were prepared using two-step chemical solution deposition with a template particle. Polystyrene (PSt) was selected as the template particle, and N-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide (HMAm) was polymerized as a comonomer to generate the hydrophilic group on the PSt template particle surface. The BTO monophase was attained at [Ba]/[TiO2] = 1.0 using 350°C pre-annealed TiO2 precursor hollow particles. The obtained BTO particle was a hollow structure with shell thickness of approximately 45 nm. The surface area of the obtained BTO hollow particle was 12m2/g, which was approximately twice as large as that of alkoxide-derived BTO particles created with the same annealing temperature.


Inspired by recent and ongoing changes in the legislative landscape, this study investigates the democratization of investments by the legalization of offering investment opportunities to the general public through so-called non-accredited equity crowdfunding. The objective of this study is to investigate whether non-accredited equity crowdfunding has the potential to attract smart money from angel investors.The study was primarily conducted through a combination of literature review and in-depth interviews with experienced angel investors to gain a qualitative understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations of investment decisions as well as a clear connecti on to theory and previous research.The empirical study showed a high level of consensus in the attitude of the interviewed angel investors towards non-accredited equity crowdfunding. The conclusion drawn from the empirical findings is that no significant evidence was found that supports the possibility for early-stage ventures to increase their chances of attracting smart money from angel nvestors by turning to non-accredited equity crowdfunding. Positive attitudes were expressed towards parts of the funding process and indirect benefits were discussed but the rguments often lacked consensus amongst the experts and opinions about the potential ownsides dominated the interviews. Only non-financial motives were unanimously considered viable reasons to invest and take an active role in the crowdfunded company, but ather as a form of charity than for the sake of making a profit from the investment.


To evaluate ambulatory cancer chemotherapy, the clinical response, toxicities and survival time were analysed among 12 outpatients with recurrent breast cancer who were treated by sequential methotrexate (MTX)/5-FU therapy for the past 2 years. In this study, MTX (70 mg/m2, i.v.) and 5-FU (370 mg/m2, d.i.v.) were given on days 1 and 15 every 4 weeks, the 5-FU being given one hour after the MTX. Partial response (PR) was observed in 3 patients (25%), no change (NC) in 9. One-year survival ratio was 59%, and 7 out of 12 patients survived at the end of this study. The median disease free interval was 7.3 months, and 3 cases survived for more than one year without disease. Although nausea/vomiting, stomatitis, leukopenia and alopecia were noted, no severe side effects were observed. These results suggested that sequential MTX/5-FU therapy might be a useful ambulatory cancer chemotherapy for patients with recurrent breast cancer.


ABSTRACT
Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been reported to be at an increased risk of infertility and sexual dysfunction. Although the relationship between them remains unclear, IBD severity is suspected to affect hormone levels and fertility. To analyze the impact of IBD severity on semen parameters and sex hormone levels in ulcerative colitis-type IBD (UC-IBD), we conducted a cross-sectional study involving 120 patients with UC-IBD in Adam Malik General Hospital, Medan, Indonesia. The patients were classified into three groups based on the Mayo score for UC, followed by a comparison of various semen and hormone parameters among these groups. In addition to the cross-sectional analysis, a simple correlation test was conducted irrespective of the patient grouping. Sperm concentration, motility, and morphology were found to decline significantly with an increase in IBD severity. Without classifying patients with IBD into subgroups, the Mayo score showed negative correlations with sperm concentration (r = -0.375, P < 0.0001), rapid progressive motility (r = -0.660, P < 0.0001), free testosterone (r = -0.732, P < 0.0001), and total testosterone (r = -0.721, P < 0.0001), and positive correlations with immotile sperm (r = 0.660, P < 0.0001), abnormal morphology (r = 0.657, P < 0.0001), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG; r = 0.278, P = 0.002). Sperm concentration, motility, and morphology declined significantly with the severity of IBD. This study suggests a significant negative impact of IBD severity on semen quality and sex hormones.


Cross‐sectional studies suggested that allergy prevalence in childhood is higher in boys compared to girls, but it remains unclear whether this inequality changes after puberty. We examined the sex‐specific prevalence of asthma and rhinitis as single and as multimorbid diseases before and after puberty onset in longitudinal cohort data.


Fractal dimension is an important tool for the analysis of medical images. MR images and the mammographic images give a detailed view of both benign and malignant lesions. This work focuses on the extraction of boundary and analysis of its fractal dimensions to classify the benign and malignant lesions. The boundary of the lesion is extracted using fuzzy c-means clustering. The lesion contour is then converted into time series using "freeman's chain code". The resultant time series is used for fractal analysis using non-linear technique called Higuchi algorithm. This algorithm generates a single value which discriminates between benign and malignant structures. This classification of lesions is made using k-nearest neighbor pattern classifier. As a means of confirming the result the histopathological images of the tissues were used. The steps involved include selecting the region of interest of the histopatholgical images and analysis of its fractal dimensions to classify the benign and malignant lesion cells. BoxCounting algorithm is applied on the selected region to obtain various fractal features such as coarseness, lacunarity and complexity of the cells. Based on the obtained values classification of lesions is made using k-nearest neighbor pattern classifier. The results proved that these methods serve as an effective tool for diagnosis .


Emerging zoonotic viruses as West Nile virus (WNV), SARS coronavirus, and avian influenza viruses have raised concern about their potential presence in blood/plasma. However, so far only WNV has been demonstrated to be transmitted via blood transfusion. Pasteurization (heat treatment in aqueous stabilized solution at 60°C for 10 hours) is an integral part of the manufacturing process of ZLB Behring's coagulation factor concentrates such as Haemate P / Humate-P, Monoclate-P, Beriate P, and Berinin P as well as other plasma-derived medicinal products. Therefore, the virus inactivation capacity of this manufacturing step was evaluated utilizing these emerging viruses or appropriate model viruses in virus spiking studies in order to assess the safety of plasma derivatives. The studies demonstrated that WNV was inactivated very effectively by pasteurization in different plasma derivatives resulting in an inactivation factor of more than 7 log10 and that BVDV (bovine viral diarrhea virus, as WNV a member of the family Flaviviridae) is a suitable model virus for WNV. Furthermore, coronaviruses and influenza viruses, of both avian and human origin, were highly susceptible to inactivation by pasteurization resulting in complete inactivation of virus infectivity within a short period of time. In addition, feline calicivirus, a model virus for hepatitis E virus (HEV), was inactivated very effectively within a short period of time. We demonstrate that pasteurization is an effective method to inactivate the emerging viruses WNV, SARS coronavirus, and avian influenza viruses as well as HEV below detection limit of a sensitive cell culture infectivity assay resulting in a safe plasma derivative.


ABSTRACT Stress granules (SGs) are cytoplasmic structures that are induced in response to environmental stress, including viral infections. Here we report that hepatitis C virus (HCV) triggers the appearance of SGs in a PKR- and interferon (IFN)-dependent manner. Moreover, we show an inverse correlation between the presence of stress granules and the induction of IFN-stimulated proteins, i.e., MxA and USP18, in HCV-infected cells despite high-level expression of the corresponding MxA and USP18 mRNAs, suggesting that interferon-stimulated gene translation is inhibited in stress granule-containing HCV-infected cells. Finally, in short hairpin RNA (shRNA) knockdown experiments, we found that the stress granule proteins T-cell-restricted intracellular antigen 1 (TIA-1), TIA1-related protein (TIAR), and RasGAP-SH3 domain binding protein 1 (G3BP1) are required for efficient HCV RNA and protein accumulation at early time points in the infection and that G3BP1 and TIA-1 are required for intracellular and extracellular infectious virus production late in the infection, suggesting that they are required for virus assembly. In contrast, TIAR downregulation decreases extracellular infectious virus titers with little effect on intracellular RNA content or infectivity late in the infection, suggesting that it is required for infectious particle release. Collectively, these results illustrate that HCV exploits the stress granule machinery at least two ways: by inducing the formation of SGs by triggering PKR phosphorylation, thereby downregulating the translation of antiviral interferon-stimulated genes, and by co-opting SG proteins for its replication, assembly, and egress.


Rogue waves are unexpectedly large deviations from equilibrium or otherwise calm positions in physical systems, e.g. hydrodynamic waves and optical beam intensities. The profiles and points of maximum displacements of these rogue waves are correlated with the movement of poles of the exact solutions extended to the complex plane through analytic continuation. Such links are shown to be surprisingly precise for the first order rogue wave of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) and the derivative NLS equations. A computational study on the second order rogue waves of the NLS equation also displays remarkable agreements.


The combination of experimental and computational methods used for the study of redox equilibria of sulphur in glass melts makes possible to reveal mechanism and time sequence of redox phenomena taking place during melting process. Both methods were applied for the optimization ofsc. reducing sulphate refining realized by the addition of sulphate and reducing agent to the glass batch. The results of experiments supported by the model calculation showed that proper combination of both components at the same time improves homogenization and refining of glass melt and suppresses unwanted bubble nucleation at maximal melting temperatures.


Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) did not suffer in the financial crisis the way residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) did. CMBS, unlike RMBS, are backed by a variety of income-producing properties. All four CMBS primary property types—office, retail, multifamily, and lodging—responded to improving economic data in 2010, albeit in varying degrees, and we expect this trend to accelerate in 2011. Along with improving operating incomes in the medium term, commercial properties should also benefit from declining capitalization rates (annual net operating income/cost or value). In addition to improving fundamentals, we expect several technical factors to prop up CMBS pricing in 2011, including limited supply and growing demand for CMBS paper. While the overall picture looks positive, several significant risks could derail CMBS performance, including an interest rate shock and slower than expected economic recovery.


Functional Graded Structures and Functional Graded parts, made using dissimilar materials, are designed to provide specific properties to the final product. One of the most promising methods for manufacturing 3D Functional Graded objects is 3D laser cladding and/or direct energy deposition. However, the construction of graded and especially layered graded structures in the process of joining materials with different thermophysical properties under certain conditions is accompanied by the formation of cracks along the phase boundaries, which are a consequence of residual stresses and/or chemical segregations. The conditions for phase consolidation are macroscopic balancing of residual stresses in the region of the interface. In a broader sense, in the field of the interface, it is necessary to consider the thermodynamic equilibrium of the phases in connection with mechanical equilibrium. In this regard, the article proposed criteria for the thermodynamic affinity of phases in the area of the Functional Graded Structures interface, including the coefficients of thermal expansion and isobaric and isochoric heat capacities of the phases. Examples of cracking and the use of the obtained criteria are provided.


The small subunits of two calcium dependent proteases from rabbit with different calcium sensitivities were isolated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and their properties were compared. The isolated subunits were indistinguishable on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and HPLC. Their amino acid compositions were identical, and the peptides obtained on their digestion with lysyl-endopeptidase showed identical peptide maps on HPLC. Furthermore, the amino acid compositions and partial amino acid sequences of the corresponding peptides purified by HPLC were the same. These results indicate that the two calcium protease isozymes possess the same small subunit.


How can we best understand and promote integrity, a constant value, within the everchanging context of legal work? Should lawyers, educators and regulators tilt their kaleidoscopes toward the sciences or the humanities in order to grasp the meaning of good lawyering? All of our present contributors are concerned with this basic problem of defining and refining moral standards within legal practice. Two of our lead articles were first presented as papers to the Second International Conference on Lawyers' Ethics held in Auckland in June 2006 while all three, in different ways, shake up established views and offer colourful new perspectives on what constitutes and supports ethical legal practice.1 Our first article, by Ho, points out that the concept of legal professional privilege is multidimensional and that, depending on whether one's viewpoint is that of the lawyer or client, the concept can be seen as a duty, a power or a right. Ho argues that we have rather lost the plot with this basic principle of major importance to the administration of justice and that the best way to approach the concept is in terms of "the lawyer's exemption from compulsory disclosure". Tracing the historical evolution of the concept, he notes that within the common law world privilege has both expanded and increasingly assumed an elevated, if not exaggerated, status such that today it has virtually become an absolute and fundamental right that unfairly supports the economic self-interest of lawyers. In order to have a better balanced view of the concept Ho argues for its more limited application, suggesting that it be confined to lawyer-client communications made within the context of representation in the legal process. Thus any confidential communications between lawyer and client made outside this limited context should be governed not by an absolute privilege, but by a contextual and less rigid law of confidentiality. While allowing proper recognition of the enduring significance of privilege, this approach, according to Ho, still respects the true purpose and value of the concept through limiting the scope for lawyers to (ab)use it, either as a shield to evade liability or as a means of asserting a dominant position over other providers in the market for legal services.


We introduce multidimensional feature structures as a generalization of standard slot/filler representations commonly employed in spoken language dialogue systems. Nodes in multidimensional feature structures contain an n dimensional vector of values instead of one single filler element. The additional elements serve to represent, among other information, confidence measures of speech recognizers or the number of times a filler has been queried. We demonstrate the application of multidimensional feature structures to spoken dialogue systems. We show that unification based dialogue processing can be retained as long as the elements of the fillers are drawn from partially ordered sets. The dialogue manager employs a variant of constraint logic programming for representing dialogue strategies and update rules. The constraint logic program partitions the space of possible dialogue states in sets of states that are equivalent for the dialogue strategy.


The protection of sensitive information is of utmost importance for organizations. The complexity and dynamism of modern businesses are forcing a re-think of traditional protection mechanisms. In particular, a priori policy en-forcement mechanisms are often complemented with auditing mechanisms that rely on an a posteriori analysis of logs recording users' activities to prove confor-mity to policies and detect policy violations when a valid explanation of confor-mity does not exist. However, existing auditing solutions require that the infor-mation necessary to assess policy compliance is available for the analysis. This assumption is not realistic. Indeed, a good deal of users' activities may not be under the control of the IT system and thus they cannot be logged. In this paper we tackle the problem of accessing policy compliance in presence of incomplete logs. In particular, we present an auditing framework to assist analysts in find-ing a valid explanation for the events recorded in the logs and to pinpoint policy violations if such an explanation does not exist, when logs are incomplete. We also introduce two strategies for the refinement of plausible explanations of con-formity to drive analysts along the auditing process. Our framework has been implemented on top of CIFF, an abductive proof procedure, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the refinement strategies evaluated.


The use of ambulatory assessment (AA; Trull & Ebner-Priemer, 2013) in psychopathology research, which includes experience-sampling methods as well as ecological momentary assessment, has increased dramatically over the last several decades. Previously, methodological and reporting guidelines have been presented to outline best practices and provide input on methodological issues and decisions that are faced when planning and conducting AA studies (e.g., Bolger & Laurenceau, 2013; Mehl & Conner, 2012; Stone & Shiffman, 2002). However, despite the publication of these important resources and guidelines, it remains an open question as to how much uniformity or consistency is evident in the design and reporting of AA studies of psychopathology. To address this, we reviewed the reported practices of published studies using AA in major psychopathology journals (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychological Medicine, Clinical Psychological Science) over the last 7 years (2012-2018). Our review highlights (a) sample selection and size; (b) sampling design; (c) selection and reporting of measures; (d) devices used and software; (e) compliance; (f) participant training, monitoring and remuneration; and (g) data management and analysis. We conclude with recommendations for reporting the features of future AA studies in psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


A recently developed method for the solution of the space-dependent electron Boltzmann equation in higher-order accuracy has been adopted to study the behaviour of the electrons in the anode region of a dc glow discharge. This method is based upon a multiterm approximation of the Legendre polynomial expansion of the electron velocity distribution function. Generalizing the boundary conditions, in particular for the partially absorbing anode, the impact of the anode fall and the influence of the electron absorption at the anode on the spatial behaviour of the electron kinetic properties have been investigated in various approximation orders. The analysis has shown that the simplified treatment of the kinetic equation using only the first two terms of the velocity distribution expansion can lead to considerable falsifications of the convergent behaviour. In general, the convergent solution of the significant components of the electron velocity distribution and all important macroscopic quantities is obtained by a multiterm approximation including six to eight terms of that expansion. The discrepancies between the two-term and convergent results are found to depend sensitively on the parameters of the anode fall. In addition, the multiterm results are compared with corresponding ones obtained by accurate Monte Carlo simulations. Very good agreement between the convergent eight-term Boltzmann and Monte Carlo simulations is found.


Saponin-containing feed additives have shown positive effects on pig performance. Quinoa hull has high saponin content and may be of interest as a feed additive. This study aimed to evaluate quinoa hull meal (QHM) as a feed additive in a pig diet. The effects of QHM were assessed for three dosages of South American (SA) origin (100, 300 and 500 mg/kg) and one dosage of Danish (DK) quinoa (300 mg/kg). In addition, the effect of dietary SA-QHM and SA-QHM-extract on jejunal epithelial physiology was studied ex vivo in Ussing chambers. The experiment included 400 piglets weaned at 28 ± 2 days of age and the experimental period was 4 weeks. Piglets were weighed initially and finally and feed intake registered. The ex vivo studies were performed with epithelium from 40 pigs receiving control or SA-QHM. Epithelium from each pig was placed into eight Ussing chambers, where four concentrations of SA-QHM-extract were added. Epithelial permeability, Na(+)-dependent glucose transport and serotonin (5-HT) and theophylline-induced secretion were measured. The results showed that QHM had no influence on piglet's growth (p = 0.41) or feed intake (p = 0.17). In spite of a large difference in saponin content between SA-QHM and DK-QHM (28.7% and 2.0% w/w respectively) the source did not affect pig performance. The ex vivo studies revealed no effect (p > 0.05) of adding QHM-extract into the medium. The permeability and glucose induced absorption were highest (p = 0.003 and p = 0.04 respectively) in epithelium from pigs that consumed 100 or 300 mg/kg SA-QHM. The secretory response to 5-HT was not affected (p = 0.59) by dietary treatments, but the theophylline-induced secretion decreased (p = 0.02) with increasing dietary SA-QHM. The changes in epithelial physiology measured ex vivo did not affect animal performance in vivo in this study.


Purpose The results of ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) bearing surfaces in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) were well known. However, it was not known in revision THA. The purpose of this study is to report the results of revision THA with ceramic articulation. Materials and Methods A total of 112 revision THAs were evaluated. The mean age at the time of surgery was 51.6 years (27.7 to 84.2 years). The mean duration of the follow-up periods was 6.3 years (2.3 to 11.4 years). Results The Harris hip scores improved from an average of 56.2 at the index surgery to an average of 93.3 at the last follow-up (P<0.001). None of hips showed osteolysis or ceramic head fracture. One hip showed aseptic loosening in the acetabular component with squeaking that caused a re-revision. There were nine cases of dislocation. The survivorship at 5 years was 94.5% (95% confidence interval, 87.9% to 97.6%) with revision for any reason as the endpoint and 100% with femoral revision. Conclusion The ceramic articulation is one of good bearing options for revision THA in patients with a long life expectancy.


Background: MCB3681, a novel quinolonyl-oxazolidinone antibacterial, is active against quinolone- and/or linezolidresistant Gram-positive bacteria. Thus, MCB3681 may interact with other targets than quinolones and oxazolidinones.
 Methods and Findings: Protein expression in S. aureus following short-term exposure to MCB3681 was analyzed using 2D-gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-MS/MS. Synthesis of 13 and 16 proteins was induced or repressed, respectively. Among the induced proteins are four ribosomal proteins. Repressed are proteins from different amino acid synthesis pathways, two aminoacyl-tRNAsynthetases, and methicillin-resistance-factor-protein FemB.
 Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that the impact of MCB3681 on the proteome signature of treated S. aureus cells is different from that of either ciprofloxacin or linezolid.


Abstract Reconciling Carboniferous Accretions: A Performance Script is a spatial writing text that sets the scene for a site-specific performance at The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME) in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Like any script, the text anticipates the possibility of multiple performances, and yet when augmented visually by sketches, photographs and dialogue, the script recalls one version of what did happen at its only performance to date as part of the Architecture and Humanities Research Association's (AHRA) Industries of Architecture conference in November 2014. The artwork advocates for coal as a live material caught up amongst material–corporeal relations, an approach that emerges from of the philosophies of Luce Irigaray, Donna Haraway, Jane Bennett and Elizabeth Grosz. The performance proceeds as a love poem to coal, a recitation that poses a radical encounter with geological processes, opencast mining practices and a red-carpeted room in NEIMME set aside for coalmining conciliations and Freemason meetings.


Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired blood disease with distinct and rather peculiar characteristics that have puzzled hematologists for more than a century. PNH cells are deficient in a set of membrane proteins that have in common a glycolipid anchor. We refer to this combination of deficiencies as the PNH abnormality or the PNH phenotype. Biochemical analysis has recently made it possible to pinpoint the metabolic block in PNH cells to an early step in the biosynthesis of the glycolipid anchor. This block is due in turn to the deficiency of a protein, called PIG‐A, which is encoded by an X‐linked gene. Expression cloning of the PIG‐A gene has been followed by the identification in patients with PNH of somatic mutations in this gene that inactivate or impair the function of the PIG‐A protein. These findings explain in full the molecular basis of the PNH abnormality, but they do not explain how the PNH clone, which is biochemically defective, can expand to the extent of contributing a substantial proportion of the patient's hematopoiesis. Thus a second factor is required to explain the pathogenesis of PNH. This is most likely the coexistence of an element of bone marrow failure that produces, paradoxically, a survival or growth advantage for the PNH clone. The notion that the injury causing failure of normal stem cells spares selectively cells with the PNH phenotype is supported by a number of observations, including the finding of multiple independently arisen PNH clones in patients with PNH.


Metadiscourse in writing is the linguistic signals and expressions used by a writer to organise a text while connecting with readers. This paper reports a preliminary study conducted to discover the existence of metadiscourse markers from interactive resources category, in good and weak persuasive essays written by year two undergraduate students at a selected public university in Malaysia. In the interpersonal model of metadiscourse introduced by Hyland (2005), the two main categories of metadiscourse are interactive and interactional resources. This study focuses on interactive metadiscourse because the markers in this category assists a writer to help the flow of ideas in a text. A collection of undergraduate essays from a public university in Malaysia was collected to create two corpora of 269 good 271 and weak essays, yielding a total number of 143, 407 and 143, 285 tokens respectively. These essays were taken from the participants' final examination answer scripts for English course at the end of second semester of their study. The metadiscourse markers in the students' essays were searched with the aid of a concordance software, WordSmith 5.0. More items of metadiscourse markers are found in good essays as compared to the weaker essays. This finding shows that the different quality of essays and their ratings affect the frequency of metadiscourse markers in the essays. However, based on the sub-categories of metadiscourse, only two sub-categories (transitions and code glosses) were found higher in the good essays while the other three (frame markers, endophoric markers and evidentials) were higher in the weak essays. Thus, the level of awareness and needs in using such metadiscourse markers are different between these two corpora. This study is hoped to path way for further studies on the use of metadiscourse in Malaysian undergraduates' essays.
Keywords: ESL undergraduates' essays, metadiscourse, interactive resources, text organisation, flow of text.
Cite as: Mohamed, A.F. & Rashid, R.A. (2019). Interactive resources of metadiscourse markers in good and weak undergraduate essays. Trends in Social Sciences, 1(1), 1-6.


The introduction of mass privatization policies in Russia and the Czech Republic depended on the creation of impersonal capital markets to finance the needs of privatized companies and to provide a secondary market for the trading of securities. Yet, mass privatization created the contradictory conditions of generating millions of poorly informed shareholders, with no efficient markets for the sale of the shares. The absence of financial markets created systematic pressures to move assets by illegal or non-transparent means to users who value them more. Privatization created the incentives to destroy the financial markets critical to its success. A comparative case analysis of post-privatization market formation in both these countries demonstrates that the functional necessity for these markets does not engender their own creation. In the absence of institutional mechanisms of state regulation and trust, markets become arenas for political contests and economic manipulation. The irony of these policies is that a principal lesson has been that market reforms cannot create viable markets, only institutional formation can. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.


The overarching purpose of this project is to expand upon our understanding of the nature of self-consciousness. Specifically, I investigate our sense of self as a subject of experience, as one and the same experiencer extended over time. Conceptual inquiry and cognitive psychology studies are the primary means of investigation. I seek to fulfill two primary goals. First, I make the case for the distinction between consciousness of the self-as-subject (SAS) and self-as-object (SAO). I lay forth the conceptual foundations for this distinction and discuss the properties of SAS consciousness. I
also review empirical literature that reveals, intentionally or not, the importance of the distinction.
Second, after reviewing the present state of existing studies pertaining to SAS consciousness, I present a complete study and a preliminary study that I undertook to identify and investigate the mechanism responsible for the phenomenon. I examine the relationship between SAS consciousness and other cognitive faculties, specifically episodic memory and attention. I claim that episodic memory is dependent upon SAS consciousness, and that attention must be paid to self for episodic memory to
form. In the first study, I examine the effects of distraction on SAS consciousness in adult participants. In the second, preliminary study, I turn my attention to children, investigating how SAS consciousness develops in 3-5 year-olds, with respect to other aspects of self-consciousness.


ABSTRACT To what extent is making peace not a neutral or impartial exercise? By analysing the peace initiatives undertaken in Somalia and Somaliland (1991–95), this article questions the positionality and alignment of the actors involved, and claims that neither process has been an impartial exercise. To explore this argument the article first theoretically frames how supporters and critics of liberal peace elaborate on the dilemma of neutrality and impartiality. Departing from Lederach's criticism of impartiality, I claim that the UN–US intervention in Somalia has been an instrument of division, as well as leverage for political and military advantage. External interveners have initially subverted the internal distribution of power, but they lacked the commitment and material capacity of sustaining the preferred 'winning' faction. By unpacking the category of 'local' I then map the protagonists of the Somaliland pacification, as well the mechanism of institution-building that enabled a multi-scale of stakeholders to sustain the conflict resolution. This analysis contributes to reconceptualise the political architecture of making peace. It also helps to disentangle the study of peace and violence from the myths of the liberal, neutral, intervention doctrine.


Estimation of the temporal information encoded in the observed hemodynamic response in functional MRI (fMRI) is of great interest. One assumption that most of the current studies make is that the mean waveform observed is consistently locked with the stimulus and variably distributed about its mean. Because the noise is high any violations of this assumption are not easily observed. The authors have developed a method for filtering and tracking the hemodynamic response using a recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm and probabilistic shift maps (psm). The authors' initial results clearly demonstrate an overall change in the amplitude from greater to lesser and a latency shift from shorter to longer in primary visual cortex. These changes may indicate fatigue or adaptation of the neuronal patterns or blood supply. The fact that one observes a change in primary visual cortex is notable since this suggests that changes in brain regions which are specialized for higher cognitive functions may exhibit even larger changes. This suggests the importance of determining the degree to which the measured brain region adapts to the paradigm presented in an fMRI experiment.


This work deals to the analyzis of t he multifactor productivity index, as well as its partial productivity for the Brazilian agroindustry. To do it, the PIA, published by IBGE was used, for the years of 1996 and 2006. By using these data, it was possible to show the importancy of agroindustry to Brasil economy. Following to that, the aproximation of Tornquivst indeed metodology was used to calculate the productivity. There was, with the construction of partial productivity index, that the capital input and the labor input of the agroindustry showed itself productive. And with the use of the Tornqvist method to the calculation multifactor productivity, the agroindustry showed a productivity growth of 26,11% at the end of the period analyzed.


The corticospinal tract (CST) is refractory to repair after CNS trauma, resulting in chronic debilitating functional motor deficits after spinal cord injury. While novel pro-axon growth activators have stimulated plasticity and regeneration of corticospinal neurons (CSNs) after injury, robust functional recovery remains elusive. These repair strategies are sub-optimal in part due to underexplored molecular heterogeneity within the developing and adult CST. In this study, we combine retrograde CST tracing with single-cell RNA sequencing to build a comprehensive atlas of CSN subtypes. By comparing CSNs to non-spinally projecting neurons in layer Vb, we identify pan-CSN markers including Wnt7b. By leveraging retrograde tracing, we are able to compare forelimb and hindlimb projecting CSNs, identifying subtype-specific markers, including Cacng7 and Slc16a2 respectively. These markers are expressed in embryonic and neonatal CSNs and can be used to study early postnatal patterning of the CST. Our results provide molecular insight into the differences between anatomically distinct CSN subtypes and provide a resource for future screening and exploitation of these subtypes to repair the damaged CST after injury and disease.


Background: Nutritional status assessment is a method for nutritional care which aims to determine nutritional needs and to meet nutritional requirements. Pregnant and lactating mothers are considered vulnerable groups. The use of this method, especially for determination of calorie and protein intake has positive effects on growth of neonates. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assess the nutritional status of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 80 pregnant mothers were selected from private and public hospitals in Arak. Data were gathered through a questionnaire including general information concerning pregnant mothers and their nutritional diet. The analysis of dietary intake was done by nutritionist IV software. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The average weight gain for pregnant mothers at the end of pregnancy was 10.1kg. The mean of body mass index for the mothers was 22.2 kg/m 2 , and the average weight for neonates was 2.5 kg. The average energy intakes in mothers were equal compared with RDA, and the average protein intake was greater compared with RDA. There was a significant positive correlation between weight gain during and total body weight at the end of pregnancy (r=0.93) (P<0.01). Also, there was a significant negative correlation between weight of pre pregnancy and percent of weight gain at the end of pregnancy (r=-0.39) (P<0. 01). A significant positive correlation was found between total body weight at the end of pregnancy and birth weight of neonates (r=0.34) (P<0. 01). Conclusion: Adequate nutritional status of mothers influenced normal body weight in neonates.


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The authors report a detailed study on the deposition because of scattered Ga ions during the focused ion beam chemical vapour deposition (FIB-CVD). The scattered ions strike the surface of the substrate nearby the base of the structure being fabricated by the primary ions, and decompose the organometallic molecules adsorbed on it, leading to the broadening of the base. Such deposition is dominant up to several micron distances from the base of the nanostructures depending on the primary ion flux. During the FIB-CVD, similar deposition occurs on the surface of nearby pre-fabricated structures, situated up to a few micrometre distances from the nanostructure being fabricated. The scattered-ion-induced deposition complicates the fabrication of complex 3D structures. The authors present the parametric dependence of the deposition because of scattered Ga ions during FIB-CVD.


In this paper, the authors consider an asynchronous direct-sequence code division multiple access (DS/CDMA) system wherein users are allowed to transmit their symbols at one out of two available data rates. Three possible access schemes are considered, namely, the variable spreading length (VSL), the variable chip rate (VCR), and the variable chip rate with frequency shift (VCRFS) formats. Their performance is compared for the case that a linear one-shot multiuser receiver is employed. It is also shown that detection of the users transmitting at the higher rate requires a periodically time-varying processing of the observables. Moreover, the problem of blind adaptive receiver implementation is studied, and a cyclic blind recursive-least-squares (RLS) algorithm is provided which is capable of converging to the periodically time-varying high-rate users detection structure. Numerical results show that the proposed receivers are near-far resistant, and that the VCRFS access technique achieves the best performance. Finally as to the adaptive blind receiver implementation, computer simulations have revealed that the cyclic RLS algorithm for blind adaptive high-rate users demodulation outperforms the conventional RLS algorithm in most cases of primary importance.


The main purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of toluene removal by plasma, photocatalyst, and plasma/photocatalyst system with the major parameters such as flow rate, inlet toluene concentration and applied voltage, etc., experimentally. In the combined plasma/photocatalyst process, rates of toluene conversion are represented as 99% at flow rate 250, 500 ㎖/min while, below 97% at flow rate 1000 ㎖/min due to the low residence time(reaction time) at the same applied voltage 4173 voltage and toluene inlet concentration 50 ppm. The intermediate products are detected by GC/MS analysis showing the small amounts of benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol and residual ozone concentration 0.04~0.05 ppm generated by plasma process in the present system.


Clinicians and researchers in neurorehabilitation continue to have difficulties with reporting and describing the many active components used within physical therapy interventions. People with neurological conditions can present with cognitive, perceptual, behavioural and physical impairments that require individual consideration within their training program. Current knowledge from the areas from motor control theories, neuroscience and clinical evidence from neurological and musculoskeletal rehabilitation all inform the design of movement training programs. Such a diverse field of theoretical, scientific and clinical knowledge makes it difficult to agree upon a consistent way to label the many components relevant to training. This article proposes the use of ten guiding principles of movement training that can provide terminology for use in neurorehabilitation clinical practice that could be used by both professionals and individuals with neurological conditions. The ten Movement Training Principles could potentially improve interdisciplinary collaboration, enhance teaching of the clinical reasoning process and drive innovation for future therapies.


SystemC is a de-facto industry standard for developing, modelling, and simulating embedded systems. As embedded systems become more and more integrated into many aspects of human lives (e.g., transportation, surveillance systems, ...), failures of embedded systems might cause dangerous hazards to individuals or groups. Guaranteeing safety of such systems makes formal verification crucial. In this paper we present a novel approach for verifying SystemC models with SPIN. Focusing on system-level verification we reuse compiled and executable code from the original model and embed it into the verifier generated by SPIN. In contrast to most other approaches, which require a complete model transformation, in our approach the transformation focuses only on the relevant parts of the model while leaving functional blocks untransformed. Our technique aims at reducing the state vector size managed by the verifier of SPIN, at improving state exploration performance by avoiding unnecessary model transformation steps, and at concentrating on verifying properties that emerge from the composition of multiple functional units.


In this paper, we are interested in wireless scheduling algorithms for the downlink of a single cell that can minimize the queue-overflow probability. Specifically, in a large-deviation setting, we are interested in algorithms that maximize the asymptotic decay rate of the queue-overflow probability, as the queue-overflow threshold approaches infinity. We first derive an upper bound on the decay rate of the queue-overflow probability over all scheduling policies. We then focus on a class of scheduling algorithms collectively referred to as the "α-algorithms." For a given α ≥ 1, the α-algorithm picks the user for service at each time that has the largest product of the transmission rate multiplied by the backlog raised to the power α. We show that when the overflow metric is appropriately modified, the minimum-cost-to-overflow under the α-algorithm can be achieved by a simple linear path, and it can be written as the solution of a vector-optimization problem. Using this structural property, we then show that when α approaches infinity, the α-algorithms asymptotically achieve the largest decay rate of the queue-overflow probability. Finally, this result enables us to design scheduling algorithms that are both close to optimal in terms of the asymptotic decay rate of the overflow probability and empirically shown to maintain small queue-overflow probabilities over queue-length ranges of practical interest.


A new polydiacetylene oxyphenylboronic acid (PDA-OPBA-1) bearing group was synthesized and showed diverse colorimetric changes, such as yellow, orange, and red, upon the addition of cationic surfactants at pH 7.4. On the other hand, anionic surfactants and simple ammonium salts did not show any color change. Specifically, color changes to yellow for cetyl trimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), red for dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), orange for benzylcetyldimethylammonium chloride (BCDA), and dark orange for hexadecylpyridium bromide (HDPB) are observed, respectively. Different head groups and alkyl chain lengths of cationic surfactants can be intelligently distinguished via a unique penetration process.


Small, strata-bound copper sulfide deposits are found associated with bitumen in Lower Cretaceous basaltic andesite flows of the Pabellon Formation near Copiapo, north Chile. The physical characteristics of the bitumen and hydrocarbon biomarkers provide clues to the genesis, evolution, and possible role during copper mineralization. Biomarker analysis reveals a predominantly bacterial origin, with minor contributions from phytoplankton and higher plants, which were deposited in a shallow marine environment. An expulsion temperature between 64° and 87°C was determined, typical for low maturity petroleum. This petroleum was altered during migration by mixing with brines, increasing its viscosity by aromatization and sulfurization. At the moment of the accumulation, the temperature of the brine was under 150°C. The viscous oil filled the primary and secondary porosity of the basaltic andesite, which acted as an oil trap. After the oil accumulation, a hotter, hydrothermal influx resulted in thermal alteration of the petroleum and a further decrease of light alkane concentrations. High sulfur concentrations in the hydrothermal fluids led to further aromatization of the organic compounds, generating highly alkylated benzonaptho- and dinaphthothiophenes. Copper in the sulfur-rich solutions was reduced, triggering the precipitation of bornite, chalcopyrite, digenite, chalcocite, and covellite through thermochemical sulfate reduction. The bitumen interacted with metals by virtue of its inherent reducing characteristics (activated carbon) and was itself oxidized to form a pyrobitumen residue.


This paper presents a novel type of voltage-fed quasi-load resonant half-bridge IGBT inverter operating at constant frequency variable power regulation scheme which is more suitable and acceptable for new high-frequency high-power induction-heated (IH) cooking appliances in domestic and business uses. This application-specific high-frequency inverter using a new generation specially-designed IGBTs can be efficiently operated under the principle of ZVS-PWM control strategy. The operating principle of a new inverter circuit is presented together with its power regulation characteristics on the basis of its computer simulation analysis and experimental results. The steady-state characteristics of the cost effective quasi-resonant inverter developed for high-frequency IH cooking appliances, such as IH rice cooker/warmer and IH hot water heater, are discussed from a practical point of view.


This paper compares the forecasting performance of three alternative factor models based on business survey data for the industrial production in Italy. The first model uses static principal component analysis, while the other two apply dynamic principal component analysis in frequency domain and subspace algorithms for state-space representation, respectively. Once the factors are extracted from the business survey data, then they are included into a single equation to predict the industrial production index. The forecast results show that the three factor models have a better performance than that of a simple autoregressive benchmark model regardless of the specification and estimation methods. Furthermore, the state-space model yields superior forecasts amongst the factor models.


In a series of 16 middle ear cholesteatomas of a congenital type are reported in children; the youngest (18 months) presented with a bilateral case. Whereas a simple tympanoplasty could cure a localized pearl, typically anterosuperior in the mesotympanum, the stapes is fast eroded (7 cases) if progression goes on. Intact canal wall technique in 2 stages was the typical procedure. Good hearing results were generally achieved (except in one case of fixed footplate): 9 cases/14 with an ABG within 20 dB and an AC level within 30 dB.


Experiments were conducted to evaluate the Accu-Flo multiple orifice nozzle for penetration of spray into a soybean (Gly- cine max L.) canopy by comparing results to those from a popular straight stream nozzle and rotary atomizer. A mixture of water + Induce® adjuvant was applied at three different spray release heights in a random sequence, using an Air Tractor 402-B agricultural aircraft. Sampler stands were placed at twenty-four locations in the field. Water sensitive paper (WSP) cards were clipped onto rigid stands just above the canopy and 30 cm off the ground within the canopy. Weather data were recorded using two different stations on-site. Wind was predominantly from the west and parallel to the direction of the spray runs. The spray delivery systems compared were the Accu-Flo nozzles, (64 needle 0.020 opening), CP®-09 straight stream with 5 degree deflection, and Micronair® AU5000 atom- isers (14 mesh screen) at a low volume spray rate of 18.7 l/ha. A total of 54 spray runs were made over three days, and heights were varied at 3.7 m, 4.9 m and 6.1 m. Water sensitive papers were scanned and analysed for coverage per unit card area using an image analysis system. Altitude and (Nozzle X Altitude) interaction were significant effects on coverage at the 0.01 and 0.07 significance levels, respectively, for the top cards. Nozzle type was not a significant effect on coverage for the top cards, but was significant at the 0.01 level for the bottom cards. Altitude alone had no obvious effect on coverage for the bottom cards, although it had an effect for the top cards. The highest percentage area of spray coverage was observed from the Accu-Flo nozzles, especially for the bottom cards. Average spray coverage from the Accu-Flo nozzles was 1.7 times higher than coverage from the CP® nozzles or Micronair® atomisers in the lower portion of the canopy.


An efficient stereoselective synthesis of furanoverrillin (5), a highly functionalized core of verrillin (1), is reported. The synthetic strategy is based on constructing bicyclic lactone 17 prior to the 10-membered ring macrocyclization. The effect of the C4 methyl group on the furan reactivity is also discussed.


The genusEriosyceas circumscribed by Kattermann (Succulent Plant Research1: 1–176, 1994) comprises six subsections with 33 species and 38 heterotypic infraspecific taxa and is restricted in distribution to Chile and NW Argentina. A total of 19 anatomical and gross morphological characters were studied from stem material of 27 taxa ofEriosyceand six outgroup taxa from the generaAustrocactus,Copiapoa,Corryocactus,EulychniaandNeowerdermannia(all from the tribe Notocacteae of subfamily Cactoideae). Comparisons between field-collected and glasshouse-cultivated plant material, as well as comparisons between samples from different positions on the stem, allowed an assessment of the variability of various characters.

A detailed cladistic investigation with different character composition and character coding was conducted to check for combinations of characters that support a number of different clades.Eriosycesubsect.Chileosyce(includingE. napinaandE. odieri, but excludingE. laui) andE.subsect.Neoporteriaare very well characterized by a number of the attributes investigated, such as a papillate or completely flat epidermal relief, a very soft and strongly mucilaginous cortex, or a tuberculate stem with the podaria arranged in helical lines. The usefulness of the anatomical and morphological data was examined further by a cladistic analysis of a subgroup of 21 taxa supplemented with data on flowers, fruits and seeds (data from published sources). The present circumscription ofEriosyce(includingHorridocactus,Neoporteria, andThelocephala) is not seriously questioned by these cladistic analyses, with the possible exception ofIslaya. The position ofE. lauiremains unresolved.


The authors consider an important paradigm in vision: distinguishing object contours or edges (and lines) from object surface textures. To accomplish this, an artificial neural network model, called the EDANN model, is used for both texture segregation and line and edge detection starting from a common bank of spatial filters. The model provides different representations of a retinal image in such a way that different actions and decisions about the presence of objects in the visual scene can be undertaken in a further stage. Three possible cases of distinguishing luminance-defined lines and edges from noise textures are considered.<<ETX>>


Morphometrical changes of the arterial walls from the ascending aorta to the abdomino-inguinal mammary glands of rat from virgin through pregnancy, lactation and post-weaning stages were investigated by using a light microscope and an image analyzer. Based on the histological architecture and organization of connective tissue fibers and smooth muscle cells in the media, the arterial segments were clearly identified into three types; elastic, transitional and muscular types. The ascending aorta, the aortic arch, the thoracic aorta and the abdominal aorta were identified as elastic type and the maximum number of elastic lamellae was recorded in the ascending aorta as 10-13. In elastic type of arteries, the tunica media was thicker than other tunics with the exception of the abdominal aorta, in which the tunica externa was a little bit thicker than that of the media. From the external iliac artery to the proximal part of the femoral artery, the arterial segments were transitional in type and the elastic lamellae were ranged from 1-3 in numbers. The deep circumflex iliac, the external pudendal, the caudal superficial epigastric, and the mammary arteries were identified as muscular type, and the media was completely devoid of elastic lamellae. Distinguishable significant changes of diameters and thickness of the arteries were recorded in the deep circumflex iliac, the external pudendal, the caudal superficial epigastric and the mammary arteries, and showed that the diameters and thickness were gradually increased during pregnancy and reached to the maximum values during lactation and again decreased following the post-weaning stages.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)