The origins of classical rhetoric are to be found in Greece of the 4th and 5th centuries BCE. Developed principally for spoken delivery, though sometimes applied to written work, it became a much sought after skill due to the newly emerging democracies in the city-states. It was the refinement of the Greek philosophers' fundamental principles for the practice of classical rhetoric by their Roman successors, during the last century BCE and the first century CE, that later established its robust canonical structure.After drawing on semiotic wisdom in order to interpret the meanings embedded in illustrations and advertising film the following research shows to what degree classical rhetoric has a visual expression in which those ancient canonical principles have contemporary relevance rendering it a major mechanism in the persuasive function of television advertising. In so doing its contribution to knowledge comprises an innovative analytical methodology whilst also exposing a link, previously unremarked upon by scholars in the field, whereby the canon of classical rhetoric known as arrangement can be seen to have a common structural basis with narrative.Touching on the use of scientists, often presented as figures of unquestionable authority in televisual advertising during the middle part of the last century, this thesis now finds a more subtle rhetoric directed at an increasingly more media-aware culture in the third millennium. It will be suggested, however, that such rhetorical devices, as are revealed to be operating, are more likely to be as a result of intuition and empirical adroitness rather than being born of academically acquired knowledge on the part of creative media personnel.


We experimentally and theoretically investigate optical beam propagation in nonlinear refractive materials having a thickness greater than the depth of focus of the input beam (i.e., internal self-action). A simple model based on the "constant shape approximation" is adequate for analyzing the propagation of laser beams within such media under most conditions. In a tight focus geometry, we find that the position of the sample with respect to the focal plane, z, is an important parameter in the fluence limiting characteristics of the output. The behavior with z allows us to perform a "thick sample Z-scan" from which we can determine the sign and magnitude of the nonlinear refraction index. In CS2, we have used this method to independently measure the negative thermally induced index change and the positive Kerr nonlinearity with nanosecond and picosecond C02 laser pulses, respectively. We have experimentally examined the limiting characteristics of thick cs2 samples that qualitatively agree with our analysis for both positive and negative nonlinear refraction. This analysis is useful in optimizing the limiting behavior of devices based on self-action. Subject terms: nonlinear refraction; optical limiting; Z-scan; aberration-free approximation ; self-focusing; internal self-action; cs2.


Agent-Oriented Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery and Aspect-Oriented Plug-andPlay Tracking Mechanism. (August 2003) Feilong Chen, B.S., China Agricultural University Chair of Advisory Committee: Prof. Richard Volz Fault detection, isolation, and recovery are some of the most critical activities in which astronauts and flight controllers participate. Recent systems to perform the FDIR activity lack portability and extensibility, and do not provide any explanation of the system's activity. In this research, we explore the use of an agent-oriented paradigm and Java technology for better performance of FDIR activity. Also, we have explored the use of explanation in agent-oriented systems, and designed a system-activity tracking mechanism that helps the user to understand the agents' behavior. We have explored different ways to generalize this mechanism for arbitrary agent systems to use. Furthermore, we studied mechanisms to automatically add the tracking mechanism to an existing agent system. By using AspectJ, an aspect-oriented tool, a plug-and-playable tracking system has been built that can add the capability to track the activity of the system to any JACK agent system easily. Our experience can help further research on using aspect-oriented tools with agent-oriented paradigms together to obtain better performance.


We experimentally characterize the ionic emission, including the individual charge states Snz+ (z=1, …, 8), from laser-produced tin plasma as a function of the intensity of the employed ns-pulsed laser. The plasma is generated in a vacuum from tin microdroplets (diameter ranging from 17 to 35 μm) using pulsed Nd:YAG laser light (laser wavelength λ=1.064 μm) over a range of intensities (0.4–40×1010 W/cm2). We measure charge-state-resolved and integrated ion energy distributions at seven angular positions around the plasma using seven retarding field analyzers. We highlight peak features in both types of spectra and describe the dependence of their energies on laser intensity with power-law functions. The resulting power laws match those derived from plasma radiation hydrodynamics theory. The analytical scaling laws exhibit strong isotropy, while the ion energy spectra are highly anisotropic.


This work explores the possibility of applying edge machine learning technology in the context of portable medical image diagnostic systems. This was done by evaluating the performance of two machine learning (ML) algorithms, that are widely used on medical images, embedding them into a resource-constraint Nordic nrf52840 microcontroller. The first model was based on transfer learning of the MobileNetVI architecture. The second was based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) with three layers. The Edge Impulse platform was used for training and deploying the embedded machine learning algorithms. The models were deployed as a C++ library for both, a 32-bit floating point representation and an 8-bit fixed integer representation. The inference on the microcontroller was evaluated under four different cases each, using the Edge Impulse EON compiler in one case, and the Tensor Flow Lite (TFLite) interpreter in the second. Results reported include the memory footprint (RAM, and Flash), classification accuracy, time for inference, and power consumption.


Studies have revealed that first language has significant impacts on learners' second language development. Utilizing L1 in the writing processes such as translation method and direct writing is a conventional strategy used by low proficiency level L2 learners. However, there is a lack of studies that determine the quality of writing influenced by L1 transfer. This study aims to provide a comparative analysis on the use of cohesive markers as a result of the use of Malay in English written text via translation and direct composition. The writing quality in terms of content, organisation and writing style of a group of students with low, intermediate and advanced proficiency levels from a secondary school in the district of Tangkak, Johor was scrutinised. Data were collected via two different topics of writing tasks using direct composition and translation writing process. The first topic involved English direct composition while the second topic employed direct Malay composition which was then translated into English. The results of the study indicated that English essays of direct writing showed less variety of cohesive markers as compared to Malay essays due to the lack of L2 writing skills. The learners apparently generated more ideas in their native language as well as utilized their L1 cohesive markers into L2 composition via the translation writing process. Nevertheless, the similarities and differences of cohesive markers in Malay and English help teachers to understand learners' organisation of Malay and English essays.


With the aim of applying the technique of electro-ejaculation to paraplegics, the authors perfected an apparatus which permits stimulation with an intra-rectal electrode. Out of 27 electro-ejaculations carried out on 9 monkeys, there were 5 failures and 22 successes (but 3 of these only contained coagulum). The results improved at the same time as the technique. Although the motility and the number of spermatozoa were rather reduced in comparison with normal ejaculation, the semen obtained appeared to be utilizable. Observation of the animal, rectoscopy as well as the histological investigations carried out in 3 of the animals which were sacrificed showed no complication or lesion. The apparatus and technique which subsequently proved to be applicable in the paraplegic male should enable the improvement of his possibilities of procreation.


Background The emerging role of IL-17A in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases urges characterisation of the cellular source. Numerous recent studies have described the presence of IL-17A-positive mast cells in inflamed target tissues. Since mouse studies have not indicated mast cells as IL-17A producers, we investigated the mechanism of IL-17A expression by human mast cells. Methods Quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis was performed on mast cells and CD4+ T-cells FACS-purified from human tonsils, ex vivoand after stimulation with PMA/ionomycin. Uptake of exogenous protein was analysed by microscopy, imaging-flowcytometry, live imaging and Western blot. DynaminII-inhibitor was used to block endocytosis. Results Strikingly, gene expression analysis of highly purified primary mast cells failed to detect both IL-17A, IL-17F and their transcription factor RAR-related orphan receptor C (RORC), even after stimulation. Although RORC was also absent on the protein level, IL-17A was abundantly detected, conflicting with the mRNA data. Subsequent analysis of subcellular location showed the presence of IL-17A in lysosomal storage granules and in early endosomes, suggesting a role for endocytosis. We investigated whether mast cells are capable of internalising exogenous IL-17A in vitro. Microscopy, imaging-flowcytometry and Western blot analysis indicated that LAD2 mast cell line as well as primary mast cells are able to engulf exogenous IL-17A, but not TNFa. Live imaging revealed further that internalisation of IL-17A is specific and can be halted by blocking clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Conclusion This data strongly suggest that human mast cells do not produce IL-17A, but rather engulf exogenous IL-17A from the inflamed milieu and store it in granules. Molecular mechanisms of IL-17A uptake and the contribution of this process to disease are currently under investigation.


Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people refrained from going out, started working from home (WFH), and suspended work or lost their jobs. This study examines how such pandemic-related changes in work and life patterns were associated with depressive symptoms. Methods An online survey among participants who use a health app called CALO mama was conducted from 30 April to 8 May 2020 in Japan. Participants consisted of 2846 users (1150 men (mean age=50.3) and 1696 women (mean age=43.0)) who were working prior to the government declaration of a state of emergency (7 April 2020). Their daily steps from 1 January to 13 May 2020 recorded by an accelerometer in their mobile devices were linked to their responses. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Two-Question Screen. Results On average, participants took 1143.8 (95% CI −1557.3 to −730.2) fewer weekday steps during the declaration period (from 7 April to 13 May). Depressive symptoms were positively associated with female gender (OR=1.58, 95% CI 1.34 to 1.87), decreased weekday steps (OR=1.22, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.45) and increased working hours (OR=1.73, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.26). Conversely, starting WFH was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (OR=0.83, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.99). Conclusions Decreased weekday steps during the declaration period were associated with increased odds of depressive symptoms, but WFH may mitigate the risk in the short term. Further studies on the longitudinal effects of WFH on health are needed.


To assess the degree of reproducibility of spontaneous GH secretion and pharmacological tests we studied 15 prepubertal children with short stature and abnormal growth rate. In all children, spontaneous overnight GH secretion was measured followed by a clonidine test in 8 children and an arginine test in the remaining 7. The same protocol was repeated a week later. Intra-individual variability of GH secretion in both physiological and pharmacological tests was expressed as the coefficient of variation (CV%). No significant difference was found between the first and second value of parameters of spontaneous GH secretion. Maximum spontaneous GH peak (MS) and mean 12-h GH concentration (MGH) correlated significantly (r = 0.78, p < 0.001). Mean CV% of all parameters of repeated GH profiles (around 30%) were lower than those of provocative tests (around 70%) (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found between CV% of clonidine and arginine tests. There was no correlation between MGH or MS and GH response to provocative test in the same child. We found a significant correlation between the log transformed maximum provocative GH response to the arginine test and the length of the time interval (in min) from the end of the last GH peak in the previous profile to the time zero of the provocative test (r = 0.60, p < 0.05). This relationship was not found for the clonidine test. We conclude that spontaneous GH secretion in children with short stature is more reproducible than stimulated GH response with a week's difference. Perhaps the higher variability of provocative GH secretion may be related to the state of the endogenous hypothalamic rhythm of both GHRH and somatostatin release at the time of the test.


As the number of cyber-attacks is increasing, cyber-security is evolving to a key concern for any business. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) (in particular Deep Learning - DL) can be leveraged as key enabling technologies for cyber-defense, since they can contribute in threat detection and can even provide recommended actions to cyber analysts. A partnership of industry, academia, and government on a global scale is necessary in order to advance the adoption of AI/ML to cybersecurity and create efficient cyber defense systems. In this paper, we are concerned with the investigation of the various deep learning techniques employed for network intrusion detection and we introduce a DL framework for cybersecurity applications.


Over time, the evolution of plastic presence in natural sites can be summarized in a few words: from artistically "plastic new-wave", to plastic "land-art" creations, to nowadays recycled plastic constructions. During 1970-1980, the pollutant plastic was accepted and have become very fashionable and a "model" of living. The accelerated pollution, with huge plastic accumulation in the environment, has forced us to revise our attitude towards plastic. We have reached a higher degree of human conscience and discernment: we must carry out numerous international situations in landscape regeneration of polluted areas, especially those with more plastic waste. Scientists try to decompose plastic, but the "last forever" plastic does not biodegrade, does not decompose in organic compounds. When it is melted the compound gas that is gives off is very harmful to our environment, it weakens the ozone layer. However, it is more easily and not expensive to be recycled in a sustainable manner, than to produce more plastic from waste plastic. A sustainable way to recycle plastic is to build using PET bottles (Pawley, 1982; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_wall). Plastic bottles constructions do not represent a new idea. Until nowadays the system is already experienced in urban and rural areas, for small and big buildings, as greenhouses, dwellings, schools, temples, etc. (Warmke, 2008). Many of these projects have a sustainable reason, having a strong social focus, fortifying an environmental consciousness to urban and rural inhabitants, in order to provide solutions for their trash management problems. It is cheap to recycle, it is not easily disposable, but the citizens will learn how to clean and build using trash for benefit rather than for health risks. Recycling plastics from natural sites in a landscaping manner is a topical subject not addressed so far in many researches (Krauel, 2006). This paper proposes ideas for recycling plastic waste, plastic garbage, in a sustainable manner with a prominent multiple roles: creating exterior furniture as benches, multifunctional walls, etc. or using plastic as banking-up material. These are creative options for implementing multiple regeneration of degraded and polluted natural areas. The study aims as final result actually create attractive, healthy, clean and streamlined on multiple levels areas, using in a creative, useful and profitable manners the plastic waste.


BACKGROUND
A number of tocolytics have been advocated for the treatment of threatened preterm labour in order to delay birth. The rationale is that a delay in birth may be associated with improved neonatal morbidity or mortality. Nitric oxide donors, such as nitroglycerin, have been used to relax the uterus. This review addresses their efficacy, adverse effects and influence on neonatal outcome.

OBJECTIVES
To determine whether nitric oxide donors administered in threatened preterm labour are associated with a delay in birth, adverse effects or improved neonatal outcome.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (1 December 2013).

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials of nitric oxide donors administered for tocolysis.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data.

MAIN RESULTS
Twelve trials, including a total of 1227 women at risk of preterm labour, contributed data to this updated review. The methodological quality of trials was mixed; trials comparing nitric oxide donors with other types of tocolytics were not blinded and this may have had an impact on findings.Three studies compared nitric oxide donors (glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)) with placebo. There was no significant evidence that nitric oxide donors prolonged pregnancy beyond 48 hours (average risk ratio (RR) 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74 to 1.90, two studies, 186 women), and although for most adverse effects there was no significant difference between groups, women in the active treatment group in one study were at higher risk of experiencing a headache. For infant outcomes there was no significant evidence that nitric oxide donors reduced the risk of neonatal death or serious morbidity (stillbirth RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.01 to 8.59, one study, 153 infants; neonatal death RR 0.43, 95% CI 0.06 to 2.89, two studies, 186 infants). One study, using a composite outcome, reported a reduced risk of serious adverse outcomes for infants in the GTN group which approached statistical significance (RR 0.29, 95% CI 0.08 to 1.00, 153 infants). Overall, these studies were underpowered to identify differences between groups for most outcomes.When nitric oxide donors were compared with other tocolytic drugs there was no significant evidence that nitric oxide donors performed better than other tocolytics (betamimetics, magnesium sulphate, a calcium channel blocker or a combination of tocolytics) in terms of pregnancy prolongation, although nitric oxide donors appeared to be associated with a reduction in most adverse effects, apart from headache. There was no significant difference between groups for infant morbidity or mortality outcomes.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
There is currently insufficient evidence to support the routine administration of nitric oxide donors in the treatment of threatened preterm labour.


Protein C inhibitor is a secreted, non-specific serine protease inhibitor with broad protease reactivity. It binds glycosaminoglycans and anionic phospholipids, which can modulate its activity. Anionic phospholipids, such as phosphatidylserine are normally localized to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, but are exposed on activated and apoptotic cells and on plasma membrane-derived microparticles. In this report we show by flow cytometry that microparticles derived from cultured cells and activated platelets incorporated protein C inhibitor during membrane blebbing. Moreover, protein C inhibitor is present in/on microparticles circulating in normal human plasma as judged from Western blots, ELISAs, flow cytometry, and mass spectrometry. These plasma microparticles are mainly derived from megakaryocytes. They seem to be saturated with protein C inhibitor, since they do not bind added fluorescence-labeled protein C inhibitor. Heparin partially removed microparticle-bound protein C inhibitor, supporting our assumption that protein C inhibitor is bound via phospholipids. To assess the biological role of microparticle-bound protein C inhibitor we performed protease inhibition assays and co-precipitated putative binding partners on microparticles with anti-protein C inhibitor IgG. As judged from amidolytic assays microparticle-bound protein C inhibitor did not inhibit activated protein C or thrombin, nor did microparticles modulate the activity of exogenous protein C inhibitor. Among the proteins co-precipitating with protein C inhibitor, complement factors, especially complement factor 3, were most striking. Taken together, our data do not support a major role of microparticle-associated protein C inhibitor in coagulation, but rather suggest an interaction with proteins of the complement system present on these phospholipid vesicles.


The main regulator of pIP501 replication is an antisense RNA (RNAIII) that induces transcriptional attenuation of the essential RNAII. Previous studies identified the termination point in vivo and demonstrated attenuation in vitro. This in vivo analysis confirms the appearance of attenuated RNAII dependent on RNAIII. Half-lives and intracellular levels of RNAII and RNAIII were determined: in a Bacillus subtilis cell harboring a wild-type pIP501 plasmid, approximately 50 molecules RNAII and 1000 to 2000 molecules of RNAIII were measured, respectively. The half-life of RNAII was in the range of that of other target RNAs, whereas that of RNAIII (approximately 30 minutes) was unusually long, representing a so far unprecedented case of a metabolically stable antisense RNA regulating plasmid copy number. Long antisense RNA half-life is predicted to yield sluggish control and instability of maintenance. We propose a model for how plasmid pIP501 may avoid this problem by using both the repressor CopR and the antisense RNAIII for control. Four stem-loop mutants of RNAII/RNAIII with elevated copy numbers were characterized for in vitro antisense/target RNA binding, RNAIII half-life, incompatibility, and attenuation in vivo. Two classes were found: interaction mutants and half-life mutants. The former suggest a key function for loop LIII of RNAIII as recognition loop in the primary steps of RNAII/RNAIII interaction.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

As pathways of the immune system play an important role in multiple malignancies, we assessed the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in inflammation-related genes and risk of ovarian cancer in a multi-site case-control study. Using a custom array, we genotyped 930 epithelial ovarian cancer cases and 1,037 controls for SNPs in ALOX12, ALOX15, ALOX5, CCL11, CCL2, CCL3, CCR3, CRP, CXCL16, IL10, IL15RA, IL18, IL1A, IL1B, IL1RN, IL4R, IL6, IL6R, IL7R, IL8RA, IL8RB, IL9, NOS3, PTGS1, PTGS2, TLR2, and TNF. After analysis by logistic regression, SNPs with p<0.10 were evaluated in an independent data set of 3,143 cases and 2,102 controls from the Follow-up of Ovarian Cancer Genetic Association and Interaction Studies (FOCI) collaboration. Combined analysis revealed association with interleukin 1, alpha (IL1A) SNPs (rs17561 and rs4848300, r2=0.990, p=0.005) which varied by histological subtype (heterogeneity p=0.03). For example, IL1A rs17561, which results in a missense change in amino acid at position 114 and correlates with multiple inflammatory phenotypes, was inversely associated with risk of clear cell, mucinous, and endometrioid subtypes, but not with the serous subtype (Table 1). Additional data on IL1A rs17561 in an even larger collection of ovarian cancer cases and controls are pending and will be analyzed soon. We also found that genotype at rs1864414 in ALOX5 (arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase) was associated with decreased risk combined across subtypes (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.95; p=0.002). Thus, inherited variation in IL1A and ALOX5 appears to have a role in ovarian cancer risk, though it is limited to rarer subtypes for IL1A. These data add to existing literature on the importance of inflammation in tumorigenesis and growing evidence of subtype-specific traits in ovarian cancer and may provide important clues on prevention.

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Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2603. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2603

 [1]: pending:yes


Abstract Reading Journal is a possible instrument to find out what and how learners do extensive reading and explore their perceptions about what and how they read. This article is based on one of instruments for a study on Exploring Extensive Reading in Developing English Language Competency of Indonesia EFL Learners. The study is a case study and one of the data collected through journal entry. This article aims to present the findings of the study in terms of types of reading materials that an Indonesian learner read for extensive reading and learner's perceptions about the reading materials. The findings from this instrument are: (1) types of reading materials that an Indonesian learner read for extensive reading were a book about health and a novel about ditective and (2) an Indonesian learner's perceptions' about reading materials were her interest in terms of the use for the book and pleasure for the novel. This study suggests that learners need to write journal for extensive reading materials. This study also recommends to include what learners learn in journal entry by reading the novel selected for further. Keywords: characteristics and benefit of Extensive Reading


Abstract In this thesis a technique that is being used in another area of technology to optimize light reception in a photographic camera was also applied to the dielectric resonator antenna. The technique consisting of the use of thin film to couple the media and camera impedances resulted in a dielectric resonator antenna bandwidth enhancement technique. The bandwidth enhancement technique was found when thin film dielectric layer structure was used to couple the dielectric resonator and its feed mechanism. Remarkable good performance was detected with a coplanar waveguide fed cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna which resulted in an improvement to its fractional bandwidth from 7.41% to 50.85%. Extensive experimental work was undertaken in order to explore the extent offered in bandwidth performance by using thin film dielectric layer structure in the dielectric resonator antenna performance. The experimental tasks were designed in order to investigate the influence of the thin film dielectric layer structure in relation to its size, shape, thickness, position and direction. Experimental results were supported with simulation work with the computer simulation technology microwave studio. The pieces of the material used for undertaking this experimental work were manually handcrafted.Four different dielectric resonator antenna designs were used in order to carry out the experimental work including the coplanar waveguide fed cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna. The other three dielectric resonator antennas were implemented using the same microstrip feed mechanism. Improved performance in bandwidth was achieved for all the designs. Optimization of the incoming signal was observed when a piece of thin film dielectric layer structure was placed in position between the feed mechanism and the dielectric resonator antenna. The optimization was observed as an enhancement in both the return loss level and the bandwidth of work. Different unexpected operational modes from were activated, such modes being called perturbed modes.Two different shapes were used in this project. Cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (?r = 37) from a commercial provider and two novel rectangular dielectric resonator antennas. The novel rectangular dielectric resonator antennas were created with the methodology presented in this thesis. The rectangular dielectric resonator antennas were elaborated with transparent ceramic material (?r = 7) and TMM10i (?r = 9.8) from the Rogers Corporation company. The bandwidth enhancement technique was tested in novel embedded dielectric resonator antennas. A coplanar waveguide fed embedded cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna achieved a maximum bandwidth enhancement of 156.77% around f = 3.79 GHz with a thin film dielectric layer structure modified rectangular piece on one edge. Escalation to dielectric resonator antenna design at millimeter wave frequencies was achieved by using thin film dielectric layer structure bandwidth enhancement technique and a handcrafted printed circuit board millimeter wave feed mechanism. The millimeter wave feed mechanisms were achieved using a low cost alternative technique conceived as part of this project. Millimeter wave dielectric resonator antennas were implemented using thin film dielectric layers structure. The antennas deliver an adequate performance in bandwidth. The work presented in this thesis demonstrates dielectric resonator antenna simpler geometry, simple couple schemes, small size, low profile, light weight, and ease of excitation and orientation. Other parameters have also been investigated covering reduced complexity, high degree of flexibility, ease of fabrication and the use of low cost technology to escalate to millimeter wave frequencies. ?


ABSTRACT Researchers have recently questioned the utility of the response style indicators included on many self-report measures of personality and psychopathology. We examined whether the size of convergent validity coefficients for Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Antisocial Features (ANT) scores depends on PAI validity scale scores. Using PAI and Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL–R) scores from 477 offenders evaluated for civil commitment as sexually violent predators, we found that PAI Positive Impression (PIM), Negative Impression (NIM), Malingering Index (MAL), Defensiveness Index (DEF), and Infrequency (INF) scores moderated the association between ANT and PCL–R scores. The association between ANT and PCL–R scores decreased as offenders overstated psychopathology (i.e., higher NIM or MAL scores) or exhibited increasing disengagement (i.e., higher INF scores). However, the association between ANT and PCL–R scores increased as offenders engaged in defensive reporting (i.e., higher PIM or DEF scores). The interaction effects were most common for ANT–E (Egocentricity), and to a lesser extent ANT–A (Antisocial Behaviors). PAI discriminant function validity indexes did not exhibit moderating effects on ANT and PCL–R scores. There was no evidence of validity scale suppression effects. These findings provide support for the potential role of some PAI response style measures for ANT scale interpretation in forensic settings.


Abstract The Sino-Egyptian smart Hackathon commune project is to endorse Dr./Dina Ali Mohammed El-Besomey, the Primary founder & pioneer& leader(with 100%) For a post-doctoral mission under the mission Call 2022-2023. The purpose of the post-doctoral mission is applying Sino -Egyptian commune project of advertisement and distributing animation products for graduated youth. The importance of the mission is this Applied study for Future Chinese –Egyptian Electronic Education vision 2030-2020 ). This project is as scientific mission of my post- PHD. This project focuses on the contemporary Chinese animation industry, especially The Role of Demography in the Distribution of Advertising Animation Products via the Experience of Chinese Communes with smart hackathon and how to apply it in Egypt. As the Demography of Advertising Animation Products via Chinese Communes, and the impact of them on the contemporary Chinese industry. Also on another hand explain that many of the Egyptian animation companies suffer from such problems as the production reduction, the expensive costs, to produce animation films with high quality, so Chinese and Egyptian companies should be concentred with the post- production stage to achieve profits. So I suggest to build this project in Damanhour,El-Behira Government, Egypt. And there is a discussion with El-Behira Government where it will be build and distribute Demography This Sino-Egyptian commune project in Damanhour, and also distribute Advertising Animation Products to the output of this project in his first stage to build one Sino-Egyptian commune to distribute his Advertising Animation Products, like: video tapes, DVD, video games, posters, stickers,comics, magazine, school tools, toys, electronic games, children clothes, masks, and interior designs.1


Purpose: Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the yangsaeng level in a health management way of an aged women in rural area, and to offer basic material for the development of community's public health service. Methods: The subjects were 144 aged women who participated voluntarily in the questionnaire. The data were collected from January to February, 2008 with a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0 win program for finding frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, ANOVA and Tukey. Results: The average age of workers was 72. Total yangsaeng level was 3.08±.33, highest yangsaeng factor was Activity & Rest Yangsaeng of 3.55±.46 and lowest yangsaeng factor was Season Yangsaeng of 2.43±.75. The total Yangsaeng level was the significant difference in monthly incomes(F=4.046, p=.047). Conclusion: Considering the results above, the yangsaeng level of aged women is affected by the age, education level, a monthly income etc. Therefore, for health promotion plan of aged women, consider that their age, educational level, economic level ect, and systematic education for promotion of health is necessary.


Not widely distributed in nature, aurones, (Z)-2-benzylidene-benzofuran-3(2H)-ones, are one of the less common and lesser-known representatives of a flavonoid subclass. Nevertheless, they exhibit a strong and broad variety of biological activities. We have combined the benzofuranone part of a classical aurone with either a chromone or a coumarin scaffold which proved to feature interesting biological activities including antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Herein we present a series of 26 novel benzofuran derivatives with the first biological results in K562 human leukemia cells showing that compounds 21b, 29b and 29c are able to induce around 24% apoptosis.


This dissertation is a collection of three independent chapters that aim to improve our understanding of economic behavior of households. I will focus on two important areas where households make investment decisions, namely in financial markets and obtaining education. The first chapter examines how the provision of student loans affects the saving behavior and portfolio choices of parents. I show that higher levels of expected student aid increase the parental saving rate and shift the allocation of wealth towards riskier assets. The mechanism behind this result is that parents anticipate that the student aid expansion increases the probability their children will attend college. The second chapter identifies the channel through which credit provision can fuel stock prices. Our findings are consistent with an extrapolation channel. We show that investors that borrow are more likely to buy following high returns, subscribe to overvalued new equity issues and incur large trading losses. In the third chapter I demonstrate that marriage prospects increase investments in female schooling in developing countries. An expansion of matrimonial property increases the intra-household decision making power of women, this shift provides incentives to increase investments in female education.


A surface complexation model which has been used to describe inner-sphere complexation on metal oxide surfaces was applied to the adsorption of Cu by isolated cell walls of 4-day and 28-day-old maize (Zea mays L. cv WF9 x Mo17) and 21-day-old soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv Dare) roots. Concentration dependence of the titration data prevented the determination of unique pK and capacitance values for the 4-day maize cell walls, though mean values obtained for the intrinsic pK of the titratable carboxyl groups were 3.0 (4-day maize), 3.6 (28-day maize), and 3.0 (21-day soybean) as determined by potentiometric titration with either NaOH or HCl in 20 millimolar NaCl. The constant capacitance model was applied to Cu sorption data from rapid batch equilibrium experiments in an ionic medium of 20 millimolar NaClO(4). Speciation calculations indicated that the formation of a bidentate surface complex was sufficient to describe the experimental data for all three types of plant material, with only one value for the pK and capacitance density. The intrinsic constants of Cu complexation by a neutral site are: log K = -0.3 +/- 0.1, -0.2 +/- 0.3, and 0.9 +/- 0.1 for 4-day and 28-day maize, and 21-day soybean, respectively. The integral capacitance density parameter, which describes the relationship between surface charge density and electrical potential, is several times larger than for crystalline mineral surfaces. This result indicates that the surface electrical potential remains low even when the surface charge density is high. Such behavior is characteristic of gels and porous oxides.


Cytogenetic and RAPD markers variations were studied in 10 tetraploid cotton cultivars. ANOVA test revealed significant differences in cytogenetic characteristics including chiasma frequency and distribution as well as chromosome pairing among the studied genotypes, indicating their genomic differences. Quadrivalents were formed in all the cultivars except 1, while post pachytene diffuse stage, chromosome stickiness and laggards occurred almost in all the cultivars studied. Twenty-seven RAPD primers out of 30 could produce bands. In total 362 bands were obtained in which 69 were polymorphic (19.00%) and 293 bands were monomorph (81.00%). The cultivar No. 200 possessed the highest number of bands while No. 228 and Gukurova possessed the lowest number. Among the RAPD bands produced, 8 were specific in the cultivar No. 200 and 3 in the cultivar V. Sahel X 4-S-4, indicating the use of RAPD markers in cotton cultivars discrimination. Grouping of the cultivars based on cytogenetic and molecular markers were partly in agreement. A combination of morphological, cytogenetic and RAPD molecular markers may be of grate use in planning the cotton hybridization and breeding programs.


ABSTRACT This study monitored total atmospheric deposit (TAD) around a smelting plant in Ile-Ife, Nigeria to assess the contributions of the industry to Nigeria's air-shed pollution. Samples were collected for 12 consecutive months using an Australian model gauge, harvested after 30 d of exposure, filtered and dried to constant weights using oven. Monthly deposition rates were determined and elemental characterizations of the TAD samples were done using proton-induced X-ray emission technique. Results revealed that the monthly deposition rates ranged from 0.69 to 4.62 gm−3 and was more pronounced in Harmattan. Twenty-three elements were detected; their total elemental concentrations ranged from 1.23 to 13.63 mg m−3 with Fe having the highest concentrations, while Na has the least. Pearson correlation indicated that some elements have common sources and/or similar chemical properties; enrichment factor showed that Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn were extremely enriched in the study area, modified degree of contamination (3.75) and pollution load intensity (1.21) showed that the neighborhoods could be exposed to high air pollution related impacts. Positive matrix factorization model revealed three distinct sources: Smelting emission (63%), biomass burning (17%), and suspended input material emissions (21%). The study concluded that the smelting activities posed a great hazard to receptors around the smelting industry.


Based on the research of (Bowman, et al., 2011) regarding the effectiveness of Japanese QE, this thesis aims to evaluate the effectiveness of QE programs in the US and Euro Area regarding lending growth. In order to do so, commercial banks from the US and Euro Area have been analyzed. Using panel regressions on banks' balance sheet data, results identified that only the third round of the QE (2012-2014) in the United States had a significant effect on lending growth, while the first two QEs in US (2009-2011) mainly used to ease the distress in the banking sector. In the Euro Area, the recently (2015) implemented QE program did not have any significant effect on lending growth. However, results provide evidence that in both areas, banks used that extra liquidity mostly to reduce their interbank borrowings. Moreover, in US, the main driver of lending growth other than the obvious customer deposits, was the ratio of nonperforming loans. While, in Europe, EA banks' recapitalizations in 2013, allowed them to fire sale their NPLs reducing thus their ratio.


The purpose of this review is to introduce a new mapping technique, the chronometry transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which can be used to delineate detailed time information of specific functioning target network by transiently creating a 'virtual brain lesion', thus disrupting the function of a given cortical target at different time window. Unlike neuroimaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), chronometry TMS provided information about which language area contributes to performance of some specific task, and at what precise moment the contribution is critical. We shall highlight two aspect of chronometry TMS, that is used in language research either for understanding time course of language processing in normal subject or for measuring plastic reorganization of functioning network. (Brain & NeuroRehabilitation 2015; 8: 34-38)


Abstract The article investigates the settlement of Greek-Cypriot migrants in South Australia during the 1950s. The aim is to examine the experiences of Greek-Cypriot migrants, and look at established groups in the Greek-Cypriot community, to have understanding of the social structure and the mechanisms that helped migrants settle into an Anglo-Celtic Australian society. This article will utilize first hand experiences, and document individual and group accounts, which otherwise would have been lost. By documenting these accounts, the paper will be a useful resource for future research done on this minority group, but will also fill in gaps in our history.


This article focuses on an analysis of factors that have influenced structural change in Polish agriculture since 1989. The Republic of Poland was the only CEE country, pre-1989, which had 70% of its agricultural land in private hands. This turned out not to be a development asset as there were mostly small subsistence farms (ca 70%) at the core of Polish agriculture. This resulted in much of the rural area (except for that located in the vicinity of cities or renowned tourist centres) being dependant, to a large extent on both low-productive agriculture and agricultural policies. Now, after almost 25 years of transformation, structural change in agriculture (and rural areas) is slowing down as a result of EU Common Agricultural and National policies. The agrarian structure, dominated by subsistence farms, remains stable (average farm size below 10 hectares, in some South-Eastern regions NUTS 2 below 5 hectares). As a result rural areas are still in need of a deep restructuring and a modernization of economic structures2.


The background surface O3 concentrations and seasonal changes observed at the Zhongshan Station (69°22'2''S, 76°21'49''E; 18.5 m), east Antarctica from 2008 to 2013 are presented. Irrespective of wind direction, surface O3 concentrations distribute evenly after the removal of polluted air from station operations, accounting for 1.1% of the data. These O3 exhibit the expected lowest in summer, with a peak in winter. The daily range of average O3 in all four seasons is small. The monthly mean O3 is similar to that of other stations in Antarctica, with seasonal CO2 amplitudes in the order of 15 ppb to 35 ppb. Surface O3 significantly negatively correlated with UVB in the spring and autumn, with correlation coefficients of 0.50 and 0.57 under the 0.01 significance test. Furthermore, the surface O3 concentration during polar nights was 1 - 2 times higher than that during polar days. Thus, the chemical effect of the aurora lights was the dominant cause of ozone destruction, showing that surface O3 observed in Antarctica has a small interferences from human activities in the atmosphere as it moves from the north through the southern hemisphere.


In a previous paper (Webster & Wolpert, 1966 a ) it was shown that during regulation the time required for the determination of the dominant region, the hypostome, was dependent on the original position of the hypostome-forming region on the linear axis. Hypostome determination occurred more quickly from distal than from proximal regions, suggesting an axial gradient. As Spiegelman (1945) has pointed out, a gradient in time for determination is not sufficient for limited realization to occur in a regulative system (Webster & Wolpert, 1966 a ). In addition, some mechanism for suppressing potentialities is required. One of the characteristic features of a dominant region is that it inhibits the formation of a new dominant region (Huxley & de Beer, 1934), and earlier work on hydra (Rand, Bovard & Minnich, 1926) has presented some evidence for inhibition of distal regeneration by distal structures. This paper will be concerned with a detailed analysis of the factors controlling hypostome formation.


Leukemias harboring rearrangements of mixed-lineage leukemia gene (MLL1) are associated with poor clinical outcomes, and new therapeutic approaches are needed. Rearrangements of the MLL1 gene generate fusion oncoproteins which drive the high expression of the clustered homeobox (HOX) genes and induce leukemic transformation. Genome wide histone methylation studies have revealed that the abnormal expression of MLL1 fusion target genes is associated with high levels of histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methylation. Recruitment of DOT1L (disruptor of telomeric silencing 1-like), a unique histone methyltransferase that catalyzes methylation of H3K79, proved to be essential for the transforming activity of multiple MLL fusion proteins. To gain insights into the unique functions of DOT1L in MLL-driven leukemia, we elucidated the mechanisms of DOT1L recruitment to the MLL fusion partners. The binding site was mapped to a short segment of 10 amino acids in DOT1L and peptides derived from this region disrupted the interaction between DOT1L and MLL-AF9. DOT1L mutants lacking these 10 residues did not support transformation by MLL-AF9. This discovery has established a foundation for disease-specific therapies that target chromatin modifications in highly malignant leukemias. Applying high throughput screening approach several different chemical classes of small molecules that disrupt the protein-protein interactions between DOT1L and oncogenic MLL-fusion proteins were identified and validated. To evaluate if the AF9-binding domain of DOT1L is critical for its functions in normal hematopoietic stem cells as opposed to leukemias driven by MLL fusion proteins, genetic tools were developed to functionally investigate the importance of the DOT1L AF9-binding domain in MLL-AF9-driven leukemia and its role in the physiological functions of DOT1L in normal hematopoiesis. Our findings demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of the DOT1L complex through disrupting the AF9-DOT1L interactions may provide therapeutic benefits in an array of malignancies with abnormal HOXA gene expression. Citation Format: Sierrah Grigsby, Jennifer Chase, James Ropa, Justin Serio, Chenxi Shen, Martha Larsen, Preston Donover, Melvin Reichman, Andrew Muntean, Ivan Maillard, Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska. Development of genetic and chemical tools for understanding the recruitment of DOT1L in MLL-fusion driven leukemia and normal hematopoiesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3803.


Antigenic cross-reactivity of the human acquired immunodeficiency disease syndrome virus LAV/HTLV-III with the lentiviruses visna virus, caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), and equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was determined with indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, immunoblot analysis, and virus-specific polyclonal antisera. Nonreciprocal cross-reactivity was seen between the gag gene products p24 of LAV/HTLV-III and p28 of EIAV. Reciprocal cross-reactivity was seen between the gag gene product p28 of visna virus and CAEV. No cross-reactivity was detected between visna virus (or CAEV) and EIAV (or LAV/HTLV-III). This suggests a closer relationship of LAV/HTLV-III with EIAV than with visna virus or CAEV.


Abstract According to Alvin Plantinga, the cornerstone of epistemology is the proper functioning of our cognitive faculties in accordance with the design plan. In this paper I will explore two aspects of the design plan that are of central relevance to the acquisition of warranted true beliefs. In the first place, perceptual beliefs were supposed to be taken in the basic way and should therefore constitute highly warranted true beliefs. Scale errors in young children pose serious problems for this argument, while they show that part of the visual system may be misguided by perceptual beliefs, as a normal part of the development of the human design plan. Secondly, the ascription of mental states to other persons does not depend on deductive or inductive inference from behaviour. However, the discovery of so-called 'mirror-neurons' suggests that motor simulation of observed behaviour plays a crucial role in understanding the intentions of others. I conclude by arguing for a refinement of the notion of 'design plan', guided by recent approaches in cognitive science that should make Plantinga's externalist account at least falsifiable.


Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals are normally acquired in the presence of background noise which causes inaccurate or false entropy measurement throughout the signal. In this paper, spectral subtraction is used to pre-process EEG signals to improve the accuracy of computing the subband wavelet entropy (SWE). The silent period in the EEG signal is identified via cepstral distance which allows its entropy to be set to zero. The EEG signal presented in this paper represents various stages of brain recovery obtained from a rodent following global cerebral ischemia. The various subband entropies are calculated using wavelet decomposition in EEG subbands, namely delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma. The utilization of spectral subtraction improved the accuracy of the SWE as compared to energy thresholding


The dependence of the (low-frequency) resonance of light intensity noise in an external-cavity GaAs laser on cavity length and bias current, combined with the dependence of the threshold current on the magnitude of the light feedback, is used to determine simultaneously the carrier recombination lifetime, the carrier injection at transparency, and the optical loss. The key to this technique is understanding the correction term to the relaxation oscillation frequency due to finite carrier density at transparency and the influence of the long external cavity transit time on the photon lifetime in the three-mirror cavity. The technique uses commercial lasers without modifying them and does not require fast electronics. >


The potential utility of Zymomonas mobilis as an organism for the commercial production of ethanol would be greatly enhanced by the addition of foreign genes which expand its range of fermentable substrates. We tested various plasmids and mobilizing factors for their ability to act as vectors and introduce foreign genes into Z. mobilis CP4. Plasmid pGC91.14, a derivative of RP1, was found to be transferred from Escherichia coli to Z. mobilis at a higher frequency than previously reported for any other plasmids. Both tetracycline resistance and the lactose operon from this plasmid were expressed in Z. mobilis CP4. Plasmid pGC91.14 was stably maintained in Z. mobilis at 30°C but rapidly lost at 37°C.


: Mnemonics are useful tools for memorizing factual information. "On old Olympus' Towering Tops, a Finn and German viewed some hops" is a way to remember the 12 cranial nerves. The 12 cranial nerves, in order, are olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, auditory, glossopharyngeal, vagus, sensory (accessory), and hypoglossal.


Cyanoalkylated diarylmethanes with biological and pharmacological potentials were synthesized from para-quinone methides and cyanoalkylating reagents through a photocatalytic process. This protocol is operationally simple and mild and has high efficiency, which gave the corresponding products in moderate to good yields. The synthetic utility of this work has been illustrated in the efficient synthesis of GPR40 agonists, which play an important role in FA-induced glucose-sensitive insulin secretion.


In the paper an analytical model for ground bounce noise taking into account the interdependence between switching current and noise voltage is presented. The model shows the discrepancies from general accepted assumption of independence between the two variables. Noise calculations using the independence assumption cause an overestimation of the noise levels. The results are verified through realistic simulations and for different technology nodes


Cancer therapy with the use of heavy ion beam has been developed word-wide due to its high treatment capability where the dose is concentrated close to the tumor. In order to apply such a therapy also to patients whose tumor is close to an important organ, real-time measurement of the irradiated dose distribution has been pursuit with the use of OPENPET. For the purpose of providing unstable positron emitter 11C ion beam with enough intensity, target fragment scheme to be applied for re-acceleration with HIMAC synchrotron has been studied in the last few years where the irradiation is to be carried out by a high intensity proton beam from the NIRS930 cyclotron. In the present proceedings, the ion separation as well as the charge breeding system are presented.


Background Epidemiological studies show that inflammatory arthritis are characterized by an increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk [1]. This could be at least in part attributed to a high prevalence of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, as described in several rheumatic populations. Corticosteroid treatment contribute to the development of glucose metabolism disturbances in arthritis patients, thus making difficult to understand the role of the disease itself in the development of these conditions. Objectives Aim of our work was to evaluate the prevalence of glucose metabolism disturbances (impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, combined IFG/IGT, type 2 diabetes mellitus) in never treated inflammatory arthritis patients. Methods The study population consisted of subjects from the Rheumatology outpatient clinic of the Internal Medicine Unit, University of Catanzaro "Magna Graecia". For the present study 150 consecutive patients were evaluated and 52 fulfilled the inclusion criteria (16M/36F). We included patients who satisfied classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (ACR/EULAR criteria), psoriatic arthritis (CASPAR criteria), ankylosing spondylitis (modified New York criteria) or undifferentiated spondiloarthritis (ESSG criteria). Exclusion criteria were current or previous treatment with DMARD's or corticosteroids or other drugs known to influence glucose metabolism (such as metformin, sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, acarbose, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, and glinides, subcutaneous insulin, and thyroid hormones). Each patient underwent a standard 75-mg oral glucose tolerance test after overnight fasting. We defined impaired fasting glucose (IFG, fasting glucose between 100 and 125 mg/dL), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT, 2 hr glucose value in the OGTT between 140 and 199 mg/dL), and type 2 diabetes (T2DM, fasting glucose level ≥ 126 mg/dL in two occasions, or glucose ≥ 200 mg/dL at the 2nd hr of the OGTT) using ADA criteria [2] Results Mean age was 54.6 ± 10.7. Among patients, 19 RA, 15 PsA, 3 AS, 15 uSpA. We found an overall prevalence of glucose metabolism disturbances of 57,7%. Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (DM2) was present in 10 patients, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in 9 patients, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in 6 patients while combined IFG/IGT was present in 5 patients (table 1). Conclusions In this study we have reported preliminary data suggesting an elevated prevalence of glucose metabolism disturbances in never treated inflammatory arthritis patients. Abnormal glucose metabolism is a common comorbidity in inflammatory arthritis, with a possible role in the development of atherosclerosis. According to our data glucose metabolism disturbances are elevated independently of corticosteroids use. References Mok, C.C., et al., Prevalence of atherosclerotic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken), 2011. 63(2): p. 195-202. Standards of medical care in diabetes--2012. Diabetes Care, 2012. 35 Suppl 1: p. S11-63. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


While reinforcement learning (RL) has the potential to enable robots to autonomously acquire a wide range of skills, in practice, RL usually requires manual, per-task engineering of reward functions, especially in real world settings where aspects of the environment needed to compute progress are not directly accessible. To enable robots to autonomously learn skills, we instead consider the problem of reinforcement learning without access to rewards. We aim to learn an unsupervised embedding space under which the robot can measure progress towards a goal for itself. Our approach explicitly optimizes for a metric space under which action sequences that reach a particular state are optimal when the goal is the final state reached. This enables learning effective and control-centric representations that lead to more autonomous reinforcement learning algorithms. Our experiments on three simulated environments and two real-world manipulation problems show that our method can learn effective goal metrics from unlabeled interaction, and use the learned goal metrics for autonomous reinforcement learning.


Many carcinogens demonstrate both qualitative and quantitative species differences in activity. Since many carcinogens must be metabolized to reactive electrophiles to elicit their tumorigenic effects, the observed species differences may have a metabolic basis. A number of examples exist that support the concept that metabolic differences are the underlying cause of species variation in carcinogenicity. Such differences are most often of a quantitative nature, but qualitative differences in carcinogenicity may also be due to differences in rates and/or pathways between species. There are also many instances in which there is no clear evidence that metabolism explains species differences in carcinogenicity. Carcinogenicity studies are often performed at much higher doses than those encountered by humans. Since metabolic processes may become saturated at high tissue concentrations, the rates and pathways of metabolic activation and detoxication may be different at high doses from those at lower doses. Such metabolic variation can lead to differences in target tissue doses, resulting in altered tissue responses at high doses in relation to lower doses. In situations in which no saturation of the metabolic pathways occurs, tissue concentrations are proportional to the administered dose. Scaling of doses from those used in experimental animals to those experienced by humans has often involved simple conversion factors, such as body weight or surface area. Since the reactions involved in carcinogen metabolism may differ both for high and low doses and for various species, much more realistic extrapolations from animal to human can be obtained using physiologically based kinetic modelling. The metabolism of carcinogens in humans shows large interindividual variation, which in turn may be reflected in differences in individual risks. The occurrence of genetic polymorphisms in carcinogen metabolizing enzymes indicates that subgroups of the population may experience carcinogenic risks distinctly different from those of the rest of the population.


This work reports about a novel approach for investigating surface processes during the early stages of galvanic corrosion of stainless steel in situ by employing ultra-thin films and synchrotron x-radiation. Characterized by x-ray techniques and voltammetry, such films, sputter deposited from austenitic steel, were found representing useful replicas of the target material. Typical for stainless steel, the surface consists of a passivation layer of Fe- and Cr-oxides, a couple of nm thick, that is depleted of Ni. Films of ≈4 nm thickness were studied in situ in an electrochemical cell under potential control (−0.6 to +0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl) during exposure to 0.1 M KCl. Material transport was recorded with better than 1/10 monolayer sensitivity by x-ray spectroscopy. Leaching of Fe was observed in the cathodic range and the therefor necessary reduction of Fe-oxide appears to be accelerated by atomic hydrogen. Except for minor leaching, reduction of Ni, while expected from Pourbaix diagram, was not observed until at a potential of about +0.8 V Cr-oxide was removed from the steel film. After couple of minutes exposure at +0.8 V, the current in the electrochemical cell revealed a rapid pitting event that was simultaneously monitored by x-ray spectroscopy. Continuous loss of Cr and Ni was observed during the induction time leading to the pitting, suggesting a causal connection with the event. Finally, a spectroscopic image of a pit was recorded ex situ with 50 nm lateral and 1 nm depth resolution by soft x-ray scanning absorption microscopy at the Fe L2,3-edges by using a 80 nm film on a SiN membrane, which is further demonstrating the usefulness of thin films for corrosion studies.


Sign-tracking is a form of autoshaping where animals develop conditioned responding directed toward stimuli predictive of an outcome even though the outcome is not contingent on the animal's behavior. Sign-tracking behaviors are thought to arise out of the attribution of incentive salience (i.e., motivational value) to reward-predictive cues. It is not known how incentive salience would be attributed to serially occurring cues, despite cues often occurring in a sequence in the real world as reward approaches. The experiments presented here demonstrate that reward-proximal cue responding is not altered by the presence of a distal reward cue (Experiment 1), and similarly that reward-distal cue responding which animals favor, is not altered by the presence of a reward-proximal cue (Experiment 2). Extinction of reward-proximal cues after training of the serial sequence leads to a generalized reduction in lever responding (Experiment 3). Together, we show that both Pavlovian serial lever cues acquire motivational value. These experiments also provide support to the notion that sign-tracking responses are insensitive to changes in outcome value, and that responding to serial cues creates a distinct context for outcome value.


Two VMEbus modules have been designed to generate and receive a clock signal. Together they implement a clock system which can generate timing markers with 200-ns resolution and can generate timing delays of over 1 h with 1- mu s resolution. The clock generator module contains both a time line generator programmed to produce clock events at specific times and eight programmable input channels to produce clock events when externally triggered. Additional clock events are generated directly from the VMEbus. Generators can be cascaded for added capability. The clock timer module receives the signal from the generator. It can be programmed to recognized specific clock events which act as triggers to the eight timing channels on the module. >


The effect of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) on the decomposition of benzenediazonium ions is reported. Dediazoniation of substituted benzenediazonium ions (X =p-Me, p-Cl, and p-NO2) is accelerated by β-CD and proceeds via a radical pathway to form XC6H5, irrespective of the nature of the substituent X or the atmosphere (N2 or O2). In contrast, trehalose and permethylated β-CD exhibit no enhancement of rate and reduce the yields of XC6H5. The cyclodextrin-promoted dediazoniation exhibits both saturation kinetics and competitive inhibition. The observations described are explained in terms of a mechanism involving (i) the specific formation of a syn-arylazo ether via an inclusion complex formed between the benzenediazonium ion and β-CD and (ii) subsequent homolytic scission of the syn-arylazo ether.


Rat liver containing radioactive native B12 was prepared by repeated injections of 57Co-OH-B12, and absorption of liver B12 was measured in patients with pernicious anemia and in subjects without stomach, using physiologic doses. It was found that absorption of liver B12 was very poor, not superior to that of free OH-B12, and coadministration of IFC markedly enhanced absorption.

In vitro digestion of rat liver with several enzymes, as determined from liberation of dialyzable radioactivity, suggested its easy digestibility. Biochemical studies of the dialyzable products of liver containing 57Co-B12 failed to demonstrate any detectable quantities of radioactivity other than free 57Co-OH-B12. A study in which cow liver powder mixed with a small quantity of 57Co-CN-B12 was fed to humans and digestion of liver was estimated from the reduction in absorption of radioactivity, indicated that most of the extractable liver B12 was liberated free in the intestine. Thus, no evidence has been obtained for the production of B12-peptide complexes from liver by digestion that require no IF for absorption.


AIMS
To determine the percentage of children and young adults who are obese or overweight within different ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

METHODS
Secondary analysis of data on 5689 children and young adults aged 2-20 years from the 1999 Health Survey for England.

RESULTS
Twenty three per cent of children (n = 1311) were overweight, of whom 6% (n = 358) were obese. More girls than boys were overweight (24% v 22%). Afro-Caribbean girls were more likely to be overweight (odds ratio 1.73, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.33), and Afro-Caribbean and Pakistani girls were more likely to be obese than girls in the general population (odds ratios 2.74 (95% CI 1.74 to 4.31) and 1.71 (95% CI 1.06 to 2.76), respectively). Indian and Pakistani boys were more likely to be overweight (odds ratios 1.55 (95% CI 1.12 to 2.17) and 1.36 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.83), respectively). There were no significant differences in the prevalence of obese and overweight children from different social classes.

CONCLUSION
The percentage of children and young adults who are obese and overweight differs by ethnic group and sex, but not by social class. British Afro-Caribbean and Pakistani girls have an increased risk of being obese and Indian and Pakistani boys have an increased risk of being overweight than the general population. These individuals may be at greater combined cumulative risk of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease and so may be a priority for initiatives to target groups of children at particular risk of obesity.


The quantum speed limit time for quantum system under squeezed environment is studied. We consider two typical models, the damped Jaynes–Cummings model and the dephasing model. For the damped Jaynes–Cummings model under squeezed environment, we find that the quantum speed limit time becomes larger with the squeezed parameter r increasing and indicates symmetry about the phase parameter value θ = π. Meanwhile, the quantum speed limit time can also be influenced by the coupling strength between the system and environment. However, the quantum speed limit time for the dephasing model is determined by the dephasing rate and the boundary of acceleration region that interacting with vacuum reservoir can be broken when the squeezed environment parameters are appropriately chosen.


3Alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (3alpha-HSDs) catalyze the interconversion between 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (5alpha-DHT), the most potent androgen, and 3alpha-androstanediol (3alpha-diol), a weak androgen metabolite. To identify the rate-determining step in this physiologically important reaction, rat liver 3alpha-HSD (AKR1C9) was used as the protein model for the human homologues in fluorescence stopped-flow transient kinetic and kinetic isotope effect studies. Using single and multiple turnover experiments to monitor the NADPH-dependent reduction of 5alpha-DHT, it was found that k(lim) and k(max) values were identical to k(cat), indicating that chemistry is rate-limiting overall. Kinetic isotope effect measurements, which gave (D)k(cat) = 2.4 and (D)2(O)k(cat) = 3.0 at pL 6.0, suggest that the slow chemical transformation is significantly rate-limiting. When the NADP(+)-dependent oxidation of 3alpha-diol was monitored, single and multiple turnover experiments showed a k(lim) and burst kinetics consistent with product release as being rate-limiting overall. When NAD(+) was substituted for NADP(+), burst phase kinetics was eliminated, and k(max) was identical to k(cat). Thus with the physiologically relevant substrates 5alpha-DHT plus NADPH and 3alpha-diol plus NAD(+), the slowest event is chemistry. R276 forms a salt-linkage with the phosphate of 2'-AMP, and when it is mutated, tight binding of NAD(P)H is no longer observed [Ratnam, K., et al. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 7856-7864]. The R276M mutant also eliminated the burst phase kinetics observed for the NADP(+)-dependent oxidation of 3alpha-diol. The data with the R276M mutant confirms that the release of the NADPH product is the slow event; and in its absence, chemistry becomes rate-limiting. W227 is a critical hydrophobic residue at the steroid binding site, and when it is mutated to alanine, k(cat)/K(m) for oxidation is significantly depressed. Burst phase kinetics for the NADP(+)-dependent turnover of 3alpha-diol by W227A was also abolished. In the W227A mutant, the slow release of NADPH is no longer observed since the chemical transformation is now even slower. Thus, residues in the cofactor and steroid-binding site can alter the rate-determining step in the NADP(+)-dependent oxidation of 3alpha-diol to make chemistry rate-limiting overall.


Ecologists need to determine the frequency and nature of higher order interactions and to predict when such interactions will be important to understand community dynamics. I experimentally tested for higher order interactions in a freshwater food web by independently manipulating the presence and absence of two predators (the salamander Notophthalmus viridescens and the crayfish Cambarus bartonii) and their tadpole prey (Hyla chrysoscelis) in a series of artificial ponds. By destructively sampling selected ponds early in the larval period (days 5 and 6), I hoped to predict whether the predators would have an interactive effect on tadpole survival and growth on day 30. Early destructive samples adequately predicted subsequent influences of interactions on the survival, but not on the size of Hyla. Early samples predicted that the predators would interact to determine tadpole survival and size. The two predators did not act additively to determine tadpole abundance: more survived in the presence of both predators than was predicted. This higher order interaction was most likely caused by physical interference between the predators and predator avoidance by the tadpoles. Early samples correctly predicted higher order interactions would be seen on tadpole growth, but completely failed to predict their direction because the biological interactions changed over time. Early in their larval period, tadpoles behaviorally avoided predators, which caused slower growth, but later, tadpoles in predator treatments grew faster due to diminished intraspecific competition. These results suggest that higher order interactions may be important in nature. Short—term experiments may prove useful in predicting when higher order interactions will occur, but detailed models may be required to predict their outcome accurately.


Employees in libraries today have a wide range of opportunities to further their education, but numerous further training courses being booked and attended according to individual interests and less according to the strategic objectives of the library. This is confirmed by a survey commissioned in 2016 by the ZBIW – Center of Further Education and Training in Library and Information Science of TH Koeln. The result was clear: In more than 90% of the cases the initiative for further education came from the participants themselves. Superiors, personnel departments, etc. were rarely involved. Further training primarily serves the employees to expand their own competences and to be prepared for future challenges, i.e. there is also a certain concern about the future. In addition, one wants to learn new things so that one's own work remains interesting in the future. Above all, however, continuing education must help libraries to remain competitive in the future. Innovation-oriented personnel development therefore considers both sides, the individual employee and, above all, the entire institution. This approach places the strategic goals of the institution in the foreground, and the necessary future core competencies of the employees must be oriented to these goals. This requires, however, that libraries have strategic management and, ideally, systematic innovation management, both of which are geared to the library's objectives and to the mediumand long-term (technological) trends that shape the innovations.


Creative industries have gained increasing attention in light of the cultural economy as viable magnets for local and regional economic development. Policy makers thus would benefit from attracting creative industries as potential economic boosters. However, it is hard to target such catalyst industries without better knowledge of the urban form conditions that may influence the location preference of these industries; do creative industries favor compact, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with transit accessibility to employment? This paper, as one of the first national studies, answers this question using a multilevel modeling approach to control for the socioeconomic and built environment characteristics at both local and regional levels. Factor analysis is used to define a Creative Score, which captures the geography of creative industries using the number of creative firms, employment, the percentage of creative firms, and a creative employment location quotient. The compactness/sprawl index is used at both census tract and metropolitan levels as a proxy for urban form. Accounting for the socioeconomic factors, the findings suggest that, at the neighborhood level, the compactness index is significantly and positively associated with the Creative Score. Every 10% increase in compactness score results in a 0.3% increase in Creative Score at the census tract level. This is partly because compact neighborhoods provide creative industries with a stronger consumer base as a reliable source of development. Compact urban form also serves agglomeration economies by facilitating knowledge exchange, reducing travel time and costs, and giving greater accessibility to destinations by transit.


The compression behavior of Nanocrystalline Anatase TiO2 has been studied to test the validity of fundamental equation of state. To validate our results five fundamental equation of states (viz. Murnaghan EOS, Birch EOS, Usual-Tait EOS, Kholiya EOS and Vinet EOS) are used to compute the pressure upto the compression ratio of 0.9478. In the present work it is observed that the result obtained by using Murnaghan, Usual Tait and Vinet equation of state are consistently very close and in good agreement with the experimental results. The results obtained by using Murnaghan and Usual-Tait equation of sate are very close to the experimental values than Kholiya and Vinet equation of state while the Birch equation of state has no agreement with the compression behavior of Nanocrystalline Anatase TiO2. With the validity of Murnaghan and Usual-Tait equation of sate for TiO2 the variation of isothermal bulk modulus of the sample has also studied and found its linear variation with pressure.


Author(s): Jiang, Mingming | Advisor(s): Guo, Jang-Ting | Abstract: This dissertation covers several topics in macroeconomics. Chapter one provides an overview for this dissertation. Chapter two explores the role of demand shocks, as an alternative to productivity shocks, in driving both domestic and international business cycles. In addition to those well-documented domestic and international business cycle properties, this paper focuses on two additional stylized facts in the industrialized countries: procyclical trade openness (GDP fraction of trade volume) and countercyclical government size (GDP fraction of government spending). Using a parsimonious dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, I show that the model's predictions under productivity shocks are not consistent with these facts. Instead, a demand-shock-driven model replicates the above facts while matching other business cycle properties.Chapter three examines the long-run relationship between trade openness and government size in a two-country dynamic general equilibrium model. I analytically show that, if the non-tradable sector is more capital intensive, higher government expenditures drive up the relative capital stock in the tradable sector in steady state. This gives rise to a relatively higher output and a relatively lower price in the tradable sector. As a result, when trade openness increases, a benevolent government would expand public expenditures to push up (down) the relative output (price) of tradables so as to achieve agents' \textit{desired} consumption plan with more consumption of tradables. Therefore, a positive relationship between trade openness and government size is observed. On the contrary, if the tradable sector is more capital intensive, a negative correlation follows.In chapter four, I present new estimates of the factor substitution elasticity and biased factor-augmenting technical progress using the supply-side system for the aggregate U.S. economy during the period 1948-2012. On the basis of recursive scheme estimations, I first show that significant variations of estimated model parameters arise from different sample periods. I next incorporate labor market friction into the supply-side system and show that the augmented model fits the data better. With labor market friction, the estimated elasticity of substitution between capital and labor does not statistically significantly differ from unity. The long-run technical progress tends to be purely labor-augmenting although non-negligible variations arise during some sample periods.


The number of ELT doctoral dissertations is growing every year, and these are great sources to spot the leading research trends and the research gaps in the field. Previous studies have been conducted to explore research trends in Turkey, accordingly journal articles and conference proceedings were examined. However, little research has aimed to investigate doctoral dissertations. As the number of graduates increases every year, a current study exploring the research trends of ELT in Turkey is needed. Therefore, the present research aims to fill this gap by examining 252 doctoral dissertations published between 2010 and 2020. Content analysis was conducted on the titles and abstract parts of the dissertations and then, coding was applied with the help of a priori codes suggested by the relevant literature. Findings have suggested that Teacher Professional Development is the leading research topic while Culture, Social, and Gender Issues are found to be under-researched. The results imply that these areas need improvements on both local and global scales. In light of the findings, further research in certain areas is suggested for local researchers. © 2021 JLLS and the Authors Published by JLLS.


BACKGROUND
One of the health policy challenges lies in guaranteeing comprehensive emergency care in Germany. Telemedical applications are assumed to be a potential solution to current problems. One of these innovations is the tele-emergency physician system, which changes the workflows of the various actors in prehospital emergency medicine. The aim of the study was to determine how the potentials of the tele-emergency physician system were evaluated by employees of the ambulance control centres in Germany.

METHOD
In the cross-sectional study, employees of ambulance control centres throughout Germany were interviewed using an online-based questionnaire. The results are illustrated in a sub-group analysis according to the state of knowledge on innovation, either (very) low or (very) high. Correlation analyses were carried out to determine significant differences between the subgroups. Data analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 2013 and IBM SPSS Version 25.

RESULTS
The response rate was 69.04%. Of those surveyed, 76.23% expected that the tele-emergency physician system would save them a relevant amount of time. 57.38% believed that patients would be transported faster and 51.64% of the respondents did not see any chance of cost savings in the health care system. Significant evaluation differences resulted in expected time saving (p=0.004), shorter time to transport (p=0.009) and cost saving (p=0.0004). 64.71% thought that there would be a risk of increased documentation effort. 56.41% did not believe that patients would be sufficiently informed about the legal provisions on data protection during their tele-emergency physician treatment. The increase in documentation effort (p=0.02) and patients being sufficiently informed about data protection regulations (p=0.015) were evaluated significantly differently. 90.98% of the respondents rated the tele-emergency physician system as meaningful. The rural region was considered by 47.62% of the respondents as the primary region where the use of system would be necessary. 36.29% of the participants stated that a tele-emergency physician system should be implemented in their own area.

CONCLUSION
All in all, the tele-emergency physician system is considered useful in prehospital emergency medical service by the staff of the emergency control centres. However, the majority of participants do not assume that there is potential for implementation of this system in their own region.


This book have taken Lebanon as a case study to study Electronic Tourism in it, where it was, how it developed and how to manage it in the future. There also includes E-tourism advantages and disadvantages that exist in Lebanon and how to improve the disadvantages by building strategies and creating awareness and cooperation between different stakeholders. It is an analytical, quantitative project that focuses on studying what consumers want and what the tourism industry sector requests with all its components, mostly focusing on travel agencies and hotels to see their perspectives and preferences regarding e-tourism.


Anthracnose fruit rot caused by various Colletotrichum spp. is a serious disease for pepper (Capsicum annuum) growers, resulting in extensive fruit loss (Harp et al. 2008). Samples of five pepper fruits were obtained from two commercial farms in Lexington and Pickens counties, South Carolina, in August and September 2019, respectively. All fruits had two or more soft, sunken lesions covered with salmon-colored spore masses. Pieces of diseased tissue cut from the margins of lesions were surface disinfested in 0.6% sodium hypochlorite, rinsed in sterile deionized water, blotted dry, and placed on one-quarter-strength potato dextrose agar (PDA/4) amended with 100 mg chloramphenicol, 100 mg streptomycin sulfate, and 60.5 mg mefenoxam (0.25 ml Ridomil Gold EC) per liter. Two isolates of Colletotrichum sp. per fruit were preserved on dried filter paper and stored at 10º C. One additional isolate of Colletotrichum sp. had been collected from a jalapeño pepper fruit on a farm in Charleston County, South Carolina, in 1997. Colony morphology of three isolates, one per county, on Spezieller Nährstoffarmer Agar (SNA) was pale grey with a faint orange tint. All isolates readily produced conidia on SNA with an average length of 16.4 μm (std. dev. = 1.8 μm) and a width of 2.2 μm (std. dev. = 0.2 μm). Conidia were hyaline, smooth, straight, aseptate, cylindrical to fusiform with one or both ends slightly acute or round, matching the description of C. scovillei (Damm et al. 2012). The glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and beta-tubulin (TUB2) genes from three isolates were amplified and sequenced with the primer pairs GDF1/GDR1 and T1/Bt2b, respectively. Species within the C. acutatum clade can be readily distinguished with GAPDH or TUB2 (Cannon et al. 2012). The GAPDH and TUB2 sequences for all three isolates were 100% similar to each other and strain CBS 126529 (GAPDH accession number JQ948597; TUB2 accession number JQ949918) of C. scovillei (Damm et al. 2012). GAPDH and TUB2 sequences for each isolate were deposited in GenBank under the accessions MT826948-MT926950 and MT826951-MT86953, respectively. A pathogenicity test was conducted on jalapeño pepper fruits by placing a 10-ul droplet of a 5 x 105 conidial suspension of each isolate onto a wound made with a sterile toothpick. Control peppers were mock inoculated with 10 ul sterile distilled water. A humid chamber was prepared by placing moist paper towels on the bottom of a sealed crisper box. Inoculated peppers were placed on upside-down 60 ml plastic condiment cups. Three replicate boxes each containing all four treatments were prepared. The experiment was repeated once. After 7 days in the humid chamber at 26ºC, disease did not develop on control fruits, whereas soft, sunken lesions covered with salmon-colored spores developed on inoculated fruits. Lesions were measured and C. scovillei was re-isolated onto amended PDA/4 as previously described. Lesion length averaged 15.6 mm (std dev. = 4.1 mm) by 11.5 mm (std dev. = 2.0 mm). Colletotrichum sp. resembling the original isolate were recovered from all inoculated fruit, but not from non-inoculated fruit. C. scovillei has been reported in Brazil in South America and in China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand in Asia (Farr and Rossman 2020). This is the first report of C. scovillei as the casual organism of anthracnose fruit rot on pepper in South Carolina and the United States.


In this paper, nanocrystalline silicate-substituted hydroxyapatites (nSi-HAps) codoped with Eu3+ were functionalized with Bi3+ ions. Biomaterials were synthesized using a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and heat-treated at 700 °C. The concentration of Eu3+ ions was established at 1 mol %, and the concentration of Bi3+ was in the range of 0.5-2 mol %. The physicochemical properties of the obtained biomaterials were determined using previously established methods, including X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy techniques, and IR spectroscopy. Particle sizes obtained in this study were in the range of 22-65 nm, which was established by the Rietveld method. The luminescence properties of the Eu3+ ion-doped silicate-substituted apatite were recorded depending on the bismuth(III) concentration. The cytocompatibility of obtained biomaterials was tested using the model of mouse pre-osteoblasts cell line, that is, MC3T3-E1. We showed that the obtained biomaterials exerted anti-apoptotic effect, reducing the number of early and late apoptotic cells and decreasing caspase activity and reactive oxygen species accumulation. The transcripts levels of genes associated with apoptosis confirmed the anti-apoptotic effect of the biomaterials. Increased metabolic activity of MC3T3-E1 in cultures with biomaterials functionalized with Bi3+ ions has been observed. Moreover, the determined profile of osteogenic markers indicates that the obtained matrices, that is, Eu3+:nSi-HAp functionalized with Bi3+ ions, exert pro-osteogenic properties. The biological features of Eu3+:nSi-HAp modified with Bi3+ ions are highly desired in terms of functional tissue restoration and further efficient osteointegration.


The influence of some pentoses on the ability of the fungus Ophiostoma multiannulatum to grow on d-galactose was investigated. There is no measurable growth of the wild type Ophiostoma when galactose is the sole carhon source, d-xylose has a stimulating effect on the utilization of galactose in this fungus. Even when d-xylose is added in low concentrations as compared to the concentration of galactose in the mixtures the growth-promoting effect is high. The xylose can be added in amounts which are directly growth-limiting. The addition of l-arabinose also results in growth on gatactose if the concentration ratio arabinose: galactose is selected high enough. The results are discussed and compared to previously published data on stimulating effects from other hexoses on the utitization of galactose in this fungus.


Mutli-camera vehicle tracking and re-identification (re-ID) have gradually gained attention due to their applications in the intelligent transportation system. However, these problems are fundamentally challenging. Specifically, for vehicle tracking, we observe that the results generated from single camera tracking algorithm usually recognize tracklets with same identity as different vehicles when the tracklets are occluded. Hence, we propose a Tracklet Re-connection technique to refine tracking results with pre-defined zone areas and GPS information. The proposed method can efficiently filter invalid tracklet pairs and reconnect the split tracklets into complete ones, which is important for the afterwards multi-target multi-camera tracking. As for re-ID, we also find that when a large-scale auxiliary dataset is used to assist the learning of main dataset for better model capability and generalization, there is a performance drop caused by data imbalance when the full auxiliary dataset is applied. To tackle this problem, we introduce Balanced Cross-Domain Learning to avoid the overemphasis on larger auxiliary dataset by a newly introduced training data sampler and loss function. The extensive experiments validate the empirical effectiveness of our proposed components.


Artificial intelligence (ai) is ubiquitous: detecting spam e-mails, flagging fraudulent purchases, and providing the next movie in a Netflix binge. But they do not exist in a vacuum: as Shneiderman [39] argues, ai must exist alongside humans. My goal is to create metrics to measure whether ai methods make sense to users, helping users craft examples to advance ai, and applying ai to applications that help illuminate complex social science applications.


Within the framework of the school examination of fourth-formes in 1988, 997 children of the primary schools in the Rhein-Lahn district were examined by the Board of Health of Lahnstein. Nearly every 5th child had to be referred to established specialists because of suspicious diagnoses. Primarily this was a matter of pathological skeleton findings. About 20% of the children were overweight. About 75% of the pupils complied with our request to show us their vaccination certificates. After a part of them had been revaccinated, complete vaccination status was available in three quarter of the children. The significance of medical examination in school is underlined by the great number of children with medical problems. First of the area of the spinal column is alarmingly high. The health-political significance results from the possibility of an early prevention of degenerative diseases of the spinal column.


PURPOSE
To report a case of bilateral ischemic optic neuropathy (ION) secondary to hypoperfusion of the optic nerve because of cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, an uncommon condition causing stepwise subcortical small vessel infarcts because of arterial wall rigidity, loss of autoregulation, and hypoperfusion.

METHODS
We describe the ophthalmological presentation of this case including fluorescein angiography and kinetic perimetry.

RESULTS
Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy is an increasingly recognized condition with significant neurological sequelae. This case demonstrates the potential for secondary visual loss because of optic nerve hypoperfusion, and the literature confirms this mechanism of injury for both the optic nerve and retina. Retinal screening may add evidence toward the diagnosis in visually asymptomatic patients. Because there is no treatment for the condition, management is symptomatic only but involves psychological support and genetic counseling.

CONCLUSION
We propose that cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy be added to the list of potential differential diagnoses for ION in young patients.


A novel class of antiulcer agents, the substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines, is described. The present compounds are not histamine (H2) receptor antagonists nor are they prostaglandin analogues, yet they exhibit both gastric antisecretory and cytoprotective properties. The mechanism of gastric antisecretory activity may involve inhibition of the H+/K+-ATPase enzyme. Structure-activity studies led to the identification of 3-(cyanomethyl)-2-methyl-8-(phenylmethoxy)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine, SCH 28080 (27), which was selected for further development and clinical evaluation.


Autoimmune urticaria, caused by
autoantibodies to the high-affinity
receptor for IgE or to IgE itself,
occurs in 30-40% of patients with CU. The diagnosis rests mainly on
clinical suspicion in patients with
the most severe presentations of
CU and without any known cause
or physical trigger. Better laboratory assays (to detect
these autoantibodies) need to be routinely available to facilitate diagnosis. Currently, the new-generation
antihistamines remain the mainstay of treatment for CU. The use of immunomodulatory
therapy may be beneficial for
some patients with autoimmune
urticaria. With the ongoing development of
novel agents for the treatment of
allergic disease, perhaps new
agents will be discovered that are
highly effective for the treatment
of CU and safe for long-term use.


Jean‐François Gravier and Armin Meili were two leading pioneers of planning in France and Switzerland. Gravier was the famous author of Paris et le désert français, first published in 1947; Meili was the author of the first national conception of planning in Switzerland and was very active in planning policy in the 1940s. Each has deeply influenced the implementation of planning policy in his country and both have constructed their theories around a criticism of the city: Paris for Gravier; big cities, in general, for Meili. This paper first describes the recurrent critiques of the city in the thoughts of these authors. From sterility to unhealthiness, they combine moral and physical criticisms. Although they belong to different countries and different political cultures, their thoughts take root in surprisingly common backgrounds based on the strength of ruralism and the political context of fascism. Finally, an analysis of their similar propositions concerning town and country planning policies is offered. The lessons of Gravier and Meili are based on different myths which the article will attempt to analyse.


Cosmological parameter constraints from the CMB power spectra alone suffer several well-known degeneracies. These degeneracies can be broken by numerical artefacts and also a variety of physical effects that become quantitatively important with high-accuracy data e.g. from the Planck satellite. We study degeneracies in models with flat and non-flat spatial sections, non-trivial dark energy and massive neutrinos, and investigate the importance of various physical degeneracy-breaking effects. We test the CAMB power spectrum code for numerical accuracy, and demonstrate that the numerical calculations are accurate enough for degeneracies to be broken mainly by true physical effects (the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, CMB lensing and geometrical and other effects through recombination) rather than numerical artefacts. We quantify the impact of CMB lensing on the power spectra, which inevitably provides degeneracy-breaking information even without using information in the non-Gaussianity. Finally we check the numerical accuracy of sample-based parameter constraints using CAMB and COSMOMC. In an appendix we document recent changes to CAMB's numerical treatment of massive neutrino perturbations, which are tested along with other recent improvements by our degeneracy exploration results.