Hypertension in the paediatric renal transplant paediatric population can have significant adverse effects on transplanted kidney function in addition to general and cardiovascular health. The British Association of Paediatric Nephrologists (BAPN) guidelines recommend maintaining blood pressure below the 90thpercentile in this population. An audit of all paediatric renal transplant recipients in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children assessed current practice of hypertension management against BAPN guidelines. Blood pressure recordings from the most recent clinic attendance were noted and the percentile calculated using the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute paediatric blood pressure charts. We assessed the blood pressure percentile in our transplant population against the audit standard, the BAPN guidelines. The audit identified 15% of the transplant recipients to have blood pressures above their target range. Other areas for improvement included availability of appropriate sized blood pressure cuffs at outpatient clinics, clinician ability to recognise hypertension and resources to confirm if isolated blood pressure measurements reflected true hypertension in individuals. The results of the audit were presented at a multidisciplinary meeting with all renal health professionals engaged in the implementation of changes. Recommendations included ensuring availability of all sizes of blood pressure cuffs, prominent placement of blood pressure percentile charts in all clinic rooms, the creation of a renal transplant clinic stamp to encourage target BP recording and recognition of hypertension and the development of a new ambulatory blood pressure monitoring service. All of the age-appropriate renal transplant patients were invited to have ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and hypertension information leaflets were developed with practical advice reiterated through the dietician and clinician at clinic. After one year the audit cycle was completed. All children identified as being hypertensive were now meeting their target blood pressure. In addition, all age-appropriate assenting patients had ABPM performed, which identified previously undiagnosed hypertensive patients ensuring appropriate treatment. A clinic has now been established for yearly ABPM of all post-transplant patients. By identifying simple measures to improve the measurement of blood pressure and aid the recognition of hypertension in children, we have reduced the degree of hypertension in this transplant population, thereby helping to optimise cardiovascular health and graft survival.


Implementation of a mass screening programme for lung cancer

Lung cancers present late, allowing most sufferers little chance of curative treatment. Presenting symptoms are usually non-specific and give the primary-care physicians little to look out for to separate the presentation of lung cancer, which is the most serious of diseases, from the common cold, a respiratory tract infection, fibromyalgia or any other self-limiting condition of little long-term consequence that he or she sees in daily abundance.1 It has been known for years however, that the most favourable presentation for lung cancer is the chance discovery on a routine chest radiograph, and this was one of the drivers for the chest radiograph to be used as a screening tool for lung cancer in the 1950s and 1960s. However, although chest radigraph screening studies, where usually individuals are randomised to an x ray annual screen or simple follow-up, did disclose more cancers in the active study arm, their mortality was not improved.2–4 These studies have been criticised for several reasons, including inadequate number of entrants, non-compliance in the follow-up only arm and claims that, maybe after all, there was a potential advantage in mortality for the screen-discovered cancers. Nevertheless, the issue was dropped until the development of low-dose multi-slice computed tomography scanning made computed tomography suitable for studying large numbers of people with only a small radiation exposure. Over the past 10 years, there have been several hypothesis-generating studies on populations with differing degrees of risk for developing lung cancer who have undergone prevalence and incidence computed tomography screening in non-randomised studies. These studies have been carried out mainly in Japan and the United States, and have incorporated healthy volunteers of middle or late age (45 years or more), of sufficient health status to be likely to live for …


In this paper we have presented the design methodology of electrical power generation using footstep for urban area energy applications. Man has needed energy at an increasing rate for his sustenance and wellbeing ever since he came on the earth. Due to this lot of energy resource have been exhausted and wasted. Proposal for the utilization of waste energy with foot power human locomotion is very much relevant and is very important for highly populated countries in INDIA and CHINA, where the roads, railway stations, bus stands and temples are overcrowded and millions of people moving around the clock. By using such principle, the energy can be utilized in the whole area where the mechanical energy is being converted to electrical energy.


Abstract Two new alkaloids, fluevirines E (1) and F (2), along with six known Securinega alkaloids, were isolated from the methanol extract of the twigs and leaves of Flueggea virosa. The structures and absolute configurations of the new compounds were elucidated by means of MS, NMR, and ECD analyses. Compound 1 is a new dimeric indole alkaloid while 2 is a new securinega-type alkaloid. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of the isolated alkaloids against several human cancer cell lines and their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity were also evaluated. Graphical Abstract


The application of quantum theory to cosmology raises a number of conceptual questions, such as the role of the quantum-mechanical notion of "observer" or the absence of a time variable in the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. I point out that a relational formulation of quantum mechanics, and more in general the observation that evolution is always relational, provides a coherent solution to this tangle of problems.


Motivated by the fact that English vowel grapheme is pronounced as 3 different vowel sounds, the current study purports to investigate how Korean EFL students perceive and produce English words with grapheme and whether the difficulty associated with perceiving and producing can be improved by training. To this end, perception and production tasks were conducted to 31 Korean EFL students in the forms of the pre-test and post-test. The overall results showed that participants' production abilities were significantly improved while the perception abilities were not. Thus, the effect of training was attested only in production. Significant improvement for individual target vowels was also found in the production domain but not in the perception domain, suggesting that acquisition patterns differ for perception and production. In order to account for the asymmetry in training effects, cross-participant correlational approach was adopted. Since no correlation between perception and production accuracy of the participants was found, it was concluded that perception and production abilities of the participants were developing independently and thus, different acquisition patterns were not surprising.


Uncertainty modelling with random variables motivates the adoption of advanced PTM for reliability analysis to solve problems of mechanical systems. Probabilistic transformation method (PTM) is readily applicable when the function between the input and the output of the system is explicit. When these functions are implicit, a technique is proposed that combines finite element analysis (FEA) and probabilistic transformation method (PTM) that is based on the numerical simulations of the finite element analysis (FEA) and the probabilistic transformation method (PTM) using an interface between finite element software and Matlab. Structure problems are treated with the proposed technique, and the obtained results are compared to those obtained by the reference Monte Carlo method. A second aim of this work is to develop an algorithm of global optimization using the local method SQP. The proposed approach MSQP is tested on test functions comparing with other methods, and it is used to resolve a structural problem under reliability constraints.


The NADL-2 strain of PPV was cloned into pUC19 and independent infectious clones were sequenced. This permitted a correction of published sequences and to predict a cruciform structure as an alternative to the 5'-hairpin of the "-" strand. This 5'-end structural covariance is shared with other parvoviruses of the same group and two alternative sequences ("flip" and "flop") were present in the region of the cruciform. Transcript and translation product mapping allowed the prediction of the location of the different expression signals. The 5'-startpoints of the transcripts were located at nucleotides 225 and 2035, respectively, and the polyadenylation site at nucleotides 4829-4833. This indicated that the TATA boxes at 196-TATA and 2004-AATA and the 4813-AATAAA polyadenylation sequence would be functional. Alternative splicing of capsid gene (VP) transcripts (either 2280-AG/GT or 2313-AG/GT spliced with 2386-AG/GA), to maintain or remove the first AUG (at 2287) in the ORF, yielded two 2.9-kb mRNAs containing a nested set of protein-coding sequences (VP-1 and VP-2 with predicted molecular mass 80.9 and 64.3 kDa, respectively). Three nonstructural (NS) protein gene transcripts were identified. The 4.7-kb transcript was not spliced in the NS gene and was predicted to code for a 75.5-kDa protein (NS-1; published value of phosphorylated form 84 kDa). The splicing sites of two different 3.3-kb NS transcripts were analyzed. These transcripts were predicted to code for the NS-2 protein (18.1 kDa). Of the two NS-2 transcripts, one had also the VP-intron removed downstream of the NS-2 coding sequences. A 2.9-kb transcript would code for an NS-3 protein (12.4 kDa) although such a protein has not been described before. A flow chart of the information from the viral DNA to the viral proteins is presented and several differences, both for the NS and the VP genes, with closely related parvoviruses are noted.


This paper presents a computational strategy and parametric modelling toolbox which aim at enhancing the design- and production process of reinforcement in freeform curved surface structures. The computational strategy encompasses the necessary steps of raising an architectural curved surface model of a concrete building to production level in terms of reinforcement. The Reinforcement Toolbox supports this strategy by offering structural engineers and other professionals in the building industry the functionality to create digital reinforcement models for curved surface structures.


Twelve species of cup-fungi in the orders Pezizales and Helotiales are reported for the first time from Iceland and comments are made on eight species previously reported. Distributions and habitats are noted. Newly reported records of species occurrences are as follows: Ascocoryne cylichnium, Gloeotinia granigena, Melastiza flavorubens, Octospora melina, O. leucoloma, Ombrophila violacea, Peziza apiculata sensu lato, P. phyllogena, P. succosa, Pseudombrophila theioleuca, Ramsbottomia macracantha and Tarzetta cupularis. Recent work allows the re-identification of Peziza granulosa as P. fimeti.


Since the early 1980s, health care for women veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has improved considerably, although problems still remain. The lack of privacy for women at many VA facilities and the provision of incomplete physical examinations for women continue to be problematic issues. A 1992 congressional appropriation of $7.5 million has substantially increased the awareness of women veterans health care in the VA. This appropriation, from Public Law 102-585, Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, Title I-Women Veterans Health Programs, has allowed VA to expand services for women veterans. Using these funds, VA has established eight comprehensive women veterans health centers, 23 full-time women veterans coordinators, and four regional stress disorder teams. This paper describes these and other important new initiatives and discusses how they will serve as the foundation on which VA expands care for women within the context of a changing health care system.


Photograph of Elizabeth Rowe holding her recently crowned World Champion quarter horse, Show Me The Town. The photograph was taken following the American Junior Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show in Fort Worth, Texas.


Abstract : The finding of homozygous deletions has been useful in localizing new tumor-suppressor genes and identifying the involvement of known suppressor genes. Four major approaches can identify homozygous deletions: a candidate gene approach where losses of a particular sequence are sought, a candidate positional search where a genome scanning strategy utilizes spaced markers, a candidate locus where markers of a known homozygous deletion of one tumor system are used to specify a region for investigation in a second tumor type, and an unbiased approach such as the representational difference analysis (RDA). Approaches utilizing RDA, candidate genes, and candidate loci in breast cancer are currently under investigation by our group. Using the candidate gene approach, a homozygous deletion of the DPC4 gene was identified within a breast cancer cell line. This suggested the involvement of this TGF-Beta-like pathway in breast cancer, and has stimulated the analysis of other candidate genes that may be potential members of this pathway. This approach, as well as the RDA and candidate locus methods, will contribute to our understanding of homozygous deletions and the suppressive pathways involved in this cancer.


Argumentation on some public policy issues is conjugated with disagreement and power differentials.
 Institutionally dominant arguers control the argumentation context through imposing authority rules which sometimes incentivize
 them to respond to opposing arguers in a fallacious way1 – with "the repeating tokens of the
 same counterarguments" and without considering the merits of opposing arguments. As produced in accordance with authority rules,
 such fallacies are embedded in the dominant argumentative discourse and easily pass unnoticed. To detect them, I introduce
 Argument Continuity (AC) – a new category of argumentative discourse analysis. AC is a set of the same arguments and
 counterarguments repeatedly produced/reproduced by the dominant arguer through an adversarial reasoning process to disconfirm
 opposing arguments and dismiss them. ACs are distinguished from other fallacies by their continuous nature and recursive way of
 production. ACs have their own life cycle – a chain of reasoning dynamics developing in a path-dependent fashion and increasing
 the cost of adopting a certain argument over time. I test the life cycle of ACs in a single case study – in consultations held by
 the Crown with Indigenous peoples of Canada over a controversial resource development project. Although ACs are not specific to
 the Crown-Indigenous relationships, they reveal how dominant arguers treat disagreement from epistemically diverse arguers. Based
 on observed evidence, I develop three theoretical propositions of ACs, which can serve as guidelines for researching the
 disconfirming mode of reasoning in other contexts of communication permeated by beliefs clash and power asymmetries.


High resolution magnetization measurements performed in a high quality Ba1−xKxFe2As2 single crystal allowed to determine the diamagnetism induced above the superconducting transition by thermally activated Cooper pairs. These data, obtained with magnetic fields applied along and transverse to the crystal ab layers, demonstrate experimentally that the superconducting transition of iron pnictides may be explained at a phenomenological level in terms of the Gaussian GinzburgLandau approach for three-dimensional anisotropic superconductors.


The spread of internet and e-business technologies (IEBT) globally is attracting the attention of both practitioners and researchers. Needless to say, IEBT have enabled businesses (both large and small) to improve their reach and enhance productivity. The literature has shown that the acceptance of such technologies lags behind in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This present study is designed to enrich our knowledge with regard to the impacts of relevant contextual factors on extent of IEBT use among SMEs. For illustrative purposes, this study uses a survey to sample opinions in one region of Canada. The contextual factors considered in the study include management support, technology characteristics, pressures from sources external to the business, and government support. These are among the cited factors that influence the acceptance of IEBT and e-business in SMEs. A research model was developed, and relevant hypotheses tested. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results revealed that aforementioned factors positively impact the extent of IEBT use in participating SMEs. The implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.


Two snack foods marketed specifically for infants were compared in caries prediction tests. A milk powder-supplemented fruit and cereal snack bar produced more titratable acid but did not reach as low a terminal pH as a sweet biscuit on in vitro fermentation by salivary organisms. In an intra-oral caries test the fruit/cereal bar caused significantly less enamel softening than the biscuit. While this latter test does not assess food retention in the mouth and other factors important in caries, the results suggest that, under similar usage by children, the fruit bar will be less cariogenic. Because it was not absolutely safe with respect to caries, frequency of eating cannot be disregarded. Availability of the fruit snack bar is an important development, allowing an additional choice for parents who wish to select low-cariogenicity foods for their children.


Mirabilis jalapa Linn. is widely used as a traditional medicine in many parts of the world for the treatment of various diseases viz. viral inhibitory activity, anti tumour activity. It is claimed in traditional medicine as the flower of the plant is used in the treatment of dysentery, diarrhea, muscular pain and abdominal colic. In the present study was attempted to reveal the qualitative phytochemical analysis of dried flower powder extracted in various solvents like aqueous, ethanol, methanol, chloroform and petroleum ether and their antibacterial activity against the gastrointestinal infections causing pathogens like Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae. TLC was carried out in all the extractions and HPLC and FT-IR were used as confirmatory test to study the nature of secondary metabolites. The antibacterial activity of the extracts of Mirabilis jalapa was examined by Disc diffusion method. Aqueous, chloroform and petroleum ether extracts displayed the minimal inhibition while all the ethanolic and methanolic extracts showed good antibacterial activity against the selected pathogens. The bacterial growth inhibition was calculated with reference to the standard.


A prolonged drought in the Lake Tahoe Basin in California has resulted in extensive conifer mortality. This phenomenon can be analyzed using (multitemporal) remote sensing data. Prior research in the same region used more traditional methods of change detection. The present paper introduces a third approach to change detection in remote sensing based on artificial neural networks. The neural network architecture used is a multilayer feedforward network. The results of the study indicate that the artificial neural network (ANN) estimates conifer mortality more accurately than the other approaches. Further, an analysis of its architecture reveals that it uses identifiable scene characteristics-the same as those used by a Gramm-Schmidt transformation. ANN models offer a viable alternative for change detection in remote sensing.


This study characterized the time course of changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and vascular diameter in a dual-hemorrhage model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in rats and examined whether acute blockade of the synthesis of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) with N-(3-chloro-4-morpholin-4-yl)phenyl-N'-hydroxyimido formamide (TS-011) can reverse delayed vasospasm in this model. Rats received an intracisternal injection of blood (0.4 ml) on day 0 and a second injection 2 days later. CBF was sequentially measured using laser-Doppler flowmetry, and the diameters of the cerebral arteries were determined after filling the cerebral vasculature with a casting compound. CBF fell to 67% of control after the first intracisternal injection of blood but returned to a value near control 24 h later. CBF again fell to 63% of control after a second intracisternal injection of blood and remained 30% below control for 5 days. The fall in CBF after the second intracisternal injection of blood was associated with a sustained 30% reduction in the diameters of the middle cerebral, posterior communicating, and basilar arteries. Acute blockade of the synthesis of 20-HETE with TS-011 (0.1 mg/kg i.v.), 5 days after the second SAH, increased the diameters of the cerebral arteries, and CBF returned to control. These results indicate that the rats develop delayed vasospasm after induction of the dual-hemorrhage model of SAH and that blockade of the synthesis of 20-HETE fully reverses cerebral vasospasm in this model. They also implicate 20-HETE in the development and maintenance of delayed cerebral vasospasm.


Purpose: A study was made of the binding properties of trifoliate yam starch, obtained from Dioscorea dumetorum (Pax), in chloroquine phosphate tablet formulations in comparison with official corn starch. Method: Compressional properties were analyzed using density measurements and compression equations of Heckel and Kawakita. The mechanical properties of the tablets were assessed using the crushing strength and friability of the tablets, while drug release properties of the tablets were assessed using disintegration and dissolution times. Results: Tablet formulations containing trifoliate yam starch exhibited faster onset and higher amount of plastic deformation during compression than those containing corn starch. The crushing strength, disintegration and dissolution times of the tablets increased with binder concentration while friability values decreased. Trifoliate yam starch produced tablets with stronger mechanical properties and longer disintegration and dissolution times than those containing corn starch. Conclusion: Trifoliate yam starch would be a better alternative to corn starch in producing uncoated tablets for which high bond strength is essential.


By treating C3 with purified C1, C4 and C2 in the fluid phase, haemolytically inactive C3 was prepared. This was shown to bind to human erythrocytes by use of radio-labelled (Fab')2 antibody to guinea-pig C3. The activated C3 preparation inhibited immune adherence between EAC43 and human erythrocytes. These findings indicate that the activated C3 attaches to the immune adherence receptor on human erythrocytes. In addition the fluid-phase activated C3 adhered to thymus cells and sheep erythrocytes, whereas EAC43 did not. Thus the immune adherence receptor may be present on so called immune adherence-negative cells, but in insufficient concentration to form rosettes with EAC43.


In high-precision motion systems, like wafer stages and electron microscopes, mechanical vibrations are a major point of concern. Often, these vibrations have small amplitudes (micrometers) and relatively high frequency (greater than 50 Hz). The so-called Smart Disc (a combined piezoelectric actuator and sensor) is a device that might be used to suppress these vibrations actively. The feasibility of the Smart Disc concept is investigated, using an experimental set- up, consisting of a double mass-spring system, with two Smart Discs. This system has two badly damped resonance modes, to be damped by the Smart Disc(s), by means of feedback of the measured local interaction forces to the actuated displacements. The corresponding control problem, is to minimize the vibrations of the two masses, as a result of a disturbing force. With the experimental set-up, some aspects have been investigated. In the modeling phase, the system revealed high-frequent (3 kHz) resonance peaks, which appeared to originate from the Smart Disc housings. These dynamics have been identified and taken into account in the control design. Because of these high-frequent dynamics near the Nyquist frequency, and the high gain at that frequency (which is inherent to the Smart Disc concept) discrete time effects have been taken into account explicitly. Besides conventional active vibration control strategies, more sophisticated (MIMO H(infinity ), discrete time) control design strategies have been applied successfully.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.


This study aims to analyse the role of political youth movements in contemporary Russia. The Russian political youth movements can be broadly divided into two categories: ''Pro-Kremlin'' and ''Opposition groups''. Moreover, most of the political parties in the Duma have youth wings. Recent studies show that most of the young people in Russia do not participate in elections. On the other hand, over the past decade, some of the youth movements start to use nonviolent methods of resistance against autocratic regime. Thousands of young people demand political change and take part of the demonstrations. This paper will focus on the implications of current political processes for youth politics in contemporary Russian political culture. It will try to figure out the main ''strengths and weakness'' of these groups in the democratisation process of the contemporary Russia.


The main purpose of this study is to answer: Why do teams survive in some locations?How many top teams can a particular town can sustain?How differentiated are these towns in terms of different sports?. The purpose is thus to link geography and the number of teams in a town. The monopolistic competition of Dixit & Stiglitz (1977) seems to be compatible with the sports geography in Finland. Location attributes and team success are important in determining attendance. These are in the long run the major determinants of survival in the highest level of any ball game in Finland. Geography is related to town population and their incomes. The Dixit-Stiglitz model also proposes that the attendance or the number of spectators is more related and correlated with the cost structure of the team than with the population statistics. The results seem to verify this hypothesis. The monopolistic competition model is tested with Finnish data covering 26 seasons starting in 1990. The data incorporates top team playing in the highest men's league. These popular ball games in this study are ice hockey, football, baseball, floorball, volleyball and basketball. Two estimation methods are used. The Poisson regression and Negative Binomial regression both yield similar results. A larger town in terms of population is able to sustain a larger number of different sports while the average income of citizens is negatively related to the number of sport teams in that town. It is also true that the biggest city of a region seems to cannibalise its neighbouring towns and these have a smaller number of teams.


Species of Schizochytrium are well known for their remarkable ability to produce lipids intracellularly. However, during their lipid accumulation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated inevitably as byproducts, which if in excess results in lipid peroxidation. To alleviate such ROS-induced damage, seven different natural antioxidants (ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, tea extract, melatonin, mannitol, sesamol, and butylated hydroxytoluene) were evaluated for their effects on the lipid accumulation in Schizochytrium sp. PKU#Mn4 using a fractional factorial design. Among the tested antioxidants, mannitol showed the best increment (44.98%) in total fatty acids concentration. However, the interaction effects of mannitol (1 g/L) and ascorbic acid (1 g/L) resulted in 2.26 ± 0.27 g/L and 1.45 ± 0.04 g/L of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (SFA and PUFA), respectively, in batch fermentation. These concentrations were further increased to 7.68 ± 0.37 g/L (SFA) and 5.86 ± 0.03 g/L (PUFA) through fed-batch fermentation. Notably, the interaction effects yielded 103.7% and 49.6% increment in SFA and PUFA concentrations in batch fermentation. The possible mechanisms underlining those increments were an increased maximum growth rate of strain PKU#Mn4, alleviated ROS level, and the differential expression of lipid biosynthetic genes andupregulated catalase gene. This study provides an applicable strategy for improving the accumulation of SFA and PUFA in thraustochytrids by exogenous antioxidants and the underlying mechanisms.


Preischemic hyperglycemia is known to accentuate acute ischemic injury to neurons, microglia, and endothelia. In the present study, we used a monoclonal antibody to the N-terminal portion of b-APP to examine how the immunoreactivity of this normal membrane glycoprotein is differentially influenced by transient cerebral ischemia when carried out under normoglycemic vs. hyperglycemic conditions. Anesthetized, physiologically regulated rats received 12.5 min of global forebrain ischemia by bilateral carotid artery occlusions plus systemic hypotension. Hyperglycemia was induced by intraperitoneal dextrose administration prior to ischemia. One or three days later, brains were examined by b-APP immunohistochemistry. Ischemia under hyperglycemic conditions led to the robust, widespread intraneuronal expression of b-APP immunoreactivity in neocortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and striatum of all 11 rats; this was most prominent at 24 h postischemia. Compared to rats with normoglycemic ischemia, numbers of b-APP-immunopositive neurons in the parietal cortex of hyperglycemic rats were increased by 5.9 fold at 24 h, and by 10.6 fold at 3 days postischemia. b-APP-immunopositive neurons in hyperglycemic rats often exhibited striking morphological alterations typical of ischemic necrosis; however, no b-APP immunoreaction was observed in zones of frank infarction. Brains of normoglycemic rats (n511), by contrast, showed only weak b-APP immunostaining in occasional non-necrotic pyramidal neurons of parietal neocortex; no necrosis was present in thalamus. In sham-operated hyperglycemic rats, b-APP immunostaining of thalamic neurons was somewhat increased at 24 h. Western analysis revealed that the hyperglycemia-induced intraneuronal overexpression of b-APP was not associated with an overall increase in tissue levels. The results of this study demonstrate that transient forebrain ischemia under hyperglycemic conditions leads to the early intraneuronal expression of b-APP within neuronal populations showing a heightened susceptibility to hyperglycemia-induced accentuation of ischemic injury. Our data suggest that b-APP or its metabolites may be involved in the injury process. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


The development of Islamic banking system in offering the products which is based on the shariah principles has witnessed a tremendous success. There are many new products being introduced as alternatives to conventional ones. Yet, at the same time, some of these products remain hotly debated amongst jurists on their validity and subsequently become non-compliant products. One of such products that have been introduced is tawarruq-based deposit product. In addition, the newly introduced Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 states that deposit products which are characterized as principal guaranteed feature could not be offered based on mudarabah or wakalah as they are only appropriate for investment products (principal non-guaranteed products). Therefore, the introduction of tawarruq-based deposit product by Islamic banks could be the best alternative to take place. However, the wakalah principle is also embedded in this twarruq deposits. Hence, this paper makes an attempt to analyze the adoption of wakalah in the tawarruq deposit that may trigger new issue.


The ternary metal nucleotide complexes [Ni(en)1.3(H2O)1.4(H2O)2][Ni(5′-dGMP)2(en)0.7-(H2O)0.6(H2O)2]·7H2O (1) and [Ni(en)2(H2O)2][Ni(5′-GMP)2(H2O)4]·6H2O (2)(en = ethylenediamine, 5′-dGMP = 2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate, 5′-GMP = guanosine 5′-monophosphate) have been prepared and their structures analyzed by X-ray diffraction methods. Both compounds crystallise in the space group C2221 with a= 8.810(1), b= 25.090(4), c= 21.084(1)A, and Z= 4 for (1) and a= 8.730(1), b= 25.691(4), c= 21.313(5)A, and Z= 4 for (2). The structures were deduced from the analogous CoIII complexes and refined by full-matrix least-squares methods to final R values of 0.087 and 0.131 for 1 211 and 954 reflections for (1) and (2) respectively. An interesting feature of the deoxyribonucleotide complex (1) is that en is not totally labilized from the metal centre on nucleotide co-ordination, as observed in corresponding ribonucleotide complexes. Apart from extensive intra- and inter-molecular hydrogen bonding, the structures are stabilized by significant intracomplex base–base and base–sugar interactions. The nucleotides in both complexes have an anti base, C(2′)-endo sugar pucker, and gauche–gauche conformation about the C(4′)–C(5′) bond.


This study was aimed to investigate the effects of waterborne fluoxetine on the reproduction performance of female fighting fish ( Betta splendens ). For this purpose, mature, ready for spawning females were exposed to concentrations of 0, 0.54 and 54.0 µg/l fluoxetine for 7 days. Then they were introduced into the spawning tank containing pre-acclimated male and reproductive consequences including number of copulations per spawning, number of eggs per copulation, duration of spawning, fecundity and hatching rate were assessed. Fluoxetine concentration of 54.0 µg/l, was significantly affected on the number of produced eggs per copulation, fecundity and hatching rate. In addition, the mean number of copulations per spawning was not different between treatments but significantly different for the spawning duration between control and 54.0 µg/l treatments. The results suggest that fluoxetine can impacts on reproductive performance of female fighting fish at concentrations greater than those found in the aquatic environments.


the possibility of breakdown and the difficulty of gauging activity on one film, there is a laudable tendency in some quarters to notify all lesions, however insignificant, in order to facilitate the examination of contacts. It is argued that to refer all such cases causes a great deal of unnecessary worry to the patient and also that chest clinics would become overloaded. Economically it is less expensive to keep the " old scar " under regular surveillance than attempt to find it again by the relatively expensive method of mass radiography. Patients seem to accept this surveillance and even welcome it, and the argument that it causes worry seems to be overstressed. What other comparatively unexplored methods of casefinding are there? Most clinicians experienced in the management of tuberculosis would agree that to speak of healed or recovered disease is rather glib. Tuberculosis is a chronically relapsing disease, and, once diagnosed, lifelong surveillance is necessary. In the past, and one suspects in some quarters at present, the criteria for regarding the disease as recovered were not as strict as they should have been. How often are laryngeal swabs done as a routine when the patient denies sputum ? What, then, could be simpler than for all chest clinics to recall cases discharged from surveillance as recovered or healed and reassess them in the light of modern knowledge ? As a minimum requirement chest x-rays should show the lesion to be stable and a series of at least three laryngeal swabs or sputum cultures be returned as negative. By this simple and inexpensive means, which involves the time of a clerk and health visitor, I feel a significant number of active lesions would be discovered. What seems most important is that these measures be adopted throughout the country and not confined to certain areas. If the volume of work proves too much, then further appointments should be made, but under no circumstances should the standard for assessment be lowered because of pressure of work.-I am, etc.,


Objectives:Despite the high prevalence of cocaine use disorder in schizophrenia, the impact of cocaine on antipsychotic requirement has not been studied in this population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cocaine on doses of antipsychotic medication prescribed during periods of acute exacerbation of psychotic symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. Methods:We reviewed the medical records of individuals with schizophrenia discharged from hospitals between 2008 and 2012. Student t tests and linear regression were used to compare doses of discharge antipsychotic medications (in chlorpromazine equivalents) between individuals with schizophrenia with cocaine positive urine drug test results (n = 180; age 42.71 ± 10.03 years) and individuals with schizophrenia with negative urine drug test results (n = 3194; age 38.49 ± 12.86 years). Results:Unadjusted analysis revealed that individuals with schizophrenia who tested positive for cocaine were discharged on lower doses of antipsychotic medication compared with those who tested negative (449.88 ± 2.12 vs 515.47 ± 2.16; P = 0.021). However, after adjusting for age, sex, race, and length of stay, the 2 groups did not differ on doses of discharge antipsychotic medication (geometric mean difference 7.41; CI: 7.62-12.30; P = 0.703). Conclusions:Our preliminary result suggests that cocaine use does not impact significantly on the doses of antipsychotic medication prescribed during periods of acute exacerbation of psychosis in schizophrenia and individuals with schizophrenia with comorbid cocaine use disorder may require similar doses of antipsychotic medication as those without cocaine use disorder.


Dr Voorhees, on the other hand, does not neglect the administrative and social aspects of the consulting-room. "I t is a nice courtesy to have a pleasing attendant on service in the waiting-room. She should be a bright, attractive, young girl of good personality, who knows how to ingratiate herself with the patients and find out from them anything that is desirable for the doctor to know, without allowing them to find out anything about herself or the doctor, which patients usually have no business to find out. It is human nature to pump the office nurse or attendant regarding the doctor's peculiarities, his habits, his family, the number of patients he sees, the number of operations he does, and the kind of automobile he drives." J. D. LITHGOW.


Aim To develop and validate a risk assessment model (RAM) of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalized Chinese patients. Methods We reviewed data from 300 patients with VTE and 300 non-VTE patients at Beijing Shijitan Hospital. The risk factors related to VTE were analyzed, and the VTE RAM (Shijitan (SJT) version) was developed according to the weight of each risk factor. A total of 407 patients with VTE and 533 non-VTE patients were enrolled for external validation. The sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, receiver operating curve (ROC), and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance of VTE RAM (SJT version) compared with Caprini RAM and Padua RAM. Results The VTE RAM (SJT version) contained six risk factors (age >60 years, lower limb edema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), central venous catheterization (CVC), VTE history, and D dimer). In the external validation group, for medical patients, the AUC value of SJT RAM (0.82 ± 0.03) is significantly higher than Caprini RAM (0.76 ± 0.04; P < 0.05), SJT RAM has a higher sensitivity, specificity, and Youden index than Caprini RAM (P < 0.05), which means that the SJT RAM has a much better predictive value than Caprini RAM. While SJT RAM and Padua RAM have the similar predictive value for medical patients (P > 0.05). For surgical patients, the AUC value of SJT RAM (0.72 ± 0.04) is significantly higher than the value of Padua RAM (0.66 ± 0.04; P < 0.05), SJT RAM has a higher sensitivity, specificity, and Youden index than Padua RAM (P < 0.05), which shows that the VTE RAM has better predictive value than Padua RAM. While SJT RAM and Caprini RAM have the similar predictive value for surgical patients (P > 0.05). Conclusion The SJT RAM derived from general hospitalized Chinese patients will be time-saving for physicians and has a better predictive ability for patients at risk of VTE.


In this paper, a method for texture retrieval based on Scale and Rotation Invariant Directional Empirical Mode Decomposition (SRIDEMD) is presented. Different from other filtering based techniques such as wavelet and Gabor decomposition, EMD uses the nonlinear filtering process called 'sifting' which attains its scalead aptivity and obtained Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) which has approximate orthogonality. We extend DEMD which is a fast technique of extending 1-D EMD to 2-D case by introducing scale and rotation invariance. Features including frequency and envelopes of IMFs are extracted after 2-D Hilbert transform. Decomposition in several directions is made for rotation invariance and main direction is used. Scale-invariant features are attained by further processing the results and using fractal dimensions of the residues and IMFs. We validate the effectiveness of this method by experiments for textures from public texture database.


Multi-source localization based on received signal strength (RSS) has drawn great interest in wireless sensor networks. However, the shadow fading term caused by obstacles cannot be separated from the received signal, which leads to severe error in location estimate. In this paper, we approximate the log-normal sum distribution through Fenton-Wilkinson method to formulate a non-convex maximum likelihood (ML) estimator with unknown shadow fading factor. In order to overcome the difficulty in solving the non-convex problem, we propose a novel algorithm to estimate the locations of sources. Specifically, the region is divided into $N$ grids firstly, and the multi-source localization is converted into a sparse recovery problem so that we can obtain the sparse solution. Then we utilize the K-means clustering method to obtain the rough locations of the off-grid sources as the initial feasible point of the ML estimator. Finally, an iterative refinement of the estimated locations is proposed by dynamic updating of the localization dictionary. The proposed algorithm can efficiently approach a superior local optimal solution of the ML estimator. It is shown from the simulation results that the proposed method has a promising localization performance and improves the robustness for multi-source localization in unknown shadow fading environments. Moreover, the proposed method provides a better computational complexity from $O(K^3N^3)$ to $O(N^3)$.


Although it is known that zinc has several beneficial roles in the context of gut inflammation, the underlying mechanisms have not been extensively characterized. Zinc (Zn) is known to be the primary physiological inducer of the expression of the metallothionein (MT) superfamily of small stress‐responsive proteins. The expression of MTs in various tissues is induced or enhanced (including the gastrointestinal tract (GIT)) by a variety of stimuli, including infection and inflammation. However, the MTs' exact role in inflammation is still subject to debate. In order to establish whether or not MTs are the sole vectors in the Zn‐based modulation of intestinal inflammation, we used transcriptomic and metagenomic approaches to assess the potential effect of dietary Zn, the mechanisms underlying the MTs' beneficial effects, and the induction of previously unidentified mediators. We found that the expression of endogenous MTs in the mouse GIT was stimulated by an optimized dietary supplementation with Zn. The protective effects of dietary supplementation with Zn were then evaluated in mouse models of chemically induced colitis. The potential contribution of MTs and other pathways was explored via transcriptomic analyses of the ileum and colon in Zn‐treated mice. The microbiota's role was also assessed via fecal 16S rRNA sequencing. We found that high‐dose dietary supplementation with Zn induced the expression of MT‐encoding genes in the colon of healthy mice. We next demonstrated that the Zn diet significantly protected mice in the two models of induced colitis. When comparing Zn‐treated and control mice, various genes were found to be differentially expressed in the colon and the ileum. Finally, we found that Zn supplementation did not modify the overall structure of the fecal microbiota, with the exception of (i) a significant increase in endogenous Clostridiaceae, and (ii) some subtle but specific changes at the family and genus levels. Our results emphasize the beneficial effects of excess dietary Zn on the prevention of colitis and inflammatory events in mouse models. The main underlying mechanisms were driven by the multifaceted roles of MTs and the other potential molecular mediators highlighted by our transcriptomic analyses although we cannot rule out contributions by other factors from the host and/or the microbiota.


This paper proposes a seamless microforming technique from 100 micrometer order bulging all the way down to micrometer-order embossments by using hydro spark forming method. Sub-millimeter order bulging with 300 and 100 m diameter aluminum thin foils are demonstrated to be easily available without accurate positioning as in the conventional methods. The present technique is successfully applicable also to surface embossments of micrometer order, for a coin surface, an IC chip and hologram surfaces.


In this paper, several control techniques for induction metal treating are examined to assess their performances using resonant series inverter. In fact, many types of steel are treated with heat to increase toughness and resistance to wear. Induction heating seems to be appropriate and provides several advantages in comparison with conventional techniques. In this paper, these techniques are evaluated comprehensively, through simulation and experiment, and compared to each other in terms of heating rate and efficiency, using one metal sample hardened to 1mm in depth up to 700°C, with a 400 W power supply. The simulation results obtained are satisfactory, and agree with those of the experiments. Furthermore, the study shows the control strategy based on frequency may not be sufficient, but should be associated with other control techniques in order to address appropriately the hardening process, bearing in mind processing time and efficiency. The strategy with frequency associated with phase shift control appears to fit well metal treating during the hardening, and can be easily tailored to its hardening requirements, compared to the other techniques. Keywords—Induction metal hardning; Resonant Inverter; Power control


We propose a novel, efficient approach for obtaining high-quality experimental designs for event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (ER-fMRI), a popular brain mapping technique. Our proposed approach combines a greedy hill-climbing algorithm and a cyclic permutation method. When searching for optimal ER-fMRI designs, the proposed approach focuses only on a promising restricted class of designs with equal frequency of occurrence across stimulus types. The computational time is significantly reduced. We demonstrate that our proposed approach is very efficient compared with a recently proposed genetic algorithm approach. We also apply our approach in obtaining designs that are robust against misspecification of error correlations.


This thesis studies the effects of haptic force feedback on 3D interaction performance. To date, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in three dimensions is not well understood. Within platforms, such as Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs), implementing `good' methods of interaction is difficult. As reflected by the lack of 3D IVE applications in common use, typical performance constraints include inaccurate tracking, lack of additional sensory inputs, in addition to general design issues related to the implemented interaction technique and connected input devices. In total, this represents a broad set of multi-disciplinary challenges. By implementing techniques that address these problems, we intend to use IVE platforms to study human 3D interaction and the effects of different types of feedback. A promising area of work is the development of haptic force feedback devices. Also called haptic interfaces, these devices can exert a desired force onto the user simulating a physical interaction. When described as a sensory cue, it is thought that this information is important for the selection and manipulation of 3D objects. To date, there are a lot of studies investigating how best to integrate haptic devices within IVEs. Whilst there are still fundamental integration and device level problems to solve, previous work demonstrates that haptic force feedback can improve 3D interaction performance. By investigating this claim further, this thesis explores the role of haptic force feedback on 3D interaction performance in more detail. In particular, we found additional complexities whereby different types of haptic force feedback conditions can either help but also hinder user performance. By discussing these new results, we begin to examine the utility of haptic force feedback. By focusing our user studies on 3D selection, we explored the influence of haptic force feedback on the strategies taken to target virtual objects when using either `distal' and `natural' interaction technique designs. We first outlined novel methods for integrating and calibrating large scale haptic devices within a CAVE-like IVE. Secondly, we described our implementation of distal and natural selection techniques tailored to the available hardware, including the collision detection mechanisms used to render different haptic responses. Thirdly, we discussed the evaluation framework used to assess different interaction techniques and haptic force feedback responses within a common IVE setup. Finally, we provide a detailed assessment of user performance highlighting the effects of haptic force feedback on 3D selection, which is the main contribution of this work. We expect the presented findings will add to the existing literature that evaluates novel 3D interaction technique designs for IVEs. We also hope that this thesis will provide a basis to develop future interaction models that include the effects of haptic force feedback.


Abstract The maritime environment protection is increasingly reflected in legal regulations regarding, inter alia, the harmful exhaust gas components emitted by marine combustion engines. The provisions imposing the emission limits for SOx, NOx and CO2 are included in MARPOL 73/78 ANNEX VI adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). However, as of today, these provisions are not applicable to fishing cutters. One of the methods, both to decrease emissions' volume and also to reduce the operating costs of ships, is to lower fuel consumption of marine energetic systems. The paper presents a proposition of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly energetic systems for coastal fishing cutters. It also demonstrates the importance of the said systems and includes the elaboration regarding the impact of fuel type, renewable energy sources and energy conversion methods on the hazards to the environment caused by the emission of harmful exhaust gas components. The presented solutions refer to fishing cutters of the length of 15-30 m and are categorized into two groups. The division criterion applied is an access to technologies currently available and future technologies enabling the use of alternative energy sources.


We report on millimeter wave measurements of an In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As multiquantum well fabricated by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. Transmission experiments with the millimeter waves (16–110 GHz) were carried out as a function of the magnetic field up to 10 T at temperatures down to 0.6 K. The quantum oscillations corresponding to the Shubnikov-de Haas effect are observed in the amplitude and phase of the transmitting waves. The effective mass can be estimated as 0.058m0 for the 1st-subband electron. In spite of a small Fermi energy of 27 meV for the 1st subband, the enhancement of an effective mass is 30% over the bulk band-edge mass of 0.041m0. The large difference originates from the resonant polaron coupling due to a fundamental GaAs-like LO-phonon in addition to the band nonparabolicity of the In0.53Ga0.47As well.


This study aims to analyze the role of the Islamic economy and design strategies for strengthening the Islamic economic ecosystem in driving the transformation of the Indonesian economy. Indonesia has a great potential to develop an Islamic economy. On the other hand, the existing Islamic economic ecosystem is still not greats enough to transform Indonesia's economic fundamentals. This research method uses a qualitative approach, with literature studies, the first step is reviewing the narrative of the potential of the Islamic economy in Indonesia, economic transformation, and Islamic economic ecosystems. The second stage is a meta-analysis of the results of the narrative review, which observes the synthesis to produce a strategy design for strengthening the Islamic economic ecosystem. The results of this study illustrate that Indonesia has great potential in the development of the Islamic economy in terms of the number of the Muslim population, halal tourism, development of Islamic finance, halal food, Muslim fashion product markets, and also economic digitization. Economic transformation is an economic development step that must be driven by the potential of the Islamic economy, especially in terms of Islamic finance. Therefore, the key to Indonesia's economic transformation is to create a greats Islamic economic ecosystem. Integrating all economic potentials, improving the performance of Islamic financial institutions, and encouraging the SME's performance based on the Islamic economy is the strategy.


Agricultural drought is triggered by a depletion of moisture content in the soil, which hinders photosynthesis and thus increases carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between soil moisture (SM) and vegetation activity toward quantifying CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. To this end, the MODerate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), an optical multispectral sensor, was used to evaluate two regions in South Korea for validation. Vegetation activity was analyzed through MOD13A1 vegetation indices products, and MODIS gross primary productivity (GPP) product was used to calculate the CO2 flux based on its relationship with respiration. In the case of SM, it was calculated through the method of applying apparent thermal inertia (ATI) in combination with land surface temperature and albedo. To validate the SM and CO2 flux, flux tower data was used which are the observed measurement values for the extreme drought period of 2014 and 2015 in South Korea. These two variables were analyzed for temporal variation on flux tower data as daily time scale, and the relationship with vegetation index (VI) was synthesized and analyzed on a monthly scale. The highest correlation between SM and VI (correlation coefficient (r) = 0.82) was observed at a time lag of one month, and that between VI and CO2 (r = 0.81) at half month. This regional study suggests a potential capability of MODIS-based SM, VI, and CO2 flux, which can be applied to an assessment of the global view of the agricultural drought by using available satellite remote sensing products.


A comparison of analog and digital computation of strong-motion earthquake response spectra is made, and it is shown that the preference as to method will depend mainly on availability of computing equipment. The accuracy of analog response spectrum computations is shown to be compatible with the limitations of the original ground acceleration data. The accuracy of the customary approximate relationship between the displacement response spectrum and the velocity response spectrum is investigated, and the validity of the simplifications are shown for typical strong-motion earthquake applications. The relationship between the response spectrum and the Fourier spectrum is developed, and a comparison as to suitability for earth-quake engineering problems is given.


We are interested in the possibility of new prostate cancer therapy that would control tumor malignancy via the induction of terminal cell differentiation. Here, we investigated the combined effect of various cAMP reagents on LNCaP human prostate carcinoma cells. Papaverine and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), combined synergistically induced morphological changes. Electron microscope study suggested that cells treated with both reagents become like neuroendocrine cells. We then investigated the effect of both reagents on proliferation and malignancy of LNCaP cells. The malignancy of cells was analyzed by soft agar colony-forming assay and an in vitro invasion assay. Proliferation and malignancy of LNCaP cells treated with both reagents were significantly decreased in comparison to the proliferation and malignancy of untreated cells. Furthermore, the expression of oncogenes such as c-myc and Bcl-2 was suppressed in differentiated LNCaP cells. These results suggest that papaverine combined with PGE2 can synergistically induce neuronal differentiation as well as decrease the malignancy of human prostatic cancer LNCaP cells.


Antonides and the social gospelers he criticizes agree that the modern tendency to assume that faith is private and the public realm is thoroughly secular is a problem. However, as his title implies, Antonides disagrees with the social gospel remedy. Rather than Christianizing society, liberals and radicals have secularized the faith. The tradition, running from Hegel, Schleiermacher, and Ritschl, through the early twentieth-century Protestant social gospel, the religious radicalism of the 1930s and 1940s, postwar political theology, and the post-Vatican i Roman Catholic 'turn to


Natural killer (NK) activity and antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) against a human myeloid target cell line (K 562) was measured in adult patients with trisomy-21 (Down's syndrome) and in chromosomally normal age and sex matched control subjects. The effect of human leucocyte interferon (IFN-alpha) on the NK activity was also estimated. Spontaneous NK activity was stronger in the adult patients with trisomy-21 than in the healthy controls, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. The augmentation of NK activity by IFN-alpha, measured using lymphocytes not depleted of monocytes as effector cells, was statistically significant in both the trisomic patients (P less than 0.004) and the healthy controls (P less than 0.0005). Using monocyte and macrophage depleted lymphocytes in the patients with trisomy-21 the NK activity proved stronger than in the healthy controls, but not significantly and IFN-alpha did not augment it as it did in the healthy controls (P = n.s., P less than 0.05), for augmentations respectively). These results support the view that monocytes and macrophages are connected with the NK cell system. ADCC correlated with NK activity in both groups. Since NK cells are important components of many immune processes, including tumour and virus and/or bacteria-infected cell elimination, and have regulatory functions in immune reactions, the deficient augmentation of trisomic NK cells shown in vitro with extrinsic human leucocyte interferon may, paradoxically be an explanation for the greater susceptibility of trisomic individuals to lymphatic leukaemia and virus and bacterial infections. In vivo, this could be explained by the more potent secondary suppression by the 'immune' interferon produced by the virus, bacteria and malignant cells. In other words, the potential of the 'fighting couple' of the immune system, NK cell/interferon, is perhaps disturbed genetically due to the chromosome 21.


To implement a given digital filter with a finite-bit digital hardware, its design parameters have to be rounded off or truncated. The resulting filter characteristics considerably deviate from the desired ones. This effect can be reduced if the parameters are suitably chosen in the discrete-parameter-space. In this paper, this is achieved for linear-phase FIR filters by solving a system of linear pseudo-Boolean inequalities. The method is simple to use and is believed to offer a new insight into the problem. It takes much less computer time as compared to the existing search techniques, and yet has much better chances of converging to a global optimum.


We define a global rank for partial types based in a generalization of Shelah trees. We prove an equivalence with the depth of a localized version of the constructions known as dividing sequence and dividing chain. This rank characterizes simple and supersimple types. Moreover, this rank does not change for non-forking extensions under certain hypothesys. We also prove this rank satisfies Lascar-style inequalities. As an application, we provide a partial answer to a question posed in Chernikov[4]


Escherichia coli infA is transcribed from two promoters, P1 and P2, into a longer and a shorter mRNA encoding translation initiation factor IF1. Although P1 is intrinsically stronger than P2, the shorter half‐life of its transcripts causes the steady‐state level of the P2 transcript to be substantially higher than that of P1 during growth at 37°C. After cold‐shock, de novo transcription and translation of infA contribute to the transient increase of the IF1/ribosomes ratio, which is partially responsible for translational bias consisting in the preferential translation of cold‐shock mRNAs in the cold. Cold‐stress induction of infA expression is mainly due to the high activity of P1 at low temperature, which is further increased by transcriptional stimulation by CspA and by an increased transcript stability. Furthermore, the longer infA mRNA originating from P1 is preferentially translated at low temperature by the translational machinery of cold‐shocked cells. The increased level of IF1 during cold adaptation is essential for overcoming the higher stability of the 70S monomers at low temperature and for providing a sufficient pool of dissociated 30S subunits capable of initiating translation.


To the Editor:—The interesting article by Flaishon et al. included prospective data on the difficulties of performing anesthetic and critical care duties in mass casualty situations. An additional factor to consider is the challenge of continuing to perform one's duties while wearing full antichemical protective gear. As a member of the Air National Guard, I am obligated to perform chemical warfare training. Wearing the full MOPP 4 antichemical warfare ensemble is uncomfortable, especially in warm environments such as the Middle East. The clinician must contend with the intrinsic difficulties of wearing the suit and be mindful of preventing his own severe dehydration and the need to be resuscitated himself. Most United States civilians do not appreciate the need to maintain adequate hydration. In the Middle East, constant hydration is a way of life. Military personnel have become familiar with disaster management concepts. In the future, such training will be mandatory for civilians as well. The Society of Critical Care Medicine (Des Plaines, IL) sponsored its first course on disaster medicine at its annual meeting this year to provide civilian clinicians with the basic concepts of disaster management. The course will heighten awareness of the challenges of airway management as well as the challenges and hazards of extended wear of chemical warfare gear.


Numerical evidence shows the existence of 2- and 3-tori in the time-dependent complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGL) in one spatial dimension with periodic boundary conditions. The author employs standard bifurcation methods, such as the Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction, to prove the existence of 2-tori by rigorous analytical tools. Bifurcations involve multi-dimensional (real or complex) eigenspaces. The procedure enables one to obtain a unique smooth bifurcating manifold the dimension of which equals the dimension of the eigenspace. In particular, primary bifurcations from the zero solution yield periodic orbits, and secondary ones from rotating waves yield 2-tori. Their stability is discussed by means of centre manifold theory. While the rotating waves are represented by a wavefunction with temporally and spatially constant modulus, the bifurcating 2-tori have a wavefunction the modulus of which is a travelling wave. In superconductivity the square modulus of the wavefunction is proportional to the density of superconducting electrons.


Foodborne pathogens with high-pressure processing (HPP) tolerance and their pathogenicity have gained considerable attention in the field of food safety. However, tolerance to pressure treatment varies among microorganisms and growth phases, and the mechanism by which Vibrio parahaemolyticus can become tolerant of HPP is currently not known. In this study, 183 strains of V. parahaemolyticus were isolated from seafood products, and one strain, C4, carried a thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) gene. A strain, N11, which was acquired from the C4 strain through adaptive laboratory evolution under HPP stress, could tolerate up to 200 MPa for 10 min. Compared with the C4 strain, the catalase and Na+/K+-ATPase activities in N11 strain were increased by about 2–3 times, and the cells maintained an intact cell membrane structure under HPP treatment. As shown by murine infection trials, the C4 and N11 strains impacted the physiological activities of mice and damaged liver and spleen cells. Comparative genomic analysis showed that 19 nucleotides were mutated in the N11 strain, which led to sustained high expression of mlaC and mlaD genes in this strain. Knockout of these genes confirmed that they were involved in the high-pressure stress response, and also related to pathogenicity of V. parahaemolyticus. Thereby, our findings revealed a HPP tolerance mechanism of V. parahaemolyticus, and the high-pressure-tolerant strain still retained pathogenicity in mice with skin and fur pleating and lethargy, indicating the pressure-tolerant foodborne pathogens present health risks.


As the importance of research data gradually grows in sciences, data sharing has come to be encouraged and even mandated by journals and funders in recent years. Following this trend, the data availability statement has been increasingly embraced by academic communities as a means of sharing research data as part of research articles. This paper presents a quantitative study of which mechanisms and repositories are used to share research data in PLOS ONE articles. We offer a dynamic examination of this topic from the disciplinary and temporal perspectives based on all statements in English-language research articles published between 2014 and 2020 in the journal. We find a slow yet steady growth in the use of data repositories to share data over time, as opposed to sharing data in the paper or supplementary materials; this indicates improved compliance with the journal's data sharing policies. We also find that multidisciplinary data repositories have been increasingly used over time, whereas some disciplinary repositories show a decreasing trend. Our findings can help academic publishers and funders to improve their data sharing policies and serve as an important baseline dataset for future studies on data sharing activities.


Physiological functions of biological cells in breast tissues crucially depend on the trace elements present. Here, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy has been developed to perform the trace elemental analysis of breast tissues of rats. Pronounced iron emission lines are observed at 247.6, 387.1, 400.4 and 407.9 nm. Manganese emission lines are observed at 279.6 and 280.3 nm. Copper emission is at 386.2 nm. Cobalt emission is at 388.3 nm. Calcium lines are at 393.4, 396.9 and 422.7 nm. Molybdenum emission is at 405.5 nm. Boron emission is at 516.6 nm. Sodium lines are at 589.0 and 589.5 nm. Iodine is at 746.9 nm. Potassium lines are at 766.4 and 769.9 nm. Lithium emission is observed at 670.7 nm from the mammary glands of subjects administered lithium carbonate orally. Statistical presence (p<0.05) of trace lithium in breast tissue may affect its overall elemental concentration.


Preface Introduction College Recruitment Night Kim Stafford, Director, Northwest Writing Institute, Lewis & Clark College Let Them Be Students William M. Shain, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Vanderbilt University Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Harvard College Marlyn McGrath Lewis, Director of Admissions, Harvard College Charles Ducey, Director of the Bureau of Study Counsel, Harvard University Sanity Check Bruce J. Poch, Vice President and Dean of Admissions, Pomona College Editor's Stories I Our Numbers Are Up! (Is That Good?) Mark Speyer, Director of College Counseling, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School Faked Figures Make Fools of Us James M. Sumner, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Grinnell College Admissions Messages vs. Admissions Realities Paul Marthers, Dean of Admission, Reed College The Rank Lyrics of the Sirens' Song Sean Callaway, Director of College Placement and Internships, Pace University Center for Urban Education Editor's Stories II. Practical Perspectives: On Choosing the Right College Richard H. Hersh, Former President, Trinity College Admission Selection: Discerning Intrinsic Talents in a Confounding Era. Karl M. Furstenberg, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Dartmouth College Higher Education: The Status Game William Adams, President, Colby College You Must Re-member This Ted O'Neill, Dean of Admission, University of Chicago Editor's Stories III College Admission: As If Learning Mattered Michael Beseda, Vice Provost for Enrollment, Saint Mary's College of California Thoughts From an Admission Officer Mother Sid Dalby, Associate Director of Admission, Smith College Knowledge for its Own Sake Colin S. Diver, President, Reed College Status vs. Substance: Is There a Choice? Robert J. Massa, Vice President for Enrollment, Student Life and College Relations, Dickinson College Editor's Stories IV Establishing the Right Perspective Regarding College Admissions Harold Wingood, Dean of Admission, Clark University Students: You ARE Important, and You Can Take Control! Matt Fissinger, Dean of Admission, Loyola Marymount University Listening to What Matters Craig J. Franz, FSC, President, St. Mary's College of California Saving Imagination Philip Ballinger, Ph.D., Director of Admissions, University of Washington Summary and Discussion: Seeking Educational Clarity and Inspiration Recommendations: Who can do what needs to be done? What can students do? What can parents do? What can colleges do? What can The College Board and the media do? Hope and inspiration Acknowledgements


Abstract: Neuronal survival after ischemic injury is determined through the induction of several biological pathways. We examined whether lubeluzole, an agent efficacious in both clinical and experimental models of cerebral ischemia, modulated the signal transduction mechanisms of nitric oxide (NO), a downstream mediator of anoxic neurodegeneration. Both pretreatment [NO survival = 23 ± 3%, NO/lubeluzole (750 nM) survival = 63 ± 2%, p < 0.001] and coadministration [NO survival = 25 ± 3%, NO/lubeluzole (750 nM) survival = 59 ± 3%, p < 0.001] of lubeluzole with NO generators equally protected cultured hippocampal neurons in a dose‐dependent manner against the toxic effects of NO, suggesting that the agent protects by acutely modifying toxic cellular pathways rather than preconditioning the neuron before injury. The protection observed with lubeluzole was stereospecific but was not limited to pre‐ or coadministration. Lubeluzole also was found to significantly protect against the toxicity of NO for a period of 4–6 h after NO exposure [NO survival = 31 ± 2%, NO/lubeluzole (750 nM) survival at 6 h = 56 ± 3%, p < 0.001]. We conclude that the neuroprotective ability of lubeluzole is unique and involves the direct modulation of the NO pathway. In addition, the mechanisms of NO toxicity are dynamic and reversible processes that, if left unaltered, will lead to neuronal injury. Further investigation of the downstream signal transduction mechanisms below the level of NO generation may elucidate the specific cellular events responsible for neurodegeneration.


Defects in integrated circuits can cause delay faults of various sizes. Testing for delay faults has the goal of detecting a large fraction of these faults for a wide range of fault sizes. Hence, an evaluation scheme for a delay fault test must not only compute whether or not a delay fault was detected, but also calculate the sizes of detected delay faults. Delay faults have the counterintuitive property that a test for a fault of one size need not be a test for a similar fault of a larger size. This makes it difficult to answer questions about the sizes of delay faults detected by a set of tests. A model for delay faults that answers such questions correctly, but with calculations simple enough to be done for large circuits, is presented. >


The effect of erythromycin (EM) on mucociliary transport function assessed by saccharin test and clinical symptoms were studied in 19 patients with sinobronchial syndrome (SBS). Before treatment with EM, the mean nasal clearance time (NCT) of SBS patients was 51.9 +/- 40.5 (SD) min, which was significantly (p < 0.01) longer than that of control subjects (12.4 +/- 5.3 min). After 4-week treatment with oral EM (600 mg/day), NCT of SBS patients significantly (p < 0.01) improved (29.2 +/- 34.2 min). In 11 of 19 SBS patients, bacteria from sputum culture disappeared after EM therapy. Frequency of cough and volume of sputum were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased by EM therapy. Nasal symptoms (such as nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea) were also significantly (p < 0.05) improved by EM therapy. These findings suggested that disorder of mucociliary transport function was present in patients with SBS, and EM therapy improved this function. EM clinically improved not only the lower airway symptoms, but also the nasal symptoms.


Immunosuppression occurs as a result of neutropenia (neutrophil count < 500/mm3), cellular immunodeficiency (CD4 lymphocyte count < 200/mm3) and humoral immunodeficiency (hypogamma- or dysglobulinemia), Immunocompromised patients are susceptible to infection and the lung is one of the most commonly affected organs. Bacterial pathogens are seen in the three types of immunodeficiency. Prolonged neutropenia of more than 7 days is associated with fungal infection and particularly with invasive aspergillosis. Cellular immunodeficiency is associated more frequently with tuberculosis and Pneumocysti jiroveci pneumonia. Diagnosis approach begins with looking for historical clues (immunodeficiency type, exposure...). Computed tomography features are often useful with some suggestive abnormalities (i.e. halo sign and invasive aspergillosis). Bronchoalveolar lavage is the key to microbiologic diagnosis. Hospitalization is required in most cases. Antimicrobial therapy must be introduced quickly because delayed therapy is responsible for increased mortality. Empirical treatment is used initially until specific microbiological data are available.


This study examines prerequisites for developing ideas in a product development organisation. To encourage new ideas, the organisation used a suggestion system. The study shows that support for employee initiatives varied depending on the type of initiative: proactive or reactive. Employees with reactive initiatives (ideas motivated by quality, customer, or user problems) had strong support from managers, colleagues, patent group employees, and a large international customer. Employees with proactive initiatives - ideas not directly responding to a specific demand - found it risky to offer their suggestions, as they feared their ideas might be stolen. In addition, these employees experienced difficulties to find trustful people and frustration because little feedback was provided after they shared their ideas. The study shows that proactive initiatives are vulnerable and the employees who provide these types of initiative need a trusting and supportive work milieu.


Operating a hybrid HVAC and HVDC power transmission line is an option for increasing the efficiency of power transmission and overcoming the difficulties in obtaining a new right-of-way. This paper proposes a new calculation method for the study of hybrid power line corona. The proposed method can be used to calculate DC corona losses and corona currents in DC or AC conductors for single phase AC and monopolar DC hybrid lines. Profiles of electric field strength and ion current density at ground level can be estimated. The effects of the presence of an energized AC conductor on DC conductor corona and DC voltage on AC conductor corona are included in the method. Full-scale and reduced-scale experiments were utilized to investigate the hybrid line corona effects. Verification of the proposed calculation method is given.


Since yeasts have the most similar way of doing its cellular respiration to humans, we were interested in investigating if yeasts could survive in the Mars-like environment. Preparing for the future life, we thought that if yeast could survive, there would be a high possibility that humans can find a way to survive, too. By differing the variables, radiation and temperature, we did the activation experiment to compare the CO2 production, which indicates whether yeasts can survive in the harsh environment.


We consider a simple random walk in an i.i.d. non-negative potential on the d-dimensional integer lattice, $d\geq 3$. We study the quenched Lyapunov exponents, and present a probabilistic proof of its continuity when the potentials converge in distribution.


Mono- and binuclear blue-light-induced CO-releasing molecules based on a fac-MnBr(CO)3 moiety and bearing benzimidazole ligands furnished with either a sulfonate or phosphonium group were synthesized. The effect of the ancillary ligand (Br− and NCS−) on the CO releasing properties was studied and compared with that of the triazolate complex synthesized by the free catalyst [3+2] cycloaddition iClick reaction. An extension of the iClick reaction to the binuclear complex was successful. The assignment of electronic transitions was done by TDDFT. The photoprocess of the binuclear complexes was faster than that of the mononuclear complex.


In this paper we try to unify the frameworks of definitions of semantic security, indistinguishability and nonmalleability by defining semantic security in comparison based framework. This facilitates the study of relations among these goals against different attack models and makes the proof of the equivalence of semantic security and indistinguishability easier and more understandable. Besides, our proof of the equivalence of semantic security and indistinguishability does not need any intermediate goals such as non devidability to change the definition framework.


In a competitive world where everyone and every system is trying to outdo one another to create a sense of relevance, the tendency of not being satisfied with a particular way in which something has been done over the years is often to copy or emulate what the other is doing. Religion is not free from this tendency; and this creates a situation where some elements or a reasonable chunk of ideas are copied and fussed into a religious tradition from one or more opposing or distinct religious groups. The idea of fusion in religious circles is known as religious syncretism. The paper is motivated by the seemingly fusion of Christian and Islamic patterns of beliefs in the Ethnic Denominations of African Religion in the Benue Valley of Nigeria. The paper adopts the Phenomenological and Analytic Methods. In the area of data collection, two main methods: the primary and secondary methods of data collection have been employed. In the primary source of data collection, observation and oral interview methods were used. On the other hand, the secondary sources of data collection employed the use of textbooks, journal articles, newspaper/magazine articles and e-sources. The paper discovered that syncretism has been a reoccurring decimal in religious circles. Thus, a particular religion copies and infuses into its system some distinct ideas from a different religious tradition. The Ethnic Denominations of African Religion in the Benue Valley particularly Tiv Religion has been greatly influenced by syncretism. Tiv Religion has adopted and fused certain beliefs from Christianity and Islam in such areas as prayers, use of prayer beads, holy water and worship patterns. It is the view of this paper that if this trend goes unchecked, the Ethnic Denominations of African Religion in the Benue Valley especially Tiv Religion would wholly syncretize itself in the garb of foreign religious traditions. The paper suggests that the adherents of Tiv Religion should continue with their unique way of prayer and worship as prescribed in Tiv Religion instead of syncretizing different religious practices with the prospects of losing their entire culture to foreign ones. The uniqueness of Tiv Religion and culture must be protected from going extinct. The practitioners of the Ethnic Denominations of African Religion in the Benue Valley must note the fact that God listens to those who worship him through different cultural platforms. Therefore, one does not need to adopt foreign ideas to be relevant or heard by God. This is what makes God, God.


Primary cultures of rat tracheal epithelial cells were treated with the chemical carcinogen N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) to quantitatively study the early events during neoplastic transformation. Epithelial cells were dissociated from tracheas of specific-pathogen-free Fischer-344 rats and were plated on collagen-coated tissue culture dishes. To determine cytotoxicity, cells were exposed on day 1 to various concentrations of MNNG for 3 h and colony forming efficiency (CFE) was determined on day 7. MNNG at a concentration of 0.1 microgram/ml did not decrease CFE as compared to the control cultures, whereas 1 microgram/ml reduced the CEF by 75%. For transformation studies, primary cell cultures received single exposures to MNNG (0.1-0.6 microgram/ml) or multiple exposures to 0.1 microgram/ml of MNNG for 3 h between days 1 and 17. In carcinogen-exposed cultures, morphologically altered foci appeared on day 18, recognizable by high cell density. Transformation frequencies between 1 and 8% were observed depending on MNNG concentration. Cultures containing altered foci continued to grow during the third and fourth week when control cultures had ceased to proliferate and exfoliated from the dish. Over 40% of the cultures which received multiple exposures to MNNG acquired cell line status and could be subcultured greater than or equal to 20 times. None of the 30 control cultures became cell lines. Seventy per cent of MNNG-exposed cell lines showed the anchorage independent growth phenotype at passage 20 as judged by growth in agarose. Four of 10 cultures exposed either 6 or 8 times to MNNG formed invasive squamous cell carcinomas at passage 20 upon inoculation into nude mice. Based on these and previous studies, we feel that unrestricted cell replication is an early key event in carcinogen-exposed epithelial cell populations, preceding neoplastic transformation.


Studies were conducted to evaluate the potential link between mitochondrial function and biochemistry with the phenotypic expression of feed efficiency (FE) in a single line of broilers fed the same diet. Mitochondria isolated from low FE birds had lower respiratory chain coupling but oxidative phosphorylation capability was either equal or superior to that of mitochondria from broilers with high FE. Higher H2O2 production and higher protein carbonyls (oxidation) was also consistently observed in mitochondria or homogenate from low FE broilers. Respiratory chain complex activities, except for Complex IV activity in the duodenum, were lower in mitochondria from low FE birds. There were differences in gene and protein expression of certain mitochondrial and extra-mitochondrial proteins, but there was no indication that the lower complex activity and respiratory chain coupling in mitochondria from low FE birds is due to a generalized decreased in gene or protein expression. However, three mitochondrial proteins (COX II, cyt c1, and cyt c) and vinculin, a focal adhesion regulator, appear to be differentially expressed with broiler FE phenotype in several tissues. To our knowledge, these studies are the first to demonstrate functional and biochemical differences in mitochondria isolated from tissues of broilers with low and high FE. Furthermore, differences in expression of mitochondrial proteins between high and low FE birds could be exploited to develop FE biomarker(s) to aid selection programs in identifying breeder replacement stock with inferior or superior FE.


Determination of visual and auditory thresholds was carried out under a response duration schedule of tone and/or light-dipper presentation. This schedule enabled an exact assessment of visual and auditory sensitivities, since the direction and distance from the rat to the sound or light sources were constant, and the rat could thus acquire the conditioned behavior in a short time. The rat has to put its nose into the hole and hold it there until a conditioned stimulus (tone and/or light) was presented. The animal could get water-reinforcement by taking its nose out from the hole during the period of conditioned stimulus. To determine the visual threshold, the intensity of light was reduced, from 100 Lx (starting point) by 10 Lx steps in each trial, until the subject made 10 non-response trials (i.e., no dipper approach within 1.0 sec after the light onset) among 10 trials. In terms of auditory threshold, the intensity of 3, 7 and 10 KHz pure tone was reduced, from 90 dB by 10 or 2 dB steps in each trial, until the subject made 10 non-response trials among 10 trials. The light or tone intensity that prolonged the response latency 2 times compared to normal rats was taken as the threshold. The visual sensitivity in the rats suffering from alkaline-burn on its corneas decreased about 14 Lx. The auditory thresholds in rats were 19.5 +/- 1.3, 37.5 +/- 1.8 and 54.6 +/- 1.3 dB at 10, 7 and 3 KHz, respectively. The auditory sensitivity in the rats with cotton-stuffed ears and pierced eardrums decreased about 6 and 12 dB, respectively.


Problems of what-if analysis (such as hypothetical deletions, insertions, and modifications) over complex analysis queries are increasingly commonplace, e.g., in forming a business strategy or looking for causal relationships in science. Here, data analysts are typically interested only in task-specific views of the data, and they expect to be able to interactively manipulate the data in a natural and seamless way — possibly on a phone or tablet, and possibly via a spreadsheet or similar interface without having to carry the full machinery of a DBMS. The Caravan system enables what-if analysis: fast, lightweight, interactive exploration of alternative answers, within views computed over large-scale distributed data sources. Our novel approach is based on creating dedicated provisioned autonomous representations, or PARs. PARs are compiled out of the data, initial analysis queries and user-specified what-if scenarios. They allow rapid evaluation of what-if scenarios without accessing the original data or performing complex query operations. Importantly, the size of PARs is governed by the parameters of the what-if analysis and is proportional to the size of the initial query answer rather than the typically much larger source data. Consequently, many what-if analysis tasks performed through PAR evaluations can be done autonomously, on limited-resource devices. We describe our model and architecture, demonstrate preliminary performance results, and present several open implementation and optimization issues.


We present an update of our low-resolution spectroscopic follow-up and model atmosphere analysis of hot subdwarf stars from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) survey. Targets were selected on the basis of colour indices calculated from the GALEX GR6 NUV, Guide Star Catalogue (GSC2.3.2) V and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) J and H photometry. High signal-to-noise ratio spectra were obtained at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) over the course of three years. Detailed H, He and CNO abundance analysis helped us improve our Teff, log g and He abundance determination and to constrain CNO abundances. We processed 191 observations of 180 targets and found 124 sdB and 42 sdO stars in this sample while some blue horizontal branch stars were also found in this programme. With quantitative binary decomposition of 29 composite spectra we investigated the incidence of A, F and G type companions. The incidence of late G and K type companions and their effects on subdwarf atmospheric parameters were also examined.


Introduction Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely employed as biomolecule carriers, but there is a need for further functionalization to broaden their therapeutic application in aqueous environments. A few reports have unraveled biomolecule–CNT interactions as a measure of response of the nanocarrier to drug-encapsulation dynamics. Methods Herein, the dynamics of encapsulation of the antimicrobial peptide HA-FD-13 (accession code 2L24) into CNTs and hydroxylated CNTs (HCNTs) is discussed. Results The van der Waals (vdW) interaction energy of CNT–peptide and HCNT–peptide complexes decreased, reaching −110.6 and −176.8 kcal.Mol−1, respectively, once encapsulation of the peptide inside the CNTs had been completed within 15 ns. The free energy of the two systems decreased to −43.91 and −69.2 kcal.Mol−1 in the same order. Discussion The peptide was encased in the HCNTs comparatively more rapidly, due to the presence of both electrostatic and vdW interactions between the peptide and HCNTs. However, the peptide remained encapsulated throughout the vdW interaction in both systems. The negative values of the free energy of the two systems showed that the encapsulation process had occurred spontaneously. Of note, the lower free energy in the HCNT system suggested more stable peptide encapsulation.


Following an idea, recently, proposed by the present authors for the two-level pairing model, the Lipkin model is reexamined. It is a natural generalization of the method already developed by the present authors with Kuriyama. This model is a schematic model for many-fermion systems and obeys the su (2)-algebra. It is shown that the use of the Schwinger boson representation, the model is expressed in terms of the su (1 , 1) ⊗ su (1 , 1)-algebra and with the aid of the MYT mapping method, it is disguised from the orginal form in terms of the Holstein-Primakoff representation. Further, under various coherent states, the classical counterparts are derived. It is concluded that the Lipkin model can be treated in the common ring as that of the two-level pairing model.


Vascular gas emboli (VGE) start forming during the degassing of tissues in the decompression (ascent) phase of the dive when bubble precursors (micronuclei) are triggered to growth. The precise formation mechanism of micronuclei is still debated, with formation sites in facilitating regions with surfactants, hydrophobic surfaces or crevices. Ho wever, significant inter-subject variability to VGE exists for the same diving exposure and VGE may even be reduced with a single pre-dive intervention. The precise link between VGE and endothelial dysfunction observed post dive remains unclear and a nitric oxide (NO) mechanism has been hypothesized. Subjects in good physical condition are at lesser risk of VGE and DCS observed post dive. More surprisingly, single pre-dive interventions or 'preconditioning' can influence the VGE observed post dive. Studies in rats have shown that a single bout of exercise 20 h pre dive can reduce post-dive VGE and mortality. In humans, the role of exercise has been debated and depending on its timing and intensity may increase or decrease bubbles. A NO-mediated change in the surface properties of the vascular endothelium favouring the elimination of gas micronuclei has been suggested to explain this protection against bubble formation.¹¹ NO synthase activity increases following 45 minutes of exercise and NO administration immediately before a dive reduces VGE. Nevertheless, bubble production is increased by NO blockade in sedentary but not in exercised rats, suggesting other biochemical pathways such as heat-sensitive proteins, antioxidant defenses or blood rheology may be involved. The first link between NO and DCS protection was shown by chance. In an experiment using explosive decompression of sedentary rats resulting in >80% mortality, some additional rats were needed to complete the experiment but only trained (treadmill-exercised) rats were available instead of sedentary ones. After the decompression, 80% of the trained rats survived. The explanation given for this observation was that the presence of NO in the trained rats resulted in fewer bubbles and less DCS. However, a French study showed that human volunteers had fewer bubbles post decompression after a treadmill exercise compared to the same exercise (same VO₂) after a cycle-ergometer stress test. If this was related to NO production, the number of bubbles should be more or less the same. There are some mechanical differences between the two forms of exercise, namely more impacts and vibrations during the treadmill test. It is hypothesized that micronuclei are reduced by a mechanical effect as shown by an experiment with vibration applied before diving, which reduced decompression bubbling. In conclusion, more investigations are needed to further ascertain the link between NO and post-decompression VGE modulation. Such studies should be directed more on high-intensity training (less NO-related), since aerobic efforts have already been extensively studied in relation to the reduction of decompression stress, this will probably allow more understanding of the subtle mechanisms for DCS protection. The variable effect of oxygen on bubble decay, with transient increase of volume in some cases, also requires further investigation.


There has been an increasing interest among psychophysiologists in the question of how physiological response systems are organized. Some investigators have argued that autonomically mediated responses to stimulation are determined by the quality of the stimulus, whereas others have argued that the responses are idiosyncratic, i.e., independent of the stimulus and unique to the responder. A great deal of confusion has resulted from the fact that this issue has been phrased as an either-or question. The present study is an attempt to show that autonomic response patterns are a function of both stimulus and subject. The issue is to a great extent confounded with the more general psychological problem of stimulus definition. If a stimulus is defined as that which the experimenter manipulates, then, obviously, all variations in responses occurring during repetitions of the stimulus must be attributed to changes within the individual subjects. If, on the


Background: Nausea and vomiting are common complications of anesthesia and surgery. Patients undergoing tympanoplasty are exposed to a higher risk of postoperative nausea vomiting (PONV). These complications may alter the results of reconstruction and anatomical alignments. Numerous antiemetics have been studied to prevent and treat PONV in patients undergoing tympanoplasty. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of intravenous ondansetron and dexamethasone on post-tympanoplasty PONV. Methods: In a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial, 219 patients were divided into three groups including one receiving ondansetron, one receiving dexamethazone, and one receiving distilled water. All patients were subjected to tympanoplasty type I. The patients in the first group received ondansetron (4 mg IV), second group received oexamethasone (8 mg IV), and third group received distilled water prior to induction of anesthesia. Using Bellivelle's scoring system, the incidence of PONV and its severity during the 24-hour period after surgery were measured and compared. Results: There was no significant difference among PONV in the three groups in the first two hours after the surgery. However, in 2-8, 8-16 and 16-24 hours after the surgery the PONV in ondansetron and dexamethasone groups were significantly lower than that in the control group. Conclusion: Ondansetron and dexamethasone were more effective than placebo in controlling PONV after tympanoplasty surgeries. Moreover, dexamethasone was more effective than ondansetron in preventing PONV. Trial Registration Number: IRCT201106154005N4


This article outlines a new engineering program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which teaches students how to design theme parks, theatrical productions, and other sophisticated amusements. From pyrotechnics to virtual reality, the biggest shows in Las Vegas rely on engineers. UNLV's entertainment engineering and technology program is teaching engineering students how to apply their imagination, as well as their technical know-how, to designing these lavish spectacles.