Despite the extensive application of three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equation (RANS) in axial compressor numerical simulations, body-force model (BFM) also plays its own role profiting from its low computation cost. However, the computation accuracy highly depends on the modeling of blade force, which usually involves several parameter constants. In this work, data assimilation based on Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) was employed to optimize these model constants in BFM. Previous work associated with data assimilation mainly focus on employing only one data source. Considering the various measurement quantities in engineering practice, disparate data were incorporated in assimilation method to improve the prediction. The test case of a low-speed axial compressor was provided. Only one single data source, i.e., total pressure ratio, was first employed as the observation data in EnKF. And to reveal the superiority of the disparate data assimilation, total pressure ratio and isentropic efficiency were then incorporated to improve the performance prediction. The converged results reveal the robustness of disparate data assimilation based on EnKF. At last, the optimized constants were adopted to predict the performance of the axial compressor at another rotational speed for further verification and application. The results showed that errors comparing with the experimental data are nearly within 2.5%.


In this study, we investigated the effect of changing size on vergence. Erkelens and Regan (1986) proposed that this cue to motion in depth affects vergence in a similar way as it affects perception. The measured effect on vergence was small and we wondered why the vergence system would use changing size as an additional cue to changing disparity. To elucidate the effect of changing size on vergence, we used an annulus carrying both changing size and changing disparity signals to motion in depth. The cues were either congruent or signaled a different depth. The results showed that vergence was affected by changing size, however in an opposite way than that perception was affected. These results were incongruent with those reported by Erkelens and Regan (1986). We therefore additionally measured the effects on vergence of the individual parameters associated with changing size, i.e., stimulus area, retinal eccentricity, and luminance. Stimulus (retinal) eccentricity was inversely related to vergence gain. Luminance, on the other hand, had a smaller but positive relation to vergence gain. Thus, changing size affected the disparity signal two-fold: it changed the retinal location of the disparity signal and it changed the strength of the disparity signal (luminance change). These effects of changing size on disparity can explain both our results (change in retinal location of the disparity signal) and those of Erkelens and Regan (1986; change in luminance). We thus conclude that changing size did not in itself contribute to vergence, rather its effect on vergence was mediated by disparity.


This paper is research on the mobile commerce (m-commence) and WAP-enable
applications that will be used in developing a Mobile Summon System. With the Mobile
Summon System, it has capabilities to help users in making payment for summons.
Portable mobile devices such as mobile phones were used as a medium in making the
transaction. This report started with the introduction of the project which consists of the
background study, problem statement and the objective for this project. The current
payment for summon was making by using manually and via online services (ecommence).
Thus, the objective of developing Mobile Summon System is to improving
in payment system and to make users more convenience in terms of making payment.
Then, there is the literature review from journals, books, magazines and internet. The
literature review is the major reference in developing this project. The methodologies that
have been used during developing the system are waterfall approach as well as decision
support system. The waterfall approach consists of five phases which are requirement
analysis, system requirements, design, coding and finally testing. Result and discussion
describes on the interfacesand the outputof the system. The final part of this paper is the
conclusion and recommendation.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of β-sheet breaker peptide H102 on NF-κB signal pathway in brain of APP/PS1 double transgenic mice.

METHODS
Thirty 8-week-old APP/PS1 double transgenic mice were randomly divided into model group and treatment group. A group of C57BL/6J mice with the same age and background were served as controls (n=15). H102 5 μl(5.8 mg/kg) was infused by intranasal administration to mice in H102 treatment group, and equal volume of blank solution of H102 (chitosan, BSA) was given to mice in control group and model group. After 16 weeks, the ability of spatial reference memory was tested by Morris Water Maze. Then immunohistochemistry tests and Western blot technique were used to detect the content of amyloid beta peptide 1-42(Aβ1-42), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), inhibitor of NF-κB (IκB), IκB kinase (IKK), the corresponding phosphorylated proteins (p-NF-κB、p-IκB、p-IKK), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cleaved Caspase 3 proteins in mice brain.

RESULTS
①The ability of learning and memory was significantly lowered in model group than that in control group. And the ability of learning and memory was significantly improved in treatment group than that in model group (P<0.05). ②The contents of Aβ1-42, p-IKK, p-NF-κB, p-IκB, intranuclear NF-κB,iNOS and cleaved Caspase 3 in mouse brain were significantly increased in model group than those of control group, and these protein expressions were significantly lowered in treatment group than those in model group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
H102 can inhibit NF-κB signal pathway in brain of APP/PS1 double transgenic mice, reduce the levels of inflammation and apoptosis in nerve cells, and improve the ability of learning and memory in transgenic AD mice.


Inaugural Lecture Delivered under the Chairmanship of Professor Gabriel Ayum Teye Vice-Chancellor, UDS at Dr. Andani Andan Auditorium Central Administration, Tamale Campus University for Development Studies.


Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate the psychological issues among the health-care workers (HCW) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: An online survey using Survey Monkey® platform was carried out to evaluate depression (using Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (using Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7), and other psychological issues (using a self-designed questionnaire). Results: The study sample comprised 303 participants with a mean age of 41.2 (standard deviation: 11.1) years. A majority of them were male (69%) and married (79.9%). Nearly half (46.2%) of the participants had either anxiety disorder or depression or both and 12.9% of HCW had suicidal behavior. Higher level of anxiety and depression scores were associated with being female, having undergone quarantine, directly involved in the care of COVID-19 patients, and younger age (<30 years). Higher prevalence of depression and anxiety disorder was seen in younger (<30 years) age group, being a doctor (compared to paramedics). In addition, higher prevalence of depression was seen in those who were directly involved in the care of patients with COVID-19 infection. Conclusion: About half of the HCWs are suffering from psychiatric morbidity, specifically anxiety, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need to assess all the HCWs for psychiatric morbidity and provide them with psychological support.


A large number of patients die from heart failure. While a small proportion of deaths in severe heart failure are sudden, the majority will die from worsening heart failure or a comorbid condition. A retrospective study of patients with heart disease in the UK, and a prospective study of heart failure in the USA, showed that a high proportion of patients had uncontrolled symptoms at the end of life.1 2 In addition there was evidence of communication problems between health care professionals and patients and their carers, in particular, open communication about dying and patients' preferences about how and where they should be cared for.3Significant communication problems as well as unmet psychosocial needs have also been identified in a prospective study.4

Specialist palliative care has traditionally offered a multiprofessional approach to manage such problems in patients with cancer and more recently motor neurone disease and AIDS. Its potential role in …


We consider the design of an efficient FSE/DFE-based HDSL equalizer. For this, several variants of the conventional LMS algorithm and their delayed versions are investigated. In addition, two new adaptive algorithms are also studied which yield lower computational complexity but similar performance when compared to conventional algorithms. We also propose a way to initialize the DFE coefficients for fast convergence. Extensive simulation is conducted to evaluate various algorithms' performance and to facilitate hardware design. Due to time constraint, the present design employs a conventional algorithm. It is verified with the Verilog and Opus VLSI CAD tools. Layout design of the equalizer chip has been taped out for foundry fabrication.<<ETX>>


Two aquatic plant species were subjected to this study: Hydrocharis laevigata synonym Limnobium laevigatum (Alismatales: Hydrocharitaceae) and Lagenandra meeboldii (Alismatales: Araceae). The paper presents first insight into the microscopic aspects of cross-sections made through root, petiole and leaves of in-vitro plant L. laevigatum and Lagenandra meeboldii 'Red' form, biological material purchased from the Romanian market of ornamental aquarium plants. Considering the invasive potential of South American spongeplant, already well documented for other European countries, this short survey draws attention to the danger represented by releasing decorative aquatic plants from aquarium as a factor involved in a possible future spreading of this species into natural environments.


Abstract The genus Acronymolpus is proposed as new. It is represented by four new species, all of which are endemic to New Caledonia. Proposed are: Acronymolpus joliveti sp. n. (type species), Acronymolpus gressitti sp. n., Acronymolpus meteorus sp. n., and Acronymolpus turbo sp. n.


International exhibitions were a key feature of the cultural landscape of the second half of the nineteenth century. They provided the most powerful nations with a stage on which they could affirm their status as world leaders. Increasingly they also allowed emerging nations to celebrate their growing economic and industrial prowess.

In Britain the potential challenge this presented to the exiting order was noted by a few contemporary observers who, because of what they had seen at exhibitions, were convinced that the country was at risk economically. They regarded technical education as the remedy to cure this perceived ill. Historians of this period have similarly concluded that British complacency towards this issue led to decline.

This book investigates these assumptions by systematically exploring the relationship between participation in international exhibitions, the state of the economy, and the issue of technical education from a British perspective between 1850 and 1910.

The book begins with the 1867 Paris exhibition; it examines the enquiries into technical education that it generated in England and ends with the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science. It then examines the link between the 1876 Philadelphia and the 1878 Paris exhibitions and the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction. The 1884 and 1885 London exhibitions, the Royal Commission on the Depression of Trade, and the Technical Instruction Act are also studied. The study then moves to the 1893 Chicago and the 1900 Paris exhibitions. This is followed by an examination of the International Exhibitions Committee, which was established in the early part of the twentieth century to undertake research into the link between exhibitions and the well being of British trade. This represents a unique and rarely used source with which to explore the issue at the heart of this work. Finally, the study establishes that commercial rather than technical education had been the want of the age.


This study examines the impact of three factors on the tensile and compressive behaviour of 3D-printed parts: (1) the addition of short carbon fibres to the nylon filament used for 3D printing, (2) the infill pattern, and (3) the speed at which the materials are strained during testing. The results show that adding carbon fibres to the nylon filament reduces variability between tests and emphasises the effect of print orientation. When the infill pattern is aligned with the direction of loading, the tensile strength of all samples increases, with the largest increase of 100% observed in the carbon fibre-reinforced samples, compared to a 37% increase in the strength of nylon samples. The carbon fibre-reinforced samples are also highly dependent on strain rate, with a 60% increase in tensile strength observed at a faster testing speed of 300 mm/min (9 min−1) compared to 5 mm/min (0.15 min−1). Nylon samples show a decrease of approximately 10% in tensile strength at the same increased speed. The compressive strength of the composite samples increases by up to 130% when the print path is parallel to the loading direction. Increases of up to 50% are observed in the compressive modulus of the composite samples at a test speed of 255 mm/min (9 min−1) compared to 1.3 mm/min (0.05 min−1). Similar trends are not seen in pure nylon samples. This study is the first to report on the variation of Poisson's ratio of short carbon fibre-reinforced 3D-printed parts. The results show increases of up to 34% and 76% in the tensile and compressive Poisson's ratios, respectively, when printing parameters are altered. The findings from this research will contribute to the design and numerical modelling of 3D-printed composites.


In the future network, optical technology will play a stronger role not only for transmission but also for switching. Optical burst switching (OBS) emerged as a promising switching paradigm. It brings together the complementary strengths of optics and electronics. This paper presents the design and implementation of an overlay mode burst-switched photonic network testbed, including its architecture, protocols, algorithms and experiments. We propose a flexible transceiver + forwarding OBS node architecture to perform both electronic burst assembly/disassembly and optical burst forwarding. It has been designed to provide class of service (CoS), wavelength selection for local bursts, and transparency to cut-through bursts. The functional modules of OBS control plane and its key design issues are presented, including signaling, routing, and a novel scheduling mechanism with combined contention resolution in space and wavelength domains. Finally, we report the experimental results on functional verification, performance analysis and service demonstration.


With the rising cost of inorganic fertilizers, the current low price of coffee on the international market, and subsequent reduction in coffee farmers' income, there is the need to search for low-input farming strategies in order to reduce cost and improve the income of coffee farmers. One such emerging strategy in the management of nutrients from organic matter in relation to sustainability is the use of mulch. Chromolaena odorata (Siam weed), coffee husk, banana trash, and Tripsacum laxutn (Guatemala grass) that are readily available in and around coffee farms in Ghana were compared for their efficacy as mulch materials and their ability to improve soil fertility and increase coffee yield. Changes in soil characteristics such as total P, available P (using 0.2 N H2SO4 and 0.5 M NaHCO3 extractants), per cent C, Na, Mg, K, and cation exchange capacity of the experimental plots were measured in addition to coffee yield. With the exception of the K and N levels of the soil which were significantly (P < 0.01) influenced by the mulch materials, the changes in the other soil properties were not significant. The mulch materials significantly (P < 0.05) increased coffee yield by 4-158% over the control during the three-year period of the study. However, T. laxum and C. odorata were found to be better mulch materials than coffee husk and banana trash in terms of coffee yield improvement. Mulching in coffee plantations is therefore recommended as one of the low-input management strategies to bring about sustainable production in Ghana.


This  book  is  the  proceedings  of  the  NATO  Advanced  Study Institute held at Lueneburg, Germany, July 30-August 10, 1984. As such  it  is  part  of  the  NATO  Advanced  Study  Institute  Series, published by an international board of publishers in conjunction with the  NATO  Scientific  Affairs  Division.  Specifically,  the  book is Volume 151 of Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences. There  are  63  papers published in this  volume.  The  authors represent 13 different countries. There are 17 papers from the United States, plus two shared with Australia; nine from France; seven each from  England  and  Germany; four each from Canada  and  Italy (including La Spezia); three each from Norway and Australia (not counting the two shared with the United States); two each from Portugal and South Africa; and one each from Denmark, Japan, and Turkey. According to the editor, a "major effort was made to obtain a commensurate contribution of tutorial and advanced research papers." It is his hope "that the material in this volume may be equally well suited for students getting an introduction to some of the basic problems in underwater signal processing and for the professionals who may obtain an upto-date overview of the present state of the art." In this reviewer's judgment, he has succeeded. The subject matter of the book is divided into three categories (throughout the book, advanced research papers appear side-by-side with tutorial papers and are not specifically identified as one or the other).  Part 1, devoted to  the  acoustical  background  of  signal processing, contains 14 papers. The first paper in this category is entitled "Twenty Years of Signal Processing," and is by J. W. R. Griffiths.  This  is  a  great  historical  paper  which  explains  to  the uninitiated reader where this book "is coming from." There are papers on ambient noise, propagation, and target characteristics. Part 2, theoretical and practical aspects of signal processing, is the longest of  the  book,  with 36 papers.  There  are  papers  on time-delay estimation, spectrum analysis, and adaptive array processing. Part 3, techniques and applications, has 13 papers. There is an interesting mixture of new technologies here: digital signal processing, optical signal  processing,  expert  systems  (part  of  the  field of artificial intelligence), ocean tomography, spaceborne remote sensing, and passive synthetic aperture. In addition, five workshops were held and their  summaries  published:  environmental  modeling and signal processing, test tanks and measuring facilities, nonlinear filtering, signal processing, and expert systems. AI1 of these topics are exciting' and current, and many of the authors are leaders in their fields. This reviewer finds the inclusion of expert systems material, to choose an example, to be quite interesting. "Expert Systems for Ship Noise Interpretation," by Maksym is a good tutorial paper. The next paper, "Comparison of the Statistical and the Expert System Approach for 'the Interpretation of Ship Noise," by Bendig and Wittig is an application of these ideas. (Of course, as is befitting a pioneer discipline like this one, there is room for disagreement with specific points in the treatment of the subject). After eading  these two papers, it is interesting to read  "New Advances  Toward  Ocean,  Acoustics  and  Space  Integration," by Scully-Power and Stevenson, particularly the following quotation (referring  to  the  question  of  manned  versus  unmanned  space research): "While there is no question that computers can search out the "gems from the pebbles," there is little evidence to assure us that the computer can distinguish the 'diamond from the zircon.' " This sounds like the makings of a great debate, especially in the wake of the Challenger tragedy. It is difficult to single out papers for discussion-they are all so good. One that caught this reviewer's eye was "Passive Synthetic Aperture Sonar-An Analysis of the Beamforming Process," by Pusone and Lloyd. Curiously, one has always associated synthetic aperture ideas with active sonar! Another paper that provoked considerable discussion was "Detection and Classification Phenomena of Biological Systems," by Altes. To quote one sentence from the conclusion, "Our appreciation of biological sensory systems is limited by our own knowledge, but we can perceive trends and signal representations in animals that could improve our own technology." Interesting! In conclusion, the purchase of this book is recommended for those who  could  not  attend  the  study institute-and that  includes  this reviewer. The book is certainly expensive, but, for most of us, it is less expensive than a trip to Germany!


The number of recognized infectious causes of diarrhea potentially treatable with specific antibiotics has markedly increased within the past ten years. Laboratories are developing and expanding their abilities to deal with these new pathogens. Neither prophylaxis nor specific treatment of diarrhea in travelers is simple, practical, and safe. Although enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is the most important cause of diarrhea in U.S. travelers to tropical areas, Campylobacter jejuni causes acute diarrhea in persons in the United States about as often as do Salmonella and Shigella. Vibrio parahemolyticus is an important cause of outbreaks of gastroenteritis following ingestion of improperly cooked shellfish; Bacillus cereus is important in outbreaks of diarrhea after ingestion of improperly cooked and stored rice in Chinese restaurants. Although Yersinia enterocolitica is probably an important cause of severe enteritis in the United States, imperfect techniques for its isolation and lack of good serologic tests have hampered recognition of its importance. Practical means for diagnosing antibiotic-associated colitis and the role of Clostridium difficile toxins in this disease are now available. Vancomycin, metronidazole, bacitracin, and cholestyramine are useful in treatment of antibiotic-associated colitis.


The Cossidae are an economically important family of moths consisting of six subfamilies and more than 700 species globally. Their larvae are often of serious concern to forestry and horticulture in that they are known to bore in the branches and trunks of a wide range of trees and shrubs. Cossulinae is one of the six subfamilies of Cossidae and is restricted to the New World. As a result of this revision, the Costa Rican Cossulinae has been found to consist of five genera and 18 species. The phylogenetic relationships of all Cossulinae genera were analysed using the computer programs WinClada and NONA. Glandular organs new to Cossidae and the Lepidoptera have also been discovered. Four genera, Biocellatagen. nov., Magulacra gen. nov., Simplicivalvagen. nov. and Spinulata gen. nov., and the following nine species are described as new: Biocellata bifidasp. nov., Biocellata davisorum sp. nov., Cossula buspina sp. nov., Cossula duplexata sp. nov., Cossula longirostrum sp. nov., Cossula minutiloba sp. nov., Simplicivalva ampliophilobia sp. nov., Spinulata oblongata sp. nov. and Spinulata quasivinnea sp. nov. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 154, 222–277.


The aim of this study was to evaluate radiographic periapical repair after endodontic treatment using QMix or NaOCl irrigation in single-rooted teeth with apical periodontitis. In this randomised clinical trial, 60 patients were selected and randomised into two groups (n = 30). After instrumentation of root canals, QMix or NaOCl was used as a final irrigation and the canals obturated with gutta-percha and AH Plus sealer. All the participants were recalled after 12 months and 15 patients were lost to the study so 45 patients were evaluated radiographically according to periapical index (PAI) scores. A significant decrease was seen in PAI scores after 1 year in all patients (p < 0.001). In the QMix and NaOCl group, absence or reduction of radiolucency was observed in 23 of 25 teeth (92%) and 20 of 20 teeth (100%), respectively. There was no significant difference between two groups according to the decrease in PAI score (p = 0.508). Root canal treatments with or without QMix irrigation contributed equally to periapical healing.


Objective:The study is to explore the role of ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer (GC), and to construct a new prognosis signature to predict the prognosis and immune microenvironment in GC.Method:We downloaded RNA sequencing data and related clinical information of GC from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA-STAD) database as a training cohort. Microarray GSE84426 and GSE84437 were downloaded from Gene expression synthesis (GEO) database as validation cohorts. FRGs were come from FerDb. Prognostic genes associated with ferroptosis were identified in the training cohort using univariate Cox analysis and venn diagram, and two different molecular subtypes were identified by consistent clustering. Kaplan-Meier survival curve verified the prognostic value. ESTIMATE, CIBERSORT, McpCounter and TIMER algorithm were used to analyze the infiltration of immune cells in each sample. LASSO algorithm and multiple Cox regression analysis were used to construct a prognostic risk signature and verified it. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed several important ways to participate in GC.Result: We obtained 16 prognostic genes for GC associated with ferroptosis, and divided GC patients into two subgroups by consistent clustering. Cluster C2 showed obvious median survival advantage, while Cluster C1 showed poor prognosis. Compared with Cluster C2, GC patients in Cluster C1 have significantly higher ESTIMATE score, higher immune cell infiltration and higher matrix score. MCPCounter, TIMER and CIBERSORT algorithms also showed that Cluster C1 had more immune cell infiltration, suggesting that the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of GC patients in high-risk group Cluster C1 accorded with immune exclusion subtype. Based on LASSO analysis, a risk signature was established, and it was found that TUBE1, NFE2L2 and ACSL4 genes were protective factors, while ZFP36, NOX5 and MIR9-3 genes were risk factors. Through the verification of GEO cohort, the risk signature of FRGs had a great potential to predict the prognosis of GC patients, and it was a strong correlation between the prognosis signature and GC immunity. The nomogram combined with risk signature and clinical features can accurately predict the prognosis of GC patients. GSEA analysis showed that compared with Cluster C2, Cluster C1 had lower expression in lipid metabolism and glutathione metabolism, which may be related to poor prognosis of GC patients. Conclusion: We constructed a new prognostic signature based on ferroptosis-related prognostic genes to predict the prognosis and TIME in GC, and the development of this signature had provided a new clue for determining the relationship between ferroptosis and immunity, which can be used to accurately predict the prognosis of GC patients and provide new strategies for immunotherapy of GC patients.


An analysis that aspires to understand the organised presence of Greek migrants inAustralia would do well to begin from the rather obvious, but often overlooked, fact thatthe Greek-Australian communities are, and have been, an integral part of the socialinstitution of Australian society. This is not to insist merely that Australians of Greekorigin have made significant contributions to social life, whether economic, cultural orpolitical, but to acknowledge that the study of our distinctive forms of collectiveorganisation and the ways of living that these forms have made possible have somethingimportant to tell us about Australianhistory and wider questions of national significance.In our view, the link between the organisational development of the Greek-Australiancommunities and wider white Australian society is such that a study of the former'spositioning as an inside-outsider of the latter provides us with a vantage point from whichAustralian society might look deeper into its own self, rather than merely beyond itself toits other, as is typically assumed in relation to the migrant position. Indeed, we want toargue in this paper that this is precisely the historical significance of the foreignerposition that was assigned to and taken up by the Greek immigrant communities ofMelbourne and Sydney in the first half of the 20th century.


We have presented a case of bilateral capsular calcification, an extremely rare but clinically important complication of augmentation mammoplasty. Little is known about its pathogenesis, but it is believed to be related to the presence of molecular silicone and/or Dacron patches in the pericapsular environment. This condition may mask calcifications of the breast due to carcinoma, and it often exacerbates the symptoms of capsular contracture. We recommend removal of the calcified capsules and replacement of the implants in the submuscular position.


Estrogenic activity of treated sewage effluents and receiving waters surfaced as an issue of general concern some 15 years ago. Since then, a large number of studies investigated the distribution and nature of the estrogenic substances in various aquatic ecosystems. Within NRP50, a five-year Swiss research programme on endocrine disruptors, four field studies were performed to characterize the presence of environmental estrogens in rivers and effluents. The estrogenic activity was quantified with a biological assay - the yeast estrogen screen. An overview of the sampling approaches and results of the various studies is presented here. In a first study, using grab sampling, it appeared that estrogenic activity in river water was highly variable. Average estrogenicity values did not correlate with sewage treatment works and/or river characteristics, e.g. effluent dilution factor. However, variability was not 'random' but clearly associated with river size, and possibly its discharge. A second study specifically addressed this issue of variability of estrogenicity. The study was conducted at a single effluent source and its receiving river. Variability of estrogenicity in the grab samples was again large but again not 'random'; some of the variability was explained by the time over which the effluent resided in the treatment process. In a third study it was explored if passive sampling would be a better way to assess average estrogenicity. Indeed, passive samplers identified sources of estrogens, and passive sampling data correlated well with both repeated grab sampling and bioaccumulation data. Subsequently, passive samplers were deployed across Switzerland in a fourth study. It involved 22 effluent discharges and the associated rivers. Data analysis of the last study is still ongoing, preliminary observations are discussed here. Although a lot could be learned from repeated grab sampling campaigns, it emerged that passive sampling is a very effective and appropriate technique to assess: i) effluent treatment efficiency, and ii) the chemical load of river water. For these reasons it is a valuable monitoring tool for water quality criteria assessments as well as for studies that aim to link exposure and effect. The passive samplers that are currently available not only target estrogenic substances, but many other polar organic compounds of concern, such as antibiotics (see NRP49), other pharmaceuticals and biocides.


Interpolative picture coding refers to sending coded information about a few picture elements separated in space and interpolating all the rest of the picture elements. In this paper we consider sending coded information about picture elements separated by as large a distance as possible along a scan line. We study the effects of a few twodimensional interpolation strategies and evaluate the usefulness of several different error criteria required to judge the faithfulness of the interpolated signal. The error criteria are motivated by our knowledge of pictorial information processing in the human visual system. Based on the picture quality and entropy of the coded output as the criterion for judging the coding schemes, we find that error measures in which the interpolation error is filtered adaptively and compared to a varying threshold perform the best. The filter is adapted based on the spatial activity of the signal: high-bandwidth filter for low activity areas and low-bandwidth filter for high activity areas. The variation in threshold is based on the spatial masking of the interpolation error and has a high value in high activity areas and a low value in low activity areas. Our computer simulations indicate that, for head-and-head-and-shoulders-type pictures, it is possble, without affecting the picture quality, to reduce the entropy of the coded output by as much as 40 percent over that obtainable from previous element differential pulse code modulation (DPCM) system.


Thyroid function in chronic urticaria and angio-oedema In a case report (August 2003, JRSM1) Dr Edwards and colleagues discuss the relation between subacute thyroiditis and chronic urticaria and angio-oedema (CUA).1 Here we describe a case that illustrates the possible role of thyroxine in suppressing CUA, as previously postulated. A woman of 52 was seen at another department in August 2002 with widespread arthralgia (large joints), shoulder girdle stiffness and early morning stiffness. In September 2002 she also noticed dry eyes and mouth, associated with sweatiness. Her previous history included CUA diagnosed in 1988, and hypothyroidism requiring thyroxine 150 mg daily since the age of 17. Her menstrual periods had stopped eleven months earlier. The relevant findings were: Schirmer's tear test normal (wet); erythrocyte sedimentation rate 22 mm/h, C-reactive protein 11 mg/L, autoimmune screen negative, alkaline phosphatase 136 U/L (normal 39–117), TSH 50.06 mU/L (0.5–4.7), fT4 28.3 pmol/L (9.1–23.9), fT3 1.91 nmol/L (1.20–2.20). She was started on prednisolone 5 mg twice daily and diclofenac/misoprostol 50 mg/200 mg twice daily in October 2002 for a presumed inflammatory musculoskeletal condition. On review in February 2003 her symptoms had not resolved. Thyroid peroxidase antibodies were absent. As the TSH was persistently suppressed (50.01 mU/L) and fT4 was raised (18–30 pmol/L), the thyroxine dose was reduced from 150 mg to 125 mg daily in February, then to 100 mg in April and 75 mg in May 2003. The prednisolone dose was also reduced every 2–3 weeks by 1 mg/day between March and May to a maintenance dose of 5 mg/day. In late April, having been urticaria-free for 15 years, the patient developed generalized urticaria and angio-oedema which persisted for 6 weeks and required antihistamine treatment. There was a further episode of CUA in June. The dose of diclofenac/misoprostol was not changed from October 2002 until May 2003 when it was stopped because of an abnormal liver function test. At the time of writing (September) the patient has had no further episodes of urticaria/angio-oedema and her daily dose of thyroxine has been 75 mg since mid-May. Current TSH is 2.0 mU/L, fT4 16.4 pmol/L. We propose that this patient's flare of CUA was related to the reduction in thyroxine dose. Previously the condition may have been suppressed by the excessive dosage. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that the reduction of her prednisolone dose was an aetiological factor, though this was very gradual. Furthermore, the treatment with diclofenac, well known to precipitate urticaria, may be relevant—though she took this drug for seven months before the return of CUA and had not taken it for 4 weeks before the second episode. If we postulate that each reduction in thyroxine dose is followed by a 3–4 week latent period before reactivation of CUA, then the final episode of urticaria in June could be explained by the dosage alteration in May, and the April/ May flare by the dosage alteration in mid-March and early April. The possible role of thyroxine in suppressing CUA requires further investigation.


In this paper, firstly we deduce the constraint of discrete Lax equations with some special forms of Lax pairs. Then to illustrate the validity of the method, we construct two discrete Lax equations and successfully obtain their constraints by the method. At the same time, infinitely many conservation laws of these two discrete equations are obtained by the discrete residue formula and the first two conserved quantities are given explicitly. It's interesting that we can obtain continuous AKNS hierarchy and KdV hierarchy through the two discrete Lax pairs. Furthermore, the 0-boundary problem for the first discrete equation is considered.


The period (PER) and cryptochrome (CRY) families play critical roles in circadian rhythms. The imbalance of circadian factors may lead to the occurrence of cancer. Expressions of PER and CRY family members decrease in various cancers. Nevertheless, expression levels, genetic variations, and molecular mechanisms of PER and CRY family members in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and their correlations with prognoses and immune infiltration in LUAD patients are still unclear. In this study, to identify their biological functions in LUAD development, comprehensive high-throughput techniques were applied to analyze the relationships of expressions of PER and CRY family members with genetic variations, molecular mechanisms, and immune infiltration. The present results showed that transcription levels of PER1 and CRY2 in LUAD were significantly downregulated. High expression levels of PER2, PER3, CRY1, and CRY2 indicated longer overall survival. Some cancer signaling pathways were related to PER and CRY family members, such as cell-cycle, histidine metabolism, and progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation pathways. Expressions of PER and CRY family members significantly affected the infiltration of different immune cells. In conclusion, our findings may help better understand the molecular basis of LUAD, and provide new perspectives of PER and CRY family members as novel biomarkers for LUAD.


ABSTRACT Penciclovir (PCV), an antiherpesvirus agent in the same class as acyclovir (ACV), is phosphorylated in herpes simplex virus (HSV)-infected cells by the viral thymidine kinase (TK). Resistance to ACV has been mapped to mutations within either the TK or the DNA polymerase gene. An identical activation pathway, the similarity in mode of action, and the invariant cross-resistance of TK-negative mutants argue that the mechanisms of resistance to PCV and ACV are likely to be analogous. A total of 48 HSV type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 isolates were selected after passage in the presence of increasing concentrations of PCV or ACV in MRC-5 cells. Phenotypic analysis suggested these isolates were deficient in TK activity. Moreover, sequencing of the TK genes from ACV-selected mutants identified two homopolymeric G-C nucleotide stretches as putative hot spots, thereby confirming previous reports examining Acvr clinical isolates. Surprisingly, mutations identified in PCV-selected mutants were generally not in these regions but distributed throughout the TK gene and at similar frequencies of occurrence within A-T or G-C nucleotides, regardless of virus type. Furthermore, HSV-1 isolates selected in the presence of ACV commonly included frameshift mutations, while PCV-selected HSV-1 mutants contained mostly nonconservative amino acid changes. Data from this panel of laboratory isolates show that Pcvr mutants share cross-resistance and only limited sequence similarity with HSV mutants identified following ACV selection. Subtle differences between PCV and ACV in the interaction with viral TK or polymerase may account for the different spectra of genotypes observed for the two sets of mutants.


The use of reserved price strategies gained popularity in the Dutch housing market. The more common asking price strategy is still widely applied and gives potential buyers the opportunity to negotiate below a listed asking price. Since the market can be characterized as cold and the average time that it takes to sell the property (Time on Market) has increased from 86 days in 2007 to 176 days in 2013, sellers and brokers are looking for new pricing strategies. In 2014 one of every fifty houses was sold on a reserved price basis, where a fixed minimum was the starting point for negotiation. The aim of this research was to measure the effect of using different pricing strategies on the actual sales price and the TOM. For this purpose data was collected on 5.316 reserved price transactions and 24.582 sales prices transactions covering the period 2009-2014. Hedonic regression modelling was used to estimate the effect of pricing strategy on the sales price and Time on Market. In our analyses we controlled for variables that might potentially bias our results. Results show that using the reserve price method the Time on Market decreases with more than 50% compared to using the asking price method. The average reduction of the sales price, using reserved pricing, is 4,4%. These results give clarity for sellers of houses in their tradeoff between price concessions that they are willing to take and the expected reduction of the time that is required to sell the house.


In eddy-current testing of steam generator tubes of nuclear power plants, the signals of defects may be corrupted by noise and other nondefect signals arising from the probe lift-off and the structures attached to the tubes, resulting in unreliable detection and inaccurate characterization of defects. In this paper, a novel signal processing technique is presented to reduce the noise and nondefect signals by the use of a wavelet transform. The noise and nondefect signals are reduced by first decomposing testing signals into wavelet components and then modifying the wavelet coefficients. The defect signals embedded in noise and nondefect signals are reconstructed through the inverse wavelet transform of the modified wavelet coefficients. The results of processing the one-dimensional and two-dimensional signals from eddy-current testing of tube test pieces show that this signal processing technique is effective for extracting defect signals embedded in noise and nondefect signals.


Primarily on the basis of data derived from the Stenting and Angioplasty With Protection in Patients at High Risk for Endarterectomy (SAPPHIRE) trial,1 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of carotid stents (CASs) in high-risk patients. The SAPPHIRE trial was published and much heralded as a randomized trial demonstrating that CASs were not inferior to carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Yet, the more recent Endarterectomy Versus Angioplasty in Patients with Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis randomized trial of CASs compared with CEA had to be stopped because the stroke rate with stents was so high that it triggered the safety guidelines of the study design.2 How can we explain the striking difference in outcome between these 2 studies, and how did it happen that the FDA was so convinced of the quality and validity of the SAPPHIRE trial that it granted approval for CASs? An examination of the SAPPHIRE trial—its conduct, data collection and analysis, the circumstances of publication, the presentation to the FDA Advisory Panel, and its consequent approval—is the primary focus of this article. This is a case study of the flaws in our system for the evaluation and approval of medical devices that warrant serious reflection on our ability to properly create and act on accurate information and live up to our commitment to evidence-based decision making.


Conflicts bring deaths and disabilities, population displacements, destruction of properties and changes to societies. Conflicts also devastate the economy, health, education and institutions. Within this context post conflict reconstruction contributes to overcome the legacies of conflict through reconstructing the enabling conditions for a functioning peacetime society. Post conflict reconstruction involves a wide range of interventions needed to reactivate the development process that has been disrupted by the conflict. With regard to the post conflict interventions, post conflict housing reconstruction plays a vital role in establishing the development and peace in conflict affected countries. Despite its importance, the success of post conflict housing reconstruction is hindered by a number of problems such as lack of community participation, lack of strategies to address the challenges faced by vulnerable people, lack of consideration of local and cultural conditions, lack of consideration of socio-economic conditions of affected people, poor technical oversight and a lack of security of land tenure. Consequently these problems have caused dissatisfaction resulting in some people to remodel or abandon the houses. Furthermore, it has been revealed that the lack of consideration of housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction has directly or indirectly given rise to most of these issues. Therefore addressing these needs would contribute to minimising the issues of post conflict housing reconstruction and adequate housing measures provide guidelines in such situations in addressing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction. However, the countries emerging from conflicts have different characteristics that add a different dimension to post conflict housing reconstruction. Accordingly, addressing housing needs cannot be considered in isolation without considering the challenges pose by the characteristics of the post conflict setting. In this context, there is a need to understand how these particular housing needs can be effectively addressed. Accordingly, this study addresses this eminent need by exploring how can the housing needs be effectively managed in post conflict housing reconstruction. As Sri Lanka's long lasting conflict came to an end in 2009 leaving a legacy of immense damage to housing, post conflict housing reconstruction remains prominent within post conflict interventions in the country. Accordingly, Sri Lanka provides a sound basis for this study and hence the study is centred on it.
Ontological and epistemological positions of this study led to subjectivism and interpretivism respectively. Grounded theory approach was used as the research strategy. While unstructured interviews were used as the primary data collection technique, interviews were supplemented by creative visual images. Interviews were also verified through a documents review. Grounded theory data analysis procedure was used to analyse the unstructured interviews.
The study reveals the challenges, contributing factors and strategies in addressing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction. It also identifies the gaps in managing housing needs and recommendations to minimise such gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction. Furthermore, the study develops a theoretical framework that presents the associated challenges, contributing factors, strategies, gaps and recommendations to minimise such gaps in managing accessibility, habitability, affordability, location, facilities, cultural consideration and security of land tenure in post conflict housing reconstruction.
Key words: Conflict, Post conflict, Post conflict reconstruction, Post conflict housing reconstruction, Housing needs and Managing housing needs.


Introduction: The aim of this research was to compare specifi city and sensitivity of Color Doppler ultrasonographywith CT angiography.Methods: A total of one hundred patients suffering from carotid artery disease (n=200) were tested in this research in the period from June till October, 2011. Average age of the patients was 61.5 years, and most of the patients were in the age group ranging from 55 to 65 years. The level of carotid artery stenosis is measured according to Standards of the North America Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trail study,by method of Color Doppler ultrasonography and CT angiography.Results: Stenosis <50% registered by Doppler ultrasonography was found in 62% and by CT angiography in 64% patients. Stenosis from 70 to 79% registered by Doppler ultrasonography was found in 88% and by CT angiography in 82% patients. In patients with level of stenosis 70-79% there was a tendencyof registering the stenosis to be higher by Color Doppler ultrasonography, than by CT angiography. In the case of the occlusion, there was also the similar observation, with variation of 8% carotid arteries.Conclusion: Extracranial Doppler and color duplex ultrasound enable reliable detection of both stenosis and occlusion of carotid arteries and accordingly they occupy an important place in radiological algorithm. When it comes to CT angiography it can be concluded that it can provide accurate and exact information regarding the condition of blood vessels as good as Digital Subtractive Angiography can.


This paper investigates the solution of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) with initial conditions using Regression Based Algorithm (RBA) and compares the results with arbitrary- and regression-based initial weights for different numbers of nodes in hidden layer. Here, we have used feed forward neural network and error back propagation method for minimizing the error function and for the modification of the parameters (weights and biases). Initial weights are taken as combination of randomas well as by the proposed regression based model. We present the method for solving a variety of problems and the results are compared. Here, the number of nodes in hidden layer has been fixed according to the degree of polynomial in the regression fitting. For this, the input and output data are fitted first with various degree polynomials using regression analysis and the coefficients involved are taken as initial weights to start with the neural training. Fixing of the hidden nodes depends upon the degree of the polynomial. For the example problems, the analytical results have been compared with neural results with arbitrary and regression based weights with four, five, and six nodes in hidden layer and are found to be in good agreement.


This paper proposes a residential peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading market for prosumers with battery storage systems. To this end, a P2P energy trading mechanism, including the rules for buying and selling energy, is presented. In addition, the supply function bidding method is adopted to match the power supply imbalance and calculate the market-clearing price. Based on the proposed model, a single-objective optimization problem is designed to minimize the total energy cost of all prosumers. To avoid the unfair benefit distribution for market participants, we further put forward a multiobjective optimization problem to solve the issue and reduce the total energy cost as much as possible. The simulation results validate and compare the performance on cost reduction of the proposed two optimization problems.


Regulatory clinical trials are required to ensure the continued supply and deployment of effective antimalarial drugs. Patient follow-up in such trials typically lasts several weeks as the drugs have long half-lives and new infections often occur during this period. "Molecular correction" is therefore used to distinguish drug failures from new infections. ABSTRACT Regulatory clinical trials are required to ensure the continued supply and deployment of effective antimalarial drugs. Patient follow-up in such trials typically lasts several weeks, as the drugs have long half-lives and new infections often occur during this period. "Molecular correction" is therefore used to distinguish drug failures from new infections. The current WHO-recommended method for molecular correction uses length-polymorphic alleles at highly diverse loci but is inherently poor at detecting low-density clones in polyclonal infections. This likely leads to substantial underestimates of failure rates, delaying the replacement of failing drugs with potentially lethal consequences. Deep-sequenced amplicons (AmpSeq) substantially increase the detectability of low-density clones and may offer a new "gold standard" for molecular correction. Pharmacological simulation of clinical trials was used to evaluate the suitability of AmpSeq for molecular correction. We investigated the impact of factors such as the number of amplicon loci analyzed, the informatics criteria used to distinguish genotyping "noise" from real low-density signals, the local epidemiology of malaria transmission, and the potential impact of genetic signals from gametocytes. AmpSeq greatly improved molecular correction and provided accurate drug failure rate estimates. The use of 3 to 5 amplicons was sufficient, and simple, nonstatistical criteria could be used to classify recurrent infections as drug failures or new infections. These results suggest AmpSeq is strongly placed to become the new standard for molecular correction in regulatory trials, with potential extension into routine surveillance once the requisite technical support becomes established.


The LASSO-Patternsearch is proposed, as a two-stage procedure to identify clusters of multiple risk factors for outcomes of interest in large demographic studies, when the predictor variables are dichotomous or take on values in a small finite set. Many diseases are suspected of having multiple interacting risk factors acting in concert, and it is of much interest to uncover higher order interactions when they exist. The method is related to Zhang et al(2004) except that variable flexibility is sacrificed to allow entertaining models with high as well as low order interactions among multiple predictors. A LASSO is used to select important patterns, being applied conservatively to have a high rate of retention of true patterns, while allowing some noise. Then the patterns selected by the LASSO are tested in the framework of (parametric) generalized linear models to reduce the noise. Notably, the patterns are those that arise naturally from the log linear expansion of the multivariate Bernoulli density. Separate tuning procedures are proposed for the LASSO step and then the parametric step and a novel computational algorithm for the LASSO step is developed to handle the large number of unknowns in the problem. The method is applied to data from the Beaver Dam Eye Study and is shown to expose physiologically interesting interacting risk factors. In a study of progression of myopia in an older cohort, it is found in this group that the risk for smokers is reduced by taking vitamins, while the risk for non-smokers is independent of the "taking vitamins" variable, which is in agreement with the general result that smoking reduces the absorption of vitamins, and certain vitamins have been


Dynamic electroholography is a suitable and promising technology of image display for future projection and near-eye displays. Until a new phase modulation technology is introduced, practical research assumes the use of pixelated spatial light modulators based on liquid crystals with electronically controlled birefringence leading to a controllable refractive index. Such an approach allows for university grade development and testing of holographic computation methodol-ogy, but its limitations and drawbacks currently disable the massive application in consumer electronics. This chapter describes the differences between the behavior of the modulator as expected from Fourier optics and that observed in practical optical experiments. Moreover, practical hints and proven techniques of overcom-ing selected hardware issues of the chosen liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) phase modulators are given. The smart combination of the described techniques could allow more precise operation of spatial light modulators with a higher agreement with numerical simulations, especially for holographic projection of colorful images.


There is a well known assumption that more participation of women in politics is important for democracy. In this respect, Civil Society the third branch of power has opened up space for women's engagement through the issue of good governance. Taking women's experiences from two civil society organizations, the study tried to reveal how different types of understanding on good governance and participation may shape the interest of the Civil Society Organization. By applying the concepts of civil society, good governance and participation as analytical framework, the paper critically analyzes how donordriven concepts of civil society created problem in women's everyday life, jeopardize their transformative potentials. Finally, considering historical and contextual reality of civil society, the paper came up with a recommendation in favour of political society to bring gender justice through social movement.


The global power shift towards Brazil, India, China and other non-western powers has led to pressures to adjust international institutions to new economic realities. Most power shift theories assume that established powers defend their institutional privileges, while emerging powers challenge them. Conversely, in this article we reverse this assumption by shedding light on 'privileges' of the weak: many international institutions have established special rights for disadvantaged regime members. We ask what strategies emerging powers adopt as they come under pressure to give up these rights commonly reserved for regime members with developing country status. We present a novel conceptualization of four ideal-typical strategies that combine elements of resistance and accommodation. Empirically, we examine the strategies that Brazil, India and China (BICs) have adopted in the World Trade Organization. We find that no uniform approach exists across the BICs: while India fiercely resists giving up its status as a developing country and the flexibilities it comes with, Brazil adopts a pragmatic approach that largely accommodates established powers' demands to give up special rights reserved for developing countries. China pursues a mixed strategy of selective accommodation and resistance. These findings contribute to recent debates on global power shifts by illustrating how material incentives and status considerations shape the adaptation of international institutions as privileges for the weak are re-negotiated.


The very free-market inspired current of new resources economics advocates the privatisation of natural resources as a way of ensuring their conservation. Despite its shaky theoretical foundations and the tendency to bend reality to fit its arguments, the current has some influence on the determination of environmental policies. We shall demonstrate that it contributes to spreading an erroneous representation of the rights-market and that it is based on questionable experiences of wildlife management.


The objective of this study was to compare calving traits, BCS, milk production, fertility, and survival of Holstein-Friesian (HF) and Norwegian Red (NR) dairy cattle in moderate-concentrate input systems. The experiment was conducted on 19 commercial Northern Ireland dairy farms, and involved 221 HF cows and 221 NR cows. Cows completed 5 lactations during the experiment, unless they died or were culled or sold. Norwegian Red cows had a lower calving difficulty score than HF cows when calving for the first and second time, but not for the third and fourth time. At first calving, the incidence of stillbirths for NR cows was 4%, compared with 13% for HF cows, whereas no difference existed between breeds in the proportion of calves born alive when calving for the second time. When calving for the first time, NR cows had a poorer milking temperament than HF cows, whereas milking temperament was unaffected by breed following the second calving. Holstein-Friesian cows had a higher full-lactation milk yield than NR cows, whereas NR cows produced milk with a higher milk fat and protein content. Full-lactation fat + protein yield was unaffected by genotype. Norwegian Red cows had a lower somatic cell score than HF cows during all lactations. Although NR cattle had a higher BCS than the HF cows during lactations 1 and 2, no evidence existed that the 2 genotypes either lost or gained body condition at different rates. Conception rates to first artificial insemination were higher with the NR cows during lactations 1 to 4 (57.8 vs. 40.9%, respectively), with 28.5% of HF cows and 11.8% of NR cows culled as infertile before lactation 6. A greater percentage of NR cows calved for a sixth time compared with HF cows (27.2 vs. 16.3%, respectively). In general, NR cows outperformed HF cows in traits that have been historically included in the NR breeding program.


For more than two decades ACCEL Instruments GmbH at Bergisch Gladbach (formerly Siemens/ Interatom) has supplied accelerator labs worldwide with key components like rf cavities and power couplers, s.c. magnets, insertion devices, vacuum chambers and x-ray beamline equipment. Starting with the design and production of turn key SRF accelerating modules in the late 80th, meanwhile ACCEL is now engineering, manufacturing, on site commissioning and servicing complete accelerators with guaranteed beam performance. Today, with a staff of more than 100 physicists and engineers and about the same number of manufacturing specialists in our dedicated production facilities, ACCEL's know how and sales volume in this field has accumulated to more than 2000 man years and several hundred Mio €, respectively. Basis of our steady development is a cooperative partnership with the world's leading research labs in the respective fields. To give an example, we established a very fruitful partnership with DESY for the supply of a turn key 100 MeV injector linac for the Swiss Light Source, and meanwhile also for the Diamond Light Source as well as for the Australian Synchrotron Project.


Recently, optical pulses have been generated with a sinusoidally driven electro-absorption(EA) modulator[1]. The attained pulses from bulk EA modulators, however, have insufficient duty ratio for optically time-division multiplexed(TDM) soliton transmission[2]. To reduce the duty ratio, we propose a novel transform- limited(TL) pulse generation technique using a monolithically integrated MQW- DFB-LD/MQW-EA modulator light source and a dispersion decreasing fiber(DDF) operating as an adiabatic soliton compressor[3]. The MQW-EA modulator whose extinction ratio strongly depends on applied voltage can yield smaller pulse ratio than is possible with bulk EA modulators [4]. The monolithically integrated light source has further advantage as a stable single-chip pulse generator. The adiabatically compressed pulses through the DDF, which preserve their fundamental soliton condition, are closer to TL pulses than those created by other nonlinear compression techniques[5][6]. We successfully demonstrated a 2.5 ps soliton pulse with a 0.33 time-bandwidth product and a 0.037 duty ratio at 15 GHz repetition rate.


Arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) has been shown to possess a strong affinity for the integrins overexpressed in tumor cells, especially during tumor invasion, angiogenesis and metasis. Based on work from others, a novel tetrapeptide, arginine-glycine-aspartate-phenylanaline (RGDF), has been designed and studied as a homing device to direct liposomal doxorubicin (DOX) to tumor cells in this work. In order to incorporate RGDF into liposomal DOX preparations, RGDF was conjugated with three different fatty alcohols to achieve RGDF-fatty alcohol conjugates. Glycine-glycine-aspartate-phenylanaline (GGDF)-lauryl alcohol conjugate was synthesized as a negative control. RGDF-fatty alcohol conjugates (RGDFO(CH(2))(n)CH(3)) and GGDF-lauryl alcohol conjugate (L-GGDFC12-DOX) incorporated liposomal preparations were obtained by first preparing liposomes using the film dispersion method followed by loading DOX using a transmembrane pH gradient method. Because of their amphipathic nature, RGDF- or GGDF-fatty alcohol conjugates are expected to be readily incorporated into liposomes with their fatty alkanyl chains being intercalated between fatty acyl chains of liposomal bilayers and the hydrophilic peptide moiety (RGDF or GGDF) being anchored on the surface of liposomes. The particle size and zeta potential of liposomal DOX preparations containing RGDF-fatty alcohol conjugate (L-RGDF-DOXs) or L-GGDFC12-DOX were measured, and their morphology was studied using transmission electron microscopy. In vitro DOX release profile from RGDF incorporated liposomal DOX was measured. The antitumor activities of RGDF incorporated liposomal DOX preparations were evaluated in ICR mice inoculated with sarcoma S(180), which is known to express α(v)β(3) integrin. Both conventional liposomal DOX preparation (L-DOX) without RGDFO(CH(2))(n)CH(3) and L-GGDFC12-DOX were used as negative controls. Our results showed improved tumor growth inhibition with L-RGDF-DOXs over doxorubicin hydrochloride solution, L-DOX and L-GGDFC12-DOX. Pathological examination of tumor biopsy demonstrated that L-RGDF-DOXs induced enhanced tumor cell death in comparison to negative controls. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that the concentrations of DOX found in tumor sites were increased by 1.7-4.5-fold when liposomal DOX preparation containing RGDF-lauryl alcohol conjugate (L-RGDFC12-DOX) was administered in comparison to when L-GGDFC12-DOX or doxorubicin hydrochloride solution was administered. The concentrations of DOX found in the heart, which is the main site of toxic effects of DOX, were significantly reduced when L-RGDFC12-DOX was administered in comparison to when L-GGDFC12-DOX or doxorubicin hydrochloride solution was administered.


ABSTRACT PCR analysis of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in New Jersey identified infections with Borrelia burgdorferi (33.6%), Babesia microti (8.4%), Anaplasma phagocytophila (1.9%), and Bartonella spp. (34.5%). The I. scapularis tick is a potential pathogen vector that can cause coinfection and contribute to the variety of clinical responses noted in some tick-borne disease patients.


Calcium stores in the endoplasmic reticulum play important roles in a variety of mammalian cellular functions. However, the multitude of calcium-handling machineries in neurons, including voltage- and ligand-gated channels, calcium-binding proteins, pumps, and transporters, as well as the rapid mobility of calcium ions among different cellular compartments hampered the singling out of calcium stores as a pivotal player in synaptic plasticity. Despite these methodological obstacles, novel molecular and imaging tools afforded a rapid progress in deciphering the role of specific calcium stores in neuronal functions. In the present review, we will address several key issues related to the involvement of ryanodine receptors and the calcium entry channel Orai1 in dendritic spine development and plasticity as well as their derailing in neurodegenerative diseases.


In this technical note, the two-stage-evaluation (TSE) model for decision making under ambiguity (He 2019) is extend to intertemporal setting in an axiomatic approach. First set of axiom employed are some axioms commonly adopted for axiomtizing intertemporal non-expected utility models in the literature. Besides these regular axioms, dynamic consistency as well as assumptions for a static TSE for one stage consumption plan at any given path of the history are assumed. It is shown that these axioms holds if and only if these exists a recursively defined evaluation utility model representing decision maker(DM)'s preferences over consumption plans conditional on arriving at any node in an event tree. Such a recursive form implies that one can apply dynamic programming technique (rolling back the decision tree) to solve for a dynamic decision making problem where the DM's preference over consumption plans conditional events in the decision tree is represented by a TSE model allowing for ambiguity aversion depending on the sources of ambiguity. By assuming a preference regarding ambiguity aversion across different hedges at different nodes, one can also obtain a recursive TSE model with hedge independent ambiguity attitude.


A technique is demonstrated for the acquisition and processing of multislice, first‐pass contrast‐enhanced pelfusion images in the myocardium. The acquisition is a modification of "keyhole" imaging in which time series images are acquired by sampling a limited segment of k‐space, corresponding to the low spatial frequencies. In the modification demonstrated here, keyhole samples are divided into two groups that are sampled on alternate cardiac cycles. The alternate "missing" k‐space portions are synthesized by Fourier interpolation. Visualization of contrast agent accumulation by image subtraction is demonstrated. A motion artifact reduction process using time domain Fourier filtering is used to reduce artifacts from respiration. Studies were performed on 46 patients at 1.5 T using gadoteridol (0.05–0.1 mmol/kg) injected into the right antecubital vein in conjunction with radionuclide imaging. Fully concordant studies were noted in 27 of these patients. Remaining studies were either partially or completely discordant for reasons relating to the differing natures of radionuclide versus MR contrast agent characteristics.


The class of problems in causal inference which seeks to isolate causal correlations solely from observational data even without interventions has come to the forefront of machine learning, neuroscience and social sciences. As new large scale quantum systems go online, it opens interesting questions of whether a quantum framework exists on isolating causal correlations without any interventions on a quantum system. We put forth a theoretical framework for merging quantum information science and causal inference by exploiting entropic principles. At the root of our approach is the proposition that the true causal direction minimizes the entropy of exogenous variables in a non-local hidden variable theory. The proposed framework uses a quantum causal structural equation model to build the connection between two fields: entropic causal inference and the quantum marginal problem. First, inspired by the definition of geometric quantum discord, we fill the gap between classical and quantum conditional density matrices to define quantum causal models. Subsequently, using a greedy approach, we develop a scalable algorithm for quantum entropic causal inference unifying classical and quantum causality in a principled way. We apply our proposed algorithm to an experimentally relevant scenario of identifying the subsystem impacted by noise starting from an entangled state. This successful inference on a synthetic quantum dataset can have practical applications in identifying originators of malicious activity on future multi-node quantum networks as well as quantum error correction. As quantum datasets and systems grow in complexity, our framework can play a foundational role in bringing observational causal inference from the classical to the quantum domain.


Arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Different measures of arterial stiffness have been used to assess the impacts of exercise training interventions. One of the primary problems faced by investigators conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses is the lack of standardized methodology to evaluate and compare efficacies of the existing and newly conducted exercise interventions on arterial stiffness. The reference standard measure of arterial stiffness is pulse wave velocity (PWV) while other commonly-used methodologies are ultrasound-derived arterial compliance and distensibility. PURPOSE: To describe standardized equations to convert common ultrasound-based measures of arterial stiffness (arterial compliance, distensibility, ß-stiffness index, elastic modulus) to local PWV. METHODS: We first conducted a literature search to derive conversion equations. For measures of arterial stiffness that conversion equations cannot be used, we generated regression equations using the accumulated dataset available in the laboratory. Subsequently, these equations were cross-validated in a well-controlled laboratory-based study, in which all measures of arterial stiffness were collected in 49 apparently healthy participants. RESULTS The literature search revealed that some measures of arterial stiffness such as distensibility coefficient (DC) can be converted to local PWV using the Bramwell-Hill model (PWV = [p.DC]1/2) with an assumption of p=1059 kg/m3. Ultrasound-based measures of arterial stiffness were strongly and significantly associated with local PWV with Pearson r ranging from 0.74 to 0.99 (p < 0.01). Converted local PWV using regression models were correlated with each other (r=0.73 to 0.97, p<0.01). The correlations between converted local PWV and directly measured carotid-femoral PWV ranged from weak to moderate correlations with the range of r from 0.08 to 0.41. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that commonly-used measures of ultrasoundbased arterial stiffness can be converted to local PWV and can be compared with a reference standard measure. These conversions can be used in systematic reviews and meta-analyses to synthesize evidence across studies to detect effects.


View-graph is an essential input to large-scale structure from motion (SfM) pipelines. Accuracy and efficiency of large-scale SfM is crucially dependent on the input view-graph. Inconsistent or inaccurate edges can lead to inferior or wrong reconstruction. Most SfM methods remove `undesirable' images and pairs using several, fixed heuristic criteria, and propose tailor-made solutions to achieve specific reconstruction objectives such as efficiency, accuracy, or disambiguation. In contrast to these disparate solutions, we propose a single optimization framework that can be used to achieve these different reconstruction objectives with task-specific cost modeling. We also construct a very efficient network-flow based formulation for its approximate solution. The abstraction brought on by this selection mechanism separates the challenges specific to datasets and reconstruction objectives from the standard SfM pipeline and improves its generalization. This paper demonstrates the application of the proposed view-graph framework with standard SfM pipeline for two particular use-cases, (i) accurate and ghost-free reconstructions of highly ambiguous datasets using costs based on disambiguation priors, and (ii) accurate and efficient reconstruction of large-scale Internet datasets using costs based on commonly used priors.


Understanding the customer is a key component to enabling marketers with multichannel attribution analysis to better target marketing campaigns and use personalization engines for delivering focused messaging to online audience segments. With the promise of big data and systems that integrate, process, and allow querying of online and offline data, marketers can aspire to the ideal "360-degree view of the customer." Making this vision a reality, however, will be challenging for organizations that have historically separated Web and digital initiatives from legacy IT and marketing initiatives. Little incentive has existed for collaboration or cooperation due to divergent business performance goals. Successful organizations are transforming processes, governance, and working relationships to fully maximize their ability to use digital data to their marketing advantage.


Abstract In this paper, we propose an algorithm that can efficiently detect and monitor multiple ships in real-time. The proposed algorithm uses morphological operations and edge information for detecting and tracking ships. We used smoothing filter with a 3 × 3 Gaussian window and luminance component instead of RGB components in the captured image. Additionally, we applied Sobel operator for edge detection and a threshold for binary images. Finally, object labeling with connectivity and morphological operation with open and erosion were used for ship detection. Compared with conventional methods, the proposed method is meant to be used mainly in coastal surveillance systems and monitoring systems of harbors. A system based on this method was tested for both stationary and non-stationary backgrounds, and the results of the detection and tracking rates were more than 97% on average. Thousands of image frames and 20 different video sequences in both online and offline modes were tested, and an overall detection rate of 97.6% was achieved.


Particulate matter < 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) air pollution is the world's leading environmental risk factor contributing to mortality through cardiometabolic pathways. In this study, we modeled early life exposure using chow-fed C57BL/6J male mice, exposed to real-world inhaled concentrated PM2.5 (~10 times ambient levels / ~60-120ug/m3) or filtered air over 14 weeks. We investigated PM2.5 effects on phenotype, transcriptome and chromatin accessibility, compared the effects with a prototypical high-fat diet (HFD) stimulus, and examined cessation of exposure on reversibility of phenotype. Exposure to PM2.5 impaired glucose and insulin tolerance, reduced energy expenditure and 18FDG-PET uptake in brown adipose tissue. Multiple differentially expressed gene (DEG) clusters in pathways involving metabolism and circadian rhythm were noted in insulin responsive tissues. Although the magnitude of transcriptional change seen with PM2.5 was lower than HFD, the degree of alteration in chromatin accessibility after PM2.5 exposure was significant. A novel chromatin remodeler SMARCA5 (SWI/SNF complex) was regulated in response to PM2.5 with cessation of exposure associated with reversal of insulin resistance, restoration of chromatin accessibility/nucleosome positioning near transcription start sites (TSS) and exposure induced changes in the transcriptome including SMARCA5, indicating pliable epigenetic control mechanisms following exposure cessation.


In this study, we investigate the nature of the influence of organizational information technology (IT) on innovation. To examine this relationship, we leverage a fundamental construct: harmonious IT affordance (HITA). HITA is defined as the degree of coalignment between three salient organizational IT affordances, each of which allows an organization to carry out its most fundamental functions using IT — collaboration, maintenance of organizational memory, and management of organizational processes. We theorize that HITA has a quadratic (U-shaped) effect on innovation. Our theory proposes that when IT affordances increasingly co-align (reflected by increasing HITA), the organization enters a synergistic, virtuous phase that encourages innovation. Counterintuitively, the increasing misalignment of IT affordances can also result in organizational innovation via creative dissonance, which enables organizations to look for opportunities in the presence of misalignment and leverage it to create a synergistic virtuous cycle. We conducted two empirical studies — one with high-level IT executives knowledgeable about innovation and one with sales and business development executives (who market innovations) knowledgeable about IT — that corroborate our theory. Crucially, if the IT affordances are unrelated (low coalignment, where HITA is close to zero), then innovation does not take place. We thus surmise that the relation between HITA and innovation is quadratic.


A prospective clinical, endoscopic, and histopathologic study of the esophagus was carried out in 24 patients with advanced liver disease who underwent esophageal variceal sclerotherapy (EVS) and who eventually came to autopsy. Patients were arbitrarily divided into three groups: acute (group I), intermediate (group II), and chronic (group III) based on the interval between the first EVS and death. EVS with sodium tetradecyl sulphate (STS) initially produced thrombosis with varying degrees of necrosis and inflammation followed by ulceration, recanalization, and eventually fibrosis with obliteration of varices. Recurrent variceal hemorrhage (VH) leading to death was highest in the acute group since all patients died of uncontrollable VH (100%); it ranged between 50-60% in both the intermediate and chronic groups. Despite variceal obliteration, recurrent hemorrhage developed in the chronic group due to gastric varices or other venous channels in the esophagus or stomach. Additionally, we describe findings not previously reported, such as the presence of sclerosant outside the varices after intravariceal injection, thrombosis of gastric varices after esophageal injections, and the development of muscular wall thickening.


In 1998 Watts and Strogatz introduced the concepts of small-world networks and in the process expanded our views of computer, social, and biological networks. In this project, we built epidemics on small world and other networks. Epidemic outbreaks of communicable and sexually-transmitted diseases are modeled on small-world and two-node networks, respectively. The results of simulations are compared to those obtained from homogeneous mixing (mean field) epidemic models. Scaling relationships between transmission rates for epidemics on small-world, random and homogeneous mixing populations are established empirically. The transmission dynamics of gonorrhea in heterosexually-active populations with multiple partners is used to illustrate the spread of disease on two-node networks. Strategies for disease control are explored.


This project presents a design of high gain cascaded low noise amplifier (LNA), which operates at 5.8 GHz frequency for WiMAX application. The LNA designed used T-matching network consisting of lump reactive elements and microstrip at the input and the output matching load uses quarter wavelength techniques. A cascaded LNA is developed in this project contribute a high gain of 36.8 dB with overall noise figure of 1.3 dB. The overall measured bandwidth measures is 1.240 GHz with S parameters S11 , S 12 and S 22 measured are -11.4dB, -39.1dB and -12.3dB respectively. The input sensitivity of the LNA is -80dBm which compliant with the IEEE 802.16 WiMAX application. The LNA used FET transistor FHX 76 LP from Eudina Inc


The lattice-reduction (LR)-aided successive interference cancellation (SIC) is a well-known detection technique achieving near-maximum-likelihood (ML) performance in the multiuser system. However, the LR algorithm and the computation of sequential nulling vectors still incur considerable computational complexity overhead for a large number of mobile stations (MSs). To overcome it, we propose a decoupled LR-aided SIC for clustered MSs, in which the entire system is linearly decoupled into multiple lower dimensional subsystems before the LR-aided SIC is applied. In addition, efficient MS grouping algorithms are proposed to optimize the detection performance of the decoupled LR-aided SIC. The proposed LR-aided SIC with linear preprocessing exhibits a full diversity order, compared with the conventional LR-aided SIC, with considerable computational savings. Finally, to further improve the system performance, a nested LR-aided SIC with preprocessing is also developed.


The design of a fast codebook searching algorithm using a neural network perceptron model is described. The design of the codebook containing the optimal number of representative vectors incorporates a tree structure with a modified perceptron neuron at each node. The proposed algorithm reduces the computational requirements compared to the full-search and tree-search algorithm and requires less memory than the tree-search algorithm. The implementation of a neural vector pattern matching system using the tree-searched neural vector quantisation algorithm as a building block is discussed briefly.<<ETX>>


CT-guided transcutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsies were done in 350 patients. They involved the abdomen in 226 patients (liver 75, pancreatic and abdominal masses 51, kidney 96, adrenal gland 3, spleen 1), thorax 90, musculoskeletal system 32, and brain 2. The accuracy varied with different locations. The accuracy of liver biopsy was 94%, kidney 95.8%, pancreatic and abdominal masses 88.2%, thorax 90%, and musculoskeletal system 96.5%. The occurrence rate of complications was 2.3%. Pneumothorax occurred in 7 patients having thorax biopsy, and gastric perforation in one patient after abdominal biopsy. The proper selection of fine needles, the method and technique, the influential elements of the accuracy, and the application of CT-guided aspiration biopsy were detailed in this paper.


This study investigated the readability level of second-grade secondary school scientific stream Chemistry and Physics textbooks in Jordan, determining the effect of gender on the degree of readability, in addition to knowing the order of the textbooks according to the degree of their readability in both books. The current study was conducted to determine the readability level of chemistry and physics textbooks by involving 300 second-grade secondary school students of the public schools affiliated with the Directorate of Education, Jordan. Four Cloze tests were prepared from different topics of both textbooks to measure their readability. The test included four texts with 20 words omitted from each text, and the texts were presented in the same format as in the textbooks, with clear instructions provided for the students. A pilot sample outside the study sample was administered with the test-retest method to confirm the reliability of the four tests for both textbooks. The findings revealed that physics textbooks had a higher level of readability than chemistry textbooks. A significant difference (p≤0.05) was observed based on the type of textbook in the readability of chemistry and physics textbooks. The scientific texts in the chemistry textbook were ordered in light of their readability level. In contrast, the scientific texts in the physics textbook were not ordered in light of their readability level. The study concluded that the readability level of Jordanian Chemistry and Physics textbooks of the second grade of the scientific stream differed significantly (p≤0.05). The study recommends that the Jordan Ministry of Education should appoint a panel of experts to review the textbooks and make the necessary changes to improve their readability level.


Scienti c research has become data-intensive and data-dependent. This new research paradigm requires sophisticated computer science techniques and technologies to support the life cycle of scienti c data and collaboration among scientists from distinct areas. A major requirement is that researchers working in data-intensive interdisciplinary teams demand construction of multiple perspectives of the world, built over the same datasets. Present solutions cover a wide range of aspects, from the design of interoperability standards to the use of non-relational database management systems. None of these e orts, however, adequately meet the needs of multiple perspectives, which are called foci in the thesis. Basically, a focus is designed/built to cater to a research group (even within a single project) that needs to deal with a subset of data of interest, under multiple aggregation/generalization levels. The de nition and creation of a focus are complex tasks that require mechanisms and engines to manipulate multiple representations of the same real world phenomenon. This PhD research aims to provide multiple foci over heterogeneous data. To meet this challenge, we deal with four research problems. The rst two were (1) choosing an appropriate data management paradigm; and (2) eliciting multifocus requirements. Our work towards solving these problems made us choose graph databases to answer (1) and the concept of views in relational databases for (2). However, there is no consensual data model for graph databases and views are seldom discussed in this context. Thus, research problems (3) and (4) are: (3) specifying an adequate graph data model and (4) de ning a framework to handle views on graph databases. Our research in these problems results in the main contributions of this thesis: (i) to present the case for the use of graph databases in multifocus research as persistence layer a schemaless and relationship driven type of database that provides a full understanding of data connections; (ii) to de ne views for graph databases to support the need for multiple foci, considering graph data manipulation, graph algorithms and traversal tasks; (iii) to propose a property graph data model (PGDM) to ll the gap of absence of a fulledged data model for graphs; (iv) to specify and implement a framework, named Graph-Kaleidoscope, that supports views over graph databases and (v) to validate our framework for real world applications in two domains biodiversity and environmental resources typical examples of multidisciplinary research that involve the analysis of interactions of phenomena using heterogeneous data.


COVID-19 has heavily influenced people all around the world and forced us to acclimatise to a New Normal Post-COVID-19 scenarios are predicted that impose specific criteria on travel choices that could change the present tourism equilibrium Addressing these impulses is crucial for travel destinations for their resilience and recovery This paper presents preliminary insights into present travel decisions and speculates about potential future, post-COVID-19 choices An online survey of 449 participants used to investigate the underlying dimensions of destination selection motivations, and to explore the significant differences between the characteristics of travellers in destination-choice-based motivators (DCBMs) for destination selections post-COVID-19 Three motivators for the choice of destinations were derived: accessibility and discounting, health and hygiene, and the history of low incidences of COVID-19 Results also identified interrelationships between travel history and destination selection motivators: participants who had undergone a prolonged quarantine period were highly motivated by 'accessibility and discounting' and 'health and hygiene' factors In contrast, people with no international travel experience were more concerned with low COVID-19 incidences in the destination(s)


This paper reports on a diagnostic technique developed to improve the understanding of the behavior of discontinuous armature configurations. The knowledge of the current distribution between the different conductors is of central importance for such configurations. The measurement technique is explained and experimental results obtained at the ISL-railgun EMA3 (muzzle velocity v0 < 2 km/s, applied energy per shot Eprim < 0.6 MJ, l = 3 m, cal. = 15 mm times 30 mm, multiple metal fiber brush armatures) are presented. The results are discussed with the help of other experimental observations and by comparison with static finite element calculations.


Abstract Moths of the genus Emphylica Turner, 1913 resemble species of Achyra Guenée, 1849, Loxostege Hübner, 1825 and Sitochroa Hübner, 1825 in having a conical frons. In order to examine the monophyly of Emphylica, and its relationship to other genera with a conical frons, a molecular phylogenetic framework is reconstructed based on sequence data of COI, 16S rRNA, 28S rRNA, EF-1α and Wg gene regions. The results robustly support the monophyly of Emphylica. Achyra + (Loxostege + Sitochroa) is in a sister position to Emphylica. A new species, E.crassihamatasp. n., is described from Southern China and two new combinations, E.diaphana (Caradja & Meyrick, 1934), comb. n. and E.cruoralis (Warren, 1895), comb. n., are proposed. An identification key based on males is provided for all Emphylica species. The adult habitus and genitalia of all species are figured.


While new technologies offer a number of benefits and opportunities, their use is accompanied by challenges and potential risks. This includes the different forms of abuse and intimidation that the Act seeks to address. As part of its functions as the Approved Agency, Netsafe has conducted the first in a series of Annual Population Surveys (APS). The objective of the APS is to gauge attitudes and behaviours and to start monitoring national trends regarding potentially harmful digital communications in Aotearoa-New Zealand. This report presents the main findings of the 2017 APS. The APS is the first nationally representative study that looks at adult New Zealanders and digital communications in the context of the Act. Key aspects of the Act - such as the communication principles - and key internet safety concepts have informed the development of the research instrument and the analysis of its findings.The study was planned and administered by Netsafe between February and September 2017. An online survey was conducted with a representative sample of 1,018 adult New Zealanders (aged 18 ) between 30 May and 30 June 2017. Data collection was conducted by Colmar Brunton. The maximum margin of error for the whole population is ±3.1% at the 95% confidence level.The study provides insights regarding New Zealanders' access to and use of digital technologies. It also explores people's level of awareness of the Act. A key focus of the study is to measure participants' experiences of digital communications, including perceptions and experiences of harm and distress in the last 12 months. Finally, the study presents relevant insights regarding New Zealanders' personal responses, and access to services and resources to deal with unwanted digital communications as well as potential harm and distress.As research on adult New Zealanders and their experiences with digital communications is limited, the APS provides first-hand research evidence on this subject to government agencies, online content and service providers, law enforcement, the research community, and the general public. However, considering the evolving nature of new technologies and how people engage with digital tools, new online challenges and risks are likely to emerge. Thus, the study of the nature and impact of digital communications, including potential harm and distress, will remain a relevant but challenging area of research, analysis, and policy intervention.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the clinical outcomes of endometrial cancer staging procedures performed by a single surgeon utilizing traditional and robotic-assisted laparoscopic techniques.

STUDY DESIGN
A retrospective review of minimally invasive endometrial cancer staging performed by a single surgeon.

RESULTS
There were no significant differences in operative time, blood loss, surgical complications, or length of hospitalization between laparoscopic (n = 45) and robotic-assisted (n = 77) procedures. On multivariable analysis controlling for surgical chronology, robotic assistance was independently associated with a significantly greater number of lymph nodes (23 vs. 19, p < 0.05; beta 0.163, p < 0.05). When comparing the first chronologic half of robotic-assisted surgeries to the second half, the latter had shorter operative time (208 vs. 246 min, p = 0.01) and a greater number of lymph nodes (27 vs. 19, p = 0.001). Finally, compared to the laparoscopic cases, the second half of robotic-assisted cases had a greater number of total (27 vs. 19, p < 0.001) and pelvic (23 vs. 17, p < 0.001) lymph nodes harvested.

CONCLUSION
There was a learning curve associated with robotic-assisted laparoscopic endometrial cancer staging, with decreased operative time and increased lymph node yield over time. In our study population, robotic assistance was independently associated with a greater lymph node harvest with no increase in operative time or perioperative complications.


Thirty six (36) native fungal strains from the state of Yucatan were first screened for ligninolytic activity on solid media containing ABTS. Molecular identification based on ITS rDNA region and PCR fingerprinting of seven selected fungi isolates were carried out. Molecular characterization based on genetic fingerprinting was helpful in determining unequivocally the differences between isolates at genera and species levels. The seven isolates showed ABTS oxidation zones in plates but only five strains produced extracellular laccase. The strains identified as Trametes hirsuta (GenBank accession numbers GQ280372 and GQ280373) showed the highest laccase production. The strain Bm-2 displayed the greatest laccase activity and dye decolourization ability in 72 h without the addition of mediators. Both the high laccase activity shown by Bm-2 and its ability to decolorize dyes are a good indication of its possible use in the treatment of textile effluents. Key words : Laccase, Trametes hirsuta, dye decolorization, PCR fingerprinting.