Lowenstein et al.6 incorrectly stated that the constant alternating current sinusoid waveform stimulus current perception threshold (CPT) evaluation using the Neurometer electrodiagnostic neurostimulator "has not been standardized." These evaluations have been standardized since the technology first obtained U.S. FDA permission for marketing in 1986. The "standardized" CPT evaluation utilizes an automated forced-choice testing paradigm that confirms measures with a resolution of 20 A (P 0.006).2 Hundreds of publications (see citations at: http://www.neurotron.com/site/abstracts/index.html), including several by one of the authors3,4 of the aforementioned publication, studies published in Muscle & Nerve,1,8 and the referenced Neurometer CPT citations,6 correctly used the standardized CPT electrodiagnostic evaluation. The study by Lowenstein et al. study cannot be duplicated, because vital methodology information was missing. Critical information needed includes: electrode dimensions/properties; conductive medium; electrode placement/orientation; and duration of stimulus presentation. These parameters significantly affect the CPT measure. Because the study used a non-standardized CPT testing method to compare its measures to a QST method to evaluate the reliability of the CPT measure, the results are equivocal. Readers of this journal interested in the reliability of the standardized Neurometer CPT evaluation may consider other selected representative examples of scientific publications.5,7,9,10


ABSTRACT We report on a highly sensitive gallium nitride (GaN) micro-electromechanical (MEMS) resonator with a record quality factor (Q) exceeding 105 at the high resonant frequency (f) of 911 kHz by the strain engineering for the GaN-on-Si structure. The f of the double-clamped GaN beam bridge is increased from 139 to 911 kHz when the tensile stress is increased to 640 MPa. Although it is usually regarded that the energy dissipation increases with increasing resonant frequency, an ultra-high Q-factor which is more than two orders of magnitude higher than those of the other reported GaN-based MEMS is obtained. The high Q-factor results from the large tensile stress which can be intentionally introduced and engineered in the GaN epitaxial layer by utilizing the lattice mismatch between GaN and Si, leading to the stored elastic energy and drastically decreasing the energy dissipation. The developed GaN MEMS is further demonstrated as a highly sensitive mass sensor with a resolution of 10−12 g/s through detecting the microdroplet evaporation process. This work provides an avenue to improve the f × Q product of the MEMS through an internally strained structure. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Purpose We aimed to develop and validate individual prognostic models in a large cohort of cervical cancer patients that were primarily treated with radical hysterectomy. Materials and Methods We analyzed 1,441 patients with early-stage cervical cancer treated between 2000 and 2008 from the Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group multi-institutional cohort: a train cohort (n=788) and a test cohort (n=653). Models predicting the risk for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), lymphatic recurrence and hematogenous recurrence were developed using Cox analysis and stepwise backward selection and best-model options. The prognostic performance of each model was assessed in an independent patient cohort. Model-classified risk groups were compared to groups based on traditional risk factors. Results Independent risk factors for OS, DFS, lymphatic recurrence, and hematogenous recurrence were identified for prediction model development. Different combinations of risk factors were shown for each outcome with best predictive value. In train cohort, area under the curve (AUC) at 2 and 5 years were 0.842/0.836 for recurrence, and 0.939/0.882 for OS. When applied to a test cohort, the model also showed accurate prediction result (AUC at 2 and 5 years were 0.799/0.723 for recurrence, and 0.844/0.806 for OS, respectively). The Kaplan-Meier plot by proposed model-classified risk groups showed more distinctive survival differences between each risk group. Conclusion We developed prognostic models for OS, DFS, lymphatic and hematogenous recurrence in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Combining weighted clinicopathologic factors, the proposed model can give more individualized predictions in clinical practice.


This chapter argues that if Austrian economics is to attain the influence, impact, and esteem enjoyed by comparable traditions, it cannot continue to produce research that only and always reaches free market conclusions. While the foundational principles of Austrian economics are incompatible with socialism, this does not settle every policy question in favor of laissez-faire. Factors such as historical circumstances and the particularities of local contexts should lead Austrians to take seriously some arguments in favor of government intervention. Freed from its ideological shackles, Austrian economics can provide a powerful toolkit for positive, scientific research addressing the most important questions in contemporary political economy.


ABSTRACT The author describes implementing a comprehensive skin and wound care program during her tenure as chief nurse executive to address challenges related to a lack of expert resources and knowledge of pressure injury (PI) prevention and treatment. This multifaceted program included the creation of a comprehensive, interprofessional, evidence-based skin and wound care committee; establishing a "Wound Board" for case presentations and expert consultation; providing educational programs; streamlining the processes for product evaluation, procurement, and use; decreasing costs; and hiring additional wound, ostomy, and continence nurse specialists. As a result, hospital-acquired PI incidence dropped significantly.


BACKGROUND
In Canada, tuberculosis (TB) rates are at a historic low, with the remaining risk concentrated in a few vulnerable population subgroups.

OBJECTIVES
To describe the epidemiology of TB in the Canadian province of Ontario and to characterise risk factors associated with transmission events, identified using genetic typing techniques.

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis of 2186 culture-positive TB cases between August 2007 and December 2011. Temporal trends and risk of spatiotemporal and genotypic clustering were evaluated using Poisson and logistic regression models.

RESULTS
Being in a spatiotemporal cluster was associated with Aboriginal status (odds ratio [OR] 3.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-10.71). Cases in genotypic clusters were more likely to report homelessness as a risk factor (adjusted OR [aOR] 2.92, 95%CI 1.74-4.90) or be male (aOR 1.35, 95%CI 1.09-1.68), and were less likely to be aged ≥ 65 years (aOR 0.63, 95%CI 0.49-0.82), foreign-born (aOR 0.32, 95%CI 0.24-0.43) or Aboriginal (aOR 0.40, 95%CI 0.16-0.99). The Beijing lineage had an annual rate of increase of almost 10% (P = 0.047), and was associated with genotypic clustering (aOR 2.84, 95%CI 2.19-3.67).

CONCLUSION
Genotypic data suggest that disease clusters are smaller, but far more common, than would be estimated using spatiotemporal clustering.


Real engineering and scientific applications often involve one or more qualitative inputs. Standard Gaussian processes (GPs), however, cannot directly accommodate qualitative inputs. The recently introduced latent variable Gaussian process (LVGP) overcomes this issue by first mapping each qualitative factor to underlying latent variables (LVs), and then uses any standard GP covariance function over these LVs. The LVs are estimated similarly to the other GP hyperparameters through maximum likelihood estimation, and then plugged into the prediction expressions. However, this plug-in approach will not account for uncertainty in estimation of the LVs, which can be significant especially with limited training data. In this work, we develop a fully Bayesian approach for the LVGP model and for visualizing the effects of the qualitative inputs via their LVs. We also develop approximations for scaling up LVGPs and fully Bayesian inference for the LVGP hyperparameters. We conduct numerical studies comparing plug-in inference against fully Bayesian inference over a few engineering models and material design applications. In contrast to previous studies on standard GP modeling that have largely concluded that a fully Bayesian treatment offers limited improvements, our results show that for LVGP modeling it offers significant improvements in prediction accuracy and uncertainty quantification over the plug-in approach.


Methods are developed that permit the decomposition of two-dimensional convolutional kernels defined on a large area of support into sets of 1 × 3 and 3 × 1 convolutional primitives that are the natural tools of high-speed parallel processors having limited neighborhood data access. Five primitives are shown to be sufficient for 4-neighbor architectures with an additional four primitives for 8-neighbor architectures. Examples of the decomposition process are described for several low-level image analysis kernels, and it is shown that spectral analysis and edge detection can be performed over a wide range of scale. This leads to the conjecture that the convolutional primitives introduced here may be the parallel to the barlike receptors often cited as a model of human visual processing in that both may permit complex processes, such as spectral analysis, to be affected by the massive concatenation of simple primitives.


Many image analysis systems are available for processing the images produced by laser scanning of DNA microarrays. The image processing system takes pixel-level intensity data and converts it to a set of gene-level expression or copy number summaries that will be used in further analyses. Image analysis systems currently in use differ with regard to the specific algorithms they implement, ease of use, and cost. Thus, it would be desirable to have an objective means of comparing systems. Here we describe a systematic method of comparing image processing results produced by different image analysis systems using a series of replicate microarray experiments. We demonstrate the method with a comparison of cDNA microarray data generated by the UCSF Spot and the GenePix image processing systems.


Rib tumours are mostly secondaries arising from breast or prostrate malignancies. Among primary rib tumours, osteochondromas are reported as the commonest cause. Chondromyxoid fibromas are primary benign rib tumours that are seldom seen, occurring almost exclusively at the metaphyseal ends of large tubular bones. Here a case of chondromyxoid fibroma of rib, its clinical and radiological features, management and prognosis, is discussed which has only an occasional mention in literature.


Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is defined by metabolic derangements occurring in the setting of rapid tumor destruction. In acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), TLS frequency, risk stratification, monitoring, and management strategies are based largely on case series and data from other malignancies. A single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted to estimate TLS incidence and identify TLS predictive factors in a patient population undergoing myeloid leukemia induction chemotherapy. This study included 194 patients, aged 18–86 years, with AML or advanced myelodysplastic syndrome undergoing primary myeloid leukemia induction chemotherapy. Nineteen patients (9.8%) developed TLS. In univariate analysis, elevated pre-chemotherapy values for uric acid (P < 0.0001), creatinine (P = 0.0025), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (P = 0.0001), white blood cell (P = 0.0058), gender (P = 0.0064) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia history (P = 0.0292) were significant predictors. In multivariate analysis, LDH (P = 0.0042), uric acid (P < 0.0001) and gender (P = 0.0073) remained significant TLS predictors. A predictive model was then designed using a scoring system based on these factors. This analysis may lay the groundwork for the development of the first evidence-based guidelines for TLS monitoring and management in this patient population.


This paper describes a hybrid modulation scheme for a high-frequency ac-link (HFACL) multistage inverter comprising a front-end dc/ac converter, followed by isolation transformers, an ac/pulsating-dc converter, and a pulsating-dc/ac converter. The hybrid modulation scheme enables 1) removal of the dc-link fil- ter evident in conventional fixed dc-link (FDCL) inverters placed after the ac/pulsating-dc converter stage and before an end stage voltage source inverter and 2) significant reduction in switching loss of the inverter by reducing the high-frequency switching re- quirement of the pulsating-dc/ac converter by two-third yielding higher efficiency, improved voltage utilization, and reduced current stress. Unlike the FDCL approach, in the HFACL approach, hy- brid modulation enables the retention of the sine-wave-modulated switching information at the output of the ac/pulsating-dc con- verter rather than filtering it to yield a fixed dc thereby reducing the high-frequency switching requirement for the pulsating-dc/ac converter. Overall, the following is outlined: 1) hybrid modulation scheme and its uniqueness, 2) operation of the HFACL inverter us- ing the hybrid modulation scheme, 3) comparison of the efficiency and losses, current stress, and harmonic distortion between the hybrid-modulation-based HFACL inverter and the FDCL inverter, and 4) scaled experimental validation. It is noted that the term hy- brid modulation has no similarity with the modulation scheme for a hybrid converter (which are conjugation of two types of converters based on a slow and fast device) reported in the literature. The term hybrid modulation scheme is simply chosen because at any given time only one leg of the inverter output stage (i.e., pulsating-dc/ac converter) switch under high frequency, while the other two legs do not switch. The outlined hybrid modulation scheme is unlike all reported discontinuous modulation schemes where the input is a dc and not a pulsating modulated dc, and at most only one leg stays on or off permanently in a 60° or 120° cycle. Index Terms—AC link, high frequency, hybrid modulation, inverter, isolation, loss, reachability.


Objective. We sought to explain the recent increase in the death rate from falls among Americans aged 65 years and older. Methods. Using the CDC WONDER online database, a longitudinal analysis of subgroups of fall mortality based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) was conducted in older adults and in younger people. We used linear regression to examine the statistical significance of trends in mortality rates during 1999–2007. Results. The overall mortality rate from falls increased by 55% among older Americans (≥65 years of age) during 1999–2007, from 29 per 100,000 population to 45 per 100,000 population. For those aged ≥65 years, the largest increase by far (698%) occurred in the subgroup "other falls on the same level," followed by a moderate increase in falls involving wheelchairs or furniture (48%). The steepest increases at all ages occurred from 1999 to 2000, after ICD-10 took effect. State-level analysis confirmed the findings for the entire United States. From 1999 to 2007, total mortality from falls decreased by 5% in people younger than 45 years of age and increased by 44% for those aged 45–64 years; mortality from "other falls on the same level" increased by 202% and 431%, respectively, in these age groups. Conclusions. Because the reported minor increases in emergency department and hospitalization rates for falls were insignificant, the almost sevenfold increase in death rates from "other falls on the same level" strongly suggests an effect of improved reporting quality.


The diagnosis of alcoholic hepatitis is difficult to establish by conventional clinical and laboratory methods, and a firm diagnosis relies on liver histology. Since there are severe limitations in following patients with repeated liver biopsies, noninvasive procedures are needed to assess the presence of alcoholic hepatitis in chronic alcohol abusers. It has been suggested that serum Type III procollagen peptide levels correlates with the degree of inflammation in chronic liver disease. Since inflammation is a major histological finding in alcoholic hepatitis, we therefore studied the usefulness of measuring serum Type III procollagen peptide and laminin values in 45 consecutive chronic alcohol abusers, with or without cirrhosis, in detecting those with alcoholic hepatitis. The results showed that both Type III procollagen peptide and laminin values were elevated in all of the patients with established liver damage. However, the values were highest in those with liver cirrhosis plus alcoholic hepatitis (Type III procollagen peptide 50.4 ± 36.4 ng per ml vs. 8.1 ± 2.6 in controls, p < 0.01; laminin 4.50 ± 1.49 units per liter vs. 1.24 ± 0.26 units per liter in controls, p < 0.01), followed by subjects with alcoholic hepatitis alone (Type III procollagen peptide 23.5 ± 17.6 ng per ml, p < 0.01; laminin 2.60 ± 1.09 units per liter, p < 0.01). Whereas Type III procollagen peptide values did not discriminate among patients with cirrhosis (21.5 ± 10.1 ng per ml) and those with steatofibrosis (14.3 ± 3.2 ng per ml), nor among those with alcoholic hepatitis and those with steatofibrosis, laminin values did (respectively, 2.12 ± 0.60 units per liter and 1.42 ± 0.41 units per liter, p < 0.01). We thus suggest that independently of whether Type III procollagen peptide or laminin serum values reflect increased deposition or breakdown of extracellular matrix components, they are useful in recognizing alcoholic hepatitis patients.


Genetic diversity and its distribution, both within and between populations, may be determined by micro-evolutionary processes, such as the demographic history of populations, natural selection, and gene flow. In plants, indices of genetic diversity (e.g., k, h and π) and structure (e.g., FST) are typically inferred from sequences of chloroplast markers. Given the recent advances and popularization of molecular techniques for research in population genetics, phylogenetics, phylogeography, and ecology, we adopted a scientometric approach to compile evidence on the recent trends in the use of cpDNA sequences as markers for the analysis of genetic diversity in botanical studies, over the years. We also used phylogenetic modeling to assess the relative contribution of relatedness or ecological and reproductive characters to the genetic diversity of plants. We postulated that genetic diversity could be defined not only by microevolutionary factors and life history traits, but also by relatedness, so that species more closely related phylogenetically would have similar genetic diversities. We found a clear tendency for an increase in the number of studies over time, confirming the hypothesis that the advances in the area of molecular genetics have supported the accumulation of data on the genetic diversity of plants. However, we found that the vast majority of these data have been produced by Chinese authors, and refer specifically to populations of Chinese plants. Most of the data on genetic diversity have been obtained for species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category NE (Not Evaluated), which indicates a relative lack of attention on threatened species. In general, we observed very high FST values in the groups analyzed and, as we focused primarily on species that have not been evaluated by the IUCN, the number of plant species that are threatened with extinction may be much greater than that indicated by the listing of this organization. We also found that the number of haplotypes (k) was influenced by the type of geographic distribution of the plant, while haplotype diversity (h) was affected by the type of flower, and the fixation index (FST), by the type of habitat. The plant species most closely-related phylogenetically have similar levels of genetic diversity. Overall, then, it will important to consider phylogenetic dependence in future studies that evaluate the effects of life-history traits on plant genetic diversity.


Real-Time Online Interactive Applications (ROIA), e.g., multiplayer online games and simulation-based e-learning, are emerging internet applications that make high Quality of Service (QoS) demands on the underlying network. These demands depend on the number of users and the actual application state and, therefore, vary at runtime. Traditional networks have very limited possibilities of influencing the network behaviour to meet the dynamic QoS demands, such that most ROIA use the underlying network on a best-effort basis. The emerging architecture of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) decouples the control and forwarding logic from the network infrastructure, making the network behaviour programmable for applications. This paper analyses ROIA requirements on the underlying network and describes the specification of an SDN Northbound API that allows ROIA applications to specify their dynamic network requirements and to meet them using SDN networks.


Escherichia coli membranes were isolated in the presence of 6 mM Mg(++). They were washed with buffer containing no Mg(++) to yield a fraction containing material bound only in the presence of divalent cations, "membrane eluate," and that bound in the absence of divalent cations, "membrane." When E. coli infected with bacteriophage MS2 are labeled with [(14)C]uracil, all MS2 replicative RNA, i.e., the RNA species containing MS2 complementary RNA, is in the membrane eluate and membrane. The amount of [(14)C]uracil in replicative RNA found in the membrane eluate increases with time of labeling, whereas that in the replicative RNA in the membrane reaches a plateau in 1-2 min. This finding is consistent with a precursor-product relationship. Most of the label entering single-stranded viral RNA comes from the replicative RNA in the membrane eluate. This result suggests that polymerase components or factors required for complementary-strand synthesis are bound to membrane even in the absence of divalent cations and that the polymerase is no longer bound to these factors when it is making the bulk of the progeny single-stranded RNA.


: Ingroup favoritism and ingroup derogation are very common our social lives, but the researchers still don't know why these two kinds of intergroup biases can exist and whether these two kinds of biases have evolutionary functions. By systematically reviewing the research reports about the evidence that these two kinds of intergroup biases follow the principles of smoke detection and functional flexibility to deal with the threats of violence and disease incurred by ingroups and outgroups, the literature review showed that although the directions of ingroup favoritism and ingroup derogation are completely opposite to each other, both of these two biases are adaptive responses of the same threat management mechanism which is designed to deal with specific ingroup and outgroup threats. In conclusion, the current evidence suggests that the intergroup bias has adaptive functions and thus it supports the evolutionary hypothesis of intergroup bias.


For small-scale monitoring of small water bodies, conventional methods such as GNSS or total station measurements are used. The data acquisition is usually carried out in profile form supplemented with extra measurements of break edges, slope edges or bank courses. However, these methods can be used efficiently only on small sections and with low temporal resolution. At the same time, as the length of rivers or creeks to be monitored increases, the cost-effectiveness of the above methods decreases. Further limitations such as very small sections that are difficult to access and also sections that are sometimes heavily overgrown also prevent the use of large measuring platforms. By contrast, with use of a hand-held compact multi-sensor platform it is possible to survey several hundred kilometres of the smallest rivers and creeks. This publication demonstrates the use of such a platform to record microwatersheds. For this purpose, the Creek4D project, the measurement principle and the sensor technology used are shown. In addition, first measurement data and the calibration strategy are shown. * Corresponding author


Summary

The characteristics and natural course of gastrointestinal (GI) allergies, which mainly affect infants and young children, are not fully determined. We investigated the nature of neonatal and infantile GI allergies and the efficacy of slow oral immunotherapy in patients with persistent symptoms. We observed 12 patients (five boys, seven girls) aged at first presentation from 0 days to 8 months after birth. Detailed interviews, peripheral blood eosinophil counts, antigen-specific IgE antibody levels, antigen-specific lymphocyte stimulation tests (LSTs), stool occult blood eosinophil counts and skin tests were performed in combination with milk elimination tests. Five patients underwent an intestinal mucosal biopsy. Provocation testing was used to assess tolerance acquisition. The only clinical symptom in six patients was bloody stool, while vomiting, fever, poor weight gain or hepatic dysfunction developed in six patients. Milk-specific LSTs were positive in 10 of 11 cases tested. Lower GI endoscopy showed large numbers of infiltrating eosinophils in four of five patients with an intestinal mucosal biopsy. Provocation tests to confirm tolerance acquisition were performed in three patients. Interestingly, one patient suffered IgE-mediated GI anaphylaxis during the provocation test. One patient had a sustained high LST index, and elimination of dairy milk products was continued. At 4 years of age, she underwent an oral challenge test. On ingestion of 5 mL of milk, she exhibited fever, loose stool, poor appearance and increased white blood cell counts, which was considered a positive provocation test. Therefore, slow oral immunotherapy was started using 1/20 of the threshold dose, with fat intake at least four times per week. This was steadily increased by 20% over 2 weeks without inducing symptoms. The characteristics of neonatal and infantile GI allergies are diverse, and they generally remit spontaneously. However, patients who do not develop tolerance may be suitable choices for oral immunotherapy.


Named entity recognition (NER) is an important task that constitutes the basis for multiple downstream natural language processing tasks. Traditional machine learning approaches for NER rely on annotated corpora. However, these are only largely available for standard domains, e.g., news articles. Domain-specific NER often lacks annotated training data and therefore two options are of interest: expensive manual annotations or transfer learning. In this paper, we study a selection of cross-domain NER models and evaluate them for use in the art domain, particularly for recognizing artwork titles in digitized art-historic documents. For the evaluation of the models, we employ a variety of source domain datasets and analyze how each source domain dataset impacts the performance of the different models for our target domain. Additionally, we analyze the impact of the source domain's entity types, looking for a better understanding of how the transfer learning models adapt different source entity types into our target entity types.


Teaching of grammar plays a vital role in language teaching. One cannot communicate effectively when grammar is poor and weak. This study aimed at examining the effectiveness of Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) as an instructional tool in improving the English grammar skills of the Grade 10 students in a certain school in the Division of Bukidnon academic year 2019-2020. The quasi-experimental design was used to determine whether or not there is a difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the students after Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) was integrated in teaching grammar. Purposive sampling was utilized with pre-selected heterogeneous classes with 78 respondents, 39 for each of the two groups – control and experimental groups. A research-made instrument was distributed to the respondents comprising a 50 multiple choice-based questions. Frequency distribution, standard deviation, t-test, double difference and ANOVA were the statistical tools used to treat the data.
The overall pretest result revealed intermediate level for both the control and experimental groups. Overall post-test result for the control group remained as intermediate level, while the experimental group improved to advanced level. Hence, the result disclosed that there was a significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores of the experimental group after Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) was integrated in teaching grammar. The study also revealed no significant difference in students' demographic profile such as age, sex and academic performance and level of English general grammar skills.
Therefore, findings of this study indicate that Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) plays an important role in the present and future education of this generation and that there are other variables to consider for explaining significant differences in the level of their grammar skills.


In this paper, we report on the influence of annealing treatment on as-grown Ib-type diamond crystal under high pressure and high temperature in a china-type cubic anvil high-pressure apparatus. Experiments are carried out at a pressure of 7.0 GPa and temperatures ranging from 1700 °C to 1900 °C for 1 h. Annealing treatment of the diamond crystal shows that the aggregation rate constant of nitrogen atoms in the as-grown Ib-type diamond crystal strongly depends on diamond morphology and annealing temperature. The aggregation rate constant of nitrogen remarkably increases with the increase of annealing temperature and its value in octahedral diamond is much higher than that in cubic diamond annealed at the same temperature. The colour of octahedral diamond crystal is obviously reduced from yellow to nearly colorless after annealing treatment for 1 h at 1900 °C, which is induced by nitrogen aggregation in a diamond lattice. The extent of nitrogen aggregation in an annealed diamond could approach approximately 98% indicated from the infrared absorption spectra. The micro-Raman spectrum reveals that the annealing treatment can improve the crystalline quality of Ib-type diamond characterized by a half width at full maximum at first order Raman peak, and therefore the annealed diamond crystals exhibit nearly the same properties as the natural IaA-type diamond stones of high quality in the Raman measurements.


The size of bright structures in traveling-wave light fields is limited by diffraction. This in turn limits a number of technologies, for example, optical trapping. One way to beat the diffraction limit is to use evanescent waves instead of traveling waves. Here we apply a holographic algorithm, direct search, to the shaping of complex evanescent-wave fields. We simulate three-dimensional intensity shaping of evanescent-wave fields using this approach, and we investigate some of its limitations.


Background FcγRIIB negatively regulates BCR-mediated activation signals. We previously established an FcγRIIB-deficient B6-congenic mouse strain (KO1) by gene targeting in 129-derived embryonic stem cells followed by backcrossing to B6 mice. KO1 spontaneously developed pathology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with autoantibody production and pannus formation leading to joint destruction. Objectives To analyse the phenotypic change of KO1 by crossing with lupus prone New Zealand White (NZW) mice, we established the F1 hybrid of KO1 and NZW mice. Also we analysed (KO1 x NZW) F2 mice to see the sharing loci contributing to disease phenotypes. Methods We analysed the (KO1 x NZW) F1 mice and (KO1 x NZW) F2 mice. Serum levels of RF, IgG antibodies against double-stranded DNA and chromatin were measured using ELISA. The severity of renal disease was monitored by biweekly testing for proteinuria. Histopathological examination was also performed. Results The F1 hybrid of these mice developed glomerulonephritis with the high incidence of positive anti- double-stranded DNA and chromatin antibodies. They did not develop the phenotype of RA, but developed lupus phenotype associated with the inflammatory infiltration in salivary glands as observed in Sjögren syndrome. In the progeny of (KO1 x NZW) F2 mice, RA, SLE, and Sjögren syndrome developed independently or overlapped in an individual mouse. We found that the B6-derived locus located in the centromeric region on chromosome 12 was significantly associated with all these disease phenotypes, suggesting that this locus may play a role in common process shared by these diseases. Conclusions Phenotypic specificity of murine autoimmune disorder depends on the genetic factors sharing RA, SLE, and Sjögren syndrome. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.6071


Label-to-image translation models generate images from semantic label maps. Existing models depend on large volumes of pixel-level annotated samples. When given new training samples annotated with novel semantic classes, the models should be trained from scratch with both learned and new classes. This hinders their practical applications and motivates us to introduce an incremental learning strategy to the label-to-image translation scenario. In this paper, we introduce a few-shot incremental learning method for label-to-image translation. It learns new classes one by one from a few samples of each class. We propose to adopt semantically-adaptive convolution filters and normalization. When incrementally trained on a novel semantic class, the model only learns a few extra parameters of class-specific modulation. Such design avoids catastrophic forgetting of already-learned semantic classes and enables label-to-image translation of scenes with increasingly rich content. Furthermore, to facilitate few-shot learning, we propose a modulation transfer strategy for better initialization. Extensive experiments show that our method outperforms existing related methods in most cases and achieves zero forgetting.


Abstract This essay focuses on the question of how to make sense of the salience of Kemalism today. Building on Max Weber's notion of charisma and Laclau and Mouffe's concept of hegemony, it suggests viewing Kemalism as a chain of discourses that have both charismatic and hegemonic aspects. It is suggested that the way in which Kemalism is interpreted by political actors and the dynamics between its contesting interpretations are more relevant than the original charismatic and hegemonic aspects of this ideology for understanding its significance today. It is argued that the present period does not represent the dissolution of Kemalist hegemony, as argued by some, but that it can best be understood in terms of the resurfacing clash between the security‐centered and the democracy‐centered interpretations of Kemalism.


The present study provides an analysis of empirical regularities in the development of green technology. We use patent data to examine inventions that can be traced to the environment-related catalogue (ENV-Tech) covering technologies in environmental management, water-related adaptation and climate change mitigation. Furthermore, we employ the Economic Fitness-Complexity (EFC) approach to assess their development and geographical distribution across countries between 1970 and 2010. This allows us to identify three typologies of countries: leaders, laggards and catch-up. While, as expected, there is a direct relationship between GDP per capita and invention capacity, we also document the remarkable growth of East Asia countries that started from the periphery and rapidly established themselves as key actors. This geographical pattern coincides with higher integration across domains so that, while the relative development of individual areas may have peaked, there is now demand for greater interoperability across green technologies.


Most of architectures proposed for developing distributed virtual environment (DVE) allow limited number of users. To support the development of applications using the Internet infrastructure, with hundred or, perhaps, thousands users logged simultaneously on DVE, several techniques for managing resources, such as bandwidth and capability of processing, must be implemented. The strategy presented in this paper combines methods to attain the scalability required, in special the multicast protocol at application level.


Belarus has preserved its third position in Registering Property in the World Bank's Doing Business 2014 report. Constant improvement of property registration procedures has allowed Belarus to achieve that. The Registering Property indicator takes into account three factors: the number of procedures required to transfer rights to property, the time spent on completing all the necessary procedures and the cost of procedures. From "The Earth Summit" in Brazil 1992 sustainable development recognized by almost all societies as one of the major global goals. In a broad sense it's incorporates economic, social and environmental concerns in decision making for development which thereby should meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Till nowadays sustainable development continued to be a driving force in land administration, which is about processes of determining, recording, and disseminating information about the ownership, value, and use of land, when implementing land management policies. UN-FIG Bathurst Declaration, 1999 established a strong link between land administration and sustainable development, outlines its significance in poverty reduction, social, environmental and economic development. The article provides basic innovative approaches on land administration in the Republic of Belarus, discusses main sustainability issues and challenges to resolve in a forthcoming period to meet the international trends in cadastral reform.


This article presents the genesis of the development of the higher educational space of the Republic of Kazakhstan, considers the positions of the authors on the holistic theory of learning, contradictions of modern pedagogy. The introduction of educational technologies into the training system does not lose its relevance. This is due primarily to the fact that practice and social demand do not reduce, but, on the contrary, increase the requirements for teachers. Practice indicates that training through the using of innovative didactics allows integrating educational technologies and increasing its effectiveness. During recent years, it has been done a lot to develop innovative didactics and the use of educational technologies to improve the educational process; this can be clearly seen especially in the process of improving students' assimilability of theoretical material. Teachers of a higher, special educational institution need to master the innovative didactics purposefully and assertively of both its theoretical basis and its practical component expressed in intensive and interactive learning technologies: games, trainings, cases, game design, creative techniques and many other teaching techniques, because they develop the basic competence and multicompetence of the teacher. The teacher of a higher, special educational institution should have the skills and abilities necessary for the profession, which create the prerequisites for psychological readiness to introduce intensive training technologies into real practice.


Approximately 11 million people live in the Terai Alluvial Plain (TAP) of Nepal and about 90% of them entirely depend on groundwater. Recently, the evidence of arsenic contamination in the groundwater of the TAP has been recognized as a public health problem. Till now, about 449,283 tube wells were tested, and 10% of them were found to contain arsenic concentration >10 ppb and 2.6% have >50 ppb. This paper focuses on the sedimentary analysis of aquifer sediments and their source rocks. The study shows the Siwaliks rocks are the possible source of arsenic contamination of groundwater in the TAP.


This introductory essay argues that consideration of gender divisions of labour with a focus on men might move gender analysis in a direction which delivers greater attention to the relational, a more animated and agentic approach to those processes which produce divisions of labour, and a broadening of temporal frames and notions of reciprocity, as the context within which perceptions of gender equity are embedded. It argues that class variation is absolutely critical to the linkages between employment and gender power experienced by men, and that money management is a key to successful achievement of adult manliness, but beset with contradictory messages. The essay makes a number of methodological points; that invisibility might afflict some kinds of male work, that work definitions manifest exclusions, and that embodied understandings of work are as relevant to men's as women's work, before going on to raise questions about the meaning and value of provider identities to men and women. Attending more carefully to men as providers promises insights into the complexity of successful management of manliness, the possibility of other kinds of altruism than those modelled on a feminised notion of 'care', and the implications of displacement and disengagement of men from household support. The final section signals the value of ethnographies of work for showing how employment by women threatens masculinities, how women can sustain masculinities by care of male self-perceptions, how the experience of male collectivity can be central to the pleasures of work for men and how masculinities might be, in places, changing in progressive directions.


The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of ischemia and reperfusion on oxidative stress in hepatic cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats by the evaluation of lipid peroxidation products (LPO). Cirrhosis of the liver was induced by CCl4 administration. This drug was dissolved in mineral oil and the control group received only mineral oil intraperitoneally. Forty-five minutes of ischemia followed by one hour of reperfusion were performed. LPO products were evaluated by the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances method (TBARS) and chemiluminescence initiated by tert-butyl hydroperoxide technique (CL). The liver was submitted to histologic evaluation to check whether cirrhosis was present. The results demonstrated that ischemia-reperfusion caused an increase of LPO products in cirrhotic rats when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Hepatic cirrhosis was present in all animals treated with CCl4 and no significant histologic alterations were observed in the control group. According to this study, we can conclude that the effect of ischemia and reperfusion in a rat model of hepatic cirrhosis caused a significant increase of the hepatic-levels of LPO products when compared to the noncirrhotic livers.


The present study explored the antecedents and correlates of metaparenting, defined as mental plans for parenting across five subscales: responding, preventing, monitoring, mentoring, and modeling. Cross sectional data on a diverse sample of 74 fathers were drawn from a larger longitudinal project that interviewed men four times over the first two years of their children's lives. A structural equation model revealed that fathers' reports of positive parenting role models and intelligence were found to be related to working models of parenting as measured by the five components of metaparenting. Most importantly, higher levels of metaparenting were associated with authoritative parenting and less abuse potential. Results provided preliminary evidence for the importance of a mental model of parenting among fathers.


Background: Flecainide is an antiarrhythmic agent that is used primarily in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Some evidences also suggest that flecainide can participate in alveolar fluid clearance and inflammatory responses. This experiment was aimed to evaluate the effects of flecainide on sepsis induced acute lung injury in a rat model. Methods: Rats were treated with subcutaneous infusion of saline or flecainide (0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/hr) by a mini-osmotic pump. Subcutaneous infusion was started 3 hours before and continued until 8 hours after intraperitoneal injection of saline or endotoxin. Animals were sacrificed for analyses of severity of acute lung injury with wet to dry (W/D) ratio and lung injury score (LIS) in lung and inflammatory responses with level of leukocyte, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and inteleukin-8 (IL-8) in bronchoalveolar lavages fluid (BALF). Results: Flecainide markedly improved dose dependently sepsis induced acute lung injury as analysed by W/D ratio (from 2.24 ± 0.11 to 1.76 ± 0.09, p < 0.05) and LIS (from 3 to 1, p < 0.05), and inflammatory response as determined by leukocyte (from 443 ± 127 to 229 ± 95, p < 0.05), PMNs (from 41.43 ± 17.63 to 2.43 ± 2.61, p < 0.05) and IL-8 (from 95.00 ± 15.28 to 40.00 ± 10.21, p < 0.05) in BALF. Conclusions: Flecanide improve sepsis induced acute lung injury in rats by controlling inflammatory responses.


Exposure of blood to an extracorporeal circulation, such as CPB, causes a variety of physiological responses. Haematological derangements are just one of many potential dangers to the patient who undergoes CPB. The paradox of CPB-related problems with the haematological system is that there are some factors tipping the balance towards a bleeding tendency, and others that favour a prothrombotic state. Both of these issues must be dealt with independently to create the safest environment for surgery. It has been demonstrated that platelets play a key role in both haemostatic dysfunction and thrombotic complications of CPB. Much has been achieved, both clinically and in the laboratory, in the understanding of the precise role platelets play in these events, but the exact mechanisms involved have yet to be completely identified. As research progresses, our understanding will increase, but until then clinical practice must be dictated by the current evidence available.


William Shakespeare is perhaps the most frequently quoted author of the English-speaking world. His plays, in turn, "quote" a wide variety of sources, from books and ballads to persons and events. In this dynamic study of Shakespeare's plays, Douglas Bruster demonstrates that such borrowing can illuminate the world in which Shakespeare and his contemporary playwrights lived and worked, while also shedding light on later cultures that quote his plays. In contrast to the New Historicism's sometimes arbitrary linkage of literary works with elements drawn from the surrounding culture, Quoting Shakespeare focuses on the resources that writers used in making their works. Bruster shows how this borrowing can give us valuable insight into the cultural, historical, and political positions of writers and their works. Because Shakespeare's plays have often been quoted by other writers, this study also examines what subsequent uses of Shakespeare's plays reveal about the writers and cultures that use them. In this way, Quoting Shakespeare insists that literary production and reception are both integral to a historical approach to literature.


Tetra- and octavalent sialoside clusters were prepared in good yields exploiting for the first time the multiple copper-catalyzed cycloaddition of a propargyl thiosialoside with calix[4]arene polyazides. The cycloadducts featured the hydrolytically stable carbon-sulfur bond at the anomeric position and the 1,4-disubstituted triazole ring as the spacer between the sialic acid moieties and the platform. It was demonstrated that these unnatural motifs did not hamper the desired biological activity of the sialoclusters. In fact, they were able to inhibit, at submillimolar concentrations, the hemagglutination and the viral infectivity mediated both by BK and influenza A viruses.


Statement of Purpose Firearm-related (FR) injuries are the leading cause of death from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the US. Little is known about the characteristics of children treated in a hospital for a FR TBI. In 1999 the CDC published a Report to Congress on the magnitude of firearms in TBI's Subsequent reports have not addressed firearms. We aim to characterise the epidemiology of severe FR paediatric TBI treated in the hospital. Methods/Approach We used data from the Approaches and Decisions in Acute Paediatric TBI (ADAPT) Trial, a 49-site comparative effectiveness study. Consecutive children (age <18 y) in hospital for severe TBI (GCS≤8) were enrolled. Parametric (Chi-square) and nonparametric tests (Fisher's exact, Wilcoxon rank sum) were used. Results A total of 1000 children were enrolled in ADAPT in 49 sites, 705 in the US, and 295 in India, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. 50 had a FR TBI '" 48 in the US, two internationally. Twelve were self-inflicted, 20 were assaults and 18 were unintentional. The majority of children with a self-inflicted (75%) and unintentional (56%) FR TBI were white, and 40% of children with an assault were black. Average ages for the three groups were 10 years (self-inflicted), 7 years (unintentional), and 10 years (assaults). When compared to children with non-FR TBI's, children with any type of FR TBI were more likely to be older (9 years vs. 7 years, p=0.03), male (82% vs. 64%, p=0.01), Black (32% vs. 21%, p=0.03), non-Hispanic (69% vs. 50%, p=0.007) and to arrive at the hospital sooner (1.3 vs 1.8 hours, p=0.02). Conclusions Few reports exist detailing the epidemiology of FR TBI's among children. These data show that the epidemiology characteristics of FR TBI are different than non-FR TBI. Further research should address the clinical and long-term outcome of FR TBI's.


With the growing concern for driving safety, many driving-assistance systems have been developed. In this paper, we develop a reasoning-based framework for the monitoring of driving safety. The main objective is to present drivers with an intuitively understood green/yellow/red indicator of their danger level. Because the danger level may change owing to the interaction of the host vehicle and the environment, the proposed framework involves two stages of danger-level alerts. The first stage collects lane bias, the distance to the front car, longitudinal and lateral accelerations, and speed data from sensors installed in a real vehicle. All data were recorded in a normal driving environment for the training of hidden Markov models of driving events, including normal driving, acceleration, deceleration, changing to the left or right lanes, zigzag driving, and approaching the car in front. In addition to recognizing these driving events, the degree of each event is estimated according to its character. In the second stage, the danger-level indicator, which warns the driver of a dangerous situation, is inferred by fuzzy logic rules that address the recognized driving events and their degrees. A hierarchical decision strategy is also designed to reduce the number of rules that are triggered. The proposed framework was successfully implemented on a TI DM3730-based embedded platform and was fully evaluated in a real road environment. The experimental results achieved a detection ratio of 99 % for event recognition, compared with that achieved by four conventional methods.


Twelve female multiple sclerosis (MS) patients completed mood checklists twice weekly for eight weeks. Chain P-technique factor analysis identified three dimensions of mood fluctuation, two of which corresponded to those reported for other populations. High correlations between self-rated physical health and the three affect dimensions were consistent with the contention that disease activity is a major determinant of MS patients' emotional distress.


A neural mass model for the memorization of sequences is presented. It exploits three layers of cortical columns that generate a theta/gamma rhythm. The first layer implements an auto-associative memory working in the theta range; the second segments objects in the gamma range; finally, the feedback interactions between the third and the second layers realize a hetero-associative memory for learning a sequence. After training with Hebbian and anti-Hebbian rules, the network recovers sequences and accounts for the phase-precession phenomenon.


ABSTRACT There was a dearth of information on pathology and causal agents of bovine pneumonia in West Africa. This cross-sectional study conducted at four major metropolitan abattoirs in Nigeria and Ghana was to evaluate the pathology and to immunohistochemically demonstrates viral and bacterial pathogens of bovine pneumonia in West Africa. Out of the 20,605 cattle lungs examined at post-mortem using standard inspection procedures, 136 samples grossly showed pneumonic lesions and 99 randomly selected lung samples were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for histopathological and immunohistochemical examination. The overall prevalence of pneumonia was 0.66%, with 0.72% prevalence in Ibadan, Nigeria and 9.68% prevalence in Ghana. Age and breed were observed to be among the predisposing factors to pneumonia in cattle. Histologically, bronchopneumonia (0.65%), broncho-interstitial pneumonia (0.13%), and interstitial pneumonia (0.08%) were the prominent type of pneumonias observed. Immunohistochemically, 0.8% was positive for bovine PI-3, 0.9% for bovine RSV, 1.0% for Mannheimia haemolytica (MH), and 0.6% for Pasteurella multocida (PM). There were a few interactions of pathogens: PI3 and MH (0.01%), RSV and MH (0.01%), PM and MH (0.02%). This was the first study that immunohistochemically demonstrated bacterial and viral antigens in naturally occurring pneumonia in cattle in Nigeria and Ghana.


Land breeding sites are important conservation priorities for the preservation of seabirds that cannot breed over the ocean. An example of a seabird that must breed on land is the white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus). This bird is frequently seen on the island of Mo'orea in French Polynesia, but little is known about whether this species spends time there for the purpose of breeding. I hypothesized that these birds are breeding on Mo'orea and therefore conducted a study that included (1) observations of group interactions; (2) time budget construction; and (3) number surveys. My group interaction observations revealed courtship behavior previously described by the literature but I observed no definite evidence of cliff‐face nesting. The time budget results showed that the tropicbirds spend a significant portion of their time flying over the land by themselves (73%), and at low elevation near vegetation (61%). The number survey revealed that the birds preferred to be on land at mid‐day and favored one valley, 'Opunohu, over the 2 others I surveyed. Because of the amount of time the birds spend by themselves and the absence of definite nest site data, I am unable to conclude that white‐tailed tropicbirds are breeding on Mo'orea at this time of year. However, their courtship behavior and extensive interaction with vegetation that may indicate potential nest sites in tree hollows lead me to conclude that Mo'orea could be a land breeding site for this species at other times of year.


Relative efficiencies of spontaneous Bacillus subtilis transformation for markers placed in different areas of the cell chromosome were studied. As donor of genetic material, an untransformable strain BD224 trpC2 thr5 rec4 was used during its early log-phase. It was found that for markers placed near points of origin and termination of the chromosome replication the relative transformation efficiencies are significantly lower than those in the case of transformation with DNA extracted from the same donor cells. If a contact of spontaneously released DNA with the recipient cells was delayed for about 60 minutes ("separate" experiment) this difference proved to be less pronounced for ade16 placed near the origin, but remained practically unchanged for metB placed near the termination point. The results obtained can be explained by permanent attachment of chromosome regions, carrying "origin" and "termination" points, to a cytoplasmic membrane. During spontaneously release of cellular genetic material, "origin" and "terminal" DNA fragments carrying ade16 and metB respectively, can retain the contact with components of cell membrane. Hence, their penetration in the recipient cell and (or) participation in recombination can be violated. The first of two fragments becomes free from structurating substances more easy.


During the recent correspondence on MDMA ('Ecstasy') toxicity, it appears that the underlying pathophysiology is being ignored during treatment. As recently summarised [ 11, animal evidence suggests that the hyperthermic response is due to an acute increase in central serotonin levels. A similar clinical picture is seen in the 'serotonin syndrome', when serotonergic agents are given concurrently with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. This syndrome can be blocked (in animals) by pre-treatment with p-chlorophenylalanine (which inhibits serotonin synthesis) or nonselective serotonin receptor antagonists, such as methysergide or cyproheptidine [2]. Methysergide has been used once to treat the serotonin syndrome in humans with apparent benefit [3], though there are no reports of the use of cyproheptidine. The use of specific serotonin receptor antagonists is more complicated; 5HTlA receptor blockade is thought to be important in treating the serotonin syndrome [2], and pretreatment with propranolol (which has 5 H T l ~ receptor antagonist actions) has been used to prevent the syndrome developing in animals [4]. In contrast, 5HT, receptor blockade has been found to competitively antagonise the hyperthermic effect of MDMA in rats (i.e. is ineffective at higher MDMA doses), though prevents the longer term neurotoxic effects even at higher MDMA doses [5]. Survival of the MDMA toxicity syndrome depends on rapid control of the hyperthermic response, with only one case report of a patient surviving after their temperature rose to 42°C [6]. Optimum treatment of MDMA toxicity should be aimed at treating the hyperthermia, and should involve active cooling and dantrolene. Serotonin receptor blockade should also be considered. There may be a place for investigating specific serotonin receptor antagonists in man not only to treat the syndrome but also in an attempt to minimise longer term neurotoxic effects.


Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 39 (USP39) has been reported to participate in the mitotic spindle checkpoint and the process of cytokinesis. and has been identified as a therapeutic target for various types of cancer. However, the effect of USP39 in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been investigated. To explore the functional role of USP39 in CRC cell growth, lentivirus-mediated RNA interference was applied to inhibit USP39 expression in SW1116 and HCT116 cells. The relative USP39 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly reduced in the USP39 knockdown cells, as verified by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. USP39 knockdown significantly reduced the proliferation and colony formation abilities of CRC cells, and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phases, as determined by an MTT assay, a colony formation assay and flow cytometry analysis. Furthermore, western blot analysis demonstrated that USP39 knockdown may have induced apoptosis through the upregulation of p53, p-p53, PARP and caspase-3 expression in SW1116 cells. In conclusion, USP39 may be a novel biological marker for targeted therapy against CRC, and requires further investigation.


To the Editor: —In the December, 1956, issue of theArchives, page 878, is published a paper entitled "Stereopsis and Unequal Luminosities of the Images in the Two Eyes," written by K. N. Ogle, Ph.D., and Judith Groch, B.S. This paper deals chiefly with a phenomenon I described in theArchives23 years ago. Since these authors discredit the observations I reported, I feel called upon to comment upon their paper. The phenomenon in question was the observation that when the luminosity of one disparate retinal image of an object was greatly reduced below that of the other image the depth effect was reduced and the apparent position of the object was shifted laterally. Ogle and Groch admit, although apparently with reluctance, the lateral shift of the object, but they deny the depth effect. They make this serious misstatement: "this lateral deviation, which Verhoeff stated is proportional to the difference


Starting from the Eu's GH(Generalized Hydrodynamic) theory, the multi-species GH numerical solver is developed in this research and its computatyional behaviors are examined for the hypersonic rarefied flow over an axisymmetric body. To improve the accuracy of the developed multi-species GH solver, various slip-wall boundary conditions are tested and the computed results are compared. Additionally, in order to validate the entropy characteristics of the GH equation, the entropy production and entropy generation rates of the GH equation are investigated in the 1-dimensional normal shock structure test at a high Knudsen number.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Topotecan (TPT) is an agent which targets topoisomerase I (Topo I) and is used in the treatment of platinum-resistant and/or recurrent ovarian cancer. We have previously reported that topotecan inhibits hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) stabilization, leading to decreased HIF-1α protein and depression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in ovarian cancer cell lines. Furthermore, we have shown a Topo I: HIF-1α mRNA association using RNA-immunoprecipitation. The aim of this study was to further elucidate the mechanism by which topotecan knocks down HIF-1 alpha and the nature of its dependence on Topoisomerase I. CAOV3 (high Topo I expressing) ovarian cancer cells were used to carry out Topo I knockdown studies using Topo I siRNA in both normoxic and hypoxic (0.5% O2) conditions. Topo I and HIF-1α transcript levels were determined by quantitative PCR and protein expression was evaluated via western blot analysis. Topo I and HIF-1α protein levels were normalized to B-Actin controls. RT-PCR analysis did not show a significant decrease in HIF-1α transcript levels with Topo I siRNA treatment compared to untreated and negative control siRNA treated cells. An 80% decrease in Topo I protein expression was obtained using 30nM Topo I siRNA for both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. An ∼2.30 fold increase in HIF-1α protein expression was seen in Topo I knockdown cells compared to negative control siRNA treated cells after 800nM topotecan treatment under hypoxic conditions. 800nM TPT yielded an 80% decrease in Topo I protein expression with negative control siRNA treated cells under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. However, 800nM TPT showed complete inhibition of Topo I protein stabilization in Topo I siRNA treated cells. Our results suggest that Topo I is required for Topotecan to inhibit HIF-1α protein stabilization. Furthermore, they also suggest that Topo I may be modulating its own transcript levels. Further studies are being carried out to verify these findings and will be reported at the AACR conference.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3511.


BACKGROUND
Kt/Vurea reflects the efficacy of haemodialysis scaled to patient size (urea distribution volume). The guidelines recommend monthly Kt/V measurements based on blood samples. Modern haemodialysis machines are equipped with accessories monitoring the dose online at every session without extra costs, blood samples and computers.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the principles, devices, benefits and shortcomings of online monitoring of haemodialysis dose.

DESIGN
A critical literature overview and discussion.

RESULTS
UV absorbance methods measure Kt/V, ionic dialysance Kt (product of clearance and treatment time; cleared volume without scaling). Both are easy and useful methods, but comparison is difficult due to problems in scaling of the dialysis dose to the patient's size.

CONCLUSIONS
The best dose estimation method is the one which predicts the quality of life and survival most accurately. There is some evidence on the predictive value of ionic dialysance Kt, but more documentation is required on the UV method. Online monitoring is a useful tool in everyday quality assurance, but blood samples are still required for more accurate kinetic modelling.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this article the reader should be able to: Understand the elements of the Kt/V equation for dialysis dose. Compare and contrast different methods of measurement of dialysis dose. Reflect on the importance of adequate dialysis dose for patient survival and life quality.


THE purpose of this article is to teach children to tell the time in a fun and practical way. This lesson plan emphasises the use of real clocks, rather than drawing or stamping clocks on a piece of paper.


The invention discloses a process for processing a Huaibei partridge chicken. The process comprises the steps of selecting materials, slaughtering, unhairing, eviscerating, injecting, salting, pinning the chicken, shaping, frying the chicken, boiling the chicken and the like. A roast chicken prepared by the process has the characteristics of neatness, no hair, complete body, attractive shape, shiny and glossy surface, soft and tender flesh, delicious taste, strong fragrance, and rotten, deboned, fatty but not greasy flesh. Chewing the bones of the chicken, lingering fragrance exists. The roast chicken is uniform in salinity, is palatable, can be cold or hot food and is suitable for both the elderly and the young.


A system of voltage equations for general synchronous machine, which results in an improved equivalent circuit of such a machine, is presented. Mutual couplings and dependencies of inductances with respect to rotor position are included in the circuit. A method for calculation of reactances of the equivalent circuit, which takes into account the actual form of air gap and MMF, saturation of iron, and their mutual connections, is described. The applicability of the proposed model for computation of static and dynamic states of synchronous machine is proven on an example of a generator. It is shown that the improved model can be reduced to the standard form by neglecting higher harmonics. The model enables calculation of electrical and mechanical parameters that affect the waveform of output voltage, noise and vibrations, which is especially important in operation of a frequency converter.


Drilling or recompletion of production wells with two or more producing wellbores is a technique that has been used successfully by several operators in the southwestern part of the Geysers field to increase well productivities and decrease the unit cost of steam production. The northwestern part of the field poses special difficulties for drilling multiple-legged or "forked" wells, because of greater reservoir depth, higher reservoir temperatures. the need for narrower well completions, and less stable rock conditions. Three wells within the Aidlin project area of the northwest Geysers were recompleted as 2and 3-legged producers during 1992-1993, using both existing and new methods for coping with the conditions in this part of the field. Total drilled depths of the producing legs were a5 much as 11,345 feet (3,458 m), and kickoff points were as deep as 7,895 feet (2,405 m) from production casings. Reservoir temperatures in directionally drilled intervals reached in excess of 600°F (315°C). Drilling problems related to the challenging conditions were experienced, and were resolved by a combination of preventive and remedial measures, particularly in directional drilling techniques and the treatment of circulation losses and poorly cemented casings. The drilling of the additional legs resulted i n an average increase of 58% over the original well productivities, making the technique cost-effective in spite of the associated problems and iisks. Improvements in drilling technology, particularly in high-temperature directional drilling equipment, could further improve the viability of deep and hot multiple-legged wells.


In recent years, the realization of Artificial Magnetic Conductors (AMCs), also designed as high impedance surfaces (HISs) or Perfect Magnetic Conductors (PMCs), has been an active area of research as they can replace perfect electric conductors (PECs) for low profile antennas and other microwave applications. In this paper a planar AMC using circular split ring resonators (SRRs) printed on grounded dielectric substrate is proposed. The simulation results verify that the magnetic conductor is successfully accomplished over narrow bandwidth = 0.25 GHz. As an antenna application, the return loss of a horizontally positioned dipole antenna placed above the proposed AMC and the conventional PEC ground planes are investigated. The results confirm that the split ring resonators can successfully be used to replace the antenna conventional ground plane in order to improve the strength of the radiating fields and to reduce the global thickness of the low profile antennas. The performances of the proposed AMC are studied using finite element method ANSOFT-High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSSTM v.10) and numerical simulation model is developed to predict the reflection phase profile of such structures.


Abstract:The conventional view of kunqu as an elite form of traditional Chinese theatre has left its legacy of live performance and the performers' efforts and creativity to keep kunqu alive onstage overlooked. Borrowing the Fan (Jieshan) provides a living and popular example of actable plays (zhezixi), plays created by performers that rework selected scenes from texts of the playwrights and turn them into standalone pieces that are actable, complete in themselves, and exciting to watch in performance. The translation is based upon the version shaped and performed by Wang Zhiquan and her colleagues of the Shanghai Kunqu Theatre Troupe (Shanghai Kunju Tuan). With her training in the female martial art role type (wudan), Wang has created a version that not only capitalizes on her virtuoso skills but also develops new and inventive ways of performing that push her and her stage partner to attain a higher level of artistic achievement and bring freshness and excitement to the stage performance of the play.


1 The results of the treatment of 8573 hypertensive patients with labetalol in general practice, for periods between 1 month and 5 yr, are reviewed. 2 The data reviewed were obtained from the published literature together with our own published (Kane et al., 1976; Kane et al., 1979) and more recent (unpublished) work. 3 Between 60% and 80% of severe (diastolic blood pressure greater than 120 mmHg) and previously uncontrolled hypertensives responded satisfactorily to the drug, as did up to 88% of mild to moderate hypertensives. 4 The anti-hypertensive effect of labetalol was not dependent on the frequency of administration, twice and three times daily treatment regimes being equally effective. 5 The withdrawal rate attributable to side-effects was between 6% and 13%. Tiredness, dizziness, headache and upper gastro-intestinal symptoms were the four principal side-effects, but they were usually transient when labetalol treatment was continued. 6 No drug interactions or adverse haematological or biochemical changes were seen.


The ToxCast EPA challenge was managed by TopCoder in Spring 2014. The goal of the challenge was to develop a model to predict the lowest effect level (LEL) concentration based on in vitro measurements and calculated in silico descriptors. This article summarizes the computational steps used to develop the Rank-I model, which calculated the lowest prediction error for the secret test data set of the challenge. The model was developed using the publicly available Online CHEmical database and Modeling environment (OCHEM), and it is freely available at http://ochem.eu/article/68104. Surprisingly, this model does not use any in vitro measurements. The logic of the decision steps used to develop the model and the reason to skip inclusion of in vitro measurements is described. We also show that inclusion of in vitro assays would not improve the accuracy of the model.


OBJECTIVES
This article provides a conceptual base for population oral health measurement and argues that problems associated with particular indices are subject to the basic issues of knowing what to measure and the level of measurement required to address the object of study and provide clear information about the health of the population as a whole.

METHODS
Alternative approaches to caries measurement are presented using data from South Australian children attending the school dental services during 2007.

RESULTS
While threshold selection of case definitions depicted different profiles of the same population, the inclusion of non-cavitated lesions did not alter the general disease profile of the population.

CONCLUSIONS
The types of measures used depend on the purpose, nature of the data, and conceptualization of the phenomenon, and should continually refer to the population level. In population oral health, controversies surrounding outcome measures, such as caries indices, are moving away from addressing core issues to narrowing mechanistic views. Fundamental deliberations should include the valuation of health states, clearly defining health and disease and distinguishing between disease, determinants and the impacts of disease.


In optimization problems, Genetic Algorithms are one of the most commonly used methods to search optimum points of a given function. These algorithms stochastically select the individual that is close to the optimum point in the population. By choosing appropriate individual in each iteration, it is desired to find the best individual step by step, or converge to the best individual. Therefore, it is significantly important to have a decent selection method in genetic algorithms. In this paper, it is aimed to improve Aggressive and Integrated Aggressive Selection methods which were already proposed. The performance of the improved methods that are proposed in this paper are compared with aggressive selection methods and integrated aggressive selection methods, as well as, most commonly used standard selection methods; Roulette Wheel, Linear Ranking and Tournament. It is observed that results of improved methods are predominant comparing to the other algorithms.


The levitation control system is a key part of maglev train. The measurement of levitation gap plays an important role in the suspension system. Traditional gap sensors have some disadvantages such as high power supply voltage, temperature influence and measurement distance limitation. In this paper, a method is designed on visual measurement of levitation gap. The maglev ball system is taken as the research object. We first obtain the original high-definition images of the ROI(region of interest) in the levitation gap. Then, the pixel area in the ROI of levitation gap is obtained by calculating the number of pixel points whose results are "1" in the binarization image. Finally, the pixel area is calibrated with the actual gap distance and the actual gap distance is calculated. This method calculates the actual gap according to the image pixel area in the ROI of levitation gap. It has high measuring accuracy and strong anti-interference ability, which could effectively remove the asymmetric interference in the ROI of levitation gap, locating and alarming the interfered fault position.


In this article we have considered the effect of a magnetic field, the Zeeman effect, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) on nuclei with spin S  ½ looked. Then energy levels, transition frequencies and the energy spectra for the nuclear spins have specified. After using the group definition SU(2), SU(3), SU(4), SU(N) OR SU(2S+1), In quantum mechanics and quantum computation the range nuclear energy levels sin to one qubit, qutrit and qudit assign. We have defined the quantum states.


Blackleg of rapeseed and canola (Brassica napus) is caused by various pathogenicity groups (PG) of Leptosphaeria maculans. The disease occurring in the Canadian prairies for the last two decades was caused by PG2 and was controlled by host resistance. PG3 and PG4 isolates have been found recently in Canada, but there is no resistance available against these pathogenicity groups in commercial Canadian varieties. This study sought to identify canola cultivars that could be used as sources of resistance to PG3 and to develop molecular markers for marker-assisted selection. Resistance to PG3 specifically was found in B. napus 'Dunkeld' and 'Quinta', while B. juncea 'Cutlass' and 'Domo' proved to be resistant to PG2, PG3, and PG4. A set of F2 progeny of 'Westar' (susceptible) × 'Dunkeld' was used to identify genetic markers linked to PG3 resistance. These markers were physically located on a BAC clone from B. rapa subsp. pekinensis containing a homolog to a serine threonine 20 (ste20)-like kinase in Arabidopsis thaliana. Thus, we have developed a sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker available for marker-assisted selection in breeding canola for resistance against blackleg caused by L. maculans PG3. This work has received a provisional patent (serial # 60/977,933 - Oct. 5, 2007).


Metaboreceptor activation during passive heating is known to influence cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) and sweat rate (SR). However, whether metaboreceptors modulate the suppression of heat loss following dynamic exercise remains unclear. On separate days, before and after 15 min of high-intensity treadmill running in the heat (35°C), eight males underwent either 1) no isometric handgrip exercise (IHG) or ischemia (CON), 2) 1 min IHG (60% of maximum, IHG), 3) 1 min IHG followed by 2 min of ischemia (IHG+OCC), 4) 2 min of ischemia (OCC), or 5) 1 min IHG followed by 2 min of ischemia with application of lower body negative pressure (IHG+LBNP). SR (ventilated capsule), cutaneous blood flow (Laser-Doppler), and mean arterial pressure (Finometer) were measured continuously before and after dynamic exercise. Following dynamic exercise, CVC was reduced with IHG exercise (P < 0.05) and remained attenuated with post-IHG ischemia during IHG+OCC relative to CON (39 ± 2 vs. 47 ± 6%, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the reduction in CVC was exacerbated by application of LBNP during post-IHG ischemia (35 ± 3%, P < 0.05) relative to IHG+OCC. SR increased during IHG exercise (P < 0.05) and remained elevated during post-IHG ischemia relative to CON following dynamic exercise (0.94 ± 0.15 vs. 0.53 ± 0.09 mg·min(-1)·cm(-2), P < 0.05). In contrast, application of LBNP during post-IHG ischemia had no effect on SR (0.93 ± 0.09 mg·min(-1)·cm(-2), P > 0.05) relative to post-IHG ischemia during IHG+OCC. We show that CVC is reduced and that SR is increased by metaboreceptor activation following dynamic exercise. In addition, we show that the metaboreflex-induced loading of the baroreceptors can influence the CVC response, but not the sweating response.


A diagnostic test in a screening study detects a clinical condition of interest in its asymptomatic stage. Evaluating the diagnostic test in a screening study is a challenging task since a diagnostic test is evaluated based on its analytical and clinical performance. In order to evaluate clinical performance of a diagnostic test in a screening study, it is crucial to investigate clinical outcome studies such as survival studies. Furthermore, there are important biases to be considered in a screening study. In this paper, statistical issues associated with screening studies are discussed, and statistical adjustment for screening-related bias, which is called length bias, is presented. Both Vardi's bias-adjusted nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator and linear combination estimators have shown to adjust length bias successfully, and generate bias-adjusted survival curve close to the true survival curve. Finally, some practical issues associated with early detection are also presented.


Semiconductor lasers driven by a constant current source are expected to generate intensity-squeezed light when the laser is biased far above threshold. However, most semiconductor lasers do not exhibit intensity squeezing. To generate squeezed light from a semiconductor laser, low-threshold, high quantum-efficiency, stable single longitudinal and polarization mode operations are indispensable. We have achieved low threshold (1.6 mA at 80 K) and high external quantum efficiency (0.75 at 80 K) in transverse-junction stripe GaAs lasers by making the laser cavity short (200 /spl mu/m), and by designing the junction structure for good confinement of the carriers and heavily doping the active layer.


Abstract In this paper, we establish a one-sided maximal moment inequality with exact constants for Bessel processes. As a consequence, we obtain an exact constant in the Burkholder-Gundy inequality. The proof of our main result is based on a pure optimal stopping problem of the running maximum process for a Bessel process. The present results extend and complement a number of related results previously known in the literature.


We describe in this paper a new hybrid approach for mathematical function optimization combining Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithms (GAs) using Fuzzy Logic to integrate the results. The new evolutionary method combines the advantages of PSO and GA to give us an improved PSO+GA hybrid method. Fuzzy Logic is used to combine the results of the PSO and GA in the best way possible. The new hybrid PSO+GA approach is compared with the PSO and GA methods with a set of benchmark mathematical functions. The new hybrid PSO+GA method is shown to be superior that the individual evolutionary methods. The mathematical functions were evaluated with 2, 4, 8 and 32 variables to validate this approach.


A 63-year-old man with bloody stools, anal incompetence, and feeling of fatigue was diagnosed as having a RAS mutanttype rectal cancer with abscess and rectovesical fistula. Computed tomography revealed that the tumor had invaded the seminal vesicle, prostate, and bladder and formed an abscess. In addition, his general condition was poor. Thus, we evaluated the lesion as unresectable. His nutritional status improved, and the infection was controlled after colostomy. Then, we performed chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, Leucovorin, and oxaliplatin(FOLFOX)plus bevacizumab. However, after a single course of chemotherapy, the systemic inflammatory reaction was prolonged. Despite treatment of the infection with antibiotics, it was not fully controlled, making it difficult to continue chemotherapy. A new lesion did not appear, but the primary tumor increased in size. Thus, we performed pelvic exenteration. Pathological examination revealed that the tumor was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma invading the sigmoid colon and bladder. We resected it curatively and administered adjuvant chemotherapy postoperatively. No recurrence was observed during 10 months' follow-up.


Highly efficient green thermally activated delayed fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes with an external quantum efficiency of 31.2% were investigated by using 3-(3-(carbazole-9-yl)phenyl) pyrido[3',2':4,5]furo[2,3-b]pyridine (3CzPFP) derived from carbazole and pyrido[3',2':4,5]furo[2,3-b]pyridine. The host material showed well-matched photoluminescence emission with absorption of the green dopant material, (4s,6s)-2,4,5,6-tetra(9H-carbazol-9-yl)isophthalonitrile (4CzIPN) and harvested all excitons of 4CzIPN. The 3CzPFP:4CzIPN film exhibited high photoluminescence quantum yield of 100%, and the green delayed fluorescence device employing the 3CzPFP host showed high maximum quantum efficiency of 31.2 ± 0.5% at 1% doping after optimization of the device structure.


Background: Health systems are implementing value-based care models focused on quality. Organized care teams set the foundation for successful models with processes that address patient outreach and engagement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of "Glucose to Goal (G2G)," a diabetes educator (DE) driven, population-based intervention on glycemic improvement in reaching quality metrics for diabetes mellitus (DM) care. Methods: A large primary care (PC) network established pod-style patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) clustered by grouping multiple PC practices together based on patient panel size, hospital affiliation, and geographic proximity, and incorporating expanded care teams (DE, behavioral health, social worker, wellness guide, nurse care manager). Specific to DM, PCMHs adopted the G2G intervention whereby DEs used population health reports to proactively identify patients with HbA1c levels above target (>7%). G2G was assessed in 5 pods by comparing HbA1c values for only those patients with DM with pre/post results who participated over a three-month period (n=284) to those who did not (n=265). Results: A total of 80% of patients receiving G2G improved their HbA1c levels with 46.8% reducing HbA1c by 1% and 24% reducing HbA1c by 2%. Comparatively, 31.3% of patients not receiving G2G improved their HbA1c with only 6.4% reducing HbA1c by 1% and only 1.5% reducing HbA1c by 2% or more. This translated into more than 1.5% difference in mean HbA1c change between groups, with patients receiving DE experiencing a mean reduction in HbA1c of 1.35% (8.61 to 7.26%) compared to increase of 0.35% (7.96 to 8.30%) for those not participating in DE (p Conclusions: Study findings demonstrate the relevance of DE services in value-based PC models. As healthcare systems shift focus from volume to value, effective approaches to manage diabetes and improve patient outcomes take on new meaning. Disclosure J.L. Koshinsky: None.J. Krall: None.K. Ruppert: None.J. Kanter: None.F.X. Solano: None.L.M. Siminerio: None.


There are numerous trials, showing positive results for using the music therapy for stroke patient rehabilitation. Therefore, summarizing the data from these trials is an actual topic. The objective, of this research, was to summarize the data from trials about the use of music therapy methods and techniques, especially the rhythmic auditory stimulation, for improving of the motor functions for stroke patients, by creating a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, with meta-analysis. The trials where searched in MEDLINE, Cochrane Trial Register and EBSO databases. The trial quality was evaluated by the PEDro scale. 20 randomized controlled trials were included in the systematic review. The meta-analysis for 5 gait outcomes, including gait speed, steps per minute, step length, gait symmetry, Time up and go test, and 7 arm function outcomes, including Fugl-Meyer test, ARAT test, Box and blocks test, Wolf motor function test, Nine hole peg test, shoulder flexion, elbow extension, was conducted. According to the results of the meta-analysis, gait exercises, combined with rhythmic auditory stimulation, provide statistically significant improvement, compared with gait exercises alone. Concerning the use of rhythmic auditory stimulation and other music therapy interventions for arm function rehabilitation, a statistically significant improvement was not detected.


It is known that main aspect at a belt conveyor functioning is speed control. This issue has a greater impact upon a process when two or more belt conveyers must work together in order to obtain high quality products. In this case we talk about, not only speed controlling, but of another important aspect, synchronization of belt conveyers. Present paper describes a solution designed and implemented for synchronization of two belt conveyers of different lengths. Each belt conveyer is driven by a motor. Each motor works at its own speed drive. The two conveyors are working together in a process of producing anti-slip door mats which are mainly used at inside door, decorative purpose, etc. The proposed solution is using a PLC and two variable speed drivers with different transmission ratio. This solution can be applied in processes which are divided in sub-processes that must work as a production flow.


Aims. According to some estimations, there are as many as 100 000 open clusters in the Galaxy, but less than 2000 of them have been discovered, measured, and cataloged. We plan to undertake data mining of multiwavelength surveys to find new star clusters. Methods. We have developed a new method to search automatically for star clusters in very large stellar catalogs, which is based on convolution with density functions. We have applied this method to a subset of the Two Micron All Sky Survey catalog toward the Galactic anticenter. We also developed a method to verify whether detected stellar groups are real star clusters, which tests whether the stars that form the spatial density peak also fall onto a single isochrone in the color–magnitude diagram. By fitting an isochrone to the data, we estimate at the same time the main physical parameters of a cluster: age, distance, color excess. Results. For the present paper, we carried out a detailed analysis of 88 overdensity peaks detected in a field of 16 × 16 degrees near the Galactic anticenter. From this analysis, 15 overdensities were confirmed to be new open clusters and the physical and structural parameters were determined for 12 of them; 10 of them were previously suspected to be open clusters by Kronberger (2006) and Froebrich (2007). The properties were also determined for 13 yet-unstudied known open clusters, thus almost tripling the sample of open clusters with studied parameters in the anticenter. The parameters determined with this method showed a good agreement with published data for a set of well-known clusters.


In general, the majority of recent speaker recognition systems employ an i-Vector configuration as their front-end. Postprocessing of i-Vectors usually requires a Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) phase to reduce the dimensions of the i-Vectors as well as improve discrimination of speaker classes based on the Fisher criterion. Given that channel, noise, and other types of mismatch are generally present in the data, it is better to discriminate the speaker's data non-linearly. Generalized Discriminant Analysis (GDA) uses kernel functions to map the data into a high dimensional feature-space which leads to nonlinear discriminant analysis. In this study, we replace LDA with GDA in an i-Vector based speaker recognition system and study the effectiveness of various kernel functions. It is shown, based on equal error rate (EER) and minimum of detection cost function, that GDA not only improves performance for regular test utterances, but is also useful for short duration test segments. NIST2010 Speaker Recognition Evaluation (SRE) core and extended-core (coreext) conditions are employed for experiments; in addition, we evaluate the system for short duration segments on the 10-sec test condition and truncated coreext test data. The relative improvement in EER is 20% for the cosine kernel employed here with GDA processing.


Decentralized membrane-based water treatment represents an attractive and viable approach to safe water supply in low-income areas, but its widespread adoption requires cost-effective antifouling strategies. Although the antifouling mechanisms of Al-based coagulants have been widely investigated, there is little data about their impact on costs and treatment efficiency for decentralized membrane-based systems. In this study, a comparative assessment of two decentralized ultrafiltration (UF) units with and without polyaluminum chloride (PACl) coagulation was undertaken to evaluate the influence of coagulation on the fouling, water quality, and costs nexus. The results showed that PACl suppressed both total fouling and hydraulically irreversible fouling. A matched-pair analysis also revealed that PACl improved the permeate quality by enhancing the removal of particulates and dissolved organics. Compared with the conventional UF system, the hybrid coagulation–UF system contributed to a 21% increase in the flux rate, allowing for a 27% reduction in membrane area and thus, providing cost benefits in terms of both capital and operating costs. These results suggest that PACl coagulation is potentially a cost-effective antifouling method for decentralized membrane-based water systems.


A social perspective of gambling explains gambling as a consequence of the social, structural and cultural environment in which gamblers live. In the Australian Indigenous context the social perspective is important, given the significance of community and family ties. This paper aims to explore meanings of Aboriginal gambling across New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Taking an interpretivist stance, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 knowledgeable Indigenous Australians, key elected and nominated state representatives. Meanings of Aboriginal gambling included the collective activity of gambling within social networks in the hope of a win. More problematic meanings of gambling were always gambling to win, chasing losses and continual financial distress which appeared to reduce social network bonds. Contrasting problem gambling with recreational gambling revealed that some Indigenous gamblers use their existing cultural and kin relationships on which many of their social networks are based to gamble together in a controlled recreational manner.


Selenium (Se) is a trace element of both health and environmental concerns due to its nutritional requirement and teratogenic effect on wildlife inhabiting Se-contaminated aquatic systems. It is now understood that the key to Se nutrition lies in the biochemistry of selenoproteins including glutathione peroxidase, thioredoxin reductase, and those yet to be defined. However, it is still unclear regarding the molecular mechanism(s) underlying Se toxicity on embryogenesis of sensitive aquatic bird and fish species. It is possible that Se incorporation into proteins may also play an important role in Se toxicity since Se is enriched in total proteins of aquatic predators. Selenoprotein speciation has been a challenge due to the labile and trace nature of the seleno amino acid components. This report demonstrates that the difficulty can be overcome by the combination of denaturing gel electrophoresis and ultrasensitive laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS. A selenoprotein standard was analyzed to illustrate the semi-quantitative aspect of this analysis. Protein extracts of an avocet embryo and a largemouth bass ovary collected from Se-laden waters were also examined and revealed 8 and 5 distinct bands of Se-containing proteins, respectively. Quantitative Se analysis of these proteins using LA-ICP-MS appears to be feasible but awaits further development.


This paper reveals an alternative model for teaching reading narrative text using retelling strategy. Retelling is a diagnostic technique teachers use to monitor whether students are aware of text structures and if they are using this knowledge before, during, and after they read.. After reading a variety of texts,  students begin to notice different ways information is presented and different patterns authors use when they write.  They also recognize that the authors use different patterns to organize information. In every narrative text, there are characters, problems, a potential solution, and a final resolution. Effective readers are aware of the text structures authors use and apply this knowledge to predict what the author will write. They can also use their knowledge of the text structure of narrative  to help them remember important details  and to make sense of the story as they read.  Keywords : retelling, narrative texts, strategy, reading comprehension


In minimal supersymmetric model with a light Higgs sector, explicit CP violation and most general flavor mixings in the sfermion sector, integration of the superpartners out of the spectrum induces potentially large contributions to the Yukawa couplings of light quarks via those of the heavier ones. These corrections can be sizeable even for moderate values of tan(beta), and remain nonvanishing even if all superpartners decouple. Then Higgs boson couplings to light quarks assume spectacular enhancements; in particular, couplings to down and strange quarks become degenerate with that to the bottom quark. There arise strikingly non-standard effects that can show up in both Higgs boson searches and FCNC observables.


The spontaneous polarization of the triglycine sulphate in the form of compressed powders with varying particle size has been measured from 0 to 55 degrees C, and it is very much lower than that expected for a polycrystalline sample. This, along with the evidence that spontaneous polarization decreases with the decreasing particle size, indicates that the surface layers may have lower values of spontaneous polarization than bulk material.


Do authoritarian governments always censor news about protests to prevent unrest from spreading? Existing research on authoritarian politics stresses the danger that information spread within the society poses for a regime. In particular, media and Internet reports of social unrest are deemed to threaten authoritarian rule, as such reports may incite more protests and thus spread instability. We show that such reasoning is incomplete if social protests are targeted at local officials. Allowing media the freedom to report local protests may indeed lead to protest diffusion, but the increased probability of citizen protest also has two potential benefits for the regime: (1) identifying and addressing more social grievances, thus releasing potential revolutionary pressure on the regime; (2) forcing local officials to reduce misbehavior, thus reducing underlying social grievances. For authoritarian governments whose survival is vulnerable to citizen grievances, allowing the media to report social protests aimed at local governments can therefore enhance regime stability and protect its interests under many circumstances. We construct a game-theoretic model to analyze the problem and illustrate the argument with examples from China.