Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides important information about structural and biochemical changes in organs. MRI is also an effective imaging method for the evaluation of spinal disorders. However, many of its potential applications particularly diffusion imaging have not yet been thoroughly explored. The purpose of this study was to determine the MRI-detectable changes in the intervertebral disc after trauma and to test the feasibility of diffusion-weighted MR imaging of the intervertebral discs. A minipig model was used in the experimental study to determine the MRI changes in the intervertebral disc after peripheral annular lesions in different time frames. Three of eight discs with experimental annular lesions had a normal annular appearance in MRI. Annular lesions, when detectable, were manifested as a bulging of the disc or as a high-intensity zone (HIZ) inside the annulus. Either the signal intensity or the area of bright signal intensity in the nucleus had nearly always decreased after one month, but they were still detectable even in cases where no signs of annular trauma could be seen in the MR images. The histology of HIZ is presented for the first time: clusters of nuclear cells and disorganized granulation tissue with capillaries were detected in the HIZ area. Fourteen patients 8 to 21 years of age with histories of vertebral fracture at least one year previously and 14 asymptomatic healthy control subjects 8 to 22 years of age were studied by MRI. In these young people a vertebral fracture, especially with end-plate injury, proved to be a notable risk factor for initiating disc degeneration. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of the thoracolumbar intervertebral discs were determined in three orthogonal directions in 18 healthy young volunteers aged 8-22 years. The ADCs were also determined in 10 young patients with previous vertebral fractures, and clear decreases were found in the ADCx and ADCy directions, but in the ADCz direction values had not changed significantly as compared to the values in the controls. The most marked changes were observed in the degenerated discs, followed by those in the discs with a normal signal intensity adjacent to the primary trauma area. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging affords a useful tool for evaluating disc diseases in the early phases. Additionally, 37 adult volunteers without back symptoms were studied by MRI and by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and it was found that the status of the lumbar arteries significantly explained the diffusion values in the lumbar intervertebral discs. The correlation between disc degeneration and diffusion was mostly linear, but not significant.


The role of spontaneously occurring release events in glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons and their regulation is intensely debated. To study the interdependence of glutamatergic and GABAergic spontaneous release, we compared reciprocally connected "mixed" glutamatergic/GABAergic neuronal pairs from mice cultured on astrocyte islands with "homotypic" glutamatergic or GABAergic pairs and autaptic neurons. We measured mEPSC and mIPSC frequencies simultaneously from both neurons. Neuronal pairs formed both interneuronal synaptic and autaptic connections indiscriminately. We find that whereas mEPSC and mIPSC frequencies did not deviate between autaptic and synaptic connections, the frequency of mEPSCs in mixed pairs was strongly depressed compared with either autaptic neurons or glutamatergic pairs. Simultaneous imaging of synapses, or comparison to evoked release amplitudes, showed that this decrease was not caused by fewer active synapses. The mEPSC frequency was negatively correlated with the mIPSC frequency, indicating interdependence. Moreover, the reduction in mEPSC frequency was abolished when established pairs were exposed to bicuculline for 3 d, but not by long-term incubation with tetrodotoxin, indicating that spontaneous GABA release downregulates mEPSC frequency. Further investigations showed that knockout of synaptotagmin-1 did not affect mEPSC frequencies in either glutamatergic autaptic neurons or in glutamatergic pairs. However, in mixed glutamatergic/GABAergic pairs, mEPSC frequencies were increased by a factor of four in the synaptotagmin-1-null neurons, which is in line with data obtained from mixed cultures. The effect persisted after incubation with BAPTA-AM. We conclude that spontaneous GABA release exerts control over mEPSC release, and GABAergic innervation of glutamatergic neurons unveils the unclamping phenotype of the synaptotagmin-1-null neurons.


We present a deterministic greedy method to learn a mixture of Gaussians which runs in O(nk^2) time. The key element is that we build the mixture component-wise. By allocating a new component close to optimal in the existing (close to optimal) learned mixture, we hope to be able to reach a solution close to optimal for the new mixture. Each component of the mixture is characterized by a fixed number of parameters. Then, instead of solving directly a optimization problem involving the parameters of all components, we replace the problem by a sequence of optimization problems involving only the parameters of the new component. We include experimental results obtained on image segmentation and reconstruction tasks as well as results of extensive tests on artificially generated data sets. In these experiments the learning method compares favorably to the standard EM with random initializations as well as to another existing greedy approach to learning Gaussian mixtures.


Abstract The antitumor activity of camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives, including water-soluble topotecan (TPT), is determined by their ability to inhibit human DNA topoisomerase I (top 1). On the other hand, TPT has been recently shown to bind to DNA. The proposed models are based on a two-step mechanism of TPT (CPT) dimer interaction with two spatially close DNA duplexes. At the first step, the CPT lactone form binds to DNA (Streltsov et al, Mol. Biol. vol. 36, no. 5 (2002) through hydrogen bonding of its C16a carbonyl with the guanine 2-amino group. At the second step, CPT is converted to the carboxylate form. In the absence of top 1, the C17 hydroxyl of CPT is involved in ester exchange (nicking of the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone followed by covalent joining of free phosphate to C17) whereas its C20 carboxyl forms two hydrogen bonds with the same guanine nucleotide at the opposite end of the broken DNA backbone. As a result, CPT binds to both ends of the broken DNA. The resulting CPT-DNA complex is alkali-labile. In the presence of top 1, after CPT conversion to the carboxylate form and DNA nicking, the C17 hydroxyl makes a branching hydrogen bond with N1 and N3 of guanine while the C20 carboxyl makes two hydrogen bonds with the NH of Tyr723 and Nδ2H of Asp722. Owing to this, rotation of one end of the broken sugar-phosphate backbone about the other becomes impossible; hence the CPT inhibitory effect on top 1. The proposed models are consistent with the current body of experimental data.


Clinical case of extrahepatic biliary obstruction of acquired false liver cyst having occurred in a woman aged 52 years old after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Stage of diagnosis of biliary unit, surgical treatment and the course of postoperative period are presented.


An assumed B2CN crystal system containing seven possible diamond-structured configurations in boron-carbonitride B–C–N compounds has been studied by using an ab initio pseudopotential density functional method. After structural relaxation, the lattice constant, bulk modulus and shear modulus, and electronic band structures as well as the electron density of states are calculated for the derived B2CN structures. A unique type t-B2CN phase deduced from the diamond structure contains only B–N and B–C bonds in a tetragonal cell, and it has the lowest total energy and an electron-deficiency structure with non-vanishing density of states at the Fermi energy. Unlike diamond and c-BN, the t-B2CN phase may show metallicity.


A combined numerical and experimental analysis has been carried out for investigating the behavior of a pair of line vortices, mutually propelled to approach a circular cylinder. The flow is assumed to be two-dimensional in numerical simulations, and which condition is examined carefully in laboratory experiments. The Reynolds number R e =κ/ν based on the initial circulation κ of the vortices and the kinematic viscosity ν of the fluid ranges from 100 to 1500. Flow behaviors are identified and classified into three patterns with six types of characteristic trajectories associated with the primary and secondary vortices. Of particular interest are the phenomena of rebound and reversal, exhibited respectively by the primary vortices moving against the cylinder under different flow conditions. Stable pairs of line vortices are generated in laboratory experiments; flow visualization shows excellent agreement with numerical results in the comparisons of several flow behaviors.


This paper is based on a study that was initiated to better understand the dynamics of the grassroots sport landscape and establish a framework for effective governance practice in this important area of sport policy and management. Researchers had previously identified the value of exploring good governance specific to the nonprofit sector and in particular the unique features of informal sports organisations and small community clubs. The research methodology blended a meta-analysis of relevant literature to identify key principles followed by primary data collection to evaluate and validate the emerging framework. The main results of the study provided a typology of the sport governance landscape and clear evidence of the need to develop a framework for effective governance appropriate to the needs of grassroots sports organisations. Furthermore, it supported the construction of a flexible and dynamic self-regulatory instrument—known as SATSport—that organisations might use for measuring and illustrating commitment to good governance.


Introduction. Cabazitaxel has been approved by the FDA and EMEA for the treatment of metastatic castration- resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after failure of docetaxel-based chemotherapy. Between June 2011 and November 2013 cabazitaxel was reimbursed for Polish mCRPC patients as a non-standard chemotherapy. The study objective was a retrospective analysis of the efficacy and safety data of mCRPC patients treated with cabazitaxel in this period. Material and methods. Collection of retrospective data on 48 consecutive mCRPC patients treated with cabazitaxel after docetaxel failure. Data on baseline characteristics, cancer history, and the efficacy and safety of cabazitaxel treatment were collected. Progression-free survival (PFS) (radiological/clinical/biochemical) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Objective response rate and clinical benefit were also assessed. Results. Forty-eight patients were included. Median PFS was 4.2 (95% CI 3.4–5.1) months, and median OS was 15.1 (95% CI 12.7–17.4) months. OS since docetaxel initiation in patients treated with cabazitaxel as second-line chemotherapy (n = 47) was 28.7 (95% CI 25,3–32,1) months. OS rates at 1, 2, and 3 years after first cabazitaxel cycle were 65%, 25%, and 15%, respectively. In total, 289 cycles of cabazitaxel were administered (mean six per patient). There were 41 patients evaluable for biochemical response, 19/41 (46%) of whom had a PSA decrease of at least 50% from baseline, including 3/41 who had an initial PSA flare followed by a decrease of at least 50% from baseline. Adverse events comprised predominantly haematological (26 patients) and gastrointestinal (14 patients) toxicities. Ten SAEs were reported, including one death due to acute renal failure. Conclusions. Treatment of mCRPC patients with cabazitaxel after docetaxel failure is an important therapeutic option with acceptable toxicity with respect to clinical stabilisation and possibly increased survival.


A method which permits simultaneous determination of the values of the free energy of ionization, the capture cross section and the concentration of a trap in a semiconductor is presented. The method depends on an accurate fit of a set of analytical expressions to the experimental data obtained by studying the variation of transient capacitance amplitudes with the duration of a filling pulse bias in a junction experiment. The analytical expressions used are based on the rigorous theoretical model of Pons. Various criteria which must be observed to ensure reliable results are carefully worked out in detail. The effectiveness of the present method is demonstrated on two copper-induced electron traps in gallium arsenide phosphide and a laser radiation-induced electron trap in silicon.


We have tested allogeneic melanoma cell lysates as active immunotherapy, originally in stage IV patients to determine their safety and immunologic effectiveness. Surprisingly, phase I and II trials with frozen lysates showed a 20% objective response rate, with 8% long-term survivors. Melacine (Ribi ImmunoChem Research, Hamilton, MT), a lyophilized preparation from the same two cell lines, has been tested nationally and has caused regressions in approximately 10% of patients. Long-term stabilization of disease was noted in 10% to 20% of patients in all trials. A multicenter phase III comparison of low-dose cyclophosphamide plus Melacine versus four-drug chemotherapy showed no difference in response rates and survival, with fewer and milder side effects due to Melacine. In our single-arm trial in resected stage III disease, the overall survival rate (66-month median follow-up) is 66%, with a median relapse-free survival time of 36 months. Interferon-alfa 2b (IFN-alpha) given to patients failing to respond to Melacine elicited major objective responses in a larger proportion than anticipated with IFN-alpha alone. These results stimulated current multicenter trials in stage IV and resected stage III melanoma of Melacine and IFN-alpha in combination versus IFN-alpha alone. Of scientific note were (I) identification of a new melanoma antigen from a gene (MG50) isolated from one of the immunizing cell lines, and (2) demonstration that a new melanoma arising in 1995 in a long-term survivor was immunologically and genetically distinct from her original 1986 tumor. While it is important to define which epitopes are involved, multiepitopic (polyvalent) mixtures have established the therapeutic effect of melanoma vaccines.


an earthquake, the image-based interpretation methods are powerful tools for detection and classification of damaged buildings. A method based on two kinds of image-extracted features comparing stereo pairs of aerial images before and after an earthquake is presented. Comparing pre- and post event DSMs - generated from stereo images - could be a solution for detecting the extent of demolished areas of buildings. However such DSMs are not sufficiently accurate due to image matching problems. We propose "Regularity indices" to describe the appearance of the building as regular or irregular. Regularity indices were defined by taking account of lines composition with regards to building footprint. In addition, a normalized value of average differences between DSMs (within each building polygon) is added into the classification procedures. Three kinds of classification methods: k-NN, naive Bayes and support vector machine (SVM) are used and compared. Experiments are performed on two datasets of the Kobe and Bam earthquakes including vast varieties of real collapsed buildings. The numerical results achieved for our datasets are very promising to detect and classify collapsed buildings automatically.


The content of antibodies to peptidoglycans of 13 staphylococcal species was studied in the ELISA with the IgG fraction isolated from commercial human immunoglobulin. The content of antibodies to S. aureus peptidoglycan (calculated per mg of protein) was 3.0 micrograms and that of antibodies to peptidoglycans of other species amounted to 1.8-4.1 micrograms. The maximal value was obtained for S. xylosus and the minimal value, for S. lentus. No relationship between the content of antibodies to peptidoglycans and the degree of their antigenic affinity to S. aureus peptidoglycan was noted: the scatter of the values in species with relatively low and even minimal affinity did not exceed the range of variance in the group with a high degree of homology (2.2-2.4 micrograms). The production of antibodies to staphylococcal peptidoglycans was supposed to result from the action of a complex of antigenic determinants, both common and specific for each staphylococcal species.


Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) exhibits a range of correlated phenomena that originate from strong electron-electron interactions. These interactions make the Fermi surface highly susceptible to reconstruction when ±1,±2,±3 electrons occupy each moire unit cell and lead to the formation of correlated insulating, superconducting and ferromagnetic phases. While some phases have been shown to carry a non-zero Chern number, the local microscopic properties and topological character of many other phases remain elusive. Here we introduce a set of novel techniques hinging on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to map out topological phases in MATBG that emerge in finite magnetic field. By following the evolution of the local density of states (LDOS) at the Fermi level with electrostatic doping and magnetic field, we visualize a local Landau fan diagram that enables us to directly assign Chern numbers to all observed phases. We uncover the existence of six topological phases emanating from integer fillings in finite fields and whose origin relates to a cascade of symmetry-breaking transitions driven by correlations. The spatially resolved and electron-density-tuned LDOS maps further reveal that these topological phases can form only in a small range of twist angles around the magic-angle value. Both the microscopic origin and extreme sensitivity to twist angle differentiate these topological phases from the Landau levels observed near charge neutrality. Moreover, we observe that even the charge-neutrality Landau spectrum taken at low fields is considerably modified by interactions and exhibits an unexpected splitting between zero Landau levels that can be as large as ∼3−5 meV. Our results show how strong electronic interactions affect the band structure of MATBG and lead to the formation of correlation-enabled topological phases.


In recent outdoor, over-the-air tests and simulations, DARPA demonstrated greater than 3X improvement in aggregate wireless network throughput and latency compared to the 802.11b wireless local area network. This achievement is based on allowing multiple users to simultaneously use the same channel (time, frequency, code, etc.) without requiring a centralized infrastructure for coordination and spectrum preplanning. DARPA has developed new multi-user detection (MUD) algorithms that make it possible to exploit multi-access interference to increase network capacity. A key program goal is to apply these algorithms to next-generation warfighter communications systems for substantial capacity, latency and scalability improvements.


PURPOSE
Bladder drainage of pancreatic exocrine secretions during pancreas transplantation can lead to significant urological complications. Our experience with cystoenteric conversion (CEC) is reviewed with respect to safety and efficacy. Select patients underwent concurrent reduction cystoplasty.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 255 pancreas transplantations were performed at the University of Washington between 1990 and 2001, of which 236 were bladder drained and 33 required enteric conversion of bladder drainage. An additional patient from an outside institution required conversion. These cases were reviewed retrospectively. Of the patients 21 with large capacity (greater than 500 ml) bladders underwent concurrent reduction cystoplasty.

RESULTS
Mean age of the 20 male and 14 female patients was 44 years (range 33 to 60) and mean interval between transplantation and CEC was 4.3 years (0.6 to 9). The most frequent indication for CEC was recurrent urinary tract infections (15 of 34 cases, 44%). Mean followup after CEC was 2.5 years (range 0.3 to 6.5). Six complications requiring reoperation were seen in 5 of the 34 patients (15%), one of which led to death (3%). Normal pancreatic graft function persisted in 30 of the 34 cases (88%). After reduction cystoplasty mean bladder capacity in all 34 cases decreased from 900 to 465 ml intraoperatively (p <0.0001) and from 650 to 362 ml in 9 according to urodynamics (p <0.015). Of the patients 30 (88%) experienced resolution of symptoms, while 3 (9%) experienced improvement and 1 (3%) continued to have recurrent infections.

CONCLUSIONS
Although we advocate maximal conservative treatment of the urological complications of pancreas transplantation, CEC offers safe and effective management of these complications, and can easily be combined with reduction cystoplasty in select cases to optimize postoperative voiding function.


During the cultivation of crops, irrigation is included in necessary working operations like tillage, fertilization and sowing. For irrigation, we require the highest quality of work. Therefore, in this contribution, we focused on monitoring the quality of work of a hose reel irrigation machine. For determining the longitudinal uniformity of winding a hose on a reel, the development of a digital device was necessary. During the development, we had to design its two basic parts – the hardware and software. After construction of the device, its function was tested directly in working conditions of the particular reel hose irrigation machine. The results of our developed device were compared with the results of the Ecostar 4000 (Bauer, Austria) microcomputer, both with the same hose winding speed. On the microcomputer, we set the hose winding speed to +2.1 m*h -1 . The average measured value of speed using the first device Speedmeter SM1 (2000, KSVS) was 11.7 m*h -1 . The difference between the set and measured speed was 0.4 m*h -1 (absolute error of measurement, the relative error of measurement was 3.42 %). In the second case, the measurement was performed using a more modern device – Speedmeter SM2, which allows saving of results into its internal memory (2012, KSVS). The average measured value of winding speed was 12.26 m*h -1 , which represents the relative error of measurement 2.77 % compared to the set value of 12.6 m*h -1 . Based on the results obtained, we recommend the maintenance of the irrigation machine.


Vascular calcification is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and is closely associated with all-cause mortality. Recently, it has been revealed that vascular calcification is not a passive precipitation of circulating minerals, but is a process actively regulated through machinery similar to bone formation. During the bone remodeling, osteoclasts execute the bone resorption by releasing hydrogen ions to dissolve minerals; however, molecular mechanisms underlying decalcification of ectopically calcified lesions remain largely unknown. Here, we identified a significant role of macrophages in decalcifying the ectopic calcification. Since carbonic anhydrase-2 (CA2) is critically involved in synthesizing hydrogen ions, we investigated its expression in various cells, and found that macrophages highly express CA2. We established a cell free assay system in which ectopic calcification is quantitatively analyzed in vitro, and using this assay system, we revealed that macrophages efficiently decalcify the ectopic calcification. Interestingly, M1 polarized macrophages showed reduced CA2 expression, whereas treatment with inflammatory cytokines and vasoactive peptides decreased CA2 expression in macrophages. Of note, treatment with angiotensin II significantly reduced the decalcification capacity in macrophages in association with reduced CA2 expression. Furthermore, overexpression of CA2 enhanced decalcification capacity in C2C12 myoblast cells. Together, we unveiled a potential role of macrophages in decalcifying the ectopic calcification, and identified that CA2 is critically involved in the cellular decalcification capacity. Activating cellular CA2 has a therapeutic potential in the treatment of ectopic calcification, especially in regressing vascular calcification.


approved: Redacted for Privacy ____(Garyy,w;Aterman Redacted for Privacy Tim D Schowalter The importance of pheromones in insect control relies both on their ability to reduce pest populations and on their relatively benign effects on nontarget organisms. This study was conducted to test the effectiveness of a pheromone application for mating disruption of the ponderosa pine tip moth, Rhyacionia zozana (Kearfott), and to determine if this treatment had any affect on the abundance or structure of the associated parasite complex. Chemical analyses, electroantennograms, and field bioassays showed that the most abundant pheromone component for R. zozana was E-9-dodecenyl acetate with a lesser amount of E-9-dodecenol also present. Acetate/alcohol ratios averaged 70:30 in gland washes; male moths were most attracted to sticky traps with synthetic baits containing ratios ranging from 70:30 to 95:5. Sixteen hymenopteran and one dipteran species of parasites were recovered from R. zozana larvae and pupae collected in Calif. and Oreg. Total percentage parasitism was high, averaging 47.2%. The ichneumonid, Glypta zozanae Walley and Barron, was the most abundant parasite, attacking over 30% of the hosts collected. Mastrus aciculatus (Provancher) was second in abundance, accounting for less


Statistical, iterative reconstruction techniques have become a major research topic in the CT sector. These techniques promise a better system model, which is used for the inversion of the tomographic problem, and therefore better reconstruction results. Due to the ill–posedness of these problems, regularization is required in the cost functions in order to stabilize the algorithm and to reduce the noise in the resulting images. The strength of the regularization is usually changed by using an appropriate multiplicative factor, which in most cases has to be determined empirically with major efforts. This paper describes a new automated selection of this factor by using a quality criterion and a regulator, which controls the multiplicative factor over the iterations to a desired level. The method is light–weight, robust and also applicable for other iterative methods like de–noising.


A new genetic facies model for deep‐water clastic evaporites is presented, based on work carried out on the Messinian Gessoso‐solfifera Formation of the northern Apennines during the last 15 years. This model is derived from the most recent siliciclastic turbidite models and describes the downcurrent transformations of a parent flow mainly composed of gypsum clasts. The model allows clearer comprehension of processes controlling the production and deposition of clastic evaporites, representing the most common evaporite facies of the northern Apennines, and the definition of the genetic and stratigraphic relationship with primary shallow‐water evaporites formed and preserved in marginal settings. Due to the severe recrystallization processes usually affecting these deposits, petrographic and geochemical analyses are needed for a more accurate interpretation of the large spectrum of recognized gravity‐driven deposits ranging from debrisflow to low‐density turbidites. Almost all the laminar 'balatino' gypsum, previously considered a deep‐water primary deposit, is here reinterpreted as the fine‐grained product of high to low‐density gravity flows. Facies associations permit the framing of the distribution of clastic evaporites into the complex tectonically controlled depositional settings of the Apennine foredeep basin. The Messinian Salinity Crisis occurred during an intense phase of geodynamic reorganization of the Mediterranean area that also produced the fragmentation of the former Miocene Apennine foredeep basin. In this area, primary shallow‐water evaporites equivalent to the Mediterranean Lower Evaporites, apparently only formed in semi‐closed thrust‐top basins like the Vena del Gesso Basin. The subsequent uplift and subaerial exposure of such basins ended the evaporite precipitation and promoted a widespread phase of collapse leading to the resedimentation of the evaporites into deeper basins. Vertical facies sequences of clastic evaporites can be interpreted in terms of the complex interplay between the Messinian tectonic evolution of the Apennine thrust belt and related exhumation–erosional processes. The facies model here proposed could be helpful also for better comprehension of other different depositional and geodynamic contexts; the importance of clastic evaporites deposits has been overlooked in the study of other Mediterranean areas. Based on the Apennine basins experience, it is suggested here that evaporites diffused into the deeper portions of the Mediterranean basin may consist mainly of deep‐water resedimented deposits rather than shallow‐water to supratidal primary evaporites indicative of a complete basin desiccation.


Cancer metastasis is the primary cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. Anti-metastasis mechanism of skin cancer by 13-butoxyberberine bromide, a novel berberine derivative, has not yet been reported. This study investigated the effects of 13-butoxyberberine bromide on migration and invasion of skin cancer A431 cells. The cytotoxicity of 13-butoxyberberine bromide was determined by MTT assay. The effect of 13-butoxyberberine bromide on cell migration and invasion were examined using a wound-healing assay, transwell migration assay, and transwell invasion assay, respectively. The cell adhesion ability was determined by an adhesion assay. Protein expressions that play important roles in cancer migration and invasion were evaluated by Western blot analysis. The results showed that 13-butoxyberberine bromide effectively inhibited cell migration, invasion, and adhesion in A431 cells. Interestingly, 13-butoxyberberine bromide was more effective for cell migration inhibition than berberine. In addition, 13-butoxyberberine bromide showed anti-migration and anti-invasion effects by down-regulated MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression and up-regulated TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 expression in A431 cells. Moreover, pretreatment with 13-butoxyberberine bromide significantly inhibited EGF-induced cell migration and p-EGFR, ERK, p-ERK, STAT3, and p-STAT3 expressions in A431 cells at lower concentrations when compared with the berberine. These findings indicated that 13-butoxyberberine bromide could be further developed as an anticancer agent.


Metabolic syndrome has been recognized as possible risk factor for renal damage and the increased prevalence of both metabolic syndrome and renal disease justifies the increasing interest of the nephrology community toward the metabolic syndrome as another possible inducing cause of chronic renal disease, although the available evidence about a direct causal relationship between metabolic syndrome and development of renal disease so far is scanty. The not easy separation of the negative effects on renal function of metabolic syndrome from those derived from hypertension and diabetes per se, however, does not reduce the interest toward a possible direct impact of metabolic syndrome on renal disease. This also in consideration that other important factors linked with metabolic syndrome, such as for example obesity, have direct independent impact on the development of abnormalities such as microalbuminuria and or overt renal disease. Planning of clinical trials specifically for patients with metabolic syndrome could be helpful to give definitive answers on a possible direct impact of metabolic syndrome on chronic renal disease.


SummaryPositron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) demonstrates a typical pattern of impairment of regional metabolic rates of glucose (rCMRGlu) in most patients with a clinical diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease (AD): reduction of rCMRGlu in temporo-parietal association cortex, more variably also in prefontal cortex, but relative preservation of primary visual and sensorimotor cortex, striatum, and cerebellum. Apart from early stages, both hemispheres are affected, but pronounced asymmetries may be present. With the exception of Parkinson's disease with dementia, the complete pattern is rarely seen in other dementing conditions, which usually lead to more global, frontal or multifocal metabolic impairment. Severity of dementia is mainly correlated with temporo-parietal rCMRGlu reduction, probably irrespective of the cause of dementia, and the neuropsychological profile is related to the asymmetry of metabolic alterations. Procedures are available for assessment of the typical pattern that yield comparable results in different laboratories, and have a high accuracy for discrimination between normals and probable AD. Diagnostic accuracy is better for presenile than for senile dementia of Alzheimer type, and for moderate to severe cases than for mild dementia. A definitive judgement of the diagnostic value of FDG PET in AD is hindered by the lack of sufficient data with diagnosis confirmed at autopsy.


The performance of the MUSIC algorithm and many other superresolution methods degrades severely with the highly correlated multipath signals encountered in radar low-angle tracking. The paper presents a new eigenvector-based method in which the search vector is replaced by a deterministic specular multipath model. The performance is then compared with that of maximum likelihood using the same model and the well known MUSIC algorithm using spatial smoothing. Simulations and experiments at X-band indicate that the use of a specular model combined with an array radar having frequency agility gives much more accurate tracking than the conventional approaches. The experiments were conducted at Sylt (North Sea), Germany, using corner reflectors mounted on poles inserted in the sea bed; sea conditions varied from sea-state one to five.


The binary nonlinearization method is applied to a 4×4 matrix eigenvalue problem. The typical system of the corresponding soliton hierarchy associated with this eigenvalue problem is the multi-component generalization of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. With this method, Lax pairs and adjoint Lax pairs of the soliton hierarchy are reduced to two classes of finite dimensional Hamiltonian systems: a spatial finite dimensional Hamiltonian system and a hierarchy of temporal finite dimensional Hamiltonian systems. These finite dimensional Hamiltonian systems are commutative and Liouville integrable.


Interaction of [Cu2B10H10] with 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) afforded a novel binuclear discrete complex of the [Cu2(bipy)2B10H10] composition. Two copper(I) atoms coordinate a bridge boron cage through an apical edge and a triangular BBB face situated at its opposite apical vertices to form four 3c2e (CuHB) and one 2c2e Cu-B bonds. The charge density model was obtained by density functional theory calculations of isolated molecule and crystal. The resultant densities were analyzed using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and electron localizability indicator (ELI-D). The geometry and the topological parameters of copper(I) coordination environment were found to be sensitive to crystal-field effect. An annulus of flat electron density ρ(r) and small ∇(2)ρ(r) is formed at dianion faces. As a result, some of the expected B-B, Cu-B, or Cu-H bond critical points are absent. The topological instability in the region of multicentered bonds is observed. The Cu-B bonding was found to be presumably electrostatic in nature, which could be the reason of topological isomerism for copper(I) decaborates. The results show that an unambiguous real-space criterion for multicentered bonding between transition metals and polyhedral boron anions is not yet given. The molecular graph for this class of compounds does not provide a definitive picture of the chemical boding and can be complemented with other descriptors, such as virial graphs and the ELI-D distribution.


A new spectrofluorometric method was developed for the determination of trace amounts of heparin (Hep). Using ciprofloxacin (CIP)-terbium (Tb^3+) as a fluorescent probe, in a buffer solution of pH 7.20, Hep can remarkably enhance the fluorescence intensity of the CIP-Tb^3+ complex at X = 545 nm; also, the enhanced fluorescence intensity the Tb^3+ ion is proportional to the concentration of Hep. The optimum conditions for the determination of Hep were also investigated. The dynamic range for the determination of Hep is 0.1–1.2 μg ml^–1 with a detection limit of 6.89 ng ml^-1. This method is simple, practical and relatively free of interference from coexisting substances, and can be successfully applied to assess Hep in biological samples. By the Rosenthanl graphic method, the association constant and binding numbers of heparin with the probe are 2.44 × 10^5l mol^–1 and 19.7. Moreover, the enhancement mechanisms of the fluorescence intensity in the CIP-Tb^3+ system and the CIP-Tb^3+-Hep system have also been considered.


Radiative lifetimes of eleven argon II and krypton II levels have been determined using selective pulsed laser excitation and time resolved observation of the reemitted fluorescence. The laser excitation was performed from metastable Ar II and Kr II levels, populated by a pulsed low pressure hollow cathode discharge. The results are discussed with regard to trends in the behaviour of lifetimes along homologous series.


When freshly cut segments of naturally decorticated steles of horizontal roots of the Australian grass tree (Xanthorrhea preissii) are subjected to gentle suction, bubbles of gas sometimes appear, as well as liquid, in capillaries attached to the aspirated ends of the steles. We tested the hypothesis that this gas comes from vessels embolized in the intact xylem stream, and that the gas volume extruded is therefore an effective measure of the extent of this embolism. To do this, twin samples were taken from individual roots of X. preissii in the field, one was fast-frozen intact for subsequent estimation of vessel embolisms in the cryo-scanning electron microscope (CSEM), the other 15-cm segment rapidly assessed for volume of gas aspirated into a standard micropipette tube. The two measures mutually confirmed one another by showing a strong positive correlation between numbers of embolized vessels and extracted gas volume. Similar gas volumes were obtained from replicate root segments excised directly from a root when the ends of the segment were frozen before excision, and aspiration conducted after subsequent thawing of the ends under water. The pattern of changes in embolisms during unstressed conditions in early summer, shown by both CSEM and aspiration, indicated almost no embolisms before dawn, followed by a rapid rise to a peak in mid morning, than a progressive loss of embolisms in late afternoon. It was also shown that the amount of embolism did not change with time after excision of the roots up to at least 30 min. A comparison of changes in leaf transpiration with gas volumes in steles during a 24-h cycle at peak transpiration stress in mid summer showed rapid rates of transpiration in early morning and late afternoon, with an intervening period of low water loss during the rest of the day. Numbers of embolisms rose to an early morning peak, followed by apparent repair of these before noon. There was a second spate of embolisms in late afternoon, followed by complete refilling of all xylem with liquid by an hour or so after dusk. All vessels then remained fully recharged until the following dawn. We believe that aspiration is a direct and reliable technique, which offers a simple, inexpensive means of assessing the relative extent of embolism of vessels in xylem, and a means to test earlier findings by the other direct method of the CSEM. In a broad context, the technique should provide new opportunities for evaluating water relations of the xylem of whole plants.


Recently, Hammond and Sheffield [17] introduced a model of correlated random walks that scale to fractional Brownian motions with long-range dependence. In this paper, we consider a natural generalization of this model to dimension d ≥ 2. We define a Zindexed random field with dependence relations governed by an underlying random graph with vertices Z, and we study the scaling limits of the partial sums of the random field over rectangular sets. An interesting phenomenon appears: depending on how fast the rectangular sets increase along different directions, different random fields arise in the limit. In particular, there is a critical regime where the limit random field is operator-scaling and inherits the full dependence structure of the discrete model, whereas in other regimes the limit random fields have at least one direction that has either invariant or independent increments, no longer reflecting the dependence structure in the discrete model. The limit random fields form a general class of operator-scaling Gaussian random fields. Their increments and path properties are investigated.


A recently obtained nonlocal expression for the electron heat flux valid for arbitrary ionization numbers Z is used to study the structure of a plane shock wave in a fully ionized plasma. Nonlocal effects are only important in the foot of the electronic preheating region, where the electron temperature gradient is the steepest. The results are quantified as a function of a characteristic Knudsen number of that region. This work also generalizes to arbitrary values of Z previous results on plasma shock wave structure.


Silicon single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) are core devices for single-photon detection in the visible and the near-infrared wavelength range and are widely used in many fields such as astronomy, biology, lidar, quantum optics, and quantum information. Due to limitations in their structural design and fabrication, however, the key parameters of detection efficiency and timing jitter cannot be optimized simultaneously. Here, we propose a nanostructured silicon SPAD that achieves high detection efficiency with excellent timing jitter over a broad spectral range. Our optical and electrical simulations show significant performance enhancement compared to conventional silicon SPAD devices. This nanostructured device can be easily fabricated and is thus well suited for practical applications.


With the increasing of antennas application, there are more and more needs and higher requirements for antenna test system. Focusing on the long-distance antenna measurements in complex environment, this paper presents approaches for automatic testing. Reference signals from GPS synchronization timing module are used as the time base of receiver and source. And Long-distance communication is realized with wireless AP.


Synopsis : The effect of B. with the addition of 0.01 and 0.1 mass%, on the spheroidizing behavior of cementite in Fe-0.8mass%C alloy was investigated. The addition of B accelerated the softening by spheroidizing annealing. This effectiveness was enhanced with the increase in the solution treatment temperature and B content. Spheroidal cementites were most refined when 0.01 mass% B was added. This was attributed to the increase in the number density of nucleation sites which arose from fine cementites equilibrium at solution temperature and coarse cementites precipitated from liquid phase. When the amount of B was increased to 0.1 mass%, the effect of coarse cementites precipitated from liquid phase became significant. This resulted in the increase in the number of coarse spheroidal cementites with the diameter greater than 10 um, and the decrease in the number of fine spheroidal cementites, supposedly through Ostwald growth mechanism.


converted to Islam, either by (relative) choice or under duress as part of a forced marriage to a Muslim Ottoman (a number of whom disclose how parts of the family remained Muslim and discouraged close ties with those who had returned to Christianity and to their Armenian identity, lest their neighbors find out that they were, in fact, Armenians, too). They also vary in age and, therefore, in their direct or indirect experience with the Armenian Genocide. This diversity among the interviewees is one aspect of Balancar's book that makes it so critical: the story of Turkey's Armenians is one that only recently has begun to emerge in Turkey. Given all that Balancar accomplishes with The Sounds of Silence, it is regrettable that the interviewees are not introduced more clearly throughout the text: Balancar does not provide people's names, their specific ages, nor their gender, and the reader is left to guess and puzzle together "the identity" of the speaker (which is often difficult to do, given the number of family members and generations involved in these stories). Similarly, the reader is forced to guess what kinds of questions Balancar asked and to wonder about how these people were found and selected and under what circumstances they were interviewed. Nevertheless, this is an interesting book that documents not only the stories of the Armenians interviewed but also chronicles the change in attitude and awareness in Turkey at large since the assassination of Dink. With its secondary focus on 1915, it also represents a thought-provoking effort to offer new perspectives on one of the twentieth century's most controversial events. Balancar quite aptly concludes her critical work by noting, "The death of Hrant Dink was not an end but a beginning, not only for society as a whole but also for the Armenians" (167).


Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle in the successful treatment of ovarian cancer. One of the most common causes of MDR is overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), encoded by the MDR1 gene. The MDR1 gene is a direct target of the Wnt/&bgr;-catenin signaling pathway, which plays an important role in ovarian cancer. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &ggr; (PPAR&ggr;) ligands have been found to protect against development of cancer through the Wnt/&bgr;-catenin pathway. To investigate the effect of PPAR&ggr; ligands on MDR1/P-gp expression, we treated a MDR ovarian cancer cell subline, A2780/Taxol, with different concentrations of rosiglitazone (Rosi), a member of the synthetic PPAR&ggr; ligands. Rosi downregulated FZD1 and MDR1/P-gp expression in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, nuclear &bgr;-catenin levels and its transcriptional activity decreased significantly. In conclusion, Rosi may reverse MDR of ovarian cancer cells by downregulating the Wnt/&bgr;-catenin pathway with the suppression of FZD1.


Introduction Probiotics are live microorganisms intended to confer a health benefit when consumed,1and have been advocated for the prevention of antibiotic associated diarrhoea (AAD). Older patients are more susceptible to AAD compared to the general adult population. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on probiotic use for the prevention of AAD in this patient group. Method Two independent reviewers identified and critically appraised randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of probiotics from electronic databases PubMed and EMBASE (from date of inception to Jan 2015) for the prevention and treatment of AAD in hospital patients with mean age >60 years. Results Eleven RCTs met inclusion criteria. The pooled relative risk (RR) in a DerSimonian-Laird random-effects meta-analysis of 11 RCTs, which included 4292 participants, showed a reduction in AAD (RR 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.48 to 0.95; p = 0.02; I 2= 64%). Subgroup genus analysis demonstrated a significant risk reduction with only Lactobacillus based probiotics (RR 0.51, CI 0.39 to 0.67, p < 0.00001, I 2= 0%). Only 3/11 demonstrated adequate power. Adverse events were reported in only 6/11 RCTs, with no serious events attributed to probiotic use.Abstract OC-034 Figure 1 Conclusion Pooled results demonstrate that probiotics are associated with a risk reduction in AAD in older inpatients. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that this benefit is derived from Lactobacillus-only probiotics, an attractive candidate for future research. Disclosure of interest None Declared. Reference FAO, WHO. Health and nutritional properties of probiotics in food including powder milk with live lactic acid bacteria. 2001. ftp://ftp.fao.org/ed/esn/food/probio_report_en.pdf


Hypoxia is a significant feature of solid tumor cancers. Hypoxia leads to a more malignant phenotype that is resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, is more invasive and has greater metastatic potential. Hypoxia activates the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) pathway, which mediates the biological effects of hypoxia in tissues. The HIF complex acts as a transcription factor for many genes that increase tumor survival and proliferation. To date, many HIF pathway inhibitors indirectly affect HIF but there have been no clinically approved direct HIF inhibitors. This can be attributed to the complexity of the HIF pathway, as well as to the challenges of inhibiting protein-protein interactions.


Aim: According to the world health organization, health means the person is not only free from any physical and psychological illness but (s)he should be fit socially too as well as no health without mental health. The present study aimed to investigate the level and difference of mental health and mobile phone addiction among adolescences. Methods: This study was done on 400 adolescences (200 boy and 200girl students) through random sampling technique. Mithila Mental Health Status Inventory and mobile phone addiction were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by using Mean, S.D, t-test and f-test. Results: Result proves it there is interaction affect among gender and level of mobile phone addiction in terms of mental health as well as no significant difference in mental health among adolescence between low mobile phone addiction and average mobile phone addiction level.


Code of project : A49/2014 Project name : A study on influence of MIG brazing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties in joining of Al to AHSS for applications in automobile industry Researcher name : Mr. Niwat Mookam The aim of this research was to study on influence of MIG brazing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties in joining of Al to AHSS. The brazing variables investigated in this study encompassed brazing speed, brazing current, filler metal feed rate, torch-plate distance, torch angle. The improvement of the joining process was accomplished using optimal brazing conditions obtained from statistics analysis. Results showed that, the optimal brazing parameters to maximize the mechanical properties were identified by using Taguchi method. From this investigation, it is found that the joints fabricated with the brazing speed of 500 mm/min, brazing current of 25 A, filler metal feed rate of 6.0 m/min, torch-plate distance of 1 mm, and torch angle of 90 ๐ the maximum shear strength of 68.40 MPa. In this study, the possible reaction products at the interface were confirmed using SEM, EDS and XRD analysis. During brazing, intermetallic grains formed at the filler alloy. An intermetallic compound layer composed of FeAl3Si2 was formed at the interface of the advanced high-strength steels and filler metal.


This article addresses the problematic lack of available data on jail isolation. It discusses the potential significance of the practice of isolating jail inmates and the basis for believing that punitive isolation in jails is at least as widespread as in prisons. It also summarizes some of the information that recently has become available about the use of isolation at one notorious jail complex—Rikers Island—where the practice has been reported on and debated perhaps more than any other, and uses Rikers as both an instructive case study and cautionary tale. Finally, the article briefly reviews what is known about the significant risk of serious harm that isolated confinement is known to represent and acknowledges the need for reliable data gathering, meaningful outside monitoring, and effective oversight.


Purpose To investigate the prognostic value and biological function of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD). Materials and Methods Datasets of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were downloaded from the TCGA-based (The Cancer Genome Atlas) GEPIA database, from which the differentially expressed RBPs were determined. Functions and prognostic values of these determined RBPs were systematically investigated by a series of methods in bioinformatics analysis. In addition, transwell assays were performed to explore the effect of PTBP1 in STAD cells. Results Three hundred and sixty-two differentially expressed RBPs were determined, with 331 up-regulated and 31 down-regulated. Seven RBPs (PTBP1, PPIH, SMAD5, MSI2, RBM15, MRPS17, and ADAT3) were identified to be prognosis-related and adopted to construct a prognostic model. Compared with low-risk patients in TCGA training cohort, TCGA testing cohort and GEO cohort, high-risk patients had poorer overall survival (OS). The area under the ROC curves of this prognostic model were 0.804, 0.644 and 0.581 for TCGA training cohort, TCGA testing cohort and GEO cohort, respectively, justifying itself as a good prognostic model with reliable predictive ability. Using the seven identified RBPs, we then constructed a nomogram to generate a clinical utility model. The regulatory networks and functions of the seven RBPs were then investigated, the results of which demonstrated that MRPS17 and PTBP1 reduced the number of infiltrated immune cells. In-vitro experiments showed that the downregulation of PTBP1 weakened the migration and invasion capability of AGS and HGC27 cells. Conclusion The seven-gene signature can be used as a reliable STAD prognostic biomarker, and these findings help us better understand the prognostic roles and functions of RBPs in STAD.


The dynamics of distillability entanglement between qutrit—qutrit systems interacting with a thermal reservoir is investigated in this paper. We discovered an interesting phenomenon that under a thermal reservoir certain initially prepared free-entangled states become bound-entangled states in a finite time, which is called distillability sudden death (DSD). We use a realignment criterion to measure the nine-dimensional density matrix of the entanglement. Moreover, we analyze some other parameters to investigate the effects to the systems. Explanations are then given.


The aim with this paper is to investigate the US mutual funds market for a large Swedish investment house with a focus on Eastern Europe. The company is interested in offering their funds to US citizens, a client-base they are unable to reach today. We will look into how they are able to practically offer their products and also how a possible strategy can look like based on a model formulated by the Japanese strategy guru, Kenichi Ohmae. He believes that the most important strategic units in a company are the company itself, the customer and the competitors in a model called The Strategic Triangle. In order to create a competitive advantage and formulate a successful strategy, these units must be optimized and interlinked. The SWOT model will be used in order to list the advantaged and disadvantages of the proposed strategy. Both primary and secondary sources have been used in order to find information about the company, the customers, the competitors and an additional section about the securities regulations in the US. The company that we are doing this investigation for is called East Capital, one of the largest investment companies in Sweden that invest only in Eastern Europe. It has a strong focus on being locally present, both domestically and internationally with new office openings around the world. The US pose great potential on the market for East Capital as US citizens often invest in mutual funds with relatively large capital, are often willing to take risks and have a long time horizon on their investments, a profile that match East Capital's investment philosophy. In addition, there is very little competition on the market for Russia funds with only two daily traded funds with a majority of holdings in Russia. These funds are relatively small in comparison to East Capital which may mean that Americans are still apprehensive of Russia as an investment country. The legal process to register and sell foreign mutual funds is very complex in the US and this is an important step that the company needs to overcome before the products can be publicly offered. After having analyzed the strategic triangle with our findings of the company, the possible customers and the competition in the market, we conclude that East Capital should enter the US market. Since the company must start a completely new company with new products, the historical performance of the Swedish funds may not be used in the US. This also means that the products will not get any ratings in the first three years. We therefore recommend that the market penetration should be gradual. Initially,East Capital should focus on distributing the funds through full-service brokers. Once the funds will get rated, East Capital should take the launch a step further and try to segment the market and distribute more heavily to important customer-groups.


Abstract The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is known to be associated with elevated serum ferritin levels. The possible association with other Fe markers has been less well studied. We aimed to investigate the cross-sectional association of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and ferritin levels with the MetS components, insulin resistance and glycosylated Hb (HbA1C). The sample consisted of 725 adults, aged 19–93 years (284 men, 151 premenopausal and 290 postmenopausal women), from the Croatian island of Vis. Serum sTfR and ferritin levels were measured by immunoturbidimetry and electrochemiluminescence assays, respectively. The MetS was defined using modified international consensus criteria. Logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate the associations adjusting for age, fibrinogen, smoking status, alcohol consumption and BMI. Prevalence of the MetS was 48·7 %. Standardised values of ferritin were positively associated with all of the MetS components (except high blood pressure and waist circumference) in men (P<0·05). Ferritin was significantly associated with the MetS in men (adjusted OR 1·78 (95 % CI 1·31, 2·42)) and postmenopausal women (1·71 (95 % CI 1·12, 2·62)). Interestingly, sTfR was independently and positively associated with homoeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance in men (adjusted β=0·44 (95 % CI 0·14, 0·75), P=0·004) and postmenopausal women (adjusted β coefficient=0·34 (95 % CI 0·05, 0·63), P=0·020). However, there was no significant relationship between serum sTfR levels and the MetS or its components. Neither ferritin nor sTfR was significantly associated with HbA1C (P>0·05). sTfR levels could be spuriously elevated in subjects with insulin resistance and without association with the MetS or its components. We conclude that different markers of Fe metabolism are not consistently associated with cardiometabolic risk.


The satellite-induced systematic biases were identified to exist in the code observations from BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) satellites using multipath (MP) combinations. The current correction model for satellite-induced code bias (SICB) does not take into account the consistency of MP combinations, which limits the accuracy of the developed model. Both the cycle slips and different tracking of a satellite at different stations can affect the absolute values of MP combinations, although the variations remain unchanged. An improved SICB piecewise linear correction model as a function of elevations is proposed. We estimate the model parameters for each frequency and for each satellite. The single-difference of MP combinations in the domain of elevation angles is carried out to remove the unknown ambiguities and stable hardware delays so that the SICB modeling is free of the effects of MP combination inconsistency. In addition, a denser elevation node separation of 1°, rather than the 10° usually employed by the traditional model, is used to describe the more precise SICB variations. The SICB corrections show significant differences among orbit types and frequency bands. The SICB variations have much less effect on Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO) satellites than on Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites for the regional BDS (BDS-2). The B1 signal has the largest SICB corrections, which can be up to 0.9 m close to zenith for BDS-2 MEO satellites, and the B2 signal follows. After adding the SICB corrections to the code observations, the elevation-dependent code biases vanish, and we can obtain improved code observations. After applying the improved SICB correction model, the root mean square (RMS) values of MP combination time series are reduced by 7%, 6% and 2%, and 18%, 14% and 5% on the B1, B2 and B3 frequencies for the BDS-2 IGSO and MEO satellites, respectively. For comparison, we also establish the traditional SICB correction model. With the traditional SICB correction model, the corresponding RMS MP combinations are smaller than those of uncorrected MP series, but slightly larger than those of corrected MP series using the improved SICB correction model. To validate the effectiveness and correctness of our proposed model, single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) processing with BDS-2 MEO and IGSO satellites is conducted. An accuracy improvement of 24%, 19% and 89%, and 7%, 7% and 6% for the single-frequency PPP applying the improved SICB corrections over the case without SICB corrections and the case using the traditional SICB corrections in east, north and vertical directions is achieved, respectively. Although only centimeter-level SICB variations could be observed for the two legacy signals B1 and B3 and the three new navigation signals B1C, B2a and B2b transmitted by the satellites of global BDS demonstration system (BDS-3S), we still establish an effective SICB correction model on the B1 and B3 frequencies for BDS-3S IGSO satellites, and the RMS MP combinations are reduced by 1–4% after applying the improved SICB corrections.


Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common complications of diabetes with limited therapies. Tang Luo Ning (TLN), a traditional Chinese medicine compound, has been proved to be effective in the treatment of DPN in clinical and experimental studies. However, the potential metabolic mechanism of TLN for the treatment of DPN is still unclear. Here the therapeutic effect of TLN on DPN was studied, and HPLC-IT-TOF/MS was used to explore the metabolic changes related to DPN and to explore the mechanism of TLN on DPN induced by high glucose. Furthermore, metabolic pathway analysis was used to explore the metabolic changes induced by DPN and TLN. As a result, TLN could improve the peripheral nerve function of DPN rats, and TLN could reduce the demyelination of the sciatic nerve in DPN rats. Metabolomics analysis showed that 14 potential biomarkers (citrate, creatine, fumarate, glyceric acid, glycine, succinate, etc.) of both DPN and TLN treatment were identified. Pathway analysis showed that the changes in these metabolites were mainly related to the citrate cycle (TCA cycle), glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism.


The combined effects on the nasal epithelium of mixtures of ozone and formaldehyde at cytotoxic and noncytotoxic concentrations were examined. Male Wistar rats were exposed by inhalation during 22 h/d for 3 consecutive days to 0.3, 1.0, or 3.0 ppm formaldehyde, or to 0.2, 0.4, or 0.8 ppm ozone, or to mixtures of 0.4 ppm ozone and 0.3, 1.0, or 3.0 ppm formaldehyde, or to 1.0 ppm formaldehyde and 0.2, 0.4, or 0.8 ppm ozone, or they were sham-exposed to clean air. The noses were examined for pathological changes at six standard cross levels by light microscopy and for epithelial cell proliferation by counting [3H-methyl]thymidine-labeled cells at cross levels II and III. Ozone at 0.4 ppm or 0.8 ppm or formaldehyde at 3 ppm enhanced cell proliferation at cross level II at all locations, except for the epithelium of the septum, which was not affected by ozone. At cross level III ozone alone did not induce cell proliferation, but formaldehyde at 0.3 and 1 ppm tended to reduce cell proliferation while at 3 ppm proliferation was slightly stimulated. The combined exposure to 0.4 ppm ozone and 0.3 ppm formaldehyde induced less cell proliferation at cross levels II and III when compared with that of 0.4 ppm ozone alone. Less cell proliferation was also seen at cross level II when animals were exposed to 0.4 or 0.8 ppm ozone in combination with 1 ppm formaldehyde than when exposed to these ozone concentrations alone. A more than additive increase in cell proliferation was found at cross level II after exposure to 0.4 ppm ozone in combination with 3 ppm formaldehyde, and at cross level III in animals exposed to 0.4 ppm ozone and 1 or 3 ppm formaldehyde. Treatment-related histopathological nasal changes, such as disarrangement, loss of cilia, and hyper/metaplasia of the epithelium were seen at 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 ppm ozone and at 3 ppm formaldehyde. Simultaneous exposure to both materials did not noticeably affect type, degree, and size of the microscopic nasal lesions.


To test the hypothesis that acute inflammation in peripheral airways can cause changes in airway function, we measured lung mechanics and assessed postmortem histology in 20 dogs. After baseline measurements of subdivisions of lung volume, pressure volume curves, pulmonary resistance (RL), dynamic compliance (Cdyn), closing capacity (CC), and the slope of phase 3 of the single breath N2 washout curve (delta N2/L), 10 dogs breathed nebulized 0.25% HCl (Group 2) and 10 breathed nebulized normal saline (Group 1). Measurements were repeated at 90-min intervals for 4 h. Animals were killed and 1 lung fixed in inflation and sampled for quantitative histology. The severity of the inflammatory reaction was assessed by evaluating the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes per airway. Wet-to-dry-weight ratios were measured in the other lung. In Group 2, RL, delta N2/L, residual volume, and CC increased, whereas Cdyn decreased after acid inhalation; Cdyn and delta N2/L remained significantly different at the end of the experiment. Bilateral vagotomy, carried out in 5 dogs from each group, did not alter the acid-induced effects in Group 2. There was no difference between groups in wet-to-dry weight ratios. Group 2 had a more severe inflammatory reaction in the peripheral airways than Group 1 (p less than 0.025). We conclude that minimal, acute peripheral airway inflammation is associated with detectable abnormalities in small airway function.


Many problems in contemporary astrophysics—from understanding the formation of black holes to untangling the chemical evolution of galaxies—rely on knowledge about binary stars. This, in turn, depends on the discovery and characterization of binary companions for large numbers of different kinds of stars in different chemical and dynamical environments. Current stellar spectroscopic surveys observe hundreds of thousands to millions of stars with (typically) few observational epochs, which allows for binary discovery but makes orbital characterization challenging. We use a custom Monte Carlo sampler (The Joker) to perform discovery and characterization of binary systems through radial velocities, in the regime of sparse, noisy, and poorly sampled multi-epoch data. We use it to generate posterior samplings in Keplerian parameters for 232,495 sources released in APOGEE Data Release 16. Our final catalog contains 19,635 high-confidence close-binary (P ≲ few years, a ≲ few ) systems that show interesting relationships between binary occurrence rate and location in the color–magnitude diagram. We find notable faint companions at high masses (black hole candidates), at low masses (substellar candidates), and at very close separations (mass-transfer candidates). We also use the posterior samplings in a (toy) hierarchical inference to measure the long-period binary-star eccentricity distribution. We release the full set of posterior samplings for the entire parent sample of 232,495 stars. This set of samplings involves no heuristic "discovery" threshold and therefore can be used for myriad statistical purposes, including hierarchical inferences about binary-star populations and subthreshold searches.


Over the past 50 years, significant advances have been made in the characterization of radio-frequency/microwave (RF/MW) fields (3 kHz–300 GHz) and energy absorption, as well as in the quantification of biological responses of organisms exposed to this kind of electromagnetic energy. The known biological effects and hazards have been demonstrated to be largely thermal in nature. This paper reviews key developments in experimental and theoretical dosimetry, as well as confirmed biological effects that have formed the basis of ever more sophisticated human-exposure standards generated through the IEEE consensus process. It also suggests some potential benefits to mankind of systems based on the thermogenic character of RF/MW energy absorption.


In order to determine the parameters of belief-rule-base (BRB) accurately, several optimization methods have been proposed for training BRB, on the basis of a generic rule-base inference methodology using the evidential reasoning (RIMER) approach. These optimization methods are implemented offline, and such are not suitable for training BRB in a dynamic fashion. In this paper, two recursive algorithms are proposed to update BRB online that can simulate dynamic systems. The main feature of the proposed algorithms is that only partial input and output information is required, which can be incomplete or vague, numerical or judgmental, or mixed. If the internal structure of a BRB is initially decided using expert judgments, domain-specific knowledge and/or commonsense rules, the proposed algorithms can be used to fine-tune the initial BRB online, once input and output datasets become available. Using the proposed algorithms, there is no need to collect a complete set of data before a BRB can be trained, which is necessary if the BRB is used to simulate a dynamic system. A numerical example and a case study are reported to demonstrate the potential of the algorithms for online fault diagnosis.


Aims To gather information to plan a randomised controlled trial (RCT) assessing available medications for GORD in children with CP. Methods GORD in children with CP causes distress and pain, and may require hospital admission. There are approximately 8000 children with CP aged 5–16 in the UK and half of these children suffer from GORD. Many children with CP remain on drugs for GORD into adulthood with side-effects and cost-implications. These drugs have been assessed in healthy children but little is known about their benefits for children with CP. Further definition of this group is part of a research recommendation of the NICE Guidelines on managing GORD in children.1 Information from this service evaluation will contribute towards a planned RCT into currently used pharmacological treatments for GORD in children with CP. Understanding the communicative ability of children with significant CP (Gross Motor Functional Classification System level III-V) will help us ascertain how able these children will be to participate in symptom-based questionnaires. Our coding department identified all children within the region with an ICD-10 diagnosis of CP (G80) and GORD (K21), admitted between 01/01/05 and 31/12/15. 54 children were identified with CP and GORD: their records were screened and data collected on the anti-reflux medication prescribed, the length of time on each medication and their communicative ability. Results The most frequently prescribed anti-reflux medication was omeprazole (70%), with patients remaining on it for an average of 35 months (range 2–120 months). 30% patients had trialled ranitidine: on average for 19 months (4–35 months). Despite the recent MHRA alert of domperidone associated with cardiac side effects2 59% of children were on this medication for a comparatively long time: mean 38 months (range 1–104 months). 30% of patients assessed could converse, 41% used communication aids (Ipads or PECS) and a majority (65%) could indicate pain. Conclusion CP patients remain on a diverse range of anti-reflux medications and understanding the distribution of communicative ability helps effective research in these children, including the choice of outcome assessment tools.


Tianchi Volcano is the largest potential erupticve volcano in China. Analyzing these data on seismic monitoring, deformation observation and water chemistry investigation gained from the Tianchi Volcano Observatory(TVO), the authors consider that the Tianchi Volcano is in going into a new flourishing time.


It has been a pronounced concern for social service organisations (SSOs) on how to foster a sense of co-ownership amongst their employees. A total of 937 valid questionnaires were collected amongst social worker participants aged twenty-one to twenty-nine years working in three different places of China, namely, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. By confirming the hypotheses, the findings revealed that decent work and social support were positively associated with the collective psychological ownership (CPO) held by young adult social workers, and decent work enhanced CPO shared by them through an indirect mechanism of enhancing their social support at work. This is the first-ever study providing empirical evidence to support the association of decent work and social support with CPO amongst young adult employees in organisational context. The findings of this study can help inform the development of human resources management strategies for cultivating CPO, justify and expand the promotion of decent work in conjunction with the framework of psychology of working theory and interpersonal perspective, and inspire relevant research and practice with regard to the personal development of young adult social workers and the sustainable development of SSOs.


Extraction of germinating-lupin cocyledons, followed by ion-exchange and gel chromatography, gave two alpha-L-arabinofuranosidases and three beta-D-galactopyranosidases. Some fractions were further purified by using Concanavalin A-Sepharose. The changes in the activities of the enzymes during germination have been determined. Some kinetic and physical properties of these enzymes are described, and their role in the modification of cell-wall polysaccharides is discussed.


The formation of positive ions of antihydrogen H̄ via the three body reaction (i) e + e− + H̄→ e− + H̄ is considered. In reaction (i), free positrons e are incident on antihydrogen H̄ embedded in a gas of low-energy (∼ meV) electrons and, due to the positron-electron interaction, a positron is attached to H̄ whereas an electron carries away the energy excess. We compare reaction (i) with two radiative attachment mechanisms. One of them is (ii) spontaneous radiative attachment, in which the ion is formed due to spontaneous emission of a photon by a positron incident on H̄. The other is (iii) two-center dileptonic attachment which takes place in the presence of a neighboring atom B and in which an incident positron is attached to H̄ via resonant transfer of energy to B with its subsequent relaxation through spontaneous radiative decay. It is shown that reaction (i) can strongly dominate over mechanisms (ii) and (iii) for positron energies below 0.1 eV. It is also shown that at the energies considered reaction (i) will not be influenced by annihilation and that the reaction e + e + H̄→ e + H̄ has a vanishingly small rate compared to reaction (i).


The low-level sensory and motor signals in deep reinforcement learning, which exist in high-dimensional spaces such as image observations or motor torques, are inherently challenging to understand or utilize directly for downstream tasks. While sensory representations have been extensively studied, the representations of motor actions are still an area of active exploration. Our work reveals that a space containing meaningful action representations emerges when a multi-task policy network takes as inputs both states and task embeddings. Moderate constraints are added to improve its representation ability. Therefore, interpolated or composed embeddings can function as a high-level interface within this space, providing instructions to the agent for executing meaningful action sequences. Empirical results demonstrate that the proposed action representations are effective for intra-action interpolation and inter-action composition with limited or no additional learning. Furthermore, our approach exhibits superior task adaptation ability compared to strong baselines in Mujoco locomotion tasks. Our work sheds light on the promising direction of learning action representations for efficient, adaptable, and composable RL, forming the basis of abstract action planning and the understanding of motor signal space. Project page: https://sites.google.com/view/emergent-action-representation/


This study investigates whether perceptions of positive (i.e., beneficial) political behaviors are distinct from those of negative political behaviors and the extent to which positive politics perceptions contribute to the prediction of organizationally relevant employee reactions. Data were drawn from 119 survey respondents. The results indicate that, rather than 2 ends of a continuum of political behavior, positive and negative politics represent separate perceptions both of which are seen to occur for individual, group, and organizational foci. In addition, perceptions of positive politics contribute significantly beyond perceptions of negative politics to the prediction of the 4 outcomes used in this study (satisfaction with one's job, supervision, and coworkers; and fulfillment of one's psychological contract with the organization).


Australia, a major exporter of meat, has met and continues to meet the import requirements of various countries. It is free of many epizootic and zoonotic diseases and is eradicating bovine brucellosis and tuberculosis. Frequently, individual country requirements have not been relevant to the animal and public health status in Australia. Such a situation is unscientific, wasteful and unnecessary, and may divert priorities away from areas of major public and animal health significance which should be the main concern of consumers both in Australia and overseas. In recent years the Inspection Service of the Department of Primary Industry has reviewed meat inspection procedures necessary to protect public and animal health in Australia and in countries importing Australian meat. Priorities include attention to national or regional occurrence of disease in Australia and to the use of scientific principles in inspection, including disease identification, concepts of pathogenesis and effectiveness in removal of diseased tissue from meat. Revised post-mortem procedures for cattle, pigs, sheep and goats more relevant to disease occurrence and consideration of public health are described. In particular, this involves a reduction in the number of lymph node incisions. Future directions for meat inspection in Australia are postulated. Concern is expressed that the requirements of some importing countries are fixed in their legislation and consequently might inhibit desirable developments. In this context it is important that scientifically sound national codes for meat inspection of the exporting country be accepted by importing countries as providing public and animal health safeguards.


The article comments on a study of the labour conditions peculiarities of industrial rail-way engine operators and the epidemiology of hypertension disease in this professional group. 962 persons (both mechanics and their subordinates) were examined, all of them males, 20-59 years of age, with the duration of work: less than 10 years--366 cases, 11-20 years--483 cases, over 20 years--113 cases. The analysis of hypertension prevalence revealed that the morbidity rate was markedly higher among the engine teams' personnel as compared with the depot workers. The morbidity rate difference between the industrial rail-way engine mechanics and main-line engine mechanics was insignificant. The high morbidity rate necessitates improvements of the labour conditions, e.g. working shift cuts, establishment of physical rehabilitation and psycho-emotional relaxation units, as well as rational diet.


Baseline microvascular complications have been reported to affect the relationship of severe hypoglycemia (SH: needing assistance) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in DCCT/EDIC type 1 diabetes (T1D) cohort followed for ~ 30 years. We investigated if this finding holds true considering any presence/absence of renal/retinal disease (any RR: sustained AER >30 mg/24 h and/or eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2, and/or PDR and/or CSME) and whether it is bidirectional during longer follow up of >35 DCCT/EDIC years. DCCT/EDIC data provided by NIDDK CR were evaluated applying time dependent Cox models. Outcome was composite of CV death, myocardial infarct (MI), silent MI, revascularization, congestive heart failure, and angina. Subset SH (sSH) is SH with seizures and or loss of consciousness. Interaction between RR and SH (sSH) was evaluated and probed. During follow up, of 1441 patients (mean baseline age 27 ± 7 years, 47% women) 975 (660) had a SH (sSH) event, 741 experienced RR, and 222 had a CV event. All unadjusted (u) / adjusted (a) interactions (I) were significant: I(SH, RR) with p<0.05 (u) and p~0.01 (a), and I(sSH, RR) with p<0.01 (u) and <0.001 (a). Probing interactions showed: 1) In absence of SH or sSH, hazard ratio (HR) for RR was nonsignificant (ns): p>0.5, p>0.6, respectively. 2) In presence of SH or sSH, HR for RR was 1.74 [1.19, 2.53] p<0.01, 2.40 [1.46, 3.96] p<0.001, respectively. 3) In absence of RR, HR for SH and sSH was ns: p>0.4, p~0.08, respectively. 4) In presence of RR, HR for SH and sSH was 1.78 [1.22, 2.60] p<0.01 and 1.81 [1.28, 2.56] p<0.001, respectively. Subanalyses (stratification by SH (sSH) or RR absence / presence) were consistent. Our analyses provide additional evidence for multifactorial nature of relationship between SH and CVD. We demonstrate that SH increases strengths of association between any RR and CVD during > 35 years of follow up, and vice versa. This bidirectionality in a young cohort should be realized and considered in T1D management to identify individuals at higher CVD risk.

 E.R.Fahrmann: None. H.Driscoll: None.


Decision-feedback equalization is considered for point-to-point multiple-input multiple-output visible light communication systems. Based on the geometric mean decomposition (GMD) and uniform channel decomposition (UCD), two precoders under the signal non-negativity and total average power constraints are designed for such systems. The GMD scheme can decompose the channel into multiple parallel sub-channels with equal gains. The UCD scheme further improves performance through power allocation. Simulation results of bit-error-rate and capacity are presented. It is shown that the proposed schemes can outperform conventional linear designs and the UCD scheme performs better than the GMD scheme.


Introduction - Last Gasp or Renewal. Part 1 The Reorganisation of an Empire: The Union Treaty Fails Three Plus Eight - from USSR to CIS. Part 2 The Grand Debates - Whither, Whether and What?: Russia's "Great Power" Debate Foreign Policy in the Non-Russian States The Ukranian Perspective Alternative Confederal Concepts The Debate on Economic Integration On Constitutional and Parliamentary Processes The Military Debate. Part 3 The Formal Structure of the CIS: Introduction Major CIS Structural Agreements and Protocols. Part 4 CIS "Hot Spots" (Chronologies of Key Events): Introduction The Chechnya Conflict (1994-95) The Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict The Moldovan/"Dniester Republic" Conflict The Tajikistan Conflict. Part 5 Chronologies of Key CIS Developments: Introduction 1992 1993 1994 1995 (January-June). Part 6 Conclusion: The Russian Bloc - Hegemony, Cooperation and Conflict. Appendices.


Background and Aim: The medical equipment supply chain management is one of the main challenges for hospitals and medical centers. Meanwhile, military hospitals need more serious attention because of their critical position. The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the management of medical equipment supply chain in a military hospital in Tehran and finally evaluating the performance of the hospital in this regard. Methods: At first, by examining previous researches and interviewing with some of staff and hospital managers, the influential factors in the management of the medical equipment supply chain were identified. in this regard, The MAXQDA 2020 software was used for this purpose. Then, effective methods were weighed using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Finally, the current performance of the hospital was assessed using a questionnaire. Results: Based on the findings, the factors affecting the supply chain of medical equipment supply were divided into 5 general categories. These 5 categories which found their weights obtained from fuzzy AHP, respectively: Resources and stakeholders, internal operations management, sustainability, integrity and information management. Also, the results of the performance evaluation showed that the current condition of the hospital is 43%, which is actually less than the acceptable level. Conclusion: The importance of medical equipment supply chain management is not only due to its important role in the quality of treatment but also because of its major contribution to the hospital's operating budget. It should be noted that the factors affecting this issue are directly and indirectly related to each other. Finally, identifying weaknesses and proper planning to improve them can amend the condition of the hospital and ultimately enhance patient satisfaction.


Title of Document: USING COMMERCIAL RAY TRACING SOFTWARE TO DRIVE AN ATTENUATORBASED MOBILE WIRELESS TESTBED Keith Richard Taylor, Master of Science, 2012 Directed By: Professor Joseph Jaja Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering We propose and build a prototype architecture for a laboratory-based mobile wireless testbed that uses highly detailed, site-specific channel models to dynamically configure a many-to-many analog channel emulator. Unlike similar systems that have used abstract channel models with few details from the physical environment, we take advantage of commercial ray tracing software and high-performance hardware to make realistic signal power and characteristics predictions in a highly detailed environment. The ray tracing results are used to program a many-to-many analog channel emulator. Using this system, we can conveniently, repeatedly, and realistically subject real wireless nodes to the effects of mobility. We use our prototype system and a detailed CAD model of the University of Maryland campus to compare field test measurements to measurements made from the same devices in the same physical scenario in the testbed. This thesis presents the design, implementation, and validation phases of the proposed mobile wireless testbed. USING COMMERCIAL RAY TRACING SOFTWARE TO DRIVE AN ATTENUATOR-BASED MOBILE WIRELESS TESTBED


The creation and development of a tropical gothic is arguably the most important legacy of El Grupo de Cali, an interdisciplinary collective led by writer and film critic Andrés Caicedo Estela, and filmmakers Carlos Mayolo and Luis Ospina, during the 1970s in Colombia. In El Grupo's tropical gothic, the conventions of the literary and cinematic gothic undergo a process of transculturation and tropicalization. With this transformation, Caicedo, Mayolo and Ospina postulate a dark reality that is urban and violent, and in which youth have protagonist roles both as agents and victims of violence. The revival of the monster within this tropical gothic reveals itself as intrinsically linked not only to the influence of cinematic tropes such as Hollywood B-series vampire films, but also to the connections between local myths and legends and forms of structural violence rooted in socioeconomic, political, racial and sexual oppression. Beyond the development of a tropical gothic aesthetic, the innovations of Caicedo's literary writing include the insistence in locating youthful characters in urban, countercultural scenarios defined by elements of popular culture such as film, popular music, or drugs. These characteristics effectively locate his writings on the flip side of magical realism and act as complements to the Grupo's tropical gothic in their efforts to narrate the experience of the modern tropical Latin American city.


A study of the effect of growth of Trichinella spiralis in rats fed a folic-acid-deficient diet is described. Trichinella spiralis larvae encysted in the diaphragms of two groups-rats fed a folic acid-deficient diet and rats fed a complete (normal) diet-were examined. In rats fed a folic-acid-deficient diet, the number of the encysted larvae was larger than that in the controls. However, the encysted larvae were substantially longer in the control group of rats fed complete (normal) diets.


Purpose of reviewTextbook theory holds that extracellular fluids readily equilibrate, electrolyte concentrations in the extracellular fluid compartments are constant, and the kidney is solely responsible for controlling the body sodium content. Recent findingsInvestigation of salt and water balance traditionally relies on short-term studies of bodily responses to extremes in salt intake. Ultra-long-term sodium balance studies instead studied the kidney's response to constant salt intake. The studies suggest that steady-state sodium balance in humans is characterized by storage and release of sodium from the body. The absence of accompanying changes in the body fluid matrix indicates the presence of metabolically relevant sodium reservoir sites in the body. In rats and mice, sodium is stored in skeletal muscle and skin. Homeostatic immune cells control reservoir electrolyte metabolism via the lymphatics. Failure of this extrarenal clearance process results in skin electrolyte accumulation and arterial hypertension. Noninvasive detection of sodium reservoir metabolism in patients by 23NaMRi methodology allows rapid transfer into the clinical arena. SummaryBody sodium content in humans and animals is not constant, does not always readily equilibrate with water, and is not exclusively controlled by the kidneys. This different view provides with new research avenues for basic and clinical investigators.


Glu-tRNA{sup Glu} is synthesized from glutamate and tRNA{sup Glu} by glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS). Recent work has demonstrated that Glu-tRNA{sup Glu} has dual functions and is a precursor for protein and 5-aminolevulinate (ALA) synthesis. Current data does not provide compelling evidence for the notion that GluRS is regulated by chlorophyll precursors or in concert with the other enzymes of ALA synthesis. We have redefined the C5-pathway as a two-step route to ALA starting with Glu-tRNA{sup Glu}. Only two enzymes, Glu-tRNA reductase (GluTR) and GSA-2,1-amino-mutase (GSA-AM), are specifically involved in ALA synthesis. We have purified these enzymatic activities from Chlamydomonas and demonstrated that the two purified proteins in the presence of their cofactors NADPH and pyridoxal phosphate are sufficient for the in vitro Glu-tRNA {yields} ALA conversion. We have cloned the genes encoding GluTR. The sequences of the GluTR proteins deduced from these genes share highly conserved regions with those of bacterial origin. We havealso cloned and analyzed the gene encoding GSA-AM from Arabidopsis. As in Salmonella typhimurium, there are indications of the existence of an additional pathway for ALA formation in E. coli. To shed light on the recognition of the single tRNA{sup Glu} by the chloroplast enzymes GluTR, GluRS we characterized a chlorophyll-deficient mutant of Euglena having tRNA{sup Glu} with a point mutation in the T{Psi}C-loop. The altered tRNA supports protein but not ALA synthesis.


This novel system combines the separation capabilities of comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC×LC), and the specificity and sensitivity of triple quadrupole mass detection (MSMS). The hyphenation of the techniques generates a powerful analytical system, capable of extremely high-resolution power, as well as targeted and untargeted analysis, simultaneously. The so-called selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode in fact enhanced selectivity, reducing sample consumption and the need for tedious clean-up procedures, specifically for betacarotene quantification in a red chili pepper extract.


When mammalian cells are treated with alkali of pH at about 12, the cells are lysed and the released DNA starts to uncoil. This process of DNA strand separation is accelerated if the cells have been exposed to ionizing radiation, and the effect is clearly detectable in the dose range 10–100 rads. The rate of strand separation is also influenced by temperature and ionic strength of the alkaline solution. The kinetics of DNA strand separation in alkali is studied for three conditions in terms of ionic strength and temperature, chosen in such a way that the effect of irradiation may conveniently be studied in the dose range 10 rads to 20 krads. The accelerating effect of ionizing radiation on DNA strand separation is probably due to DNA strand breakage and the technique described is thus a sensitive method of studying such damage to DNA. A model for the strand-separation process, based on the assumption that strand breakage causes the accelerating effect, is proposed and found to describe the experimental data adequately.


A reaction of FeCl(2) with tris(2-pyridylthio)methane (tptmH) produced the carbanion complex [Fe(tptm)(CH(3)CN)(2)](FeCl(4)){(C(2)H(5))(3)NH}. When FeI(2) was used instead of FeCl(2), the carbene complex [FeI(pyt)(bptmd)] (pyt = 2-pyridinethiolate, bptmd = bis(2-pyridylthio)methylidene) was isolated. The carbene forms [FeX(pyt)(bptmd)](n+) (n = 1 for X = CH(3)CN, n = 0 for X = I) were observed for [Fe(tptm)(CH(3)CN)(2)](FeCl(4)){(C(2)H(5))(3)NH} and [FeI(pyt)(bptmd)] in chloroform, whereas the carbene-carbanion equilibrium was observed in acetonitrile by NMR measurements. The thermodynamic parameters were evaluated by variable temperature (1)H NMR measurements using the diamagnetic salt [Fe(tptm)(CH(3)CN)(2)]PF(6) for [Fe(tptm)(CH(3)CN)(2)](+)⇆ [Fe(pyt)(bptmd)(CH(3)CN)](+) + CH(3)CN (ΔH = 23 kJ mol(-1), ΔS = 55 J mol(-1) K(-1)).


Interphase and mitotic nuclei of Zygorhynchus moelleri were examined by serial sections of cells fixed with a conventional procedure incorporating an enzymatic cell wall degrading pretreatment (CF) and with a freeze substitution process (FS). CF is superior for analysis of nucleus-associated organelles (NAO) and the nuclear envelope. FS is best for microtubules because, during interphase, it alone retains a population of about 10 short intranuclear microtubules and also preserves more NAO-associated cytoplasmic microtubules. However, during mitosis, while FS gives clearer images of spindles, both procedures show the same numbers and types of spindle and cytoplasmic microtubules, thus supporting the use of enzyme pretreatment schedules for studies of fungal spindles. Mitosis characteristically utilizes about 6 presumptive kinetochore microtubules which remain very short (0.04-0.18 mum) and clustered around the spindle poles throughout mitosis. The rest of the spindle initially contains both interdigitating and continuous microtubules which elongate, reduce in numbers, and probably slide apart as the spindle elongates. The variously oriented, NAO-associated cytoplasmic microtubules do not appear to aid in spindle elongation. Chromatin remains dispersed throughout the nuclear cycle. The presence of presumptive kinetochore microtubules clarifies earlier reports on this group of fungi, but their unusual behaviour supports previous suggestions about the primitive nature of the spindle.


In what ways may a one-party system advance democratic development? Democratic development requires an understanding of the process of institutionalization and the ways in which institutionalization may be promotive of nonviolent elite competition, even within one-party systems. This directs our attention to the hierarchy of institutionalized organizations and conflict systems that constitute a party system, namely, government, parties, and factions. Although neglected in research on party politics, factions are capable of creating conditions favorable to democratic development, including nonviolent competition among elites, party pluralism, and popular participation in electoral and other institutions of national politics. The centerpiece of factionalism is the party's nominating process, another relatively neglected subject of inquiry. Several principles of institutionalization are suggested by the experience with factionalism in the United States and other nations.


We have performed semiempirical tight-binding calculations of the electronic structure of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7/, with d and s orbitals included for all the metal atoms and p and s orbitals for the oxygen. Here we report studies of the following atomic substitutions: Al, Fe, Co, Ni, and Zn replacing Cu; Sr and La replacing Ba; Tl, Pb, and Bi replacing Y; and F and N replacing O. In each case, the modification of the local densities of states, the atomic valences, and the Fermi energy were calculated.