Abstract:Mary Seacole's memoir Wonderful Adventures is recognized for its negotiation of various genres of Victorian writing, including autobiography, travel writing, the slave narrative, and a burgeoning Caribbean tradition of letters. It is a text which is usually interpreted through conventions of Empire, or through the lens of Postcolonial studies. Attempting to bridge this either/or approach, this article focuses on Seacole's construction of narrative commonalities: I ask, why would a woman so clearly bent on defying the limitations placed on her by gender and race, and whose achievements appear so exceptionally individual, undergird her narrative with constant references to collective identities—often in their most stereotypical abstractions? To answer this question, I engage in close readings that explore the tension between the typical and the specific though Seacole's use of terminology, focalization and passive voice, and the repeated use of antiphonal structures such as an AAB pattern. I show how Seacole's self-representation, and her reference to black communities and individuals, draw on trickster sensibilities, thus expanding previous readings of her text that consider her either subversive or complicit in the imperial project. I suggest that Seacole injects Jamaican and black Atlantic sensibilities into her text, even as she uses Victorian rhetorical devices, making the two traditions complementary—as they seem to be in her life.


One can only applaud O'Hara's call for further research into magmatic processes that take place at and near oceanic spreading centers (EOS, June 15, 1982). In particular, the desirability of having deep drill holes close to active spreading centers is indisputable and needs no elaboration. One of the major reasons for encouraging further research on midocean ridge basalt (MORB) petrogenesis is the need to resolve a controversy now being debated in the literature over the composition and depth of origin of primary MORB magmas [Rhodes, 1982]. O'Hara [1968a] and, recently, several others [Green et al., 1979; Stolper, 1980; Elthon and Scarfe, 1980] have argued that primary MORB magmas are picritic in composition and generated at various pressures from 15 to 30 kbar, depending on the author. Others contend that primary MORB magmas are close in composition to the least-fractionated MORB glasses (which are not picritic but have mg numbers as high as 73) and are generated at more moderate pressures of about 8–10 kbar [Green and Ringwood, 1967; Kushiro, 1973; Presnall et al., 1979]. O'Hara did not mention any of the recent papers that disagreed with his concept of picritic primary magmas at spreading centers. In order to restore some balance, the following brief discussion is offered.


To test the contributions of processing to L2 syntax learning, this study explores (cross-) linguistic and cognitive predictors of sentence reanalysis in the L2 comprehension of relative clauses among low-intermediate L1 German adolescent learners of L2 English. Specifically, we test the degree to which L2 comprehension is affected by L2 proficiency, reanalysis ability in a related, earlier-acquired L2 structure (questions), reanalysis ability of relative clauses in the L1, cognitive control, and cognitive capacity. In visual-world eye-tracking experiments, 141 adolescent German-speaking L2 learners of English selected target pictures for auditorily presented questions and relative clauses in the L1 and in the L2. The results showed a strong subject preference for L2 relative clauses. Learners' L2 proficiency and their processing of object questions in the L2 predicted reanalysis for object relatives in eye movements, reaction times, and comprehension accuracy. In contrast, there was no evidence that cognitive control or working memory systematically affected the processing of object relatives. These findings suggest that linguistic processing outweighs cognitive processing in accounting for individual differences in low-intermediate L2 acquisition of complex grammar. Specifically, learners recruit shared processing mechanisms and routines across grammatical structures to pave a way in the acquisition of syntax.


Migraine is a chronic, painful, and often disabling primary headache disorder, typically presenting with recurrent attacks that may be accompanied by a variety of neurological, gastrointestinal, and autonomic symptoms. Gastrointestinal symptoms in association with migraine including, nausea, vomiting, and gastroparesis, affect a large proportion of migraine sufferers. These symptoms may result in delays or inconsistencies in the absorption of oral treatments. Hence, the necessity for an innovative, non-invasive, parenteral delivery formulation for quick and effective treatment of migraine attacks is evident. Iontophoresis utilizes minimal amounts of electrical potential to support the fast transfer of ionized medication transdermally and into the general circulation. Two pharmacokinetic clinical trials have shown that iontophoretic delivery of sumatriptan through the skin produces quick and reproducible therapeutic plasma concentrations. A randomized, double-blind, multicenter, phase III study demonstrated superior efficacy versus placebo and excellent tolerability, with no triptan-related adverse events. The proportion of patients that were pain-free at 2 h post-treatment was 18% for the sumatriptan patch vs 9% for placebo (P = 0.0092; number needed to treat = 11.1). Upon approval from the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities, the iontophoretic transdermal delivery of sumatriptan will be a good choice for patients experiencing poor absorption of oral medication often associated with migraine and/or for those with intolerable triptan-related adverse events.


A LTHOUGH widely referred to as the noble grain through much of Latin America, coffee was produced by a broad variety of social elements, from the peasantry to the plutocracy. Unlike its sister tropical export crop, sugar, coffee cultivation did not always require large production units or farm sizes, nor heavy capital investment in mechanization. While large coffee plantations emerged in several regions, such as slave-based Brazil, Guatemala, and El Salvador, no general farm size characterized the activity in Latin America. Indeed, of all of the major agricultural export activities developed in the region after the midnineteenth century, coffee was perhaps the most reconcilable, in certain contexts, with small-scale landownership and cultivation. References to smallholding in coffee cultivation appeared quite frequently in early twentieth-century works praising the alleged positive, democratic consequences of smallholding, particularly in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica. The study of smallholders themselves has been advanced recently by works on Puerto Rico by Pic6 and Bergad, on Venezuela by Roseberry, and on Italians in Brazil by Holloway.' Beyond


Recent advances in data collection, computing power, and theoretical modeling have stimulated a growing literature in economics and political science studying how social networks affect policy making. We survey this literature focusing on two main aspects. First, we discuss the literature studying how (and if) social connections in Congress affect legislative behavior. We then discuss how social connections affect the relationship between policy makers and the outside world, focusing on lobbying; the importance of family, caste, and ethnic networks; and social media and public activism. In our discussion, we highlight the key methodological challenges in this literature, how they have been addressed, and the prospects for future research.


Operational measurements of the O2 concentration in the combustion chamber of a pulverized coal boiler are not yet common practice. Operators are generally satisfied with measuring the O2 concentration in the second pass of the boiler, usually behind the economizer, where a flue gas sample is extracted for analysis in a classical analyzer. A disadvantage of this approach is that there is a very weak relation between the measured value and the condition in specific locations in the fireplace, e.g. the function of the individual burners and the combustion process as a whole. A new extractionline was developed for measuring the O2 concentration in the combustion chamber. A planar lambda probe is used in this approach. The extraction line is designed to get outputs that can be used directly for diagnosis or management of the combustion in the boiler.


Using an interface between Cu/Ti as an example, two HREM‐based image analysis techniques, strain mapping and iterative digital image matching, are compared. The validity limit of these techniques is discussed as a function of specimen thickness and microscope technology. Two criteria are used to assess the limits: (i) the difference between two geometric phase maps, one calculated in image plane and one in object plane, and (ii) a difference image from two HREM simulations of two structure models differing in one atomic column. The latter displays the overall delocalisation of information by the microscope due to diffraction and imaging. It is outlined how far images and strain maps, obtained for high‐voltage microscopy at 1250 kV and CS correction at 200 kV, are identical. Both techniques exhibit a significantly increased regime of applicability of strain mapping near defect cores. Simulations for a 400 kV HREM and a 300 kV FEGTEM with and without focal series reconstruction complement the study.


The study is devoted to the carved verandahs with window-veils, balconies and galleries in the traditions of Asia and the Middle East. Areas of occurrence of perforations in a masonry, trenches of remote parts of the house in different cultures and traditions are observed. Hypotheses on the appearance of mashrabiya embryos in Egypt and Iraq are outlined. Varieties of mashrabiyas are distinguished in Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India. Regional variants of carved balconies and verandas names in different countries of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are described. Understanded regional variants of the names of carved balconies and verandas in different countries of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Specifically, examples include Ma'aga and Shabbak in Yemen, Pyshka in Iran, Shushabandi in Georgia, Shushaband in Armenia, Shebeke in Azerbaijan. The existing information on the aspects of the use of one or another vocabulary is made taking into account the specifics of use in civil or sacred buildings, the belonging to the external or internal facade of the building, the essence of the appointment of the remote parts of the building with carved decorative elements, the geography of the origin of the definition, etc. Varieties of mashrabs are distinguished in Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India. The regional variant of carved balconies and verandas names is described in different countries of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Characterized by the genesis and functions of this type of small architectural form. The specifics of the way of life in different countries of the world are specified, where Mashrabiya can be combined with glazed windows in a wooden frame (Shebeke), a patterned wall (perforation as in the village of Ab'yane in Iran), «refrigerators» in Yemen, the Aywanes in Armenia, etc. Examples of carved ensembles of verandas, terraces and balconies of above mentioned countries are presented, chronological boundaries of the distribution of similar ensembles are outlined.


Paired samples of amniotic fluid and coelomic fluid were obtained by transvaginal ultrasound guided amniocentesis from 15 women with an ultrasonographically normal pregnancy between 8 and 12 weeks' gestation. Vitamins A and E were measured in the two pregnancy fluids and in maternal serum by high performance liquid chromatography with detection by ultraviolet absorption and fluorimetry respectively. Concentrations of vitamins A and E were higher in maternal serum than in coelomic fluid and were generally undetectable in amniotic fluid. All differences in concentration were significant. The vitamin E/cholesterol ratio was similar in maternal serum and coelomic fluid. No correlation was shown between the vitamin concentrations in the three fluids. These findings suggest that the coelomic cavity plays a part in the maternofetal exchange


BACKGROUND
Carotid angioplasty and stenting is under investigation in clinical trials as an alternative to endarterectomy. Some clinicians have hypothesized that stenting would be applicable for patients at high risk who need carotid revascularization. To further test this hypothesis, we stratified our carotid endarterectomy procedures according to current carotid stent protocols.

METHODS
We reviewed our computerized registry and the clinical charts of patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy. Each procedure was categorized as high risk or low risk, according to the following six separate high-risk factors: 1, severe cardiac dysfunction; 2, the requirement for combined coronary and carotid vascularization; 3, severe pulmonary dysfunction; 4, contralateral internal carotid artery occlusion; 5, previous ipsilateral carotid endarterectomy; and 6, anatomically limited access for carotid endarterectomy. Rates of stroke at 30 days, cardiac complications, and death were tabulated.

RESULTS
Between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2000, 415 carotid endarterectomies were performed on 389 patients. Ninety-eight procedures (23.6%) were classified as high risk on the basis of the following factors: 1, severe cardiac dysfunction (n = 30); 2, requirement for combined coronary and carotid revascularization (n = 14); 3, severe pulmonary dysfunction (n = 8); 4, contralateral carotid occlusion (n = 31); 5, previous ipsilateral carotid endarterectomy (n = 25); and 6, anatomically limited access (n = 4). Seven patients had ipsilateral postoperative strokes (1.7%), with two additional patients having contralateral hemispheric strokes. One patient died from exacerbation of congestive heart failure 9 days after undergoing a second carotid endarterectomy. The total stroke and death rate was 2.6% for all the patients. Two of the 98 procedures in the high-risk group were complicated with ipsilateral stroke (2.0%) as compared with six of the 317 low-risk procedures (1.9%; P = 1). Six procedures were complicated with cardiac dysfunction after surgery, including myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or the new onset of atrial fibrillation. Three cardiac complications occurred in the low-risk group (1%), and three occurred in the high-risk group (3.1%; P =.15).

CONCLUSION
This series shows that patients at high risk can undergo carotid endarterectomy with stroke rates equivalent to the rates of patients at low risk. The cardiac morbidity rate may be increased in the high-risk group. Carotid stenting is unlikely to offer any improvement in stroke risk as compared with carotid endarterectomy, but stenting may reduce non-stroke morbidity rates associated with some high-risk cases.


Extant literature suggests minimal research in the area of system reliability of components used in the design of these UAS (Unmanned Air Systems), thus, subjecting UAS to critical failures that may pose a safety hazard to flight operations. The purpose of the study was to critically assess the reliability of a laboratory designed UAS component test-bed operated using real-world data collected from a Boeing Scan Eagle UAS aileron servo unit via a flight data recorder. The study hypothesized that the test-bed unit's replicating a UAS aileron servo motor's reliability, in terms of a base-line measured encoder output of commanded servo positions, will not be significantly different after double and triple periods of time for continuous operating cycles. Study adds to paucity of extant research on UAS reliability and recommends further studies on commercial UAS components reliability and time to failure.


This commentary summarizes the history and reclassification of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclei (NIFTP). It reviews the salient histopathologic features that are based on immunohistochemical and molecular profiles and serve as inclusion and exclusion criteria. The authors also provide their own point of view regarding the practical issues and possible concerns that may be raised by both clinicians and patients based on the diagnosis of NIFTP.

ABBREVIATIONS
AACE = American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists EFVPTC = encapsulated FVPTC FNA = fine-needle aspiration FVPTC = follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma NIFTP = noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features PTC = papillary thyroid carcinoma.


Abstract Well-preserved insect wings are reported in weakly consolidated lacustrine shale from the Grubstake Formation, Upper Miocene of Suntrana Creek, central Alaska. 40Ar/39Ar dating of an immediately overlying volcanic ash indicates an age of slightly more than 6.7 ± 0.1 Ma, or approximately one million years before the opening of the Bering land bridge. The insects include four genera and two subfamilies of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae and Dolichoderinae), a species of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera), three genera and families of flies (Diptera: Chironomidae [genus indet.], Bibionidae [Bibio] and Lonchaeidae [Dasiops]), and the elytra of curculionid and carabid beetles. Extant distributions of the flies and possibly the ichneumonid include northerly latitudes around Suntrana. The ants are attributable to the extant genera Dolichoderus or Tapinoma (Dolichoderinae), Solenopsis or Erebomyrma (Myrmicinae), as well as Veromessor and Novomessor (Myrmicinae), indicating extensive biogeographic contraction to more southern latitudes of North America today. These finds are consistent with evidence from a slightly younger deposit from the uppermost Miocene (5.7 Ma) of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Implications are discussed regarding the differential effects of climate change and land bridges on the dispersal of various insect taxa.


This article studies sports league expansion and consumer welfare. The author assumes that as a sports league expands, the average quality of playing talent falls, and each fan sees superstars fewer times per season. Expansion thus imposes a negative externality on existing fans. If all revenues come from local sources, such as gate receipts and local media, then the optimal league size (which maximizes total fan utility net of team opportunity costs) is the same as the monopoly league size that maximizes total league profits, but the competitive (free entry) league size is too large. If all revenues are national, split evenly, and where a broadcast network charges a uniform national price to viewers, the optimal league size is between the larger competitive size and the smaller monopoly league size. The more elastic the supply of talent is, the closer the competitive size is to the optimum.


We are reporting a novel synthetic approach to prepare organic modified Ba-hexaferrite nanocrystals with controlled size and morphology under a supercritical water (SCW) flow reactor process. The surface of the Ba-hexaferrite nanocrystal was capped with oleic acid ligand to control the particle growth, size, and morphology. The results showed that the concentration of oleic acid reagent played a key role in controlling the cubic and octahedral shape of Ba-hexaferrite nanocrystals. This indicates that the size and morphology of nanocrystals were greatly influenced by the organic modification under the SCW process, resulting in a drastic reduction in the particle size from 30 to 9 nm. The organic ligand capped Ba-hexaferrite nanocrystals exhibit a higher coercivity (about 2800 Oe) at 5 and 280 K temperature. This study provides a novel approach for large-scale production of complex metal oxide colloidal nanocrystals with uniform size, well-defined shape, and controlled surface chemistry.


Diabetes is an endocrine disorder which is known by abnormal high blood glucose levels. There are two main categories of diabetes: type I (10%–15%) and type II (85%–90%). Although type II is more common, type I is the most common form in children. Diabetic retinopathy (DR), which remains the foremost cause of losing vision in working-age populations, can be considered as the main complication of diabetes mellitus. So choosing the best method for diagnosing, tracking, and treating the DR is vital to enhance the quality of life and decrease the medical expenses. Each method for diagnosing DR has some advantages and the best way must be selected according to the points that we need to find. For writing this manuscript, we made a list of relevant keywords including diabetes, DR, pathophysiology, ultrawide field imaging, fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence tomography-angiography, and then we started searching for studies in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. This review article covers the pathophysiology of DR and medical imaging techniques to monitor DR. First, we introduce DR and its pathophysiology and then we present the medical imaging techniques to monitor it.


The useful practical land shall be reserved when an artificial land covers the railway and road. However, the problem is that since the artificial land places directly on the top of noise sources likely on the railway and road there will arise the weak points, noise and vibration. On this study based on creating the artificial land on the top of a railway vehicle base and placing a tenement on that land, it was comprehended the noise influence from the railway car through the simulation. In order to secure the input value for the simulation, at first measured the noise condition of the railway station building and the railway vehicle base. The output value for the railway station building (place A) was around (53.6~57.6) dB(A), the equivalent continuous sound level for an hour, and for the railway station building (place B) it was around (63.7~68.9) dB. The maximum outdoor noise of the tenement on the artificial land was measured as 64.1 dB(A) under the fixed condition on the simulation modeling. The built purpose of placing the artificial land to prevent the noise influence from the railway met the expectation to be less influenced on the tenement. Rather, because of placing the artificial land the noise level on the lower space could be increased so there requires having a noise control.


There are two sources of errors in any finite element based life prediction model: the finite element mesh and assumptions, and the material properties used -specifically the constitutive model used to describe the behavior of solder joints during temperature cycling. The use of these assumptions may prohibit the application of life prediction model to conditions beyond the ones used to develop the model. The author has previously proposed life prediction models for SnPb and SnAgCu solder joints using advanced finite element modeling techniques such as sub-structuring and multi-point constraints. The assumptions were necessary to increase the efficiency of solution with available computing power. With the advances in computing technology, these assumptions are no longer necessary, and more accurate life prediction can be achieved by eliminating most of the modeling assumptions. In this paper, the updated life prediction model parameters for SnAgCu solder joints are presented without the use of sub-structuring and multi-point constraints. All joints for a particular package-board interconnection are modeled as having non-linear properties. In addition, a detailed mesh refinement study is done to determine the minimum mesh density required to yield near mesh-independent results. In addition to modeling assumptions, the constitutive equation used for solder joints may also influence the life prediction model parameters. To investigate this further, the creep behavior of SnAgCu solder joints is represented by using published constitutive equations (double power law creep and hyperbolic sine equation). The results show a significant influence of constitutive equation on creep strain based life prediction model but minimum impact when energy density based approach is used


ABSTRACT This paper explores the challenges and prospects of inclusive education for learners with disabilities in the integrated education system in Kenyan primary schools. Data were collected in five and nine public schools in Nairobi and Marsabit respectively, by means of questionnaires administered to 126 teachers, semi-structured interviews with 14 head teachers or their deputies, and one focus group discussion. County education officials were also interviewed. The findings reveal that although the integrated education system is dominant in Kenya, local schools that accommodate learners with disabilities put much effort into creating an inclusive setting. This paper appreciates the challenges and potential associated with inclusive education and thus recommends deeper reflection on the operationalisation of inclusive policies in the context of Kenya.


This two years master's thesis in Library and Information Sciences aims to investigate and put the services of 118100 Svar Pa Allt (SPA, an SMS mobile question and answer service) and Fraga biblioteket (FB, a library operated e-mail reference service) into the context of the reference encounter. Questions sent to SPA and their subsequent answers are analysed, and part of these questions are forwarded to FB for comparative studies. Both of the formats are compared to the reference encounter as a whole. The framing of the question originates in the assumption that there may be a need for further negotiation of the questions submitted to the aforementioned formats. Do SPA and FB constitute formats different enough from the reference encounter to imply that the question at hand already has gone through the apropiate negotiations? These compressed and asynchronous reference services are not only compared to the synchronous reference, but are also examined as reference services in their own right. How does the e-mail reference and the SMS services fare against each other and the "regular" reference encounter? Findings in the analysis are subjected to appliable INSU theories, especially Robert S. Taylors thoughts on question negotitation and Nicholas Belkins et al regarding anomalous states of knowledge. Further major contributors are Marie L. Radford concerning the reference encounter and Reijo Savolainen on everyday information practices. The study found several occasions where a personal, or at least synchronous, reference encounter would have been decidedly more helpful than that of the electronic services. However, the larger majority of the questions analysed turned out to be completed in formulation for the compressed, asynchronous format. The e-mails of FB can to some extent work as an intermediary service since it is more allowing lengthwise than SPA and gives more of an opportunity to redirect towards more exhaustive sources.


Wireless Mesh Networks play an important role in the next production wireless communication systems as it can support broadband services with omnipresent coverage and low transmission power with high capacity and high processing power. The efficiency of mesh networks is further improved by a routing path determination mechanism that considers most of the causes of transmissions failures. Our proposed routing metric takes into account transmissions failures by considering the backoff mechanism used in IEEE 802.11 networks and assign weights to each path. These weights act as a metric in route selection among different paths. The proposed scheme further utilizes this metric to provide load balancing. Consequently this metric helps the routing protocols to balance traffic and avoids traffic through congested paths.


With the advent of high-energy-density (HED) experimental facilities, such as high-energy lasers and fast Z-pinch, pulsed-power facilities, millimeter-scale quantities of matter can be placed in extreme states of density, temperature, and/or velocity. This has enabled the emergence of a new class of experimental science, HED laboratory astrophysics, wherein the properties of matter and the processes that occur under extreme astrophysical conditions can be examined in the laboratory. Areas particularly suitable to this class of experimental astrophysics include the study of opacities relevant to stellar interiors, equations of state relevant to planetary interiors, strong shock-driven nonlinear hydrodynamics and radiative dynamics relevant to supernova explosions and subsequent evolution, protostellar jets and high Mach number flows, radiatively driven molecular clouds and nonlinear photoevaporation front dynamics, and photoionized plasmas relevant to accretion disks around compact objects such as black holes and neutron stars.


We investigate the effect of roton backflow on the scattering of atoms, rotons and phonons at the free surface of superfluid 4He at T=0 K by including backflow semi-phenomenologically in the form of a backflow potential in the theory of Sobnack et al. [M. B. Sobnack, J. C. Inkson, and J. C. H. Fung, Phys. Rev. B 60, 3465 (1999)]. We assume that all the surface scattering processes are elastic and that the quasiparticles and atoms are incident obliquely to the free surface. We calculate probabilities for the various one-to-one surface scattering processes allowed for a range of energies and compare the scattering rates with those obtained when backflow is neglected.


This study was conducted on breast feeding initiation and support: A literature review of what women value and impact of early discharge. Breastfeeding is when feed the baby breast milk, usually directly from breast. It's also called nursing. Early or timely initiation of breastfeeding, specifically within one hour of birth, refers to the best practice recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO). The first six months of life have higher growth velocity and are also the vulnerable period for nutrition related health events in infants. There is strong evidence that breastfed infants are at a reduced risk of being overweight or obese during childhood. Evidence from a meta analysis suggests the risk of overweight was reduced by 4% for every month of breastfeeding up to nine months of age. Standard protocol of the systematic literature review was used in this study. The search was undertaken from June to August 2021. This drew on published literature in the electronic bibliographic databases of: Academic Search Complete, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), Global Health, MEDLINE Web of Knowledge and Scopus and supplemented by scanning the reference lists of papers included for review. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) tools were used to assess the qualitative and quantitative studies. The search strategy retrieved 150 studies. After applying the process of selection, 19 studies were included for review. This study suggests that less than half of Indian mothers initiated breastfeeding within one hours of post birth (41.5%), with a significant difference in both rural (41.0%) and urban (43.0%) Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) prevalence.


Abstract Drought and salt stress are important abiotic stressors that adversely affect the growth, resistance and survival of plants. Haloxylon ammodendron is a strong halophyte, and its hydraulic characteristics and carbon metabolism response to drought and salt stress under natural conditions have not been widely studied. With H. ammodendron as the research object, three sample plots with different water and salt contents (high water and high salt, medium salt in reclaimed water, low water and low salt) were selected to determine their water physiology, photosynthetic physiology, carbon physiology and growth status under different water and salt conditions. Studies have shown that drought and salinity affect the hydraulic properties of H. ammodendron, reducing the water content and water potential of assimilation branches and secondary branches and increasing the hydraulic conductivity per unit cross-sectional area of biennial shoots. Affected by drought, the content of non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) in assimilation branches and secondary branches was significantly reduced, and the NSC content of assimilating branches was significantly higher than that in secondary branches. The transportation of NSCs to the secondary branches caused obstacles, and more accumulated in the assimilating branches. In addition, drought reduced H. ammodendron photosynthesis and carbon assimilation and limited carbon uptake, resulting in slower growth. Under the influence of drought and salinity, the anisohydric properties of H. ammodendron weakened its stomatal regulation ability and made it susceptible to water transport obstacles, but the degree of carbon limitation was relatively small.


Abstract The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is a major pest of corn in Kansas. Planting Bt corn hybrids resistant to this pest is being tested for control of the larval stage of corn rootworms. These hybrids express the Cry3Bb1 toxin and are expected to only directly impact chrysomelids and possibly related taxa. A 2-yr study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Bt corn expressing the Cry3Bb1 toxin on foliar and ground-dwelling nontarget arthropods in Kansas. Visual inspections of adult and immature Coleomegilla maculata (DeGeer), Orius insidiosus (Say), Hippodamia convergens Gurin-Meneville, and Scymnus spp. occurring in Bt corn and its isoline were made at eight locations in Kansas in 2000 and three locations in 2001. Pitfall traps were installed at three locations in 2000 and two locations in 2001 to collect ground-dwelling arthropods in Bt corn and its isoline. In general, no significant differences in numbers of C. maculata, O. insidiosus, H. convergens, and Scymnus spp. were detected between Bt corn and its non-Bt isoline. There were also no significant differences in number of insects collected in pitfall traps installed in plots of Bt corn and its isoline. Bt corn for corn rootworm control had no deleterious effects on beneficial and other nontarget arthropods sampled in this study.


Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), the first reported human oncogenic retrovirus, is the etiologic agent of highly aggressive, currently incurable diseases such as adult T-cell leukemia–lymphoma (ATL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). HTLV-1 proteins, including Tax and HBZ, have been shown to have critical roles in HTLV-1 pathogenicity, yet the underlying mechanisms of HTLV-1-driven leukemogenesis are unclear. The frequent disruption of genetic and epigenetic gene regulation in various types of malignancy, including ATL, is evident. In this review, we illustrate a focused range of topics about the establishment of HTLV-1 memory: (1) genetic lesion in the Tax interactome pathway, (2) gene regulatory loop/switch, (3) disordered chromatin regulation, (4) epigenetic lock by the modulation of epigenetic factors, (5) the loss of gene fine-tuner microRNA, and (6) the alteration of chromatin regulation by HTLV-1 integration. We discuss the persistent influence of Tax-dependent epigenetic changes even after the disappearance of HTLV-1 gene expression due to the viral escape from the immune system, which is a remaining challenge in HTLV-1 research. The summarized evidence and conceptualized description may provide a better understanding of HTLV-1-mediated cellular transformation and the potential therapeutic strategies to combat HTLV-1-associated diseases.


It is demonstrated that a graphene‐based film (GBF) functionalized with silane molecules strongly enhances thermal performance. The resistance temperature detector results show that the inclusion of silane molecules doubles the heat spreading ability. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations show that the thermal conductivity (κ) of the GBF increased by 15%–56% with respect to the number density of molecules compared to that with the nonfunctionalized graphene substrate. This increase in κ is attributed to the enhanced in‐plane heat conduction of the GBF, resulting from the simultaneous increase of the thermal resistance between the GBF and the functionalized substrate limiting cross‐plane phonon scattering. Enhancement of the thermal performance by inserting silane‐functionalized molecules is important for the development of next‐generation electronic devices and proposed application of GBFs for thermal management.


In the last decade, the fossil fuel divestment (FFD) movement has emerged as a key component of an international grassroots mobilization for climate justice. Using a text analysis of Facebook pages for 144 campaigns at higher education institutions (HEIs), this article presents an overview and analysis of the characteristics of the higher education (HE) FFD movement in the US. The results indicate that campaigns occur at a wide array of HEIs, concentrated on the east and west coasts. Primarily student led, campaigns set broad goals for divestment, while reinvestment is often a less clearly defined objective. Campaigns incorporate a mixture of environmental, social, and economic arguments into their messaging. Justice is a common theme, used often in a broad context rather than towards specific populations or communities impacted by climate change or other social issues. These insights contribute to the understanding of the HE FFD movement as ten years of campus organizing approaches. In particular, this study illustrates how the movement is pushing sustainability and climate action in HE and in broader society towards a greater focus on systemic change and social justice through campaigns' hardline stance against fossil fuels and climate justice orientation.


Scientific establishment of the overall role of coronary artery bypass surgery in the management of patients with coronary disease is probably one of the most pressing issues in medicine in the United States today. It inherently embodies major medical, social, and economic implications. Controversy continues to abound in many areas concerning indications, contraindications, accuracy of diagnosis, mortality, morbidity, importance of patient age, relief of symptoms, improvement in measured physical performance, effect on sudden death, prolongation of longevity, hemodynamic change, amelioration of congestive heart failure, effect on rhythm disturbances, importance of collaterals, graft patency, return of symptoms, myocardial infarction rate, mechanisms of action, and patient rehabilitation potential and cost-effectiveness. Strong stances are taken by experts ranging from the ultraconservative to the ultra-aggressive ends of the spectrum. Working through this maze of conflicts becomes a difficult task for the physician seeking to advise his patients in good conscience. No difficulty lies with


Introduction: The most common causes of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB) in women of reproductive age are uterine polyps. Operative hysteroscopy is the management of choice to remove polyp. However, the certainty of the treatment remains to be examined. Aim: To investigate the outcome of hysteroscopy polypectomy in women with AUB. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on the samples of women with AUB who underwent a hysteroscopy polypectomy. Patients were assessed pre and postoperatively and were asked to respond to a number of outcome measures including duration of monthly cycle, menstruation cycle, heavy menstrual bleeding, the number of pads used in day and night and improvement of inter-menstrual bleeding, postcoital bleeding, and limited activity. Pre-and postsurgery data were compared using Wilcoxon and McNemar tests. Results: In all, 83 patients were entered into the study. The mean age of participants was 41.8 (±8.37) years. The most common preoperative complaint was heavy menstrual bleeding (n=63, 76%) followed by intermenstrual bleeding (n=40, 48%). There were significant differences between preoperative and postoperative symptoms (p-values <0.05). Perceived complete recovery (n=54, 65%), partial recovery (n=13, 15.7%) and satisfaction (n=66, 79.5%) were high after hysteroscopy. Conclusion: AUB due to polyp might be improved with hysteroscopy. Further investigations are needed to confirm the results and to study on co-existence of other causes of AUB after hysteroscopy polypectomy.


Field bindweed ( Convolvulus arvensis L.) is one of the most serious
weeds in potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.), but selective herbicides
controlling this weed have not been reported. A field experiment was
conducted in 2010 and repeated in 2011 in Greece to study the efficacy
of herbicides flumioxazin and sulfosulfuron, applied pre- or
post-emergence, on field bindweed and redroot pigweed ( Amaranthus
retroflexus L.), as well as their phytotoxicity on potato. Gas
chromatography-mass spectrography (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) analyses were conducted for possible herbicide
residues in potato tubers. Also, the efficacy of these herbicides on
field bindweed generated from root fragments was investigated in
greenhouse pot experiments. In pots, both herbicides provided 78% to
100% control of field bindweed generated from root fragments. In field,
both herbicides when applied pre-emergence at 72 to 144 g ai ha-1
provided 65% to 100% field bindweed control. However, the corresponding
post-emergence applications did not provide satisfactory weed control.
All treatments provided excellent control of redroot pigweed. Potato
growth was not significantly affected by herbicide application in 2010.
However, in 2011, post-emergence applications of flumioxazin caused
significant crop injury and yield reduction. The results of this study
indicate that satisfactory control of field bindweed and redroot
pigweed, as well as high potato yield can be obtained by the
pre-emergence application of flumioxazin or sulfosulfuron at 72 to 144
g ai ha-1, without herbicide residues on potato tubers.


Recent experimental hyperthyroid (REH) dogs exhibit poor "in vivo" insulin responses to glucose probably due to a failure somewhere in cAMP-adenylate cyclase system. The actions of exogenous cAMP on these responses and on the regulation of blood sugar (BS) and serum nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) during glucose infusion tests (GIT) in REH and normal dogs were studied here. Hyperthyroidism was induced by 1-thyroxine administration (100 micrograms/kg body wt./die, 10 days). GIT consisted of i.v. glucose-priming followed by glucose i.v. continuous infusion (60 min). cAMP (0, 33 or 66 mg/kg body wt./min) was infused alone (30 min) and then overlapped to gluco-se infusion (60 min). Peripheral veins were used for infusions and blood sample withdrawal. BS, serum inmunoreactive insulin (IRI) and serum NEFA concentrations, basally and throughout the test, were measured. Basally, there was neither action nor interaction of hyperthyroidism and exogenous cAMP on these variables. During the GIT, the BS levels remained unaffected by hyperthyroidism; cAMP increased them, but failed to interact with hyperthyroidism. cAMP noninfused normal dogs responded to hyperglycemia with hyperinsulinemia, whereas REH dogs noninfused the nucleotide did not. cAMP administration at a high dose promoted their response in normal and REH dogs, particularly in the former; in the latter, the response was still lower than in cAMP noninfused normal controls. Although recent hyperthyroidism increased serum NEFA basal level, it exerted neither action nor interaction with the infused cAMP on serum NEFA during GIT. Results are discussed on the basis that the abolished insulin secretion "in vivo" characterizing the REH dogs, related to beta-adrenergic deficiency, can be for the most part restored by exogenous cAMP administration, despite which some glucose and triglyceride metabolism impairments are developed.


In vitro inhalation toxicology methods are increasingly being used for research and regulatory purposes. Although the opportunity for increased human relevance of in vitro inhalation methods compared to in vivo tests has been established and discussed, how to systematically account for variability and maximize the reliability of these in vitro methods, especially for assays that use cells cultured at an air-liquid interface (ALI), has received less attention. One tool that has been used to evaluate the robustness of in vitro test methods is cause-and-effect (C&E) analysis, a conceptual approach to analyze key sources of potential variability in a test method. These sources of variability can then be evaluated using robustness testing and potentially incorporated into in-process control measurements in the assay protocol. There are many differences among in vitro inhalation test methods including the use of different types of biological test systems, exposure platforms/conditions, substances tested, and end points, which represent a major challenge for use in regulatory testing. In this manuscript, we describe how C&E analysis can be applied using a modular approach based on the idea that shared components of different test methods (e.g., the same exposure system is used) have similar sources of variability even though other components may differ. C&E analyses of different in vitro inhalation methods revealed a common set of recommended exposure systems and biological in-process control measurements. The approach described here, when applied in conjunction with Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) criteria, should help improve the inter- and intralaboratory agreement of in vitro inhalation test results, leading to increased confidence in these methods for regulatory and research purposes.


Food feed crops play a cardinal role in mixed crop-livestock production systems yet views of farmers on their usage are limited. Farmers' perceptions in predominant sorghum growing areas of Zambia were solicited on socio-economic factors affecting sorghum production, awareness and willingness to adopt dual-purpose sorghum cultivars for food and feed. Preferred traits of a "model" dual-purpose cultivar were identified. The aim of the study was to generate information that would support the genetic improvement of dual-purpose sorghum. Questionnaires were used to generate this information. Results showed that less than 50% of sorghum growing SSFs had limited knowledge on the use of sorghum to produce feed silage; however, there was full awareness among the LSFs. Among other traits, farmers' "ideal" variety should combine high grain yield potential (100 %) with high biomass (100 % of LSFs and 80 % of SSFs) and high stem sugar content (100 % of LSF and 70 % of SSFs). All the SSFs and 20 % of the LSFs indicated that adequate production could be hampered by low grain yield, poor access to improved seed and unavailability of farmers'- preferred cultivars. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i2.22654 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (2): 76-81, December, 2014


A near-zone magnetic field generated by a small transmitting loop antenna has been used for the calibration of a radio receiver and a field intensity meter. In the calibration, the transmitting and receiving loops are sometimes located in a coplane with each other. In such a case, a theory to obtain magnetic-field strength is derived by using an infinite series. The errors due to treating the infinite series as a finite series and due to simplifying frequency terms are estimated. The applicable regions of the theory are shown as functions of loop spacing, loop radii, and wavelength. The differences between theoretical values and measured values were within ±0.1 dB at loop spacings of 25 to 60 cm for frequencies from 10 to 30 MHz.


A multiscale mathematical model describing the genesis and ecology of algal-bacterial photogranules and the metals biosorption on their solid matrix within a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is presented. The granular biofilm is modelled as a spherical free boundary domain with radial symmetry and a vanishing initial value. The free boundary evolution is governed by an ODE accounting for microbial growth, attachment and detachment phenomena. The model is based on systems of PDEs derived from mass conservation principles. Specifically, two systems of nonlinear hyperbolic PDEs model the growth of attached species and the dynamics of free adsorption sites; and two systems of quasi-linear parabolic PDEs govern the diffusive transport and conversion of nutrients and metals. The model is completed with systems of impulsive ordinary differential equations (IDEs) describing the evolution of dissolved substrates, metals, and planktonic and detached biomasses within the granular-based SBR. All main phenomena involved in the process are considered in the mathematical model. Moreover, the dual effect of metal presence on the formation process of photogranules is accounted: metal stimulates the production of EPS by sessile species and negatively affects the metabolic activities of microbial species. To describe the effects related to metal presence, a stimulation term for EPS production and an inhibition term for metal are included in all microbial kinetics. The model is used to examine the role of the microbial species and EPS in the adsorption process, and the effect of metal concentration and adsorption proprieties of biofilm components on the metal removal. Numerical results show that the model accurately describes the photogranules evolution and ecology and confirm the applicability of algal-bacterial photogranules systems for metal-rich wastewater treatment.


The accurate control of wave fields generated in experiments and numerical simulations is of great interest for the ocean engineering community. In the context of wave-structure interactions, the recommended practices of classification societies are indeed based on the definition of a wave spectrum, that needs to be reproduced. The present work intends to address this problem from the numerical point of view, using a Numerical Wave Tank equipped with a wavemaker and an absorbing beach, based on the High-Order Spectral method (HOS-NWT). The challenging case of the generation of 3-hours long-crested extreme sea states is studied in details. An iterative procedure to reproduce a target wave spectrum at a given distance from the wavemaker is proposed. The quality of the sea state obtained is evaluated using several criteria defined from spectral quantities. A validation is first performed with a highly nonlinear but non-breaking sea-state. Statistical crest distributions obtained are compared with the Forristall and Huang distributions [1,2]. Then, the Gulf of Mexico 1,000 Year Return Period wave condition is generated. This corresponds to an extreme sea state with significant wave breaking occurrence. The numerical solver needs to be able to account for this phenomenon [3]. The Tian breaking model [4, 5] is calibrated to realistically reproduce the dissipation due to breaking, with particular attention paid to the spatial discretization, enlightening its significant effect on breaking model actions. Consequences on the iterative correction process are studied. The computed statistical quantities appear to be significantly different changing the spatial discretization, while the wave energy spectrum stands the same. It questions the relevance of the characterization of a sea state with the sole wave energy spectrum.


For oil-rich shales, current solvent extraction– and thermal extraction–based methods inaccurately measure hydrocarbon-filled porosity (vHC). Moreover, the hydrocarbon composition is not characterized by either method. Here, we show how open-system programmed thermal extraction and pyrolysis, LECO total organic carbon, Archimedes bulk density, and helium pycnometry measurements are integrated to calculate oil and gas pore volumes, characterize their composition, and estimate mobility. Use of a modified multiramp, slow-heating thermal extract, and pyrolysis temperature program further subdivides the vHC. Saturate–aromatic–resin–asphaltene (SARA) separation and gas chromatography of solvent-extracted organic matter and thermally extracted oils are used to compositionally classify the vHC. The segregated bulk compositions of gas- and oil-filled porosity measured via this method are shown to overlap and are broken into the following categories: gas-filled porosity (∼C1–C14), light oil–filled porosity (∼C6–C36), and heavy oil–filled porosity (∼C32–C36+). Furthermore, slow-heating multiramp thermal extraction can subdivide the light oil–filled porosity into four components capturing the C11–C13, C12–C16, C14–C20, and C17–C36 ranges of the extractable organic matter. Analysis of solvent-extracted oils by SARA identifies abundant saturates and aromatics in the light oil–filled porosity and abundant resins and asphaltenes in the heavy oil–filled porosity. Low-maturity shales can be dominated by heavy (C32+) oils rich in asphaltene and resin fractions not observed in the produced fluid. The ratios of SARA components in the C15+ fraction of produced fluid and core extract can be used to better estimate the potentially mobile vHC.


Book synopsis: John Box had one of the most continuously productive design careers in British cinema, winning a record four Academy Awards and four BAFTAs. After learning his craft in the 1950s, he shot to fame with Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Directors from David Lean and Carol Reed to Michael Mann and Norman Jewison have valued his experience, as he brought 'a vocabulary of life' to bear on the new challenges posed by each film. Whether creating China in Wales for The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), or revolutionary Russia in Spain for Dr. Zhivago (1965), imagining the future in Rollerball (1975) or the mythic past in First Knight (1995), Box shaped screen worlds across five decades, helping to establish the traditions of British production design which continue today. His greatest wish was that his career should encourage others by example. Based on interviews with John Box and the full co-operation of many of his key collaborators, this lavishly colour-illustrated book focuses on solutions to design problems and provides a unique insight into the production designer's role in the collaborative business of filmmaking.


This document provides a detailed description of some scenarios where
SIP Connectivity could be easily achieved only in a peer to peer
fashion. Other than identifying use cases where a P2P SIP overlay
Network is the only affordable solution, it describes how, under some
circumstances, signaling and media communications both to and from
public domains can be achieved with P2P SIP. Furthermore, it
identifies some additional elements which can be shared by community
members or let out by access providers for extending SIP Connectivity
to such limited environments.


The perine, or outer coat, of spores of the fern Onoclea sensibilis L. may be chemically removed by a brief treatment with dilute NaClO. Treated spores germinate normally on glass-redistilled H(2)O, but elongation of the rhizoid which is differentiated during germination is severely limited. Rhizoid elongation in perine-free spores, however, is normal when the spores are germinated on Knop's mineral medium or on single-salt solutions of Ca(2+), Mn(2+), or Mg(2+). In intact spores which retain their perine, rhizoid elongation is normal on distilled H(2)O, and the perine serves as a source of ions which are available to the spores and can sustain rhizoid elongation, even when the external medium is deficient. Electron micrographs show that there are structural differences in the rhizoid wall between perine-free spores germinated on distilled H(2)O or on nutrient solutions, and also a difference in the number of vesicles in the apical cytoplasm. Localization of Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) in the elongating rhizoid can be visualized with chlorotetracycline fluorescence. No concentration of these ions can be detected by this technique in the small rhizoid initial cell before cell elongation begins.


Prospective production of polyurethane is not safe for humans. This production is characterized by possible workers' exposure to chemical hazards mixture. The work safety includes cautionary and current sanitary supervision, implantation of sanitary recommendations concerning individual protective means also.


Sharp nonparametric bounds are derived for Hicksian compensating and equivalent variations. These 'i-bounds' generalize earlier results of Blundell, Browning and Crawford (2008). We show that their e-bounds are sharp under the Weak Axiom of Revealed Preference (WARP). They do not require transitivity. The new i-bounds are sharp under the Strong Axiom of Revealed Preference (SARP). By requiring transitivity they can be used to bound welfare measures. The new bounds on welfare measures are shown to be operationalized through algorithms that are easy to implement.


Nothing could have prepared me for the physical and psychological trauma of the past four years. It was in June 2001 that I was taken by ambulance to the oncology ward at the regional children's hospital. For about two months I had been undergoing scans and tests, and biopsies of my lymph glands and bone marrow now showed anaplastic large cell lymphoma. It had spread to my lungs and had also triggered a haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Within days of being diagnosed, I began the first of seven week-long courses of intensive chemotherapy followed by a further seven months of weekly injections of vinblastine.

When the lymphoma was first diagnosed, a staff nurse asked me what I knew about cancer. My response was simply 'You lose your hair'. It was as well that I did not know what lay ahead of me. Losing my hair was actually one of the least difficult side-effects that I had to contend with. At the time of diagnosis, I was too poorly to take in all that the doctors tried to explain to me about my condition and the treatment protocol. Moreover, for a 14-year-old, it is not easy to be on a children's ward—no matter how caring and understanding the staff may be. At a time in adolescence when you are acutely aware of your body, it is very upsetting to be totally reliant on your parents and the nurses for even the most basic washing, toileting and feeding—and without much privacy. Whilst I could appreciate how unwell all the children on the ward were—and that most of them were much younger than myself—the need to have 'lights out' at 8 pm somehow added to the humiliation. Teenagers who have to be in hospital for long periods should have special units—as advocated by the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Whilst my badly swollen glands seemed to respond quite quickly to the chemotherapy and the steroids and my temperature (which had been peaking at 41°C for six weeks or more) settled down, I equally quickly began to experience the side-effects of the chemotherapy. At one time my mouth and digestive tract were so ulcerated that I had to have my food pureed like a baby's. I suffered from boils which flared up rapidly and needed treating with intravenous antibiotics. I also got terrible pains in various parts of my body and couldn't even turn over in bed without help. The large amounts of hydration used to flush the chemotherapy drugs through my body caused my heart to race audibly. My blood pressure rose during each week of intensive treatment so that I used to worry that I would not be allowed home on the Saturday night. I became painfully constipated. I also experienced a terrible headache after one of the intrathecal injections of methotrexate. One of the hardest things to cope with, however, was the need to be isolated for four of my week-long courses of chemotherapy because I had contracted an MRSA infection in my Hickman line; apart from the stiffness and pain around the site in my shoulder, it meant that I was cut off from all the other teenagers and children—'unclean'.

In November 2001, CT scans and bone marrow tests showed no signs of active lymphoma, and the battle was being won. By that time, though, my hair had completely fallen out and my body felt as if it had been ravaged by all the drugs that had been pumped into it. There were times—especially in the dead of night—when I wondered if my body could survive the effects of it all. There still followed, too, seven months of weekly injections of vinblastine. Whilst the side-effects were less severe, they still took a toll on my blood counts and caused me to feel exhausted all the time; I wondered whether my once-favourite foods would ever taste the same again. My life revolved around weekly visits to the children's hospital for injections, check-ups and scans.

What is hardest to put into words is the huge psychological impact of all that I have been through. Cancer is not what one expects as a teenager. For months I felt as if my life was being taken away from me, and all I wanted was to be 'normal' again. At a time when my friends were busy starting on GCSE courses and planning their futures, I had to get used to complete loss of privacy and powerlessness with every part of my body under scrutiny. It was very hard, too, to see other children suffering, and to have known many who did not survive. I also found it extremely difficult to talk to anyone, apart from my family, about what I was experiencing. When I went back to school my friends were glad to see me, but it was as if a curtain came down between us when I began to try to share the reality of the illness with them. It seemed that they had been advised not to 'hassle' me with questions about what I had been through—all very well meaning but not what I wanted inside. I wanted to be able to speak about life as a cancer patient and life on the ward and what it was really like to be faced with a life-threatening illness. As my Macmillan nurse put it, it was as if I had had to grow up very rapidly and face life-and-death issues whilst my peers were still coping with the normal teenage issues such as schoolwork, relationships and increasing freedom. My priorities have changed radically as a result of having anaplastic large cell lymphoma; the illness seems to have opened a rift between myself and many of my peers.

When asked what helped me most to get through these past traumatic years, I have no hesitation in saying it was my consultant at the children's hospital. It was not just his obvious skill as a haematologist, but also his very honest, caring, encouraging and reassuring manner. In a recent article in The Guardian, the journalist Jenni Russell said that, when we are very ill and we encounter the health service 'what we want is for our weakness to be responded to with great care, respect and gentleness. We want to be treated as a human being with an illness, not as a medical problem with an irritating person attached'. That is precisely how I felt: to my consultant and his team I was first and foremost 'Ruth', who happened to be suffering from anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and not simply a 'cancer patient'. Hospital felt like a prison and I needed reassurance as the ordeal proceeded. That is what my consultant gave and continues to give.

Note: A longer version of this paper appeared in the Morecambe Bay Medical Journal 2004;4(9)


The directive in WEEE has been in effect since 2001 in the European Union (EU) and Sweden has been the best performance since it was launched. This study looks into how the various stakeholders are playing their role in the system, why was it successful and what are the challenges ahead for the system to further improve and the bring up the rate of WEEE recycling in the country. This work is done by interviewing and visiting the various stakeholders involved in the Swedish WEEE system including the Swedish EPA, Swedish Waste Management, El-Kretsen which is the association representing the manufacturers, the recyclers that are providing the EoL services in the system and consumers of the recycling centres. The study revealed that the system had performed well by virtue of the common understanding and general awareness of the public adding on to the fact that the consumption rate of EEE is also high in Sweden. All the stakeholders displayed a sense a responsibility towards pushing for higher volume to be collected. Many issues that are occurring in collecting WEEE are inherited from the earlier life cycle stages particularly in design and manufacturing. It was also found out in the study that it is more economically viable for the EoL stakeholders to operate WEEE collection as compared to the past due to the growing demands of resources. The processing capacity at times is lagging behind the collection rate. Recommendations for improving the system from both the system level and technical level are also mentioned subsequently in the paper.


The paper, although polemical for the most part, also presents a substantive thesis. The polemical part is directed at the claim that the Platonic Socrates held that philosophy as a practice is to be devoted to the care of self and others, and that the expression of emotion is an important aspect of the philosophic life. To undermine that claim, counter-examples from the autobiographical narrative in the Phaedo and the speeches of Diotima and Alcibiades in the Symposium are brought in. Once analysed at the required depth, those passages show that, on the contrary, Plato's Socrates remains consistently dispassionate both in his life, as he narrates it, and in the views he is made to express in the two dialogues. Rather than promoting self-expression, Socrates never ceased to warn us against misology.


Just as the increasing awareness level of the stereoscopic cinema, so the perception of limitations while watching movies with 3D glasses has been emerged as well. It is not only that the additional glasses are uncomfortable and annoying; there are some tangible arguments for avoiding 3D glasses. These "stereoscopic deficits" are caused by the 3D glasses itself. In contrast to natural viewing with naked eyes, the artificial 3D viewing with 3D glasses introduces specific "unnatural" side effects. The most of the moviegoers has experienced unspecific discomfort in 3D cinema, which they may have associated with insufficient image quality. Obviously, quality problems with 3D glasses can be solved by technical improvement. But this simple answer can -and already has- mislead some decision makers to relax on the existing 3D glasses solution. It needs to be underlined, that there are inherent difficulties with the glasses, which can never be solved with modest advancement; as the 3D glasses initiate them. To overcome the limitations of stereoscopy in display applications, several technologies has been proposed to create a 3D impression without the need of 3D glasses, known as autostereoscopy. But even todays autostereoscopic displays cannot solve all viewing problems and still show limitations. A hyperview display could be a suitable candidate, if it would be possible to create an affordable device and generate the necessary content in an acceptable time frame. All autostereoscopic displays, based on the idea of lightfield, integral photography or super-multiview could be unified within the concept of hyperview. It is essential for functionality that every of these display technologies uses numerous of different perspective images to create the 3D impression. Such a calculation of a very high number of views will require much more computing time as for the formation of a simple stereoscopic image pair. The hyperview concept allows to describe the screen image of any 3D technology just with a simple equation. This formula can be utilized to create a specific hyperview matrix for a certain 3D display – independent of the technology used. A hyperview matrix may contain the references to loads of images and act as an instruction for a subsequent rendering process of particular pixels. Naturally, a single pixel will deliver an image with no resolution and does not provide any idea of the rendered scene. However, by implementing the method of pixel recycling, a 3D image can be perceived, even if all source images are different. It will be proven that several millions of perspectives can be rendered with the support of GPU rendering and benefit from the hyperview matrix. In result, a conventional autostereoscopic display, which is designed to represent only a few perspectives can be used to show a hyperview image by using a suitable hyperview matrix. It will be shown that a millions-of-views-hyperview-image can be presented on a conventional autostereoscopic display. For such an hyperview image it is required that all pixels of the displays are allocated by different source images. Controlled by the hyperview matrix, an adapted renderer can render a full hyperview image in real-time.


We study a new optimization problem called submodular maximization under submodular cover (SMSC), which requires to find a fixed-size set such that one monotone submodular function f is maximized subject to that another monotone submodular function g is maximized approximately. SMSC is preferable to submodular function maximization when one wants to maximize two objective functions simultaneously. We propose an optimization framework for SMSC, which guarantees a constant-factor approximation. Our algorithm's key idea is to construct a new instance of submodular function maximization from a given instance of SMSC, which can be approximated efficiently. Besides, if we are given an approximation oracle for submodular function maximization, our algorithm provably produces nearly optimal solutions. We experimentally evaluate the proposed algorithm in terms of sensor placement and movie recommendation using real-world data.


As an example of the collaboration of periodontologists and physical anthropologists, the skulls of two Indian populations were studied. A root index to assay periodontal disease and a wear index to evaluate occlusal wear, were developed. The first Indian population, living 400 years ago, had more decay, loss of teeth and caries; the second population, living 4,000 years ago, exhibited more periodontal disease. Starting with a sample of eight teeth, two from each quadrant, the statistical analysis showed that a smaller number of teeth would give a reliable assessment of past oral health. Based on our findings, the canines proved to be good indicators for general wear and the incisors for periodontal disease. A six-tooth index of varying teeth studied is proposed for the root index and the wear index in future studies of oral health of ancient populations.


Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are rapidly expanding their attractiveness in both military and civilian applications, imposing the need for effective security strategies/mechanisms. Since sensor networks in many circumstances operate with sensitive data or function in hostile unattended environments, it is essential that these security issues to be addressed in each and every lifecycle phase. In this paper we considered that a new phase (self-destruction) must be included as a final stage in the WSN lifecycle in order to assure the confidentiality regarding information like: network topology, type of measurement data gathered by sensors, encryption/authentication algorithms and key-exchange mechanisms, etc. that can be unveiled otherwise through reverse engineering methods. Moreover, we presented a new procedure that can be followed to implement this new lifecycle phase on a very common and used network topology - mesh.


The use of food additives is an emotional topic that continues to provoke consumer concern. Food additives play an important role in today's complex food supply with consumers demanding more variety, choice and convenience alongside higher standards of safety and wholesomeness at affordable prices. Meeting these consumer expectations can only be achieved using modern food-processing technologies, which include the use of a variety of food additives.


Abstract:
 Thinning represents an important and frequently used silvicultural technique that improves forest wood products and has obvious effects on forest carbon stocks and stock changes. Here, we used the carbon budget model CBM-CFS3 to simulate the effects of thinning on carbon storage and changes in larch forest ecosystems under thirteen thinning scenarios. Simulation results demonstrate that strong thinning greatly reduces the biomass carbon density of larch forests compared to non-thinning forests. The minimum and maximum average biomass carbon density, respectively, were 30.3 tC ha-1 and 47.8 tC ha-1, a difference of 58% under set scenarios in the simulated time scale. The dead organic matter (including soil) carbon density increased in all thinned larch forests stands, compared with non-thinning stands, and the pattern of variation was opposite to that found for biomass carbon density. However, the total ecosystem carbon density of larch forests declined with thinning because the increase in dead organic matter carbon is insufficient to offset the loss of biomass carbon caused by thinning. Thus, strong thinning can transform larch forest ecosystems from carbon sinks into carbon sources. Future work should consider the carbon sequestered in wood materials acquired via thinning and their use as substitutes for other construction materials with less favorable lifecycle carbon footprints, such as steel, cement, aluminum and PVC.


Lynn Albers is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at North Carolina State University with a passion for Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and K-20 Engineering Education. Albers has been active in ASEE since 2008 when she presented her first conference paper with Althea Smith in the K-12 and Pre-College Division. Since then, she has authored or co-authored nine ASEE conference papers spanning the K-12 and Pre-College, Mechanical, Minority, and Energy Conversion and Conservation Divisions; presenting all of them with the exception of one paper in 2010 when she was double-booked. Albers most recently held the position of project coordinator for the ARRA funded Student Energy Internship Program in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at NCSU. She mentored and coordinated 60+ interns with energy professionals in the private and public sectors and recruited interns to volunteer at Family STEM Nights. Prior to this experience, she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow in K-12 Education working under the direction of Liz Parry, Dr. Laura Bottomley and Dr. Karen Hollebrands in the RAMP-UP program at NCSU. During this tenure she created Energy Clubs for students in grades 3-5. Albers is passionate about experiential learning and strongly encourages the inclusion of hands-on activities into a curriculum. Her dissertation spans the Colleges of Engineering and Education and quantifies the effects of hands-on activities in an engineering lecture.


In view of the results obtained in this study, it was suggested that sportswomen should consider the possible benefits of including depth jumping in a balanced conditioning programme. While Sinclair (1981) has emphasised that an adequate build-up of strength is required prior to undertaking such a regime, and Miller and Power (1981) have stated that depth jumps should be performed on to a gymnastic mat, it is concluded that a gradual introduction to the activity is unlikely to cause injuries. References


Background

Nicotine form the major constituent of consumed tobacco and cigarettes throughout the World resulting in oxidative stress while garlic and honey have been shown to contain numerous natural antioxidants. We investigated the role of combined effects of garlic and honey on nicotine induced Cerebellar and behavioral toxicity in Wistar rats.
Method

: Forty rats were divided into eight groups of five rats each. Group 1 received water only, Group 2 and 3 received 50 mg/kg of nicotine with garlic and honey at (300 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg) and (600 mg/kg and 2000 mg/kg) respectively. Group 4 received 50 mg/kg of nicotine only, Group 5 received garlic 300 mg/kg and honey 1000 mg/kg before 50 mg/kg nicotine, Group 6 received garlic 600 mg/kg and honey 2000 mg/kg before 50 mg/kg nicotine. Group 7 and 8 received 50 mg/kg nicotine + 450 mg/kg garlic only and 1500 mg/kg honey only respectively. The administration was through oral route and lasted for 21 days respectively. Limb impairment and grip were conducted. After the administration, blood and cerebellum were harvested for lactate dehydrogenase assay, oxidative stress and histopathological analyses.
Result

There was significant decrease in body weight, grip strength and limb impairment in Group 4 with increase in Group 2 compared to the Control (p < 0.001). There was significant increase in LDH in Groups 2, 4, 7 and 8 with significant decrease in Group 3 compared to Group 1. The result showed significant decrease in SOD and CAT activities in all the groups compared to Group 1 (p < 0.001). Groups 1, 7 and 8 showed normal histology of the cerebellum while Group 4 showed areas of neuronal degeneration with distortions in histology and Groups 3, 5 and 6 showed few neural changes.
Conclusion

The study showed that garlic and honey may be useful in ameliorating nicotine toxicity dose-dependently which may be due to their antioxidant activity.


Aims. We present mid-infrared observations and photometry of the transitional disks around the young stellar objects DH Tau, DM Tau, and GM Aur, obtained with VISIR/VLT in N band. Our aim is to resolve the inner region and the large-scale structures of these transitional disks, carrying potential signatures of intermediate or later stages of disk evolution and ongoing planet formation. Methods. We use the simultaneously observed standard-stars as PSF reference to constrain the radial flux profiles of our target objects. Subtracting the obtained standard-star profile from the corresponding science object profile yields the flux residuals produced by the star-disk system. A detection threshold takes into account the background standard deviation and also the seeing variations during the observations to evaluate the significance of these flux residuals. On the basis of a simple model for the dust re-emission, we derive constraints on the inner radius of the dust disk. Results. We spatially resolve the transitional disk around GM Aur and determine an inner-disk hole radius of 20.5 +1.0 −0.5 AU. The circumstellar disks around DH Tau and DM Tau are not spatially resolved but we are able to constrain the inner-disk hole radius to <15.5 +9.0 −2.0 AU and <15.5 +0.5 −0.5 AU, respectively. The performed photometry yields fluxes of 178 ± 31 mJy for DH Tau, 56 ± 6m Jy for DM Tau, and 229 ± 14 mJy for GM Aur.


Hybridization is a natural process whereby two diverging evolutionary lineages reproduce and create offspring of mixed ancestry. Differences in mating systems (e.g., self-fertilization and outcrossing) are expected to affect the direction and extent of hybridization and introgression in hybrid zones. Among other factors, selfers and outcrossers are expected to differ in their mutation loads. This has been studied both theoretically and empirically; however, conflicting predictions have been made on the effects mutation loads of parental species with different mating systems can have on the genomic composition of hybrids. Here we develop a multi-locus, selective model to study how the different mutation load built up in selfers and outcrossers as a result of selective interference and homozygosity impact the long-term genetic composition of hybrid populations. Notably, our results emphasize that genes from the parental population with lesser mutation load get rapidly over-represented in hybrid genomes, regardless of the hybrids own mating system. When recombination tends to be more important than mutation, outcrossers' genomes tend to be of higher quality and prevail. When recombination is small, however, selfers' genomes may reach higher quality than outcrossers' genomes and prevail. Taken together these results provide concrete insights into one of the multiple factors influencing hybrid genome composition and introgression patterns in hybrid zones with species containing species with different mating systems.


A recent review of polychaete diets (Fauchald & Jumars, 1979) considered aphroditids to be slow-moving carnivores, taking microscopic prey if nothing else is available but specializing in slow-moving or sessile prey. This opinion was based on remarks by Day (1967) and on two documented gut analyses of Aphrodita aculeata (Blegvad, 1914; Hunt, 1925). Other reports in the literature were either derived from these few original statements or else gave unsubstantiated accounts of the type of food taken. In 1964 the late Gunnar Thorson told me that he had seen a specimen of A. aculeata swallowing a large Nereis virens and likened it to a hedgehog eating a snake. This vivid analogy puts Aphrodita in a rather different light, as an active predator capable of dealing with relatively large, powerful prey. In fact Hunt (1925) had recorded remains of 'Pectinaria, Lumbriconereis, Polynoidae and Nereidae' in 24 out of 26 specimens containing food. Very young crabs and hermit crabs were recorded in five guts and a nemertean in one. Blegvad (1914) recorded the chief food to be other worms, especially sabellids and terebellids, besides nemerteans, from examination of 50 specimens, 35 of which were empty. I have kept A. aculeata, obtained from Millport and from Plymouth, in bowls containing several centimetres depth of beach sand in a closed-circuit sea-water system. Worms without sand took no interest in items offered as food, neither did worms which had emerged from the sand and were wandering over the surface, but buried worms fed readily. A variety of living animals was given as potential food including Macoma balthica, Corophium volutator, Nephtys hombergi and Nereis diversicolor.


In spite of the many investigations of serological cancer tests no general agreement has been reached in regard to the fundamental question whether malignant cells contain substances common to, and specific for, all types of malignant growths, or whether such substances can evoke antibody formation. It is obvious that tumors do not provide antigens which react specifically with the majority of cancer sera in tests of the complement-fixation type (Lundy, 42; Zacho, 66 and 67). This fact is not surprising if we take into account the numerous non-malignant cells of tumors and the various antibodies which may be present in sera.

Recently Lehmann-Facius (33, 34) attempted to develop an antigen-antibody reaction with more definite components by using the phosphatide fraction of tumors as the antigen and the euglobulin fraction of the sera to be tested as the antibody component. Human tumors as well as transplantable tumors of animals were found to be suitable as a source of the antigen. In the case of cancer sera the system of Lehmann-Facius shows a fiocculation of a specialtype. With this method Reploh and Middeldorf (52) obtained 94 per cent correct results in testing 100 cancer and 185 non-cancer sera. Nakagawa, Takasugi and Sato (47), as well as Chrometzka and Schulte (9), confirmed the high percentage of positive results with cancer sera but reported false positive results, particularly in sera which gave other aggregation reactions. Nakagawa and Takasugi (48) stated that these unspecific reactions could be avoided by certain technical modifications which they introduced. The recent discussion, however, by Lehmann-Facius, Chrometzka, and Nakagawa (35), of the failures of the reaction suggests that the isolation of a suitable antigen from tumor tissue still remains more or less a matter of chance. The isolation of the euglobulin fraction of the serum represents a second difficulty.


The public sphere debate in social theory has been a topic of considerable interest amongst scholars analysing the talk show genre. Habermas attached great importance to the potential of rational critical discussion to create consensus and thereby legitimation in democratic society. He was concerned that the media gave a false impression of engagement in a public sphere while managing rights of access and speech in a manner that was inimical to open public discussion. In contrast, cultural commentators on the talk show genre have been impressed by the richness and spontaneity of interactions on the shows, suggesting that they might have a positive role in public participation despite not meeting Habermas's criteria for a public sphere. In consequence, the literature is moving away from the public sphere debate and focusing on issues of voice and expression in analyses of talk shows. This article, however, makes the argument that many of Habermas's concerns are still highly relevant to the genre. This is demonstrated through an analysis of The Jerry Springer Show. On the surface, this show seems to have little to do with rational critical discussion. The analysis reveals a number of parallels between the conception of the rational critical public sphere and The Jerry Springer Show, leading to a revision of the received view of Habermas's work in the analysis of mediated discussion. A range of implications for the mediation of deliberation, participation and expression are explored.


This paper describes an important first step in the development of a custom wearable health platform that allows the end-to-end secure monitoring of six vital parameters. We explore the impact of wireless network protocols and security schemes on the energy consumption of the wearable device. The results show that the energy efficiency is comparable to existing systems that support far less sensor data and that compromise on end-to-end security.


The convergence of internal path integration with sensory information from external landmarks generates a cognitive spatial map in the hippocampus. We have recorded the activity of cells in CA1 during a virtual navigation task to examine how mice represent, recognize and employ sparse olfactory landmarks to estimate their location. We observe that the presence of odor landmarks at multiple locations in a virtual environment greatly enriches the place cell representation and dramatically improves navigation. Presentation of the same odor at different locations generates distinct place cell representations, indicating that path integration can disambiguate two identical cues on the basis of location. The enhanced place cell representation at one cue location led to the formation of place cells at locations beyond that cue and, ultimately recognition of a second odor cue as a distinct landmark. This suggests an iterative mechanism for extending place cell representations into unknown territory. These results reveal how odor cues can serve as landmarks to guide navigation and suggest a model to explain how the convergence of landmarks and path integration participates in an iterative process that generates a cognitive spatial map.


Background and Aims Urochloa (syn. Brachiaria, and including some Panicum and Megathyrus) is a genus of tropical and subtropical grasses widely sown as forage to feed ruminants in the tropics. A better understanding of the diversity among Urochloa spp. allow us to leverage its varying ploidy levels and genome composition to accelerate its improvement, following the example from other crop genera. Methods We explored the genetic make-up and population structure in 111 accessions, which comprise the five Urochloa species used for the development of commercial cultivars. These accessions are conserved from wild materials from collection sites at their centre of origin in Africa. We used RNA-seq, averaging 40M reads per accession, to generate 1,167,542 stringently selected SNP markers that tentatively encompassed the complete Urochloa gene pool used in breeding. Key Results We identified ten subpopulations, which had no relation with geographical origin and represented ten independent gene pools, and two groups of admixed accessions. Our results support a division in U. decumbens by ploidy, with a diploid subpopulation closely related to U. ruziziensis, and a tetraploid subpopulation closely related to U. brizantha. We observed highly differentiated gene pools in U. brizantha, which were not related with origin or ploidy. Particularly, one U. brizantha subpopulation clustered distant from the other U. brizantha and U. decumbens subpopulations, so likely containing unexplored alleles. We also identified a well-supported subpopulation containing both polyploid U. decumbens and U. brizantha accessions; this was the only group containing more than one species and tentatively constitutes an independent "mixed" gene pool for both species. We observed two gene pools in U. humidicola. One subpopulation, "humidicola-2", was much less common but likely includes the only known sexual accession in the species. Conclusions Our results offered a definitive picture of the available diversity in Urochloa to inform breeding and resolve questions raised by previous studies. It also allowed us identifying prospective founders to enrich the breeding gene pool and to develop genotyping and genotype-phenotype association mapping experiments. HIGHLIGHT We clarified the genetic make-up and population structure of 111 Urochloa spp. forage grasses to inform cultivar development.


It is well known that modeling with constraints networks require a fair expertise. Thus tools able to automatically generate such networks have gained a major interest. The major contribution of this paper is to set a new framework based on Inductive Logic Programming able to build a constraint model from solutions and non-solutions of related problems. The model is expressed in a middle-level modeling language. On this particular relational learning problem, traditional top-down search methods fall into blind search and bottom-up search methods produce too expensive coverage tests. Recent works in Inductive Logic Programming about phase transition and crossing plateau shows that no general solution can face all these difficulties. In this context, we have designed an algorithm combining the major qualities of these two types of search techniques. We present experimental results on some benchmarks ranging from puzzles to scheduling problems.


The effect of the combination type oral contraceptive and its estrogen (mestranol) and progesterone (ethynodiol diacetate) components on the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT), intravenous tolbutamide test (IVTT), serum insulin like activity (ILA) and morphology of beta cells of the pancreas was investigated in female rabbits. The combination produced impairment of glucose tolerance in all animals after 24 weeks treatment. Fifty percent of animals in the estrogen treated group and 33.3 percent of animals in the progesterone treated group developed impairment of glucose tolerance after 24 weeks. A reduction in the glucose response to IVTT was observed in all the animals following 24 weeks treatment with the combination, estrogen or progesterone. A significant decline in fasting serum ILA and post glucose ILA was observed in animals treated with the combination and estrogen. A small but consistent decline in the serum ILA was observed in animals treated with ethynodiol diacetate. A rise in serum FFA paralleled the abnormality of glucose tolerance. Morphological changes in the cytostructure of pancreatic islets in the form of degranulation and degeneration of cells were observed in the pancreas of animals treated with the combination, and to lesser extent in animals treated with estrogen and progesterone. These observations indicate that the disturbances in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism produced by oral contraceptives may be associated with damage to beta cells and low circulating insulin in rabbits.


Ebola virus disease is dangerous viral infection, occurring in the form of hemorrhagic fever, characterized by acute clinical symptoms and high mortality rate due to multiple organ failure. Ebola virus natural foci are located in forested areas of the central and western parts of Africa. It was believed for many years, the incidence of Ebola virus disease has been sporadic and the burden of it is true only in endemic areas. However, the unprecedented Ebola epidemic caused by Zaire virus in 2013 — 2016, has significantly changed our understanding of this disease and the patterns of its distribution. We have also identified weaknesses in the organization of anti-epidemic measures, the effectiveness of which was not very effective at the onset of the epidemic, in particular due to weak development of in vitro diagnostics (IVD). However, during the elimination of the epidemic in West Africa, anti-epidemic system has been modified substantially, largely due to quickly developed IVD kits. This review is devoted to analysis of trends in IVD for Ebola virus disease based on the experience obtained in the course of the West-African epidemic in 2013 — 2016.


Lenvatinib mesilate (lenvatinib) is an oral multiple receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor that selectively inhibits the kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors VEGFR1 (FLT1), VEGFR2 (KDR), and VEGFR3 (FLT4), in addition to other proangiogenic and oncogenic pathway-related RTKs including fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors FGFR1, 2, 3, and 4; the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor PDGFRα; KIT; and RET. Lenvatinib showed antitumor activity against various tumor types mainly through its potent inhibition of angiogenesis, and is currently marketed for the treatment of patients with radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. Recently, lenvatinib in combination with everolimus has shown longer progression free survival compared to lenvatinib or everolimus alone in renal cell carcinoma in Phase 2 study. The aim of this study is to elucidate the activity of the combination of lenvatinib and everolimus in preclinical human RCC xenograft models. We examined antitumor activity in two human RCC (A-498 and Caki-1) xenograft models orally treated with lenvatinib (10 mg/kg), everolimus (30 mg/kg), and the combination of lenvatinib and everolimus for 1 or 2 weeks. The antitumor proliferation and antiangiogenic effects were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using anti Ki67 antibody and anti CD31 antibody, respectively. The induction of apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay. To analyze the gene expression profile of tumor samples, microarray analysis were also conducted. The antitumor activity of the combination of lenvatinib and everolimus was greater than that of either agent administered alone in A-498 and Caki-1 xenograft models. The combination caused tumor regression and had no remarkable body weight loss. IHC analysis revealed decrease of microvessel density in lenvatinib and combination groups, and also decrease in the proportion of proliferative cells in everolimus treated and combination-treated group in A-498 model. In TUNEL assay, significant induction of apoptosis was observed only in the combination-treatment group. The analysis of gene expression profile in A-498 xenograft tumors also supported these results: lenvatinib alone upregulated hypoxia-related genes and everolimus decreased proliferation-related genes. The combination of these 2 drugs induced blends of the gene expression changes caused by each single treatment. Our results indicate that treatment of lenvatinib in combination with everolimus caused significant antitumor effect by combining the potent antiangiogenic activity of lenvatinib as well as direct antitumor activity of everolimus in A-498 model. These preclinical results provide one of the mechanisms to support the significant clinical benefit observed in RCC with the combination of lenvatinib and everolimus. Citation Format: Yusuke Adachi, Masahiro Matsuki, Atsumi Yamaguchi, Yoichi Ozawa, Kiyochi Okamoto, Kaoru Mitsuhashi, Takayuki Kimura, Taisuke Hoshi, Osamu Tohyama, Kenji Tai, Makoto Ogo, Yasuhiro Funahashi, Junji Matsui. Lenvatinib in combination with everolimus demonstrated enhanced antiangiogenesis and antitumor activity in human RCC xenograft models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3264.


More than most Latin American countries in recent times, Peru has seen party voting strength, organisation and loyalties eroded. Since the Fujimori period, however – when parties found themselves under systematic attack – the return to more normal electoral activity has opened up a space for parties to reemerge. The 2003 Law on Political Parties was designed to strengthen a pluralistic party system. However, the results proved disappointing. Three rounds of elections in 2006 did little to restore voter confidence in Peru's major parties; these remain 'top-down' affairs with only shallow roots in society. However, the November 2006 local elections suggested that new forces may be emerging at the meso- level of politics in tandem with social movements. Study of Peruvian politics requires its own decentralisation.


We acquired Hα spectroscopic observations from 2005 to 2019 showing Pleione has transitioned from a Be phase to a Be-shell phase during this period. Using the radiative transfer code hdust, we created a grid of ∼100,000 disk models for Pleione. We successfully reproduced the observed transition with a disk model that varies in inclination while maintaining an equatorial density of ρ0(r)=3×10−11(r/Req)−2.7gcm−3 , and an Hα-emitting region extending to 15 R eq. We use a precessing disk model to extrapolate the changing disk inclination over 120 yr and follow the variability in archival observations. The best-fit disk model precesses over a line-of-sight inclination between ∼25° and ∼144° with a precessional period of ∼80.5 yr. Our precessing models match some of the observed variability but fail to reproduce all of the historical data available. Therefore, we propose an ad hoc model based on our precessing disk model inspired by recent smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of similar systems, where the disk tears due to the tidal influence of a companion star. In this model, a single disk is slowly tilted to an angle of 30° from the stellar equator over 34 yr. Then, the disk is torn by the companion's tidal torque, with the outer region separating from the innermost disk. The small inner disk returns to the stellar equator as mass injection remains constant. The outer disk precesses for ∼15 yr before gradually dissipating. The process repeats every 34 yr and reproduces all trends in Pleione's variability.