Myocardial perforation is a rare yet serious complication following cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator device procedures. In this article, the authors describe a case of right ventricular pacemaker lead perforation presenting to our hospital's medical assessment unit with a clinical presentation suggestive of an acute pulmonary embolism. Treatment dose low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was commenced while awaiting CT scan. CT images were negative for PE however demonstrated RV lead perforation. Echocardiogram demonstrated pericardial effusion with the tip of RV lead in the pericardial free space. A rapid deterioration in the patient's haemodynamics prompted an emergency pericardial drain insertion and successful RV lead re-position in the cardiac catheter lab. The patient recovered well and was discharged with routine pacemaker clinic follow-up.


The study was a survey research which investigated the production skills possessed by pre-service NCE teachers, strategies for capacity enhancement and the possible confronting problems. Two hundred pre-service NCE teachers were drawn from the seven colleges of education in the five states in the zone. A structured questionnaire was used for the study. The questionnaires were content validated by experts in the field and reliability sought, using Cronbach alpha technique which was established 0.87. Four research questions and one hypothesis which guided the study were analysed using means standard deviation and t-test at 0.05 significant level respectively. The results of the study reveal that the pre-NCE teachers were found to possessed skills for item 3 and 4 only. Also pre-service teachers agreed that apart from items 8, 10 and 11 all others are powerful strategies for building capacity in them during their training in the colleges. All the items on tables 3 were agreed to be problems to this capacity building except for items 8, 9 and 10. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that all the suggested strategies should be explored by teachers" trainers for the capacity enhancement of pre-service teachers. The federal government and college management should try to alleviate some of these possible confronting problems. Keywords: National certificate in Education (NCE), National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)


During synthesis of power gated finite state machine (FSM) power can be reduced by reducing switching activity of the implemented circuit. Power gating can be applied to turn OFF the inactive sub-machine which is obtained after partitioning the FSM by gating the supply voltage. During transition from the states of one sub-machine to other sub-machine, wakeup time is required to turn OFF the current sub-machine and turn ON other. Wakeup time affects the partitioning of FSMs for its power gated implementation as both the sub-machines are ON during this time. In this paper, we have calculated this wakeup time to find the boundary depth. Variation of wakeup time as a function of size of sleep transistor and sub-machine has also been studied. Power model has been developed for the power-gated design of FSM. Here, we present a Genetic Algorithm (GA) based solution of the problem of both partitioning and encoding of power gated FSM for reduced power consumption Experimental results show that more than 55% power can be saved in this approach. General Terms Low Power VLSI Design.


The direct integration method to enhance the calculation accuracy of electromagnetic responses for current dipole source over layered earth is discussed.In the method Hankel integration in frequency domain is divided into several partial ones and are evaluated with the method which combines Gauss quadrature rule and continued fraction.The utility of continuous fraction can speed up the convergence greatly.Using the method the electromagnetic responses for halfspace and twolayered earth models are tested.Compared with traditional numerical filter method,the result shows that the direct integration technique can improve the frequency response simulation accuracy of electromagnetic soundings for 1D earth,and gives calculating base of obtaining the very late time electromagonetic responses with high accuracy.


Memory complaints are found to be associated with depression. However, the question is, "How much these subjective complaints indicate objective memory impairments?" The aim of this study is to determine whether subjective memory complaints represent objective memory impairments and to establish the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and subjective memory complaints. Sixty‐four patients with MDD were assessed for objective memory performance through subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale‐III. Memory complaints also were assessed in these patients with a structured interview. Thirty healthy controls were also included in the study to compare memory performance among groups. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was used to measure the severity and characteristics of depression. Patients with MDD who had longer duration and earlier onset of depression reported more memory complaints. MDD patients with memory complaints had more hypochondriac concerns but not more depression severity compared with those without memory complaints. There was no relationship between subjective memory complaints and objective memory performance in MDD patients. Patients with MDD with and without memory complaints had lower scores on the Wechsler Memory Scale‐III than the control group. Subjective memory complaints are not a valid indictor of objective memory impairments, and the diagnostic value of self‐reported memory is being questioned in patients with MDD. The cognitive status of MDD patients should be assessed routinely, regardless of the patient awareness of his or her cognitive deficits. Depression and Anxiety, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The objective of this study was to investigate the immunopotential of ruminal lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on cultured primary bovine ruminal epithelial cells (RECs). Primary bovine RECs were isolated from 6 yearling steers and grown in culture for 3 experiments. Experiment 1 aimed to determine the immunopotential of ruminal LPS, experiment 2 aimed to assess tolerance to chronic LPS exposure, and experiment 3 aimed to evaluate antagonistic interactions between ruminal and E.coli LPS. In experiments 1 and 2, RECs were exposed to nonpyrogenic water (CON), 20 μg/mL of E. coli LPS (E.COLI), 10 μg/mL of ruminal LPS (RUM10), 20 μg/mL of ruminal LPS (RUM20), and 40 μg/mL of ruminal LPS (RUM40), either continuously or intermittently. For the continuous exposure, RECs underwent a 6 h exposure, while for the intermittent exposure, the procedure was: (1) a 12 h continuous exposure to treatments followed by LPS removal for 24 h and then another 12 h of exposure (RPT), and (2) a 12 h continuous exposure to treatments followed by LPS removal and a recovery period of 36 h (RCV). In exp 3, RECs were exposed to nonpyrogenic water (0-0), 1 μg/mL E. coli LPS (0-1), 1 μg/mL ruminal LPS:1 μg/mL E. coli LPS (1-1), 10 μg/mL ruminal LPS:1 μg/mL E. coli LPS (10-1) and 50 μg/mL ruminal LPS:1 μg/mL E. coli LPS (50-1). Each experiment was done as a complete randomized block design with 6 REC donors. The REC donor was used as blocking factor. Each treatment had 2 technical replicates, and treatment responses for all data were analyzed with the MIXED procedure of SAS. For all experiments, total RNA was extracted from RECs and real-time qPCR was performed to determine the relative expression of genes for toll-like receptors (TLR2 and TLR4), proinflammatory cytokines (TNF, IL1B, and IL6), chemokines (CXCL2 and CXCL8), growth factor-like cytokines (CSF2 and TGFB1), and a lipid mediator (PTGS2). In experiment 1, the targeted genes were upregulated by E.COLI, while all ruminal LPS treatments resulted in a lower transcript abundance. Regarding RPT, and RCV condition, in experiment 2, the expression of targeted genes was not affected or was at a lower abundance to E.COLI when compared with ruminal LPS treatments. Lastly, in experiment 3, all targeted genes resulted in lower or similar transcript abundance on all ruminal LPS ratios. Overall, our results indicate that ruminal LPS have a limited capacity to activate the TLR4/NF-kB pathway and to induce the expression of inflammatory genes.


The study has been performed on the proof of anti-neural antibodies in patients with early form of neuroborreliosis (NB). The presence of anti-ganglioside and anti-myelin associated glykoprotein (MAG) antibodies were tested in serum by the commercial western-blotting kits. Forty serum samples from 38 patients were examined (17 patients with facial palsy, 12 Bannwarth's syndrome, 4 multiple cranial neuritis, 5 other radiculopathies), but only one sample was found positive (for anti-GM3 antibodies). It could be concluded, that anti-ganglioside and anti-MAG antibodies are only sparsely present in the early NB.


PURPOSE
This study evaluates the function of the retina according to multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) and its light sensitivity according to microperimetry (MP) in patients with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) associated with malignant hypertension (MH).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study analyzed mfERG and MP data of 20 patients (40 eyes) aged 40.4±7.4 years (18 men, 2 women) with MH-associated TMA. In all patients TMA of the kidneys was verified by nephrobiopsy. The control group consisted of 20 healthy individuals (40 eyes) of the appropriate age.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A statistically significant decrease in the response density of P1 mfERG (nV/deg2) of the central retinal zone (0-27.7°) was found in study patients in comparison with the control group (p<0.05), differences in the latency of P1 mfERG (ms) were statistically insignificant (p>0.05). Analysis of MP data in study patients revealed a statistically significant decrease in the mean light sensitivity (dB) of the central field of vision (30°) (p<0.05) compared to the control group. A statistically significant correlation was found between the response density of P1 mfERG (nV/deg2) and mean light sensitivity (dB) in the corresponding quadrants of the visual field (p<0.05). A number of statistically significant correlations were found between the indicators of MP and mfERG and some non-ocular clinical manifestations of TMA in MH.

CONCLUSION
A statistically significant decrease in the light sensitivity of the central field of vision caused by marked decrease in retinal function, probably of an ischemic nature, is characteristic for MH-associated TMA. In this disease the response density of P1 mfERG (nV/deg2) is a sensitive indicator of impaired retinal function. With the activation of systemic TMA, increase in blood pressure and deterioration of kidney function in MH, the light sensitivity of the eye also decreases.


A strategy to achieve high sensitivity of noncontact optical thermometer via the structure design of nanoglass-ceramic and the usage of Ln(3+) (Ln = Eu, Tb, Dy) luminescence as reference signal and Cr(3+) emission as temperature signal was provided. Specifically, the synthesized dual-phase glass-ceramics were evidenced to enable spatially confined doping of Ln(3+) in the hexagonal GdF3 nanocrystals and Cr(3+) in the cubic Ga2O3 nanoparticles, being beneficial to suppressing detrimental energy transfer between Ln(3+) and Cr(3+) and thus significantly enhancing their luminescence. As a consequence, completely different temperature-sensitive luminescence of Ln(3+)4f → 4f transition and Cr(3+) 3d → 3d transition in the present glass-ceramic resulted in obvious variation of Cr(3+)/Ln(3+) fluorescence intensity ratio with temperature and strikingly high detecting temperature sensitivity of 15-22% per K. We believe that this preliminary study will provide an important advance in exploring other innovative optical thermometry.


Restrictions of interactivity in dialogue are often seen as having negative impact on the eciency of the dialogue, as they aect the ability to give immediate feedback (Whittaker, 2003). We have conducted experiments with one such restriction common in spoken dialogue systems, namely push-totalk. While our results confirm many predictions from the literature (fewer but longer turns; reduction of positive feedback), we found no significant impact on task-eciency. Our analysis of the grounding strategies of the subjects shows that the restriction actually induced a more cautious strategy that proved advantageous for our matching task, and that giving negative feedback in the form of clarification requests was not aected by the restriction.


Two main forms of acquired pharmacological tolerance may be distinguished, dispositional (pharmacokinetic) and pharmacodynamic. Pharmacodynamic tolerance is common, and can in many cases be attributed to adaptive receptor changes. Such changes of beta-adrenoceptors have been extensively studied and widely used as models for explaining the mechanisms of tolerance development. The mechanisms behind tolerance to adrenoceptor agonists are discussed, and also tolerance development to these and some other agents when used in the treatment of asthma, uterine hyperactivity and congestive heart failure.


Introduction - Avulsion fracture of the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) is rare and occurring mainly among young teenagers during sports activities. We report a case of avulsion fracture of the ASIS during a school's Sports Day.

Case Report – MH, a 15 year old male, presented to the Emergency Department (ED) complaining of right hip pain after winning the 100m sprint race. As soon as he crossed the finishing line, MH felt a popping sensation over his right hip and fell to the ground in pain.  On arrival to the ED, MH was alert, in pain and unable to walk. He was placed supine on a trolley and managed in the semi critical area. He was hemodynamically stable with the pain score of 8/10. IV Ketorolac was administered for acute pain relief.  Physical examination revealed localised tenderness over anterior aspect of the right pelvic region, with no swelling or deformity over the right hip joint.  There was no limb length discrepancy of the right leg compared to the left.  Active movements of right hip joint was restricted due to pain.  Neurovascular examination was unremarkable; sensation was intact and the right leg was well perfused.  Plain radiographs of the pelvis and right hip revealed avulsion fracture of the right ASIS.  He was referred to Orthopaedics team and was planned for bedrest, adequate analgesia, and non-weight bearing ambulation.  He was discharged home and reviewed in the outpatient clinic.

Discussion & Conclusion – Avulsion fracture of the ASIS is caused by forceful muscle contraction on a weaker and immature apophyseal cartilage in adolescence.  During running activity, the sartorius muscle pulls the ASIS anteroinferiorly during maximum flexion of hip and extension of knee risking the avulsion of the pelvic apophyses.  Although rarely encountered, avulsion fracture of the ASIS should always be suspected among athletic adolescents complaining of sudden localised hip pain with reduced range of movements.


Analyses of chemical residues in animal tissue matrices require multistep sample preparation. To simplify this process, a methodology was developed that combines sorbent extraction and solid-matrix time-resolved luminescence (TRL); it was applied to tetracycline screening in milk. Reported here is an effort to extend its application to tissue matrices, illustrated by oxytetracycline (OTC) screening in catfish muscle. Extraction and enrichment are accomplished by immersing small C18 sorbent strips into tissue homogenates for 20 min, followed by a 3 min rinse in water and a 2 min dip in a reagent solution. After desiccation, TRL is measured directly on the sorbent surface. Tissue particulates no longer interfere via attenuation or scattering, rendering centrifugation and filtration unnecessary. The integrated TRL intensity shows a linear dependence on OTC concentration in the 0-8 microg/g range (R2 = 0.9992) with a 0.026 microg/g limit of detection. To screen OTC at 2 microg/g, the U.S. regulatory tolerance level, a threshold is established at x2-3sigma2, where x2 and sigma2 are the mean and standard deviation, respectively, of the TRL signals from 15 samples fortified at 2 microg/g. Among 45 blind samples randomly fortified at 0-4 microg/g, 41 were screened correctly and 4 negative samples were presumed positive. This method has the potential to improve throughput and save assay costs by eliminating acids, organic solvents, centrifugation, and filtration.


This study was performed to investigate the effects of goshajinkigan, a traditional Chinese herbal mixture, in conscious rats undergoing continuous cystometry. Systemic resiniferatoxin (RTX) pretreatment can block resiniferatoxin-sensitive (C-fiber) nerve-mediated bladder overactivity, such as that induced by intravesical administration of acetic acid. The effects of pretreatment with goshajinkigan and RTX alone or in combination on acetic acid-induced bladder overactivity in conscious rats were also compared. Female SD rats were divided into four groups. Groups 1 and 3 received normal food for 4 weeks, while groups 2 and 4 received goshajinkigan (0.09 g/kg/day) during the same period. Two days after bladder catheterization, groups 3 and 4 received RTX (0.3 mg/kg) injection, while groups 1 and 2 received vehicle alone. Cystometric investigations were performed on all animals 24 hours after RTX or vehicle injection. The effects of intravesical instillation of acetic acid (pH = 4.0) were compared with those of intravesical saline. Goshajinkigan significantly increased threshold pressure, voiding interval, micturition volume, and bladder capacity. Intravesical instillation of acetic acid induced bladder overactivity in both normal rats and in those pretreated with goshajinkigan. However, the effects of acetic acid on voiding interval and micturition volume were significantly different between rats given normal diet and those pretreated with goshajinkigan. The effect of acetic acid was not different between goshajinkigan- and RTX-pretreated rats. The results of the present study indicated that goshajinkigan increases voiding interval, micturition volume, and bladder capacity, and pretreatment with goshajinkigan partially blocks the bladder overactivity induced by intravesical administration of acetic acid in rats.


The operation of JT-60U reversed shear discharges has been extended to a high plasma current, low q regime keeping a large radius of the internal transport barrier (ITB), and a record value of equivalent fusion multiplication factor in JT-60U, QDTeq = 1.25, has been achieved at 2.6 MA. Operational schemes to reach the low q regime with good reproducibility have been developed. The reduction of Zeff was obtained in the newly installed W shaped pumped divertor. The β limit in the low qmin regime, which limited the performance of L mode edge discharges, has been improved in H mode edge discharges with a broader pressure profile, which was obtained by power flow control with ITB degradation. Sustainment of the ITB and improved confinement for 5.5 s has been demonstrated in an ELMy H mode reversed shear discharge.


Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a dangerous and urgent clinical pattern of coronary artery disease. Aspirin and adenosine diphosphate P2Y12 receptor antagonists are the standard dual anti‐platelet therapy for patients with ACS. Ticagrelor is a new oral antagonist of the adenosine diphosphate P2Y12 receptor. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor compared to clopidogrel or prasugrel in patients with ACS, obtaining conflicting results. Thus, we conducted a meta‐analysis of these RCTs to determine the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor in patients with ACS. Results of the meta‐analysis indicate that ticagrelor decreased the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all‐cause death, but increased the risk of bleeding events. In Asiatic patients, analysis indicates that ticagrelor did not decrease the risk of MACE and all‐cause death, while increasing the risk of bleeding events. Together, this meta‐analysis suggests that ticagrelor was more effective, but less safe than clopidogrel and prasugrel in patients with ACS. Subgroup analysis indicates that ticagrelor was not more effective, although less safe than clopidogrel in Asiatic patients, thus more evidence is needed to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor in Asiatic patients.


Background: Ferroptosis is a novel defined type of programmed cell death (PCD) with widespread functions involved in physical conditions or multiple diseases including malignancies. However, the relationship between ccRCC and ferroptosis-related regulators remains poorly known. Herein, we investigate the prognostic values and potential mechanisms of ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) in ccRCC.Methods: Ferroptosis-related genes were obtained from FerrDb database, GeneCards database and previously published literatures. The gene expression profile of ferroptosis-related regulators and corresponding clinicopathological information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Differentially expressed ferroptosis-related genes (DE-FRGs) were screened between ccRCC specimens and noncancerous specimens. Among these genes, prognostic DE-FRGs were identified using univariate COX analysis and LASSO regression analysis. Further multivariate COX regression was employed to identify prognosis-related hub DE-FRGs and establish a prognostic model. Results: We identified seven hub genes (HMGCR, MT1G, BID, EIF4A1, FOXM1, TFAP2C and CHAC1) from the DE-FRGs using univariate Cox regression analysis, LASSO and multivariate Cox regression analysis, and used them to establish a novel clinical predictive model in the TCGA train cohort (n = 374). Subsequently, we assessed the prognostic value of the model. Survival analysis showed that high-risk patients had a reduced overall survival (OS), the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis confirmed the signature's diagnostic performance. Additionally, multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that the risk score was an independent prognostic factor. Additionally, we verified the prognostic performance of the risk model in the testing cohort (n=156), and the entire group (n=530) using Kaplan-Meier curve and ROC curve analyses. Functional analysis indicated that several carcinogenic pathways were enriched, and tumor-infiltrating immune cell abundances, and the expression levels of immunosuppressive molecules were different between two risk groups. Finally, external databases (ONCMINE, GEPIA, HPA, Kaplan-Meier plotter and cbioportal) were used to confirm the expression patterns, prognostic value, and genetic mutations of 7 hub FRGs in ccRCC.Conclusions: Collectively, we successfully constructed a novel ferroptosis-related risk signature that was significantly associated with the prognosis of ccRCC.


Missing values are ubiquitous in industrial data sets because of multisampling rates, sensor faults, and transmission failures. The incomplete data obstruct the effective use of data and degrade the performance of data-driven models. Numerous imputation algorithms have been proposed to deal with missing values, primarily based on supervised learning, that is, imputing the missing values by constructing a prediction model with the remaining complete data. They have limited performance when the amount of incomplete data is overwhelming. Moreover, many methods have not considered the autocorrelation of time-series data. Thus, an adaptive-learned median-filled deep autoencoder (AM-DAE) is proposed in this study, aiming to impute missing values of industrial time-series data in an unsupervised manner. It continuously replaces the missing values by the median of the input data and its reconstruction, which allows the imputation information to be transmitted with the training process. In addition, an adaptive learning strategy is adopted to guide the AM-DAE paying more attention to the reconstruction learning of nonmissing values or missing values in different iteration periods. Finally, two industrial examples are used to verify the superior performance of the proposed method compared with other advanced techniques.


The scattering properties of an impedance elliptic cylinder coated with a homogeneous material are investigated analytically. The method of separation of variables together with the impedance boundary condition (IBC) are used to determine the field distributions in each region for both the TM and TE excitations. The technique can be easily extended to handle any number of layers. The behavior of the scattered field in the far zone is illustrated with numerical results for different core and coating material types, axial ratio, and electrical sizes.


Chert of the middle Precambrian Gunflint Iron-Formation (ca. 1.9 b.y. old) from near Schreiber, Ontario, Canada, has yielded some of the oldest well preserved cellular remains yet known. Observation of the spherical unicellular forms has indicated two methods of reproduction: some evidently reproduced by fission, others of similar morphology, by budding. The latter process is not known to occur in blue-green algae, the taxon to which the unicellular forms often have been assigned.

Perhaps the most interesting possibilities for their biological affinities are that the unicellular forms are all procaryotic blue-green algae that were capable of different reproductive methods or that those unicellular forms which bud are eucaryotic fungi.


R-squared and adjusted R-squared are statistics derived from analyses based on the general linear model (e.g., regression, ANOVA). It represents the proportion of variance in the outcome variable which is explained by the predictor variables in the sample (R-squared) and an estimate in the population (adjusted R-squared).

Keywords:

ANOVA;
least squares;
proportion of variance;
regression


The study set out to investigate the determinants of HIV infection risk among healthcare workers in SSA through a systematic review. The aim of the study was to identify, collect and systematically review and synthesize existing literature articles on the determinants of HIV infection risk among healthcare workers in SSA. The objectives of the study were to: determine the prevalence of health care workers' exposure to HIV risky conditions in health care settings in SSA; identify selected determinants of HIV infection risk among Health care workers in SSA (major focus in Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania) and apply effective strategies to prevent issues associated with HIV infection risk among Health care workers.  The study conceptualizes that HCWs in the SSA region are at risk of HIV infection due to factors related to lack of healthcare resources, their knowledge, attitude and practice, and barriers to reporting. The combined effect of these factors is that hoped to determine the propensity of HCWs to be infected by HIV/AIDS.  The key themes guiding the systematic review were:  risk to exposure to HIV among HCWs; lack of health care resources and facilities. The findings of the study confirmed all the three alternative study hypotheses that: there is a significant relationship between lack of health care resources and facilities and the risk of HIV infection among HCWs in SSA; there is a significant relationship between HCWs' knowledge, attitude, and practice on HIV and their risk of HIV infection in SSA and; there is a significant relationship between barriers to reporting and the risk of HIV infection among HCWs in SSA. In this regard, the study found out that HCWs in SSA are at high risk of HIV exposure whilst working. In this regard, this is a result of lack of enough equipment, poor practices at work and barriers to reporting, including stigmatization and lack of well-stipulated reporting guidelines.  As such, the following recommendations were made:: there is a need to increase funding in the health care sector to enhance access to the right equipment, microbicides, vaccination, and PEP for HCWs; there is a need for psychosocial support systems to make it easy for HCWs to report infection with ease and that; the government should adopt recommended global best standards to enhance protection of HCWs while at work in SSA. Two areas for further study were also recommended. As such, there is a need for studies on each of the study objectives, and; there is a need for a descriptive study on the topic under investigation in this study for correlation purposes.


[1] Cosmogenic 10Be measured in polar ice cores has important application in the reconstruction of past solar activity. However, the processes controlling its atmospheric transport and deposition to the ice sheets are not fully understood. Here we use the seasonal changes in 10Be concentrations in a 10 year monthly resolved ice core record from the Law Dome site (East Antarctica) in conjunction with ECHAM5-HAM general circulation model (GCM) simulations of 10Be and 7Be deposition as tools to examine this problem. Maximum 10Be concentrations are observed in the ice core during the austral late summer to early autumn (summer-autumn), while minimum concentrations are observed during the austral winter. The GCM simulations, corroborated by earlier observations of 10Be:7Be ratios in Antarctica from the Georg von Neumayer air sampling station, suggest that the 10Be concentration maximum is linked to direct input of stratospheric 10Be from the Antarctic stratosphere to the lower levels of the Antarctic troposphere during the austral summer-autumn. This result contrasts with the modeled transport of 10Be to Greenland, where the seasonal maximum in stratospheric input is seen in the late winter to spring, synchronous with the timing of the seasonal maximum in midlatitude stratosphere to troposphere exchange. Our results suggest that a different combination of processes is responsible for the transport of 10Be to the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.


Human, monkey, and rat liver microsomes catalyze bisallylic hydroxylations of arachidonic and linoleic acids. The cytochrome P450 gene family of these hydroxylases has not been determined. We examined whether inducers of cytochrome P450 could augment the bisallylic hydroxylation activity of male rat liver microsomes. The microsomes were incubated with [14C]linoleic acid and NADPH and the monohydroxy metabolites were characterized. Microsomes prepared from control rats yielded mainly 18-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (18-HODE) and 17-HODE and microsomes from clofibrate-treated rats 18-HODE. Microsomes from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats hydroxylated linoleic acid without position specificity, i.e., at carbons 8, 11, 14, 16, 17, and 18. 11-HODE, 17-HODE, and 18-HODE were major metabolites. Microsomes from rats treated with phenobarbital, isopropanol, imidazole, or acetone also formed these three products along with many other hydroxy metabolites. The synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone increased the biosynthesis of 11-HODE selectively. Microsomes from male Sprague-Dawley and Fischer rats treated with dexamethasone mainly formed 11-HODE and 18-HODE. The biosynthesis of 11-HODE was increased 10-fold and troleandomycin (50 microM) inhibited the biosynthesis of 11-HODE by 90%. The bisallylic hydroxylases were also investigated with 14C-labeled arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids as substrates. Microsomes from rats treated with dexamethasone converted 20:4n-6 to 13-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (13-HETE), 10-HETE, 7-HETE, 19-HETE, and 20-HETE. Induction by acetone yielded the same products. Microsomes from dexamethasone-treated rats metabolized 20:5n-3 to 16-hydroxyeicosapentaenoic acid (16-HEPE), 13-HEPE, 10-HEPE, 19-HEPE, and 20-HEPE as major products, while microsomes from control and acetone-treated rats mainly formed 19-HEPE and 20-HEPE. We conclude that microsomes from dexamethasone-treated rats catalyze bisallylic hydroxylations of 18:2n-6, 20:4n-6, and 20:5n-3, possibly by induction of bisallylic hydroxylases of the CYP3A subfamily.


Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common inherited condition amongst people of European descent. It is caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene located on chromosome 7, and codes for the CFTR protein. Mutations in the CFTR gene lead to the characteristic features of CF, namely progressive and irreversible lung disease which is responsible for the majority of premature deaths in CF. Recently, research into the management of CF has shifted towards personalised genomic medicine. New classes of drugs called mutation-specific-therapies have been designed to target the mutation specific defects in CFTR protein synthesis or function. They have shown to restore the gating defect of class III mutations (CFTR potentiators) and intracellular processing defect of class II mutations (CFTR correctors) in cell studies. Both CFTR potentiators and CFTR correctors have progressed to human clinical trials. Cochrane systematic reviews are the gold standard for establishing the current evidence base for interventions.
Objective
To conduct two Cochrane systematic reviews to evaluate the benefits and harms of 1) CFTR potentiators (for class III-IV mutations) and 2) CFTR correctors (for class II mutations) on clinically important outcomes in children and adults with CF.
Methods
Systematic reviews were conducted according to peer assessed and published review protocol. Relevant studies were identified by searching the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis Trials Register, compiled from electronic database searches and hand searching of journals and conference abstract books. We also searched the clinical trial registries maintained by the EMA, the US NIH and the WHO and contacted leading researches and industry for relevant trials. We included only RCTs of parallel design that met pre-defined eligibility criteria. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias in included trials. If appropriate, data were combined in a meta-analysis.
Results
Studies with patients with the G551D mutation demonstrated a clinically relevant impact of Ivacaftor on outcomes at 24 and 48 weeks providing evidence for the use of Ivacaftor (CFTR potentiator) in patients with G551D mutation (Class III). There is no evidence to support the short-term use of CFTR correctors, CFTR potentiators, or both as combination therapy in patients with the ΔF508 mutation (class II mutation). As patients with Class II mutations comprise a significant proportion of all CF patients, identifying an efficacious CFTR corrector (or CFTR corrector and CFTR potentiator combination) will have a profound impact on the field.


Identification of hepatocellular carcinoma- associated tumor antigens is necessary and pivotal for specific immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In the present study, HCC cDNAs are constructed into ZAP cDNA expression library and screened by sera of patients with HCC. The positive clones are DNA sequenced and analyzed by bioinformatics. Thirty-one genes of hepatocellular carcinoma-associated tumor antigens are identified, of which 1 is unknown and 30 are known. The proteins encoded by these known genes can be classified into 8 categories: constitutive molecules of hepatocytes, RNA transcription and splicing-associated molecules, protein metabolism-associated molecules, energy synthesis-associated molecules, signal transduction molecules, cell adhesion molecules, immunosuppressive molecules, and proteins with unknown function. Among these genes, CAGE is a cancer-testis (CT) antigen. It is concluded that identification of hepatocellular carcinoma-associated tumor antigens provides potential targets for immunotherapy of HCC patients and facilitates explanation of carcinogenesis of HCC.


An environmentally benign, cost-efficient and practical methodology for the room temperature synthesis of 2-arylacetophenones in water has been discovered. The facile and efficient transformation involves the oxidative radical addition of arylhydrazines with α-aryl vinyl azides in the presence of H2O2 (as a radical initiator) and PEG-800 (as a phase-transfer catalyst). From the viewpoint of green chemistry and organic synthesis, the present protocol is of great significance because of using cheap, non-toxic and readily available starting materials and reagents as well as amenability to gram-scale synthesis, which provides an attractive strategy to access 2-arylacetophenones.


Childhood craniopharyngiomas are rare embryogenic malformations of the sellar region, presumably derived from Rathke cleft epithelium. The overall survival rates after neurosurgical intervention and/or irradiation are high (92%). However, the quality of survival is frequently impaired due to endocrine deficiencies, sleep disturbances, daytime sleepiness, and severe obesity caused by hypothalamic lesions. Based on self-assessment using nutritional diaries, caloric intake was similar in patients and BMI-matched controls. Analyses of physical activity by accelerometric measurements showed a markedly lower level of physical activity. Significant daytime sleepiness and disturbances of circadian rhythms have been demonstrated in obese childhood craniopharyngioma patients. Daytime sleepiness and obesity in these patients were both correlated with low nocturnal and early morning melatonin levels. Polysomnographic studies in patients with severe daytime sleepiness revealed sleeping patterns typical for secondary narcolepsy. Reports on a beneficial effect of treatment with central stimulating agents supported the hypothesis that secondary narcolepsy should be considered as a rare cause for severe daytime sleepiness in patients with childhood craniopharyngioma.


Since the advent of plate tectonics different reference frames have been proposed to describe the "absolute" motion of plates. The most prominent ones include the hot spot reference frame and the no-net-rotation reference frame. The difference in absolute plate motion between different reference frames can be substantial (up to 4 cm/yr). These differences are truly significant, considering that the velocity of the fast plates is only 6-12 cm/yr in such reference frames. It is thus of primary importance to extract which of these reference frames is most likely to describe the absolute motion of plates. Here we propose that the best candidate representing an absolute reference frame is the one, which minimizes the cumulative amount of trench migration for all subduction zones. From the absolute reference frames proposed thus far, it is found that the cumulative amount of trench migration is lowest in the Indo-Atlantic hot spot reference frame. This implies that the Indo-Atlantic hot spot reference frame is currently the best approximation of an absolute reference frame on Earth.


Background: High-risk B- and T- cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B/T-ALL) are aggressive lymphoid malignancies being treated with inhibitors targeting oncogenes and CAR-T cell-based immunotherapies. Despite advances in treatment, emergence of therapeutic resistance poses a clinical challenge in combating B/T-ALL. More recently, NK cells have emerged as attractive immunotherapies for cancers. Furthermore, NK therapies show promise for T-ALL, that has been particularly hard to treat with CAR-T cells.
 Approach: To develop NK therapies against B/T-ALL, it is important to identify the phenotypic and functional deficiencies in NK cells of ALL patients. Therefore, using mass cytometry (CyTOF), we compared the profile of NK cells in bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood (PB) of 20 high-risk ALL patients (13 B-ALL, 7 T-ALL, 9 pediatric and 11 adult) and 22 tissue-matched healthy donors. We validated our CyTOF results by conducting in silico cytometry (CIBERSORT) for NK subsets in an independent panel of 207 high-risk B-ALL patients from the Children's Oncology Group (COG) P9906 clinical trial. We then investigated whether distinct NK signatures identified by CyTOF and CIBERSORT in B/T-ALL correlate with risk features and predict clinical outcome.
 Results: We observed a significant reduction in the frequency of total NK cells within the non-malignant immune fraction in B/T-ALL. Upon comparing the frequencies of specific NK subsets (CD56Brightand CD56Dim, we found that CD56Bright NK cells were increased in the BM (P=0.0138) but were reduced in PB (P=0.0285) of patients as compared to healthy donors. We then conducted CIBERSORT to estimate the relative proportions of NK cells with CD56Bright and CD56Dim molecular signatures in 207 COG B-ALL patients compared to 94 healthy donors. We found that frequencies of NK cells with CD56Bright molecular signature were increased in both BM and PB of ALL patients (P<0.0001). We conclude that majority of NK cells in B/T-ALL exhibit the molecular profile of CD56Bright NK cells, albeit their PB NK cells show reduced surface CD56.
 Human NK cells mature from CD56Bright to CD56Dim stages. CD56Dim NK are more cytotoxic and produce less cytokines than CD56Bright NK cells. Enrichment of CD56Bright molecular signature in NK cells of B/T-ALL patients suggested an impairment in NK maturation and function in ALL. By comparing the abilities of PB NK cells in B/T-ALL and healthy donors to lyse K562 targets invitro, we found that NK cells in ALL patients are poorly cytolytic compared to healthy donors (P=0.0295). Upon stimulation with PMA/Ionomycin, we observed an increase in the frequencies of GM-CSF+ and TNF-α+ cells in total NK and NK subsets in BM and PB of B/T-ALL patients compared to healthy donors (all P<0.05). Surprisingly, the natural cytotoxicity receptor NKp46 was increased in stimulated NK subsets of B/T-ALL patients compared to healthy controls (P<0.01). We conclude that poorly cytotoxic NK cells with CytokineHigh NKp46High activated phenotype (NKActiv) are enriched in B/T-ALL, while normal NK phenotype (NKRest) is suppressed.
 Finally, we investigated whether relative frequencies of NKActiv and NKRest cells can predict clinical outcome in high-risk ALL. To this end, we used CIBERSORT to estimate proportions of NK cells with activated (NKActiv) and resting (NKRest) molecular signatures in 207 COG B-ALL patients. We then separated patients into 2 groups as NKActiv> NKRest and NKRest> NKActiv, and compared their relapse-free survival (RFS) probabilities (Fig.1). We found that patients with higher NKActiv cells had shorter RFS than those with higher NKRest cells (P=0.0028). Furthermore, we found that relative proportions of activated and resting NK cells independently predict clinical outcome within a poorly prognostic subset of patients with Central Nervous System involvement (CNS+, P=0.0098). These preliminary findings suggest that higher levels of activated NK cells in B-ALL may be associated with poor clinical prognosis. We are validating these results in B/T-ALL from our CyTOF studies.
 Conclusion: We find that impairment of NK maturation in high-risk human B/T-ALL results in the accumulation of NK cells with a poorly cytotoxic but hyperactivated cytokine-producing phenotype, that positively correlates with poor clinical prognosis. Our data suggest that restoring NK homeostasis would be an attractive strategy for treating high-risk B/T-ALL.

 Marcucci: Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Speakers Bureau; Iaso Bio: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Other: Research Support (Investigation Initiated Clinical Trial); Merck: Other: Research Support (Investigation Initiated Clinical Trial); Pfizer: Other: Research Support (Investigation Initiated Clinical Trial).


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, measure and optimise financial risk and its effect on returns from innovation projects on an accrual basis and on a cash basis in a commodity industry.

Design/methodology/approach

A hypothetical case study, based on a real case, of a petrochemical commodity industry in Brazil was analysed with commodities pricing rules based on actual contracts. Earnings at risk (EaR) and cash flow at risk (CFaR) measures were applied, as well as a metric proposed in this paper called cash balance at risk (CBaR).

Findings

The paper demonstrates that financial risk measurement and optimisation are important issues in the decision-making process in the petrochemical industry. EaR, CFaR and CBaR measures are helpful when used alongside standard procedures of project evaluation. The findings also show that innovative technologies, in certain conditions, may act as "natural hedging". It was found that the time delay between revenues and expenses leads to financial risk exposure to changes in prices and foreign exchange rates. Projects can use financing and hedging to boost their results.

Originality/value

An innovative project was compared with an expansion project in a petrochemical industry. A model for petrochemical commodities contract pricing was added in an analysis that included financing and hedging. The findings in this paper suggest that it is important to consider financial risk measures in project evaluation.


OBJECTIVE
The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale has been the gold standard for the assessment of depression for more than 40 years. Criticism of the instrument has been increasing. The authors review studies published since the last major review of this instrument in 1979 that explicitly examine the psychometric properties of the Hamilton depression scale. The authors' goal is to determine whether continued use of the Hamilton depression scale as a measure of treatment outcome is justified.

METHOD
MEDLINE was searched for studies published since 1979 that examine psychometric properties of the Hamilton depression scale. Seventy studies were identified and selected, and then grouped into three categories on the basis of the major psychometric properties examined-reliability, item-response characteristics, and validity.

RESULTS
The Hamilton depression scale's internal reliability is adequate, but many scale items are poor contributors to the measurement of depression severity; others have poor interrater and retest reliability. For many items, the format for response options is not optimal. Content validity is poor; convergent validity and discriminant validity are adequate. The factor structure of the Hamilton depression scale is multidimensional but with poor replication across samples.

CONCLUSIONS
Evidence suggests that the Hamilton depression scale is psychometrically and conceptually flawed. The breadth and severity of the problems militate against efforts to revise the current instrument. After more than 40 years, it is time to embrace a new gold standard for assessment of depression.


The fast computational algorithm based on matrix Kronecker products yields the Hadamard transform in a scrambled order of sequencies. A computational algorithm is developed to arrange the transform in an increasing order of sequencies. The unscrambling is achieved by exchanges of components and requires no additional storage.


Abstract. Moss floras of xeric calcareous habitats were studied at field sites in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. At each site, one study area was established, including open glade and wooded margin. A species inventory and a community composition investigation were conducted at each study area. Community composition was analyzed for ground-dwelling (soil and rock) and corticolous communities. Ground-dwelling communities were sampled with quadrats, and corticolous communities were sampled by examining trees along the margins. Presence/absence data from the complete species lists from the five sites were used to calculate Jaccard similarity indices among pairs of sites. The frequencies of species occurring in community samples were used to calculate Bray-Curtis similarity indices for ground-dwelling margin and corticolous communities. Jaccard and Bray-Curtis similarities were used in regression analyses to explore their relationship with geographic distance and climatic factors. The total number of species found at each 1 ha study area ranged from 32 to 35. Part of the flora at each site consisted of species common elsewhere in the region, but there were also species commonly associated with calcareous substrates, such as Pleurochaete luteola, Weissia jamaicensis, Orthotrichum strangulatum, Schistidium rivulare and Hyophila involuta. Regression analyses of pairwise similarities and geographic distances showed a strong non-linear correlation between distance and the Jaccard similarities, a somewhat lower correlation between distance and the Bray-Curtis similarities from ground-dwelling margin communities, and little correlation between distance and corticolous community compositions. Multiple regression analyses suggested significant correlations between community variation and temperature and in most cases weaker correlations with precipitation. Our results were notable in that the ground-dwelling community subset exhibited a pronounced distance decay but the corticolous subset did not. This finding suggests that in bryophytes characteristics associated with habitat fragmentation and substrate type have important effects on beta diversity.


Abstract:This article presents previous research at Gournia, the overall goals of our project, a new plan of the settlement, and our 2010–2012 excavations in eight areas: the Pit House, the Northwest Area, the North Cemetery, North Trench, the Northeast Area, House Aa, several rooms in the palace, and House He. Analytical sections discuss the textual evidence; the painted plasters; and the botanical remains. Our excavations indicate that Gournia was first settled in the Final Neolithic period and grew into an industrial town by the Protopalatial period. Following a Middle Minoan II destruction, the town was reorganized in Middle Minoan IIIA to include the palace, which in Late Minoan IB employed Linear A.


Understanding the Moon is crucial to future exploration of the solar system. The Moon preserves a record of the first billion years of the Earth-Moon systems history, including evidence of the Moons origin as accumulated debris from a giant impact into early Earth. Lunar rocks provide evidence of early differentiation and extraction of a crust.

Lacking an atmospheric shield, the Moon's regolith retains a record of the activity of solar wind over the past 4 billion years. It also holds a complete record of impact cratering, and analysis of samples has allowed calibration of ages, and thus dating of other planetary surfaces. And because of its proximity to Earth, it's low gravity well, and stable surface, the Moon's resources will be useful both in establishing lunar habitations and as fuel for exploration beyond the Moon.


ICE thermal Harvesting has developed a patented technology to convert neglected thermal energy existing in producing oil and gas wells to 100% emissions free electrical power to fulfil in-field power needs and improve operators' emissions profile. By leveraging advanced process design and automation, heat is harvested and converted to electricity which is then safely delivered to local equipment, the grid, or energy storage fields.
 During production of oil and gas from high-temperature, high-pressure formations, reservoir fluids are sent through a surface choke reducing the pressure prior to flowing to surface production equipment and pipelines. Flowing pressures before a choke can be as high as 10,000 psi and will most commonly be reduced to pressures below 1,400 psi. This pressure regulation is critical to both limit unmitigated flow from the well, optimizing the ultimate recovery from the reservoir, as well as to protect surface assets from potentially damaging flowing pressures. However, as the flowing pressure is reduced, the temperature as a result also drops significantly and the thermal energy is lost.
 Additionally, due to the depth of many of these producer wells, the fluid being produced from the subterranean reservoirs contain large amounts of thermal energy. Currently, this thermal energy is unutilized because there is no existing methodology or technology to effectively capture this thermal energy or convert it to electrical power.
 Based on the EIA estimates, there are roughly 900,000 producing wells across US lands and waters. From conservative initial ICE estimates, at least 7,500 of these well sites have the potential to be utilized for this application. With electric power rates of ICE packages varying from 125kW to 210kW, this would equate to 937,500 MW to 1,575,000 MW of emissions free power production for consumption within the United States.
 Contrary to previous past projects exploring similar technologies aiming to utilize oil and gas wells as geothermal reserviors, the requirement of continuously pumping large volumes of fresh water downhole is eliminated by utilizing producing wells instead of reconditioning de-commissioned wells. Because the wells are already producing, the ICE system relies on the reservoir pressure or others production lift mechnism to push the oil and gas stream back to surface, rather than pumping large volumes of fluid downhole to recover the geothermal energy. The benefit of this is reducing the parasitic loads imposed by pumping fluid downhole, ultimately improving net power output by over 50%.
 ICE's innovations to date have been primarily centered around the harvesting of one or more heat sources, aggregating those heat sources in an optimal manner through a patented process loop, and modulating heat transfer through automated control methods. This controlled thermal product is then transferred to the Organic Rankine Cycle generator portion of the system for conversion to electricity. Building upon decades of experience in the electrification of oilfield services, ICE engineers designed the system to be highly mobile, modular, and scalable to comply with the demands of remote oilfield operations. Contrary to other heat-to-power systems, the ICE system does not necessitate civil infrastructure work or the employment of EPC firms to install.
 ICE systems are planned to be installed in processes spanning several industrial spaces including cement manufacturing, power production, and industrial manufacturing; anywhere large industrial cooling is required, there exists opportunity to implement ICE technology. The initial strong interest from oil and gas operators has caused the initial deployments to focus on the energy sector. These applications are found across the oil and gas value chain, ranging from upstream, midstream, and downstream processes.
 For this overview, two ICE system applications will be described. For the first application, thermal energy will be harvested from aggregated oil production from 11 conventional wells. As liquid production is aggregated in-field and routed toward initial processing, the production stream will flow though ICE Thermal Harvesting's system, where heat will be extracted from the stream.
 The second application will harvest thermal energy from natural gas wells. In this application, hot, high- pressure gas from two wells will flow through the ICE system in the vicinity of the wellhead where flowing pressures are still high. Wellhead temperatures of these wells are greater than 230 degrees Fahrenheit. The ICE system is expected to have a cooling impact of over 40 degrees Fahrenheit on the gas stream during the power production process, which will greatly reduce the cooling duty required on location.
 Both projects will be executed in three phases: Phase 1: Assessing the feasibility of power production from subject assets by evaluating production dataPhase 2: Utilizing the measured heat within the subject assets, ICE will finalize engineering design on heat exchange equipment best suited to harvest the maximum amount of thermal energy from production streams.Phase 3: Critical parameters will be continuously monitored remotely. Optimization engineering to be performed to maximize power production from the system to achieve as close to 125kW nameplate output as possible.


Abstract. Metamorphic mechanisms are members of the class of mechanisms that are able to change their configurations sequentially to meet different requirements. The paper introduces a comprehensive symbolic matrix representation for characterizing the topology of one of these mechanisms in a single configuration using general information concerning links and joints. Furthermore, a matrix representation of an original metamorphic mechanism that has the ability to evolve is proposed by uniting the matrices representing all of the mechanism's possible configurations. The representation of metamorphic kinematic joints is developed in accordance with the variation laws of these mechanisms. By introducing the joint variation matrices derived from generalized operations on the related symbolic adjacency matrices, evolutionary relationships between mechanisms in adjacent configurations and the original metmaorphic mechanism are made distinctly. Examples are provided to demonstrate the validation of the method.


Anaerobic degradation of diuron [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea], monuron [3-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea], and fenuron [1,1-dimethyl-3-phenylurea] were studied. Herbicide containing media (reduced with cysteine-HCl and under 95% N2:5% CO2 gas phase) were inoculated with pond sediments. Sediment from a diuron-treated pond dehalongenated diuron to 3-(3-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (CPDU) in 17 to 25 days but sterile sediment from the pond did not. Sediments from non-diuron treated ponds were also ineffective. Particles from diuron-treated sediment were essential for dehalogenation and they could not be replaced with other solid surfaces such as clay, sand or cellulose. Diuron was degraded by sediment at 25 and 30 degrees C (maximal rate) but not at 5, 15 and 37 degrees C after 55 days incubation. The product CPDU produced in laboratory cultures was found in sediment of the diuron-treated pond, indicating in situ reductive dechlorination. Sediment-inoculated cultures containing monuron and fenuron showed no degradation after 74 days incubation.


The use of advanced AR/VR applications may benefit the efficiency of collaborative public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) missions by providing better situational awareness and deeper real-time immersion. The resultant bandwidth-hungry traffic calls for the use of capable millimeter-wave (mmWave) radio technologies, which are however susceptible to link blockage phenomena. The latter may significantly reduce the network reliability and thus degrade the performance of PPDR applications. Efficient mmWave-based mesh topologies need to, therefore, be constructed, which employ advanced multi-connectivity mechanisms to improve the levels of connectivity. This work conceptualizes predictive blockage avoidance by leveraging emerging artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. In particular, AI-aided blockage prediction permits the mesh network to reconfigure itself by establishing alternative connections proactively, thus reducing the chances of a harmful link interruption. An illustrative scenario related to a fire suppression mission is then addressed by demonstrating that the proposed approach dramatically improves the connection reliability in dynamic mmWave-based deployments.


Purpose
Student mobility from the south to the north/centre of Italy is an increasingly crucial topic because the most important consequence is the continual depletion of universities situated in the southern regions. Using micro-data from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), the purpose of this paper is to investigate how contextual factors affect this mobility.

Design/methodology/approach
Empirical evidence is provided by developing a multilevel logit model of student decisions to move at university enrolment that allows us to identify the unique effects that student and province characteristics have on out-migration. Multilevel analysis is appropriate because the research questions focus on the role of province characteristics, variables that are measured at the macro level, on student-level outcome (out-migration) while controlling for student-level characteristics, variables that are measured at the micro level.

Findings
The present paper intends to contribute to the literature by quantifying the way in which contextual factors affect student mobility from the south to the north/centre of Italy. Findings show that province differences remain significant even after controlling for individual characteristics stressing the importance of the geographical dimension for student mobility. These findings have important policy implications for the future of university system in Italy.

Originality/value
This paper is relevant to the literature concerning this issue because most of the empirical applications are based on spatial models that do not take into account individual characteristics of the students. In addition, the multilevel methodology proposed can be easily generalise to other countries.


Egyptian fish farming has witnessed a spectacular development resulting in an industry that is number 7 worldwide and number two in tilapia production. As such the industry is an important contributor to Egypt's economy as well as a major provider of cheap fish protein. However, there are a number of developments that potentially could result in a stagnation or even collapse of the industry. Some important issues are: • Low fish prices and increasing fish production costs resulting in eroding profitability of farms and thus no investment in technology development and innovation. • Lack of processing and freezing capacity which results in an inability to access new export markets • Low priority of government, lack of legislation and harmonisation of legislation, no operational extension service, weak professional organisations and weak linkage between research and industry • Rather traditional farming technology (tilapia) including use of low quality feeds and wild fry (marine aquaculture). The IMARES/Wageningen UR study1 illustrated that within the currently available land and water resources, Egypt can potentially increase its total tilapia production from 700,000 tonnes to 1,400,000 tonnes, resulting in an increase in the economic value of the sector to over 1% of the current GDP. In order to realize this potential, the first requirement is to increase the current farm profitability. When this is realized, capital will become available that allow farmers to invest into new production technologies, market innovations and new organisational structures, that will than result in more fish and new markets. Among the issues at stake are improvements in fish feed and on-farm feed management, breeding and genetics and export of fish to new international markets (Middle East and Europe).


Against a background of mounting demands for spending on services provided by sub-central governments, this paper examines how fiscal rules can help to ensure that pressure on resources is minimised and available resources are used efficiently. Drawing on questionnaire responses and other sources, this paper gives a detailed picture of fiscal rules for sub-central governments in place among a number of OECD countries. The paper examines the rationales for using fiscal rules, the various impacts fiscal rules can have, the factors making for effective implementation and the interactions between the various types of rule. It then constructs a number of synthetic sub-indicators designed to assess the extent to which sub-central government fiscal frameworks exhibit favourable characteristics for the achievement of fiscal objectives. It concludes with the construction of a composite indicator based on the combined impacts in the different areas of fiscal policy.


To conduct this research we selected 42 herder informants known to be most knowledgeable about the local landscapes. The interviews took place at the field survey and the herders' camps and data were collected during fieldwork using interview, observation and semi-structured questionnaire. We asked the herders of northern Khorasan to study of ''criteria of grazing landscapes classification, assessment of grazing landscapes and assessment indicators of grazing suitability''. The results showed that for selection of the ''criteria of grazing landscapes classification'' the herders used their indigenous knowledge of grazing lands classification in order to determining the types of grazing landscapes. They used criteria of topography and type of grazing lands. For the ''assessment of grazing landscapes'' the herders used vegetation indicators including ecological status, fodder values and life forms for determine livestock grazing preferences. Based on changes in the type of cover, forage quality and plant species composition, they were altering livestock composition. Herders for ''assessment of grazing suitability'' used ecological and livestock production indicators. In general, Northern Khorasan herders' indigenous rangeland knowledge has implications for participatory research of scholars and indigenous herders, for verifying and testing methods of ecological traditional, as well as for sharing information in order to promote scientific and practical range management.


The purpose of this research was to assess counselling skills among the Roman Catholic priests in Masvingo diocese- Zimbabwe. This research took place because the priests encountered challenging situations that called for pastoral counselling skills. The research examined and assessed the competence of the clergy. To carry out this research, a survey of 40 priests and 50 parishioners was undertaken. The methods used to collect data were the questionnaire and unstructured interviews.
The research structure began with the general introduction, followed by several themes discussed in relation to the literature on counselling in general, pastoral counselling skills and Christian reaction. After analysing the findings, there was confirmation that there was some lack of counselling skills among the clergy.
In conclusion, the study recommended a thorough training and supervision in pastoral counselling. This includes the engagement of experts in psychological and pastoral counselling skills.


The increased marketisation and privatisation of schooling in economically developing countries struggling to achieve Education for All and Millennium Development Goals warrants a focused examination of the phenomenon. However, there is little work on the nature and extent of private provision in countries that, on the one hand, are striving to meet international commitments of universal schooling provision and, on the other, face such challenges as constrained public budgets, low levels of quality, and persistent schooling gaps. This volume brings together new research evidence from academics and policy makers on the nature and extent of private provision in a range of countries across Asia and Africa. As South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for the majority of the worlds population of children out of school, this book sheds new light on the changing context of schooling provision in some of the most vulnerable regions. Of particular interest is the nature and potential impact of private provision on the educational opportunities of economically and socially disadvantaged children.


A spring lattice model with the ability to simulate elastic–plastic–brittle transitions in a disordered medium is presented. The model is based on a bilinear constitutive law defi ned at the spring level and power law-type disorder introduced in the yield and failure limits of the springs. The key parameters of the proposed model effectively control the disorder distribution, signifi cantly affecting the stress–strain response, the damage accumulation process, and the fracture surfaces. The model demonstrates a plastic strain avalanche behavior for perfectly plastic as well as hardening materials with a power-law distribution, in agreement with experiments and related models [1]. The strength of the model is in its generality and ability to interpolate between elastic–plastic hardening and elastic–brittle transitions. As the next step, we use the spring model to study patterns of plasticity and damage evolution [2]. The set of plastic events and its subset comprised the failure events both are shown to evolve as fractals. The elastic–perfectly plastic transition is observed to follow percolation scaling with (~0.59), implying a different universality class (for a fi nite disorder) than the random = 0.75) due to the presence of long-range po percolation (wer law correlations. A quantitative analysis of the plastic strain accumulation reveals a bipolar anisotropy (for antiplane loading) which vanishes with increasing hardening modulus. A parametric study with hardening modulus and ductility controlled through the spring level constitutive response demonstrates a wide spectrum of behaviors with varying degree of coupling between plasticity and damage evolution. REFERENCES [1] Kale, S., Ostoja-Starzewski, M. Elastic–plastic–brittle transitions and avalanches in disordered media. Phys Rev Lett. 2014, 112, 045503-1-5. [2] Kale, S., Ostoja-Starzewski, M. Morphological study of elastic–plastic–brittle transitions in disordered media. To be published.


Activity coefficients at infinite dilution, γi,3∞, for organic solutes (alkanes, alkenes, alkyl benzenes, alcohols, chloromethanes, acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, and acetone) in 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [HMIM][PF6] and 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [OMIM][PF6] have been determined using gas–liquid chromatography at temperatures from 303.15 to 363.15 K with the ionic liquids as the stationary phase. The partial molar excess enthalpies at infinite dilution of the ionic liquids were calculated for the solutes from the temperature dependence of the experimental activity coefficients at infinite dilution. The solubility parameters of ionic liquids were also determined by the regular solution theory. The selectivities of various ionic liquids for the alkane/aromatic hydrocarbon and aromatic/aromatic were summarized from literature and calculated from γi,3∞.


Transition metal nitrides have attracted much interest of the scientific community for their intriguing properties and technological applications. Here we focus on yttrium dinitride (YN$_{2}$) and its formation and structural transition under pressure. We employed a fixed composition USPEX search to find the most stable polymorphs. We choose yttrium as a proxy for the lanthanide series because it has only $+3$ oxidation state, contrary to most transition metals. We then computed thermodynamic and dynamical stability of these structures compared to the decomposition reactions and we found that the compound undergoes two structural transitions, the latter showing the formation N$_{4}$ chains. A closer look into the nature of the nitrogen bonding showed that in the first two structures, where nitrogen forms dimers, the bond length is intermediate between that of a single bond and that of a double bond, making it hard to rationalize the proper oxidation state configuration for YN$_{2}$. In the latter structure where there is the formation of N$_{4}$ chains, the bond lengths increase significantly, up to a value that can be justified as a single bond. Finally, we also studied the electronic structure and the dynamical stability of the structures we found.


A differential oscillator topology with an integrated resonator is presented that allows for low supply voltages and RF/microwave frequencies. On-chip, pad-to-pad bond wire inductors and noise matching techniques are used to minimize phase noise. Operation in the 1.8 GHz range with a phase noise spectral density of -94 dBc/Hz at a 100 kHz offset is achieved with 5 mA drawn from a 1 V supply, and oscillation is supported down to power supply levels of 3.3 mW.


"Indeed, the human body is much more than the sum of
its parts, and life relies upon this total function, not just
on the function of individual body parts in isolation from
the others." Guyton and Hall, Textbook of Medical
Physiology, 12th Edition, 2011
The excerpt from preface from the most popular text book
of medical physiology by Guyton and Hall clearly indicates
how thinking in mainstream biology is moving towards
holistic approaches. The new recognition of systems
approach in biology may have significant impact on health,
wellness, diseases, therapeutics and future health care.


The ability of thin materials to shape-shift is a common occurrence that leads to dynamic pattern formation and function in natural and man-made structures. However, harnessing this concept to design inorganic structures at the nanoscale rationally has remained far from reach due to a lack of fundamental understanding of the essential physical components. Here, we show that the interaction between organic ligands and the nanocrystal surface is responsible for the full range of chiral shapes seen in colloidal nanoplatelets. The adsorption of ligands results in incompatible curvatures on the top and bottom surfaces of NPL, causing them to deform into helico\"ids, helical ribbons, or tubes depending on the lateral dimensions and crystallographic orientation of the NPL. We demonstrate that nanoplatelets belong to the broad class of geometrically frustrated assemblies and exhibit one of their hallmark features: a transition between helico\"ids and helical ribbons at a critical width. The effective curvature $\bar{\kappa}$ is the single aggregate parameter that encodes the details of the ligand/surface interaction, determining the nanoplatelets' geometry for a given width and crystallographic orientation. The conceptual framework described here will aid the rational design of dynamic, chiral nanostructures with high fundamental and practical relevance.


There is evidence supporting the importance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the perception of time. The tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) modulates cortical excitability and can be applied to influence the performance of different brain functions, such as timing. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of stimulation of right and left DLPFC on a task of production of time. 26 patients underwent transcranial stimulation of 2mA over the DLPFC for 20 min (anodic, cathodic or sham). Then they participated in a reproduction task of 4 and 8 seconds. Through ANOVA for repeated measures for stimulating factors (anode, cathode, sham), intervals (4s and / or 8s) and location (left and right), we observed that the anodic stimulation of the right DLPFC resulted in greater underestimation in 4-seconds interval, while the use of cathodic current on the left DLPFC caused an overestimation of 4-seconds interval. Our results confirm the importance of the right DLPFC in the perception of time. Furthermore, the observed asymmetric effect is interesting, confirming that the left DLPFC is associated with the executive, important roles in perception of time.


Specimens of Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (Bagridae) (n= 528) were procured between October 2008 and June 2010 from Lekki Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria. Siphodera ghanensis was recovered from (53.6%) of the fish specimens. SEM observations revealed the length of the trematode as 1.670 mm and the breadth as 625μm. The oral sucker is circular with a distance of 629μm to the ventral sucker. The ventral sucker has a length of 135μm and a breadth of 197μm and lies in a pit like cavity. This study revealed that the ventral sucker is not centrally placed on the body. The tegument of the cryptogonimid trematode is characterised with some markings and whitish ornamentations. The cephalic and the body region bears some compressed alae. The parasite has the distome body plan of digenetic trematode. The histopathology of the parasitized gastrointestinal tracts revealed necrosis of intestinal surface epithelium, hyperplasia of villi, accumulation of inflammatory debris within lumen and calcification within the tunica muscularis. This is the first report of the description of the trematode with SEM in Nigeria. The study provides a complete morphological details of the cryptogonimid trematode. Keywords: Cryptogonimidae, distome, Siphodera , hyperplasia, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus Nigerian Journal of Parasitology , Vol. 33 [1] March 2012, pp. 103-109


Background Recently, SARS-CoV-2 virus with the D614G mutation has become a public concern due to rapid dissemination of this variant across many countries. Our study aims were (1) to report full-length genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 collected from four COVID-19 patients in the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, Indonesia; (2) to compare the clade distribution of full-length genome sequences from Indonesia (n = 60) from March to September 2020 and (3) to perform phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 complete genomes from different countries, including Indonesia. Methods Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed using next-generation sequencing (NGS) applied in the Illumina MiSeq instrument. Full-length virus genomes were annotated using the reference genome of hCoV-19/Wuhan/Hu-1/2019 (NC_045512.2) and then visualized in UGENE v. 1.30. For phylogenetic analysis, a dataset of 88 available SARS-CoV-2 complete genomes from different countries, including Indonesia, was retrieved from GISAID. Results All patients were hospitalized with various severities of COVID-19. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that one and three virus samples belong to clade L and GH. These three clade GH virus samples (EPI_ISL_525492, EPI_ISL_516800 and EPI_ISL_516829) were not only located in a cluster with SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Asia but also those from Europe, whereas the clade L virus sample (EPI_ISL_516806) was located amongst SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Asia. Using full-length sequences available in the GISAID EpiCoV Database, 39 of 60 SARS-CoV-2 (65%) from Indonesia harbor the D614G mutation. Conclusion These findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 with the D614G mutation appears to become the major circulating virus in Indonesia, concurrent with the COVID-19 situation worldwide.


The study explores and assesses the impact of cultural practices and beliefs on the empowerment of women within the Kasena Nankana Municipality. The focus was to examine how these cultural practices and beliefs in the patriarchal society discriminate against women and female children. The study also investigates the perceptions of community members towards the empowerment of women.  Under empowerment of women, the study narrowed on the decision making rights of women, how women effect their own desired outcome and women's accessibility and ownership of productive resources although the study acknowledge other forms of women empowerment.  The study also investigated the perceptions held by the community members towards women empowerment and empowered women. During the conduct of the study, the study made a discovery of an interesting revelation about the belongingness of a woman in the communities of the research area. The study adopted qualitative research strategy and the research tools were developed under cross sectional research design. Employing both convenient and simple random sampling techniques to select participants, data gathered from the fields were analysed thematically. The significance of the study cannot be over emphasized because it has been pointed out by UNDP (2003) that attempting to achieve the MDGs without promoting women empowerment and gender equality will both raise the costs and decrease the likelihood of achieving the other goals. Hence, the study sought to ascertain the cultural obstacles that impeded the realization of Women Empowerment under the MDG 3. In this case, policy makers can put measures in place to tackle these obstacles for community development. According to CARE (2010) improving women with health, knowledge and skills is not enough to empower them, women must also contend with social structures, cultural traditions and personal relationships that affect their success. The study's main findings were that; women in the study have inadequate sense of empowerment and this is due to cultural ascription of gender roles and the woman has no strong connection to any culture structure. The study further highlighted that, gender socialization perpetuates society's expectations of what a woman is supposed to do in the societies. Keywords: Gender Equality and Equity, Women's Human Right, Gender Discrimination, Patriarchy, Culture


The purpose of the study was to analyze the items about students' mathematical critical thinking skills by using Graded Response Models (GRM). This research is a type of qualitative research with a descriptive approach. The research subjects here were VIII grade students of MTs Al Muhajirin Panjang 2018/2019 school year, totaling 30 students by means of purposive sampling. Data collection techniques are carried out by written tests (essays) and interviews. The data analysis technique is using the Graded Response Models (GRM) test, which is then combined with data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of the study show that students with high ability categories can generally say that students can work on mathematical critical thinking tests well according to mathematical critical thinking criteria in accordance with indicators of critical thinking questions. Students with moderate abilities can generally be concluded that students who have moderate abilities have not been too capable of working on mathematical critical thinking tests well according to mathematical critical thinking criteria. As well as low-ability students in general it can be concluded that students who have low ability have not been able to at all work on mathematical thinking test questions properly according to mathematical critical thinking criteria.


We report the first detection of linearly polarized emission at an observing wavelength of 350 μm from the radio-loud active galactic nucleus 3C 279. We conducted polarization observations for 3C 279 using the SHARP polarimeter in the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory on 2014 March 13 and 14. For the first time, we detected the linear polarization with the degree of polarization of 13.3% ± 3.4% (3.9σ) and the electric vector position angle (EVPA) of 34.°7 ± 5.°6. We also observed 3C 279 simultaneously at 13, 7, and 3.5 mm in dual polarization with the Korean very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) Network on 2014 March 6 (single dish) and imaged in milliarcsecond (mas) scales at 13, 7, 3.5, and 2.3 mm on March 22 (VLBI). We found that the degree of linear polarization increases from 10% to 13% at 13 mm to 350 μm and the EVPAs at all observing frequencies are parallel within <10° to the direction of the jet at mas scale, implying that the integrated magnetic fields are perpendicular to the jet in the innermost regions. We also found that the Faraday rotation measures RM are in a range of −6.5 × 102 ∼ −2.7 × 103 rad m−2 between 13 and 3.5 mm, and are scaled as a function of wavelength: ∣ RM ∣ ∝ λ − 2.2 ?> . These results indicate that the millimeter and sub-millimeter polarization emission are generated in the compact jet within 1 mas scale and affected by a Faraday screen in or in the close proximity of the jet.


Children encounter problem solving in their formal schooling mainly in the verbal modality, whereas they are exposed to cartoons in their leisure time in a context perceived as nonlearning and nonthreatening. Yet, cartoons can be conceived of as problems in the visual-humorous modality, analogous to verbal problems. This article examines how gifted and average children solve analogous problems in these two modalities (verbal and visual-humorous), including their ability to consciously transfer solutions from one modality to the other. Specifically, four variables are considered: (1) the correctness of solutions of analogous problems in both modalities; (2) the students' perceived difficulty of these problems; (3) their awareness of the correctness of their solutions; and (4) their awareness of the contribution of a learned source problem in one modality to the solution of an analogous target problem in the other. Gifted children, as expected, did better on the verbal problems, but improved their skills in both modalities once exposed to the solution of analogous problems In the visual-humorous modality. Average children tended to solve cartoons better than verbal problems, but working with cartoons increased their verbal problem-solving skills. Results suggest that cartoon solving in the classroom can enhance the problem-solving capabilities of both populations.


Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) ranks as the fifth most widely grown cereal globally, and its grain is gluten-free, containing about 26 phytochemicals which are mostly phenolics. The objective of this study was to predict pharmacokinetics of sorghum grain phytochemicals and some molecular targets that may impact good health in human. The methods used were in silico pharmacokinetic prediction, target prediction, target gene network analysis, docking and molecular dynamics simulation. The results showed that ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and vanillic acid were blood-brain barrier permeant, while p-coumaric acid and gallic acid have high gastrointestinal absorption. The results indicated that p-coumaric acid has 100% probability of target on aldose reductase and estrogen receptor, while gallic acid had 100% probability of target on alpha-(1,3)-fucosyltransferase 7. The docking analyses revealed that p-coumaric acid bind to aldose reductase with an affinity of -7.759 kcal.mol-1 while gallic acid bind to alpha-(1,3)-fucosyltransferase 7 with binding affinity of -5.512 kcal.mol-1. Overall, binding energy ΔGbind (Total) at 0 ns was slightly higher than that of 100 ns for p-coumaric acid - aldose reductase complex (-56.631 to -53.546 kcal.mol-1). This study provides valuable insights into the potential pharmacological actions of phytochemicals in sorghum grains.


The double-pionic fusion reactions dd → 4Heπ0π0 and dd → 4Heπ+π- were measured exclusively and kinematically complete with the WASA detector at COSY. The measurements were performed in the energy range Tp = 0.8 - 1.4 GeV covering thus the full energy region, where the so-called ABC effect – a peculiar low-mass enhancement in the ππ-invariant mass spectrum – was observed previously in inclusive measurements. Our findings for the double-pionic fusion to 4He are in accordance with the observations for the basic pn → dπ0π0 reaction pointing to the same fundamental mechanism. In both cases we observe that the ABC effect is associated with a peak in the energy dependence of the total cross section. In the 4He case the peak structure in the total cross section is broadened in comparison to the deuteron case. This is consistent with both Fermi motion of the basic pn system within 4He and with collision broadening as it is known, e.g., from excitations of the Δ resonance in nuclei.


This study examines the Scientometrics appraisal of the Journal of Intellectual Property Rights (JIPR) for eight years from 2003-2010. This paper analyses the year wise distribution of articles and citations, authorship pattern, the degree of collaboration, the subjects covered and the length of the articles in the journal. The results indicate that the average number of contribution per issue is 6.46, the maximum number of contribution of article is by single author and patents as subject is covered with more number of articles. The maximum length of an article goes to 13.59 with the minimum of 6.75 pages. It is found that this is an important journal in the field of IPR, which every organization should procure and make it available to the users. Palavras-chave: Bibliometrics. Scientometrics. IPR. Patents. Copyright.NISCAIR. Link para o texto completo (PDF) http://www2.marilia.unesp.br/revistas/index.php/bjis/article/view/1162/2929


In this study, unconsolidated-undrained (UU) shear strengths of a clayey soil that is subject to saturation separately by using vacuum saturation method and falling head method were investigated. In the study, a soil with CL class according to Unified Soil Classification System was used. The soil samples prepared by being compacted in a rigid-wall permeameter mechanism were subject to a saturation process for periods varying from 1 week to 4 weeks. In the saturation by using falling head method, maximum 4m hydraulic load was applied to the samples. In saturation by using vacuum method, minimum - 70 kPa vacuum was used. After the saturation process, the samples were subject to UU type triaxial tests. Depending on the saturation method and duration, a decrease of approximately 2 - 3 times was observed in UU shear strength parameters (c u and ϕ u ) of the samples, which are subject to the saturation process, compared to the unsaturated samples. In the samples compacted with Standard Proctor Energy (SPE), strength parameters obtained under vacuum for one week were lower compared to samples saturated for 4 weeks by using the method of saturation by gravity. In the samples compacted with Modified Proctor Energy (MPE), vacuum method did not give a successful result.


This paper proposes the modeling and analysis of multi-energy systems as multilayer networks. The aim is to assess the interdependence between different energy infrastructures. Multilayer network modeling enhances the one-dimensional graph-based approach employed to study the vulnerability and the topological characteristics of power grids. The centrality indices defined for one-dimensional networks are extended to multilayer networks, highlighting the differences emerging when interdependence is considered. The proposed multilayer framework is demonstrated on the 24-bus IEEE power grid coupled with a gas network with 7 nodes.


Prestressed Concrete Wire and Strand (PC) strands are the most used materials to introduce prestress in a Pre-Stressed Concrete (PSC) structure. However, it is difficult to evaluate the final prestress force of the PC strand after prestressing or its residual prestress force after completion of the structure on site. This impossibility to assess eventual loss of prestress of the PC strand has resulted in a number of serious accidents and even in the collapse of several structures. This situation stresses the necessity to maintain the prestress force residual or after prestressing for the evaluation of the health of the concrete structure throughout its lifespan. Recently, several researchers have studied methods enabling one to verify the prestress force by inserting an optical fiber sensor inside the strand but failed to provide simple techniques for the fabrication of these devices to fulfill measurement performance from the design prestress to failure. Moreover, these methods require the additional installation of electrical resistance strain gages, displacement sensors and load cells on the outer surface of the structure for long-term precise measurement. This paper proposes a method enabling one to evaluate precisely and effectively the prestress force of the PC strand and intends to verify the applicability of the proposed method on actual concrete structures. To that end, an innovative PC strand is developed by embedding a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor in the core wire of the PC strand so as to enable short term as well as long term monitoring. The measurement performance of the developed strand is then evaluated experimentally and the reliability of the monitoring data is assessed.


ABSTRACT This study investigated anti-polyphenol oxidase activity and mechanism of purified total flavonoids (PTF) from young loquat fruits. PTF remarkably inhibited the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) with an IC 50 value of 21.03 ± 2.37 μg/mL. Based on enzyme kinetics, PTF was found to be a potent, mixed-type, and reversible inhibitor of PPO. The fluorescence intensity of PPO was quenched by PTF through forming a PTF-PPO complex in a static procedure. Therefore, this study authenticated PTF as an efficient PPO inhibitor, which would contribute to their utilization in food industry. Graphical Abstract


Biomedical strategies for tissue engineering and repair utilize specific cells, scaffolds, and growth factors to reconstruct elements of damaged tissue. The cellular element of these strategies is limited, however, by poor efficiency of delivery and retention of therapeutic cells in target sites. We propose that the presence of a cellular anchor that is able to specifically bind a defined element of target tissue will facilitate efficient binding and retention of therapeutic cells, thereby promoting repair of the target site. To do so, we engineered an artificial collagen-specific anchor (ACSA) that is able to specifically bind collagen I. The ACSA was engineered by creating a construct comprising rationally designed consecutive domains. The binding specificity of the ACSA was achieved by employing variable regions of a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a unique epitope present in human collagen I. Meanwhile, cell membrane localization of the ACSA was provided by the presence of a transmembrane domain. We determined that the ACSA was localized within cell membranes and interacted with its intended target, that is, collagen I. We have demonstrated that, in comparison to the control, the cells expressing the ACSA attached better to collagen I and exhibited improved retention in sites of seeding. We have also demonstrated that the presence of the ACSA did not interfere with cell proliferation, the biosynthesis of endogenous collagen I, or the biological functions of native collagen receptors. Since the presented cell delivery system utilizes a common characteristic of major connective tissues, namely the presence of collagen I, the findings described here could have a broad positive impact for improving the repair processes of tendon, ligament, bone, intervertebral disc, skin, and other collagen I-rich connective tissues. If successful, the ACSA approach to deliver cells will serve as an outline for developing cell delivery methods that target other elements of extracellular matrices, including other collagen types, laminins, and fibronectins.


Anionic diarylrhodium complexes, generated by reacting [RhCl(cod)]2 with 2 equiv of aryl Grignard reagents, were found to be effective active catalysts in cross-coupling reactions of vinyl ethers with aryl Grignard reagents, giving rise to the production of vinyl arenes. In this catalytic system, vinyl-O bonds were preferably cleaved over Ar-O or Ar-Br bonds. A lithium rhodate complex was isolated, and its crystal structure was determined by X-ray crystallography.


Istanbul Seawalls, prolonged along the northern and the southern shores of historic peninsula, have been witnesses to all periods of historic Istanbul since its establishment as a Greek colony at the tip of the peninsula. They were influenced by the historical developments of the city as the other parts of Istanbul City-Walls. During the Middle Ages, the defense system had repairs and renovations. Their maintenance was not carried on regularly in the Ottoman era; yet the walls survived the vicissitudes of time with their firm structures. Starting from the sixteenth century, the martial importance of the city-walls decreased gradually with the result of proliferation of firearms, and from the nineteenth century, they lost their significance militarily. Then settlements developed in the immediate vicinity of the walls, and some parts went into private ownership. Moreover modernization of the city accelerated damages and losses on the walls. Today only parts of Istanbul Seawalls are intact. Within this study, the history and the current state of Istanbul Seawalls have been searched in terms of their ownership status, and their property issues have been analyzed.


Background: Millions of dollars are spent each year by individuals seeking to improve their athletic performance. One area of visual training is the use of the tachistoscope, which measures inspection time or visual recognition time. Although the potential of the tachistoscope as a training tool has received some research attention, its use as a means of measurement or predictor of athletic ability in sports has not been explored. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the potential of the tachistoscope as a measurement instrument by determining if a baseball player's ability to identify a tachistoscopically presented picture of a pitch is correlated with hitting performance as measured by batting average. Methods: Using sport-specific slides, 20 subjects-all non-pitching members of the Pacific University Baseball Team-were administered a tachistoscopic test. The test consisted of identifying the type of pitch illustrated in 30 randomly ordered slides depicting a pitcher throwing four different baseball pitches. Each slide was presented for 0.2 sec. The results of the test were compared with the athlete's previous season's batting average. Results: A positive correlation was found between an athlete's ability to correctly identify a picture of a pitch presented tachistoscopically and batting average (r=0.648; P<0.01). These results suggest that a superior ability to recognize pitches presented via tachistoscope may correlate with a higher skill level in batting. Conclusions: Tachistoscopic test scores correlated positively with batting averages. The tachistoscope may be an acceptable tool to help in assessing batting performance. Additional testing with players from different sports, different levels of ability, and different tachistoscopic times should be performed to determine if the tachistoscope is a valid measure of athletic ability. Implications may also be drawn in other areas such as military and police work.