Ciliates within the Mesodinium rubrum/Mesodinium major species complex harbor chloroplasts and other cell organelles from specific cryptophyte species. Mesodinium major was recently described, and new studies indicate that blooms of M. major are just as common as blooms of M. rubrum. Despite this, the physiology of M. major has never been studied and compared to M. rubrum. In this study, growth, food uptake, chlorophyll a and photosynthesis were measured at six different irradiances, when fed the cryptophyte, Teleaulax amphioxeia. The results show that the light compensation point for growth of M. major was significantly higher than for M. rubrum. Inorganic carbon uptake via photosynthesis contributed by far most of total carbon uptake at most irradiances, similar to M. rubrum. Mesodinium major cells contain ~four times as many chloroplast as M. rubrum leading to up to ~four times higher rates of photosynthesis. The responses of M. major to prey starvation and refeeding were also studied. Mesodinium major was well adapted to prey starvation, and 51 d without prey did not lead to mortality. Mesodinium major quickly recovered from prey starvation when refed, due to high ingestion rates of > 150 prey/predator/d.


Development of nonantibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis has been reported in patients receiving chemotherapy. Herein, we report a case of a 70-year-old man with diabetes mellitus and hypertension who received concurrent chemoradiation therapy after surgery for stage III pT3N1M0 rectal cancer. After completion of the therapy, the patient presented with a 2-week history of intermittent watery diarrhea (seven to nine times per day). However, the patient was afebrile and laboratory examination revealed no evidence of leukocytosis. Computed tomography disclosed inflammation of the sigmoid colon, infiltrative changes around the anastomotic site, and edematous changes straddling the serosal surface. Colonoscopic examination revealed multiple whitish patches within the radiation field, a finding suggestive of pseudomembranous colitis. No concomitant antibiotics were used during the period of concurrent chemoradiation therapy. Empirical oral metronidazole (500 mg every 8 hours) was administrated for 2 weeks. At the end of this treatment, stool culture was negative for Clostridium difficile. Physicians should be aware of the potential for the development of pseudomembranous colitis following concurrent chemoradiation therapy.


Background: Heavy rainfall in northern India in August 2010 caused flash floods, seriously damaging homes and infrastructure. There have been no major disasters in the history of Ladakh, and no surveys on post-disaster psychiatric disorders have been conducted in this area. Aims and methods: To examine the impact of this disaster in Ladakh one month post-disaster, we visited Choglamsar, located near the town of Leh, where the flood had the most severe impact. In total, 318 survivors (mean age: 58.6 years; female–male ratio: 59.7%; Tibetan refugees: 86.2%) participated in the survey. We used the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) along with questions covering background characteristics and disaster exposure. A psychiatrist interviewed the survivors with a single or double positive score in the PHQ-2 or with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Results and conclusion: There were only two PTSD cases and five of major depressive disorders. PTSD and depression were less common in the Tibetan cultural areas than in other areas. The social background and temperamental characteristics of the Tibetan culture may play a suppressive role in psychiatric disorders.


Purple water yam flour modified by Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation may be used as an ingredient in flour-based functional food. The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of fermentation time on the functional properties of purple water yam flour modified using L. plantarum. This research used a randomized block design with six treatments: without fermentation (control) and 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 h of fermentation. Results showed that lactic acid bacteria initially grow well with increasing viability over 48 h of fermentation. Growth and viability rates began to decrease as the organisms entered the declining or dying phase. Statistical analysis showed that fermentation time affects the solubility at 75 °C, chromatic color values L* and b*, and antioxidant activity of flour. Fermentation for 36 h produced the best modified purple water yam flour with an antioxidant activity of 69.82%, bulk density of 0.817 g/mL, water absorption capacity of 3.31 g/g, oil absorption capacity of 1.20 g/g, solubility of 0.45%, L* of 80.33, a* of 16.33, and b* of −5.33. The results indicate that purple water yam flour modified by L. plantarum fermentation for 36 h could be developed as a functional food ingredient.


The article presents an approach of reusing user interfaces across devices that follow diverging design guidelines and user interface capabilities. The approach is based on a reuse process that applies abstraction on interface components and a mapping algorithm selecting appropriate interface components of the target platform. An assistant framework implements the process and allows developers to customize reused user interfaces afterward.


The effects of dark matter annihilation on the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the early Universe will be more important if the dark matter structure is more concentrated. Ultracompact minihaloes (UCMHs), which formed through dark matter accretion on to primordial black holes (PBHs) or an initial dark matter overdensity produced by a primordial density perturbation, provide a new type of compact dark matter structure to ionize and heat the IGM after matter–radiation equality zeq, which is much earlier than the formation of the first cosmological dark halo structure and later the first stars. We show that the dark matter annihilation density contributed by UCMHs can completely dominate over the homogeneous dark matter annihilation background, even for a tiny UCMH fraction fUCMH=ΩUCMH(zeq)/ΩDM≥ 10−15(1 +z)2(mχc2/100 GeV)−2/3 with a standard thermal-relic dark matter annihilation cross-section, and can provide a new gamma-ray background in the early Universe. UCMH annihilation becomes important to IGM evolution for approximately fUCMH > 10−6(mχc2/100 GeV). The IGM ionization fraction xion and gas temperature Tm can be increased from the recombination residual xion∼ 10−4 and adiabatically cooling Tm∝ (1 +z)2 in the absence of energy injection, to a maximum value of xion∼ 0.1 and Tm∼ 5000 K at z≥ 10 for the upper bound on UCMH abundance constrained by the cosmic microwave background optical depth.

A small fraction of UCMHs are seeded by PBHs. The X-ray emission from gas accretion on to PBHs may totally dominate over dark matter annihilation, and may become the main cosmic ionization source for a PBH abundance fPBH=ΩPBH/ΩDM≫ 10−11 (10−12) with PBH mass MPBH∼ 10−6 M⊙ (102 M⊙). However, the constraints on gas accretion rate and X-ray absorption by baryon accumulation within UCMHs, together with accretion feedback, show that X-ray emission can only be a promising source much later than UCMH annihilation at z < zm≪ 1000, where zm depends on the PBH masses, their host UCMHs and the dark matter particles. Also, UCMH radiation including both annihilation and X-ray emission can significantly suppress the low-mass first baryonic structure formation. The effects of UCMH radiation on baryonic structure evolution are quite small as regards the gas temperature after virialization, but more significant in enhancing gas chemical quantities such as the ionization fraction and molecular hydrogen abundance in baryonic objects.


In this paper; the signals consisting of power quality disturbances is determined by using statistical methods. Five kind of power quality disturbances such as voltage swells, voltage sags,voltage with harmonics, transients and flicker which last duration of 18 periods are constituted by using MATLAB. Sampling frequency is 12.8 kHz. Skewness and kurtosis coefficients of constituted signals are calculated in local frames. Changes of skewness and kurtosis coefficients' amplitudes determine the moment of occurrences of constituted disturbances. It is observed that only skewness or only kurtosis coefficients are not adequate for distinguishing voltage swells, voltage sags, voltage with harmonics, transients and flicker. It is concluded that in order to distinguish constituted these disturbances both of these coefficients must be taken into consideration at the same time.


The use of dispersión-free solvent extraction, through microporous hydrophobic membrane has been investigated. The hollow fiber contactor, with surface area of 1.4 m2 was used to extract Cr(VI) (0.005-0.12 g/L from aqueous sulphuric acidic media (pH 2.5-4.2 +/- 0.05). Several parameters such as extractant concentration, feed acidity and metal concentration in the initial aqueous solution were investigated. Results revealed that 15% v/v Cyanex 923 in Exxsol D-100 as organic phase and feed in the 2.5 pH range, gave optimum extraction (exceeding 95%) of Cr(VI) and it was possible to strip using 10 g/L hydrazine sulfate (also with recoveries exceeding 95%). In this step, Cr(VI) is immediately reduced to the less hazardous Cr(III) state. Results also showed that under the various experimental conditions, chromium(VI) extraction was rate-controlled by the interfacial reaction on the membrane surface. Typical overall mass transfer coefficients values are 4.2 x 10(-5) and 3.6 x 10(-6) cm/s for extraction and stripping operations, respectively.


Abstract Kraft, JA, Green, JM, and Thompson, KR. Session ratings of perceived exertion responses during resistance training bouts equated for total work but differing in work rate. J Strength Cond Res 28(2): 540–545, 2014—Session ratings of perceived exertion (SRPE) during resistance training may be influenced by specific exercise parameters. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of work rate (total work per unit time) and recording time on SRPE. Participants performed 3 exercise bouts of bench press, lat pull-down, overhead press, upright row, triceps extension, and biceps curl at 60% of predetermined 1 repetition maximum according to these protocols: (a) 3 sets × 8 repetitions (reps) × 1.5 minutes of recovery, (b) 3 sets × 8 reps × 3 minutes of recovery, and (c) 2 sets × 12 reps × 3 minutes of recovery. Session ratings of perceived exertion for the 3 × 8 × 1.5-minute recovery (5.3 ± 1.8) and 2 × 12 × 3-minute recovery trials (6.2 ± 1.7) were significantly greater vs. 3 × 8 × 3-minute recovery trial (4.2 ± 1.8). The difference approached significance between work rate–matched protocols (p = 0.08). No difference was observed between SRPE at 15 minutes (5.1 ± 1.8) vs. 30 minutes (5.2 ± 1.9) post exercise. Post-set in-task ratings of perceived exertion were higher for the 2 × 12 × 3-minute recovery trial (5.9 ± 1.4) vs. 3 × 8 × 1.5-minute recovery trial (4.8 ± 1.2) and 3 × 8 × 3-minute recovery trial (4.0 ± 1.6). The difference approached significance (p = 0.07) for the 3 × 8 × 3-minute recovery trial vs. 3 × 8 × 1.5-minute recovery trial. Session ratings of perceived exertion responded to changes in work rate with no significant difference at matched work rates, indicating that SRPE is responsive to training load. Results indicated that more proximal monitoring (15 minutes post exercise) yielded reliable estimates of SRPE increasing the practical utility of the measure.


Angiogenesis is a promising target for anticancer therapies, but also for treating other diseases with pathologic vessel development. Targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway did not proof as effective as expected due to emerging intrinsic resistance mechanisms, as well as stromal contributions leading to drug insensitivity. Therefore, alternative strategies affecting the interaction of endothelial cells (ECs) with other stromal cells seem to be more promising. Human preclinical in vitro angiogenesis models successfully recapitulating these interactions are rare, and two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures cannot mimic tissue architecture in vivo. Consequently, models combining three-dimensionality with heterotypic cell interaction seem to be better suited. Here, we report on an improved human fibroblast–EC coculture assay mimicking sprouting angiogenesis from EC-covered microbeads resembling existing endothelial structures. Culture conditions were optimized to assess pro- and antiangiogenic compounds. Important characteristics of angiogenesis, that is, the number of sprouts and branch points, sprout length protrusion, and overall vessel structure areas, were quantified. Notably, the endothelial sprouts display lumen formation and basal membrane establishment. In this model, angiogenesis can be inhibited by genetic interference of pro-angiogenic factors expressed in the fibroblasts. Moreover, bona fide antiangiogenic drugs decreased, whereas pro-angiogenic factors increased vessel formation in 24-well and 96-well settings, demonstrating the applicability for screening approaches.


This study is to organize the frame of measuring inventory for housing quality related to mental health in foreign literature reviews. In the first step, many housing quality contents or items are extracted from empirical studies, including housing environment quality and mental health. In the next step, extracted contents and items are classified by space scope (house and neighborhood unit) and WHO housing properties (safety & security, health & sanitation, efficiency/convenience, comfort/amenity). Almost all housing properties follow the WHO standard, but some properties, sustainability and economic characteristics, do not follow the standard. These reflect on current Korean housing environment. They are energy saving and environment friendly effort, property value and economic burden, identity expression, and school district. So they need to be added to the Korean housing quality measurement related to mental health.


Abstract. Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) is the mosquito species responsible for transmission of yellow and dengue fevers. Different strategies are used worldwide to reduce its abundance, but effectiveness is not well understood. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical control of larvae of this species using different indices before and after application at three locations in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The presence of Ae. aegypti larvae was evaluated by three larval indices: house index, container index, and Breteau index at three locations at Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, and San Jose del Cabo during 3 years (2011–2013) before and after chemical control and reduction of potential breeding sites by the Secretaria de Salud (health department of Baja California Sur). The data showed significant statistical differences (p < 0.001) in the relative abundance of Ae. aegypti larvae before and after applying larvicide (Temephos®) and by removing water containers where mosquitoes reproduce, regardless of the type of index used for the analysis. In La Paz, the average of the housing index was reduced from 16–83% to 0–5% after control during the 3 years. In Cabo San Lucas, the value was reduced from 2–40% to <1% and in San Jose del Cabo such variation was 4–46% to 0–7%. The index of positive containers before and after management varied in La Paz from 6–34% to 0–4.7%; in Cabo San Lucas from 0.2–23% to <1%, and in San Jose del Cabo from 0.6–11% to <1.2%. The Breteau index in La Paz varied from 48–358% to 0–12.5%, in Cabo San Lucas, values decreased from 3–67% to <1%, and in San Jose del Cabo from 3–174% to 0–16% after vector-control measures were applied. Our data suggested that controls applied in Baja California Sur on Ae. aegypti larvae were effective enough to reduce the relative abundance of larvae of the species. However, other strategies are necessary to ensure elimination of Ae. aegypti larvae homes, thereby reducing impact on human health in the zone.


The article is devoted to functions and attributes of witches appearing in fairytale plots of «fairytales» from «Children's and Household Tales» by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Author compares tales from Grimms' collection with texts from collections of German demonology folklore, made by researchers of XX century.


using the patient as a "mere means." Hence my emphasis on the nature of the relationship between the patient and the third party. I did not intend for this to be construed, as I fear Kalii did, as an endorsement for physicians to treat patients as a way of meeting the psychological and emotional needs of the third party. I state that "[wlhen the [third party] is sufficiently (ie, realistically) informed of the situation, one wonders what benefit the third party could enjoy from continued treatment." Third, Kalis states that "[ilt is when the powers of medical therapy and technology have been exhausted that the practice of good medicine becomes most evident," thereby disputing my statement that "good medicine is not being practiced when no therapy is involved." Here Kalis is equivocating on "good medicine." I was referring to good medicine as technological interventions and showing how such interventions are inappropriate ways to deal with the needs of the third party. Kalis' concern is that the needs of the third party will be ignored as long as medical interventions are in place. I wholeheartedly agree with her on this point. I state that the emotional needs of the third party ought not be ignored (p 66) and that "initiating and/or continuing useless treatments are not appropriate measures for attempting to meet these needs" (p 67). If I were to further develop this point I would do so along the lines suggested by Kalis in her letter. I agree with her that "medical treatment should never be used as an alternative to human compassion." This is why I concluded that useless treatments were medically inappropriate. I fail to see anything "morally reprehensible" in such a conclusion.


The dipole method of measuring resistivity is practical for use in studying the electrical properties of the earth's crust. In such studies, electrical current is driven into the ground with a pair of electrodes spaced a few kilometers apart, and the electric field caused by this current is mapped to distances as great as 100 km. The principal advantage of the dipole method is the relatively small amount of cable which has to be laid out in comparison with that required by other electrode arrays. The results obtained from dipole surveys are very similar to the results obtained from other arrays, provided that the spacing factor is defined in an appropriate way, and that the earth is laterally homogeneous. If the electrical properties of the earth vary laterally, the dipole method provides results which differ widely from the data obtained with other arrays. This sensitivity to lateral effects is probably the most serious drawback to the use of dipole methods in crustal resistivity surveys.


A case is made for greater emphasis to be placed on value chain management as an alternative to geographically based disease risk mitigation for trade in commodities and products derived from animals. The geographic approach is dependent upon achievement of freedom in countries or zones from infectious agents that cause so-called transboundary animal diseases, while value chain-based risk management depends upon mitigation of animal disease hazards potentially associated with specific commodities or products irrespective of the locality of production. This commodity-specific approach is founded on the same principles upon which international food safety standards are based, viz. hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP). Broader acceptance of a value chain approach enables animal disease risk management to be combined with food safety management by the integration of commodity-based trade and HACCP methodologies and thereby facilitates 'farm to fork' quality assurance. The latter is increasingly recognized as indispensable to food safety assurance and is therefore a pre-condition to safe trade. The biological principles upon which HACCP and commodity-based trade are based are essentially identical, potentially simplifying sanitary control in contrast to current separate international sanitary standards for food safety and animal disease risks that are difficult to reconcile. A value chain approach would not only enable more effective integration of food safety and animal disease risk management of foodstuffs derived from animals but would also ameliorate adverse environmental and associated socio-economic consequences of current sanitary standards based on the geographic distribution of animal infections. This is especially the case where vast veterinary cordon fencing systems are relied upon to separate livestock and wildlife as is the case in much of southern Africa. A value chain approach would thus be particularly beneficial to under-developed regions of the world such as southern Africa specifically and sub-Saharan Africa more generally where it would reduce incompatibility between attempts to expand and commercialize livestock production and the need to conserve the subcontinent's unparalleled wildlife and wilderness resources.


INTRODUCTION
Aneurysms arising from the cavernous internal carotid artery (CCAs) pose technical challenges for surgical management and such patients are frequently referred for endovascular treatment. These aneurysms often produce a variety of neurological deficits, primarily those related to oculoparesis. Our purpose was to determine the visual and neurological outcome of patients with treated CCAs.

METHODS
We reviewed the medical records and angiograms for patients who underwent endovascular treatment for CCAs at three academic medical centers. The following outcomes were analyzed: angiographic assessment, visual improvement and outcome at 3 months using Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).

RESULTS
Thirty-four patients (mean age 54.7 years) were treated for CCAs. The mean aneurysm size was 14.2 mm (range: 3-45 mm), and fourteen patients (41.2%) required stent assistance. Twenty-one aneurysms (61.8%) were completely occluded; nine aneurysms (26.6%) had near-complete occlusion; 4 aneurysms (11.8%) had partial occlusion. Seven patients (20.6%) required retreatment. Fifteen of the 34 patients (44.1%) presented with visual symptoms, while only eight patients had residual visual symptomatology at follow-up (44.1% vs. 23.5%; p=0.02). Patients that presented with visual symptoms (N=15) had a mean aneurysm size of 24.5 mm, while those without visual symptoms (N=19) had a size of 7.5 mm (p=0.001). Follow-up GOS was good (4-5) in 29 patients (90.6%). No thromboembolic complications were observed. One patient died (3.1%) of an unrelated cause.

CONCLUSIONS
Most patients in this multicenter series improved or remained stable after treatment. The results of this study indicate that endovascular treatment may improve the outcome of visual symptoms in patients with large cavernous aneurysms with low periprocedural morbidity.

COMPETING INTERESTS
MJA is a consultant for Stryker and Codman. AC receives a Cordis Endovascular Fellowship Training Grant and a Stryker Endovascular Neurosurgery Post-graduate Fellow Grant.

JUSTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP
Dr. Drazin: Conception and Design, Drafting the Article and Critically Revising the Article Dr. Choulakian: Analysis and Interpretation of Data and Drafting the Article Dr. Nuno: Analysis and Interpretation of Data Dr. Gandhi: Analysis and Interpretation of Data and Drafting the Article Dr. Edgell: Analysis and Interpretation of Data and Drafting the Article Dr. Alexander: Critically Revising the Article and Conception and Design.


The radio frequency spectrum, a scarce resource in mobile communications, has to be efficiently utilized with the objective of increasing the network capacity and minimizing the interference. A variety of channel assignment strategies have been developed to achieve these objectives. Not only the mobility of the wireless user but also different types of wireless multimedia services create uncertainty in demand and non-optimum use of radio resources. As the cell sizes get smaller, there is a greater need for efficient channel assignment algorithms which are desired to dynamically balance the load of the system by performing reassignments when needed. Static schemes are no longer desirable for small cell systems under heavy and non-uniform multi-rate traffic. We propose a dynamic multi-channel assignment algorithm where the assignment decision is assisted by the mobiles. Our algorithm is based on the concept of network flows, which provide us with the framework to uniformly handle all the events occurring in the system including possible degradation and improvement of the existing assignments. This model enables fast local computations and avoids global reconfiguration which prevent other algorithms being practical.


A 77-year-old man with Parkinson's disease of long standing, under treatment with L-DOPA and benserazide, was administered DL-threo-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylserine (DL-threo-DOPS), a precursor of norepinephrine, for 10 days. With this administration the patient's freezing phenomenon was remarkably improved, and his dysarthria also showed improvement. When DL-threo-DOPS was suspended, the frozen gait returned on the third day to almost the former level, even though he continued to receive L-DOPA and benserazide. After administration of DL-threo-DOPS, the CSF level of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), a major metabolite of norepinephrine, was 127.5% of the pretreatment level. These observations suggest that DL-threo-DOPS can pass through the blood-brain barrier and change to norepinephrine, and that DL-threo-DOPS may be beneficial in the treatment of the freezing phenomenon of Parkinson's disease.


ABSTRACT Leatherman, S.B., 2017. Rip current measurements at three South Florida beaches. Rip current measurements in South Florida were undertaken at three locations: Miami Beach, Haulover Park, and Riviera Beach. Rip speeds, measured by GPS drifters and fluorescein tracer dye as imaged by a quadcopter, ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 m/s in response to low-energy incident waves, which are common for this area. The purpose of this research is to provide a better understanding of the physical aspects of rip currents in a highly populated area that is also the destination for millions of visitors each year; this information will help lower the loss of life, which is presently quite high. The behavior of rip currents in South Florida was not known because there has been no previous field research conducted in this area. Rip currents, while weak, are hazardous because the wave conditions during these events do not seem threatening to beachgoers.


Performance of IUDs has improved greatly in the past decade. The reasons for improvement include increased copper content and prevention of copper fragmentation, flexible frames that adapt to the endometrial cavity, better evaluation of the endometrial cavity before insertion, simplified insertion, selection of acceptors, and careful follow-up. NO significant modifications in IUD design have occurred since the use of copper was begun in the 1970s except for use of systems-releasing steroids. The use of copper improved efficacy and permitted use of smaller devices, reducing some side effects especially in small uteruses. The duration of use of copper IUDs has increased, and their efficacy has improved at the same time that modifications have permitted greater local tolerance with no increase in expulsion rate. Greater selectivity of IUD users has improved performance, taking into account known risks for major complications such as extrauterine pregnancy and infection. Prior use of IUD and conditions of follow-up should also be considered in candidate selection. The major weaknesses of IUDs at present are related to the introduction of a foreign body into the uterine cavity; IUD insertion entails potential risks of infection and perforation. However, the active substance should not cause damage to the endometrial mucus or induce cycle disturbances or diminished defenses against pain and infection. Research on IUD frames is oriented toward development of a device adaptable to specific conditions such as the postpartum. 1 new device would completely eliminate plastic and the related side effects. A new miniaturized device is under investigation along with a biodegradable device and an intracervical device. New substances under study for a better contraceptive effect include spermicides, immunological substances, and synthetic progestins. An intracervical device emitting a battery-driven weak electric field is intended to immobilize sperm. Most current research has as its goal the reduction of secondary effects of bleeding, pain, or risk of infection. Among the numerous substances utilized have been antifibrinolytics, prostaglandin inhibitors, sexual steroids, and antibiotics. These systems should provide constant release over a prolonged period, a goal not yet attainable for all these substances.


Causality is a complex concept, which roots its developments across several fields, such as statistics, economics, epidemiology, computer science, and philosophy. In recent years, the study of causal relationships has become a crucial part of the Artificial Intelligence community, as causality can be a key tool for overcoming some limitations of correlation‐based Machine Learning systems. Causality research can generally be divided into two main branches, that is, causal discovery and causal inference. The former focuses on obtaining causal knowledge directly from observational data. The latter aims to estimate the impact deriving from a change of a certain variable over an outcome of interest. This article aims at covering several methodologies that have been developed for both tasks. This survey does not only focus on theoretical aspects. But also provides a practical toolkit for interested researchers and practitioners, including software, datasets, and running examples.


While education is an American constitutional value, the opportunity to pursue an education - particularly to pursue a quality education - is meaningless unless the student is able to pursue his/her educational rights in an environment that is both safe and secure. If students are subjected to sexual and racial harassment, to physical violence, to bullying and intimidation, to a culture of illegal drugs, and/or other dangers, then learning cannot take place. Outstanding instructors, state of the art equipment, newly issued textbooks, small classes, and large financial expenditures are irrelevant to the child who is terror stricken by attending school. Thus, if the American constitutional value of education is to have any substantive meaning, the government must insure that there is a safe and secure learning environment. This Essay focuses focus on the role of the American courts in enforcing educational safety and security. That is, this Essay explores the role of the judiciary in insuring that all children have a safe and secure environment in which to learn. Its central thesis is that the American courts - particularly the Supreme Court of the United States - have a mixed record in this regard.


Dragline use by an orb web spider ( Nephila clavipes ) was analysed by observing both intact spiders and those prevented from producing a dragline. The behaviours observed were those associated with returning to the web hub and prey capture. Upon returning to the hub, spiders resume the resting position by rotating within the hub, producing several new dragline attachment points during the rotation. The importance of the spider's use of the dragline was made clear by preventing experimental animals from producing the dragline. During resting, the permanent dragline-to-web attachment enabled the spider to maintain the correct posture. Prey capture behaviour was adversely affected in spiders prevented from using the dragline: without a dragline, all relevant components of the behaviour required more time to perform, and movements within the web (e.g. toward prey and back toward the hub) were directed less accurately. The benefit of the dragline to the spider, in terms of safety, time, energy and reduced exposure to predators, is likely to be significant.


In the coming decades, Europe's energy system is facing a number of challenges. The most pressing ones, mitigation of climate change and dependency on imported fossil fuels represent increasing risks for sustained economic growth and have a worldwide dimension. The strategies for tackling these issues must be designed taking worldwide developments into account. Alternative energy sources and new technologies will have to play a key role. In the analysis of the potential impact of new technologies and the evaluation of policy options, energy economy environment (E3) models can provide useful insights. In the EU sixth framework project CASCADE MINTS, twelve E3 models have been used to evaluate possible developments of the world energy system and the implications for Europe. The paper also discusses different strategies to counter these developments, relying on technologies based on renewable energy, nuclear power, CO2 capture and storage, or hydrogen. All options have their own characteristics, costs, advantages and consequences. Recommendations are given about robust elements of a strategy towards a more sustainable European energy system. 1 Challenges for the future energy system Recent trends and projected developments indicate that in the coming decades, Europe's energy system is facing a number of challenges. The energy system is not becoming more sustainable. On the contrary, for several important issues the situation is expected to deteriorate. The key issues are that greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase and import dependency of fossil fuels will accelerate, increasing the risks related to climate change and energy supply disruptions. This paper provides information on the severity of issues in case there is no policy intervention. Further, it explores strategies to make Europe's energy system more sustainable. It gives insight in the options that can contribute to improving future developments, and in how much room is available to intervene via policies and what the consequences of intervention will be. This paper builds on insights from several energy-economy-environment (E3) models, which have been used to evaluate possible developments of the world energy system and the implications for Europe. E3 models can provide useful insights in the analysis of the potential impact of new technologies and the evaluation of possible policy options. In addition this paper uses experiences from analysis of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and policies to accelerate innovation in the energy system.


A pulsed magnetometer is useful for testing high-performance magnets because it can produce high magnetic fields that are sufficient to magnetically saturate them. We installed a cryostat in a pulsed magnetometer and tested several prevailing permanent magnets at low temperatures. The measurements were successfully performed down to 4.2 K, and it was shown that a pulsed magnetometer is useful for low-temperature measurement on permanent magnets as well as room-temperature measurements.


Performance manipulation can make a fund more attractive to investors and, more seriously, managers can intentionally misreport returns to enhance performance scores. This paper empirically investigates whether the manipulation-proof performance measure derived by Goetzmann et al. (2007) really is impervious to performance anipulation, using TASS hedge fund data, which have very skewed and fat-tailed return distributions. This article determines that the MPPM can evaluate performance more correctly than other measures. At application level, we propose the Doubt Ratio (DR), a new simple measure to detect funds that might have been manipulated or whose returns were intentionally smoothed, as in Madoff's case. Our findings will help investors select funds and financial supervisors filter out funds for further investigation.


Tpl2 is a serine/threonine protein kinase implicated in the regulation of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and immune response involving chemokine-cytokine production. Tpl2 has been shown to be oncogenic when overexpressed and has been reported in several tumor types. Tpl2 knockout mice do not display an overt phenotype. In the mouse skin carcinogenesis model (also known as the 2-stage chemical carcinogenesis protocol), a single application of phorbol esters (TPA) to mouse skin results in an acute inflammatory response and epidermal hyperplasia. Repeated long-term application of TPA (following carcinogen initiation) leads to tumor formation in susceptible mice. We hypothesized that loss of Tpl2 would lead to a dampened inflammatory response and loss of tumorigenic response. Long-term treatment with TPA for 30 weeks following carcinogen initiation was performed to assess the tumorigenic potential versus wild type controls. This experiment revealed unexpectedly high levels of skin tumor development in the knockout mice after only 9 weeks of TPA application. By 30 weeks, 87% of the knockout animals had a mean of 4 tumors/animal as compared to only 17% of wild type mice with a mean of 1.25 tumors/animal. Surprisingly, histology revealed a large number of the knockout tumors were sebaceous adenomas or a mixed phenotype with aspects of both sebaceous adenoma and squamous carcinoma. The remainder of the knockout tumors were squamous carcincomas or papillomas, while only 1 wildtype tumor had progressed beyond papilloma. We are currently investigating the molecular mechanisms responsible for the highly unusual sebaceous phenotype seen in the knockout tumors. This finding, in addition to enhanced acute inflammation noted in our previous work with short term application of TPA to Tpl2 null mice, point to Tpl2 playing a complex and pleiotropic role in inflammation and tumorigenesis. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 450.


Serum amyloid A (SAA) acts as a major acute phase protein and represents a sensitive and accurate marker of inflammation. Besides its hepatic origin, as the main source of serum SAA, this protein is also produced extrahepatically. The mRNA levels of SAA become significantly elevated following proinflammatory stimuli, as well as, are induced through their own positive feedback in human primary coronary artery endothelial cells. However, the intracellular functions of SAA are so far unknown. Colocalization of SAA with cytoskeletal filaments has previously been proposed, so we analyzed the colocalization of SAA with all three cytoskeletal elements: actin filaments, vimentin filaments, and microtubules. Immunofluorescent double-labeling analyses confirmed by PLA method revealed a strict colocalization of SAA with microtubules and a very infrequent attachment to vimentin while the distribution of actin filaments appeared clearly separated from SAA staining. Also, no significant colocalization was found between SAA and endomembranes labeled with the fluorescent lipid stain DiO6. However, SAA appears to be located also unbound in the cytosol, as well as inside the nucleus and within nanotubes extending from the cells or bridging neighboring cells. These different locations of SAA in endothelial cells strongly indicate multiple potential functions of this protein.


The purpose of this research is to develop a novel liposome-mediated system for delivery of expression plasmid into specific regions in the rat brain. . Complexes of plasmid DNA and different liposome were prepared in phase 1 of the study. The composition , method of preparation were varied and the physico-chemical characterization of the different systems were investigated two different methods of preparation were used, in the first method the liposome were prepared simultaneously with the DNA entrapped into the liposome and in the second method, the liposome were prepared first and then complexes with the DNA were performed. The liposome formulations were composed of DOTAP:Cholesterol; and DC-Chol:DOPE and different lipid helpers . The particle size of liposomes prepared with DNA entrapped into the liposome were larger than those prepared with liposome-DNA complexation. All liposome formulations were spherical, uniform in size and have smooth surface. In vitro DNase digestion experiments demonstrated that liposome protect 60-80% plasmid DNA from DNase digestion. The plasmid:DNA lmediated liposome can be widely prepared, have less risk than the use of viral vectors, can protect DNA fron DNase digestion, none toxic and therefore can be used repeatedly in vivo.


Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and associated modeling enables rational management of spatially distributed resources. GIS models once assembled with a base data set often require many repeated computations either to seek modifications to the methods or assumptions made during computations. The common GIS software needs customization to cater to such changes with minimum requirement of time. These repeated tasks range from computing an area to reclassification of overlaid layers. This paper presents the development of two simple tools. The tool for computation of area, centroid or length, enables the on-screen operation to save computed values in particular shape file. Tool developed for the classification of spatial information after overlay, demonstrates the tool's capability to easily change the classification criteria to suit a change of values or grouping based on a subsequent decision maker requirement. Both tools are developed using the Microsoft Visual Basic and linked to the GIS software - ArcGIS 9.2, incorporating the systematic planning, design and evaluation methodology. A special consideration was paid to 100% accuracy of the outputs, usefulness and user friendliness of the tools. Hence the work follows the standard requirement assessment, systematic software evaluation with appropriate user group selection. The tools demonstrate the capability through applications on actual datasets.


Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) claims the lives of half of patients within the first year of diagnosis, and its incidence has rapidly increased since the 1970s despite extensive research into etiological factors. The changes in the microbiome within the distal esophagus in modern populations may help explain the growth in cases that other common EAC risk factors together cannot fully explain. The precursor to EAC is Barrett's esophagus (BE), a metaplasia adapted to a reflux-mediated microenvironment that can be challenging to diagnose in patients who do not undergo endoscopic screening. Non-invasive procedures to detect microbial communities in saliva, oral swabs and brushings from the distal esophagus allow us to characterize taxonomic differences in bacterial population abundances within patients with BE versus controls, and may provide an alternative means of BE detection. Unique microbial communities have been identified across healthy esophagus, BE, and various stages of progression to EAC, but studies determining dynamic changes in these communities, including migration from proximal stomach and oral cavity niches, and their potential causal role in cancer formation are lacking. Helicobacter pylori is negatively associated with EAC, and the absence of this species has been implicated in the evolution of chromosomal instability, a main driver of EAC, but joint analyses of microbiome and host genomes are needed. Acknowledging technical challenges, future studies on the prediction of microbial dynamics and evolution within BE and the progression to EAC will require larger esophageal microbiome datasets, improved bioinformatics pipelines, and specialized mathematical models for analysis.


This study examined balance and bilateral coordination skills in a sample of internationally adopted, post-institutionalized (PI) children. We compared the performance of these PI children to two age-matched groups. One was a group of children who were internationally adopted from foster care (FC). The second group consisted of non-adopted children being raised in their birth families, who served as controls (Control). Both PI and FC children scored lower than control children on balance, while PI children scored lower than both FC and control children on bilateral coordination. These results suggest that aspects of institutional rearing impact the development of bilateral coordination, while factors common to internationally adopted children other than institutionalization impact the development of balance. Region of birth (Asia, Latin/South America, Russia/Eastern Europe) did not moderate associations between institutional duration and bilateral coordination.


The recent deaths by suicide of three detainees at Guantanamo have raised questions about both the conditions under which such individuals are held and their dangerousness. The Government, consistent with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's description of the detainees as the worst of the worst, has uniformly portrayed the detainees as highly dangerous, even in the restrictive environment in which they are confined. Further, the Government has consistently characterized conduct that, on the surface, seemed to be attempts at suicide, as something other, and less serious, than suicide attempts. The recent success of the suicide attempts by the three detainees has led the Government to characterize these three suicides, and previous actions of detainees, as acts of Asymmetrical Warfare. The Department of Defense has produced official records that provide some opportunity to assess the accuracy of the Government's description of the detainees and the characterization of their conduct, both in terms of how dangerous the detainees are to others and how dangerous the detainees are to themselves. The data does not support the assertion that the detainees are a serious threat to their captors. More importantly, the data does not support the Government's assertion that the detainees are not serious about taking their own lives. This Report is the first effort to provide a more detailed picture of how the detainees have behaved during their detention at Guantanamo. This Report provides a window into the detainee behavior towards themselves and their guards. This Report is based entirely upon the United States Government's own documents or the Government's own public statements. The data shows, remarkably, that the detainees are comparatively cowed and unthreatening to their guards but pose a substantial danger to themselves. • Government records reflect that detainees committed acts defined by the Government as manipulative self-injurious behavior more often than they commit disciplinary violations: • Detainees committed 460 acts of manipulative self-injurious behavior in 2003 and 2004, an average of one such act every day and a half (one per every 1.59 days.) • Detainees committed 499 disciplinary violations over 2 years and eight months, an average of one incident every two days (one per every 1.91 days.) • There are more hanging gestures by detainees than there are physical assaults on guards, based upon 120 hanging gestures for 2003 and 95 assaults and 22 attempted assaults for the 2 years and 8 months of reported disciplinary violations. • More than 70% of the disciplinary violations, including assaults, are for relatively trivial offenses, and even the most serious are offensive but not dangerous. • The disciplinary reports reveal that the most serious injuries sustained by guards as a result of prisoner misconduct are a handful of cuts and scratches. • Assuming no recidivism (obviously, an unlikely assumption), at least one third of the detainees have never committed a Disciplinary Violation. • Nearly half (43%) of the reported Disciplinary Violations were for spitting at staff. • Almost half of all disciplinary violations (46%) occurred during a 92-day hunger strike that followed allegations of Koran abuse by guards. • For 736 of the 952 days covered by the Incident Reports, or 77%, the Government has released no report of a disciplinary violation. • No act of asymmetrical warfare (e.g., suicide or hunger strike) is included in any Incident Report.


Weedy rice can severely impact rice production through yield reduction because of its competitive ability to reduce growth resources for cultivated rice. The characteristic weedy traits have made weedy rice very challenging to manage as they have the same agro-morphological characteristics with cultivated rice. The study examined the relationships between selected cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars, weedy rice biotypes, and wild rice collected from different locations in the Philippines, using simple sequence repeat markers. Cluster analysis, using UPGMA, enabled the genetic differentiation and relationships examination of the test materials. Subgroups of 13 with at least two biotypes formed 100% similarity based on post-harvest data, with the cultivated rice cultivars forming one subgroup. With polymorphic SSR markers, five major clusters range from three (group I) to 62 biotypes (group III). There was 100% similarity observed for 15 subgroups ranging from two to 10 biotypes. The wild rice cultivars formed species-specific groupings. Subgroups with 100% similarity came from the same province; likewise, one with 100% similarity came from both Iloilo and Batangas; and still another from cultivated rice cultivar and weedy rice biotype from Pangasinan. The possible relationships of weedy rice biotypes with wild rice relatives (>65% similarity) include two biotypes related to Oryza minuta, one for O. meyeriana, and 22 biotypes for O. rufipogon. Concerning cultivated rice cultivars, high similarity (>80%) was observed in 22 biotypes closely related to PSB Rc 82, 13 biotypes to NSIC Rc 222, six to NSIC Rc 160, three biotypes each to NSIC Rc 215, NSIC Rc 152, NSIC Rc 64, NSIC Rc 18, and NSIC Rc 10, and one biotype each to IR64 and NSIC Rc 14.


The direct effects of three steroid hormones (progesterone, estradiol-17beta and corticosterone) on the growth of Neospora caninum (N. caninum) tachyzoite were examined in Vero cells. Subsequently, ovariectomized BALB/c mice infected with N. caninum were treated with physiological concentrations of the steroid hormones for 1 or 2 weeks. These hormones had no direct effect on the parasite growth in vitro. In the infected mice, there was no significant difference in the parasite distribution and histopathological changes between the hormone-injected and control groups. No mice showed parasitemia at the time of autopsy. These results suggest that physiological levels of steroid hormones (progesterone, estradiol-17beta and corticosterone) do not reactivate N. caninum in mice.


Recent FDA guidances have made CDISC models the de facto standard for submissions. These standards are the foundation for systems that can improve workflow throughout the project life cycle. They create uniformity of metadata and data structures, which, in turn, provides an opportunity to write generalized, reusable code. When implemented properly, standards have tremendous potential for significant cost savings throughout the project life cycle. However, when implemented poorly, producing CDISC deliverables can actually increase the time and cost of drug development. This paper outlines a new paradigm for cost-effective implementation of CDISC standards that is based on three principles: 1) Adopt a "Tables-first" approach: starting with the end instead of the beginning; 2) Extend standards to the real end, broadening the use of results level metadata and developing standardized display libraries; and 3) Integrate CDISC standards throughout drug development, using standardized metadata, libraries, programs, and tools.


Male rats were sacrificed at 5 months (young rats) or at 24 months (aged rats). When compared with values in young rats, aged rats had higher serum concentrations of prolactin and lower concentrations of luteinizing hormone and testosterone. In the median eminence, which contains the terminals of tuberoinfundibular dopamine (DA) neurons, the concentrations of DA and dihydroxyphenylactic acid (DOPAC), and the rate of DA synthesis (accumulation of DOPA after the inhibition of DOPA decarboxylase) were decreased in aged rats. In the striatum, which contains the terminals of nigrostriatal DA neurons, the concentration of DA was reduced, but this change was not accompanied by a decrease in DOPAC concentrations or DOPA accumulation. The decreased DA concentration observed in the median eminence and striatum of aged rats may reflect the loss of DA neurons. An attempt was made to mimic the age-related loss of nigrostriatal and tuberoinfundibular DA neurons by pretreating rats with intraventricular injections of 6-hydroxydopamine. In these animals the decrease of DA in the median eminence was accompanied by a concomitant reduction in the rate of DOPA accumulation, whereas in the striatum the concentration of DA was reduced, but DOPA accumulation remained normal. These results suggest that in aged and 6-hydroxydopamine-treated rats, the loss of nigrostriatal DA neurons is accommodated for by a compensatory increase in the activity of the remaining neurons whereas tuberoinfundibular DA neurons are unable to compensate in a similar manner.


A major point of Cole, Mailath, and Postlewaite (1992) is that the existence of nonmarket decisions leads naturally to multiple equilibria and, consequently, the possibility that ex ante identical societies might exhibit different patterns of economic growth. It was further argued that the multiplicity was not driven by technical aspects of the model but arose naturally from the economic structure of the problem. In that paper, we focused on two particular types of equilibria: wealth-isstatus and aristocratic. Unfortunately, the argument in that paper for the existence of aristocratic equilibria is incorrect, as the comment by Steven Landsburg points out. Landsburg does provide a condition (condition 1: There is a positive measure of males with zero wealth) that guarantees the existence of aristocratic equilibria. The purpose of this response is, first, to argue that the existence of aristocratic equilibria in environments not covered by condition 1 is important and, second, to demonstrate by example that aristocratic equilibria do exist in some such environments. The reason that aristocratic equilibria exist in a narrower set of environments than wealth-is-status equilibria is easy to understand. In wealth-is-status equilibria, women always accept the offer made by the wealthiest suitor, and the parents' matching (as opposed to saving) behavior has no impact on the ability of a son to match with a highendowment woman. Loosely speaking, wealth-is-status equilibria involve "myopically" optimal or Markovian behavior (behavior that depends on only the payoff relevant aspects of history). Other equilibria, in contrast, require some degree of intergenerational enforcement, since in such equilibria some women will be accepting offers to match from men other than the wealthiest suitor. Such behavior can be optimal only if deviations from the prescriptions of the social norm result in future negative consequences (e.g., a loss of


We start by constructing a Hilbert manifold T of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of the circle (modulo the group of bi-holomorphic self-mappings of the disc). This space, which could be thought of as a completion of the universal Teichmueller space, is endowed with a right-invariant Kaehler metric. Using results from the theory of quasiconformal mappings we construct an embedding of T into the infinite dimensional Segal-Wilson Grassmannian. The latter turns out to be a very natural ambient space for T. This allows us to prove that T's sectional curvature is negative in the holomorphic directions and by a reasoning along the lines of Cartan-Hadamard's theory that its geodesics exist for all time. The geodesics of T lead to solutions of the periodic Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation by means of V. Arnold's generalization of Euler's equation. As an application, we obtain long-time existence of solutions to the periodic KdV equation with initial data in a certain closed subspace of the periodic Sobolev space of index 3/2.


Objectives Telmisartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker and selective modulator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ reported to increase energy expenditure and improve glucose and lipid metabolism compared with other angiotensin II receptor blockers. As muscle fatty acid oxidation is a major determinant of energy expenditure, we investigated the effects of telmisartan on skeletal muscle fatty acid oxidation in a rat model of the metabolic syndrome. Methods We measured fatty acid oxidation in soleus muscles obtained from polydactylous (PD)/Cub rats fed a high sucrose, high fat diet and treated with either telmisartan or losartan. In addition, we measured fatty acid oxidation in soleus muscle tissue isolated from Sprague–Dawley rats, incubated for 3 h with either telmisartan or valsartan. Results Compared with treatment with losartan, treatment with telmisartan was associated with significantly greater palmitate oxidation in skeletal muscle (44.4 ± 2.9 versus 28.9 ± 3.2 nmol palmitate/g/2 h, P = 0.004) as well as significantly greater glucose tolerance and significantly lower body weight and visceral adiposity. In addition, in-vitro incubation of skeletal muscle with telmisartan induced significantly greater increase in palmitate oxidation than in-vitro incubation with valsartan (9.4 ± 1.6 versus 0.2 ± 4.3 nmol palmitate/g/h, P < 0.05). The increased fatty acid oxidation induced by telmisartan in vitro was blocked by addition of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ antagonist GW9662 (−0.4 ± 1.8 nmol palmitate/g/h, P < 0.05). Conclusion The current results are consistent with the possibility that telmisartan may increase energy expenditure and protect against dietary induced obesity and features of the metabolic syndrome at least in part by increasing muscle fatty acid oxidation through activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ.


Aim: The objects of this study originated from the experimental observations, whereby the HIV -1 gp120 V3 loop is a high-affinity ligand for immunophilins, and consisted in generating the structural complex of cyclophilin (Cyc) B belonging to immunophilins family with the virus subtype A V3 loop (SA-V3 loop) as well as in specifying the Cyc B segment forming the binding site for V3 synthetic copy of which, on the assumption of keeping the 3D peptide structure in the free state, may present a forwardlooking basic structure for anti-AIDS drug development. Methods: To reach the objects of view, molecular docking of the HIV-1 SA-V3 loop structure determined previously with the X-ray conformation of Cyc B was put into practice by Hex 4.5 program (http://www.loria.fr/~ritchied/ hex/) and the immunophilin stretch responsible for binding to V3 (Cyc B peptide) was identified followed by examination of its 3D structure and dynamic behavior in the unbound status. To design the Cyc B peptide, the X-ray conformation for the identical site of the native protein was involved in the calculations as a starting model to find its best energy structural variant. The search for this most preferable structure was carried out by consecutive use of the molecular mechanics and simulated annealing methods. The molecular dynamics computations were implemented for the Cyc B peptide by the GROMACS computer package (http:// www.gromacs.org/). Results: The overmolecular structure of Cyc B with V3 was built by computer modeling tools and the immunophilinderived peptide able to mask effectively the structurally invariant V3 segments embracing the functionally crucial amino acids of the HIV-1 gp120 envelope protein was constructed and analyzed. Conclusions: Starting from the joint analysis of the results derived with those of the literature, the generated peptide was suggested to offer a promising basic structure for making a reality of the protein engineering projects aimed at developing the anti-AIDS drugs able to stop the HIV's spread.


A critical challenge problem of scene change detection is that noisy changes generated by varying illumination, shadows and camera viewpoint make variances of a scene difficult to define and measure since the noisy changes and semantic ones are entangled. Following the intuitive idea of detecting changes by directly comparing dissimilarities between a pair of features, we propose a novel fully Convolutional siamese metric Network(CosimNet) to measure changes by customizing implicit metrics. To learn more discriminative metrics, we utilize contrastive loss to reduce the distance between the unchanged feature pairs and to enlarge the distance between the changed feature pairs. Specifically, to address the issue of large viewpoint differences, we propose Thresholded Contrastive Loss (TCL) with a more tolerant strategy to punish noisy changes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach with experiments on three challenging datasets: CDnet, PCD2015, and VL-CMU-CD. Our approach is robust to lots of challenging conditions, such as illumination changes, large viewpoint difference caused by camera motion and zooming. In addition, we incorporate the distance metric into the segmentation framework and validate the effectiveness through visualization of change maps and feature distribution. The source code is available at this https URL.


Structural health monitoring (SHM) usually requires several stages of information, starting from damage detection, localisation, and identification. Ultrasonic guided waves can travel long distances with relatively low attenuation, which enables them to interact with any potential damage present in the structure. This paper focuses on the use of a novel ultrasonic guided wave propagation model in order to provide both damage localisation and identification. The wave propagation model used here is a state of the art method for transient simulation of ultrasonic guided waves in one dimensional structures both isotropic and anisotropic. This is embedded in a framework for generating excitation signals and capturing scattered signals from damage at any point in the structure. The methodology computes the complete transient response at a fraction of computational cost of full finite element (FE) method. Two kind of damages are modelled: (1) a transverse crack and (2) a delamination in composite beams. To address damage identification and quantification, a model based Bayesian inverse problem is formulated so that both damage scenarios are identifiable. The proposed methodology is exemplified in a beam using the case study of a simulated delamination between two layers. The results show that the proposed framework classify and localise the damage accurately.


The plant wilting point is generally believed to occur at a matric potential value of -1500 kPa for all plant species in all environments. In this study, I strive to illustrate how varied the plant wilting point can actually be and to show how using a constant value for all species may be a source of error. Matric potential values are determined through the use of the van Genuchten soil water characteristic curves, where each soil has its own curve. Additionally, the maximum depth of the groundwater table was studied. The maximum depth was determined based on the rooting depth of the plant species and the height of the capillary fringe water at the plant wilting point. Since no acceptable calculation for capillary fringe height at plant wilting could be found in the literature, my own technique is presented here. It involves the use of the capillary height equation presented by El-Kadi and Ling, which was taken as the maximum height of the capillary fringe in a soil. Then, a relationship between the volumetric water content at the plant wilting point and the capillary fringe height was developed and employed. Summing the rooting depth and the capillary fringe height resulted in the maximum depth of the groundwater table. Data was collected through a literature review and was categorized based on twelve soil types, four ecoregions, and three vegetation classes. These categories allowed me to identify patterns within subsets of data points. Based on these patterns, guidance tables for managing the groundwater table depth are presented.


A state-of-the-art video surveillance system, the Modular Integrated Video System (MIVS), has been developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The development of this system was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Program of Technical Assistance to IAEA Safeguards. The development of the MIVS has followed, and continues to do so, a well-defined program plan. This paper revisits this program plan, including the completed development and initial production activities, the reliability testing currently in progress at the IAEA, and the other activities currently in progress leading to field evaluations and implementation. The lessons learned are highlighted.


The objective of this work was to determine the genetic variability available for triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) crop improvement in Brazil. Forty-two wheat genomic microsatellites were used to estimate the molecular diversity of 54 genotypes, which constitute the base of one of the major triticale breeding programs in the country. Average heterozygosity was 0.06 and average and effective number of alleles per locus were 2.13 and 1.61, respectively, with average allelic frequency of 0.34. The set of genomic wheat microsatellites used clustered the genotypes into seven groups, even when the germplasm was originated primarily from only two triticale breeding programs, a fact reflected on the average polymorphic information content value estimated for the germplasm (0.36). The 71.42% transferability achieved for the tested microsatellites indicates the possibility of exploiting these transferable markers in further triticale genetic and breeding studies, even those mapped on the D genome of wheat, when analyzing hexaploid triticales.


This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the recently realized tunable coupler for superconducting phase qubits [R. C. Bialczak et al., arXiv: 1007.2219 (unpublished)]. The coupling can be turned off by compensating a negative mutual inductance with a tunable Josephson inductance. The main coupling in this system is of the XX type and can be zeroed exactly, while there is also a small undesired contribution of the ZZ type. We calculate both couplings as functions of the tuning parameter (bias current) and focus on the residual coupling in the OFF regime. In particular, we show that for typical experimental parameters the coupling OFF/ON ratio is few times 10(-3), and it may be zeroed by proper choice of parameters. The remaining errors due to physical presence of the coupler are on the order of 10(-6).


As part of its MAP (Men As Partners) Initiative, AVSC collaborated with local organizations to conduct case studies of male reproductive health (RH) services in Colombia, Pakistan, Uganda, and the US. Data were gathered from interviews with a cross-section of providers. The pioneering programs take differing approaches to the provision of services to men such as concentrating on certain age groups, including all men, focusing on family planning, focusing on RH, integrating men's and women's facilities, keeping services separate, and using men's services as a revenue-generating mechanism to subsidize the cost of women's services. The gender of the provider was found to be less important than personal characteristics, and male providers were only found to be necessary in Pakistan. While there is a new focus on caring for couples in the RH field, providers advised that it is critically important for clients to determine whether they wish to be seen individually or in pairs. In each location, cultural factors that were initially considered insurmountable barriers to services failed to have the expected impact. A crucial part of providing services is community outreach through traditional or novel means, such as sending a health educator to areas where groups of men congregate. The case study data are being compiled in complete reports.


This research aims on analyzing the effects of Corporate Governance which is measured by board size and board independence also Firm Characteristics which is measured by financial leverage, growth, firm size, earning per share, return on asset, and return on equity to Dividen Policy. The research populations were taking from the financial reports of companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2008 until period of 2012. Using the purposive sampling method, the samples which meet the requirements for this research are 102 firms or 510 observations data. This research uses multiple regression method to analyze the effect of independent variables on dependent variable. The observations data are then analyzed using statitical package for social sciences version 21st (SPSS 21).
The result indicates that financial leverage, growth, firm size, earning per share, and return on equity have a significant effect on dividend policy in Indonesia Stock Exchange. However this research found that board size,board independence, return on asset are insignificant to dividen policy in Indonesia Stock exchange.


The steepest-descent approximation theory (SDAT) is developed for the calculation of dispersion relations and field distribution functions in optical waveguides and fibers. Based on the functional-extremum principle, this new method improves the form of the trial functions for the modal field distributions directly, instead of optimizing parameters as in conventional variational approaches. It does so by making use of the concept of the functional derivative of Rayleigh's quotient and the steepest-descent technique. The SDAT also provides iterative procedures for generating better approximations for both the propagation constants and the modal fields. Several low-order modes of an optical fiber with a Gaussian refractive-index profile are studied, demonstrating the usefulness of this new method. Improved analytical expressions for the field distributions are obtained with improved values for the propagation constants.


In previous researches on a model-based diagnostic system, the components are assumed mutually independent. Howerver, the assumption is not always the case because the information about whether a component is faulty or not usually influences our knowledge about other components. Some experts may draw such a conclusion that "if component m 1 is faulty, then component m 2 may be faulty too". How can we use this experts' knowledge to aid the diagnosis? Based on Kohlas's probabilistic assumption-based reasoning method, we use Bayes networks to solve this problem. We calculate the posterior fault probability of the components in the observation state. The result is reasonable and reflects the effectiveness of the experts' knowledge.


Due to high price and nutritional values of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), it is vulnerable to adulteration internationally. Refined oil or other vegetable oils are commonly blended with EVOO and to unmask such fraud, quick, and reliable technique needs to be standardized and developed. Therefore, in this study, adulteration of edible oil (sunflower oil) is made with pure EVOO and analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopy (excitation wavelength at 350 nm) in conjunction with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression. Fluorescent spectra contain fingerprints of chlorophyll and carotenoids that are characteristics of EVOO and differentiated it from sunflower oil. A broad intense hump corresponding to conjugated hydroperoxides is seen in sunflower oil in the range of 441–489 nm with the maximum at 469 nm whereas pure EVOO has low intensity doublet peaks in this region at 441 nm and 469 nm. Visible changes in spectra are observed in adulterated EVOO by increasing the concentration of sunflower oil, with an increase in doublet peak and correspondingly decrease in chlorophyll peak intensity. Principal component analysis showed a distinct clustering of adulterated samples of different concentrations. Subsequently, the PLS regression model was best fitted over the complete data set on the basis of coefficient of determination (R2), standard error of calibration (SEC), and standard error of prediction (SEP) of values 0.99, 0.617, and 0.623 respectively. In addition to adulterant, test samples and imported commercial brands of EVOO were also used for prediction and validation of the models. Fluorescence spectroscopy combined with chemometrics showed its robustness to identify and quantify the specified adulterant in pure EVOO.


In the article, the researcher describes the level and status of higher education in the tourism industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the scientific and theoretical approaches to the problems and offers to further develop the system of training and retraining of qualified personnel (in higher education). quoted
KEY WORDS: tourism, specialist, tourist, domestic tourism, modernization, guide, manager, tour operator,education, training, retraining quality, personnel.


This study aims to examine the association between having more financial experts in an audit committee and RPT-conflict disclosure among listed firms in Malaysia. This study also examines whether the audit committee's full independence and financial experts' activeness enhance the financial experts' ability to review RPT-conflicts. This study used 1,912 data observations from 478 listed firms in Bursa Malaysia for the financial years of 2011 to 2014. Our results show that having more financial experts as members in the audit committee is significantly associated with RPT-conflict disclosure. The audit committee's independence also slightly enhances the effectiveness of financial experts to review RPT-conflict. However, we found weak evidence to show that financial experts' activeness increased RPT conflict disclosure. The findings recommend a premise to have more financial experts as members in an audit committee, and full independence in interaction with the audit committee enhances the audit committee's effectiveness, specifically in reviewing RPT-conflict.


Eighty four new and four published ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences of rDNA obtained from different populations of 24 nominal species and 28 isolates of 16 putative Steinernema species were analysed using the maximum parsimony method. In most of the phylogenetic trees obtained from different ITS alignments and phylogenetic procedures, the 84 isolates formed five main, highly or moderately supported, clades, viz Clade I: 'affine-intermedium'; Clade II: 'carpocapsae-scapterisci-tami'; Clade III: 'feltiae-krausseioregonense'; Clade IV: 'bicornutum-ceratophorum-riobrave'; and Clade V: 'arenarium-glaseri-karii-longicaudum'. The ITS rDNA data were found to be of little utility in resolving relationships between these clades, but were useful in studying relationships between species within certain clades. The level of intra-specific variability was different between clades with sequence divergence of 2.4-2.8% of ITS rDNA for some species. Analysis of a combined data matrix of both molecular and morphological features was performed with six qualitative and three quantitative features.


Dorsal nerve roots carry sensory neural signals to the central nervous system (CNS) from the peripheral nervous system (PNS).The dorsal root ganglion (DRG) has a significant clinical application, particularly in its association with neuropathic pain. DRG neurons emerge from the dorsal root of the spinal nerves, carrying sensory messages from various receptors, including those for pain and temperature towards the central nervous system for a response.Until recently, the dorsal root ganglion has been considered a passive organ that metabolically assists functions and pathways between the PNS and CNS. New studies suggest, however, that the DRG is an active participant in peripheral processes, including PAF injury, inflammation, and neuropathic pain development. A proper understanding of the significance and functioning of the DRG can help improve the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathic pain syndromes.


If there is one thing that is relatively clear about the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that governments will need new sources of revenue to offset its costs and build a better social safety net. All over the world, governments are borrowing and spending at a pace not seen since World War II, and at the same time revenues from both income and consumption taxes are falling because of pandemic related slowdowns in economic activity. The result is unprecedented levels of debt that even with low interest rates mean inevitable needs for more revenue down the road. Even a country that borrows in its own currency like the US or Japan cannot incur debt well in excess of GDP forever without risking either inflation (if it creates money to pay off the debt) or a sharp increase in borrowing costs that crowds out other government expenditures at a time when they are most needed to bolster the social safety net, which the pandemic revealed to be quite fragile in many countries including the US.

What kind of revenue sources are we talking about? Here we need to distinguish among short, medium and long-term solutions. In the short term (1-5 years), governments need to rely on immediate solutions like excess profit taxes (EPTs) on companies that benefit from the pandemic and digital services taxes (DSTs) to capture some of the increase in the use of such services that may escape regular income and consumption taxes. In the medium term (5-10 years), governments should permanently increase taxes on the rich and on corporations to address the inequality that is likely to be exacerbated by the pandemic, and adopt carbon taxes to mitigate climate change. In the long term (10 years and more), new and innovative sources of revenue may emerge like taxes on artificial intelligence, bit taxes, financial transaction taxes and others. In addition, governments of countries like the US that lack a VAT should adopt one.


BACKGROUND
Late referral to the nephrologist has been mainly examined to assess its causes and effects in patients with chronic renal failure. It has not been analyzed as a phenomenon in itself, to identify its features and allow more effective prevention plans. This study proposes a methodological approach to the study of outpatient referral to the nephrologist (ORN) by defining a number of evaluation tools.

METHODS
Patients referred to an outpatient nephrology department represent a cohort of selected subjects on the basis of patient-related factors (clinical, social and cultural) and care-related factors. The incidence and prevalence of kidney disease in this population cannot be considered as a measure of the frequency in the general population. They may represent a first-level approach to the study of ORN by providing an indication of its pattern but not of its actual size in the catchment area. For this purpose we implemented a "referral index", calculated as the percent ratio between the number of affected subjects attending our outpatient department and the number of affected subjects within the whole catchment area.

RESULTS
The number of subjects attending our outpatient department showed a progressive increase, especially among diabetics, in the last 8 years, in concomitance with a collaborative prevention project involving general practitioners. The referral index of the most frequent chronic kidney diseases in 2005 never exceeded 4.9%, accounting for the steady increase in outpatients following our ORN promotion policy. Prevalence on the one hand and referral index on the other provide different types of information about the same subgroup of outpatients: among patients with chronic kidney diseases, prevalence shows a different graduation of ORN than the referral index. Finally, the frequency distribution of chronic kidney disease stages calculated with the referral index moved toward the fourth and fifth stages rather than the second and third stages, as shown by the prevalence.

CONCLUSIONS
The incidence and prevalence of renal diseases among outpatients are measures of ORN and they are useful for a qualitative analysis, such as to assess its pattern. The referral index provides a quantitative evaluation of ORN with respect to the general population of the catchment area.


The International Labour Organization (ILO) is often regarded as ineffective in the face of the 'Global Transformation', 'adrift' and in a 'state of crisis'. In particular, the ILO's role in the governance of global production networks (GPNs) is typically neglected or simply dismissed as unsuccessful. This is understandable as the organisation of production and distribution through GPNs has undermined the traditional nation-State (horizontal) paradigm of global labour governance, most notably the international Conventions agreed by the tripartite constituents (governments, employers and workers' representatives from 187 member States) of the ILO.

An important question for the ILO, and indeed the wider international community, is whether, and if so how the Organization can transform the system of global labour governance to address and include the (vertical) GPNs that all too often fail to deliver 'decent for all'. Drawing upon GPN and global labour governance theory, this research addresses the question of how and under what conditions the ILO can (re)establish labour standards (voice, equity and efficiency) under the 'Global Transformation' (in general) and GPNs (in particular).
Based on 2 years of participant observation at the ILO's headquarters in Geneva and field work (questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions) in the Indonesian palm oil and Sri Lankan tea sector, it becomes clear that the ILO must extend its responsibility vertically to address governance gaps and 'spaces of exception' and ultimately to promote and protect decent work in GPNs. At the International Labour Conference (ILC) in 2016 the ILO asserted that its labour standards were not 'fit for purpose' and a new approach to labour governance in GPNs was needed. An innovative approach to the (re)establishment of labour standards is 'in the making' at the ILO with the potential to improve working conditions and rights at work for millions across the globe.


Expression of tissue factor (TF) on the cancer cells and tumor neovasculature of triple-negative breast cancer provides a target for immunotherapy. An improved TF-targeting second-generation immunoconjugate (called L-ICON1) was tested for immunotherapy of this malignancy in preclinical mouse models. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a leading cause of breast cancer death and is often associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation. Due to the lack of validated target molecules, no targeted therapy for TNBC is approved. Tissue factor (TF) is a common yet specific surface target receptor for cancer cells, tumor vascular endothelial cells, and cancer stem cells in several types of solid cancers, including breast cancer. Here, we report evidence supporting the idea that TF is a surface target in TNBC. We used in vitro cancer lines and in vivo tumor xenografts in mice, all with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, derived from patients' tumors. We showed that TF is overexpressed on TNBC cells and tumor neovasculature in 50% to 85% of TNBC patients (n = 161) and in TNBC cell line–derived xenografts (CDX) and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) from mice, but was not detected in adjacent normal breast tissue. We then describe the development of a second-generation TF-targeting immunoconjugate (called L-ICON1, for lighter or light chain ICON) with improved efficacy and safety profiles compared with the original ICON. We showed that L-ICON1 kills TNBC cells in vitro via antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and can be used to treat human and murine TNBC CDX as well as PDX in vivo in orthotopic mouse models. Thus, TF could be a useful target for the development of immunotherapeutics for TNBC patients, with or without BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Cancer Immunol Res; 6(6); 671–84. ©2018 AACR.


Gemcitabine, a deoxycytidine analog, is used to treat solid tumors, like non-small-cell lung carcinoma. The most commonly reported adverse effects are reversible and generally not fatal. However, among the five cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to gemcitabine treatment reported since 1997, four were fatal despite corticosteroid therapy. We describe here a patient who received gemcitabine for bronchial epidermoid carcinoma and developed ARDS which spontaneously regressed after gemcitabine withdrawal.


Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were prepared by co-precipitation of Fe+3/Fe+2 (2:1; molar ratio) with a mean size of 40 ± 5 nm. Scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer and thermogravimetric analysis were used to characterise the MNPs. The MNPs and also hydroxylated nonporous glass beads were similarly functionalised with the aid of glutaraldehyde to be cross-linked to lipase originated from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL). The yield and efficiency for immobilised lipase on the MNPs were calculated as 72 ± 2.4 and 63 ± 3.5%, whereas a yield and efficiency of 60 ± 2.1 and 55 ± 4.1%, respectively, were measured for the corresponding parameters of the immobilised enzyme on the glass beads. When the immobilised TLL was compared with its free form, Michaelis-Menten kinetics indicated an insignificant change in the Michaelis constant (Km) and a drastic decrease in the maximum substrate conversion rate (Vmax). The immobilised TLL and six other commercial lipases were then checked for regioselective acetylation of prednisolone. The highest and lowest yields of the product were observed for Novozym 435 and immobilised TLL on the glass beads, respectively. Immobilised TLL retained its bioacetylation activity of prednisolone in five successive catalytic processes.


The biennial review of atomic-weight, Ar(E), determinations and other cognate data have resulted in changes for the standard atomic weights of the following elements: From To Zinc 65.39 ± 0.02 65.409 ± 0.004 Krypton 83.80 ± 0.01 83.798 ± 0.002 Molybdenum 95.94 ± 0.01 95.94 ± 0.02 Dysprosium 162.50 ± 0.03 162.500 ± 0.001 Presented are updated tables of the standard atomic weights and their uncertainties estimated by combining experimental uncertainties and terrestrial variabilities. In addition, this report again contains an updated table of relative atomicmass values and half-lives of selected radioisotopes. Changes in the evaluated isotope abundance values from those published in 1997 are relatively minor and will be published in a major review of each element in 2003. Many elements have a different isotopic composition in some nonterrestrial materials. Some recent data on parent nuclides that might affect isotope abundances or atomic-weight values are included in this report for the information of the interested scientific community.


SAPO-34 nanocrystals with sizes of 50–150 nm were obtained via steam-assisted crystallization (SAC) for 5 h at 200 °C from two types of aluminum precursors—aluminum isopropoxide and boehmite. A reaction mixture composition with a small amount of organic template tetraehylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) was used with the molar ratio TEAOH/Al2O3 = 1/1. The alumina precursor type and duration of the SAC (5 and 24 h) on the crystal size, texture, and acid properties were investigated. The SAPO-34 nanocrystals that we obtained possess a large micropore volume of 0.22–0.24 cm3/g and a specific surface area of 651–695 m2/g. When the crystallization was prolonged for up to 24 h, a SAPO-18 structure appeared, but the micropore and mesopore volumes changed insignificantly. Using boehmite as the aluminum precursor led to higher mesoporosity of the material but a little bit lower acidity when compared with the samples prepared from aluminum isopropoxide. In addition, the method proposed was used for preparing a SAPO-34-coated aluminum adsorber heat exchanger. Thus, the synthesis method proposed is affordable and effective to prepare SAPO-34 highly crystalline nanoparticles, with no need for post-synthetic procedures as the mother liquor separation from nanocrystals.


Flaw profile estimation from measurements is a typical inverse problem in electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation (NDE). The application of recursive Bayesian nonlinear filters based on sequential Monte Carlo methods, in conjunction with measurement process models and a Markovian crack growth model, is a new approach for solving such inverse problems. The approach resembles the classical discrete-time tracking problem and is robust to the noisy measurement data. This paper reports a comparative study of the results of employing different measurement models in this Bayesian inversion framework. The results are evaluated on the basis of accuracy and computational cost.


Two different sliding mode controllers for a fractional order unified chaotic system are presented. The controller for an integer-order unified chaotic system is substituted directly into the fractional-order counterpart system, and the fractional-order system can be made asymptotically stable by this controller. By proving the existence of a sliding manifold containing fractional integral, the controller for a fractional-order system is obtained, which can stabilize it. A comparison between these different methods shows that the performance of a sliding mode controller with a fractional integral is more robust than the other for controlling a fractional order unified chaotic system.


In North-Eastern Region, Tripura is one of the potential states to increase the total vegetable production. The study was conducted as a part of On farm Trials (OFTs) of KVK, West Tripura with 210 numbers of farmers of seven Rural Development Blocks viz., Bishalgarh, Khowai, Padmabil, Kalyanpur, Tulashikar, Teliamura and Mohanpur of West Tripura district. The study revealed that out of the technological constraints; lack of knowledge of scientific crop production ranked I (79.52%), lack of frequent visit by extension personnel to villages ranked II (76.67%) and poor fertility of soil ranked III (72.38%). Again, as regards to the infrastructural constraints; less cultivable land ranked I (92.86%), non availability of quality seed ranked II (90.48%) and Non-availability of processing industries (value addition) ranked III (85.23%) whereas, out of the economical constraints; non-availability of labour during peak period ranked I (91.42%), non-availability of timely credit facilities ranked II (83.33%) and high cost of agricultural chemicals ranked III (74.28%).


A comparison has been made between inorganic and organic bases proposed for use in the Zimmermann reaction for 17-oxosteroids. The use of inorganic base in pyridine solution is preferred for large scale liquid chromatography because of its high sensitivity and its better wetting characteristics. Several of the organic bases tested have desirable characteristics when used for total group assays and may be preferred by some for such assays.


Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome predisposes females with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation to an up to 85% lifetime risk for breast cancer and an up to 40% lifetime risk for ovarian cancer. It is crucial for individuals with HBOC to be identified to allow for proper screening, management, and identification of at-risk family members in order to reduce mortality. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has established clinical guidelines for when to recommend BRCA1/2 testing. A retrospective chart review of 1123 M.D. Anderson Cancer Center breast cancer patients was performed in order to evaluate the positive predictive values (PPVs) of 14 individual criterion for predicting a BRCA1/2 mutation. Two criteria had PPVs significantly below 10%. Only 2 of 115 patients recommended for testing based solely on the criterion of "diagnosed with breast cancer ≤45 years of age" tested positive for a pathogenic mutation at a PPV of 1.6% (0.2-6%, 95% CI), which is significantly below the clinical utility cut-off of 10% (p = 0.001). Additionally, 0 out of 37 individuals who underwent testing based on the criterion, "diagnosed with breast cancer at any age with ≥2 close blood relatives with breast cancer at any age" tested positive (0-9%, 95% CI). Overall, an individual who meets more than one criterion has a PPV of 12% while those who meet only one criterion has a PPV of 3.52%, which is significantly below 10% (p<.0001) for predicting BRCA1/2 positivity. This data can help provide more personalized risks and anticipatory guidance for patients in their decision to pursue genetic testing.


SUMMARY A simultaneous study of cockroach (Supella supellectilium) distribution and of associated carried bacterial flora has been made in the main hospital in Rennes (France). Wild cockroaches carry a high number of bacterial species that can be related to the normal environmental flora and a contaminant flora acquired from particular environments. The diversity of carried bacterial species reveals a proximity factor between continguous floors of the building which leads us to suppose that cockroaches are able to forage from one floor to the other.


The purpose of this study is the effect of carbon black loading on mechanical properties of rubber compound. There are several studies about tensile strength of rubber compound and the results are positive. Rubber blends are used for many reasons such as lowering the compound cost, for ease of fabrication and to improve the performance of the rubber industrial. Study the effect of tensile strength on rubber compound based on filler loading has played important role in contributing the fundamental to formulate the rubber compound and investigate the mechanical effect. The aim of this study is the effect carbon black loading on tensile strength of rubber compound. The previous study was show that the different filler and loading give the different effect reinforcing to rubber compound. The objective in this study is to study the effect of filler loading on the tensile strength of rubber compound. We are using two roll mills in high temperature and at medium speed this is to ensure the rubber mix well with other ingredients. The filler use is carbon black N220 and be tested in three experiment based on filler loading at 10phr, 30phr and 50phr. The mechanical properties – such as tensile strength properties of the present industrial rubber – were studied. The study also indicated that filler materials affect on the mechanical properties of the blends.


The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of mental disorder and associated factors during an economic recession. Random samples of Finnish general population were collected in 3 consecutive years, 1993-95. The prevalence of mental disorders was assessed by means of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The prevalence of mental disorders varied among Finnish men from 15.6% to 19.2% and among women from 21 to 24.5%. Mental disorder was more common among women than among men in every study year. Mental disorder was more common among the unemployed than among other respondents both in women and men in every year. Subjective poor health, suicidal thoughts and poor economic situation were constantly associated with mental disorder in both sexes every year. Using logistic regression analyses, problems with a partner, uncertain future orientation and use of psychoactive drugs, in particular, were found to be fairly permanent independent risk factors in relation to mental disorder. As studied by gender no major changes occurred in the mental health status of Finns during economic recession, although in many specific groups mental disorder was markedly more common than in the general population.


The role of wastewater suspended solids in denitrification based on intracellular carbon storage was investigated in a biofilm sequencing batch reactor performing alternately anaerobic carbon storage and denitrification. Municipal wastewater as the feeding was compared with filtered wastewater and with acetate. The results show that the amount of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) stored during a cycle was quite similar, irrespective of the substrate type used as feeding (acetate, real wastewater and real wastewater after filtration). PHA storage was limited even under excess chemical oxygen demand (COD) conditions, with a reducing power capacity enough for denitrification of only 25–26 mg/L N. However, when non-filtered wastewater was used, the denitrification capacity was about 50% higher (38 mg/L N) due to the contribution of entrapped suspended solids as the electron donor. In addition, the involvement of the hydrolyzed wastewater suspended solids resulted in a different PHA composition containing a much higher poly-3-hydroxyvalerate content.


Objective: This article aims to draw mental health clinicians' attention to the connections between nutrition and mental health, and the roles that Accredited Practising Dietitians play in improving mental and physical health through dietary change. Methods: Selective narrative review. Results: Unhealthy dietary practices are common in high prevalence and severe mental illness. Epidemiological evidence demonstrates that nutrients and dietary patterns impact on mental health. In addition, poor physical health is well documented in people with mental illness and the greatest contributor to the mortality gap. Dietary intervention studies demonstrate improved mental and physical health outcomes. Accredited Practising Dietitians translate nutrition science into practical advice to improve the nutritional status of patients with mental illness, and prevent and manage comorbidities in a variety of care settings. Conclusions: Medical Nutrition Therapy offers opportunities to improve the physical and mental health of people living with mental illness.