Abstract The discovery of Fe, Mg, and Al phyllosilicates on Mars using visible and short-wave infrared (VSWIR) spectroscopy from orbit indicates aqueous alteration of basaltic rocks. Analyses at Gusev Crater by the Spirit rover and Gale Crater by the Curiosity rover have discovered alkaline basaltic rocks. In this work, multiple methods—VSWIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and chemical analyses—were used to study a suite of alkaline basalts from San Carlos, Arizona, which have been altered by water in an oxidative, semi-arid environment. As an analog for the weathering of alkaline basaltic rocks on Mars, a suite of rocks visually identified to have different degrees of alteration were characterized to understand the spectral, mineralogical, and chemical trends in alteration as sensed by multiple techniques. Samples with strong 1.9 µm H2O-related absorptions in VSWIR commonly exhibited absorption bands at 1.4, 2.2, and/or 2.3 µm, indicating the presence of clay minerals or silica as well as features at 0.5–0.9 mm indicative of ferric iron oxides. Primary mineralogy for all samples, as determined by point analyses with the microprobe and XRD, consisted of olivine, plagioclase, nepheline, augite, and titanomagnetite. Compositional imaging and spot analyses with the microprobe revealed distinct alteration textures and phases, suggesting weathering pathways involving the oxidation of iron in olivine and primary Fe2+ oxides to form Fe3+ oxides as well as the formation of aluminum phyllosilicates and magnesium phyllosilicates from feldspars and olivines, respectively, while pyroxene remained relatively unaltered. Bivariate plots of major oxides both from bulk-chemical analysis and microprobe measurements also revealed trends in alkali and silica depletion and calcium enrichment, but there was little chemical fractionation in most of the major oxides. The strength of the 1.9 µm H2O absorption, loss on ignition, and depletion in silica and sodium, correlated with increasing alteration. The data sets provide an analog for understanding possible weathering pathways in martian alkaline basalts and thresholds for the detection of aqueous alteration in multiple data sets.


A 1970s and 1980s poverty alleviation program, IMSS-COPLAMAR, challenged universal definitions of poverty as well as health models for rural areas while proffering a distinctly Mexican alternative. Yet this solution, broadly painting rural dwellers as marginados (marginalized), focused on need-based definitions of social exclusion and thus incongruously erased ethnic diversity while celebrating Indigenous forms of healing. Indeed, linking notions of poverty to health programs redefined poverty in the late twentieth century as an economically preventable ailment. More problematically, the term marginados tended to flatten the complex identities of the rural poor. Despite these faults, the program was groundbreaking and inventive in its conception. At its core, this article shows how radically innovative and socially inclusive domestic programs that emerged in the late twentieth century from the so-called developing world found it difficult to compete against—and survive—prescriptive solutions pushed by international organizations, especially at the dawn of neoliberal reforms.


Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are heterogeneous membrane nanoparticles released by most cell types, and they are increasingly recognized as physiological regulators of organismal homeostasis and important indicators of pathologies; in the meantime, their immense potential to establish accessible and controllable disease therapeutics is emerging. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can release large amounts of EVs in culture, which have shown promise to jumpstart effective tissue regeneration and facilitate extensive therapeutic applications with good scalability and reproducibility. There is a growing demand for simple and effective protocols for collecting and applying MSC-EVs. Here, a detailed protocol is provided based on differential centrifugation to isolate and characterize representative EVs from cultured human MSCs, exosomes, and microvesicles for further applications. The adaptability of this method is shown for a series of downstream approaches, such as labeling, local transplantation, and systemic injection. The implementation of this procedure will address the need for simple and reliable MSC-EVs collection and application in translational research.


Cyclic voltammetric studies were done in an electrochemical bath to monitor the electrochemical reactions as described by many researchers. The study reviews recent results on cyclic voltammetry technique applied to the semiconductor thin films. All the voltammetry curves were scanned in the cathodic and anodic direction in order to find the optimum potential region where the formation of metal chalcogenide thin films. Ag/AgCI and saturated calomel electrode were used as reference electrode during experiment.


The validation of a probabilistic fingerprinting approach for outdoor location estimation using received signal strength (RSS) from GSM base stations (BSs) is described. The proposed approach is compared with a traditional probabilistic algorithm for three different area partitioning methods. Two contrasting real environments are used for the comparisons: one is a city environment and the other one is a rural setting. For each test-bed, over 9000 data points are collected over 170,000 and 110,000 square meters respectively. For each environment, principal components analysis (PCA) is globally used to remove the least useful transmitters to avoid unnecessary calculations. Then each environment is partitioned into different clusters based on RSS. PCA is again used within each cluster. The proposed scheme retains accuracy by not losing the substantial RSS correlations in each cluster, but also accommodates the different RSS distributions in each cluster. The experimental results show that the positioning accuracy is significantly improved and our clustering scheme gives good support for location estimation.


Heterocalixaromatics, the heteroatom bridged calix(hetero)arenes, have been emerging as new generation macrocyclic host molecules in supramolecular chemistry recently. Being different from the conventional calixarenes in which the aromatic rings are linked by methylene units, heterocalixaromatics assemble various aromatic rings by different heteroatoms. Owning to the intrinsic nature of heteroatoms that can adopt different electronic configurations to form various degrees of conjugation with their neighboring aromatic rings, heterocalixaromatics exhibit unique structural features and versatile recognition properties in comparison to conventional calixarenes. This feature article highlights recent advances in the synthesis, functionalization, structure and molecular recognition of nitrogen- and/or oxygen-bridged calixaromatics, with a primary focus on our own work.


We study the effect of departures from SUSY GUT gaugino universality on the neutralino relic density, and both its direct and neutrino indirect detection. We find that the most interesting models are those with a value of $M_3|_{GUT}$ lower than the universal case.


This paper focuses on problems of accelerated staff turnover by looking in retrospect at the staffing phases that the University of Zimbabwe Library went through. Between 1991 and 1993, staff turnover culminated in a loss of over 55% of the professional staff from an establishment of 25 (professional staff). The paper discusses three categories of problems and situations that led to the accelerated staff turnover, and the turnover's impact on the library service. Suggestions are made on ways in which the situation could be remedied and possibly prevented from recurring. Staff retention strategies discussed include among others, human resources planning and development, staff motivation, organizational redesign, and competitive remuneration packages. This paper concludes that human resources are perhaps the most vital resource required to run an institution, and as such, should be given a corresponding priority in the strategic planning process.


The Kirchhoff approach to depth migration requires computation of travel times. We use dynamic ray tracing to shoot a bundle of rays upward from each subsurface point to be imaged. The number of rays varies between a few to several thousand rays per bundle and is dependent on the local complexity of the velocity-depth model. For instance, in sedimentary sections. 1500 rays may be sufficient to accurately determine travel times. However, in the presence of salt structures, up to 7000 rays may be required. For large-scale problems associated with complex structures, implementation of 3-D prestack depth migration requires efficient construction oftravel time tables and their use in Kirchhoff summation.


There are currently no standardized diagnostic tests available for the reliable detection of AmpC beta-lactamases in Klebsiella spp., Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Salmonella spp. A study was designed to evaluate a confirmation disk test using cefotetan (CTT) and cefoxitin (FOX) with phenylboronic acid (PBA). It also investigated the most suitable screening concentrations of FOX, ceftriaxone (CRO) and ceftazidime (CAZ) for the detection of AmpC beta-lactamases. A total of 126 control (consisting of 11 laboratory and 115 well-characterized clinical strains) and 29,840 non-repeat clinical isolates were included. FOX with PBA used in a confirmation test and CRO and CAZ as screening agents were found to be unreliable. FOX at >or= 32 mg/L was the best screening agent and CTT with PBA was the best confirmation test. Of the clinical isolates 635 (2%) were found to be resistant to cefoxitin (MIC >or= 32 ug/mL) and 332 (52%) were AmpC positive. E. coli was the most common organism with AmpC beta-lactamases and was mostly present in urines from community patients. It is recommended that laboratories use FOX at 32 mg/L as a screening agent and perform a disk test with CTT and PBA to confirm the presence of an AmpC cephalosporinase in isolates of Klebsiella spp., E. coli, Salmonella spp. and P. mirabilis. This approach is convenient, practical and easy to incorporate into the workflow of a clinical laboratory. False-positive AmpC detection may occur with KPC-producing bacteria when inhibitor-based methods are used.


This letter presents a characterization of the signal fading caused by moving vehicles near the receiver on digital terrestrial television (DTV). The results shown are based on a measurement campaign carried out in the cities of Madrid, Spain, and Bilbao, Spain, in order to explore the channel behavior. These results would help when planning DVB-T portable reception.


Purpose: Inactivation of p16 gene by CpG methylation is a frequent event in oral epithelial dysplasia. To investigate the predictive value of p16 methylation on malignant potential in oral epithelial dysplasia, we carried out the prospective cohort study. Experimental Design: One hundred one patients with histologically confirmed mild or moderate oral epithelial dysplasia were included in the present cohort study. p16 Methylation status of the oral epithelial dysplasia lesions from 93 cases was obtained by methylation-specific PCR. Progression of the oral epithelial dysplasia lesions was examined in 78 cases histologically during a 45.8 months follow-up period. The association between p16 methylation and progression of oral epithelial dysplasia was analyzed. Results: Of the 93 enrolled cases, 15 cases were lost during the follow-up because of changes of contact information, with a compliance of 83.9%. p16 Methylation was detectable in oral epithelial dysplasia lesions from 32 (41.0%) of 78 enrolled patients. Oral epithelial dysplasia–related squamous cell carcinomas were observed in 22 patients (28.2%) during the follow-up. Rate of progression to oral cancer in patients with the p16-methylated oral epithelial dysplasia was significantly higher than that with the p16-unmethylated oral epithelial dysplasia (43.8% versus 17.4%; adjusted odds ratio, 3.7; P = 0.013), especially for patients at the baseline age of ≥60 years (adjusted odds ratio, 12.0; P = 0.003) and patients with moderate oral epithelial dysplasia (adjusted odds ratio, 15.6; P = 0.022). The overall sensitivity and specificity of prediction of malignant transformation of oral epithelial dysplasia by p16 methylation were 63.6% and 67.9%, respectively. Conclusion: p16 Methylation was correlated with malignant transformation of oral epithelial dysplasia and is a potential biomarker for prediction of prognosis of mild or moderate oral epithelial dysplasia. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(16):5178–83)


ABSTRACT Tf1 is a long terminal repeat-containing retrotransposon of Schizosaccharomyces pombe that is studied to further our understanding of retrovirus propagation. One important application is to examine Tf1 as a model for how human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proteins enter the nucleus. The accumulation of Tf1 Gag in the nucleus requires an N-terminal nuclear localization signal (NLS) and the nuclear pore factor Nup124p. Here, we report that NLS activity is regulated by adjacent residues. Five mutant transposons were made, each with sequential tracts of four amino acids in Gag replaced by alanines. All five versions of Tf1 transposed with frequencies that were significantly lower than that of the wild type. Although all five made normal amounts of Gag, two of the mutations did not make cDNA, indicating that Gag contributed to reverse transcription. The localization of the Gag in the nucleus was significantly reduced by mutations A1, A2, and A3. These results identified residues in Gag that contribute to the function of the NLS. The Gags of A4 and A5 localized within the nucleus but exhibited severe defects in the formation of virus-like particles. Of particular interest was that the mutations in Gag-A4 and Gag-A5 caused their nuclear localization to become independent of Nup124p. These results suggested that Nup124p was only required for import of Tf1 Gag because of its extensive multimerization.


Multi-task learning is a framework that enforces different learning tasks to share their knowledge to improve their generalization performance. It is a hot and active domain that strives to handle several core issues; particularly, which tasks are correlated and similar, and how to share the knowledge among correlated tasks. Existing works usually do not distinguish the polarity and magnitude of feature weights and commonly rely on linear correlation, due to three major technical challenges in: 1) optimizing the models that regularize feature weight polarity, 2) deciding whether to regularize sign or magnitude, 3) identifying which tasks should share their sign and/or magnitude patterns. To address them, this paper proposes a new multi-task learning framework that can regularize feature weight signs across tasks. We innovatively formulate it as a biconvex inequality constrained optimization with slacks and propose a new efficient algorithm for the optimization with theoretical guarantees on generalization performance and convergence. Extensive experiments on multiple datasets demonstrate the proposed methods' effectiveness, efficiency, and reasonableness of the regularized feature weighted patterns.


An apparatus for real-time pattern comparison based on the interference method proposed by Weinberger and Almi is described. Particular emphasis is stressed on its use in fingerprint identification. Preliminary experiments confirmed that the apparatus is feasible for the purpose.


In this article we want to present the basic ideas of (microscopic) diffusion studies. It is the aim of such investigations to reveal the basic jump processes, i.e., to find the elementary jump vectors and jump frequencies. In this paper we first present a historic introduction, explaining the fundamental ideas of diffusion by presenting the work of Fick and Einstein. Then we introduce the basics of scattering theory (Van Hove), that are later on used to obtain an expression for the scattering function of a system of diffusing particles (Chudley and Elliott, Singwi and Sjölander). Until the mid-1990s this scattering function was measured as a function of wavevector transfer and energy. But the rise of synchrotron sources with their pulsed radiation and the parallel development of detectors and monochromators finally provided the possibility of studying the intermediate scattering function directly, i.e., measuring the scattered intensity as a function of wavevector transfer and time. We present this relatively new method of nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation in the forward direction together with two examples: the diffusion of iron in the intermetallic alloys Fe3Si and FeAl.


Summary We re-studied the distribution of paw preference in male and female rats using a new food-reaching test. Paw preference was assessed using a modified new version of food reaching task in quadrupedal position. Of the total sample (N=165). Of 165 rats, 86 (52.12%) were right-handed, 72 (43.64%) were left-handed, and 7 (4.24%) were mixed-handed. Of the in male (N=74) 36 (48.65%) were right-handed, 35 (47.30%) were left-handed, and 3 (4.05%) were mixed-handed. The right-minus left paw reaches fitted to gaussian data with two prominent peaks due to right–and left preference. In female (N=91) 50 (54.94%) were right-handed, 37 (40.66%) were left-handed, and 4 (4.40%) were mixed-handed. The female right-preference showed a right-bais compared to males. The males leftpreference were more than female left-preference.The distribution of right minus left paw reach was not U-shaped, it was J-shaped like in humans. The results indicate that the distribution of paw preference in rats is similar to that of other animals and to human handedness. It was concluded that there is a right-bias in paw rats, which is caused by the female right-preference under the influence of a biological factor. The right-pawed males were found to be least lateralized than the male left-preference, and female right-and left preference. The brain is in general more lateralized than the female brain.


We consider a nonsmooth optimization problem with a feasible set defined by vanishing constraints. First, we introduce a constraint qualification for the problem, named NNAMCQ. Then, NNAMCQ is applied to obtain a necessary M-stationary condition. Finally, we present a sufficient condition for M-stationarity, under generalized convexity assumption. Our results are formulated in terms of Mordukhovich subdifferential.


Trust is a major aspect in the relationship between humans and autonomous safety-critical systems, such as autonomous vehicles. Although human errors may cause higher risks, failures of autonomous systems are more strongly perceived by the general population, which hinders the adoption of autonomous safety-critical systems. It is therefore necessary to devise approaches for systematically building trust in autonomous functions and thereby facilitate the adoption process. In this paper, we introduce a method and a framework for incrementally building trust in the context of autonomous driving. Within the envisioned solution, we employ the psychological narrative behind trust building through the formation of new habits and introduce a method where trust is established gradually for both the human and the autonomous safety-critical system via reputation building and step-by-step integration of smart software agents replacing human actions.


A square wave machine with 115 degrees rectangular blocks is shown to be theoretically capable of 12.8% more power than a conventionally designed sinusoidal wave machine of the same size. The comparative test results of two 5 kW synchronous machines confirm that the optimized machine can output 8.52% more power than a conventionally designed synchronous machine of the same size and temperature rise. The efficiency gain is about 2% compared to a sine wave machine peak efficiency of 85%. The ripple component of the rectified voltage for the square wave machine is shown to be markedly reduced. >


The increasing of pesticide use is in line with the increasing number of pest populations. However, the use of pesticides causes various negative impacts on the environment (soil, water, and air) such as pesticide-resistant pests, perishing of useful insects which are non-target pesticides, and the use of pesticide which can even lead to poisoning and death in humans. One of the environmentally-safe techniques to control pests is chemical, by the use soursop leaf extract. This study aims to determine the most effective concentration of soursop leaf extract (Annona muricata) in controlling leaf caterpillar (Plutella xylostella) in delima rose apples. The research was carried out in the plantation area of rose apples in tempuran village, Demak. The research method employed experimental research. The study was conducted using Completely Randomized Design. The data were obtained using probit analysis of LC50. The most effective concentration of soursop extract (Annona muricata) on leaf caterpillars' mortality was 75 ppm. Soursop leaf extract (Annona muricata) has been proven to influence rose apples leaf caterpillars' mortality index. The LC50 value of soursop leaf extract was 75,16 mg/L. The result showed that soursop leaf extract (Annona muricata) is effective as a biopesticide material to control leaf caterpillar pest for delima rose apples.


The paper describes the work undertaken and the experimental equipment used in an extensive programme on many kinds of cavity ionization chambers used with 4, 6, 8 and 15 MeV linear accelerators. The analytical studies reported refer only to graphite chambers. Functions have been derived applicable to photon energies in the range 0·03 MeV to 15 MeV, whereby the broad beam attenuation and state of particle equilibrium may be determined for graphite cavity chambers having a wide range of wall thicknesses. The relevance of the new data to various studies of immediate interest is examined. Stopping power problems in the energy range quoted are also discussed. Overall correction factors are determined for exposure measurements with graphite cavity chambers used with some X- and γ-ray sources in the photon energy range 0·03 MeV to 15 MeV.


We have investigated the effects of electron beam (EB) irradiation on the optical and electrical properties of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures in the energy range between 5 and 25 keV. By using 10 keV-EB irradiation, the photoluminescence from quantum wells is shown to be degraded at doses higher than 1×10 19 electrons/cm 2 , further, the two-dimensional-electron-gas mobility is degraded at doses more than 5xl0 20 electrons/cm 2 . EB irradiation of 5 and 25 keV, on the other hand, produces no degradation of both properties even at these dose levels. Such an energy dependence of EB-induced damage can be interpreted in terms of the EB energy dependence of the electron penetration and energy-loss-rate. Electrons with an incident energy of 5 keV do not penetrate sufficiently deep into the active region, and 25 keV electrons have an energy-loss-rate that is too low to cause damage.


Numerical simulation of the high-temperature superconductivity and the artificial intelligence-assisted visual analysis is conducted in this paper. High-temperature superconducting power technology is a high-tech technology developed in recent decades. It has very important significance and the development prospects in many fields. To better visualize the testing performance, Artificial Intelligence [AI] has been applied and the data mining models are incorporated to construct the efficient numerical simulation platform. The system is implemented and tested based on the data, and the efficient is validated. Compared with the novel methods, the proposed framework can reflect the test results with interactives.


The effects of two drip irrigation rates and two emitter placements on tomato production were investigated in the U. S. Virgin Islands. There was significant difference in yields between irrigation rates but none between emitter placements. With tomato variety N-69, marketable yields of 45 and 55 tons/ha were obtained from irrigation rates of 5.2 and 9.9 mm per week, respectively. The relationship of production to rainfall and potential evapotranspiration is discussed.


The patterning of optical filters to enable sensors dates back more than 50 years. Today this technology serves numerous aerospace, industrial, and consumer electronics applications. Recent developments include the commercial adoption of processes for patterning filters directly onto CMOS wafers and the expansion of applications into multispectral sensing and imaging.


Majorana on a hinge One of the early proposals for the physical implementation of Majorana zero modes (MZMs) centered on inducing superconductivity in a topological insulator (TI) by placing it in contact with a superconductor. Jäck et al. used scanning tunneling spectroscopy to observe MZMs in a similar heterostructure. In their devices, the TI is a hexagonal bismuth island placed on top of a layer of superconducting niobium. The bismuth island had topological boundary hinge states on every other edge of the hexagon. Placing a cluster of iron atoms on the hinge generated a zero-bias peak characteristic of MZMs at the interface between the cluster and the hinge state. Science, this issue p. 1255 Signatures of Majorana zero modes on helical hinge states in a higher-order topological insulator are observed. Superconducting proximity pairing in helical edge modes, such as those of topological insulators, is predicted to provide a unique platform for realizing Majorana zero modes (MZMs). We used scanning tunneling microscopy measurements to probe the influence of proximity-induced superconductivity and magnetism on the helical hinge states of bismuth(111) films grown on a superconducting niobium substrate and decorated with magnetic iron clusters. Consistent with model calculations, our measurements revealed the emergence of a localized MZM at the interface between the superconducting helical edge channel and the iron clusters, with a strong magnetization component along the edge. Our experiments also resolve the MZM's spin signature, which distinguishes it from trivial in-gap states that may accidentally occur at zero energy in a superconductor.


The random heterogeneous morphology of modern solid rocket propellant formulations has traditionally been difficult to characterize and quantify. Current computational simulations of these formulations require an accurate description of the packing arrangement in order to correctly model the complex geometric effects that stem from the random morphology. A new and novel computational packing algorithm was invented, implemented, and analyzed using various particle starting arrangements. This was intended to be fast for use in combinatorial chemistry applications and to provide a numerical representation of the material for use with other computational tools, including codes that predict combustion behavior. The packing algorithms were evaluated using homogeneous distributions of spherical particles. Both the Radial Distribution Function (RDF) and the packing fraction were used to evaluate the validity of the invented algorithm.


Urine is a good source for identifying novel biomarkers. Urine samples should be comprehensively collected and preserved. Therefore, we established an urimem method in which urinary proteins were adsorbed onto membranes, following which the membranes were dried and stored in a vacuum bag. This method is economical, and samples can be stored at room temperature. In addition, it is more suitable in laboratories. For collecting urine samples of patients at home, a simple, easy to use method is necessary. The kit used in this method comprises a filter coupled with a syringe. The syringe was used as a pressure generator to pass the urine through the filter, which contained two membranes. The polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was used for isolating cells, and the nitrocellulose (NC) membrane was used for adsorbing proteins. After adsorption, the NC membrane was placed in a sealed plastic bag with a drying agent and stored at room temperature for 10 days. To assess the stability of the urimem method, SDS-PAGE and LC-MS/MS were performed to qualitatively and quantitative analyze the proteins that were eluted from the membrane. The results showed that the method was reproducible. This method is highly accessible and convenient for patients to collect urine by themselves at home. Furthermore, it facilitates sample transportation and may be beneficial for identifying research biomarkers in urine.


Investigations in animals (rat, rabbit, dog) and man show, that N-[3-(2-morpholinoethyl)-4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-1-benzopyran-7-yl]-4-morpholinocarboxamide (morocromen) is absorbed fast and is found as unchanged substance in organs (highest concentration in liver and kidneys, low concentration in brain), blood, bile, urine, saliva, sweat and feces. Extent of absorption, metabolisation and half-life are species-dependent. Five metabolites were found in rat, three in dogs and two in traces in man. After oral application unchanged morocromen is excreted renally by rat, dog and man (14, 18 and 54--64%, respectively). Renal elimination is pH-dependent, but not dependent on sex, dosis and urine volume. Oral bioavailability is approx. 60% in dogs, 67--79% in man. Elimination half-life (blood) is approx. 2 h in dogs, 3--4 hr in man. Organ distribution studies in animals and elimination studies in man (1 to 30 applications) give no hint for accumulation or enzyme induction. Morocromen is distinctly different from carbocromen by a longer biological half-life, by distribution and elimination as mostly unchanged drug and by a better bioavailability.


ABSTRACT
Increasing cases of invasive group A Streptococcal (GAS) disease have been reported in Europe and the US, particularly after the relaxation of lockdowns and mitigation strategies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article provides an overview of GAS infection, with updates on testing, treatment, and patient education.


The formation of surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) can cause significant adverse impacts on the quality of living in urban areas. Monitoring the spatial patterns and trajectories of UHI formations could be helpful to urban planners in crafting appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures. This study examined the spatial pattern of SUHI formation in the Colombo District (Sri Lanka), based on land surface temperature (LST), a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), and population density (PD) using a geospatial-based hot and cold spot analysis tool. Here, 'hot spots' refers to areas with significant spatial clustering of high variable values, while 'cold spots' refers to areas with significant spatial clustering of low variable values. The results indicated that between 1997 and 2017, 32.7% of the 557 divisions in the Colombo District persisted as hot spots. These hot spots were characterized by a significant clustering of high composite index values resulting from the four variables (LST, NDVI (inverted), NDBI, and PD). This study also identified newly emerging hot spots, which accounted for 49 divisions (8.8%). Large clusters of hot spots between both time points were found on the western side of the district, while cold spots were found on the eastern side of the district. The areas identified as hot spots are the more urbanized parts of the district. The emerging hot spots were in areas that had undergone landscape changes due to urbanization. Such areas are found between the persistent hot spots (western parts of the district) and persistent cold spots (eastern parts of the district). Generally, the spatial pattern of the emerging hot spots followed the pattern of urbanization in the district, which had been expanding from west to east. Overall, the findings of this study could be used as a reference in the context of sustainable landscape and urban planning for the Colombo District.


ABSTRACT This analysis shows how, in horse-riding lessons, riding instructors use prosody and other sound patterns to design their talk for human and equine recipients at the same time, while orienting to distinct contributions from each. Practices for doing so include nonlexical vocalizations, marked prosodic delivery, and conventionalized lexical-prosodic bundles. Parallel recipient design allows turn-holders to pursue a single activity that is to be performed jointly by the recipient pair. Parallel recipient design is shown to be distinct from alternating recipient design, to be found during multiactivity. Parallel recipient design can be delivered consecutively, with talk designed to mobilize the rider followed by talk designed to mobilize the horse; or simultaneously, with lexical items performing one action to the rider and their prosodic delivery performing another action to the horse. The data are recordings of naturally occurring horse-riding lessons, mostly in English; some data are in German, with English translations.


Abstract In this paper we give a survey of methods of Quaternionic Holomorphic Geometry and of applications of the theory to minimal surfaces. We discuss recent developments in minimal surface theory using integrable systems. In particular, we give the Lopez–Ros deformation and the simple factor dressing in terms of the Gauss map and the Hopf differential of the minimal surface. We illustrate the results for well–known examples of minimal surfaces, namely the Riemann minimal surfaces and the Costa surface.


The effect of maleic anhydride-g-polyethylene compatibilizing agent on mechanical and thermal properties of waste office white paper (WOWP)-filled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites was investigated. Results showed that compatibilized LDPE/WOWP composites have higher tensile strength, Young's modulus than uncompatibilized LDPE/WOWP composites, but lower on elongation at break. Thermal analysis results exhibited that compatibilized LDPE/WOWP composites have higher thermal stability, and degree of crystallinity (Xc) compared to uncompatibilized LDPE/WOWP composites, but melting temperature (Tm) did not change significantly. Scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform–infrared spectroscope studies revealed that the addition of compatibilizing agent enhanced dispersion of filler in polymer matrix as an evidence of covalent bonding between WOWP filler and compatibilizing agent.


A fast and novel strategy for efficient ionization of phosphopeptides in mixtures is reported, in which the sample is acidified to low pH to suppress the deprotonation of phosphate groups and then followed by direct analysis using liquid sample desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS).


Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of genomic DNA from 57 Musa cultivars with 60 random 10‐mer primers generated 605 polymorphic amplification products which were useful in unambiguous cultivar identifications. Unweighted pair‐group method analysis of this data grouped the cultivars into specific clusters depending on their genomic similarities. The diploid ancestral species of cultivated banana and plantains, namely Musa acuminata ssp malaccensis, an A genome donor and M. balbisiana, a B genome donor, were farthest apart from each other in the phenogram. The edible fruit yielding cultivars with the genomic constitutions AA, AAA, AB, AAB, ABB and ABBB grouped in different clusters according to overall genetic homologies. The restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) prevalent among the cultivars were studied by hybridizations of 19 random genomic clones to blots of HindIII, EcoRI and MspI digests. Cluster analysis of these data on 107 polymorphic alleles resulted in a phenogram comparable to the one obtained with random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Two multilocus probes useful in distinguishing all the 57 cultivars analyzed were also identified. The A and B types of cytoplasms in the cultivars were further distinguished by hybridization of heterologous chloroplast DNA probes. Results showed that use of different kinds of molecular markers in gene banks is essential for characterization and classification of germplasm collections.


A phylogenetic analysis of the early branching lineages of the monocotyledons is performed using data from two plastid genes (rbcL and matK), five mitochondrial genes (atp1, ccmB, cob, mttB and nad5) and morphology. The complete matrix includes 93 terminals representing Acorus, the 14 families currently recognized within Alismatales, and numerous lineages of monocotyledons and other angiosperms. Total evidence analysis results in an almost completely resolved strict consensus tree, but all data partitions, genomic as well as morphological, are incongruent. The effects of RNA editing and potentially processed paralogous sequences are explored and discussed. Despite a decrease in incongruence length differences after exclusion of edited sites, the major data partitions remain significantly incongruent. The 14 families of Alismatales are all found to be monophyletic, but Acorus is found to be included in Alismatales rather than being the sister group to all other monocotyledons. The placement is strongly supported by the mitochondrial data, atp1 in particular, but it cannot be explained as an artifact caused by patterns of editing or by sampling of processed paralogues.


Purpose: Pathogenesis of vascular inflammatory diseases is characterized by endothelial dysfunction, including the endotoxemia-derived systemic inflammatory syndrome. Although interactions between the endotoxin and endothelial cells (ECs) evoke EC death, a significant portion of ECs are resistant to endotoxin challenge by means of the conversion of ECs into activated fibroblasts. However, the underlying mechanism that promotes the endotoxin-induced vascular endothelial fibrosis (EVEF) and its implications are not known. The activation of fibroblasts are dependent on intracellular Ca2+ concentration increases through the participation of calcium channels. However, the molecular identity of the calcium channel that mediates the Ca2+ influx during EVEF is unknown. Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) is a calcium channel expressed in ECs. TRPM7 promotes fibroblasts activation inducing their characteristics. However, the role of TRPM7 in EVEF is unknown. Thus, our aim was to investigate the features of EVEF and study the role of TRPM7 as a new pharmacological target to avoid EVEF.

Methods: Primary cultures of ECs and whole blood vessels were isolated from umbilical cords from normal pregnancies, after patient′s informed consent conforms with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Results: Endotoxin-challenged ECs showed an upregulation of both, fibroblast-specific proteins expression and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins secretion, as well as a downregulation of endothelial markers, through a mechanism dependent on: ALK5/Smad2/3 and TLR4/NF-κB/NOX intracellular pathways. Furthermore, TRPM7 suppression protected ECs from the endotoxin-induced fibrogenesis. TRPM7 downregulation prevented the endotoxin-induced endothelial markers decrease and fibrotic genes increase. In addition, TRPM7 suppression abolished the endotoxin-induced increase in ECM proteins. Furthermore, the intracellular Ca2+ levels were greatly increased upon endotoxin challenge in a mechanism dependent on TRPM7 expression.

Conclusions: Endotoxin exposition is a crucial factor for inducing vascular endothelial fibrosis which perpetuates endothelial dysfunction as a maladaptive process rather than a survival mechanism for protection against LPS. Noteworthy, TRPM7 appears as a key protein involved in the mechanism underlying EVEF, emerging as a novel target for pharmacological design useful in improving current treatment against endotoxemia-derived systemic inflammation and other vascular inflammatory diseases.


To examine the influence of fullerene on the macrocyclic ring conformation, crystal structures of a series of cocrystals of 2,3,5,10,12,13,15,20-octaphenylporphyrin, M(TPP)(Ph)(4) (M = 2H, Co(II), Cu(II)), and 2,312,13-tetramethyl-5,7,8,10,15,17,18,20-octaphenyl-porphinato copper(II), CuTPP(Ph)(4)(CH(3))(4), derivatives with fullerene, C(60), were elucidated. Furthermore, crystal structures of the parent porphyrins, M(TPP)(Ph)(4) (M = Co(II), Cu(II)) complexes, were also determined. All the cocrystals revealed one-to-one stoichiometry between the porphyrin and C(60) and were free of lattice solvates. Porphyrin rings in M(TPP)(Ph)(4)·C(60) cocrystals revealed significant distortion with the root-mean-square (rms) value as high as 0.265(2) A which is the average deviation of the 24 atoms core from the least-squares plane. Crystal structures of the parent M(TPP)(Ph)(4) (M = Co(II), Cu(II)) complexes indicated near planarity of the 24-atom core with the root-mean-square deviation value of 0.016(2) A. Molecular packing in the M(TPP)(Ph)(4)·C(60) cocrystals showed essentially one-dimensional chains interconnected by weak interporphyrin and porphyrin-fullerene close contacts. The N(porphyrin)···C(C(60)) shortest distances between the H(2)(TPP)(Ph)(4) (M = 2H, Co(II), Cu(II)) and fullerene in the cocrystals are 3.031(5) A, 3.062(4) A, and 3.059(3) A, respectively. Similarly, close contact M···C distances in the M(TPP)(Ph)(4)·C(60) (M = Co(II), Cu(II)) are 2.761(6) A and 2.886(3) A, respectively. In the Cu(TPP)(Ph)(4)(CH(3))(4)·C(60) cocrystal, the shift of macrocyclic ring toward planarity was evidenced from the rms value of 0.236(2) A relative to that observed in CuTPP(Ph)(4)(CH(3))(4)·CHCl(3) (0.391(2) A). The distortion of the macrocyclic ring in M(TPP)(Ph)(4)·C(60) complexes was examined by normal-coordinate-structure decomposition (NSD) analyses. Their out-of-plane displacement of the core atoms revealed predominant contribution being saddle (∼95-96%) and gentle domed distortions (3-4%). In the case of M(TPP)(Ph)(4)(CH(3))(4)·C(60) cocrystal, it showed mainly saddled (∼83%), minimal ruffled (8%) and domed (8%) distortions of the macrocyclic ring. In-plane displacement on the 24-atom core of the porphyrin in these cocrystallates features generally a varying degree of N-str (B(1g)) and bre (A(1g)) distortions.


The purpose of the paper is to investigate the value relevance of intellectual capital (IC) of Italian listed firms. The paper applies the Ohlson model (1995) to 524 firm-year observations of Italian listed companies for the three-year period 2006-2008 using a panel econometric model. The findings show that the fundamental variables of the Ohlson model (book value and earning) are positively related to the market value. On the contrary, the IC variables, which reflect human capital, innovation capital, process capital and relation capital, do not have a meaningful relation with the market value, except for the last one. Concluding, Italian investors do not seem to be able to detect and incorporate the information on IC as represented in the IC proxies chosen for the research into their business valuation process.


Endocapsular distance ring increases possibilities of extraction subluxated cataract. Its importance consists of stabilisation of capsular bag and with the possibility of implantation posterior intraocular lens. In the group there are 20 patients with implanted 21 distance rings. The period of follow up was 4-24 months. We used of a polymethyl methacrylate distance ring from firms Erilens, Morcher and IOLTechnology. Indication for the implantation of a distance ring was dialysis less than 2 quadrants, it depends on size and type of distance ring. The authors evaluate complications during the operation and early and later results after operation.


Single crystal Ge layers were successfully fabricated on the buried oxide layer of a silicon-on-insulator wafer using a combined technique of two-step selective epitaxial growth and Ge condensation. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the single crystal Ge layer formed on the buried oxide layer had a tensile strain of 0.07% on the <110> lattice plane in a large unpatterned area. Furthermore, a steep photoluminescence spectrum was obtained from Ge stripes fabricated on the buried oxide layer, and a red shift in the photoluminescence peak was observed due to tensile strain with a wavelength of 1620 nm. The peak intensity of a 10-mm-wide Ge stripe on the buried oxide layer was three times higher than that on a Ge stripe on an Si substrate, which was achieved by improving the crystallinity and carrier confinement within the Ge stripes. These results indicate that this combined technique efficiently improves the performance of Ge light-emitting devices.


ObjectivesTo test a possible association between the educational level (EL), cognitive performance, and neuropsychiatric features in Parkinson disease (PD). BackgroundAn inverse association has been reported between EL and cognitive dysfunction in patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer type but it is yet unsettled whether education has a similar effect on cognition in PD. MethodsSeventy-two PD patients (45 males, mean age 68.7±11.6 y) underwent a detailed neurologic examination, a battery of neuropsychologic tests, and questionnaires for the evaluation of psychosis, sleep disturbances, and depression. According to the number of educational years, patients were divided into 3 groups: low EL (0 to 8 y), (15 patients), intermediate EL (9 to 12 y) (28 patients), and high EL (≥13 y) (29 patients). ResultsPatients with a higher EL had a better cognitive function and an association was found between the patients' EL and their scores in various neuropsychologic tests mainly those sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction. Low education was associated with an increased risk for hallucinations and a trend for more depression, delusions, and sleep disturbances. ConclusionsThe association between high educational attainment and the lower risk of cognitive dysfunction suggest that education might modulate cognitive performance in PD.


1. 1-aminocyclopentane-trans-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (t-ACPD), a racemic mixture of 1-aminocyclopentane-1S,3R-dicarboxylic acid and 1-aminocyclopentane-1R,3S-dicarboxylic acid, a selective agonist of the metabotropic glutamate receptor, was applied to mouse Purkinje neurons (PNs) in culture. Measurements of free intracellular Ca2+ were made using fura-2 microfluorimetric imaging and of membrane current using perforated-patch voltage-clamp recording in separate experiments. 2. Brief pulses of t-ACPD (< or = 100 microM, 1-5 s) consistently produced a large (200-600 nM) increase in dendritic Ca2+ that was sometimes followed by a somatic increase. The dendrites typically returned to basal Ca2+ levels within 10-30 s. 3. Ca2+ increases produced by t-ACPD were measured in Ca(2+)-free external saline [0.5 mM ethylene glycol-bis(beta-amino-ethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA)], suggesting that they result from intracellular mobilization rather than influx. In addition, Ca2+ increases were not attenuated by a mixture of DL-AP5 and 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX) [antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and AMPA/kainate receptors, respectively], but were almost entirely eliminated by L-AP3 (100 microM), a putative metabotropic receptor antagonist or by preincubation of the cultures in pertussis toxin. 4. Brief pulses of t-ACPD (10 microM) produced a small inward current that was associated with an increase in membrane conductance. This current was reversibly blocked by L-AP3 but not by treatments that attenuate some voltage-gated K+ currents. Thus this current is unlikely to underlie the depolarization that is produced by metabotropic agonists in hippocampal pyramidal cells by K(+)-channel closure. 5. The t-ACPD induced inward current was attenuated by substitution of external Na+ with Li+ or choline, or by application of the membrane-permeable Ca2+ chelator, bis-(2-aminophenoxy)-N,N,N',N'- tetraacetic acid (BAPTA)/AM. One mechanism that could mediate this current is electrogenic Nao/Cai exchange, triggered by Ca2+ mobilization.


The basic objective of this research was to assess the effect of foreign portfolio flows on the performance Zimbabwe Stock Exchange during the study period. In pursuing this major objective the study also determined the granger causality between foreign flows and returns, the behaviour patterns shown by foreign investors on the local bourse and assessed the impact that certain foreign investor behavior has on stock performance measured by stock return. The research methodology in this dissertation was based on quantitative analytics using the data collected mostly from websites of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, US Federal Bank, and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The study was undertaken for the reference period of approximately five years from 2009-13. The researcher also went on to analyse the data that was gathered in order to come up with viable analysis. The gathered information was analyzed using tools like, graphs and tables as a way of giving a clear view of the results that were found from the research. The key results of the study points out that participation of foreign investors has an effect on domestic stock market returns and that stock market return is mainly affected by unexpected flows and not significantly by the contemporaneous value of expected flows. The price pressure hypothesis is supported, with security prices revised by lags. The base-broadening hypothesis holds, hence, the amount of foreign investment in the market drives up returns and hence performance of the market. Macroeconomic factors, especially the change in exchange rate and risk free rate, are important in determining returns. The results suggest that though portfolio flows in lower the cost of capital and financing growth, promoting local investment and macroeconomic stability is also important in improving performance of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The study concludes by making recommendations aimed at improving market capitalization and foreign investor confidence.


This paper describes an architecture to support opportunistic collaboration and an implementation of it designed for collaboration between students and instructors in computer programming courses. The implementation is scalable and interoperates with existing collaboration tools where possible, and can be easily extended to support other collaboration scenarios. This paper extends it to support online programming environments and an IoT system to demonstrate that the number of reusable components of the original system is proportional to the similarity of the new system.


The hyperspectral image (HSI) denoising has been widely utilized to improve HSI qualities. Recently, learning-based HSI denoising methods have shown their effectiveness, but most of them are based on synthetic dataset and lack the generalization capability on real testing HSI. Moreover, there is still no public paired real HSI denoising dataset to learn HSI denoising network and quantitatively evaluate HSI methods. In this paper, we mainly focus on how to produce realistic dataset for learning and evaluating HSI denoising network. On the one hand, we collect a paired real HSI denoising dataset, which consists of short-exposure noisy HSIs and the corresponding long-exposure clean HSIs. On the other hand, we propose an accurate HSI noise model which matches the distribution of real data well and can be employed to synthesize realistic dataset. On the basis of the noise model, we present an approach to calibrate the noise parameters of the given hyperspectral camera. The extensive experimental results show that a network learned with only synthetic data generated by our noise model performs as well as it is learned with paired real data. Our code and data are available at: https://github.com/ColinTaoZhang/HSIDwRD.


BACKGROUND
Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) in patients with significant splenomegaly or prior upper abdominal operation is technically challenging with a high conversion rate to open operation. We hypothesized that hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy (HLS) in this setting would improve operative (OR) outcomes without impacting post-OR ileus, length of stay, morbidity, or mortality, compared with LS.

METHODS
All patients with splenomegaly (spleen weight > or = 500 g) or prior upper abdominal operation undergoing LS or HLS between March 1996 and June 2001 were reviewed. Nonparametric continuous variables were expressed as median and intraquartile range with statistical significance determined by Wilcoxon rank sum test.

RESULTS
Of 41 patients reviewed, 22 underwent HLS, whereas 19 underwent LS. Median OR time for HLS was significantly less than for LS (161 minutes vs 212 minutes, P =.004). HLS was associated with a lower conversion rate (13.6% vs 36.8%, P =.08) and blood loss (325 mL vs 550 mL, P =.18) than LS, which approached statistical significance. HLS did not increase post-OR ileus, length of stay, morbidity, or mortality.

CONCLUSIONS
HLS in patients with significant splenomegaly or prior upper abdominal operation significantly shortens OR time compared with LS without adversely impacting post-OR ileus, length of stay, morbidity, or mortality. In addition, HLS may be associated with a lower conversion rate and decreased blood loss.


The following intellectual biography of Harry Magdoff is a slightly revised and expanded version of a piece that was posted on MRzine a few days after Harry's death on January 1, 2006. It evolved out of an earlier biography I wrote for the Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists in 2000. Since the aim of this biography was to present the basic facts of Harry's intellectual career, personal feelings and observations were largely excluded. A brief word on Harry's character and the warm emotions he engendered within those who knew him therefore seems essential here This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


In this paper we develop model checking techniques for assessing functional form specifications of covariates in censored linear regression models. These procedures are based on a censored data analog to taking cumulative sums of "robust" residuals over the space of the covariate under investigation. These cumulative sums are formed by integrating certain Kaplan-Meier estimators and may be viewed as "robust" censored data analogs to the processes considered by Lin, Wei & Ying (2002). The null distributions of these stochastic processes can be approximated by the distributions of certain zero-mean Gaussian processes whose realizations can be generated by computer simulation. Each observed process can then be graphically compared with a few realizations from the Gaussian process. We also develop formal test statistics for numerical comparison. Such comparisons enable one to assess objectively whether an apparent trend seen in a residual plot reects model misspecification or natural variation. We illustrate the methods with a well known dataset. In addition, we examine the finite sample performance of the proposed test statistics in simulation experiments. In our simulation experiments, the proposed test statistics have good power of detecting misspecification while at the same time controlling the size of the test.


This study was aimed to evaluate the noninvasive method of radioisotopic angiocardiography for detecting a disproportionate thickning of the interventricular septum relative to the left ventricular free wall in the patient with idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The experimental study was performed to compare the imaged size of myocardial wall obtained my filling up with technetium 99 m labeled sponge in biventricular cavities, with the actually measured thickness of the heart specimen. The resultant correlation between actual and imaged size of the left ventricular wall was excellent (r = 0.95). In the clinical application of this method, a gated cardiac blood pool scan was performed after the intravenous administration of technetium 99 m labeled human serum albumin in a dose of 10 mCi. The cardiac images were obtained in anterior, 30, 35, 40 and 45 degree left anterior oblique projection, and evaluated by visual inspection and semi-quantitatively by tracing the myocardial borders. As a result, the imaged asymmetric septal hypertrophy was evident in all four patients with PMD, with a ratio of septum to left ventricular free wall of 1.35 compared to 0.76 in five patients with left ventricular hypertrophy of known heart disease, and 0.88 in twenty-one miscellaneous cardiac patients without left ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, RI angiocardiography provides a safe, repeatable method for detection and evaluation of Primary Myocardial Disease.


Thrombolytic agents play a major role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Streptokinase is the prominently commercialized thrombolytic drug used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The later studies on staphylokinase (SaK) showed promising results as an alternative fibrinolytic drug. The present study explores the isolation, production and purification of SaK producing Staphylococcus sp. from milk samples. The potent isolate MSA4 of Staphylococcus sp. was selected for production and purification of SaK. The total activity and specific activity of purified staphylokinase was found to be 1266 IU mL(-1) and 815.5 IU mg(-1), respectively. The partially purified enzyme was lysed the euglobulin clot completely within 18 h of incubation and the purified enzyme showed 79% of blood clot lysis activity.


Most people experience lucid dreams (LDs), which are dreams in which the dreamer is conscious and able to perceive vivid perceptions. There are many ways to induce LDs, but their levels of efficiency are far from satisfactory. In this study, we analyze the efficiency of an LD method that was tested in commercial events with hundreds of groups over 12 years. The main feature of the method is that hypnopompic hallucinations are induced that allow an LD plot to start directly from the bedroom upon awakening, which makes the LD feel like an out-of-body experience. This method originated from the Tibetan dream yoga tradition and has been heavily modified according to a strict algorithm of specific actions. Data from 449 people, mostly newbies, who tried this method over the course of two nights indicated that 484 attempts were successful. This method might help ordinary LD enthusiasts to get efficient practice, as well as more research opportunities for studying lucid dreaming and the human brain.


Visualization is a crucial part in learning analytics, where ordinary teachers could comprehend the depth of textual learning (e.g. discussion forum) through the easy-to-interpret figures (e.g. keygraph). However, the open source tools are often not fully developed with plug-in to common learning management system such as Moodle. In this paper, we are going to present the preliminary results of an ongoing project learning analytics extended based on Li & Wong (2016) and Wong & Li (2016), which sets the direction for the next stage of our experiment to aim for a better educational technology application in helping teacher evaluate the learning process of students through analytics. In this project, contents of discussion forums of students were extracted into text files, which were imported to a software tool called Polaris developed by Oshawa Lab (http://www.panda.sys.t.utokyo.ac.jp/KeyGraph/) to generate keygraphs to visualize the scenarios for mining patterns. However, as keygraphs are difficult to comprehend by humans and therefore, more effective tools are needed. In our latest experiments, we deployed novel text mining algorithms and data visualization tools to improve educational analytics intuitively.


The histological examination of cardial tissue samples concerning routine autopsy casework showed microscopic discrepancies in case of macroscopically found "subendocardial haemorrhages". In an attempt to analyse this phenomenon we compared the macroscopic and microscopic findings in 175 samples of endocardium from tissues presenting such haemorrhages of varying intensity: Only 8.6% showed a histological correlate and therefore could be verified as true haemorrhage. 53.7% presented mere hyperaemia and the remaining 37.7% even showed no microscopic finding at all. A satisfactory reason for this phenomenon could not be given by this investigation: The histological findings, however, do not depend on their cardial localization nor do they differ in relation to the cause of death or due to resuscitative actions. A possible cause of the described discrepancies may be a loss of haemoglobin of the erythrocytes. The results of this investigation point out that it might be necessary to reconsider the use of the term "subendocardial haemorrhage".


Haptic perception is a vital part of the human experience that enriches our engagement with the world, but the ability to provide haptic information in virtual reality (VR) environments is limited. Neurostimulation-based sensory feedback has the potential to enhance the immersive experience within VR environments by supplying relevant and intuitive haptic feedback related to interactions with virtual objects. Such feedback may contribute to an increase in the sense of presence and realism in VR and may contribute to the improvement of virtual reality simulations for future VR applications. This work developed and evaluated xTouch, a neuro-haptic platform that extends the sense of touch to virtual environments. xTouch is capable of tracking a user's grasp and manipulation interactions with virtual objects and delivering haptic feedback based on the resulting grasp forces. Seven study participants received haptic feedback delivered via multi-channel transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the median nerve at the wrist to receive the haptic feedback. xTouch delivered different percept intensity profiles designed to emulate grasp forces during manipulation of objects of different sizes and compliance. The results of a virtual object classification task showed that the participants were able to use the active haptic feedback to discriminate the size and compliance of six virtual objects with success rates significantly better than the chance of guessing it correctly (63.9 ± 11.5%, chance = 16.7%, p < 0.001). We demonstrate that the platform can reliably convey interpretable information about the physical characteristics of virtual objects without the use of hand-mounted devices that would restrict finger mobility. Thus, by offering an immersive virtual experience, xTouch may facilitate a greater sense of belonging in virtual worlds.


This article explains the main mechanisms influencing the knowledge collaboration dynamics occurring across an online business community. Prior research study had conceived firms as autonomous entities competing against each other to reach the competitive advantage. Nonetheless, online business social networks (BSNs) can be seen as networks of organizations that interact within digital structures, providing an optimal locus to foster external knowledge flows, enabling participants to share knowledge across organizational boundaries, and eventually leading to open innovation outcomes. We analyze how virtual networks of business relationships influence the form of knowledge collaboration firms can be engaged in. We analyze the entire three-year collaborative history of a BSN. After a promising launch of the BSN, it declined and failed. By analyzing front- and backstage combined with organizational and technological features of the online business community, we identify and discuss five categories of mechanisms affecting the knowledge collaboration over time and reducing the firms' uncertainty in exchanging information: first, orchestrators' skills and competencies in running the online platform; second, internal firm capabilities allocating proper organizational resources; third, usability of the digital platform; four, interconnections between frontstage and backstage combined with technological and organizational features; and fifth, perceived virtual copresence.


With emphasis on flexible resource management in networked and embedded real-time control systems operating in dynamic environments with uncertainty, this book is devoted to the integration of control with computing and communication. It covers the authors' recent and original research results within a unified framework of feedback scheduling. This useful reference also includes rich example problems, case studies, and extensive references to the literature.


ABSTRACT  The aim of this study was to investigate histological alterations in Asian sea bass ( Lates calcarifer , Bloch) after exposed to cadmium in different doses (2, 4, and 6 mg/kg of cadmium) and time courses (24, 48, and 72 h). Histological changes tested were gill, liver, intestine, stomach, and kidney. We found that there were several damages in gill, such as edema, hyperplasia, epithelial lifting, and partial fusion of secondary lamellae, vacuole degeneration, enlargement of sinusoid and necrosis of hepatocytes in liver, the increasing and swelling of goblet cells and cell lesion in stomach and intestine, and degenerations of tubular, melano-macrophage aggregate, an increase of Bowman's space, vacuole degeneration, and necrotic areas in kidney. The highest degree of injury index exhibited in kidney with significant difference from gill and liver. In addition, at 6 mg/kg cadmium exposure for 72 h, melano-macrophage and pigmented macrophage counting showed the highest value of 170 + 3. In conclusion, we found that histological alterations in Asian sea bass were clearly caused by cadmium exposure depended upon exposure time and dose response


We present a 28-year-old patient with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase complicated with nephrotic syndrome. The bone marrow cells revealed the presence of Philadelphia chromosome, the cytogenetic hallmark of CML, that results from a balanced, reciprocal translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 9 and 22, t(9;22)(q34;q11). This reciprocal translocation leads to the formation of the bcr/abl fusion gene, the presence of which was confirmed using the highly sensitive fluorescence in situ hybridization technique. The renal biopsy was compatible with minimal change nephrotic syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of minimal change nephrotic syndrome associated with CML before the administration of any therapy.


Histologic studies using the silver stain method have implicated pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (NEC) in asthma by demonstrating an increase in their number in the bronchi of guinea pigs actively sensitized with ovalbumin and 10 min after challenge. We verified the same data and completed them by a study of the long-standing effects of a challenge on NEC number in guinea pig bronchi. Actively sensitized animals were killed 2, 6, 24, 48, 72, and 144 h after being challenged by an aerosolized solution of ovalbumin. This study was completed by the evaluation of eosinophilic infiltration of bronchi to test the recently proposed hypothesis of the possible eosinophil recruitment by NEC product. Our results confirmed the increase in NEC number in the bronchial wall after sensitization. Originally we demonstrated that, 24 h after challenge, the NEC number decreased significantly, compared to sensitized only animals, suggesting possible product release. Eosinophilic migration was observed in sensitized animals and, more importantly, in all sensitized plus challenged animals. We suggest that bronchial NEC may play a role in immunoallergic events that take place in the lung after challenge, probably by releasing mediators that may influence, among other effects, eosinophilic recruitment.


The mechanical and electrical properties of transducers are modelled by finite-difference representations of the relevant physical equations and the numerical problems are discussed. The theory is applied to a transducer consisting of a calcium-modified lead titanate (PTCa) ceramic mixed with the polymer P(VDF-TrFE), and comparison of /spl isin//sub 33/ with experimental values is found to be good. The introduction of ceramic into the mix has an immediate effect on the voltage, and s/sub 11/ and s/sub 12/. d/sub 31/ is not much affected by the presence of the ceramic until it reaches 70% of the mixture whereas d/sub 33/ changes sign rather quickly and then increases more slowly. A second transducer having the ceramic PZT5 mixed with P(VDF-TrFE) is also modelled and the characteristics of the 0-3 structure are compared with those of the 1-3 structure of the same components modelled in an earlier paper. The 1-3 construction brings the effect of the ceramic in much faster than the 0-3 construction. For example, at 50% ceramic, e/sub 33/, d/sub 3l/ and d/sub 33/ are roughly trebled compared to the 0-3 values.


Pummerer reaction of the sulfoxides 5 of N-acyl-N-(aryl)methyl-2-(phenylthio)ethylamines (4) on treatment with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) effectively caused intramolecular cyclization under a mild condition to give N-acyl-4-phenylthio-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines (TIQs) (7). The reaction of the N-formyl sulfoxide 5c without a methoxy group in the benzene ring using a formyl group for N-protection is particularly efficient. Treatment of the N-formyl sulfoxide 5f with TFAA did not give any TIQ, but a sequential treatment using TFAA and BF 3 . Et 2 O afforded N-formyl-4-phenylthio-TIQ (7f) in quantitative yield. The efficiency of this method of preparing TIQs was demonstrated in the synthesis of 1,4-dideuterio-TIQ (10D) and its N-methyl derivative (11D).


City of Dreadful Night is an astonishing work of fiction, a tangle of tales that transports the reader from the Medieval India of magicians, witches, and vampires, through the British colonial period with its culture clashes and simmering unrest, into the chaos and political terror of contemporary India. Flesh-eating demons, Rajiv Gandhi's assassin, even Bram Stoker and Dracula populate the serpentine narrative, which intermingles stories about the characters with the terrifying tales they tell. At the heart of the book is an itinerant teller of ghost tales called Brahm Kathuwala, an old man wearing amulets around his neck and a silk top hat with peacock plumes. As Siegel follows him all over north India, Brahm's life story is revealed through countless interlocking tales. We learn of his two mothers - one the destitute floor sweeper who bore him; the other a wealthy Irish woman who read and reread to him the story of Dracula. We hear of his marriage to the daughter of a cremation ground attendant and his battles against her demonic possession. We come to understand the strange life of this man who uses terrifying tales to ward off the evil he himself fears.


While human nature may be a constant, investors have broadened their horizons, investing in emerging markets and, most recently, the frontier markets (those markets not in the popular emerging market indexes). As they have done so, investors have run head on into cultural differences, behavioral differences, and biases that present challenges from many perspectives. Behavioral finance has explored many aspects of investors' behavior, and we can apply this groundwork to understanding frontier markets from the perspective of foreign, professional and local investors. Across countries, there are significant differences in behavior based on the familiarity bias, trust, loss aversion, and risk preference. Considering these behavioral elements can lead to some insights that investors should keep in mind when investing in frontier markets.


In the modern global economy, companies are facing ever-increasing challenges for short time-to-market to enter into the market early, for reduced time-to-volume to occupy the market quickly, and for decreased time-to-profit to get return from market shortly. Product lifecycle management (PLM) is recognized as one of the key leading technologies to facilitate companies to overcome these challenges, which will offer companies a new way to rapidly plan, organize, manage, measure, and deliver new products or services much faster, better, and cheaper in an integrated way. Following this trend, this study proposes a full scenario of technology solutions for PLM based on the complete analysis of business drivers, industry requirements, limit of current solution, and recent state-of-the-art review in the domain related to PLM. Potential industrial impact of the developed PLM technology solutions is analyzed. It is hoped that the proposed PLM technology solutions will form the frontier basis for further research, development, and application of PLM systems to quickly adapt to the dynamic changing market for industry companies to pursue the most advanced competitiveness.


Revenue accounting is one of the most important areas of financial accounting. Revenue is one of the key absolute financial ratios that reflects the economic benefits generated by entities that result in increased shareholders' equity. This article investigates the first time adoption of new IFRS 15 "Revenue from contracts with customers" which in International financial reporting standards (hereinafter – IFRS) system is mandatory to apply starting from 1 January 2018. The new IFRS 15 supersedes the previous international accounting standards regulating revenue recognition and introduces a conceptual 5-step revenue recognition model. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the first-time adoption of IFRS 15 "Revenue from contracts with customers" on the financial statements of Lithuanian listed companies. This purpose is achieved while using the following research methods: analysis of International financial reporting standards (IFRS) and scientific literature, as well as analysis of the content of financial statements. An empirical study revealed that the first-time adoption of IFRS 15 had no material impact on the financial statements of Lithuanian listed companies. Most of the companies surveyed applied the standard using a simplified retrospective modified method and did not pay much attention to the disclosure of first-time adoption. For those affected by the standard, the effect was mostly notable in the following areas: reclassifications of commissions and brokerage fees, changes in revenue recognition principles from the revenue recognition over a time to revenue recognition at specific point in time and vice versa.


The influence of cimetidine on antiviral activity of leukocyte interferon (IFN-alpha (Le] was studied in plaque-reduction assays using Utrecht (U) amnion cells challenged with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and in CPE inhibition assays using A549 cells challenged with encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus and WISH cells challenged with VSV. The IFN-alpha (Le)-induced antiviral activity was slightly enhanced in cells treated with cimetidine, whereas cimetidine treatment alone did not show any antiviral effect. The observed titer (OT) was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) in cells treated with cimetidine together with IFN-alpha (Le) compared with the control without cimetidine. The effect of cimetidine on IFN-alpha (Le)-induced cell growth inhibition was studied on Daudi (a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line) and on G361 (a melanoma cell line) cells. The growth of these cells was slightly suppressed by cimetidine alone. When cells were treated with IFN-alpha (Le)/cimetidine, the cell growth inhibition rates were significantly higher (p less than 0.02) than the rates obtained with IFN-alpha (Le) or cimetidine alone. These results indicate that cimetidine can enhance the antiviral as well as the antiproliferative activities of IFN-alpha (Le) in "in vitro" studies.


This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between energy expenditure and work rate on a bicycle ergometer in five sprinters and five distance runners who differed in maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and type of training. Each subject performed at work rates of 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 watts (W). The relationship between energy expenditure and work rates was most accurately described by a quadratic curve for both groups: for sprinters, energy expenditure (kJ) = 11.57 + 0.1812 (W) + 0.00046 (W)2; for distance runners, energy expenditure (kJ) = 11.74 + 0.1386 (W) + 0.00060 (W)2. Delta efficiency (delta work accomplished divided by delta energy expended X 100%) decreased as work rate increased. Statistical analyses revealed no significant differences between groups in delta efficiency at the same work rate (P greater than 0.25) or at the same relative work rate (P greater than 0.75). These results suggest that differences in VO2max and/or type of training have little or no causal effect on the decrease in delta efficiency with increasing work rate. The observed decrease in delta efficiency may be due to increases in metabolism not directly related to the performance of the external work or to an increasing amount of unmeasured work as work rate increases on a bicycle ergometer.


A number of applied psychologists have suggested that trainability test Black–White ethnic group differences are low or relatively low (e.g., Siegel & Bergman, 1975), though data are scarce. Likewise, there are relatively few estimates of criterion-related validity for trainability tests predicting job performance (cf. Robertson & Downs, 1989). We review and clarify the existing (and limited) literature on Black–White group differences on trainability tests, provide new trainability test data from a recent video-based trainability exam, and present archival data about how trainability test scores relate to cognitive ability, Black–White differences, and job performance. Consistent with hypotheses, our results suggest large correlations of trainability tests with cognitive ability (e.g., .80) and larger standardized ethnic group differences than previously thought (ds of 0.86, 1.10, and 1.21 for 3 samples). Results also suggest that trainability tests have higher validity than previously thought. Overall, our analysis provides a substantial amount of data to update our understanding of the use of trainability tests in personnel selection.


Abstract Objective: to evaluate and compare the sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, anxiety and perceived stress of formal and informal caregivers of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease. Method: Quantitative, cross-sectional and comparative study with 44 caregivers that were divided into two groups of 26 informal caregivers (IC) and 18 formal caregivers (FC). The Instrument for Characterization of the Caregiver, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were applied. Results: Of those IC, the majority were women (96.2%), mean age of 52.9 years, majority represented by sons (daughters) (65.4%). They presented, on average, depressive symptoms (10.1%), anxiety symptoms (11.5%) and scored 32.1 in the PSS. The FC group, the majority were women (94.4%), mean age of 45.2 years were not related to the elderly people (66.7%). They presented, on average, depressive symptoms (7.1%), anxiety symptoms (6.4%) and scored 31.7 in the PSS. Conclusion: Similarities were shown in the sociodemographic aspects, but the groups differ in the health profile, revealing an alert for the planning of interventions looking for health promotion and disease prevention. Implications for practice: The study contributes to the improvement of the caregivers´ quality of life.


We determine the border ranks of tensors that could potentially advance the known upper bound for the exponent $\omega$ of matrix multiplication. The Kronecker square of the small $q=2$ Coppersmith-Winograd tensor equals the $3\times 3$ permanent, and could potentially be used to show $\omega=2$. We prove the negative result for complexity theory that its border rank is $16$, resolving a longstanding problem. Regarding its $q=4$ skew cousin in $ C^5\otimes C^5\otimes C^5$, which could potentially be used to prove $\omega\leq 2.11$, we show the border rank of its Kronecker square is at most $42$, a remarkable sub-multiplicativity result, as the square of its border rank is $64$. We also determine moduli spaces $\underline{VSP}$ for the small Coppersmith-Winograd tensors.


This paper investigates the adoption of VietGAHP, a set of guidelines for best practices in pig production, and evaluates impacts using quantitative and qualitative indicators. It tackles the following specific research questions: 1) What is the extent of adoption of VietGAHP among smallholder pig producers? 2) Is there a difference in performance between VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters? Outcomes from adoption and compliance with VietGAHP are assessed using reduction in mortality as a metric for efficacy. Cost-benefit comparisons are also made to illustrate economic outcomes as a measure of effectiveness. We employ statistical t-tests for mean comparison of outcomes between VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters and across exposed and control sites. Our study shows productivity gains from practice and behavioral changes elicited from adoption and compliance with VietGAHP outweigh the costs of doing so, at least at the household level. The observed economic and market incentives could boost the adoption of VietGAHP if these incentives are sustained with appropriate institutions in place. Scalability could be facilitated by exposure via demonstration effects. Peer-to-peer learning is an effective strategy in enhancing capacity for uptake. With exposure being strongly linked to uptake, regardless of gender of respondents, training opportunities for non-exposed groups are worthwhile to pursue.


It is argued that the screen narrative is the most effective means of representing dreaming, the temptation of voyeurism. A gradual historical movement of a screen narration from literary work with plots related to dreaming and to oneiric as the poetics of a future film is noted in the paper. The feature drama of the French director François Ozon "In the House" (2012) is analyzed. The postmodern characteristics of poetics and semiotics of the film are considered. A model "the narrator and the listener" is proposed as a semiotic interpretation of the film.


Background Recent data support the hypothesis that Vitamin D is able to modulate several extra-skeletal biological functions, including immune response; it has been found that Vitamin D exerts an immune-modulatory effect on various cells of immune system. Low Vitamin D serum levels have been recently related to the pathogenesis of different autoimmune disease; particularly, in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Vitamin D deficiency has been found to be associated with increased susceptibility to development of disease and appears to be related to disease activity. Experimental studies showed that Vitamin D treatment can modulate the inflammatory response in RA synovial cells and in animal models of RA. Objectives The aim of this study is to evaluate the in vitro effect of Vitamin D on peripheral macrophages derived from RA patients, which represent one of a major source of inflammatory mediators in this disease. Methods Macrophages derived from peripheral blood cells were isolated from 15 RA untreated patients (5 men, 10 women; age 55,2±7,32 years, range: 42-65), and 11 healthy subjects (2 men, 9 women, age 48,3±6,2 years, range: 41-61). All patients fulfilled the 2010 revised American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA, with a disease duration < 1 year, and presented a moderate disease activity (3.2<DAS28<5,1). RA and control macrophages were treated with increasing concentrations (10-10 to 10-7 M) of 1,25(OH)2D3 for 24h. In each experimental conditions, TNF-α, IL-1 α, IL-1 ß, IL-6 and RANKL production was evaluated by ELISA; the expression of trans-membrane TNF-α was evaluated by immunocytochemistry analysis. Nitric oxide (NO) release was determined by the colorimetric Griess method. Results As expected, inflammatory cytokine production was higher in RA macrophages compared to the control ones. In RA macrophages, soluble TNF-α production was significantly reduced by 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment at any used concentrations, in a dose-dependent manner, whereas in control cells only higher concentrations of 1,25(OH)2D3 inhibited TNF-α production. Also trans-membrane TNF-a expression was down-regulated by 1,25(OH)2D3 exposure, in a dose dependent manner, both in normal than in RA macrophages. IL-1 and IL-6 production was significantly reduced only by higher 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations both in RA and control cells. RANKL and NO were decreased in RA macrophages by any 1,25(OH)2D3 tested concentrations, in a dose-dependent manner, whereas in normal macrophages RANKL and NO reduction was observed only with higher 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations. Conclusions The presented data show that Vitamin D is able to reduce pro-inflammatory and pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines levels and NO production in RA peripheral macrophages, suggesting that a Vitamin D supplementation could reduce disease severity and protect bone from erosive damage. Additional investigations are needed to evaluate the use of Vitamin D as adjuvant therapy in RA in clinical practice. References Kostoglou-Athanassiou I, Athanassiou P, Lyraki A et al. Vitamin D and rheumatoid arthritis. Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Dec;3(6):181-7 Villaggio B, Soldano S, Cutolo M. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 downregulates aromatase expression and inflammatory cytokines in human macrophages. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2012 Nov-Dec;30(6):934-8 Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Relapse rates of 75 patients with previously untreated Hodgkin's disease with stages I and II nodular sclerosis were analyzed according to the mediastinal involvement. The overall relapse rate was 22.6%. The probability of relapse was much greater for patients with large mediastinal involvement (66.6%) compared with 17% for patients with small mass, and 11.7% of patients without mediastinal involvement (P less than 0.001). There was no significant difference in recurrence rates between patients without mediastinal mass and patients with a small mass, and in these patients adjuvant chemotherapy MOPP after radiotherapy showed an evident benefit in reducing the relapse rate. On the other hand, no beneficial effect of adjuvant chemotherapy was observed in patients with large mediastinal involvement. Finally, in the 17 relapsing patients, 'salvage' chemotherapy was less effective in patients with large mediastinal mass than in those with small or no mediastinal involvement.


BACKGROUND
Vaccination against mumps from 2003 is mandatory in Poland and given as two dose scheme with MMR vaccine (mumps, measles, and rubella). Earlier this vaccination was only recommended. Despite observed decline in mumps incidence for over a decade which is a result of conducted vaccinations, mumps is still a common disease among the children.

AIM
To assess epidemiological situation of mumps in Poland in 2014, including vaccination coverage in Polish population, in comparison to previous years.

METHODS
The descriptive analysis was based on data retrieved from routine mandatory surveillance system and published in the annual bulletins "Infectious diseases and poisonings in Poland in 2014" and "Vaccinations in Poland in 2014" (1). Mumps cases were classified according to the criteria of surveillance case definition implemented in the European Union (Commission Decision of 28 April 2008 amending Decision 2002/253/EC). National Immunisation Programme for year 2014 was also used.

RESULTS
In total, there were 2 508 mumps cases registered in Poland in 2014. Incidence of mumps was 6.5 per 100,000 and it was higher by 3.1 % in comparison with 2013 and lower by 9.7 % in comparison with median for the years 2008-2012. The highest incidence rate was observed among children aged 4 years (61.3 per 100,000). Incidence in men (7.8 per 100,000) was higher than in women (5.3). In 2014, 31 people were hospitalized due to mumps. Vaccination coverage of children aged 3 years in Poland in 2013 was 97.0% and it was lower by 0.5 % in comparison with year 2013 (97.5 %).

CONCLUSIONS
Systematic execution of mumps vaccination in accordance with the National Immunisation Programme resulted in a significant decrease in the number of registered cases. Due to the high vaccination coverage further decline in the number of cases is expected.


Munchausen syndrome is a rare psychiatric illness that includes mimicking a group of medical conditions, in which a person repeatedly harms him or herself or falsely misinterprets any medical condition when he or she is not actually sick, in order to achieve health care attention. Underdiagnosis of this syndrome leads to irrelevant use of medical assets. Here, we document an interesting and rare case of a young girl presented in the outpatient department of the Otolaryngology department of Patel Hospital with episodes of bleeding from her ear, which is a rare presentation of Munchausen syndrome. Her complete physical, otolar yngological, haematological and radiological examination failed to reveal any clue towards a particular diagnosis. Hence a diagnosis of Munchausen syndrome was made by exclusion of other possibilities of ear bleeding, and it was considered as a case report after taking duly signed written consent from the patient. This report will help in increasing the self-knowledge and perception of different clinical based presentations of this syndrome in medical practitioners, in order to avoid overlooking such cases. Further exploratory work is required in this regard to discover the etiology and predisposing factors and to develop new treatment strategies.


Metamorphic reactions involving hydration and dehydration frequently occur during orogenic cycles, for example, when ambient pressure and temperature conditions change due to subduction and subsequent exhumation, or when fluids infiltrate metastable mineral assemblages at constant ambient conditions. Such (de)hydration reactions can be associated with significant volume changes, which may cause significant differential stresses in the rock, potentially leading to fracturing. The impact of (de)hydration reactions on the rock’s stress state and on the magnitudes of associated differential stresses is still controversially debated. One reason for the debate is due to the different theoretical models used to quantify and simulate (de)hydration reactions coupled with rock deformation. In many models, the rock deformation is frequently simplified, by either completely ignoring rock deformation or by considering volume deformation only. Additionally, the fluid flow is often simplified, by for example considering constant porosity. Here, we present a method to derive a system of governing equations to describe coupled Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical processes, which is suitable to quantify rock deformation coupled to (de)hydration reactions. Reactions are mainly treated as density changes whereby the density changes are determined by tabulated densities from thermodynamic Gibbs free energy minimizations in pressure, temperature and composition space. The rock deformation is quantified by the continuum mechanics force balance equations, here the Stokes equations. Considered flow laws describe either linear viscous deformation or dislocation and diffusion creep. Equations for reactions and rock deformation are coupled by several equations for the conservation of mass, such as total mass or mass of solid components stored in the solid. The governing system of equations is solved with a pseudo-transient finite difference method. For simplicity, we apply the numerical model here to several Brucite – Periclase (de)hydration reactions and show results of models with different levels of coupling, for example, constant or variable porosity. We also quantify the differential stresses associated with the (de)hydration reactions. Furthermore, we compare the modelled stresses with microstructural observations and stress estimates from high-resolution EBSD measurements in natural rock.


The main focus of this study is to examine the relationship between service quality and customers' perception. The study deployed modified Carter model by introducing two unique dimensions of corporate social responsibility and innovation to examine this relationship. A self-administrated questionnaire based field survey was conducted. The research instrument was designed using eight dimensions of service quality. The content of the questionnaire was adjusted for relevance and friendliness purpose through pilot testing. Data was collected from 155 Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) customers from Muara district of Brunei. The sample data were statistically analyzed through descriptive, Cronbachs' Alpha, Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin and Bartlett's test, Pearson correlation test and confirmatory factory analysis (CFA). Pearson test was used to represent significant relationship between service quality and customer perception and CFA test was done to suggest the fitness of proposed Carter model suitability for Brunei's Islamic banking. Results of the study revealed that service quality and customer perception are significantly related and Carter model is suitable for Islamic banking system in Brunei. Furthermore the study has practical implications for BIBD policy makers and managers to understand customer perception and adjust its service quality according to customer desire.


Literature Review is an important step for researchers, as it allows to synthesize previously produced knowledge and identify gaps in proposing new studies. The use of digital tools to support literature review, and qualitative analysis in general, provides better organization, quality and validation of the research process. The purpose of this Demo Session is to present webQDA software as a potential tool to support Literature Review and showcase an example of LR with the use of this software. webQDA is a qualitative data analysis software available on the web, that enables collaborative work between researchers. webQDA allows the import of metadata from bibliographic reference managers or databases. In addition, it enables the construction of the syntheses through the classification and categorization of the information described and interpreted by the researchers. This Demo Session aims to bring participants closer to the development of Literature Review through a digital tool for qualitative analysis, demonstrating the advantages and importance of using software to optimize this process and, therefore, reach better results. The Demo Session is divided into four moments: presentation, theoretical exposition, practical activity and application in other contexts and discussion. The theoretical exposition will provide an introduction on Literature Review and digital tools for qualitative analysis. The practical activity will demonstrate a case study on the development of Literature Review with the support of webQDA. During the discussion moment, participants will be invited to elaborate questions and comments on the importance of the topic to the field of qualitative research. At the end of the presentation, participants are expected to use webQDA to prepare their literature reviews.


The ABC multidrug transporter LmrA ofLactococcus lactis consists of six putative transmembrane segments (TMS) and a nucleotide binding domain. LmrA functions as a homodimer in which the two membrane domains form the solute translocation path across the membrane. To obtain structural information of LmrA a cysteine scanning accessibility approach was used. Cysteines were introduced in the cysteine-less wild-type LmrA in each hydrophilic loop and in TMS 6, and each membrane-embedded aromatic residue was mutated to cysteine. Of the 41 constructed single cysteine mutants, only one mutant, L301C, was not expressed. Most single-cysteine mutants were capable of drug transport and only three mutants, F37C, M299C, and N300C, were inactive, indicating that none of the aromatic residues in the transmembrane regions of LmrA are crucial for substrate binding or transport. Modification of the active mutants with N-ethylmaleimide blocked the transport activity in five mutants (S132C, L174C, S206C, S234C, and L292C). All cysteine residues in external and internal loops were accessible to fluorescein maleimide. The labeling experiments also showed that this thiol reagent cannot cross the membrane under the conditions used and confirmed the presence of six TMSs in each monomeric half of the transporter. Surprisingly, several single cysteines in the predicted TMSs could also be labeled by the bulky fluorescein maleimide molecule, suggesting unrestricted accessibility via an aqueous pathway. The periodicity of fluorescein maleimide accessibility of residues 291 to 308 in TMS 6 showed that this membrane-spanning α-helix has one face of the helix exposed to an aqueous cavity along its full-length. This finding, together with the solvent accessibility of 11 of 15 membrane-embedded aromatic residues, indicates that the transmembrane domains of the LmrA transporter form, under nonenergized conditions, an aqueous chamber within the membrane, which is open to the intracellular milieu.