Given a set $V$ of $n$ elements and a distance matrix $[d_{ij}]_{n\times n}$ among elements, the max-mean dispersion problem (MaxMeanDP) consists in selecting a subset $M$ from $V$ such that the mean dispersion (or distance) among the selected elements is maximized. Being a useful model to formulate several relevant applications, MaxMeanDP is known to be NP-hard and thus computationally difficult. In this paper, we present a highly effective memetic algorithm for MaxMeanDP which relies on solution recombination and local optimization to find high quality solutions. Computational experiments on the set of 160 benchmark instances with up to 1000 elements commonly used in the literature show that the proposed algorithm improves or matches the published best known results for all instances in a short computing time, with only one exception, while achieving a high success rate of 100\%. In particular, we improve 59 previous best results out of the 60 most challenging instances. Results on a set of 40 new large instances with 3000 and 5000 elements are also presented. The key ingredients of the proposed algorithm are investigated to shed light on how they affect the performance of the algorithm.


mHealth is the use of mobile devices and communication technologies for healthcare researches and practices. The widespread use of smartphones, the growth of mobile application development and the increasing demands of users have promoted the development, and usage of mHealth applications. In this work, a mHealth application called as ProvVacT is developed for tracking vaccination history. The main contribution of ProvVacT is that the application uses provenance information in order to trace the vaccination history. Provenance is used to refer to the origin of the information. Thus, it provides the trustworthiness of data. In this work, the ProvVacT application is based on an ontology-based provenance management approach in order to improve the quality, reliability, and reusability of vaccination data. Moreover, the vaccine information is also represented with an ontology-based approach.


Circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis holds great potential to be a noninvasive solution for clinical cancer management. A complete workflow that combined CTC detection and single‐cell molecular analysis is required. We developed the ChimeraX®‐i120 platform to facilitate negative enrichment, immunofluorescent labeling, and machine learning‐based identification of CTCs. Analytical performances were evaluated, and a total of 477 participants were enrolled to validate the clinical feasibility of ChimeraX®‐i120 CTC detection. We analyzed copy number alteration profiles of isolated single cells. The ChimeraX®‐i120 platform had high sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility for CTC detection. In clinical samples, an average value of > 60% CTC‐positive rate was found for five cancer types (i.e., liver, biliary duct, breast, colorectal, and lung), while CTCs were rarely identified in blood from healthy donors. In hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with curative resection, CTC status was significantly associated with tumor characteristics, prognosis, and treatment response (all P < 0.05). Single‐cell sequencing analysis revealed that heterogeneous genomic alteration patterns resided in different cells, patients, and cancers. Our results suggest that the use of this ChimeraX®‐i120 platform and the integrated workflow has validity as a tool for CTC detection and downstream genomic profiling in the clinical setting.


Extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) associated resistance among Acinetobacter species is now known. One hundred and twenty one (121) isolates of A. baumannii were collected from a university hospital in Isfahan, Iran. Over an eight-month period were included in our study. The samples were from different wards and of different specimens. Antimicrobial susceptibility was conducted by testing resistance against, eleven antibiotics using the disk diffusion method. The double disk synergy test (DDST) was used to determine the ESBL production. The detection of bla-PER, bla-VEB and bla-SHV in ESBL production isolates of A. baumannii was carried out by PCR. DNA sequencing for 15 strains was performed in order to identify the detected bla genes. All of the isolates showed high resistance to different groups of antibiotics; the most effective antibiotic was ampicillin-sulbactam with a resistance rate of 33.9%. 62.8% of isolates were XDR and 100% were MDR. Among all samples, the bla-SHV was gene detected in 16%, bla-VEB in 26.6% and bla-PER in 36.8% of isolates. Followed by sequencing, three out of five isolates were identified as bla-SHV-12 and two out of five as bla-SHV-56. Furthermore, bla-VEB-1 and bla-PER-1 were identified in this study. This study shows relatively high levels (49.5%) of ESBL have been detected in Acinetobacter. large dissemination of the gene bla-PER among A. baumannii in Alzahra Hospital in Isfahan. ESBL production in Acinetobacter should be promptly detected and reported as it helps in treating individual cases and in controlling the spread of these resistant phenotypes to other individuals.


The aim of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of carprofen following intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM) and oral routes to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) broodstock at temperatures of 10 ± 1.5 °C. In this study, thirty-six healthy rainbow trout broodstock (body weight, 1.45 ± 0.30 kg) were used. The plasma concentrations of carprofen were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using non-compartmental analysis. Carprofen was measured up to 192 h for IV route and 240 h for IM, and oral routes in plasma. The elimination half-life (t1/2λz) was 30.66, 46.11, and 41.08 h for IV, IM and oral routes, respectively. Carprofen for the IV route showed the total clearance of 0.02 L/h/kg and volume of distribution at steady state of 0.60 L/kg. For IM and oral routes, the peak plasma concentration (Cmax) was 3.96 and 2.52 μg/mL with the time to reach Cmax of 2 and 4 h, respectively. The bioavailability was 121.89% for IM route and 78.66% for oral route. The favorable pharmacokinetic properties such as the good bioavailability and long t1/2λz for IM and oral route of carprofen suggest the possibility of its effective use for the treatment of various conditions in broodstock.


Background: Most breast cancer cases diagnosed among postmenopausal women are hormone receptor positive (HR+); standard adjuvant endocrine treatment usually includes an aromatase inhibitor (AI). Joint pain/stiffness/achiness (arthralgia) is a common AI side-effect, and AI discontinuation due to this side-effect is an estimated 20-32%. There is a need for effective alternative or adjunctive approaches to arthralgia management that enable survivors to remain on AI therapy while optimizing as pain-free a life as possible. This pilot study investigates the feasibility of a highly scalable 6-week self-directed physical activity (PA) program – Walk With Ease (WWE) – among elderly female breast cancer survivors on AIs who report joint pain. WWE goal: minimum of 30 minutes of walking 5 days a week (150 minutes/week). Methods: Recruitment: BC survivors age 65+ were recruited through the oncology clinic of a university-affiliated hospital. Eligibility: age 65+; Stage I-III breast cancer; currently on AI therapy; self-reported joint pain/stiffness; physician permission to engage in PA; English speaking. Measures: (1) walking – number of days per week and number of minutes per walk, (2) visual analog scales (VAS) for joint pain, fatigue and stiffness, and (3) arthritis self-efficacy (ASE) to manage joint pain and fatigue. Statistics: t-test evaluation of changes in mean values. Results: Sample (N = 20) – mean age 71 (65-87), 85% Caucasian, 35% Conclusions: A moderate-intensity self-directed walking program is feasible for older breast cancer patients on AI therapy and almost doubled the total time of walking per week over a 6 week period. Joint pain, stiffness, and fatigue decreased, and the walking program was perceived as informative and motivational. These data are promising and the WWE intervention warrants testing in a larger randomized trial of breast cancer survivors on AI therapy. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P3-08-10.


Peripheral T lymphocytes share many functional properties with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), including long-term maintenance, quiescence, and latent proliferative potential. In addition, peripheral T cells retain the capacity for further differentiation into a variety of subsets, much like HSCs. While the similarities between T cells and HSC have long been hypothesized, the potential common genetic regulation of HSCs and T cells has not been widely explored. We have studied the T cell-intrinsic role of Zfx, a transcription factor specifically required for HSC maintenance. We report that T cell-specific deletion of Zfx caused age-dependent depletion of naïve peripheral T cells. Zfx-deficient T cells also failed to undergo homeostatic proliferation in a lymphopenic environment, and showed impaired antigen-specific expansion and memory response. In addition, the invariant natural killer T cell compartment was severely reduced. RNA-Seq analysis revealed that the most dysregulated genes in Zfx-deficient T cells were similar to those observed in Zfx-deficient HSC and B cells. These studies identify Zfx as an important regulator of peripheral T cell maintenance and expansion and highlight the common molecular basis of HSC and lymphocyte homeostasis.


The rapid emerging technologies in various fields permitted the creation of simulation tools. These tools are designed to replicate physical systems in order to provide faster, cheaper and more detailed illustrative analysis of the physical system. In this regard, the concept of digital twins has been introduced to generally define these simulation tools. In fact, and according to the creator of the digital twin term Micheal Grieves, a digital twin is defined as a physical system, a digital replica of the physical system and information flow between the former parts. This definition is simple and generic for describing digital twins and yet, holistic. This broad definition creates a challenge for developers who target the development of such applications. Therefore, this paper presents a paradigm for architecting digital twins for manufacturing processes. The approach is inspired by the definitions of the ISA95 standard and the onion concept of computer applications to create multi-layer and multi-level concepts. Furthermore, and to satisfy the different required features by industries, the approach considers a multi-perspective concept that allows the separation of the digital twin views based on functionality. This paradigm aims at providing a modular, scalable, reusable, interoperable and composable approach for developing digital twins. Then, an implementation of the approach has been introduced using an ontology-based system and the IEC61499 standard. This implementation has been demonstrated on a discrete manufacturing assembly line.


We consider population models in which the individuals reproduce, die and also migrate in space. The population size scales according to some parameter $N$, which can have different interpretations depending on the context. Each individual is assigned a mass of $1/N$ and the total mass in the system is called population density. The dynamics has an intrinsic density regulation mechanism that drives the population density towards an equilibrium. We show that under a timescale separation between the slow migration mechanism and the fast density regulation mechanism, the population dynamics converges to a Fleming-Viot process as the scaling parameter $N \to \infty$. We first prove this result for a basic model in which the birth and death rates can only depend on the population density. In this case we obtain a neutral Fleming-Viot process. We then extend this model by including position-dependence in the birth and death rates, as well as, offspring dispersal and immigration mechanisms. We show how these extensions add mutation and selection to the limiting Fleming-Viot process. All the results are proved in a multi-type setting, where there are $q$ types of individuals reproducing each other. To illustrate the usefulness of our convergence result, we discuss certain applications in ecology and cell biology.


Water has remarkable effects on the properties of geochemical materials such as magma. The result is that a small change in water concentration can make the difference between explosive volcanic eruptions and less violent ones. In his Perspective, Spera discusses results reported in the same issue by
 Ochs and Lange
 on new measurements of the amount of water in molten silicates. The findings will add new insight to the atomic structure of these materials as well as the effects of water on them.


During a 6-year period from 1986 to 1991, 119 patients with lung cancer underwent thoracotomy. 112 underwent surgical resection with lymphadenectomy. The mean age of the 97 male patients was 62.7 years, and of the 15 female patients was 62.7 years, and of the 15 female patients 57.1 years. 54 patients were in stage I, 23 stage II, 21 stage IIIa, 8 stage IIIb and 6 stage IV. Pneumonectomy was performed in 20 cases, bilobectomy in 2, lobectomy in 81, segmentectomy in 3 and sleeve lobectomy in 6. Perioperative death occurred in 2.7% of all patients, 5% of patients who underwent pneumonectomy and 2.2% of patients who underwent lobectomy. Serious complications occurred in 19% of all thoracotomy patients. The re-thoracotomy rate was 6% and mortality 0.8%. The cumulative 5-year survival rate in all 112 patients with surgical resection was 54.6%, and for the 54 patients with radical resection 60.3%.


The model proposed in this study reflects how tourists evolve from expectation and motivation into satisfaction and loyalty. Specifically, it proposes that satisfaction depends on expectations and travel motivations, and these influence loyalty. Expectation and motivation effects towards satisfaction were tested under two conditions or models, when satisfaction not entering a model as a predictor of loyalty and when satisfaction enters a model as a predictor of loyalty. This study employed convenience sampling to attractions and accommodation facilities located in Kilimanjaro and Arusha region. The questionnaire was self-administered. The analysis included a sample of 504 responses. Overall, expectations and motivations had effects on satisfaction in both models. However, the strength of their effects varied for different types of expectations and motivations in which some indicated strong effects and others least and no effects at all. Finally, it was found that satisfaction had a strong effect on loyalty across model 2 that is with satisfaction as a predictor of loyalty. The findings offer specific strategic recommendations and propose logics for establishment of loyalty programs, which is a long-term strategy for tourism business success.


Favorable outcome of the OFDM has been achieved that multi-carrier modulation is an well-organized offer for wireless communications. Wavelet based modulation is a recent type of modulation for transmission of signals which is multicarrier in nature on the channel which is wireless that uses the property of wavelet called orthogonality but other than the sine functions..The modulation of the discrete wavelet transform varies with respect to some aspect to traditional method to provide better performance outcome. In this paper brief study is given on the wavelets and the BER performance comparison between the two systems of FFT based OFDM and the DWT based OFDM the analysis done for the Haar wavelet family with the modulations of PSK and QAM and simulated in the AGWN channel based on the survey of the OFDM in communication system.


Previous experiments have shown that chronic estrogen treatment via subcutaneous implants prevented insulin-induced blood pressure elevation and increased insulin sensitivity in ovariectomized female rats. In vitro vascular studies were performed using isolated mesenteric arteries to determine the effect of chronic estrogen and insulin treatments on vascular responses to vasoconstrictor agents. Female Wistar rats were assigned to the following groups: sham-operated, sham-operated plus insulin, sham-operated plus insulin plus estrogen, ovariectomized, ovariectomized plus insulin, and ovariectomized plus insulin plus estrogen. Chronic insulin and estrogen treatments were initiated with subcutaneous placement of insulin implants (2 U/d) and 17beta-estradiol implants (0.5 mg/pellet, 60 day release) at the back of the neck. After 8 weeks of treatment, mesenteric arteries were isolated for assessment of constrictor responses to norepinephrine and the thromboxane A2 analogue U46619 in the presence or absence of the endothelium. The results show that chronic estrogen treatment attenuated the vascular constrictor responses to norepinephrine and U46619 only in endothelium intact vessels. Incubation with insulin did not significantly affect norepinephrine-induced vascular smooth muscle contraction. The study provides evidence that the mechanism by which estrogen prevents insulin-induced blood pressure elevation in insulin-treated ovariectomized rats is by influencing endothelium-derived vasoactive factors such as thromboxane A2.


Every effort is made to ensure everyone is counted in a census. However, no census is perfect and some people are missed. This underenumeration does not usually occur uniformly across all geographical areas or across other sub-groups of the population such as age and sex groups. Coverage levels in censuses across the world are declining leading to an increasing need to firstly slow the decline through improved enumeration, and secondly in improved methods and data for measuring coverage. In order to achieve the mission critical aims of the 2011 Census, a coverage assessment and adjustment strategy is required. This article outlines the proposed strategy for the 2011 UK Census. The strategy is to significantly improve upon the 2001 One Number Census, and use it as a platform to develop an improved coverage assessment and adjustment methodology. The article also outlines the key areas of innovation for the 2011 strategy and the options that will be considered in order to develop the final strategy. Stakeholder management is also an important part of the strategy to ensure that key users both buy into and understand the methodology. ONS will look to build on the consultation carried out prior to the 2001 Census and widen the user base with which it engages on this important topic.


Social interaction is an important vehicle of human capital acquisition and its efficiency decreases in social distance. In this paper I establish that these two premises, given the socio-cultural differences between ethnic groups, explain the puzzling evidence that (i) minorities typically earn less than majorities and (ii) this earnings gap is increasing in the relative size of a minority in a given region. In particular, I argue that inter-ethnic social distance disadvantages smaller ethnic groups in human capital acquisition and that these efficiency differentials systematically expose minority and majority individuals to different incentives as concerns their choice of skills. As a result, minority and majority individuals tend to acquire different (combinations of) skills and the textbook substitution effect drives an efficiency unit of minority labor to sell at a relatively lower wage in a region with higher percentage of minority people. The conditions under which the efficiency disadvantage of the minority in social interaction and the substitution effect explain the abovementioned empirical findings are established. In addition, this study offers an answer why some minorities earn more than majorities, why minority individuals tend to spend more time socializing in families than in schools, and why integration may harm minorities.


Operating up to 5.5 GHz with 1-mW power consumption, a 90-nm CMOS programmable frequency divider with eight stages of new static D-flip-flop-based (2/1) divider cells is presented, where the supply voltage of 1.0 V is employed. The divider achieves a full modulus range from 1 to 256 and operates over a wide range maintaining up to 4 GHz with -30-dBm input power. The divider also accomplishes a power efficiency of 12.8 GHz/mW with 0.5-V supply voltage. It is favorable for advanced processes.


In a recent paper published in the respected gastroenterological journal Gut , Candotti et al. report the transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) to nine recipients of blood products which were tested for HBV by the highest current diagnostical standards (1). How could that happen?


BACKGROUND
The precise timing of medical intervention for women in prolonged labor is the subject of considerable debate. The partogram action line is a tool to assist practitioners in the correct diagnosis of prolonged labor. Despite its widespread use, the precise timing of the action line has not been rigorously studied, and women's views have rarely been sought. The aim of this study was to assess the effect on maternal satisfaction of managing labor using partograms with action lines drawn at 2, 3, or 4 hours to the right of the alert line.

METHODS
As part of a large pilot randomized controlled trial, women's views were explored using a specifically designed questionnaire that was completed by 615 primiparas 2 days after giving birth. The quantifiable data were analyzed by comparing means using ANOVA followed by the Scheffe test.

RESULTS
Women in the 2-hour arm were significantly more satisfied than those in the other two arms (p < 0.001), despite having the most obstetric intervention.

CONCLUSIONS
For women in prolonged labor, obstetric intervention can be an acceptable or even favorable option. Midwives and obstetricians need to provide labor management that takes into account the preferences of the women to whom they give care.


Unisexual, female- or male-biased populations are common among some clonal plants. Within and among populations, the relative frequencies of males and females can be influenced by sex-specific demographic patterns that, in turn, can be a consequence of life-history characteristics. The objectives of this study were to describe (1) population sex-ratio patterns among habitat patches along a river, and (2) sex-specific patterns of and correlations among life-history clonal traits including: growth rates, number of meristematic tips and asexual reproduction in the dioecious liverwort, Marchantia inflexa. In Trinidad, a section of a stream was surveyed for the occurrence of female and male sex expressing thalli among habitat patches, and habitat characteristics (canopy openness and patch size) were recorded. The numbers of female and male inflorescences were obtained also. Of the 209 patches observed in the field, 83% did not contain sex expressing thalli, 9% contained thalli of both sexes, and the rest contained only female- (4%) or male-expressing (4%) thalli. Sex expression was less common among small patches, and there was a tendency for sex expression to be less likely among patches with the lowest canopy openness. The proportion of male inflorescences among the bisexual patches ranged from 0.22 to 0.80. In a greenhouse, we planted gemmae (asexual propagules) from field-collected isolates: ten female and eight male. On six occasions, we harvested replicates of each isolate to estimate isolate trait means. Females grew faster, produced more meristematic tips and had lower levels of asexual reproduction than males. Number of meristematic tips was negatively correlated with asexual reproduction and positively correlated with growth rate. These sex-specific patterns may lead to the high frequency of single sex patches as well as biased adult population sex ratios that are observed in the field.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Background: Accumulating evidence reveals effectiveness of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition in various types of cancer, and resminostat is a novel and oral HDAC inhibitor. In this study, we investigated the preclinical activity of resminostat in human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, especially in combination with docetaxel (DTX).

Materials and Methods: Anti-proliferative activity of resminostat was evaluated in 9 human NSCLC cell lines in vitro. Monolayers of cultured cells were exposed to resminostat and cell viability was determined. The amount of p21, acetylated histone H3 and α-tublin were analyzed by Western blotting in NCI-H460 cells exposed to resminostat. In addition, caspase-3 activity was measured. In a drug combination study, cells were simultaneously exposed to resminostat and DTX, and the synergistic effects of this drug combination were analyzed using the Combination Index, calculated by the median-effect method. For in vivo studies, a suspension of NCI-H460 cells was subcutaneously inoculated into the flank of male nude mice. The antitumor efficacies of oral resminostat alone or in combination with intravenous DTX were evaluated in this NSCLC xenograft model.

Results: Resminostat exhibited antiproliferative activity in all tested cell lines. Sensitivity to resminostat was not influenced by the genetic status of KRAS among the cell lines (IC50 from 9 cell lines: 0.4-8.7 μmol/L). The treatment of cells with resminostat alone increased the levels of total p21 protein and acetylated histone H3. α-tublin was also acetylated by resminostat treatment and the level of acetylation was enhanced by the combination treatment with DTX. The amount of polymerized α-tubulin was increased by DTX treatment and this effect was greater in the combination treatment with resminostat than with DTX alone. Caspase-3 was more significantly activated by the combination treatment than with each mono-treatment. The Combination Index showed synergistic or additive effects in the resminostat plus DTX combination. The antitumor activities of resminostat were demonstrated in NCI-H460 tumor-bearing mice, where an up-regulation of p21 was accompanied by acetylation of histone H3 in the tumor tissues. The tumor growth inhibition ratio (IR) in the combination treatment was 2.6 and 1.8 times higher than with DTX alone or with resminostat alone, respectively, following a tolerable drug application schedule.

Conclusion: These results demonstrated the potent activity of resminostat in NSCLC. The combination of resminostat and DTX appears to be a promising regimen to be tested in clinical trials in NSCLC patients. Based on this study, we initiated a phase I/II study in NSCLC patients to examine the safety and efficacy of this combination.

Citation Format: Akimitsu Takagi, Hiroaki Konishi, Momomi Tsugane, Keisuke Taniguchi, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Yu Inutake, Akinobu Watanabe, Hiroshi Kodaira, Takeshi Matsuzaki. A novel and oral histone deacetylase inhibitor, resminostat, effectively suppresses the growth of non-small cell lung cancer in a xenograft mouse model. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5534. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5534


Efficiency gain is a relevant metric of communication technology directly translating to the same improvement in operational expenditures while sometimes also allowing capital expenditure gains. The latest and best known multicarrier predistortion techniques for satellite communications yielding significant guaranteed throughput gains for all the receivers, regardless of the link budget, even over linearized transponders, have now been productized, tested over the Avanti satellite Hylas 4, and deployed, up to 500 MHz. This paper provides performance results for multiple use cases, including different number of carriers (1, 2, and 4 carriers), balanced and unbalanced power levels. For the relevant use case of two beams with unequal throughput requirements over a completely linearized transponder, total throughput gains around 20% in a single transponder have been achieved. We expect a continued and significant roll-out of this technology in the next 5 years, as long as the carriers in the forward of a high throughput satellite link follows a fixed carrier plan.


The Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART) consist of a 64x64 (4096) full wavelength dipole antenna array, operating at 140 MHz, occupying 9,500 square meters (140m along the East-West direction x 70m along the North-South direction) to carry out interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observa- tions of solar wind disturbances. This is a transit dedicate d radio array for IPS measurents in the state of Michoacan (380 km North-West from Mexico City, Lat. 19 � 48' N, Long. 101 � 41' W and 1964m above sea level). The aim of this instrument is to daily scan the sky at 140 MHz in order to track large-scale solar wind disturbances propagating between the Sun and the Earth using the Interplanetary Scintilla- tion (IPS) technique. We report the final system testings, ga lactic and extragalactic radio source transits, interferences analysis and the collaboration plans for the International Heliophysical Year.


Animals cannot communicate the different states of their being - such as normal, hunger, or heat state - through semantics. However, they do generate voices in different states. In this paper, we start with the hypothesis that identification of the specific state of the animal is possible by analyzing their speech signals. We use a variety of spectral features for the purpose of identifying the type of a dairy animal, and then the state of a particular animal. The animal vocalization data is collected through regular microphones and the audio is then analyzed by extracting features. The details of the data collection process, feature extraction and classification results are presented in this paper. Experiments performed on 60 animals provide a strong argument for the usefulness of the vocalization pattern analysis techniques for animal identification and state detection. The paper therefore paves a new direction for non-intrusively detecting the state in dairy animals.


Aegle marmelos Corr. (Rutaceae), commonly known as Bael, Bengal Quince is a tree of Indian origin, well known from prehistoric time. Utilization of bael fruit in day-to-day life has a great nutritional, environmental as well as commercial importance. All the parts of this tree including stem, bark, root, leaves, fruit and seeds at all stages of maturity has medicinal virtues and has been used in Ethno-medicine to exploits its medicinal properties including antidiarroheal, antidysentric, antipyretic and anti inflammatory activities. Compounds purified from bael fruit have been proven to have biological potential against several diseases like diabetes, gastric ulcer and hyperlipidaemia. It should also be indicated that the therapeutic activities of few isolated constituents have also proven to possess antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant and radioprotective activities. Thus the purpose of this abstract is to explore the pharmacological potential of some crude extracts of bael fruit.


Abstract. Our climate is constrained by the balance between solar energy absorbed by the Earth and terrestrial energy radiated to
space. This energy balance has been widely used to infer equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) from observations of
20th-century warming. Such estimates yield lower values than other methods, and these have been influential in pushing down
the consensus ECS range in recent assessments. Here we test the method using a 100-member ensemble of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model
(MPI-ESM1.1) simulations of the period 1850–2005 with known forcing. We calculate ECS in each ensemble member using
energy balance, yielding values ranging from 2.1 to 3.9 K. The spread in the ensemble is related to the central
assumption in the energy budget framework: that global average surface temperature anomalies are indicative of anomalies
in outgoing energy (either of terrestrial origin or reflected solar energy). We find that
this assumption is not well supported
over the historical temperature record in the model ensemble or more recent satellite observations. We find that framing
energy balance in terms of 500 hPa tropical temperature better describes the planet's energy balance.


With the development of accurate and precise techniques for quantifying sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium concentrations, a vast literature has been generated indicating that deficits and excesses of these cations in the body create many clinical challenges for the physician. Iron has received its share of attention as the most abundant trace metal in the body, primarily being utilized in the formation of hemoglobin. Zinc is the next most abundant trace element in the body, and evaluation of its role in the biochemistry and pathophysiology of disease is now stimulating a great deal of interest. Deficiencies of the other trace metals also are receiving increasing attention as attempts to evaluate their importance in human nutrition are being made. Studies were not considered reliable until technological advances made it possible, by atomic absorption spectroscopy, neutron activation analysis, and other techniques, to quantify these trace elements accurately and precisely.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Rifampicin (RIFA) and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) improve symptoms and biochemical markers of liver injury in cholestatic liver diseases by largely unknown mechanisms. We aimed to study the molecular mechanisms of action of these drugs in humans.

METHODS
Thirty otherwise healthy gallstone patients scheduled for cholestectomy were randomized to RIFA (600 mg/day for 1 week) or UDCA (1 g/day for 3 weeks) or no medication before surgery. Routine biochemistry, lipids, and surrogate markers for P450 activity (4beta-hydroxy cholesterol, 4beta-OH-C) and bile acid synthesis (7alpha-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one, C-4) were measured in serum. Bile acids were analyzed in serum, urine, and bile. A wedge liver biopsy specimen was taken to study expression of hepatobiliary ABC transporters as well as detoxification enzymes and regulatory transcription factors.

RESULTS
RIFA enhanced bile acid detoxification as well as bilirubin conjugation and excretion as reflected by enhanced expression of CYP3A4, UGT1A1, and MRP2. These molecular effects were paralleled by decreased bilirubin and deoxycholic acid concentrations in serum and decreased lithocholic and deoxycholic acid concentrations in bile. UDCA on the other hand stimulated the expression of BSEP, MDR3, and MRP4. UDCA became the predominant bile acid after UDCA treatment and lowered the biliary cholesterol saturation index.

CONCLUSIONS
RIFA enhances bile acid detoxification as well as bilirubin conjugation and export systems, whereas UDCA stimulates the expression of transporters for canalicular and basolateral bile acid export as well as the canalicular phospholipid flippase. These independent but complementary effects may justify a combination of both agents for the treatment of cholestatic liver diseases.


Background In vivo electroporation has been successfully used for the introduction of DNA, RNA, oligonucleotides, and proteins into cells for experimental and therapeutic purposes. The authors evaluated the efficacy of electroporation-mediated c-Fos antibody therapy for neuropathic pain in vitro and in vivo. Methods First, the authors studied the inhibitory effects of intrathecal c-Fos antibody electroporation on the activating protein (AP-1) promoter activity in cultured spinal neuronal cells transfected with p-AP-Luc plasmid and activated with 100 &mgr;m glutamate. The inhibitory effect of c-Fos antibody electroporation in the regulation of AP-1 promoter activity was assessed according to the relative luciferase activity. Second, rats with chronic constrictive injury underwent electroporation treatment for neuropathic pain using c-Fos antibody. Thermal nociceptive thresholds were measured before chronic constrictive injury and then on even-numbered days, up to and including day 14, to assess and compare the therapeutic effects of intrathecal electroporation. The time course was assessed by Western blot analysis and by immunohistochemical analysis. Pronociceptive gene expression was measured by assessing prodynorphin mRNA and dynorphin peptides on days 2 and 10 after intrathecal c-Fos electroporation. Results Cotransfection of c-Fos antibody significantly decreased glutamate-induced AP-1 activity. Intrathecal electrotransfer of c-Fos antibody attenuated spinal dynorphin levels, as manifested by significantly elevated pain thresholds in the chronic constrictive injury–affected limbs. Conclusion This study shows that transfer of antibody into rat spinal cords by intrathecal electroporation is a useful method to study the function of endogenous factors of spinal-related disorders.


It is very important to determine from where we select the donor skin for epidermal cultivation in the treatment of burn scar disfigurement. To prove this point, we compared the appearance and histology of grafted sites according to the different donor sites. Thirty-eight patients with skin color difference and irregular contours of matured burn scars were superficially abraded and underwent autologous cultured epithelial grafting. These patients were followed more than 2 years. The donor skin for epidermal cultivations was taken from the buttock (group 1, 8 patients), sole (group 2, 6 patients), and adjacent to the site of the scar (group 3, 24 patients). In group 3, skin elasticity was also measured after 2 years. Hypo- and hyperpigmentation were well treated with autologous cultured epithelial grafting. The most favorable results in terms of color match were obtained in group 3, where the skin color resembled surrounding normal skin. The skin tension returned to almost normal. In group 2, the histology of the grafted site resembled the sole epidermis. It was concluded that the general principle of conventional skin grafting (i.e., "closer is best") was also correct in cultured epithelial grafting. Furthermore, it was revealed that cultured epithelium has a site specificity even after grafting.


Background: A quasi experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery technique in reduction of stress level among chronic renal failure patients. The aim of the study wasto determine the stress level among patients with chronic renal failure in experimental group after introduction of guided imagery. Methods and Material: A true experimental two-group pre-test - post-test design was used for the present study. The sample consisted of 100 chronic renal failure patients undergoing dialysis were randomly assigned to experimental group and control group (N=50+50=100). Data was analysed using paired and unpaired't' test, chi-square test, Karl Pearson correlation co-efficiency, and Spearman's correlation co-efficiency. Results: In experimental Group 62% of the samples had moderate level of stress, 20% of the samples had severe level of stress and 18% of the samples had mild level of stress with mean and SD of 64.02, 5.88. There was a significant reduction in the mean post test stress score of experimental group compared to mean pre test stress score of experimental group at 0.05 level of significance. (t 49 = 6.526, P < 0.05). The results showed that chronic renal failure patients had significant level of stress related to their illness and guided imagery is an effective intervention for reduction of stress. Conclusion: Guided imagery is a simple non-invasive, cost effective, method that can be used for reduction of stress without any adverse effects on the patients. Patients themselves can practice their own imagery without any assistance.


Symmetry is treated as a continuous property and a Continuous Symmetry Measure (CSM) of structures is de ned. The CSM of a structure is de ned to be the minimummean squared distance required to move points of the original structure and change it to a symmetrical structure. This general de nition of a symmetrymeasure enables a comparison of the amount of symmetry of di erent shapes and the amount of di erent symmetries of a single shape. We describe a general method of obtaining the minimal distance to the desired shape and apply it to any symmetry element or symmetry group in two or three dimensions. Various examples of the application of the CSM approach to structural chemistry are presented. These include symmetry analysis of distorted tetrahedra and of rotating ethane, symmetry analysis of contours of equi-property such as molecular orbital representations, reconstruction of incomplete structural data and symmetry analysis of structures with uncertain point-location, such as encountered in x-ray data analysis.


Compelling evidence supports an intimate link in time and space between eukaryotic pre-mRNA synthesis and processing and nucleocytoplasmic transport of mature mRNA. In this study, we analyzed the kinetic behavior of these processes in a quantitative manner. We used FISH and confocal scanning laser microscopy to detect transcripts produced by an inducible human cytomegalovirus immediate early (HCMV-IE) expression system. Upon induction, a large amount of pre-mRNA accumulated in nuclear foci at or near their transcription sites and, at later time, throughout the nucleoplasm. Inhibition of RNA polymerase II activity resulted in a rapid decrease in the number of transcripts in the nuclear RNA foci (half time approximately two minutes), indicating that accumulated transcripts were rapidly spliced and then released. The dispersed nucleoplasmic transcripts exited the nucleus with a half time of approximately 10 minutes. Both processes were temperature dependent, suggesting that mRNA export is an active process. RNA polymerase II activation revealed that production of mature HCMV IE mRNAs required less than five minutes. Transcripts radiated from the gene at an average speed of approximately 0.13 microm(2)/sec from this time on. Thus, it appears that these processes are tightly linked in time and space, with the splicing reaction as a rate-limiting factor.


After several years of negotiations, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international organization that sets rules for most international trade, on January 1, 2002. China fought to allow Taiwan to join the WTO only as a "separate customs territory" and only after China obtained membership (which it did in December 2001). Trade and investment relations between China and Taiwan have boomed in recent years; China has replaced the United States as Taiwan's export market. However, political tensions between China and Taiwan remain high. In an effort to further boost U.S.-Taiwan economic ties (and to lessen Taiwan's growing economic dependency on the mainland), some Members of Congress have indicated support for a U.S.-Taiwan free trade agreement (FTA). This report will be updated as events warrant.


During nighttime operation the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) measures both the horizontal wind field at about 94 km altitude and the limb brightness of the O2(b(sup 1) Sigma(sup +)(sub g) - Chi(cubed)Sigma(sup +)(sub g)) (0,0) atmospheric band airglow. The dominant feature of the observed emission is a latitudinal and local time dependence which is consistent with the (1,1) diurnal tidal mode. A survey of the available data set from November 1991 to July 1993 reveals a semiannual variation in the peak brightness observed at the equator, with maxima observed at the equinoxes and minima at the solstices. These results are consistent with the long-term variations in the diurnal tidal amplitudes detected in HRDI wind measurements.


The mechanism of deformation implied in Howe's stress-dilatancy theory for an irregular assembly of rigid cohesionless particles is examined. Limiting relations are established between the number of fixed and sliding contacts and the numbers of particles and sliding groups of particles. The ratio of energy transmitted through the assembly to energy supplied is expressed in terms of the orientations of the sliding contact planes and directions of sliding between pairs of particles. It is shown that these orientations and directions of sliding can be obtained by maximizing the energy transmission ratio, or by an equivalent procedure, namely the minimization of the ratio of energy absorbed in internal friction to energy supplied.


Extrusion has become one of the most popular techniques in food processing, and the process parameters are closely related to product quality. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) can be used in medical and food products as a vegetable and herb. It has limited application in extrusion. The effects of extrusion process variables (screw speed, barrel temperature, and feed moisture) on system variables (specific mechanical energy [SME], die head pressure, and torque) and target variables (water absorption index, water solubility index, iodine blue value, color, pasting properties, and textural properties) of purslane powder compound rice were studied. The results showed that SME was moderately positively correlated with screw speed (r = 0.608, p < 0.05). However, torque was moderately negatively correlated with feed moisture (r = -0.574, p < 0.05), and die head pressure was moderately negatively correlated with barrel temperature (r = -0.635, p < 0.01). The target variables of extrudates were also correlated with the system parameters to varying degrees. These results are helpful to control and predict the texture, pasting properties, and other quality characteristics of extruded products containing purslane powder. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The results showed that torque and die head pressure were moderately negatively related to barrel temperature, specific mechanical energy was moderately positively related to screw speed, peak viscosity and breakdown viscosity were moderately negatively related to specific mechanical energy, and water absorption index was moderately negatively related to torque and die head pressure. It provides a reference for the research of influencing system parameters and changing product quality by controlling extrusion process parameters. In this study, some possibilities for the application of broken rice and purslane in extrusion processing were proposed.


Ways of improving autocollimators for monitoring angular displacements are analyzed. The results of an analysis of control elements based on tetrahedral reflectors with flat reflecting sides are presented. The technical characteristics of experimental models of control elements are presented. The features of tetrahedral reflector as the control elements for three-axis autocollimators are discussed.


This study is concerned with the foreign direct investments flows from and out of Turkey in terms of regional and sectoral distributions during the period of 2000-2007. It is noted that Turkey imports substantial amount of foreign direct investment from the European continent. The majority of the foreign direct investments flows into Turkey is placed in services sector whilst Turkish capital seems to be invested in industry and services sectors. The main factors of attracting the foreign direct investments flows into Turkey for the period of 2000-2006 are analyzed as well as their implications for the period of 2007-2011. It is forecasted that Turkey will receive, on average, 20 billion US dollar worth foreign direct investment during the period of 2007-2011 per year.


The authors' findings helped develop schedules of osteogenesis stimulation in cases when this process was shifted towards resorption (periodontosis), as well as develop a method for determining periodontitis stage and the ability of the body to regeneration.


Consumer response toward food commercial films was examined in this paper, and we quantitatively measured the contribution of informational/emotional appeals to consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions. First, we evaluated impressions of ten samples of existing natural food television commercials. Second, we designed eight original commercial films for a plant factory's products in order to examine whether purchase intention can be controlled by applying different strengths of informational/emotional appeals. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that a feeling of safety, one of the emotional appeals, explained more than 70% of the variance of purchase intention for both natural food and plant factory commercial films. Interest, another emotional appeal, significantly contributed to favorable attitude. However, informational appeals did not significantly contribute to purchase intention or favorability. Our quantitative analysis suggests that emotional appeals in food commercials may have stronger impacts on purchase intention and favorable attitude than informational appeals.


Abstract Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education plays an important yet underappreciated role in resolving a classic debate in Locke scholarship. In An Essay concerning Human Understanding, Locke rejects essentialism, arguing that natural species, including "man," do not exist. This position rests uneasily with the liberal conception of man that informs his political thought, and scholars have long debated whether and, if so, how Locke's anti-essentialism and liberalism are related. While several proposals have been made, all must grapple with the fact that Locke's principal discussions of politics and anti-essentialism occur in different texts. The Thoughts helps to address this difficulty, for under one cover Locke shows how a proxy for anti-essentialism—human malleability—is related to liberal ideas. There, he describes how to transform rather malleable children into modern English gentlemen, but he also indicates that nature does not mandate a liberal approach to the development of human nature. The Thoughts thus favors the view that Locke was a conventionalist about his political liberalism.


We studied population genetic variation and structure in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta using nuclear genotypic and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data obtained from samples collected throughout its native range. Geographic populations are strongly differentiated at both genomes, with such structure more pronounced in Brazil than in Argentina. Higher-level regional structure is evident from the occurrence of isolation-by-distance patterns among populations, the recognition of clusters of genetically similar, geographically adjacent populations by ordination analysis, and the detection of an mtDNA discontinuity between Argentina and Brazil coinciding with a previously identified landform of biogeographical relevance. Multiple lines of evidence from both genomes suggest that the ancestors of the ants we studied resembled extant northern Argentine S. invicta, and that existing Brazilian populations were established more recently by serial long-distance colonizations and/or range expansions. The most compelling evidence for this is the corresponding increase in FK (a measure of divergence from a hypothetical ancestor) and decrease in genetic diversity with distance from the Corrientes population in northern Argentina. Relatively deep sequence divergence among several mtDNA clades, coupled with geographical partitioning of many of them, suggests prolonged occupation of South America by S. invicta in more-or-less isolated regional populations. Such populations appear, in some cases, to have come into secondary contact without regaining the capacity to freely interbreed. We conclude that nominal S. invicta in its native range comprises multiple entities that are sufficiently genetically isolated and diverged to have embarked on independent evolutionary paths. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 92, 541–560.


Therapeutic DNA-based vaccines aim to prime an adaptive host immune response against tumor-associated antigens, eliminating cancer cells primarily through CD8+ cytotoxic T cell-mediated destruction. To be optimally effective, immunological adjuvants are required for the activation of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells responses by DNA vaccination. Here, we describe enhanced anti-tumor efficacy of an in vivo electroporation-delivered DNA vaccine by inclusion of a genetically encoded chimeric MyD88/CD40 (MC) adjuvant, which integrates both innate and adaptive immune signaling pathways. When incorporated into a DNA vaccine, signaling by the MC adjuvant increased antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and promoted elimination of pre-established tumors. Interestingly, MC-enhanced vaccine efficacy did not require direct-expression of either antigen or adjuvant by local antigen-presenting cells, but rather our data supports a key role for MC function in "atypical" antigen-presenting cells of skin. In particular, MC adjuvant-modified keratinocytes increased inflammatory cytokine secretion, upregulated surface MHC class I, and were able to increase in vitro and in vivo priming of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, in the absence of critical CD8α+/CD103+ cross-priming dendritic cells, MC was still able to promote immune priming in vivo, albeit at a reduced level. Altogether, our data support a mechanism by which MC signaling activates an inflammatory phenotype in atypical antigen-presenting cells within the cutaneous vaccination site, leading to an enhanced CD8+ T cell response against DNA vaccine-encoded antigens, through both CD8α+/CD103+ dendritic cell-dependent and independent pathways.


AIMS To analyse the histopathology of vascularised pigment epithelial detachments and tears of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in age related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS The light microscopic architecture of 10 surgically removed subretinal specimens—three vascularised pigment epithelial detachments, four recent tears, and three scarred tears as a manifestation of AMD—were studied and correlated with the angiographic findings. RESULTS Recent tears: a large fibrovascular membrane was found to be originally situated in Bruch's membrane. About half of the surface of the fibrovascular tissue was denuded of RPE and diffuse drusen. The RPE and diffuse drusen had retracted and rolled up, covering a neighbouring part of the intra-Bruch's fibrovascular membrane. The rolled up RPE and diffuse drusen were not interspersed with fibrovascular tissue but lay superficial to the intra-Bruch's fibrovascular membrane itself. Scarred tears: a collagen capsule surrounded the rolled up diffuse drusen and RPE. Fibrovascular tissue was found inside the rolled up material, predominantly at its choroidal side. CONCLUSION The area of choroidal neovascularisation associated with a vascularised pigment epithelial detachment and a tear of the RPE may be larger than was hitherto thought or indicated by fluorescein angiography. This neovascular tissue may be present within the bed of the RPE tear, as well as at the site of the scrolled up RPE.


The small medium large system (SMLsystem) is a house built at the Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera (CEU-UCH) for participation in the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition. Several technologies have been integrated to reduce power consumption. One of these is a forecasting system based on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which is able to predict indoor temperature in the near future using captured data by a complex monitoring system as the input. A study of the impact on forecasting performance of different covariate combinations is presented in this paper. Additionally, a comparison of ANNs with the standard statistical forecasting methods is shown. The research in this paper has been focused on forecasting the indoor temperature of a house, as it is directly related to HVAC—heating, ventilation and air conditioning—system consumption. HVAC systems at the SMLsystem house represent 53:89% of the overall power consumption. The energy used to maintain temperature was measured to be 30%–38:9% of the energy needed to lower it. Hence, these forecasting measures allow the house to adapt itself to future temperature conditions by using home automation in an energy-efficient manner. Experimental results show a high forecasting accuracy and therefore, they might be used to efficiently control an HVAC system.


A full-wave space-domain method is presented for the rigorous and fast investigation of printed circuit structures of arbitrary shape on uniaxial anisotropic layered substrates including three dimensional (3-D) metallizations. The electromagnetic (EM) fields are described in terms of a mixed-potential-integral-equation (MPIE) formulation, Two different techniques-the matrix pencil (MP) technique and a cross-sectional eigenvalue (CSEV) approach-are employed to extract the S-parameters of the circuit under consideration. The usage of a triangular mesh allows the convenient modeling of arbitrarily shaped structures. Therefore, the main advantage of this method is its generality, which allows a large variety of printed circuit structures to be characterized. The flexibility of the method is demonstrated for the example of spiral inductors including air-bridges with finite-metallization thickness.


This work aims to study the effects of urea, glycerol and their mixture as plasticizers for cassava starch films, regarding their impact on the material structure, water susceptibility, barrier and mechanical properties. All plasticizers were compatible with starch-based matrices, without detecting migration at the plasticizers level tested. In general water related properties were not affected. Plasticizer-polymer interactions as well as those involving water molecules were evidenced by ATR-FTIR spectra. Urea resulted the most efficient plasticizer, since it lowers glass transition temperature values and enhances mechanical properties. The co-plasticization of the starch films with glycerol and urea mixture resulted in poorer mechanical performance, though with higher light absorption which is relevant considering the potential film applications as mulching functionalized cover material.


We investigate the time evolution of squeezing in the signal mode of the undamped parametric amplifier. Both the degenerate and nondegenerate cases are considered. These are the simplest models that give limits to squeezing caused by both the intrinsic pump noise and pump depletion. Conflicting analytic expressions have been reported. We resolve this by the use of exact numerical methods, employing both number state and stochastic techniques. Our central result is that in both cases we find that the minimum in the squeezed quadrature variance scales as N-1/2, where N is the initial coherent pump photon number. This bound on the amount of squeezing obtainable, coupled with the loss in energy due to the conversion efficiency, serves to limit the phase information in the squeezed channel to no more than that of the coherent pump. We believe this to be a fundamental limit for using the squeezed radiation generated in coherently driven parametric amplifiers.


Corneal ectasia is a progressive disorder in which microstructural changes within the cornea cause an alteration of its normal gradient curvature and of its biomechanical behaviour. Over the last few years, different treatments have proved to be safe and effective in halting or slowing the corneal ectasia progression and/or in remodelling of the cornea (such as corneal collagen cross-linking and/or intrastromal corneal ring segments). In this special issue, the latest research about the surgical and parasurgical treatments of corneal ectasia for therapeutic and refractive perspective is discussed, in terms of halting the ectatic process in keratoconus patients, improving the corneal shape, and minimizing the residual refractive error. An overview is presented of the last 20 years of outcomes and complications for the conservative management of keratoconus (glasses and contact lenses). Cross-linking can halt the disease progression, and intrastromal corneal ring segments can improve the corneal shape and hence the visual quality and reduce the refractive error. Combined treatment of intrastromal corneal ring segments and corneal cross-linking may be a successful option to halt progressive keratoconus and improve visual acuity. It must be noted that, in particular corneal morphology, such as in central keratoconus with high corneal asphericity and in paracentral keratoconic eyes, a Ferraratype intrastromal corneal ring segments implantation reported an improvement of postoperative visual acuity and stability over long-term follow-up [1, 2]. Sequential treatment, such as intrastromal corneal ring segments and an extended range of vision intraocular lens implantation, for patients with keratoconus and cataract seems to be an effective option in terms of visual acuity.


Bank is one of the financial institution which have activities to raise funds from public in the form of savings and distribute them to the public in form of credit or other form. The purpose of the bangking business is gain profit. Ability of the banks in gain profit is measured by return on assets (ROA). In order to achieve the expected return on assets, banks are required by any business activity involving the use of the banking assets or profit that always geared to various risks that must be addressed. In addition, banks also face the condition of the market structure, which, indirectly, affect the ability of banks to generate profit.
The purpose of this research is to examine influence of Capital adequacy Ratio (CAR), Non Performing Loan (NPL), BOPO, Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR), reserve requirement (GWM), and concentration ratio (CR) through Return On Asset (ROA) of public banking listed at Indonesian Stock Exchange during 2005-2009.
Samples used in this research are public banking listed at Indonesian Stock Exchange on period 2005-2009. This research uses purposive sampling method to choose samples so it is resulted 17 companies as samples. Data is analyzed by using multiple regression method and descriptive statistics.
The results of this research found that BOPO has significant negative effect to ROA. Besides, this research proves there is significant positive influence between LDR and ROA, also GWM and ROA. Whereas, other variables like CAR, NPL, and CR have no significant effect to ROA.


Iran is the third largest market for Korean products in the Middle East, playing an important role in procuring the country's energy. Despite relatively long history of their trade relations, the two countries have adopted a foreign policy of separation of politics from economy. The main question of this study is, therefore, to realize the most important elements impacting the two countries' approach towards each other. Through comparative-analysis method, this research examines important factors impacting and being employed in the foreign policy model of the two countries, and sheds light on the political, economic and geopolitical settings conducive to foreign policies of the two countries. The results of the present study indicate that there are various factors that impact the decisions and equations related to foreign policies pursued by these two countries, including the presence and influence of the US in East Asia, conflicts with North Korea, China's increased political and economic relations with Iran, Iran's foreign policy after the Islamic revolution, and South Korea's relations with Arab countries.


How does the EU deal with incoherence and coherence? In this paper we try to answer this research
question in order to draw conclusions on the specific nature of the EU as a foreign policy actor. We
define coherence and incoherence in EU foreign policy as our dependent variable in a first step.
Coherence is understood as a principle guiding foreign policies in the EU as well as other
international actors. Effectiveness is crucially linked to the principle of coherence, not only in the EU.
However, the way in which the principle of coherence is implemented differs in ideal type polities in
foreign policy. By analysing how the EU has dealt with coherence on both a constitutional level and
substantive policy‐level, we can on the one hand explore where the EU locates sources of
incoherence and addresses these through institutional change. On the other hand, we analyse how
the EU addresses vertical and horizontal coherence in substantive policy‐making. Here we rely on EU
sanctions and EU crisis‐management as examples of coherence in policy‐making. We conclude by
presenting our findings on a) how the EU addresses the principle of coherence and b) which
conclusions about the EU's nature in foreign policy we can draw.


Zinc concentration in amniotic fluid and its relation to fetal weight were investigated in three groups of pregnant rats: group A received a zinc-adequate diet, and the rats of groups B and C were fed a zinc-deficient diet. Group C also received zinc supplementation in water. The daily food consumption, weight and plasma zinc levels on days 1, 10 and 20, zinc concentration in amniotic fluid, the number of implantation sites, the number of resorptions, the number of live fetuses and fetal weight were determined. Plasma zinc concentrations were significantly different at the end of gestation between group B (Zn = 167.6 +/- 26.6 micrograms/dl) and the other two groups (group A = 199 +/- 18.6 micrograms/dl; group C = 204 +/- 13.7 micrograms/dl). The number of resorptions was significantly higher in group B and the number of live fetuses was significantly lower in this same group (p less than 0.025). Fetal weight was significantly lower in group B (p less than 0.001). The zinc concentrations of the amniotic fluid were significantly lower in group B (14 +/- 4.7 micrograms/dl) as compared to group A (83 +/- 11.4 micrograms/dl) and C (82 +/- 21 micrograms/dl; p less than 0.001). There was a positive linear correlation between zinc concentrations in amniotic fluid and fetal weight, being r: 0.7379 (p less than 0.001).


The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe elementary principals' experiences with school improvement in Northeast Georgia Title I schools. The theory guiding this study was Bandura's (1977) social learning theory, which explains a triadic view of behavioral, environmental, and personal factors. Reciprocal interactions between factors contribute to self-efficacy beliefs associated with future action to achieve goals such as those in a Title I School Improvement Plan. Triadic reciprocal determinism was defined as cooperative, interdependent components shaping principals' knowledge, skill, and direction to lead changing federal and state mandated school improvement initiatives. This study attempted to answer the central research question: How do elementary principals who serve as leaders in Northeast Georgia Title I schools describe their experiences with school improvement? The move from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to new school improvement requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) revealed a qualitative gap in research including principals' voice, especially in different contexts such as high poverty elementary schools. I utilized a descriptive self-efficacy survey, interviews, document analysis, and a focus group to discover common themes. Themes were used to meaningfully organize units of information to fully and accurately describe principal experiences. Principals described elements of strategy, support, and progress monitoring to achieve successful continuous improvement cultures. The results of this study provide insight into principal experiences with school improvement to help facilitate stronger leadership for improvement in light of changing federal and state school improvement mandates.


A Digital Twin (DT) is a simulation of a physical system that provides information to make decisions that add economic, social or commercial value. The behaviour of a physical system changes over time, a DT must therefore be continually updated with data from the physical systems to reflect its changing behaviour. For resource-constrained systems, updating a DT is non-trivial because of challenges such as on-board learning and the off-board data transfer. This paper presents a framework for updating data-driven DTs of resource-constrained systems geared towards system health monitoring. The proposed solution consists of: (1) an on-board system running a light-weight DT allowing the prioritisation and parsimonious transfer of data generated by the physical system; and (2) off-board robust updating of the DT and detection of anomalous behaviours. Two case studies are considered using a production gas turbine engine system to demonstrate the digital representation accuracy for real-world, time-varying physical systems.


Our aim with the study has been to observe and describe how new Swedish medical device companies conduct international business and identify the underlying factors for the internationalisation. The study was carried through by qualitative semistructured interviews with five managers in different medical device companies, younger than ten years. We found that the companies internationalise early, quickly and broadly by using small core organisations built on outsourcing and highly experienced managers with extensive personal networks. The younger the company the more born global it seemed in order to speed up the business development. The underlying factors were the technological development in general, a high degree of internationalisation in society, increased former international experience among managers, a perceived pressure from risk capitalists, and finally the introduction of the MDD. Altogether this creates an apparent shift wihtin the internationalisation process for medical device companies as being more of born global.


The ultrastructure of the basal lamina of histologically normal human breast tissue was determined in 19 women undergoing operations for removal of a fibroadenoma or reduction mammoplasty. The day of the menstrual cycle was determined by hormone assay and direct questioning. Previously documented ultrastructural appearances were confirmed: in addition, three morphological variants were found. In all tissue examined, there was reduplication of basal lamina in some areas, which has been described previously as a pathological feature. Also, there was complex branching of the basal lamina into the periductular connective tissue. Some projections contained cytoplasmic processes and, in almost all, hemidesmosomes were seen. The third variant consisted of loops of basal lamina thrown up in folds into the collagenous stromal cuff. Reduplication of basal lamina was detected in breast tissue removed at all stages of the menstrual cycle, looping was not and could not be related to any particular phase of the menstrual cycle. However, complex branching was seen predominantly in the periovulatory and early luteal phase. We conclude that these appearances are normal variants of basal lamina. The appearance of branching basal lamina in the luteal phase suggests that this may be produced in response to endocrine stimulation.


Background With the widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), life expectancy of HIV-infected patients has significantly prolonged. An increasing number of HIV-infected patients are aging and concurrent use of medications are not uncommon for management of metabolic complications and cardiovascular diseases related to aging and prolonged exposure to cART. Methods We reviewed medical records of all HIV-infected patients aged 40 years or older who had been followed at a university hospital for HIV care in Taiwan between January and December 2013. A standardized case record form was used to collect information on demographics and clinical characteristics, comorbidity, cART, and concurrent medications. Results During the study period, 610 patients aged 40 to 49 years (mean, 44.1) and 310 aged 50 years or older (mean, 58.8) sought HIV care at this hospital. Compared with patients aged 40 to 49 years, those aged 50 years or older were significantly more likely to be female (15.9% vs 3.8%); to have received cART (97.7% vs 94.8%) and a lower plasma HIV RNA load (1.6 vs 1.7 log10 copies/ml); and to have diabetes mellitus (18.4% vs 4.6%), hypertension (31.0% vs 10.8%), hyperlipidemia (29.4% vs 11.6%), coronary artery disease (6.8% vs 0.5%), and an estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (11.5% vs 2.7%); and were significantly less likely to have syphilis. Other than HIV infection, patients aged 50 years or older were more likely to have been receiving two or more concurrent medications than those aged 40 to 49 years (22.9% vs 6.4%). Conclusions Our findings show a significant proportion of the HIV-infected patients aged 50 years or older have multiple comorbidities that may increase the risk for cardiovascular and renal complications. Issues of poly-pharmacy among the HIV-infected patients who are aging should be addressed to ensure adherence and minimize drug-drug interactions.


The influence of genetic capacity for lean tissue (LT) growth on responses of pigs to ractopamine, in terms of rate and efficiency of body growth and the distribution and accretion rate of body tissues, was determined in this study. Two sources of pigs representing low and high LT genotypes were used. Within each source, two littermate barrows from each of eight litters were individually penned and given ad libitum access to a lysine-supplemented, corn-soybean meal diet (17.7% CP, 1.08% lysine) containing 0 or 20 ppm of ractopamine hydrochloride from 63 to 104 kg. Carcasses were physically dissected into muscle, fatty tissue, skin, and bone. Within each source, four additional pigs were killed for determination of initial body composition. Pigs of high LT genotype gained BW and muscle faster (P < .01), required less (P < .01) feed per unit of gain, and produced carcasses that contained more (P < .01) muscle and bone and less (P < .01) fatty tissue. Ractopamine increased (P < .01) weight gain and improved (P < .01) feed:gain ratio in both genotypes. Ractopamine enhanced the accretion rate and the amount of carcass muscle in both genotypes, but the degree of improvement was greater in pigs of the high than in those of the low LT genotype (genotype x ractopamine, P < .02). Ractopamine also reduced the accretion rate and amount of dissectible fat by a greater magnitude in the high LT genotype (genotype x ractopamine, P < .04). Based on these data, ractopamine increases muscle accretion to a greater degree in pigs with a high genetic capacity for LT growth than in those with a low capacity.


Introduction Accumulating evidences disclose that COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has a marked effect on acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Nevertheless, the underlying pathophysiology correlation between the AMI and COVID-19 remains vague. Materials and Methods Bioinformatics analyses of the altered transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with AMI and COVID-19 were implemented, including identification of differentially expressed genes and common genes between AMI and COVID-19, protein–protein interactions, Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses, TF-genes and miRNA coregulatory networks, to explore their biological functions and potential roles in the pathogenesis of COVID-19-related AMI. Conclusion Our bioinformatic analyses of gene expression profiling of PBMCs in patients with AMI and COVID-19 provide us with a unique view regarding underlying pathophysiology correlation between the two vital diseases.


Changes in the concentration of extracellular calcium affect the balance between proliferation and differentiation in epidermal keratinocytes. Undifferentiated keratinocytes respond to the acute increase in the concentration of extracellular calcium with an increase of intracellular calcium concentration and inositol trisphosphate production, and, subsequently, the expression of differentiation related genes. Our previous studies demonstrated the presence of a calcium-sensing receptor in human keratinocytes, which is identical to the parathyroid calcium-sensing receptor. In this study we showed that the calcimimetic compound NPS R-467, a selective calcium-sensing receptor activator, augmented the calcium-elicited inositol trisphosphate response of cloned human keratinocyte calcium-sensing receptor expressed in human embryonic kidney cells 293. In order to define the role of the calcium-sensing receptor in calcium induced epidermal differentiation, we investigated the ability of NPS R-467 to raise intracellular Ca2+ and stimulate differentiation in normal human foreskin keratinocytes. In the presence of 0.03 mM Ca2+, NPS R-467 increased the intracellular calcium concentration response in a concentration-dependent fashion. Undifferentiated normal human foreskin keratinocyte cells responded to increased extracellular calcium concentration with increased intracellular calcium concentration. NPS R-467 potentiated this response by increasing the maximal response. Its stereoisomer, NPS S-467, was not active in raising intracellular calcium concentration. Increasing extracellular calcium concentration from 0.03 to 1.2 mM stimulated the promoter activity of the differentiation marker gene, involucrin. NPS R-467 potentiated the calcium-stimulated increase in involucrin promoter activity unlike NPS S-467 or vehicle. Northern analysis of the normal human foreskin keratinocyte cells treated with NPS R-467 demonstrated potentiation of the calcium-stimulated increases in involucrin and transglutaminase mRNA levels. These results support the hypothesis that the calcium-sensing receptor expressed in keratinocytes mediates at least part of the intracellular calcium response to extracellular calcium and calcium-induced differentiation.


AIMS
Indirect data suggest that delayed recovery of intracellular pH (pHi) during reperfusion is involved in postconditioning protection, and calpain activity has been shown to be pH-dependent. We sought to characterize the effect of ischaemic postconditioning on pHi recovery during reperfusion and on calpain-dependent proteolysis, an important mechanism of myocardial reperfusion injury.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Isolated Sprague-Dawley rat hearts were submitted to 40 min of ischaemia and different reperfusion protocols of postconditioning and acidosis. pHi was monitored by (31)P-NMR spectroscopy. Myocardial cell death was determined by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and triphenyltetrazolium staining, and calpain activity by western blot measurement of alpha-fodrin degradation. In control hearts, pHi recovered within 1.5 +/- 0.24 min of reperfusion. Postconditioning with 6 cycles of 10 s ischaemia-reperfusion delayed pHi recovery slightly to 2.5 +/- 0.2 min and failed to prevent calpain-mediated alpha-fodrin degradation or to elicit protection. Lowering perfusion flow to 50% during reperfusion cycles or shortening the cycles (12 cycles of 5 s ischemia-reperfusion) resulted in a further delay in pHi recovery (4.1 +/- 0.2 and 3.5 +/- 0.3 min, respectively), attenuated alpha-fodrin proteolysis, improved functional recovery, and reduced LDH release (47 and 38%, respectively, P < 0.001) and infarct size (36 and 32%, respectively, P < 0.001). This cardioprotection was identical to that produced by lowering the pH of the perfusion buffer to 6.4 during the first 2 min of reperfusion or by calpain inhibition with MDL-28170.

CONCLUSION
These results provide direct evidence that postconditioning protection depends on prolongation of intracellular acidosis during reperfusion and indicate that inhibited calpain activity could contribute to this protection.


This study examines the kinematics, aerodynamics, and
energetics of forward flight in insects. Bumblebees and hoverflies
in controlled free flight were filmed over a range of flight speeds
with a high speed camera at 5000 frames a second. The wing motions
in three dimensions were reconstructed using a projection analysis
technique. A new method was developed to determine from a single
film image the span-wise angle of attack of the wing. The variation
with forward speed of kinematic parameters describing the nature of
the wing beat is described. The results of detailed morphological
analyses of the wings and bodies of those insects filmed in free
flight are presented. Measurements of lift and drag on isolated
insect wings and bodies were made with an optoelectronic force
transducer in order to determine their steady-state aerodynamic
characteristics. The variation of lift and drag coefficients with
airspeed and object orientation was determined for use in later
calculations of lift and power requirements. Mean lift and drag
coefficients, as averaged spatially for the whole wing and
temporally for the wing-beat, were calculated from the kinematic
data using theories of steady-state aerodynamics. Total mechanical,
power output as a function of forward speed was thus determined.
Measurements of the oxygen consumption of free-flying bumblebees and
hoverflies were made using a closed circuit wind tunnel. These
results were compared with calculated mechanical power requirements
to derive the mechanochemical efficiency of the flight system at
different flight speeds.


The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement on firm financial performance in a developing country, Turkey, and to analyze the moderating role of ownership concentration in the CSR–financial performance relationship. The sample consists of non-financial public firms listed on the Borsa Istanbul (BIST)-100 index and covers the period between 2014 and 2018. Empirical results using an instrumental variable approach show that corporate social responsibility has a positive relationship with financial performance. Furthermore, findings indicate that this relationship is negatively moderated by ownership concentration even when endogeneity is controlled for.


Word of mouth (WOM) is the subjective opinion of consumers for a brand, a product or a service. Its impact on consumer?s purchasing decision is greater than the marketing activities of a product. Word of mouth classification is an effective means for document organization in an era of big data. However, the existing tasks of WOM classification are mainly dependent on the bag of word (BOW) in the vector space model (VSM), which usually suffers from the curse of dimensionality while dealing with large amounts of documents. We compared characters, context, and homophones, and integrated thesauruses to establish an adaptable Chinese near-synonym corpus. Subsequently, lexical replacement was applied, and the adaptable Chinese near-synonym corpus was created for classifying WOM documents. Two static corpora, the Ministry of Education?s Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary and the Extended Chinese Synonym Forest, were used as the benchmarks of comparison for the proposed adaptable near-synonym corpus in the classification and evaluation stage. Evaluations were conducted by calculating recall, precision, F-measure, accuracy, and area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). The results indicate that the classification accuracy of the adaptable near-synonym corpus proposed in the research exceeds that of static corpora when used in the fields of movie, leisure and travel, food, and cosmetics.


Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetic disease among Caucasians, and accordingly the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein has perhaps the best characterized disease mutation spectrum with more than 1,500 causative mutations having been identified. In this study, we took advantage of that wealth of mutational information in an effort to relate site-specific evolutionary parameters with the propensity and severity of CFTR disease-causing mutations. To do this, we devised a scoring scheme for known CFTR disease-causing mutations based on the Grantham amino acid chemical difference matrix. CFTR site-specific evolutionary constraint values were then computed for seven different evolutionary metrics across a range of increasing evolutionary depths. The CFTR mutational scores and the various site-specific evolutionary constraint values were compared in order to evaluate which evolutionary measures best reflect the disease-causing mutation spectrum. Site-specific evolutionary constraint values from the widely used comparative method PolyPhen2 show the best correlation with the CFTR mutation score spectrum, whereas more straightforward conservation based measures (ConSurf and ScoreCons) show the greatest ability to predict individual CFTR disease-causing mutations. While far greater than could be expected by chance alone, the fraction of the variability in mutation scores explained by the PolyPhen2 metric (3.6%), along with the best set of paired sensitivity (58%) and specificity (60%) values for the prediction of disease-causing residues, were marginal. These data indicate that evolutionary constraint levels are informative but far from determinant with respect to disease-causing mutations in CFTR. Nevertheless, this work shows that, when combined with additional lines of evidence, information on site-specific evolutionary conservation can and should be used to guide site-directed mutagenesis experiments by more narrowly defining the set of target residues, resulting in a potential savings of both time and money.


A Thesis Presented to the School of Graduate Studies
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi
in Partial Fulfillment and Requirement for the Degree of
Master of Arts in Art Education, 2004


Phosphorus (P) in an high-pH soil may not be readily available to a crop, even though soil-testing procedures indicate high levels are present. A 2-year field study was conducted to determine corn yield responses to different rates of P fertilization as a function of soil-test P levels determined using the Mehlich-3 extractant. In 1 of the 2 years of this study, corn yields responded to P application across all soil P levels in a linear plateau fashion, indicating that P availability was limiting regardless of soil P levels. Where soil-test P was less than 40 mg kg−1, corn yields showed a quadratic response to rate of P applied both years, and when soil-test P was between 40 and 60 mg kg−1, corn yields showed a response only in the second year, when better growing conditions occurred. Soil-test P levels based on the Mehlich-3 extractant identified deficiencies in soil P availability to the crop, which could be corrected by P fertilization on a high-pH soil. Uptake efficiency of applied P was low, indicating that much of the P applied was not available to the crop.


This essay examines some of the emerging themes in online Nigerian and Kenyan poetry in English. Focusing mainly on identity politics as it relates to some of Africa's emerging voices, in addition to the politics of the postcolonial state, it analyses the way in which new technologies allow poetry to robustly capture the instability of class in addition to allowing poets to represent conventional and controversial issues. Moreover, it argues that poetry in a digital age is also helping Africans who can afford to be online, develop richer forms of interaction because the most significant trend in African use of the digital space is the increasing use of the various multimedia forms available.


Do animals have mothers too? Of course they do - just like me and you! Meet the little joey whose Kangaroo mother carries him in her pouch, and the cygnet who rides on the back of the mother swan, just two members of Eric Carle's animal family. Animal babies with their caring and affectionate mothers come to life in Carle's vibrant collage. The playful question and answer text invites children and adults to read aloud together. Repetition of key phrases helps preschoolers take the first step towards reading readiness. The gamelike format makes it easy to discover more about the world of nature and to learn the common names of some familiar - and not-so-familiar - animals. At the back of the book there is a special page listing the correct, but sometimes surprising names of animal babies, their parents and groups.


The flow and heat transfer characteristics of the TiO2-water nanofluid assuming as a single-phase in the rectangular offset strip fin structure for different Reynolds number (500-1000) and TiO2 nanoparticle volume concentration values (0%-4%) were investigated numerically under threedimensional, steady state and laminar flow conditions. Simulations were also performed for 1% and 4% nanoparticle volume concentrations of Al2O3-water nanofluid, and the results were compared with those of TiO2water nanofluid. Results show that when the TiO2-water nanofluid is used, the heat transfer rate, heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number increase with increasing both Reynolds number and nanoparticle volume concentration, and parallel to these, both pressure loss and pumping power increase. Considering the values of the performance evaluation criteria (PEC) number, it is clear that the use of TiO2-water nanofluid in offset strip fin structure at all Reynolds numbers examined between 1%-4% volume concentration values is quite advantageous. It is observed that TiO2-water nanofluid is much superior to Al2O3-water considering the PEC number. When the Reynolds number is 1000 and the volume concentration value of the TiO2 nanoparticle is 4%, the PEC number value is found to be 1.19, that is, there is a 19% increase compared to water. It is considered that the results of this study can be used as important data on the design of automobile radiators, air-conditioning and defense.


Encyclopedia of E-Leadership, Counseling and Training-Wang, Victor C.X. 2011-08-31 Encyclopedia of E-Leadership, Counseling and Training offers an in-depth description of key terms and concepts related to different themes, issues, and trends in educational leadership, counseling, and technology integration in modern universities and organizations worldwide. This three volume work serves as an exhaustive compendium of expertise, research, skills, and experiences. Authors with a background in education, leadership, counseling, management, human resource development, or adult education have helped to encourage the education and training of potential leaders with this scholarly work.


Extract: Much of the political analysis that is taking place in Asia in the wake of the Asian Currency Crisis and the 'contagion' phenomena, has focused on the need for 'good governance.' The definition of good governance, though, is not clear. Good governance, it seems, is comprised of many different aspects of a polity, and may be best represented by the analogy of a Rubik's cube. Like a Rubik's cube, if the pieces of the 'good governance' puzzle are manipulated in the right direction at the right time, there will be sustained growth, macroeconomic stability, and the economy will prosper.


Vitamin C stability in citron slices canned in syrup showed a retention of 77 and 73% of the original amounts of 65 and 110 mg/100 g of product, respectively, during 12.7 months storage. The average vitamin C destruction was 2.4 mg/100 g/month and 1.2 mg/100 g/month respectively for the high and low level vitamin content. There is a difference in the rate of vitamin C destruction due to the packaging form. Citron fruit bar packed in boxes had after 7 months a retention of 73% of the original vitamin C content. The same product packed in cans showed a retention of 84% after 10 months of storage.


A field experiment in split plot design was conducted during the rabi season of 2001-02 and 2002-03 at Potato Research and Seed Multiplication Farm, Anandapur,West Midnapore,West Bengal to study the effect of dates of transplanting and spacing on yield attributing character, productivity and economics of potato cultivation through true potato seed (TPS) technology. The highest number of tubers per plant was recorded in early transplanted (December 3) crop, while, crop spacing did not produce any significant differences in recording tuber number per plant. Early established crop also produced significantly higher tuber weight per plant as compared to intermediate (December 11) and late (December 19) transplanted crops and widely spaced (60 x 15 cm) crop recorded higher weight of tuber per plant as compared to the narrowly spaced crop. Early transplanting and wider spacing also showed its superiority in respect of recording harvest index of potato. As such, early transplanted and densely planted crops produced significantly higher yield of seedling tuber, marketable tuber and total tuber than their counterparts. Though cost of production of early transplanted and closely spaced crop was higher, but net profit and return per rupee investment was also higher in those cases.


An adaptive bone remodeling is simulated by using the cellular automata (CA) method. It is assuumed that bone tissue consist of bone marrow, osteoclast, osteoblast cell or osteoprogenitor cell.Two types of local rule are adopted; those are the metabolism rule and adaptive bone formation rule. The metabolism rule is based onthe interactions of cells and the bone formation rule is based onthe adaptation against the mechanical stimulus. The history of load and memory of mechanical stimulus are also considered in the local rules . As a result , the pattern of distribution of the bone tissue is dynamicaly adequate and it is similar to intact cancellous bone.


Rice alcoholic beverages, cheongju and beopju, which are recorded in "Koryodokyung", "Koryosageolyo", and "Koryosa", were used in national and royal ceremonies, and yakju was used in the Palgwanhoi ritual. In the late century, King Munjong imported hwaju and haenginjabeopju from the royal family of the Song Dynasty. Alcoholic beverages in the early century included the medical use for kings, such as gyehyangeoju, which the Emperor of the Song Dynasty sent to King Yejong, baekjainju, which was sent to King Myeongjong for his health, and yangju, which is goat milk fermented alcohol from the nomads in the northern regions. In the early century there was also dongrak, which is a horse-milk fermented alcohol, grape wine sent from Yuan to King Chungryeol in the late century, and sangjonju, a type of special cheongju sent from Yuan in the early century. Baekju from Yuan was recorded in oral traditions, which suggests that soju, which is distilled cheongju, was consumed in the late century. Gold and silver wares for alcoholic beverages had important political, social, and economic meanings as national gifts to other countries and internally as the king's royal gift to his subjects. In the late century, soju was prohibited, and the use of gold and silver wares for alcoholic beverages was banned at the same time. This study examined the historical characteristics of the use of traditional rice alcoholic beverages, the emotional preference for foreign alcoholic beverages, and the gold and silver wares used for alcoholic beverages Koryo Dynasty.


Miscibility and crystallization have been studied for polypropylene-polyethylene and polyethylene-polyethyleneblends. In the case of the polypropylene blends the composition of interest is 20% polypropylene. At this composition thepolypropylene has been found to be soluble in linear low density polyethylene but insoluble in high, low and very lowdensity polyethylenes. The miscibility has been concluded from the crystallization kinetics and polarised optical microscopywith a hot stage. Polyethylene-polyethylene blends have been formed from polymers with similar average branching contentbut where they have different melting temperatures. Important consequences are to introduce long branches into apolyethylene that only has short branches, and to modify the morphology of a polyethylenes so that haze, gloss and strainhardening are improved. Polyethylene blends must be developed after careful consideration of the branch content anddistribution within each of the constituents. It is not sufficient to simply blend polyethylenes, with the desired range ofproperties, without regard to the miscibility of the blend composition.


Protease inhibition has become a possible new approach in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapy. A serine exopeptidase, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV), is responsible for the inactivation of incretin hormone, glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2), a potent stimulator of intestinal epithelium regeneration and growth. Recently, we showed that the novel peptide analog of endomorphin-2, Tyr-Pro-D-ClPhe-Phe-NH2 (EMDB-1) is a potent blocker of DPP IV and has an inhibitory effect on gastrointestinal (GI) smooth muscle contractility. The aim of this study was to characterize the anti-inflammatory effect and mechanism of action of EMDB-1 in the mouse GI tract. We used two models of experimental colitis (induced by TNBS and DSS). The anti-inflammatory effect of EMDB-1 was assessed by the determination of macroscopic score, ulcer score, colonic wall thickness, as well as myeloperoxidase activity. Additionally, we measured the expression of GLP-2, GLP2R, and DPP IV in the colon of control and colitic animals treated with the test compound. The expression of GLP-2 and GLP2R in the serum and colon of IBD patients and healthy control subjects has been assessed. We showed that EMDB-1 elevates the half-life of GLP-2 in vitro and attenuates acute, semichronic, and relapsing TNBS as well as DSS-induced colitis in mice after topical administration. The anti-inflammatory action of EMDB-1 is associated with changes in the level of colonic GLP-2 but not DPP IV expression. Our results validate DPP IV as a pharmacological target for the anti-IBD drugs, and its inhibitors based on natural substrates, such as EMDB-1, have the potential to become valuable anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents.


We present the first evidence for the binarity of four targets in the TESS field. The temperatures are estimated by SED analysis and the orbital periods are determined. The TESS light curves of the systems are analyzed and the orbital and the absolute parameters are derived. The targets are also compared to well-studied binary systems with the same morphological type and their evolutionary states are discussed. Our results indicate that the stars belong to the class of eclipsing detached binary systems.