We give a new type of characterization of the Glivenko-Cantelli classes. In the case of a class $\mathscr{L}$ of sets, the characterization is closely related to the configuration that the sets of $\mathscr{L}$ can have. It allows one to decide simply whether a given class is a Glivenko-Cantelli class. The characterization is based on a new measure theoretic analysis of sets of measurable functions. This analysis also gives an approximation theorem for Glivenko-Cantelli classes, sharpenings of the Vapnik-Cervonenkis criteria and the value of the asymptotic discrepancy for classes that are not Glivenko-Cantelli. An application is given to the law of large numbers in a Banach space for functions that need not be random variables.


Although the four-frequency measurement process has been used successfully on coupled dual crystals from 9.4 MHz to 21.4 MHz, discrepancies between the crystal data and filter data at 45 MHz and 57.5 MHz suggested an error problem associated with the measurement system. To eliminate the errors, a twelve-term error model was chosen and the equations were derived for use with an automatic network analyzer. The details of the direct deviation of the four-frequency measurement process are given in which the two resonator frequencies and the synchronous peak separation frequency (SPSF) of a coupled dual crystal are calculated from the two frequencies of the zeros of the short-circuit driving point impedance, and the two frequencies of the zeros of the open-circuit driving point impedance. Determination of the four frequencies from the error-corrected S parameters is discussed, as well as the analysis of an external capacitor placed across the output circuit to obtain a more convenient distribution of the four frequencies. A comparison is made between data taken on the original fixture and data taken on an automatic network analyzer using error-corrected S parameters.<<ETX>>


The visual representation of religion in the American landscape is practically everywhere. From the rural countryside to the urban enclave and from the colonial period to the present, inhabitants of what would become the United States have modified the natural landscape to reflect their religious perspectives in a changing world. Churches, temples, schools, monuments, roadside shrines, cemeteries—these are all things we observe in the landscape that physically and visually mark a place as religious and provide us with cues for further exploration of the religious people behind the objects, past and present. Though lacking a coherent disciplinary field, the study of America's religious landscape brings together scholars from history, geography, philosophy, and architecture to identify how religion both alters and is altered by the natural and built environment throughout American history. Taken together, the three interrelated themes of "nature,""structure," and "memory" speak to the manifest ways in which religious adherents have invested meaning in the natural landscape and constructed sacred sites upon that same landscape.


We present multi-wavelength studies of the radio galaxy 3C 120 and the blazar CTA 102 during unprecedented γ-ray flares for both sources. In both studies the analysis of γ-ray data has been compared with a series of 43 GHz VLBA images from the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR program, providing the necessary spatial resolution to probe the parsec scale jet evolution during the high energy events. To extend the radio dataset for 3C 120 we also used 15 GHz VLBA data from the MOJAVE sample. These two objects which represent very different classes of AGN, have similar properties during the γ-ray events. The γ-ray flares are associated with the passage of a new superluminal component through the mm VLBI core, but not all ejections of new components lead to γ-ray events. In both sources γ-ray events occurred only when the new components are moving in a direction closer to our line of sight. We locate the γ-ray dissipation zone a short distance from the radio core but outside of the broad line region, suggesting synchrotron self-Compton scattering as the probable mechanism for the γ-ray production.


A series of novel polar benzimidazoles were synthesized in a 4-step reaction starting from basic compound 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoic acid in good to excellent yield. The compounds generally fulfill the Lipinski's rule of five to show their potential as drug lead compounds. The compounds were screened for their acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities and the most potent compound was found to be 5e which gave IC50 value of 31.04 μM. The structure of the novel polar benzimidazoles were characterized and confirmed by elemental and mass spectral analyses as well as 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopic data. All the compounds were found to be non-toxic when tested with VERO cells at 50 μM.


We evaluated the subjective image impression of two different magnetic resonance (MR) sequences by using a subjective ranking system. This ranking system was based on 20 criteria describing several tissue characteristics such as the signal intensity of normal anatomical structures and the changes of signal intensities and shape of lesions as well as artefacts. MR of the vertebral spine was performed in 48 female and 52 male patients (mean age 44.8 years) referred consecutively for investigation of a back problem. Ninety-six pathologies were found in 82 patients. Sagittal and axial T1 weighted spin-echo before and after administration of Gadolinium (Gd-DOTA), and sagittal T2 weighted spin-echo (T2wSE) and Turbo-spin-echo (TSE) sequences were performed by means of surface coils. Using the subjective ranking system the sagittal T2wSE and sagittal TSE were compared. Both sequences were suitable for identification of normal anatomy and pathologic changes and there was no trend for increased detection of disease by one imaging sequence over the other. We found that sagittal TSE sequences can replace sagittal T2wSE sequences in spinal MR and that artefacts at the cervical and lumbar spine are less frequent using TSE, thus confirming previous studies. In this study, our ranking system revealed, that there are differences between the subjective judgement of image qualities and objective measurement of SNR. However, this approach may not be helpful to compare two different MR sequences as it is limited to the anatomical area investigated and is time consuming. The subjective image impression, i.e. the quality of images, may not always be represented by physical parameters such as a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), radiologists should try to define influences of image quality also by subjective parameters.


This paper assessed the relationship between farm size and productivity performance in Brazilian Amazon. We built two productivity indicators: technical efficiency and land use efficiency. We used Stochastic Frontier Analysis and 2006 agricultural census data to derive the efficiency measures and to assess their relationship with farm size. Results pointed out that the average Amazonian farm is productivity inefficient. The average farm could increase its agricultural production in 35.3% using the current amount of inputs. For land use efficiency, results indicate that farmers could reduce agricultural land in 90% and produce the same output using the current amount of labor and capital. Our measures of productivity presented a nonlinear relationship with farm size. However, both relations possess a similar turning point around 16,500 hectares. For policy analyses purposes, the actual relationship between farm size and productive efficiency is negative, as the turning points are far above the average farm-size in the region. Acknowledgement : This study is a part of first author's dissertation which was funded by a Capes/Embrapa doctoral scholarship. This research is supported by a CNPq research grant.


Two hundred and eight three male and female elderly subjects were studied. They participated in the Multicentric project: "Health assessment of elderly people living in the urban area of S. Paulo", Brazil, and were stratified by socio-economic level in three areas of S. Paulo city. The food frequency questionnaire was applied in order to discover their food pattern. The results show that for the energy-producing foods more than 90% of the total sample eat tubers, rice, bread and pasta; however, only the rice and bread are consumed daily. As for protein, 70% or more of the elderly people eat beans, beef, poultry, milk and eggs but for the daily consumption there are differences between the 3 regions. More than 85% of the subjects eat fruits, leafy and other vegetables; nevertheless, the frequency of their daily consumption is bigger in the wealthier area. The dietetic information shows that the group analysed has the same food pattern as other population groups as far the energy-producing foods are concerned; there are, however, some difference as regards the protein foods and fruit and vegetables.


This paper describes a FADC Readout system developed for the tap water $\alpha/\beta$ dose monitoring system which is based on EJ444 phoswich scintillation detector and wavelength shifting fiber readout. The Readout system contains dual sampling channels that can supply sampling rate up to 1 GSPS, 14-Bit vertical resolution and adequate effective number of bits (9.7 Bits at 10 MHz), which is optimum for the discrimination of the minimal difference between alpha/beta signals. Moreover, the system is based on a ZYNQ SoC which provides high data throughput speed, low latency and excellent flexibility. As for the discrimination algorithms, a simple least-square classification method is used to discriminate the $\alpha/\beta$ signals and shows high discrimination capability. Besides, the front-end electronics and high voltage supply modules are also briefly introduced in the paper.


A considerable portion of the machine learning literature applied to intrusion detection uses outdated data sets based on a simulated network with a limited environment. Moreover, flaws usually appear in datasets and the way we handle them may impact on measurements. Finally, the detection capacity of intrusion detection is highly influenced by the system configuration. We focus on a topic rarely investigated: the characterization of anomalies in a large network environment. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) are used to detect exploits or other attacks that raise alarms. These anomalous events usually receive less attention than attack alarms, causing them to be frequently overlooked by security administrators. However, the observation of this activity contributes to understand the traffic network characteristics. On one hand, abnormal behaviors may be legitimate, e.g., misinterpreted protocols or malfunctioning network equipment, but on the other hand an attacker may intentionally craft packets to introduce anomalies to evade monitoring systems. Anomalies found in operational network environments may indicate cases of evasion attacks, application bugs, and a wide variety of factors that highly influence intrusion detection performance. This study explores the nature of anomalies found in U-Tokyo Network using cooperatively Bro and Snort IDS among other resources. We analyze 6.5 TB of compressed binary tcpdump data representing 12 hours of network traffic. Our major contributions can be summarized in: 1) reporting the anomalies observed in real, up-to-date traffic from a large academic network environment, and documenting problems in research that may lead to wrong results due to misinterpretations of data or misconfigurations in software; 2) assessing the quality of data by analyzing the potential and the real problems in the capture process.


Accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) after arterial injury is an important event in the development of intimal thickening and is modulated by heparin. To investigate the regulation of matrix protein expression, we have analyzed messenger RNA levels by Northern blotting for various ECM proteins in the rat carotid artery balloon injury model. RNA was extracted from normal arteries and from intima-medial preparations at 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks after balloon injury of arteries in animals receiving either saline or heparin infusion. Transcripts for the heparan sulfate proteoglycans perlecan, syndecan, and ryudocan; the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan versican; the dermatan sulfate proteoglycan biglycan; type I procollagen; and tropoelastin all were increased on Northern blots beginning at 1 week after injury. By in situ hybridization, the transcripts for elastin nd biglycan were primarily localized to smooth muscle cells in the intima and were diminished by heparin in proportion to the decrease in intimal mass. Other matrix genes (perlecan, ryudocan) were expressed in the intima and media and were not affected by heparin. The results support the conclusion that ECM gene expression is a relatively late event in the response of the carotid artery, and that some of the genes are expressed only in the intima whereas others are expressed in both the intima and media.


This chapter describes and discusses aspects of a study looking at the acquisition of local accent features by non-native English speakers living in Manchester. The participants in the study are all Polish, and they clearly show variability in the extent to which they use what might be called a non-native northern English accent. Three linguistic features are investigated in detail – the STRUT vowel, glottal variation in /t/, and ING variation, with social factors such as gender, attitude, and identity all playing a role in the ways in which individuals position themselves in relation to both the local culture and the local language.


Death receptor 4 (DR4) is a cell surface receptor for tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and triggers apoptosis upon ligation with TRAIL or aggregation. MEK/ERK signaling is a well-known and the best-studied effector pathway downstream of Ras and Raf. This study focuses on determining the impact of pharmacological MEK inhibition on DR4 expression and elucidating the underlying mechanism.We found that several MEK inhibitors, including MEK162, AZD6244 and PD0325901, effectively decreased the levels of DR4 protein including cell surface DR4 in different cancer cell lines while suppressing ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Accordingly, pre-treatment of TRAIL-sensitive cancer cell lines with a MEK inhibitor attenuated TRAIL-induced apoptosis. These results indicate that MEK inhibition negatively regulates DR4 expression and cell response to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. MEK inhibitors did not alter DR4 protein stability, rather decreased its mRNA levels, suggesting a transcriptional regulation of DR4 expression. In contrast, enforced activation of MEK/ERK signaling by expressing ectopic B-Raf (V600E) or constitutively activated MEK1 (MEK1-CA) or MEK2 (MEK2-CA) activated ERK1/2 and increased DR4 expression; these effects were inhibited when a MEK inhibitor was present. Moreover, enforced expression of MEK1-CA enhanced DR4promoter activity; this effect could be abolished by the presence of a MEK inhibitor. Hence it is clear that activation of the MEK/ERK kinase cascade positively regulates DR4 transcription, resulting in increased DR4 expression. Detailed promoter analysis through deletion and mutation identified the AP-1 binding site as an essential response element for MEK enhancement of DR4 transactivation. In addition, inhibition of AP-1 by knocking down c-Jun abrogated the ability of MEK1-CA to increase DR4 promoter activity and DR4 expression. These results suggest an essential role of AP-1 in mediating MEK/ERK activation-induced DR4 expression. Our findings together highlight a previously undiscovered mechanism that positively regulates DR4 expression through activation of the MEK/ERK/AP-1 signaling pathway. (WY and YTO contribute equally to this work. This study was supported by Emory Winship Cancer Institute Robbins Scholar awards to YTO and to JD and Halpern Research Scholar award to SYS. SYS is a Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Cancer Scientist and Halpern Research Scholar) Citation Format: You-Take Oh, Weilong Yao, Jiusheng Deng, Ping Yue, Shi-Yong Sun. The expression of death receptor 4 is positively regulated by MEK/ERK signaling and suppressed upon MEK inhibition. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-101.


A simple wire-plate electrostatic precipitator (ESP) was constructed in order to test the efficiency of collecting smoke particles from combustion of rubber-wood that is used as a source of biomass energy. The ESP contains a maximum of 15 collection plate electrodes and 20 wire electrodes per row between plates. The maximum input voltage of the Wheatstone bridge circuit using a high-voltage neon transformer was 13.5 kV (DC). The gap between plates and the distance between wires were adjustable. Results from the field test in a furnace indicate that the device could be used for a period of about one hour before cleaning the electrodes was required. The collection efficiency was decreased during the course of wood burning as the dust loading increased. Maximum efficiency was near 80% during the initial period. The distance between the collection plate electrodes had a greater influence on efficiency than the distance between the wire electrodes. The cleaning system used in this experiment was made from a row of PVC pipes to allow water to discharge radially to the plate electrodes on both sides. This system was equipped with the case of maximum collection efficiency that had a 50 mm gap between collection plate electrodes and a 64 mm distance between wire electrodes. Efficiency was increased after 120 minutes and maintained a collection efficiency of about 60%. This ESP is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to alleviate the release of detrimental chemicals such as PAHs into the atmosphere.


There is a need for better tools to objectively, reliably, and precisely assess neurological function after sport-related concussion (SRC). The aim of this study was to use a robotic device (Kinesiological Instrument for Normal and Altered Reaching Movements; KINARM) to quantify neurological impairments in athletes acutely and when clinically asymptomatic post-SRC. Robotic assessments included five KINARM standard tasks that evaluate aspects of motor, sensory, and cognitive function. We hypothesized that acutely concussed athletes would demonstrate significant rates of impairment on the robotic assessment, and that impairments would be associated with acute symptom severity. Pre-season assessments were conducted from 2011 to 2016 on 1051 athletes. Eighty-four athletes were reassessed acutely (≤10 days post-injury) and while symptomatic post-SRC and 89 when clinically asymptomatic. Forty-four parameters were measured from the KINARM assessment to characterize neurological function. Reliable change indices (80% confidence interval) identified impairments in healthy and concussed individuals for each parameter. In concussed individuals, impairment rate varied across parameters from 4% to 27% at the acute time point and from 2% to 18% when clinically asymptomatic. Healthy athlete impairment rates were between 2% and 16% across all testing time points. We identified relationships between acute symptom severity and task performance for only two parameters, both of which evaluated attributes of motor function. Overall, the KINARM identified impairments in motor, sensory, and cognitive function in athletes with SRC; however, impairment rates were low and largely did not relate to symptom severity. More complex tasks may be necessary to identify potentially subtle neurological impairments post-SRC.


The activity of tyrosinase and peroxidase + H2O2 in promoting melanogenesis from tryptophan (Trp) and 7-hydroxytryptophan (7-HTP) has been investigated. The reaction samples have been drawn at different reaction times and analysed by MALDI mass spectrometry. The data obtained showed that tryptophan undergoes, under tyrosinase and peroxidase action, an oligomerization process mainly due to the reaction of anthranilic acid (AA) and Trp. However, analysing the UV and fluorescence data, it is seen that the oligomers cannot belong to the melanin pattern, but their possible role in melanogenesis is not to be excluded. Once it reacts with the two enzymes, 7-hydroxytryptophan leads to dark brown products, indicating its possible role in melanin production. In contrast to what was observed in the case of 5-hydroxytryptophan, for which oligomers were constituted by 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) units, the MALDI data indicate a sharply different behaviour for 7-HTP. In fact, in the case of 5-hydroxytryptophan, oligomerization takes place through the formation of 5-hydroxytryptamine and the oligomerization products are due to mixed 5-HTP-5-HT oligomers. In the case of 7-hydroxytryptophan, the formation of 7-hydroxytryptamine (7-HT) is also observed, but it does not seem to play any role; the only oligomerization products formed are due to the reaction of 7-hydroxytryptophan and AA. The data so obtained indicate that 7-hydroxytryptophan acts like an effective melanin precursor in the presence of both tyrosinase and peroxidase + H2O2.


A major shift in the ecology of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses occurred from 2008 to 2014, when viruses with non-N1 neuraminidase genes (termed H5Nx viruses) emerged and caused global H5 virus outbreaks. Here, we demonstrate that nationwide control measures, including vaccination in China, successfully suppressed H5N1 populations in poultry, providing an opportunity for antigenically distinct H5Nx viruses to emerge. ABSTRACT Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses have posed a substantial pandemic threat through repeated human infection since their emergence in China in 1996. Nationwide control measures, including vaccination of poultry, were implemented in 2005, leading to a sharp reduction in H5N1 virus outbreaks. In 2008, novel non-N1 subtype (H5Nx) viruses emerged, gradually replacing the dominant H5N1 subtype and causing global outbreaks. The cause of this major shift in the ecology of HPAI H5 viruses remains unknown. Here, we show that major H5N1 virus lineages underwent population bottlenecks in 2006, followed by a recovery in virus populations between 2007 and 2009. Our analyses indicate that control measures, not competition from H5Nx viruses, were responsible for the H5N1 decline, with an H5N1 lineage capable of infecting poultry and wild birds experiencing a less severe population bottleneck due to circulation in unaffected wild birds. We show that H5Nx viruses emerged during the successful suppression of H5N1 virus populations in poultry, providing an opportunity for antigenically distinct H5Nx viruses to propagate. Avian influenza vaccination programs would benefit from universal vaccines targeting a wider diversity of influenza viruses to prevent the emergence of novel subtypes. IMPORTANCE A major shift in the ecology of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses occurred from 2008 to 2014, when viruses with non-N1 neuraminidase genes (termed H5Nx viruses) emerged and caused global H5 virus outbreaks. Here, we demonstrate that nationwide control measures, including vaccination in China, successfully suppressed H5N1 populations in poultry, providing an opportunity for antigenically distinct H5Nx viruses to emerge. In particular, we show that the widespread use of H5N1 vaccines likely conferred a fitness advantage to H5Nx viruses due to the antigenic mismatch of the neuraminidase genes. These results indicate that avian influenza vaccination programs would benefit from universal vaccines that target a wider diversity of influenza viruses to prevent potential emergence of novel subtypes.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Several studies have shown that development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) generates a number of immune suppressive mechanisms in these patients. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a heterogeneous population of cells that have been shown to inhibit T-cell responses in tumor-bearing mice, but little is known about these cells in humans owing to a lack of specific markers. In this study, we have investigated the frequency and function of a new population of MDSC denoted here as CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) in HCC patients. We have also identified a novel, MDSC-mediated immune regulatory pathway in these patients.

METHODS
We have directly isolated and characterized MDSCs for phenotype and function from peripheral blood (n = 111) and tumor (n = 12) of patients with HCC.

RESULTS
The frequency of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from HCC patients was significantly increased in comparison with healthy controls. CD14(+) HLA-DR(-/low) cells were unable to stimulate an allogeneic T-cell response, suppressed autologous T-cell proliferation, and had high arginase activity, a hallmark characteristic of MDSC. Most important, CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells from HCC patients induced a CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T-cell population when cocultured with autologous T cells.

CONCLUSION
CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells are a new population of MDSC increased in blood and tumor of HCC patients. We propose a new mechanism by which MDSC exert their immunosuppressive function, through the induction of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells in cocultured CD4(+) T cells. Understanding the mechanism of action of MDSC in HCC patients is important in the design of effective immunotherapeutic protocols.


it seems generally the case that little detail on specifically phonetic matters is provided in a typical grammar, nor is there much use of phonetic techniques to provide insights on other matters, such as adding precision to observations of phonological alternations or testing whether supposed syntactic ambiguities are actually disambiguated at the phonetic level. While syntactic patterns are documented with example sentences, often from natural discourse or texts, the phonetic facts are rarely if ever documented by the presentation of hard evidence. In order to see if this impression was justified a survey of twenty grammars published or submitted as doctoral dissertations in the period of a dozen years from 1989 to 2000 was conducted.


The effect of alpha-ketoglutarate (alpha-KG) on circadian patterns of lipid peroxides and antioxidants in N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rats has been studied. The circadian rhythm characteristics (acrophase, amplitude, and mesor) of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), antioxidants, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and reduced glutathione were markedly altered in NDEA-treated rats. The delays in acrophase observed in NDEA-treated rats were brought back to near normal range by the administration of alpha-KG. An increase in mesor values of TBARS and a decrease in mesor values of antioxidants in NDEA-administered rats were reversed by alpha-KG administration. It can be concluded that alpha-KG exerts its chemopreventive effect by restoring antioxidants and their circadian rhythms.


Wind energy has been part of the fastest growing renewable energy sources that is clean and pollution-free, which has been increasingly gaining global attention, and wind speed forecasting plays a vital role in the wind energy field, however, it has been proven to be a challenging task owing to the effect of various meteorological factors. This paper proposes a hybrid forecasting model, which can effectively make a preprocess for the original data and improve forecasting accuracy, the developed model applies cuckoo search(CS) algorithm to optimize the parameters of the wavelet neural network (WNN) model. The proposed hybrid method is subsequently examined on the wind farms of eastern China and the forecasting performance shows that the developed model is better than some traditional models.


Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with an unclear etiologic mechanism. Following suggestions in the literature of a close relation between the gut microbiota and the central nervous system development, neuroimmune and neuroendocrine systems, new theories and strategies of the management of ASD in children focus on the brain-gut axis via microbiota transfer therapy. Despite the regular appearance in the news, the level of evidence supporting this intervention is unclear and to this date, no systematic review on this issue has been published. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of the efficacy and safety of microbiota transfer therapy for the management of ASD in children. MEDLINE via PubMed, LILACS IBECS via BVS, EMBASE via Ovid, Scopus and Cochrane Library were searched on 19th April 2018. Results: One single study published in 2017 was identified. The intervention group included 18 patients and showed significant clinical improvements in the gastrointestinal and ASD-related symptoms. The clinical procedure was reported as safe and well-tolerated with some transitory adverse effects. Conclusions: The causality and correlation of the intervention and the expected outcomes cannot be assumed with current evidence. In addition, recommendations about the effectiveness or safety of microbiota transfer therapy in children with ASD cannot be currently issued. Randomized controlled trials and clinical protocols for the intervention are needed.


ABSTRACT Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection leads to the development of adaptive and humoral immune responses that are among the largest for any pathogen, and intriguingly, the magnitude of the immune response increases with age, a phenomenon termed "memory inflation." Elevated CMV-specific immunity has been correlated with an increased mortality rate in elderly individuals and with impaired vaccination responses. The latent phase of CMV infection is characterized by intermittent episodes of subclinical viral reactivation and the production of immunogenic transcripts that may maintain memory inflation of virus-specific cytotoxic lymphocytes. However, the relative importance of CMV reactivation in the development of memory inflation is uncertain, as is the potential for antiviral treatment to reverse this effect. Here, we administered valaciclovir for up to 12 months in mice with established murine CMV (MCMV) infection. Treatment reduced the magnitude of the MCMV-specific CD8+ T-lymphocyte response by 80%, and the residual MCMV tetramer-specific lymphocytes exhibited a less differentiated phenotype. In addition, latent MCMV infection suppressed the proportion of naïve CD8+ T cells by 60% compared to antiviral-treated mice or MCMV-negative animals. Furthermore, treatment led to a reduction in influenza A viral loads following a challenge in elderly MCMV-infected animals and also reduced the differentiation of influenza virus-specific cytotoxic lymphocytes. These observations demonstrate that MCMV-specific memory inflation is maintained by viral replication and that therapeutic intervention could lead to improved immune function.


Transformer-based models are popularly used in natural language processing (NLP). Its core component, self-attention, has aroused widespread interest. To understand the self-attention mechanism, a direct method is to visualize the attention map of a pre-trained model. Based on the patterns observed, a series of efficient Transformers with different sparse attention masks have been proposed. From a theoretical perspective, universal approximability of Transformer-based models is also recently proved. However, the above understanding and analysis of self-attention is based on a pre-trained model. To rethink the importance analysis in self-attention, we study the significance of different positions in attention matrix during pre-training. A surprising result is that diagonal elements in the attention map are the least important compared with other attention positions. We provide a proof showing that these diagonal elements can indeed be removed without deteriorating model performance. Furthermore, we propose a Differentiable Attention Mask (DAM) algorithm, which further guides the design of the SparseBERT. Extensive experiments verify our interesting findings and illustrate the effect of the proposed algorithm.


Physiological, sensory and microbiological evaluations were conducted during fermentation of Chungkookjang. with Choi-cha (non-fermented green tea) powder in efforts to improve the sensory quality of Chungkookjang. Growth of fermentative microorganisms in Chungkookjang was inhibited by Choi-cha; the pH and VBN value decreased as the concentration of Choi-cha increased. Brightness (L) and redness (a) of Chungkookjang fermented with Choi-cha were significantly decreased, resulting in the appearance of all samples fermented with Choi-cha being less attractive than was the control. The sensory quality of Chungkookjang was significantly increased when Choi-cha was added up to 3%, (w/v), and off-odor was reduced. The antioxidative property of Chungkookjang fermented with 3% (w/v) Choi-cha was significantly higher than that of the control. This result indicated that the sensory quality of Chungkookjang was improved by fermentation with 3% (w/v) of Choi-cha powder.


The low dose of radiation (LDR) has received growing attention for its beneficial neuroprotective effect. This study was designed to investigate the enhancing effect of LDR on the antidepressant potential of resveratrol against diazepam‐induced depression in mice. Female mice divided into five groups; control, diazepam (2 mg/kg), LDR (0.5Gy) + diazepam, resveratrol (20 mg/kg) + diazepam, LDR + resveratrol+diazepam. Mice received diazepam showed depressive symptoms as evidenced by decreased locomotor activity in the open field and increased immobility time in the forced swimming and tail suspension tests integrated with a marked decline in biogenic amines (serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine) in brain tissues. These effects were ameliorated by LDR or resveratrol administration demonstrating an antidepressant activity. Interestingly, LDR triggered the antidepressant effect of resveratrol as it restored the changes in behavioral tests, neurotransmitters, and neuro‐histoarchitecture. In conclusion, these findings suggested that LDR could be considered as a novel adjuvant that augmented the resveratrol antidepressant effect and might serve as a potential therapeutic approach for depression.


The forecasting model of the concentration ratio (CR) of 137Cs in the plants taking into consideration organic carbon, pH, mobile and total content of potassium in soil has been developed on the basis of the radioecological investigations in the valleys of the Resseta and Vytebet rivers. The type of functional dependence of CR from soil characteristics can be used for an estimation of the content of radionuclides in various species and productive parts of plants.


High consumption of fruits has been associated with a reduced risk of various degenerative diseases such as cancer. These protective properties are reckoned to be linked to the micronutrients and non-nutritive phytochemicals present in fruits. This study was conducted to investigate the nutritional compositions, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity, antioxidant vitamins, phenolic acid and flavonoid compounds, as well as anticancer potential of two types of fruits endemic to Malaysia: Averrhoa bilimbi (bilimbi) and Averrhoa carambola (carambola). Commonly consumed among the locals, these underutilized fruits have been popularly practiced as folk medicine since ancient times. Results from nutritional compositions analyses showed that bilimbi possessed higher fat and total dietary fibre but comparable moisture, ash, carbohydrate and protein content with that of carambola. Results from Folin-Ciocalteu, aluminium chloride colourimetric assays and antioxidant vitamins analyses indicated a higher antioxidant vitamins and flavonoid content in bilimbi while carambola with higher total phenolic. β-carotene bleaching and DPPH radical scavenging assays suggested that carambola displayed stronger antioxidant capacity and was positively correlated with its total phenolic content. The presence of non-nutritive phytochemicals in both fruits was evaluated by HPLC analysis based on the optimized extraction conditions performed through single-factor experiments. Analysis revealed that optimal extraction conditions were 80% ethanol at 65 oC for 8 hours in both fruit extracts. Phenolic compounds extracted by the optimal extraction conditions were subjected to HPLC analysis. Epigallocatechin and catechin were identified as the key flavonoids in bilimbi and carambola, respectively while sinapic acid and syringic acid were the predominant phenolic acid in bilimbi and carambola, respectively. Cytotoxic and anticancer potential of bilimbi and carambola ethanolic extracts were examined on various human cancer cell lines (breast, cervical, colon, liver and ovarian adenocarcinoma) as well as non-malignant Chang Liver cell line. Findings from MTS assay implied a 50% growth inhibitory effect induced by bilimbi extract on cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) and non-hormone dependent breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) at 70 and 90 μg/ml, respectively without any cytotoxic effect on non-malignant Chang Liver cell line. In contrast, carambola extract was unable to exert any growth inhibitory effect even concentration was increased up to 200 μg/ml. Further investigations to determine apoptogenic potential of bilimbi extract revealed typical morphological features of apoptosis as well as formation of ladder-like pattern in bilimbi-treated HeLa and MDA-MB-231. Apoptosis and antiproliferative effects were further evidenced with the increased in sub G1 population and accumulation of cells with a 2N DNA content in cell cycle analysis, suggesting perturbation at G0/G1 checkpoint. BrdU incorporation cell proliferation assay indicated a decreased in cells synthesis (S phase). Released of cytochrome c coupled with upregulation of caspase-3/7 and caspase-9 expression indicated that molecular mechanism in the induction of apoptosis by bilimbi on HeLa and MDA-MB-231 was through mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway, which also involve upregulation of pro-apoptotic Bax protein and downregulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. Upregulation of tumour suppressor p53 protein was detected in HeLa upon exposure to bilimbi, as opposed to MDA-MB-231 which was found to be independent of p53. Hence, bilimbi induced apoptosis through a p53-dependent mitochondrial pathway in HeLa and a p53-independent mitochondrial pathway in MDA-MB-231. Based on the antioxidant and phytochemicals properties as well as anticancer potential, bilimbi offers a promising candidate for cancer chemoprevention strategy. As a natural product, bilimbi is potentially safe and beneficial for pharmaceutical and health industries worth further research and investigations.


Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains the most effective treatment for menopausal symptom relief, and may provide cardiovascular benefits in younger women initiating treatment soon after menopause. However, large surveys indicate that many symptomatic women refuse or discontinue HRT prematurely owing to fear of weight gain. A continuous combined HRT containing 17β-estradiol (E2) 1 mg plus drospirenone (DRSP) 2 mg is effective in relieving menopausal symptoms and preventing postmenopausal osteoporosis. DRSP is a unique synthetic progestogen with a pharmacological profile similar to that of natural progesterone, including antialdosterone activity, a property not exhibited by other synthetic progestogens. DRSP can therefore reduce estrogen-related sodium and water retention in postmenopausal women receiving HRT via the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, which regulates sodium and water balance. This may translate into weight benefits. Pooled data from two placebo-controlled clinical trials (n = 333) indicated statistically significant weight loss of −1.5 kg at 6 and 12 months in postmenopausal women receiving E2/DRSP vs. placebo (p < 0.001). In a third randomized controlled trial (n = 1147), women receiving E2/DRSP maintained or lost weight, whereas weight increases were observed in women receiving E2 monotherapy (p < 0.0125). E2/DRSP could help maintain or even slightly decrease body weight during treatment, potentially improving HRT acceptance and compliance.


The authors evaluated auditory evoked steady state rest potentials at 40 Hz (SSR40Hz) in 21 posttrauma coma patients and compared their predictive value for prognosis of survival and quality of life with the results of the electroencephalogram (EEG), the computed tomography (CT) scan, and the Glasgow Coma Scale. SSR40Hz potentials recorded immediately after trauma had a maximum (100%) sensibility and specificity for a fatal prognosis and a high value for life prognosis. Consequently they appear to be a useful parameter for deciding on organ explant procedures. The EEG was more reliable in predicting a quality of life prognosis.


Chorioamnionitis or intra-amniotic infection is an infection that affects the intrauterine content during pregnancy. Numerous studies have reported vaginal colonization with various types of infectious agents as a risk factor for chorioamnionitis. Although this complication occurs due to the ascending polymicrobial bacterial infection at the time of membrane breakage, it may also occur in pregnant women with intact membranes, mainly due to Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum) and Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis). The main aim of the present study was to identify a region-specific panel of infectious agents that can be used more accurately determine premature birth, as well as the premature rupture of membranes (PROM). Thus, a 10-year retrospective study was conducted. A total of 1,301 pregnant women with PROM and premature birth or spontaneous abortion were included in the study. It was observed that the main infectious agent varied in the five groups analyzed in total. The infectious agent distribution also varied depending on environmental parameters. Ureaplasma was found to be the most frequently detected germ amongst the infectious agents of the vaginal cultures from pregnant women enrolled in the present study, regardless of gestational age. On the whole, the findings of the present study suggest that additional studies are required, in order to confirm that diagnosis and treatment according to laboratory results of vaginal infections with U. urealyticum/M. hominis during the first trimester of pregnancy could prevent premature birth, abortion or chorioamnionitis.


We investigate the stochastic relation between income and consumption (specifically, consumption of food) within a panel of about 2,000 households. Our major findings are: 1. Consumption responds much more strongly to permanent than to transitory movements of income. 2. The response to transitory income is nonetheless clearly positive. 3. A simple test, independent of our model of consumption, rejects a central implication of the pure life cycle-permanent income hypothesis. The observed covariation of income and consumption is compatible with pure life cycle-permanent income behavior on the part of80 percent of families and simple proportionality of consumption and income among the remaining 20 percent. As a general matter, our findings support the view that families respond differently to different sources of income variations. In particular, temporary income tax policies have smaller effects on consumption than do other, more permanent changes in income of the same magnitude.


Over the last few decades new technologies have made it easier to observe the nocturnal behaviour of raptors and vultures. Yet, few cases of nocturnal feeding of vultures have been documented. The purpose of this study is to provide information about the nocturnal feeding of the Griffon Vulture in Kresna Gorge, Bulgaria. Sixteen cases of nocturnal feeding were observed in the period 2012–2022. The vultures spent a mean of 133.50 ± 195.35 (range 1.00–568.00) minutes on the ground between 19h02 and 07h00. The mean duration of the feeding was 12.00 ± 11.85 (range 1.00–39.00) minutes. Red Foxes, Golden Jackals, and Grey Wolves were also recorded at the feeding site during the study period. Only Red Foxes were observed feeding at the same time as vultures.


Introduction: This study seeks to investigate the relationship between the words of the speeches of the various presidents of the Portuguese Republic (1976–2019) and the surrounding economic context. Methodology: We filtered all official speeches by Portuguese presidents from July 1976 to December 2019 and constructed a series of each word's frequency categorized in the group of economic words. Using autoregressive distributed lag regressions and cointegration analysis, complemented with the analysis of structural breaks, we evaluated how those words' frequencies changed relative to changing inflation and unemployment rates in Portugal. Results and Discussion: Our results show that certain words have tended to coincide with rises in inflation and unemployment in Portugal, which supports the hypothesis that Portuguese presidents' speeches tend to reflect economic and political events.


With the advent of interplanetary missions, requirements posed on satellite instrumentation are becoming increasingly difficult to meet. The main problems are associated with the very limited mass and volume budgets in combination with extreme temperatures and radiation environment. All of the new requirements will have to be met without loosing the prime instrument or sensor performance. This requires a fundamentally different approach. Through the use of Microsystems engineering in combination with clever design both volume and mass can be decreased by more than an order of magnitude while drastically increasing ruggedness. In the end this approach may lead to a paradigm shift in the sense that very capable and rugged sensors will be procure also for more benign missions due to the cost advantages of using MST. The paper will focus on application of MST technologies for sunsensors generally used in the Attitude and orbit control subsystem of satellites and the possible gains. (both technological and application wise).


Ecological models have problems showing the positive relationship between diversity and stability found in nature. Theory states that complex food webs have high extinction risks and low stability. However, persistent food webs found in nature are large and complex containing many interconnections between species. There are many possible mechanisms enabling persistent food webs such as; complex interaction patterns, asynchronous fluctuations of species densities, environmental fluctuations and spatial distribution. These factors have not been used in classical models. In this study, coloured environmental 1/f noise and dispersal between subpopulations were incorporated into a diamond shaped food web based on a model by Vasseur and Fox 2007. Contradictions between theoretical and empirical results regarding food webs can be resolved by detailed analyses of models, withholding stabilizing mechanisms. Weak environmental 1/f noise generated an increased coefficient of stability but the stabilizing effect of noise can be questioned because of a decreased mean food web biomass and reduced stabilizing effect when reddened. However, detailed studies of the food web revealed that noise can redistribute density proportions between species, evading lowest species density and thereby increase food web resistance to demographic stochasticity and catastrophes. Noise induced density proportion shifts imply that large population sizes are no insurance towards future increase in environmental variance. Synchrony of species environmental responses and dispersal between subpopulations can both have major influences on stability and extinction risk of smaller food webs indicating that spatial structure could be one of the dominating factors stabilizing complex food webs found in nature.


The results of treatment in 213 patients with end-stage renal disease who underwent hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis or transplantation, or a combination, between 1962 and 1975 were analysed. Comparison by censored survival analysis showed significantly better (P less than 0.01) patient survival with the integrated therapy of dialysis and transplantation than with either form of dialysis alone. There was no significant difference in survival of males and females but survival at the extremes of age was poorer. Analysis of survival by major cause of renal failure indicated best survival in patients with congenital renal disease. Graft and patient survival rates at 1 year after the first transplantation were 42% and 69%. The major cause of death in this series was vascular disease but infection was responsible for 50% of deaths after transplantation. While integration of dialysis with transplantation produces best patient survival, this course is possible only when sufficient cadaver kidneys are available.


A retrospective study over a period of 10 years, involving different hospital departments, revealed a total of 26 patients with post-intubation and/or post-prolonged tracheotomy stenosis which required surgical treatment. Predisposing factors included poor general condition, infection, iatrogenic factors related to intensive therapy (respiration, inadequate nursing) and the duration. Stenosis were situated from the sub-glottis to the carina. After surgical treatment, there were ten cases of restenosis, two multiple, and one inflammatory granuloma. Intubation may be life-saving, but must be performed by an individual competent in the procedure, under strictly aseptic conditions, and using non-traumatic disposable material. The patient should undergo thorough ENT examination at the time of extubation, repeated one month and six months later.


Heat-diffusion models have been successfully applied to various domains such as classification and dimensionality-reduction tasks in manifold learning. One critical local approximation technique is employed to weigh the edges in the graph constructed from data points. This approximation technique is based on an implicit assumption that the data are distributed evenly. However, this assumption is not valid in most cases, so the approximation is not accurate in these cases. To solve this challenging problem, we propose a volume-based heat-diffusion model (VHDM). In VHDM, the volume is theoretically justified by handling the input data that are unevenly distributed on an unknown manifold. We also propose a novel volume-based heat-diffusion classifier (VHDC) based on VHDM. One of the advantages of VHDC is that the computational complexity is linear on the number of edges given a constructed graph. Moreover, we give an analysis on the stability of VHDC with respect to its three free parameters, and we demonstrate the connection between VHDC and some other classifiers. Experiments show that VHDC performs better than Parzen window approach, K nearest neighbor, and the HDC without volumes in prediction accuracy and outperforms some recently proposed transductive-learning algorithms. The enhanced performance of VHDC shows the validity of introducing the volume. The experiments also confirm the stability of VHDC with respect to its three free parameters.


The review is devoted to the problems related to changes of the oscillation processes in the skin microvascular bed in human, which result from physiological aging. It is shown that both systemic (arterial hypertension) and local (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma) microcirculation disorders are reflected on cutaneous peripheral microhemodynamics. It is demonstrated that these diseases against the background of physiological aging of organism can lead to multidirectional changes of skin microcirculation parameters as compared with healthy subjects. It may be due to both local activation of the compensatory mechanisms with their subsequent influence on the skin microcirculation and adequate drug therapy.


Handgrip strength provides a viable measurement of impairment and function, which is utilized at assessment and throughout treatment to record progress. Previous studies have considered the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and grip strength, but have reported contradictory findings. Many of these studies involved the use of same gender participants, or recruited people of a specific race. It is therefore difficult to directly compare and apply the results to wider population. Furthermore, no research has considered the relationship between BMI and handgrip strength in healthy, pathology free individuals of mixed age and gender. Further research in this field may therefore prove beneficial. This study recruited thirty volunteers of such characteristics, measured their handgrip strength and calculated their BMI. Results revealed no significant correlation; however a trend towards significance was identified, which highlights the need for further research using larger mixed sample sizes in future


The heavy drinking of alcohol remains primarily a hegemonically masculine ritual worldwide. Yet scholarship has undertheorized women's practices in shaping the boundaries of masculine rituals, including drinking. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 151 interviews with single mothers, married mothers, nonresident fathers, and grandmothers from diverse class backgrounds, I demonstrate that Russian women perform extensive invisible management labor in attempting to produce responsible men. Constrained by a starkly unequal gender division of domestic labor, wives and mothers engage in varied "patriarchal bargains" as they shape men's drinking practices, co-producing hegemonic masculinity. Whereas in the Soviet period women also managed men's drinking, today new gender strategies have emerged. More women are held accountable to a collusive femininity involving both accommodation and resistance, upholding men's drinking privileges only if breadwinning occurs. As women perform invisible labor, they end up reproducing the conditions that demand this labor from them in the first place. Some women embrace an alternative femininity by becoming single mothers and refusing to manage men's drinking, especially when men fail as breadwinners. Theorizing collusive and alternative femininities, as well as women's invisible labor, advances our knowledge of how multiple femininities shape, and may in time change, hegemonic masculinity.


Various approaches for the automated test case generation and execution in the area of graphical user interface testing (GUI) have emerged in recent years. Two notable trends are model-based testing as well as capture and replay technique. In this contribution we present an approach which allows a meaningful combination of both in order to be able to derive fully executable test cases from usage-models and to keep them highly maintainable in a SCRUM process. We first define a set of re-useable test steps by means of a capture and replay tool (TAISpy). Next, we show how it is possible to directly integrate these test steps into the usage models of a GUI and subsequently to generate executable test cases from them without further refinement or transformation to other formats. General idea, implemented architecture, tool chain and, finally, a case study are presented.


This paper presents a comparison of nondestructive measurement methods which are suitable for determination of the complete or partial shape and de-formations of real mechanical structures. First part of this paper presents a short overview and the major differences between the existing measurement methods together with theoretical principles of sensors currently available in Croatia. The comparison was based on the analysis of the active optical pro-jection based methods that define relative position of the measurement point by means of coherent and non-coherent structured light projection, as well as the active contact methods that define measurement point position by means of a direct physical contact with the surface of measurement object. For each of mentioned measurement methods internal and external influencing factors were defined. It is shown that the advantages and disadvantages have to be observed with respect to various aspects ; like sensor types, method applica-tion, data acquisition conditions, measurement range, object reflectance, automation, accuracy, spatial resolution, method maturity, measurement planning and overall measurement costs. Second part of this paper, based upon the introduced influence factors, briefly presents the experimental verification of presented theory by com-parative measurement of the actual industrial problem: saddle form surface design with burr line extraction on the raw aluminum model of a steering wheel. Measurements were conducted on the currently available digitizers: non-coherent structured light sensor "Atos", laser senzor Cyberware Mini-model Shop 3030/HIREZ/MM, and a contact probe system Ferranti Merlin 750. The achieved results justify introduced theoretical comparison based on the influence of internal and external parameters. It is shown that the wide basis of possible internal and external influencing factors require multidisciplinary approach to the comparison of each methods together with the associated measurement sensors.


Employees become movers in all types of businesses. Good or bad depends on the job performance of its employees. Therefore, managers are currently starting to discuss investments that consist of coaching for employees. Intense inter-company relations, so that inter-company relations will affect his work and will have an impact on his Job performance. For the sake of hope is to improve employee performance and development. the purpose of the research is to find out the effect of coaching on the job performance that is moderated by co-worker support. This study discusses the relationship between providing coaching to XYZ employee job performance in a company that is moderated by co worker support. This study will explore the exploration of training provided to employees. The sample size of this study is 80 employees and author use PLS (Partial Least Square) to measure the research model. The results of the study explain significant coaching on job performance. However, mentoring is moderated by the support of coworkers is not significantly approved for job performance.
Keywords: Coaching, Co-working support and job performance


Strong demands for public wireless broadband services will require more capacity than even that can be,supplied by advanced mobile cellular systems like the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System. The increasing popularity of WLANs has prompted mobile network operators to consider their deployment in high-density usage areas like indoor/outdoor public hotspots to provide complementary broadband access to their UMTS networks. In order to provide consistent QoS control over an integrated UMTS and WLAN system, a policy-based multidomain QoS management architecture is proposed in this article. Different UMTS-WLAN interworking scenarios are discussed to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed architecture.


The object of this study was to examine if there exists, analogously to what happens in human cancer patients, elevation of phosphohexose isomerase activity (PHI, EC 126.96.36.199) in the serum of animals bearing an experimental tumor and, if so, whether such increases were related to the progress of the tumor, as in humans. The behavior of the same enzyme activity within the tumor itself was also studied. Significant correlations were found between serum elevations of PHI and hepatoma growth. These correlations, moreover, emerge at a very early stage. On the other hand, no relation appears to exist between phosphohexose isomerase activity in the tumor and that in the blood. The two divisions, furthermore, do not seem to interact. These results may prove interesting prospectives for the monitoring of human cancer.


One practical requirement in solving dynamic games is to ensure that the players play well from any decision point onward. To satisfy this requirement, existing efforts focus on equilibrium refinement, but the scalability and applicability of existing techniques are limited. In this paper, we propose Temporal-Induced Self-Play (TISP), a novel reinforcement learning-based framework to find strategies with decent performances from any decision point onward. TISP uses belief-space representation, backward induction, policy learning, and non-parametric approximation. Building upon TISP, we design a policy-gradient-based algorithm TISP-PG. We prove that TISP-based algorithms can find approximate Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium in zero-sum one-sided stochastic Bayesian games with finite horizon. We test TISP-based algorithms in various games, including finitely repeated security games and a grid-world game. The results show that TISP-PG is more scalable than existing mathematical programming-based methods and significantly outperforms other learning-based methods.


Background: Alstonia boonei De Wild. and Alstonia congensis Engl. (Apocynaceae) are commonly used by the indigenes of Nigeria to treat malaria and other ailments.Objective: This study has examined the leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis with a view to providing some pharmacopoeial standards for identification and development of their individual monograph.Materials and Methods: Macroscopic and microscopic studies were carried out on the leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis with the use of light microscope, while the proximate and fluorescence analyses were carried out according to standard World Health Organization specifications.Results: The leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis were coriaceous. The quantitative microscopy of the leaves showed the upper epidermal cell lengths for A. boonei and A. congensis as 32.5 ± 0.56 (μm) and 38.5 ± 1.8 (μm), while palisade ratios were 5.2 ± 0.4 and 3.7 ± 0.2, respectively. The stomata numbers of A. boonei and A. congensis were 5.0 ± 1.2 and 1.8 ± 0.3, respectively. The stomata length and width of A. boonei, respectively, were 24.5 ± 0.5 (μm) and 22.0 ± 1.2 (μm), while those of A. congensis, respectively, were 35.0 ± 0.8 (μm) and 28.0 ± 3.0 (μm). The vascular bundle in A. boonei was arc-shaped with xylem vessels standing in isolation but assuming a U-shape in A. congensis with xylem vessels interlocking to form a crown-like connection. Vein-islet number of A. boonei (9.0± 0.7) was slightly more than that of A. congensis (8.8±1.8). Total ash values and moisture contents of the leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis were 8.5 ± 0.01 and 6.8 ± 0.03; and 9.1 ± 0.04 and 9.9 ± 0.02, respectively.Conclusion: The foliar epidermal and anatomical characters presented in this study are useful for differentiating between the two closely-related species, Alstonia boonei and Alstonia congensis. The established characters in each of the species could be incorporated into the next editions of the Nigerian and West African Herbal Pharmacopoeias.Keywords: Alstonia spp., Pharmacopoeia, Microscopy, Proximate analysis, Organoleptic evaluation


This paper presents a microelectronic system which is capable of making a signal record and functional electric stimulation of an injured spinal cord. As a requirement of implantable engineering for the regeneration microelectronic system, the system is of low noise, low power, small size and high performance. A front-end circuit and two high performance OPAs (operational amplifiers) have been designed for the system with different functions, and the two OPAs are a low-noise low-power two-stage OPA and a constant-gm RTR input and output OPA. The system has been realized in CSMC 0.5-μm CMOS technology. The test results show that the system satisfies the demands of neuron signal regeneration.


E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com August 1, 2012, Accepted August 20, 2012Key Words : Pyrochemical process, High-temperature viscosity measurement, LiCl-KCl eutectic, Uranium,LanthanidesPyrochemical process dealing with high-temperature LiCl-KCl molten salts comprising trivalent ions of actinides andlanthanides have been extensively investigated since it hassome advantages over the conventional wet chemical pro-cesses with respect to the volume reduction of the nuclearwastes, the recycling of spent fuels, the nuclear non-proliferation resistance, etc.


In this work, we propose NLINV-Net, a neural network architecture for jointly estimating the image and coil sensitivity maps of radial cardiac real-time data. NLINV-Net is inspired by NLINV and solves the non-linear formulation of the SENSE inverse problem by unrolling the iteratively regularized Gauss-Newton method, which is improved by adding neural network based regularization terms. NLINV-Net is trained in a self-supervised fashion, which is crucial for cardiac real-time data which lack any ground truth reference. NLINV-Net significantly reduces noise and streaking artifacts compared to reconstructions using plain NLINV.


Abstract. The problem of soil consolidation was first studied by Terzaghi who formulated the well-known one-dimensional consolidation theory. However, this widely used method was found to provide poorly accurate estimations, since Terzaghi considered the assumption of constant permeability and consolidation coefficient. The poor accuracy is also due to the low resemblance between laboratory results and field actual measurements. In order to overcome this issue, many researchers proposed new approaches to estimate and predict soil settlement more accurately. Among these approaches, field-based methods are particularly promising. For instance, the Asaoka method (1978), Sridharan (1987) method, Tan (1995) method, Chunlin's method (2014), and recent methods of Guo et al. (2017, 2018b) and Guo et al. 2018(a,). This paper aims to assess and discuss the results of some recent methods using a field consolidation monitoring data set.


retarded," stigmatising labels that are no longer current among those involved with this group of people. Professionals, relatives, and the individuals themselves increasingly prefer the term "learning difficulties." To confuse the reader further by referring in the title to the "mentally ill"-psychiatrically a different group-is to perpetuate a confusion which, although common among lay people, should not be found in authoritative journals like the BMJ-even allowing for translation difficulties.


Low-load blood flow restricted (BFR) exercise represents a novel method of rehabilitative exercise, however, little is known about variables that may influence the acute physiological response to BFR exercise prescription. This study explored the muscular, metabolic, cardiovascular, and perceptual responses to acute blood flow restricted exercise and compared it to traditional exercise using a Biodex dynamometer. Fourteen resistance trained, male participants (age: 22.1 ± 3.3 years; height: 177.8 ± 6.4 cm; body mass: 85.8 ± 11.9 kg) were randomized to complete 4 sets of isotonic knee extension-flexion resistance exercise under two conditions: 1) control; and 2) BFR exercise. Both control and BFR exercise used training loads of 20% of maximal voluntary contraction, however, control had free limb blood flow and BFR exercise was implemented using a 5 cm external cuff around the proximal thigh inflated to 140 mmHg. Muscle cross-sectional area (an index of muscle swelling) was significantly increased from baseline by 11.3% and 12.4% in control and BFR, respectively (p = 0.001). Similarly compared to baseline, lactate (control = 6.1 ± 1.3; BFR = 5.9 ± 0.9 mmol; p < 0.001), heart rate (control = 140.1 ± 18.8; BFR = 144.2 ± 12.6 bt ∙ min-1; p < 0.001), RPE (control = 5.8 ± 2.8; BFR = 6.3 ± 2.4 arbitrary units; p < 0.001), and pain (control = 6.71 ± 18.4; BFR = 16.8 ± 29.2 mm; p = 0.003) significantly increased, however no differences could be detected between exercise types. Low cuff pressure-small cuff width BFR exercise does not result greater muscular swelling or alter metabolic, cardiovascular, or perceptual responses relative to low-intensity exercise alone. If rapid strength and mass gains can be achieved using low cuff pressure-small cuff width BFR methods it represents an intriguing rehabilitation strategy for disuse, injury, and some muscular disease treatments with less concern for patient safety.


Microwave ablation (MWA) cures cancer by inserting slender antennas into tumors and producing large amounts of heat to kill cancerous cells. A key challenge is the selective heating of cancer cells without damaging the surrounding tissue, which requires a control of heating power for appropriate temperature distribution. This study established a theoretical simulation model for the microwave ablation of a porcine liver by using a coaxial-slot antenna with 10 slots at high frequencies. The axisymmetric finite element method (FEM) with temperature dependent thermal and dielectric properties was used to describe the MWA distribution in the liver tissue by coupling the electromagnetic wave equations and the bio-heat transfer equations. The results demonstrated that the increase of microwave frequency could improve the therapeutic effect of tumor significantly since it had less collateral damage, more concentrated heated region, and better material response than conventional microwave ablations. For a spherical tumor with 10 mm of radius, the 12 GHz MWA reveals an optimum ablation performance with 21.0% of the collateral damage at the radius direction, and 5.5% of the collateral damage at the axial direction, respectively. The results show that the 12 GHz MWA produces more concentrated heat, causes the greatest difference in temperature-rise between the tumor tissues and the healthy tissues, and significantly reduces the over-treatment region for spherical tumor.


Specular and strong reflections are the main problems encountered during part image defect inspection of shiny or highly reflective surfaces. In this letter, we propose an improved illumination method for defect inspection. A diffuse light source is designed based on the physics analysis of light reflection. The distribution of intensity is simulated according to a known model to verify the illumination uniformity of the source. Experiments show that defect expressivity when using the proposed illumination method has a better performance. The optical model is not only suitable for the defect detection of metal balls but also for the defect detection of planes and cylinders.


The irradiation creep and growth behavior of zirconium alloys has been studied during irradiation with 3.5-MeV protons. Irradiations were carried out at temperatures in the range 423 to 623 K and strain measurements were recorded up to displacement levels of 0.03 displacements per atom (dpa). In annealed materials, a significant portion of the measured strain could be attributed to the presence of dislocation loops. The measured growth strain was found to be dependent on texture, grain dimensions, network dislocation structure (cold work), and temperature. Experiments to separate the irradiation creep and growth components of the total strain revealed that irradiation growth was by far the most significant component in cold-worked zirconium-niobium alloys but that the two components were approximately equal in annealed crystal bar zirconium specimens. An investigation of transient effects revealed that no strain transient was observed when the irradiation flux was removed. The strain rate was found to be proportional to the applied stress (at low stresses) and to the damage rate.


In the littlest Higgs model with T-parity, the heavy photon (AH) is supposed to be a possible dark matter (DM) candidate. The direct proof of the validity of this model is to produce the heavy photon at an accelerator. In this paper, we study the production rate of e+e− → AHAH at the international e+e− linear collider (ILC) in the littlest Higgs model with T-parity, and show the distributions of the transverse momenta of AH. The numerical results indicate that the heavy photon production rate could reach the 10−1fb level at some parameter space, so this could be a good chance to observe the heavy photon via the pair production process with high luminosity at the ILC (500 fb−1). We know that DM is composed of weakly interacting massive particles, so the interactions with standard model particles are weak. How to detect heavy photons at a collider and distinguish them from other DM candidates are discussed in the final section of the paper.


Slip rates and slip vector azimuths on major active oblique normal faults are used to investigate whether circulation associated with the Yellowstone upwelling plume is driving tectonic deformation in the northeast Basin and Range province. Observed deformation is consistent with this suggestion; the plume is sheared to the southwest by motion of the North American plate. Testable predictions are made for structure and evolution of the region.


We discuss possible tests of the constancy of the velocity of light using distant astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray bursters (GRBs), Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and pulsars. This speculative quest may be motivated by some models of quantum fluctuations in the space-time background, and we discuss explicitly how an energy-dependent variation in photon velocity \delta c/ c \sim - E / M arises in one particular quantum-gravitational model. We then discuss how data on GRBs may be used to set limits on variations in the velocity of light, which we illustrate using BATSE and OSSE observations of the GRBs that have recently been identified optically and for which precise redshifts are available. We show how a regression analysis can be performed to look for an energy-dependent effect that should correlate with redshift. The present data yield a limit M \gsim 10^{15} GeV for the quantum gravity scale. We discuss the prospects for improving this analysis using future data, and how one might hope to distinguish any positive signal from astrophysical effects associated with the sources.


Potential of the bovine mammary gland to synthesize milk probably is determined fully at parturition. Realization of that potential depends on the gland receiving adequate amounts of nutrients in the correct proportions. Provided the cow is fed adequately in relation to her potential yield, supply to the body of those nutrients that are absorbed directly from the gut is not likely to limit milk synthesis. Glucose and long-chain fatty acids, however, are not absorbed from the gut in adequate amounts, and metabolic factors (primarily hormonal regulation) determining the supply of these may be important limits to milk synthesis. Even when amounts and proportions of metabolites entering circulation are adequate for maintenance and maximum milk synthesis, the cow's potential cannot be realized fully unless nutrients are channeled selectively towards the mammary gland. This occurs naturally in the high-yielding cow in early lactation and probably can be maintained artificially into midlactation by use of growth hormone. Consequences of this on milk output, health, and reproductive performance are considered.


Background: The construction industry is considered as one of the most hazardous industrial sectors in many parts of the world wherein the construction workers are more prone to accidents. Statistics maintained by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), illustrate that the Construction Industry has a consistently poor record on workers health, safety and welfare relative to other industries. The construction industry is faced with unique safety and health problems that require special attention especially in a developing country like Nigeria. There is little or no data available on morbidity and work- related injuries and associated factors among road construction workers, and in the academic circle, few studies have been conducted among road construction workers. Objectives: To assess safety practices and knowledge of construction workers on hazards associated with working on road construction sites. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was done amongst all construction site workers and their supervisors involved in road construction that have spent at least 6momths on the job in Egor LGA, Edo State. A one stage cluster sampling technique was used to select the study population. Data were collected using a structure questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: Majority of the respondents 204(94.9%) had good knowledge of road construction site hazards. Age and duration of employment was not found to statistically, significantly influence knowledge in this study. However, educational level and hours of work per week greater than 48 hours were both found to influence respondents' knowledge of road construction site hazards positively. Conclusion: The study showed that road construction workers in Egor local government area of Edo state had good knowledge of road construction site hazards, although their knowledge did not translate to regular use of their safety devices. The study shows obvious need for thorough orientation, training and education of construction site workers in Egor LGA.


This paper discusses how system dynamics and computer modelling contribute to the debate of management of technologies in response to sustainability crises. The basic components and properties of socio-ecological systems were modelled in order to understand possible responses to resource scarcity or exceeding levels of pollutions in a given system. The computer programme was based on a toy model methodology in accordance to our commitment to simplification and focus on the relationship between ecological resources provision and human consumption and needs. The results show that computer simulation may provide interesting insights on managing the use of ecological resources when attempting to promote increased human wellbeing. The mapping of system dynamics has also proven useful to explore the nature of sustainability challenges and the appropriate responses under the expected feedback loops between the various regimes of a macro socio-ecological system such as technological and consumption regimes.


LCL-filter-based grid-tie inverters require damping for the current-loop stability. There are only software modifications in active damping, whereas resistors are added in passive damping. Although passive damping incurs in additional losses, it is widely used because of its simplicity. This paper considers the active damping in medium-voltage parallel inverters for wind turbines. Due to cost reasons, only minimal software changes are allowed and no extra sensors can be used. The procedure must be robust against line-inductance variations in weak grids. Double-update mode is needed so the resonance frequency is under the Nyquist limit. The bandwidth reduction when using active damping is also required to be known beforehand. Moreover, the design procedure should be simple without requiring numerous trial-and-error iterations. In spite of the abundant literature, the options are limited under these circumstances. Filter-based solutions are appropriate and a new procedure for tuning the notch filter is proposed. However, this procedure requires that the resistance of the inductors is known and a novel filter-based solution is proposed that uses lag filters. The lag filters displace the phase angle at the resonance frequency so that the Nyquist stability criterion is fulfilled. Simulations and experiments with a 100-kVA prototype validate the analysis.


An irreducible weight module of an affine Kac-Moody algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ is called dense if its support is equal to a coset in $\mathfrak{h}^{*}/Q$. Following a conjecture of V. Futorny about affine Kac-Moody algebras $\mathfrak{g}$, an irreducible weight $\mathfrak{g}$-module is dense if and only if it is cuspidal (i.e. not a quotient of an induced module). The conjecture is confirmed for $\mathfrak{g}=A_{2}^{\left(1\right)}$, $A_{3}^{\left(1\right)}$ and$A_{4}^{\left(1\right)}$ and a classification of the supports of the irreducible weight $\mathfrak{g}$-modules obtained. For all $A_{n}^{\left(1\right)}$ the problem is reduced to finding primitive elements for only finitely many cases, all lying below a certain bound. For the left-over finitely many cases an algorithm is proposed, which leads to the solution of Futorny's conjecture for the cases $A_{2}^{\left(1\right)}$ and $A_{3}^{\left(1\right)}$. Yet, the solution of the case $A_{4}^{\left(1\right)}$ required additional combinatorics. For the proofs, a new category of hypoabelian Lie subalgebras, pre-prosolvable subalgebras, and a subclass thereof, quasicone subalgebras, is introduced and its tropical matrix algebra structure outlined.


Neuromorphic event-based dynamic vision sensors (DVS) have much faster sampling rates and a higher dynamic range than frame-based imagers. However, they are sensitive to background activity (BA) events which are unwanted. we propose a new criterion with little computation overhead for defining real events and BA events by utilizing the global space and time information rather than the local information by Gaussian convolution, which can be also used as a filter. We denote the filter as GF. We demonstrate GF on three datasets, each recorded by a different DVS with different output size. The experimental results show that our filter produces the clearest frames compared with baseline filters and run fast.


Appropriate and efficient technology contributes a great deal to smallholder farmer development. This study uses a systematic literature review to debate whether animal traction research and practice should receive support. Firstly, the smallholder farming system is reviewed to contextualise the discussion and present a state-of-the-art review of animal traction in South Africa. After finding the diminishing use of animal traction among smallholder farming systems, the inquiry probes the causes of the rural development policies, basic education curriculum, and higher learning institutions. The results reveal that the technological needs of smallholder farmers can be met with animal traction. However, a lack of support from policies and learning institutions has contributed to the negative attitude toward animal traction. We further note that new animal traction technology is unlikely to be known to smallholders because of poor information dissemination caused by a weak agricultural extension. After realising the benefits of animal traction, it seems worthwhile to revamp animal traction research and practice for subsistence farmers.


Background: In spite of the progress that was recorded in the development of anticancer drugs, challenges continue to rises particularly due to resistance of the cancer chemotherapies and low sensitivity of the commercially available anticancer drugs.
Methodology: collection and review of available literatures.
Results: Bovine lactoferricin (LfcinB) is a cationic peptide with broad spectrum antimicrobial and anticancer activity. It also shows promising activity against many varieties of cancer cells including colon carcinoma cells, melanoma, fibrosarcoma, monocytic leukemic cells and neuroblastoma. It is unaffected by multidrug resistance mechanisms seen with conventional chemotherapeutic drugs, and displays a higher specificity for cancer cells versus normal cells in comparison to conventional chemotherapy.
Conclusion: LfcinB exhibit strong antitumor activity effectively penetrating cell membrane, activating caspases and induce apoptosis to cancer cells.


It is advantageous for designers, researchers and educators to develop forms of knowledge maps to determine a multiplicity of processes. These knowledge maps, or epistemologies, can start to provide understanding of the centrality of the design process as a means of initiating change in man-made things [1] or of design as the driver for the wealth creation process, and therefore contrasting these processes from the essential process of the researcher, which is to seek to understand and describe behaviours: natural, human and so on. The paper will develop and describe a particular epistemology using a two-dimensional knowledge map approach similar to that used by Hall [2]. This map of design will be used also to describe the design educational process as carried out on most design courses, which is to produce design professionals, and look at the aims of this educational processes as students become designers – moving the theory from simply a map of knowledge to an embedded processes as they become designers: moving from simply knowing about design to becoming designers themselves. From epistemology to ontology. It will also investigate how this process takes place for researchers, using the design map to describe the research process as well as the design process. The comparison will indicate how significantly different the two processes are and ask the question of what sort of beings educators are trying to develop – design practitioners or design researchers – in the context of this fundamental difference.


Nine clones of 'Jewel' strawberry, all originating from the same source in 1997, and propagated at one location in 2008, were compared in replicated trials planted in Kentville, NS and London, ON in 2009. Six of the clones were from micropropagated plants in Ontario, two were from runner-propagated plants, and the last was from the nursery that had provided the original stock. Data on vegetative and reproductive factors were recorded at both sites in 2009 and 2010. The number of runners, leaf petiole length, and the severity of powdery mildew were recorded 60 days after planting. Plot fullness was rated the first fall and the following spring. In the spring of the second year, plant vigor, phenology, and the number of flower stalks and flowers per stalk were recorded. Fruit yield, whether marketable or unmarketable, and berry counts were recorded twice weekly in the second year. Clonal differences were noted in all the plant measurements. For example, one of the runner-propagated 'Jewel' clones, JEEL 9, had the highest number of runners and the longest petioles. Site x clone interactions were significant for spring vigor and spring plotfill ratings and for the number of flower stalks. Differences in flower development were also noted, however, there were no significant differences in harvest date. There was a small but significant difference in berry weight but not in marketable or total yield. The clonal variation described in this study was not of sufficient scope to explain the poor crops that some growers have occasionally reported. Alternative explanations are offered.


Abstract:The story of the Journal of Library History, now known as Information & Culture: A Journal of History, continues with the buildout at Florida under Dean Harold Goldstein and the transfer of the Journal to the University of Texas at Austin under the aegis of the University of Texas Press and the editorship of Donald Davis. Historical perspectives are used to frame continuing crises in scholarly communications as they impinge on the Journal. This story is interpreted through the sociological lens of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of social field, habitus, and multiple forms of capital.


Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity is relatively common in the Indian subcontinent with surgical resection and adjuvant radiotherapy/chemotherapy being the treatment modality of choice. Prosthetic rehabilitation with an obturator following resection is more economical and yields satisfactory results. Better patient acceptance and comfort necessitates hollowing the prosthesis to a great extent. This novel method modifies the existing lost-wax technique in fabricating a definitive hollow maxillary obturator. An elderly man had reported to the Department of Prosthodontics with the chief complaint of a "big hole" in the mouth which affected his quality of life. He had undergone subtotal maxillectomy, following a histopathologic diagnosis of SCC, with adjuvant radiotherapy. Examination revealed an Aramany Class II defect with the healthy oral mucosa. A lightweight definitive obturator was designed and fabricated using a simple technique which utilizes easily available modeling wax. This article describes a relatively simple, single-step fabrication of a closed hollow-bulb obturator prosthesis with a uniform thickness of heat-cured resin encapsulating the hollow prosthesis.


ABSTRACT While airborne particulate matter (PM) pollution is a serious problem for urban environments, it can be reduced through uptake by plant leaves. In this study, we investigated and compared the uptake of PM-bound toxic metals by different plant species. Enrichment factor (EF) and correlation analyses across different sample types indicated anthropogenic origins of these toxic metals with airborne source signatures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses of both leaf surfaces (adaxial and abaxial) suggested that the micro-morphological properties of the leaf surface (e.g. stomata, trichomes, epicuticular wax, and epidermal appendages) control the accumulation of PM and associated metals in plant leaves. Senna siamea leaves showed the most micro-morphological variation as well as the maximum concentration of toxic metals. It was found that foliar uptake of PM-bound toxic metals is affected by leaf surface morphological characteristics. Our results imply that plant speciation strategies can be used to help decrease PM pollution.


Strongytoides, the intestinal nematode, has worldwide distribution, and hyperinfection syndrome from Strongyloides stercoralis may be fatal. A case report of a cancer patient with recurrent hyperinfection syndrome is presented, followed by a brief update on recent information about this parasitic infection and its management.


A slide screw microwave impedance tuner is presented which has four independent carriages, which slide across a low loss slabline. Each carriage has one or two vertical axes and associated stepper motors and gear, allowing the precise positioning of RF probes (slugs) into the slot of the slabline at any horizontal or vertical position. Each RF probe generates wideband reflection when approaching the center conductor. The associated calibration and tuning software can identify combinations of tuner probe positions corresponding to reflection factors such as to create independent tuning at up to four different frequencies. In case of harmonic frequencies the coverage of the RF probes has to be at least two octaves, i.e.: maximum∶ minimum frequency ≥ 4∶1; in practice frequency coverage is higher than 4∶1, since most applications require a certain operation bandwidth; in the typical case of a fundamental frequency band of 1.8–2.5 GHz the frequency range covered by the RF probes needs to be 1.8 to 10 GHz, the maximum frequency being 4 • 2.5 GHz = 10 GHz..


Brf1 (TFIIB-related factor 1) specifically regulates the transcription of Pol III genes (RNA polymerase III-dependent genes), including tRNAs and 5S rRNAs, which are elevated in both transformed and tumor cells, suggesting that they play a crucial role in tumorigenesis. Our recent studies have demonstrated that alcohol consumption increases Brf1 expression and Pol III gene transcription to promote tumor development. However, it remains to be investigated that Brf1 is expressed in human cancers. At the present studies, we have determined the significance of Brf1 overexpression in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the impaction of repressing Brf1 expression in alcohol-promoted cell transformation. Biopsies of human HCC, liver tumor samples of mice and cell lines of normal and tumor liver were utilized to determine alteration of Brf1 expression using cytological and molecular biological approaches. The result indicates that Brf1 expression is increased in human cases of HCC. High expression of Brf1 displays shorter overall survival period. Levels of Brf1 and Pol III gene transcription in HCC patients with alcohol consumption show an additional increase, compared with the cases of non-HCC with or without alcohol intake. Induction of Brf1 and Pol III genes by ethanol in hepatoma cells is higher than in non-tumor cells. Ethanol increases the rate of cell transformation. Repression of Brf1 inhibits alcohol-promoted cell transformation. Together, these studies demonstrate that Brf1 is overexpressed in HCC cases and liver tumor cell lines. High level of Brf1 in human HCC is correlated with short survival time. Alcohol consumption enhances Brf1 expression to promote cell transformation. Brf1 is a new biomarker of diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. *: The project is supported by NIH grants: AA017288, AA021114 and AA02324 to Shuping Zhong Citation Format: Shuping Zhong. The function role of Brf1 in alcohol-induced human and mouse hepatocellular carcinoma*. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4936.


Purpose: to identify the state of regulatory certainty, goals and objectives, conditions and forms of effective implementation of the current certification of students in the conditions of digitalization of education. Research methodology: analysis, synthesis, description, deduction, generalization, questionnaires, statistical data processing, pedagogical experiment. Conclusions: one of the urgent tasks of legal pedagogy is to develop the concept of current certification of students in distance learning; regulatory regulation of the studied issue is fragmentary, superficial and formal; educational organizations should create appropriate methodological support for the implementation of current certification in online mode; when developing methodological literature, as well as when determining the most effective forms of current certification, it is necessary to take into account the opinion of teachers and students. Scientific and practical significance: the research results contribute to the doctrine of educational law in terms of the theory of current certification of students. They can be used by research and teaching staff in the process of organizing and implementing the current certification of bachelors and undergraduates, with its educational and methodological support.


Protoconch and colour pattern of the living animal are here shown to be good characters for distinguishing smaller Mediterranean Cerithium species, Cerithium lividulum Risso, 1826, and C. renovatum Monterosato, 1884. In particular, the protoconch is a very helpful tool for recognizing atypical morphs. The shape of the shell and early teleoconch sculpture and microsculpture are not sufficient: the former character is too variable within each species and sculpture is similar in the two species. Observation of spawn deposited and cultured in an aquarium shows that both species have a non-planktotrophic larval development. However, C. lividulum shows variation in morphology and organization of egg mass. Specimens from NW. Sicily deposited eleven cylindrical egg masses, each egg containing one embryo, and one sac-like egg mass, each egg frequently containing 4 to 6 embryos. We think that the latter egg mass should be considered a rarity (anomaly?) rather than a representative taxonomical variation of C. lividulum. As far as concerns the Eastern Mediterranean populations, we show that the small, almost pupoid, knobbed morph from the Aegean Sea should be considered C. renovatum, while the larger crenulated morph, known as C. syriacum Pallary, 1938, also living in SE. Sicily, is suggested to be conspecific with C. lividulum. A shell from the Pallary collection, in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris), is here designated as lectotype of C. syriacum. Also, some morphs from the Eastern Atlantic are to be considered as belonging to C. lividulum. Use of the protoconch was successfully applied to fossil morphs. We identified C. lividulum (with ribbed or knobbed morphs) from Lower Pleistocene and C. renovatum from late Middle Pleistocene deposits.


The technique of double translational energy spectroscopy (DTES), recently successfully developed in this laboratory for use with targets of atomic hydrogen, has been used to study one-electron capture by ground-state N2+(2s22p)2Po ions in collisions with hydrogen atoms at energies within the range 0.8-6.0 keV. Cross sections for the formation of the main excited product channels have been determined. The measurements allow a re-evaluation of our previous TES measurements carried out with N2+ primary beams containing an admixture of metastable N2+(2s2p2)4P ions. The main findings of these earlier measurements are confirmed and the DTES measurements now remove any ambiguity in interpretation of the experimental data. While recent theoretical studies correctly predict the two main N+ 3Do and 3Po product channels, the quantitative agreement with experiment is only partially satisfactory.


The alterations in physical property across different space groups of the same material are sometimes conveniently reflected by the crystal structure as a function of temperature. However, mirroring the physical property and crystal parameters over a wide range of temperatures within the same space group is quite unusual. Remarkably, Rietveld analyses of the X-ray diffraction patterns of PrMn0.9O3 (ABO3) nanoparticles (NPs) with a constant Pnma space group from 300 to 10 K could successfully predict the four magnetic phases, viz. paramagnetic, antiferromagnetic (AFM), ferromagnetic (FM), and spin-glass-like ordering. The increase in Mn-O-Mn bond angles and tolerance factor leads to FM ordering below ∼100 K in usually AFM PrMn0.9O3 NPs. The concurrent decrease of lattice cell volume and Mn-O-Mn bond angles near the AFM to FM transition temperature (Tc) suggests that the AFM character increases just above Tc due to atomic deformations and reduced Mn-Mn separation. The predictions from crystal structure refinement were successfully verified from the cooling path of the temperature-dependent field-cooled magnetization measurements. A mechanism involving incoherent spin reversal due to competition between the neighboring spins undergoing antiparallel to parallel spin rotations was suggested. The structure-property parallelism was cross-checked with the A-site vacant Pr0.9MnO3.2 NPs.