We present new algorithms for Personalized PageRank estimation and Personalized PageRank search. First, for the problem of estimating Personalized PageRank (PPR) from a source distribution to a target node, we present a new bidirectional estimator with simple yet strong guarantees on correctness and performance, and 3x to 8x speedup over existing estimators in experiments on a diverse set of networks. Moreover, it has a clean algebraic structure which enables it to be used as a primitive for the Personalized PageRank Search problem: Given a network like Facebook, a query like "people named John," and a searching user, return the top nodes in the network ranked by PPR from the perspective of the searching user. Previous solutions either score all nodes or score candidate nodes one at a time, which is prohibitively slow for large candidate sets. We develop a new algorithm based on our bidirectional PPR estimator which identifies the most relevant results by sampling candidates based on their PPR; this is the first solution to PPR search that can find the best results without iterating through the set of all candidate results. Finally, by combining PPR sampling with sequential PPR estimation and Monte Carlo, we develop practical algorithms for PPR search, and we show via experiments that our algorithms are efficient on networks with billions of edges.


Abstract The green peafowl Pavo muticus is a highly threatened galliform species that was historically distributed widely across South-east Asia. Evidence shows a recent population decline and range contraction for this species, linked with habitat degradation and over-exploitation. This study aimed to determine the current known distribution across mainland South-east Asia and investigate potential habitat that could host remaining viable populations and contribute to the long-term survival of the species. We used locations from historical and recent records and habitat variables from a geographical information system database to model the probability of occurrence and classify key localities according to their relative importance for the species. Our results showed that the green peafowl probably occurs in less than 16% of its historical range across mainland South-east Asia and that remaining locations are fragmented. Four confirmed and two potential stronghold populations were identified for the species, based on the localities with high capacity to contribute to its long-term survival in large contiguous patches. These were in central Myanmar, western and northern Thailand, eastern Cambodia/south-central Viet Nam and northern Cambodia/southern Lao. Threats vary amongst countries, with continued habitat loss and degradation in many areas and hunting particularly acute in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Lao. Most of the remaining populations are in protected areas but the protection level varies widely. We propose conservation actions for each stronghold population, in accordance with the nature of the threats and protection level in each area, to prevent the local extinction of this species.


This paper draws on data collected as part of two larger studies to set out the differences, according to women seeking support, between the feminist responses of the specialist women's sector and the issuesled responses of other agencies. The first study examined the processes by which women enter, endure, and exit relationships with abusive men. The second study explored the barriers to help-seeking for those accessing a service for women involved in prostitution. Taking a feminist poststructuralist approach, the authors point to the gendered nature, both of the experiences that propel women toward help-seeking and of the responses they receive from agencies. They note the current socio-economic context within which those experiences and responses are set and the importance, for women, of the specialist women's sector. Data were collected via narrative-style interviews with twenty-five women with lived experience of the issues being explored. Many women noted that, when initially seeking support from agencies, they had either been offered no service or inappropriate services. They spoke of being required to engage with multiple services, constantly retelling their stories, and the competing and conflicting demands made of them by professionals. These accounts were contrasted with the service they received from the specialist women's sector. The findings are presented in terms of their meaning for and impact upon women accessing professional support. The implications for practice are discussed: the case for professionals' proactive sourcing/using information about women's services operating in their locality; the importance of effective communication, both within and between agencies; and the shared benefits of working alongside the specialist women's sector.


Abstract Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause for androgen excess in women. It is associated with wide variety of metabolic disorders. The present study assessed morning plasma cortisol in women with PCOS. One hundred and ninety seven cases and 55 controls were enrolled for this study. The mean age of patients and controls were 23 ± 5.6 years and 25 ± 4.3 years. One hundred twelve (56%) women with PCOS had BMI >25. Serum cortisol levels were significantly higher in lean PCOS women compared to controls (13.4 ± 5.1 versus 11.3 ± 4.5, p < 0.01) and over-weight PCOS women group (13.4 ± 5.1 versus 9.3 ± 3.2, p < 0.01). There was a trend for less acne and hirsutism with increase in BMI. Morning plasma cortisol was lower among obese women with PCOS. Morning plasma cortisol correlated negatively with BMI in PCOS women with normal glucose tolerance.


Paul Hirsch was the first to develop a method which appeared to give strictly quantitative results in using the Abderhalden reaction with small quantities of serum. By an ingenious modification of the chamber of the Lowe interferometer as made by Zeiss he was able to use very small quantities of serum for testing the digestive breakdown of specific substrates by means of a specific serum. As one is able with this instrument to detect differences of refractive index to the seventh decimal place, while the ordinary refractometer does not give results better than to the fifth place in decimals, it is seen that the advance made by Hirsch in this direction was a considerable one.

The method at once attracted much attention, and was taken up by a very large number of workers. Hirsch has recently published a bibliography in which no less than 75 communications are mentioned, where the method has been used. Most of these workers have come to favorable conclusions as to its usefulness. It has been used for detecting pregnancy in animals and women, for ascertaining the presence and degree of endocrine disturbance and expecially for diagnosing gastric and intestinal inflammation and conditions due to malignant growths.


Chronic kidney disease complicates an increasing number of pregnancies, and at least 4% of childbearing-aged women are afflicted by this condition. Although diabetic nephropathy is the most common type of chronic kidney disease found in pregnant women, a variety of other primary and systemic kidney diseases also commonly occur. In the setting of mild maternal primary chronic kidney disease (serum creatinine <1.3 mg/dL) without poorly controlled hypertension, most pregnancies result in live births and maternal kidney function is unaffected. In cases of more moderate and severe maternal primary chronic kidney disease, the incidence of fetal prematurity, low birth weight, and death increase substantially, and the risk of accelerated irreversible decline in maternal kidney function, proteinuria, and hypertensive complications rise dramatically. In addition to kidney function, maternal hypertension and proteinuria portend negative outcomes and are important factors to consider when risk stratifying for fetal and maternal complications. In the setting of diabetic nephropathy and lupus nephropathy, other systemic disease features such as disease activity, the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies, and glycemic control play important roles in determining pregnancy outcomes. Concomitant with advances in obstetrical management and kidney disease treatments, it appears that the historically dismal maternal and fetal outcomes have greatly improved.


Abstract Aim N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant used to moderate liposome and chitosan-induced cell cytotoxicity at their high concentrations. Methods Liposome and chitosan were prepared and characterised. The cytotoxicity effect of liposome with NAC-loaded liposome (liposome-NAC) and chitosan solution with chitosan solution containing NAC (chitosan-NAC) on the A549 cell line was compared. Results Particle size, zeta potential, and NAC drug release for liposome were 125.9 ± 8 nm, −34.7 ± 2.1 mV, and 51.1% ± 3%, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicated spherical shape of liposome. Encapsulation efficiency of liposome-NAC was 12% ± 0.98%. Particle size and zeta potential for chitosan solution were 361 ± 11.3 nm and 10.8 ± 1.52 mV. Stability storage study indicated good stability of chitosan and liposome. Cell viability of liposome-NAC and chitosan-NAC significantly was higher than liposome and chitosan at all four concentrations. Conclusions NAC has a protective effect against liposome and chitosan-induced cell toxicity.


The coagulating properties of aqueous crude extracts and purified proteins of Vigna unguiculata and Parkinsonia aculeata seeds, which are traditional water coagulants in rural areas of Tanzania, were studied. The coagulation activity assays were done using one millilitre (ml) of kaolin water samples. Coagulating proteins were purified in two-step ion exchange chromatography. The properties of coagulant protein were compared with Moringa oleifera. Coagulating components eluted by 0.6 M NaCl in both coagulants are cationic proteins that have the molecular mass of about 6 kDa, which is very similar to that of M. oleifera. The proteins of V. unguiculata and P. aculeata eluted by 0.3 M NaCl also harbour coagulation activity but proteins eluted with 0.6 M NaCl have higher activity. The dosage for coagulation using purified proteins of both coagulants is about 5 to 10 times lower than that of crude seed extracts. The optimum floc settling time of water treated by crude seed extracts and purified proteins ranged between two and two and half hours. Coagulating proteins of both coagulants eluted by 0.6 M NaCl are thermoresistant and retained coagulation activity of 87% to 92% after boiling for two hours at 80 °C and one hour at 95°C. Thermotolerant proteins of V. unguiculata eluted by 0.6 M NaCl and P. aculeata have wider pH range of 5.5 to 8.5 for coagulation activity than those of M. oleifera proteins. The present investigation reveals the possibility of using purified natural coagulants for water treatment to produce safe drinking water.


Learning, inference, and prediction in the presence of missing data are pervasive problems in machine learning and statistical data analysis. This thesis focuses on the problems of collaborative prediction with non-random missing data and classification with missing features. We begin by presenting and elaborating on the theory of missing data due to Little and Rubin. We place a particular emphasis on the missing at random assumption in the multivariate setting with arbitrary patterns of missing data. We derive inference and prediction methods in the presence of random missing data for a variety of probabilistic models including finite mixture models, Dirichlet process mixture models, and factor analysis.
Based on this foundation, we develop several novel models and inference procedures for both the collaborative prediction problem and the problem of classification with missing features. We develop models and methods for collaborative prediction with non-random missing data by combining standard models for complete data with models of the missing data process. Using a novel recommender system data set and experimental protocol, we show that each proposed method achieves a substantial increase in rating prediction performance compared to models that assume missing ratings are missing at random.
We describe several strategies for classification with missing features including the use of generative classifiers, and the combination of standard discriminative classifiers with single imputation, multiple imputation, classification in subspaces, and an approach based on modifying the classifier input representation to include response indicators. Results on real and synthetic data sets show that in some cases performance gains over baseline methods can be achieved by methods that do not learn a detailed model of the feature space.


Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening diffuse inflammatory condition in the lungs and result in the oxygen treatment-refractory hypoxemic respiratory failure. ARDS is not a disease and is the result or complication of an underlying disease. COVID-19 pneumonia-related ARDS is a specific condition with unique phenotypes. Although patients had very severe hypoxemia in the early stages of respiratory distress due to COVID-19 disease, there was relatively well-preserved lung compliance. This phenotype is named as "atypical ARDS" or "ARDS type L". In advanced stage, some patients (20-30%) can return to a clinical picture more characteristic of typical ARDS progressively. This phenotype is called "typical ARDS" or "ARDS type H". Different types of ARDS that develop due to COVID-19 pneumonia require different ventilation strategies, depending on the underlying pathophysiology. In patients with early-stage atypical ARDS phenotype higher TVs and lower PEEP may be preferred, as opposed to the lung protective mechanical ventilator strategy. Nowadays, in the typical ARDS phenotype, the lung protective ventilation strategy used in classical ARDS is widely preferred. Refractory patients (a small number of patients) need to additional applications which are including prone ventilation and exorcoral membrane oxygenation (ECMO).


Attractive features of the book are its simple layout and the various practical tips on diagnosis and management, some of them very useful. On the whole the book follows a conventional plan although there is no attempt to explain to the student how to examine the nervous system, a subject which Dr Sutherland, quite rightly, regards as too important to be compressed into the introductory chapters of a short textbook. The lack of illustrations is perhaps a fault but it is clear that it is intended that the book should be a summary. However, most students find illustrations particularly useful in understanding difficult points. Although in many ways satisfactory it is doubtful whether this volume will supersede the better known textbooks in the United Kingdom.


Approaching commercialization phase of Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology, developing high kinetic rate active area with inexpensive non-precious metal catalyst (NPMC) for ORR catalyst materials to replace currently used Pt-based catalysts is a compulsory and crucial requirement in order to reduce the catalyst and overall system cost. Thus, the objective of this study is to describe the molecule orbital behavior of NPMC FeN4/C and discuss of recent works in the area of non-precious metal electrocatalys for ORR. Several important kinds of free energy study for carbon supported non-precious metal electrocatalys for ORR by using density functional theory (DFT) in CASTEP module analysis. The properties of FeN4/C nanocatalyst were studied, and their energy properties, band structure and density of state were evaluated accordingly. Besides, electronic properties of the nanostructure of FeN4/C also calculated. The results indicated that optimized geometry shows the oxygen in 3.699 Ao from the catalyst opposite with the Fe atom. Moreover, HOMO occurs in the orbitals 173 and LUMO occur in orbitals 174 and the band gap -0.82 proved that FeN4/C nanostructure catalyst is conductive and suitable to use as catalyst in fuel cell.


Purpose To explore female college students' perceived benefits and barriers to cervical cancer screening and perceived vulnerability to cervical cancer. Method The study was exploratory and cross sectional. The Pap Smear Belief Questionnaire was distributed online to a sample of 267 female undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students. Findings Students who obtained routine Pap smears perceived greater benefits and fewer barriers to routine screening than the students who did not obtain routine Pap smears. Personal vulnerability to cervical cancer was not a significant finding. Students who were in a long-term relationship, non-smoking and initiated sexual intercourse at a younger age were more likely to obtain routine screening. Conclusion Stressing importance of preventive health care associated with routine cervical cancer screening is important to promote women's health regardless of age or level of education. Further studies with a broader range of college students as participants are needed to better understand their beliefs about the benefits and barriers to obtaining routine screening, and their perceptions of vulnerability to cervical cancer.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Experimental therapies for ceroid lipofuscinosis, neuronal, 2 (CLN2), a genetic disorder of childhood associated with progressive brain atrophy, are currently being developed. Because quantitative descriptions of the natural course of brain volume loss are needed to evaluate novel therapies, we performed MR imaging volumetry of patients with CLN2 to identify a suitable MR imaging marker of disease progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients (8 females, 5 males) were recruited from a prospective natural disease cohort of patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. Repeated MR imaging volumetric analysis (29 datasets) was performed by using the FreeSurfer Software Suite. Follow-up time ranged from 8 months to 5.3 years. MR imaging–segmented brain volumes were correlated to patient age and clinical scores. RESULTS: Segmented brain volumes correlated significantly with patient age (lateral ventricles, r = 0.606, P = .001; supratentorial cortical GM, r = −0.913, P < .001; supratentorial WM, r = −0.865, P < .001; basal ganglia/thalamus, r = −0.832, P < .001; cerebellar GM, r = −0.659, P < .001; cerebellar WM, r = −0.830, P < .001) and clinical scores (lateral ventricles, r = −0.692, P < .001; supratentorial cortical GM, r = 0.862, P < .001; supratentorial WM, r = 0.735, P < .001; basal ganglia/thalamus, r = 0.758, P < .001; cerebellar GM, r = 0.609, P = .001; cerebellar WM, r = 0.638, P < .001). Notably, supratentorial cortical GM showed a uniform decline across the patient cohort. During late stages of the disease when the clinical score was zero, segmented brain volumes still correlated with patient age; this finding suggests that MR imaging volumetry allows quantitative assessment of disease progression at stages when it cannot be detected by clinical assessment alone. CONCLUSIONS: Automated MR imaging volumetry, as a nonsubjective and highly sensitive tool, is feasible in CLN2 disease and provides a quantitative basis to evaluate novel experimental therapies.


E. Seifollahi* , B. Sharifnabi, M. Javan-Nikkhah and C. C. Linde Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran; Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, College of Science, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; and Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj 31587–77871, Iran


Numerous congenital or secondary diseases, including, heart disease, respiratory disease, sepsis and many others, can lead to neonatal death. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a peptide hormone secreted by ventricular cells following an increase in ventricular wall tension. BNP functions to promote vasodilation, diuresis, and sodium release to regulate blood pressure. BNP is a sensitive index reflecting ventricular function, which may aid the diagnosis and monitoring of various neonatal diseases. In neonates, there is currently no consensus on a reference BNP level, as the plasma BNP concentration of healthy newborns varies with age, peaks in the first week after birth, and then gradually decreased to a stable level. In disease states, the correlation between the plasma BNP concentration and the results of echocardiography is good, which is of great significance in the screening, monitoring, and prognosis evaluation of neonatal cardiovascular diseases, including congenital heart disease, patent ductus arteriosus, etcetera. It also facilitates the judgment of the efficacy of treatment and perioperative management. Moreover, the monitoring of plasma BNP concentration provides guidance for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment selection of certain neonatal respiratory diseases and neonatal sepsis. This review summarizes the normal BNP values and discusses the application value of BNP in relation to physiological and pathological aspects in neonates.


INTRODUCTION
The treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) presents 2 options: medical or surgical, and there are doubts about what is the best treatment since 80% of patients who undergo surgery become asymptomatic and 10 to 40% of those under medical regimen undergo surgery within a 5 years period. It is difficult to assess the actual costs of treating BPH in Brazil due to several factors, among them regional particularities and the scarcity of current statistical data.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Recently, in the Ribeirao Preto area, Sao Paulo, Brazil, the IPSS (International Prostatic Symptoms Score) and quality of life were verified in 934 volunteers. It was determined the percentage of individuals with ages ranging from 40 to 79 years with moderate symptoms (score 8-19) and with severe symptoms (score 20-35), values for which are indicated medical and surgical treatment, respectively, according to the Brazilian Society of Urology consensus on BPH. Data on Brazilian population in that age range were obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics referent to the year of 2000. It was determined the number of patients, according to the criteria above, subjected to either one of the treatments mentioned. Surgical costs of prostate transurethral resection were researched according to Unified Health System - SUS tables (173 US dollars) and of Brazilian Medical Society - AMB with a mean cost in 3 hospitals of 933 US dollars. Drug costs were calculated by the annual mean price (355 US dollars) of 4 alpha-blockers (tamsulosin, alfuzosin, doxazosin and terazosin).

RESULTS
The estimated population for medical treatment was 5,397,321 individuals, with a cost corresponding to 1,916,489,055.00 US dollars. The estimated population for surgical treatment was 2,040,299 men, what would represent a cost of 353,291,204.00 US dollars based on the SUS table and of 1,904,279,066.00 US dollars based on AMB with hospital expenses included.

CONCLUSION
All theses facts induce us to predict that the treatment of BPH in a not-so-far future can become a public health problem for Brazilian society, since the current estimate would be, approximately, costs around 2.26 - 3.83 billion dollars, added by the yearly increase in the risk population (24.99%) for the group under medical treatment and over the non-operated amount of the surgical group.


Abstract Two neodymium(III) complexes, [Nd(Phen)(NO3)3(DMF)2] (1) and [Nd(Phen)2(NO3)3] (2) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; DMF = dimethylformamide), have been synthesized with a view to design artificial luminescent nucleases and nuclease mimics. The complexes were characterized by spectroscopic, powder, and single crystal XRD studies. The complexes, as expected, have luminescent properties. The DNA binding studies of both complexes have been carried out by spectroscopic studies e.g. electronic absorption (UV–Vis), fluorescence emission as well as viscosity measurements. The nuclease activity of the complexes has been established by gel electrophoresis using pUC19 circular plasmid DNA. The results of DNA binding as well as DNA cleavage activity and the model studies of interaction with pNPP indicate that both neodymium complexes demonstrate nuclease activity through phosphoester bond cleavage.


The present invention is an installation of an emergency starting switching device and/or direct current boosted boost circuit device. When the power of the starting battery is insufficient, the electric energy of the auxiliary battery is used to drive the starting motor in order to start the engine by operating the emergency starting switching device. And when the engine is started, the voltage of the ignition device or the fuel injection device is stepped up to strengthen its starting capability by means of a voltage boost by the direct current boosted boost circuit device.


How internalized and integrated into the person's cognitive and goal structures are norms guiding environmentally desirable behavior? In two surveys (N = 206 and N = 200), subjective social norms and personal norms for a specific behavior (the purchase of organic food or recycling) as well as self-reported behavior and the person's reasons and motives for performing the behavior were measured. The number and types of associations differ depending on the strength of the person's norms and the two types of norms differ in their embeddedness in the person's cognitive structures. With the partial exception of really low-cost behaviors (e.g., recycling in many contexts), environmentally responsible behavior is guided by what seems to be truly internalized and integrated (personal) norms.


The association between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and pregnancy is not a rare event, but these pregnacy are associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, fetal stillbirth, prematurity and neonatal death. Nephritis is an important complication of SLE  and a factor for maternal and fetal morbidity. Studies of the impact of SLE and pregnancy morbidities generate conflicting results. The aim of these study was to realize a systematic analysis in the literature concerning the pregnancy outcome in women with SLE and SLE associated with lupus nephritis. We searched the electronic database in literature and random effects of analytycal methods were used to evaluate pregnancy complications rates. Also the association between pregnancy and nephritis it is not very often encountered in different articles. Active SLE and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) are considered the most powerful predictors of perinatal morbidity. We found that a significant number of pregnancies occur during periods of active nephritis (19%), and have positive APAs (26.2%). Up to 75% of patients with SLE have clinically evident renal disease. Lupus flare in pregnancy is one of the major issues associated with SLE. However, studies report variable flare rates in pregnancy between 25-65%. Other important perinatal complications associated with SLE in pregnancy are: gestational hypertension (16.3%), fetal growth restriction (12,7%), preeclampsia (7,6%), preterm delivery (39,4%), stillbirth (3,6%), neonatal death (2,5%). Neonatal lupus syndromes is a form of passively acquired fetal autoimmunity from maternal antibodies, anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies with important cardiac involvement, most commonly congenital heart block. Previous and actual lupus nephritis is associated with negative effects on preganancy and with a deterioration of renal function. Despite considerable improvement in success rates, suboptimal obstetrical outcomes still remain a cause for concern. Best pregnancy results can be obtained if appropriately managed by a multidisciplinary team of physicians.


King's Hawaiian has been family owned for more than six decades, and the 'aloha spirit' runs deep. But, rapid growth in recent years has exposed serious challenges. From production inefficiencies to supply chain disruptions, management recognizes the need to rapidly evolve their family business to a professionally managed one. Their relationship-based supply chain worked for a family firm, but will this approach continue to work as they expand rapidly? A disruption in their egg supply exposed the firm to risks they never anticipated. Now, they are rethinking their entire supply chain, including their most important raw material: flour. How can they strategically manage their raw material needs while sustaining double-digit growth? How do they identify and mitigate risks in their chain? King's Hawaiian knows its success is in its supply chain, including their unique delivery model. Getting this right is critical to their mission: to deliver their aloha spirit to every household, every day.


An analysis of life span memory identifies those variables that affect losses in recall and recognition of the content of high school algebra and geometry courses.


Semantic mining is always a challenge for big biomedical text data. Ontology has been widely proved and used to extract semantic information. However, the process of ontology-based semantic similarity calculation is so complex that it cannot measure the similarity for big text data. To solve this problem, we propose a parallelized semantic similarity measurement method based on Hadoop MapReduce for big text data. At first, we preprocess and extract the semantic features from documents. Then, we calculate the document semantic similarity based on ontology network structure under MapReduce framework. Finally, based on the generated semantic document similarity, document clusters are generated via clustering algorithms. To validate the effectiveness, we use two kinds of open datasets. The experimental results show that the traditional methods can hardly work for more than ten thousand biomedical documents. The proposed method keeps efficient and accurate for big dataset and is of high parallelism and scalability.


The organization of natural materials into hierarchical structures accounts for the amazing properties of many biological systems; however, translating the structural motifs present in such natural materials to synthetic systems remains difficult. Inspired by how nature creates materials, this work demonstrates that kinetically controlled sequential seeded growth is a general bottom-up strategy to prepare hierarchical inorganic crystals with distinct compositions and nanostructured forms. Specifically, 85 distinct hierarchical crystals with different shape-controlled features, compositions, and overall symmetries were readily achieved by altering the kinetics of metal deposition in sequential rounds of seeded growth. These modifications in the deposition kinetics were achieved through simple changes to the reaction conditions (e.g., pH or halide concentration) and dictate whether concave or convex features are produced at specific seed locations, much in the manner that the changing atmospheric conditions account for the hierarchical and symmetrical structures of snow crystals. As such, this work provides a general paradigm for the bottom-up synthesis of hierarchical crystals regardless of inorganic material class.


Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC) is constellation of contractions of multiple joints present at birth with fat or fibrous tissue partially or totally replacing muscles. Aetiological cause is from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. It affects approximately 1 in 2-3000 live births. All four extremities are involved in50-60% of cases; lower limbs, in 30-40%, and upper limbs, in 10-15% of cases. Our patient is case of Amyoplasia with duodenal atresia. Had surgery and was seen in the clinic on follow up to 3 months. He has remain stable on physiotherapy.


Psychosocial factors play an important though variable role in the predisposition, precipitation, and clinical course of most human illness. In a particular group of somatic diseases of uncertain cause—perhaps most appropriately classed as somatopsychic—the influence of psychosocial factors would appear to be greater than it is in diseases of simpler origin. Measles and essential hypertension, for example, could be one example of such a distinction. Central to the distinction is the degree to which the brain appraises or evaluates the situation, selects, and directs the response from the repertoire of the person challenged. Thus, whereas viral invasion may evoke little brain-directed response, situational or environmental strain may pose a challenge. Threat, whether or not perceived consciously, calls forth, largely at the subcortical level, certain biological response patterns whose original adaptive purpose was to cope with the potential injury and to master the challenge. Such systems are already developed and operative


. Objective of the study was to select the standardized substrate containing dry hydrolysate of casein for preparation of nutrient medium utilized for manufacturing bivalent chemical cholera vaccine under submerged cultivation of cholera vibrio strains in fermenters. Materials and methods . We used Vibrio cholerae O1 strains of classical bio-var: strain 569B Inaba and strain M-41 Ogawa. Examined were two dry substrates of the medium: enzymatic hydrolysate of casein, Type I Himedia (India) and pancreatic hydrolysate of casein, produced by the State Scientific Center of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (Russian Federation). Produced under laboratory conditions at the premises of the RusRAPI "Microbe" medium was used as a control. Submerged cultivation was conducted in bioreactors during (9±1) h with aeration and automatic feeding of glucose and ammonia. Production of protective antigens was measured applying immunochemical and biological methods. Results and discussion . It is demonstrated that submerged cultivation of cholera vibrio production strains on nutrient media under study provides for synthesis of protective antigens the parameters of which comply with the requirements of normative documentation. More standardized and higher indicator values of the target product are ensured by cultivation of producer strains on nutrient medium with a substrate from dry enzymatic hydrolysate of casein, containing (1.5±0.1) g/l of amino nitrogen for the strain V. cholerae M-41 and (2±0.1) g/l – for V. cholerae 569 B. Transition to the use of standardized dry protein components of cultivation media does not lower the quality of the chemical cholera vaccine, but allows for the reduction of cost price and duration of technological process.


The universality of human rights has been a fiercely contested issue throughout their history. This article contributes to scholarly engagements with the universality of human rights by proposing a re-engagement with this concept in a way that is compatible with the aims of radical politics. Instead of a static attribute or characteristic of rights this article proposes that universality can be thought of as, drawing from Judith Butler, an ongoing process of universalisation. Universality accordingly emerges as a site of powerful contest between competing ideas of what human rights should mean, do or say, and universal concepts are continually reworked through political activity. This leads to a differing conception of rights politics than traditional liberal approaches but, moreover, challenges such approaches. This understanding of universality allows human rights to come into view as potentially of use in interrupting liberal regimes and, crucially, opens possibilities to reclaim the radical in rights.


The burgeoning use of modern literary theory and cultural criticism in recent biblical studies has led to stimulating-but often bewildering-new readings of the Bible. This book, argued from a perspective shaped by postmodernism, is at once an accessible guide to and an engagement with various methods, theories, and critical practices transforming biblical scholarship today. Written by a collective of cutting-edge scholars-with each page the work of multiple hands-The Postmodern Bible deliberately breaks with the individualist model of authorship that has traditionally dominated scholarship in the humanities and is itself an illustration of the postmodern transformation of biblical studies for which it argues. The book introduces, illustrates, and critiques seven prominent strategies of reading. Several of these interpretive strategies-rhetorical criticism, structuralism and narratology, reader-response criticism, and feminist criticism-have been instrumental in the transformation of biblical studies up to now. Many-feminist and womanist criticism, ideological criticism, poststructuralism, and psychoanalytic criticism-hold promise for the continued transformation of these studies in the future. Focusing on readings from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, this volume illuminates the current multidisciplinary debates emerging from postmodernism by exposing the still highly contested epistemological, political, and ethical positions in the field of biblical studies.


Although employer‐supported training may be beneficial to all stakeholders, some workers have difficulty accessing it, and a surprising number of workers decline some or all of it when it is offered. We present a conceptual model that uses four categories to define workers according to whether or not they are excluded from, participate in and/or decline training. Our aim is to examine the characteristics of workers in each category in order to better inform public policy. The study utilizes the Statistics Canada's 2005 Workplace and Employee Survey data set. We found that 44 percent of workers were 'excluded', in that they did not participate in nor decline employer‐supported training. A further 47 percent took all the training offered to them (i.e. are 'takers'), whereas 3 percent were 'decliners' because they declined all of the offered training. Finally, the remaining 6 percent are 'choosers' because they both took and declined some employer‐supported training. Thus, 9 percent of Canadian workers declined some employer‐supported training in 2005. This was 16 percent of those who were offered training. Consistent with existing literature and dual labour market theory, our descriptive and multivariate regression results indicate that individuals exhibiting the characteristics of 'primary' workers are more likely to access and are also more likely to decline training than their 'secondary' counterparts. Considering the importance of training, these results have significant social and policy implications.


Purpose: to develop sets of exercises for the improvement of physical training of handball players of 13–14 years old with use of acrobatic exercises and exercises with application of coordination ladder and to check their efficiency experimentally. Material & Methods: two groups of handball players of 13–14 years old of Kharkov and Ternovka of the Dnepropetrovsk region participated in the research. The following methods were used in work: analysis of scientific and methodical literature, pedagogical testing, pedagogical experiment, methods of mathematical data processing. Results: the level of physical fitness of handball players of 13–14 years old and its change under the influence of specially-selected sets of exercises are determined. Conclusions: the received reliable positive changes of coordination preparedness, separate manifestations of speed, flexibility and high-speed and power abilities of boys allow recommending the inclusion of acrobatic exercises and exercises with application of coordination ladder in the educational-training process of handball players of 13–14 years old.


Height and stage of puberty of 67 children with epilepsy were measured before beginning treatment with anticonvulsant drugs and annually to a maximum five years' treatment. Blood concentrations of the drugs used (phenytoin, sodium valproate, carbamazepine, ethosuximide, and phenobarbitone) were monitored throughout. No significant deviation in growth patterns was detected.


Transmission of compressed video over wireless channels remains a challenging task due to the inherent high bit error rate (BER) and channel quality fluctuation of a typical wireless channel. An improved wireless video transmission scheme is proposed in this paper. First, an enhanced video error propagation model,namely expected number of macro blocks error propagation (ENMEP), is proposed. A new unequal error protection (UEP) scheme which takes into consideration the non-uniformly distributed importance of frames in a group of pictures (GOP) and macro blocks in a video frame is also proposed in this paper. Finally, an efficient forward error correction (FEC) allocation algorithm for our UEP scheme is proposed by making use of our ENMEP video error propagation model. Simulation results show that our proposed UEP scheme using efficient FEC allocation algorithm outperforms the classical equal error protection (EEP) scheme and also the previous UEP scheme.


Teach For America (TFA) selects and places graduates from the most competitive colleges as teachers in the lowest‐performing schools in the country. This paper is the first study that examines TFA effects in high school. We use rich longitudinal data from North Carolina and estimate TFA effects through cross‐subject student and school fixed effects models. We find that TFA teachers tend to have a positive effect on high school student test scores relative to non‐TFA teachers, including those who are certified in field. Such effects offset or exceed the impact of additional years of experience and are particularly strong in science. © 2011 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.


The models that the economics profession considers acceptable, particularly their assumptions regarding the precision with which we can know the future, create insuperable obstacles to formulating a rational response to the disdain for experts that President Donald Trump nourishes and exploits. This becomes clear from a critical discussion of the use of prevailing models to analyze the consequences of the 2017 tax overhaul. The profession would benefit from a novel approach, applied here to understanding stock-price movements, that recognizes that economists—like everyone else—face unforeseeable change about the future. Acknowledging the inherent limits of what we can know about the future would go a long way toward restoring public trust in what economists' knowledge can actually contribute to policymaking.


During the greater part of the twentieth century, the history of archaeology promoted an idealized image of archaeological practice in colonized places. Historians usually omitted the political implications of archaeology and, in many instances, justified the appropriation of material culture from colonized places. In this paper, I suggest that postcolonial studies, a field constituted during the 1980s and 1990s, offers a useful framework in which to understand the relationships between the history of archaeology and colonialism. Taking postcolonial theory as reference, I define the history of archaeology written until the 1980s as a particular form of 'colonial discourse'. I conclude by proposing some ways in which postcolonial theory can inform the history of archaeology.


Croatian traditional music is rich with different music styles. Four of them are on the UNESCO Representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity: two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale, Becarac singing and playing from Slavonia, Klapa multipart singing of Dalmatia and Ojkanje singing. Every region of Croatia is represented by different instruments, singing styles, rhythm and dynamics. This paper describes an automated classification of Croatian traditional music into regions. The regions are defined by historical and geographical factors and music style similarities: Slavonia, central Croatia, Međimurje, Istria&Kvarner and Dalmatia. Each region is presented with 20 typical music songs. A sample of each song lasts for 30 seconds. The primary used features are mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, as well as zero crossing rate and sound volume. Extracted features are used in machine learning. As a result, more than 80% of the songs are correctly classified. The result shows how specific Croatian traditional music is and how important is to preserve it for future generations.


This study aims to explain the influence of product quality and service quality in influencing customer value, in order to influence purchasing decision which customer value is used as an intervening variable between product quality and service quality to purchasing decision in Five Points Cafe at Semarang. This research was conducted by taking samples using purposive sampling technique, those are consumers who have visited and bought Five Points product. The collection of data obtained from 100 customers Five Points by giving questionnaires which consist of open and closed questions. Respondents' answers to open-ended questions were analyzed qualitatively, and answers to the closed questions were analyzed by Multiple Linear Regression using SPSS program. The result show that product quality and service quality has positive and significant impact on customer value with the regression value of 0.582 and 0.282, and the customer value has a positive and significant effect to purchasing decision with regression value of 0.391. Brand image has a positive impact not significant to Purchasing decision with the regression value of 0.150. First structure shown that 58.7% customer value variable can be explained by product quality and service quality variable. While the second structure shown that 24.1% purchasing decision can be explained by customer value and brand image. And for the rest can be explained by other variables that beyond research.


Plaque psoriasis can begin early in life and negatively affect quality of life. Topical agents are generally recommended as first-line therapy for plaque psoriasis. The synergy of a vitamin D analog and a steroid in a topical fixed-combination formulation provides more favorable effectiveness and tolerability as compared with either agent alone. The safety and effectiveness of a once-daily calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate topical suspension have been established in children 12 to 17 years of age with scalp plaque psoriasis. Combination topical formulations and once-daily dosing decrease regimen complexity and may increase adherence. Accommodation of vehicle preference may also improve adherence and real-life effectiveness.


Balancing energy budgets is thought to be challenging for birds living in arid ecosystems because food supplies are low and unpredictable, and climatic conditions extreme. Thus, to ensure they obtain sufficient energy to fuel daily energetic budgets, birds may need to adjust their diets and become less selective (generalist) as conditions become harsher. To test this hypothesis, we used DNA metabarcoding to characterize both the prey availability (from pitfall traps) and the dietary content (from fecal samples) of several conspecific populations of a semi- and arid-endemic insectivorous bird, the Karoo-scrub-robin (Cercotrichas coryphaeus) across a climatic gradient. Our results showed that Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, and Lepidoptera were the main prey. When accounting for their presence as available prey, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were preferred in all regions, whereas robins avoided Orthoptera and Lepidoptera in all but the most arid region. Although the different populations live in regions that vary with regards to productivity and thermoregulatory demands, we found that the dietary niche breadth (Bs) of the three populations was intermediate to low, and did not differ significantly. As a whole, our findings show that regardless of environmental harshness these insectivores have similar dietary niches, suggesting that large dietary plasticity is fundamental for their survival in energy-depauperated ecosystems.


The integration of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with semiconductors has attracted mounting attention for photocatalytic applications. However, more efforts are needed to unravel the interface structure in MOF/semiconductor composites and its role in charge transfer. Herein, a MIL-100(Fe)/TiO2 composite was synthesized as a prototypical photocatalyst and studied systematically to explore the interface structure and unravel the charge transfer pathways during the photocatalytic processes. The composite was fabricated by growing MIL-100(Fe) crystals on TiO2 using surface-coated FeOOH as the precursor. The as-prepared MIL-100(Fe)/TiO2 exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic performance over pristine TiO2, which was mainly because of the enhanced charge separation as confirmed by transient absorption spectroscopy analysis. This enhancement partially arose from the special chemical structure at the interface, where the Fe-O-Ti bond was formed. As verified by the density functional theory calculation, this distinct structure would create defect energy levels adjacent to the valence band maximum of TiO2. During the photocatalytic processes, the defect energy levels serve as sinks to capture excited charge carriers and retard the recombination, which subsequently leads to the increased charge density and promoted photocatalytic efficiency. Meanwhile, the intimate interactions between MIL-100(Fe) and TiO2 would also help to improve the charge separation by transferring photo-induced holes through the ligands to Fe-O clusters. These findings would advance the fundamental understanding of the interface structure and the charge transfer pathways in MOF/semiconductor composite photocatalysts.


Summary Cat erythrocytes are agglutinable by influenza B virus but not by influenza A or C viruses or by swine influenza, mumps, or Newcastle disease viruses. Lee virus, either active or after heating at 56°C for 30 minutes, combines with and agglutinates cat RBC at 4°C but not at 24°C. The Lee virus-cat erythrocyte complex, formed at 5°C, promptly dissociates at 24°C in the absence of enzymatic activity. Formation of the Lee virus-cat erythrocyte combination is a reversible equilibrium reaction which is markedly temperature dependent. The temperature dependence probably indicates that the strength of binding forces between Lee virus particles and cat erythrocyte receptors is very low. Under proper conditions, the formation of the combination is followed by enzymatic elution of Lee virus resulting in destruction of receptors for inflenza B viruses present on the cat RBC surface. In allantoic fluid there are present one or more dialyzable components which inhibit enzymatic elution of Lee virus from cat erythrocytes. The receptors for Lee virus on the cat RBC surface are similar to influenza virus receptors on erythrocytes from other species. Lee virus-cat RBC interaction is dependent on the ionic environment in a manner observed for other influenza virus-RBC systems.


A public bacterial mutagenicity database was classified into 2-D structural families using a set of specific algorithms and clustering techniques that find overlapping classes of compounds based upon chemical substructures. Structure-activity relationships were learned from the biological activity of the compounds within each class and used to identify rules that define substructures potentially responsible for mutagenic activity. In addition, this method of analysis was used to compare the pharmacologically relevant substructure of test compounds with their potential toxic substructures making this a potentially valuable in silico profiling tool for lead selection and optimization.


The physiological stress hormone levels and physical condition of captured urban flying-foxes experiencing a food shortage were compared with those of free-living rural flying-foxes with access to supplementary food. Glucocorticoid hormone levels were determined by measuring glucocorticoid metabolites (GCMs) from the faeces of individual animals. The rural flying-foxes were in good condition with high Body Condition Indexes (BCIs) and low levels of GCMs, the range of which may be considered the baseline for this species. In comparison, urban flying-foxes had lower BCIs and elevated levels of GCMs: 75% had levels that were higher than the rural range and 30% were higher by an order of magnitude. Such elevated levels of glucocorticoid ('stress') hormones are characteristic of chronic stress. While urbanisation can cause chronic stress, given the low BCIs observed, it is more likely that food shortage was the major stressor in this study. While the rural male and female flying-foxes showed no significant differences in either their levels of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites or their BCIs, significantly different results were found between male and female urban flying-foxes: males were in relatively better condition than females but had higher levels of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites. The autumn and winter reproductive constraints on food-restricted flying-foxes probably explain the differences observed. Additional droppings collected under the urban colony gave similar results to those collected from captured flying-foxes at the same location, and could be a useful non-invasive method for determining the levels of physiological stress in flying-fox colonies.


In Spinoza, what I call (adapting a phrase from J.-L. Nancy) the 'Being Individual Multiple' is the multitudo. Its form of life is Democracy, understood as the autonomous and conflictual organization of collective dynamics and not one form of government among others. Combining an original mode of argumentation with a critical discussion of opposing interpretations, I maintain that democracy is the translation into politics of the third and highest kind of knowledge in Spinoza, intuitive science. I argue moreover that the multitudo self-organized in a democracy has the capacity to experiment and express a different rationality with respect to the singular individual. Wisdom and democracy thus converge to give life to something unknown and original in western political modernity.


Recent advances in computer technology have substantially changed the field of palaeontology in the last two decades. Palaeontologists now have a whole new arsenal of powerful digital techniques available to study fossil organisms in unprecedented detail and to test hypotheses regarding function and behaviour. Multibody dynamics analysis (MDA) is one of these techniques and although it originated as a tool used in the engineering and automotive industry, it holds great potential to address palaeontological questions as well. MDA allows the simulation of dynamic movements in complex objects consisting of multiple linked components. As such, this technique is ideally suited to model biological structures and to obtain quantifiable results that can be used to test the function of musculoskeletal systems rigorously. However, despite these advantages, MDA has seen a slow uptake by the palaeontological community. The most likely reason for this lies in the steep learning curve and complexity of the method. This paper provides an overview of the underlying principles of MDA and outlines the main steps involved in conducting analyses. A number of recent studies using MDA to reconstruct the palaeobiology of fossil organisms are presented and the potential for future studies is discussed. Similar to other computational techniques, including finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, the non‐invasive and exploratory power of MDA makes it ideally suited to study the form and function in vertebrates for which no modern analogues exist.


The purpose of this project is to extend the Heston model in order to incorporate the term structure (TS) of the implied volatility surface. This includes implementing a TS within the Heston model and its calibration to a set of market instruments. The TS Heston model with piecewise constant parameters is implemented to match the TS and the COS pricing method is used for fast option pricing. We calibrate the model to the EUR/USD and USD/JPY market data and historic data is also used to test the robustness of the model. Then the model with calibrated parameters are used to price exotic options by means of Monte Carlo simulation with a new control variate we propose. Finally we also propose the COS method for pricing discrete barrier options as future research directions. The Heston model with term structure Date: Page: June 18, 2009 i


L-Ribulose-5-phosphate (L-Ru5P) 4-epimerase and L-fuculose-1-phosphate (L-Fuc1P) aldolase are evolutionarily related enzymes that display 26% sequence identity and a very high degree of structural similarity. They both employ a divalent cation in the formation and stabilization of an enolate during catalysis, and both are able to deprotonate the C-4 hydroxyl group of a phosphoketose substrate. Despite these many similarities, subtle distinctions must be present which allow the enzymes to catalyze two seemingly different reactions and to accommodate substrates differing greatly in the position of the phosphate (C-5 vs C-1). Asp76 of the epimerase corresponds to the key catalytic acid/base residue Glu73 of the aldolase. The D76N mutant of the epimerase retained considerable activity, indicating it is not a key catalytic residue in this enzyme. In addition, the D76E mutant did not show enhanced levels of background aldolase activity. Mutations of residues in the putative phosphate-binding pocket of the epimerase (N28A and K42M) showed dramatically higher values of K(M) for L-Ru5P. This indicates that both enzymes utilize the same phosphate recognition pocket, and since the phosphates are positioned at opposite ends of the respective substrates, the two enzymes must bind their substrates in a reversed or "flipped" orientation. The epimerase mutant D120N displays a 3000-fold decrease in the value of k(cat), suggesting that Asp120' provides a key catalytic acid/base residue in this enzyme. Analysis of the D120N mutant by X-ray crystallography shows that its structure is indistinguishable from that of the wild-type enzyme and that the decrease in activity was not simply due to a structural perturbation of the active site. Previous work [Lee, L. V., Poyner, R. R., Vu, M. V., and Cleland, W. W. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 4821-4830] has indicated that Tyr229' likely provides the other catalytic acid/base residue. Both of these residues are supplied by an adjacent subunit. Modeling of L-Ru5P into the active site of the epimerase structure suggests that Tyr229' is responsible for deprotonating L-Ru5P and Asp120' is responsible for deprotonating its epimer, D-Xu5P.


We determined the effects of 8-cyclopentyl-3-[3-[[4-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]oxy]propyl]-1-propylxanth ine (FSCPX), a putative irreversible antagonist of the A1-adenosine receptor, on cardiac A1-adenosine receptor-mediated responses and on the specific binding of [3H]-8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine ([3H]CPX) to guinea pig cardiac and brain membranes. FSCPX (5 microM) completely reversed the increase in K+ current of guinea pig atrial myocytes caused by 100 microM adenosine (259 +/- 30 to 20 +/- 7 pA) but had no significant effect on K+ currents caused by either 0.5 microM carbachol or 100 microM GTP gamma S. The attenuation of K+ current by FSCPX was both time and concentration dependent and persisted after washout of the antagonist. Pretreatment of atrial myocytes with FSCPX (50 nM) markedly attenuated the activation of K+ current and the inhibition of isoproterenol-stimulated I(Ca,L) caused by adenosine by 90.1% and 84.2%, respectively, but did not alter the responses of atrial myocytes to carbachol. FSCPX (1 microM) irreversibly antagonized the A1-adenosine receptor-mediated increase in atrioventricular nodal conduction time of isolated perfused guinea pig hearts from 10.5 +/- 0.5 to 0.7 +/- 0.6 msec but did not significantly alter the A2-adenosine receptor-mediated decrease in coronary resistance. Preincubation of guinea pig cardiac membranes with 0.1, 1.0, or 3.0 microM FSCPX for 30 min reduced the Bmax of [3H]CPX binding by 41 +/- 10%, 67 +/- 6%, and 80 +/- 1% (mean +/- standard error, three experiments), respectively, with no significant change in the Kd. Similarly, 0.1 and 1.0 microM FSCPX irreversibly reduced the binding of [3H]CPX to guinea pig forebrain membranes by 65 +/- 5% and 83 +/- 2% (four experiments), respectively, but did not reduce the binding of [3H]CGS 21680, an A2a-adenosine receptor agonist, to striatal membranes. FSCPX did not affect the potency of 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate to inhibit the binding of [3H]CCPA, an A1-adenosine receptor agonist, to brain membranes. The results indicate that FSCPX is a specific, irreversible, A1-adenosine subtype-selective receptor antagonist.


Structurally unrelated, FK‐506 and cyclosporin (CsA) bind to and inhibit the action of distinct cytoplasmic receptors, FK‐506‐binding protein (FKBP) and cyclophilin (CyP), respectively. These receptors, termed immunophilins, share no sequence similarity, and yet both have been demonstrated to be capable of catalyzing the cis‐trans isomerization of peptidyl‐prolyl bonds (rotamase activity). Because FK‐506 and CsA bind to different intracellular target structures, we investigated the spectrum of action of FK‐506, in comparison to CsA, on T cell activation. We have shown that FK‐506, like CsA, is able to inhibit T cell activation mediated not only by the T cell receptor‐CD3 complex, but also via another surface molecule, CD2. T cell proliferation, stimulation of interleukin 2 production, and induction of apoptosis were all sensitive to inhibition by both FK‐506 and CsA. With each parameter of activation, FK‐506 is approximately 10‐100‐fold more effective than CsA. In contrast, FK‐506 did not affect T cell proliferation induced by anti‐CD28 monoclonal antibody in the presence of phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate. This CD28 pathway, however, was inhibitable by a structural homolog of FK‐506, rapamycin, demonstrating that the mechanism of action of FK‐506 has specificity. These data suggest that immunophilins or the complex of drug coupled to immunophilin (i.e. FK‐506/FKBP, CsA/CyP) are involved in and regulate selective pathways of T cell stimulation.


Electroporation therapy (EPT), also known as electrochemo-therapy (ECT), of a poorly differentiated human pancreatic carcinoma (Panc-3) implanted subcutaneously in nude mice significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity of bleomycin to tumor cells. A single treatment of intratumoral injection of bleomycin followed by 6 × 99 μs square wave electrical pulses of 1370 V resulted in complete tumor regression in 68% and partial regression (>80%) in 20% of the treated mice on day 28 following treatment. No palpable tumor was observed in 64% of the mice even 120 days after treatment. Histological studies of tissue samples taken from tumor sites 120 days after treatment in the D+E+ group showed complete absence of tumor cells.


When Jan Golinski's Making Natural Knowledge was published in 1998 it was generally applauded for its ecumenical stance between the empirical 'art' of historians and the theoretical focus of the social sciences. Indeed, such a middling position was a unique approach to be taken in wake of the 'science wars' and this, in combination with the book's clear organization and (for the most part) forthright prose, quickly earned it a place upon HPS, STS and SSK postgraduate reading lists. Now, five years since its first edition was published (hardback, 1998), the work has become a standard introduction to historically minded scholars interested in the constructivist programme. In fact, it has been called the 'constructivist's bible' in many a conference corridor. Since the book has attained such a status (and since it has not been reviewed in the BJHS), it is perhaps worth reflecting on whether or not such canonical text (to use a biblical analogy) is fallible or inerrant – especially in relation to its content and pedagogical efficacy.


With the objective of understanding the mid-late Holocene subsistence pattern and the local ecology, archaeobotanical investigation was conducted on soil samples collected from 29 contexts from the rock shelter site of Mochena Borago. The samples were collected by the French Archaeological Mission in 2000 and 2001 field seasons. Flotation was carried out using bucket and 2.0 mm mesh size sieve. Recovered botanical remains were classified based on size and grain morphology. Seed analysis was conducted at 5-20x magnification. A total of 112 seeds and fruit stones were identified which include 55 Sapindaceae cf. Deinbollia type (dune soap-berry), 33 Myrtaceae cf. Syzigium guineense type (sometimes called waterberry), 9 Plectranthus edulis (Wolayta dinich/potato), 7 Euphorbiaceae Croton sp. (rushfoil), 2 Cordia cf. africana (wanza in Amharic), 1 Ebenaceae cf. Diospyros (commonly known as ebony trees), 1 Olea europea ssp. africana (Olive Oil). Plectranthus edulis is an indigenous crop for the study area and Cordia cf. africana and Olea europea ssp. africana are reported for the first time in archaeological context of the whole region of Ethiopia. The study provided data on the ancient economy and ecology of the site in a region where archaeobotanical research is limited.


Professional behaviors are an integral part of clinical practice in all allied health and medical fields. A systematic process for instruction, the education, and development of professional behaviors, cannot be taught in the same way that memorization of human anatomy or medical terminology is taught. One cannot expect professional behaviors to just appear in an individual upon graduation and entry into a health care field. Professional behavior development is an essential component of physical therapy professional education and is clearly defined through the guiding documents of the American Physical Therapy Association, which include 'A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education,' 'Evaluative Criteria for Accreditation of Education Programs for the Preparation of Physical Therapists,' and the 'Guide to Physical Therapist Practice.' Building a comprehensive and progressive curricular thread for professional behaviors can pose a challenge for a professional program and the core faculty. This paper will present a curricular model of weaving professional behaviors into a core entry-level professional curriculum using a specific curricular thread, activities for different levels of students, and assessment at each point in the path. This paper will demonstrate the potential for universal application of a professional behaviors.


The paper presents the results of investigations illustrating the influence of selected factors on thermal properties of planar transformers. The measuring system used and the tested planar transformers containing different ferrite cores and different winding designs are presented. The internal and mutual thermal resistances of the tested transformers were measured when the windings were supplied with direct current. The temperature values of each winding and core were also measured when the primary winding of the transformers was excited with sinusoidal voltage of frequency varying in a wide range and with adjustable load resistance. The obtained measurement results were discussed and the influence of mutual thermal couplings between the transformer components on their temperature was analysed.


We discuss the Innovation Jam that IBM carried out in 2006, with the objective of identifying innovative and promising "Big Ideas" through a moderated on-line discussion between IBM worldwide employees and external contributors. We describe the data available and investigate several analytical approaches to address the challenge of understanding "how innovation happens" and to facilitate the success of future Jams. We demonstrate the social network structure of data and its time dependence, and discuss the results of both supervised and unsupervised learning applied to this data.


Summary form only given. The paper presents simulation results of a Z-pinch experiment shot 51 using numerical code FLUX-rz, developed in STCP RFNC-VNIIEF. Calculations of an implosion process of a tungsten liner load were carried out with stationary uniform Eulerian grid in frameworks of a two-dimensional (in r-z plane) radiation magnetic hydrodynamics at self-consistent consideration of equations of the Z-machine electrical circuit. In the result of the performed numerical research we revealed a significant dependence of obtained results, a pulse of a generated radiation in particular, on artificially set values of an electric conductivity in low-density "pseudo-vacuum" areas of the pinch plasma.


In this paper, we propose a block-wise image transformation method with a secret key for support vector machine (SVM) models. Models trained by using transformed images offer a poor performance to unauthorized users without a key, while they can offer a high performance to authorized users with a key. The proposed method is demonstrated to be robust enough against unauthorized access even under the use of kernel functions in a facial recognition experiment.


Treatment of comminuted avulsion fractures of the inferior pole of the patella is still an unsolved problem. Different methods of treatment have been introduced, some quite controversial, including immediate total patellectomy; a variety of partial patellectomies, and fixation by tension band wiring. Yet the problem of early development of arthrosis and a certain degree of limitation of motion due to the changed biomechanics, retropatellar incongruity and postoperative immobilization must still be resolved. We report two cases with comminuted avulsion fractures of the inferior pole of the patella, treated by fixation with a basket plate. The method allows for immediate postoperative mobilization of the knee joint and early weight bearing.


The enormous complexity of a semiconductor manufacturing system is the main obstacle for making quality manufacturing control decisions. Conventional methodologies, such as queueing network and simulation analysis, are often too complex to be used effectively. In this paper, we will demonstrate a methodology to build simple statistical models that faithfully characterize the manufacturing system. We then show how these models can help improve the quality of manufacturing control decisions.


HIV-1 CRF02_AG is the most prevalent intersubtype recombinant form worldwide. Six HIV-1 samples from patients living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were subtyped as CRF02_AG at the pol gene between 2004 and 2011. To trace the origin of these viruses, they were compared with 793 CRF02_AG pol sequences of African origin and another four Brazilian CRF02_AG pol sequences previously described. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that there have been at least four introductions of the CRF02_AG clade in Brazil, as signified by the presence of four phylogenetically distinct lineages, probably originated from western African countries (Benin, Ghana, and Guinea-Bissau). At least two CRF02_AG Brazilian lineages were successful in getting established and disseminated throughout the Rio de Janeiro state, with evidence of both horizontal and vertical transmission. Continuous epidemiological surveillance of HIV-1 strains circulating in Brazil is of paramount importance to the early detection of newly emerging viral lineages.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of occupationally exposed employees at a large teaching hospital about wearing their assigned personal radiation dosimeters. A 16‐question multiple-answer survey was used to report the reasons why medical professionals may not wear their dosimetry during procedures involving ionizing radiation. In all, 302 employees responded to the survey. The majority of respondents who reported always or almost always wearing their dosimeters do so because they consider themselves well informed concerning the importance of personal dosimetry measurement and appreciate the importance of federal and state regulations. For respondents who reported not always wearing their dosimeters, the most commonly stated reason was the inconvenience of remembering to bring and wear their dosimeters when working in multiple locations, for which a potential solution would be to provide dosimeters to each affected wearer in each location where they work.


This paper presents the results of testing of experimental models with varying beam to column stiffness ratios with the aim of establishing their relationship on the stability of selected rigid frames. Test frames with beam to column stiffness ratios of 0.5, 0.67, 1.0, 1.33 and 2.0 were fabricated, and subjected to compressive loading in the laboratory. The results obtained from the tests after application of appropriate scale factors are compared to the prototype critical loads obtained from the sidesway stability function approach by Horne and Merchant. Results from the analysis show accuracy as high as 98.5% when compared to the results obtained from numerical methods. The results of the tests further emphasise the criticality of scale factors when using modelling approach for solution of structural stability problems.


In this letter, we investigate the problem of in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) imbalance compensation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing direct conversion receivers. A blind method is proposed to estimate and compensate for the frequency-dependent I/Q imbalance based on the kurtosis criterion. The global minimization of the kurtosis based cost function is proven. Simulation results are given to demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for mitigating intercarrier interference and achieves a lower symbol error rate compared to the existing methods.


Biologics such as peptides and proteins possess a number of attractive attributes that make them particularly valuable as therapeutics, including their high activity, high specificity, and low toxicity. However, one of the key challenges associated with this class of drugs is their propensity to aggregate. Given the safety and immunogenicity concerns related to polypeptide aggregates, it is particularly important to sensitively detect aggregates in therapeutic drug formulations as part of the quality control process. Here, we report the development of conformation‐specific antibodies that recognize polypeptide aggregates composed of a GLP‐1 receptor agonist (liraglutide) and their integration into a sensitive immunoassay for detecting liraglutide amyloid fibrils. We sorted single‐chain antibody libraries against liraglutide fibrils using yeast surface display and magnetic‐activated cell sorting, and identified several antibodies with high conformational specificity. Interestingly, these antibodies cross‐react with amyloid fibrils formed by several other polypeptides, revealing that they recognize molecular features common to different types of fibrils. Moreover, we find that our immunoassay using these antibodies is >50‐fold more sensitive than the conventional method for detecting liraglutide aggregation (Thioflavin T fluorescence). We expect that our systematic approach for generating a sensitive, aggregate‐specific immunoassay can be readily extended to other biologics to improve the quality and safety of formulated drug products.


Adrenal scintigraphy with 131I-19-iodo-cholesterol was performed in 13 hypertensive patients with biochemical disturbances suggesting an aldosterone-producing adenoma. The actual presence of an adenoma was subsequently confirmed in all cases. An asymmetrical tracer uptake (lateralization) was seen in 7 patients and in 6 of these the adenoma was located in the adrenal with the higher uptake. In one patient a large necrotic tumour was not visualized and a faint contralateral accumulation was wrongly taken to represent a tumour. In 6 patients the scintigram was non-lateralizing. In these highly selected patients a lateralizing scintigram had a high diagnostic specificity and at present adrenal scintigraphy should be the method of first choice in the preoperative side prediction. However, the sensitivity is low: a non-lateralizing scintigram does not exclude the presence of an aldosterone-producing adenoma.


The demand for mobile robots for hazardous field tasks, such as rescue operations in disaster scenes or landmine detection and removal has been increasing in recent years. Since electrical infrastructure is seldom available in such situations, robots that rely on chemical batteries or/and tethered connections to external electric generators sufer severe limitations in operation time and mobilig. A diferent approach is being sought in this research, which involves the use of a combustion engine for on-board electric generation. For practical purposes, the authors used a commercial 4-wheel buggy as the base platform. Some mechanical adaptations in the steering, throttle, gearshft and brake mechanisms were performed, and the developed mobile platform (Gryphon-I) can be computer controlled. This paper introduces new strategies for the control of Gryphon4 over uneven terrain, and the effectiveness of the proposed methods is evaluated experimentally.


Despite persistent efforts, unmet need for contraceptives in India has declined only slightly from 14% to 13% between 2005-06 and 2015-16. Many women using a family planning method discontinue it without switching to another method and continue to have unmet need. This study quantified the share of current unmet need for modern contraceptive methods attributed to past users of these methods in India. Data were drawn from two rounds of the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2005-06 and 2015-16. Using information on women with current unmet need, and whether they used any modern method in the past, the share of past users with current unmet need for modern methods was calculated. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Among 46 million women with unmet need, 11 million were past users of modern methods in 2015-16. The share of current unmet need attributed to past users of modern contraceptive methods declined from 27% in 2005-06 to 24% in 2015-16. Share of current unmet need attributed to past users was associated with reversible method use. This share rose with increased use of modern reversible methods. With the Indian family planning programme's focus on increasing modern reversible method use, the share of unmet need attributed to past users of modern methods is likely to increase in the future. The programme's emphasis on continuation of contraceptive use, along with bringing in new users, could be one of the key strategies for India to achieve the FP2020 goals.


A local electrothermal simulation of a model solar cell is presented. A rigorous discussion of the heat dissipation mechanisms in a solar cell is performed, showing that the total dissipated heat splits into heating termssthermalization, recombination, and Joule heat d and different Peltier cooling terms. Such simulations are important for interpreting lock-in thermography images of real solar cells. The simulated model cell consists of a circular noncontacted region surrounded by a grid line and a nonlinear edge shunt. Based on this simulation, a special lock-in thermography operation mode is proposed, which enables noncontacted regions in real solar cells to be imaged. Experimental results confirm the theoretical predictions. © 2005 American Institute of Physics . fDOI: 10.1063/1.1866474 g


Car production in Malaysia is increase dramatically. This situation created serious impact such as pollution and congestion. The Malaysian government should find a proper solution to prevent the vehicles growth by controlling them and improve public transportation services. The only way to get people switch to pubic transportation is by improving the public transport system becomes more efficient. To find out the solution, an understanding of traveller behavior by apply mode choice model using binary logit approach is necessary. Stated preferences method was adopted in order to construct hypothetical choice in current and future situations. A total of 250 respondents were selected as the sample based on the research study. This research employed a discrete choice analysis to examine the relationship between the independent variables (travel time, fares, comfort and safety). With variation of trip purpose (school, work, leisure activity, and shopping), model has been developed and tested to check the validity. The result shows that the potential of new train services to compete with the current commuter (KTM) and private car user are quite competitive. This is no doubt due to the characteristics of the respondent to choose a good level of services especially a better comfortability and safety with an affordable price (fares). It can be concluded that scenario 2 has great potential to be implemented since forecasting demand reached above 90%.


Items in recommender systems are usually associated with annotated attributes: for e.g., brand and price for products; agency for news articles, etc. Such attributes are highly informative and must be exploited for accurate recommendation. While learning a user preference model over these attributes can result in an interpretable recommender system and can hands the cold start problem, it suffers from two major drawbacks: data sparsity and the inability to model random effects. On the other hand, latent-factor collaborative filtering models have shown great promise in recommender systems; however, its performance on rare items is poor. In this paper we propose a novel model LFUM, which provides the advantages of both of the above models. We learn user preferences (over the attributes) using a personalized Bayesian hierarchical model that uses a combination(additive model) of a globally learned preference model along with user-specific preferences. To combat data-sparsity, we smooth these preferences over the item-taxonomy using an efficient forward-filtering and backward-smoothing inference algorithm. Our inference algorithms can handle both discrete attributes (e.g., item brands) and continuous attributes (e.g., item prices). We combine the user preferences with the latent-factor models and train the resulting collaborative filtering system end-to-end using the successful BPR ranking algorithm. In our extensive experimental analysis, we show that our proposed model outperforms several commonly used baselines and we carry out an ablation study showing the benefits of each component of our model.


Many non-linear controllers have been used to improve system performances and robustness of double fed induction machine (DFIG) based wind turbines like sliding mode control (SMC). However, this type of controller is less efficient due to a sign function that can lead to chattering phenomenon. To overcome this deficiency, the function is replaced by fuzzy logic control (FLC). This is what is proposed in this paper which deals with doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind turbine conversion system (WECs) by sliding mode control and fuzzy sliding mode control (FSMC). The system control have been applied to the back to back converters that connect rotor windings to the grid, For the rotor side converter (RsC), we have presented sliding mode control, and fuzzy sliding mode control to monitor active and reactive powers independently, when the grid side converter (GsC) was set to keep a constant DC voltage with a desired power factor. The effectiveness of the proposed control systems is tested using Matlab/Simulink software under a wind speed fluctuation and parameters variation. The simulation results showed that the FSMC is more robust and has better dynamic performances than the SMC control


In this study, the deposit formation of B20-NA biodiesel with the addition of bioadditive Essential Oil with different variations, B20 + Essential Oil 1:2000, B20 + Essential Oil 1:3000, B20 + Essential Oil 1: 4000 and B20 + Essential Oil 1:5000 method of hot plate drops to know the characteristics and mechanisms of deposit formation on each variation of fuel. The research is carried out by the deposition process and evaporation of Diesel fuels carried out repeatedly on a hot plate. The plate is heated with temperature variations inside the enclosed space so that the conditions are close to the real conditions of the engine. This test uses a hot chamber test rig. The use of bioadditive essential oils (atsiri) which have turpentine contents bind water content and residues in biodiesel fuel is expected to accelerate the process of excessive deposit release in the combustion chamber. This study aims to find the optimum fuel and temperature variations so that the deposit release process can be accelerated.


The rise in globalisation studies in comparative education places neo-institutional theory at the centre of many debates among comparative education researchers. However, uncertainty about how to interpret neo-institutional theory still persists among educational comparativists. With this uncertainty comes misinterpretation of its principles, variations and explanatory power. Two problematic misconceptions prevail: (1) the belief that the 'world culture' strand is the only version of neo-institutional theory applicable to comparative education research; and (2) the assumption that the global homogenisation of society, culture and schooling is a goal of researchers applying neo-institutional theory to comparative education phenomena. This article addresses these misconceptions, elucidating neo-institutional theory and its applicability to comparative education research. Our findings suggest that neo-institutional frameworks for comparative education research are useful, but that complementary approaches and methods are also necessary.


Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes are critical habitats for many plants and animals of ecological and economic importance and are particularly susceptible to nutrient runoff from the landscape given their proximal location to inflows. We used nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) to determine whether N, P, or both nutrients limited algal biomass accrual in 54 wetlands of Lakes Michigan and Huron. N was the most common limiting nutrient. Forty-three percent of NDS assays exhibited N limitation, 18% exhibited N+P colimitation, 3% exhibited P limitation, and 36% exhibited neither N nor P limitation. The magnitude of nutrient limitation was negatively correlated with water-column nutrients (dissolved and total N and P) and surrounding agricultural and developed land cover, results suggesting that anthropogenic nutrient loading partially relieved nutrient limitation in many locations. We also analyzed benthic algal assemblages to assess whether N2-fixing taxa were associated with N-limited wetlands. N2-fixing algae were common in our study wetlands, and their abundance was related to nutrient conditions. For example, the percentage of N2-fixing diatoms was significantly higher in N-limited wetlands, positively correlated with the magnitude of N limitation, and negatively correlated with dissolved N concentrations. Our results demonstrate that anthropogenic N loading, which receives considerably less management attention than P in the Great Lakes, can affect coastal wetland algal communities. Benthic algae is an important energy source for much of the food web in Great Lakes coastal wetlands, so effects associated with N loading may have broad implications.


The last five years has seen a shift in the nature of mobile computers. The development of increasingly powerful laptop computer systems has been mirrored by the production of a range of small computational devices. The increased prominence of these devices outlined a number of distinct research challenges. These challenges have tended to focus on extending the utility of these devices using new forms of interaction; techniques to overcome display limitations or improvements in the general ergonomics of these devices. The merging of these devices with existing telecommunication services and the production of devices that offer connections to other systems presents yet another set of research challenges in terms of the development of cooperative multi-user applications.


The transaminases, alkaline phosphatase (AP) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (G-GT) are most widely used as indicators of hepatobiliary disease. Elevated serum levels of transaminases (AST and ALT) usually indicate hepatocellular damage. ALT elevations, however, can also be of extrahepatic origin (muscle). The ratio of the transaminases in serum (AST/ALT) and the mitochondrial isoenzyme of AST are frequently higher in alcoholic than in non-alcoholic liver diseases. Serum activities of AP and G-GT are elevated in cholestasis: Both enzymes, however, are not liver-specific and G-GT activity is induced by alcohol and certain drugs. A hepatic enzyme pattern (predominant transaminase elevation) should be discriminated from a cholestatic pattern (predominant AP and G-GT elevation). The most frequent diagnoses in asymptomatic patients with accidentally detected, mostly mild to moderate transaminase elevations are: alcoholic liver disease, (mostly chronic) viral hepatitis, and already much less frequently, drug induced liver disease and non-alcoholic steatosis. Solely if the respective investigations are negative or/and the transaminases stay elevated for greater than or equal to 6 months despite strict alcohol abstinence, omission of any potentially hepatotoxic drug or weight reduction are further steps justified.


The purpose of this paper is to contextualise Prof. Heidemann's interesting essay by explaining some fundamental concepts it contains, first of all the importance of proxemic behaviour in a highly hierarchic society such as India. Proxemics behaviour is codified in the sastras, the ancient Sanskrit treatises together with other non-verbal languages still used in the country today. Then the concepts of darshan, the act of seeing, as well as the concept of praasad, the gift of food offered to the deity and then shared among the worshippers, which constitute the most important aspects of puja, the act of worshipping, which by involving all the senses – hearing, touch, sight, smell and taste – represents a multisensory experience. Furthermore, the concepts of ritual purity and pollution inherent to the Indian system of social stratification that permeate the entire Hindu culture. Finally, the paper contains some background information on the Badagas, the Indian community on which Prof. Heidemann's has conducted his research.


As computing power and storage needs increase rapidly, companies are looking for ways to reduce costs and improve overall return on investment. Although this is not market responsibility, a better understanding of this knowledge would greatly help managers of the companies that are wishing to enhance their current information technology infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to review issues of virtual server consolidation. Factors contributing to the both the positives and negatives associated with the implementation of virtual server consolidation will be evaluated in order to provide increased awareness of this emerging technology. Practical knowledge is discussed to help information technology managers explore this emerging technology for their enterprise information technology infrastructure.


Background Molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuropeptide-Y (NPY)-mediated gender-difference in blood pressure (BP) regulation are largely unknown. Methods Baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS) was evaluated by measuring the response of BP to phenylephrine/nitroprusside. Serum NPY concentration was determined using ELISA. The mRNA and protein expression of NPY receptors were assessed in tissue and single-cell by RT-PCR, immunoblot, and immunohistochemistry. NPY was injected into the nodose while arterial pressure was monitored. Electrophysiological recordings were performed on nodose neurons from rats by patch-clamp technique. Results The BRS was higher in female than male and ovariectomized rats, while serum NPY concentration was similar among groups. The sex-difference was detected in Y1R, not Y2R protein expression, however, both were upregulated upon ovariectomy and canceled by estrogen replacement. Immunostaining confirmed Y1R and Y2R expression in myelinated and unmyelinated afferents. Single-cell PCR demonstrated that Y1R expression/distribution was identical between A- and C-types, whereas, expressed level of Y2R was ∼15 and ∼7 folds higher in Ah- and C-types than A-types despite similar distribution. Activation of Y1R in nodose elevated BP, while activation of Y2R did the opposite. Activation of Y1R did not alter action potential duration (APD) of A-types, but activation of Y2R- and Y1R/Y2R in Ah- and C-types frequency-dependently prolonged APD. N-type ICa was reduced in A-, Ah- and C-types when either Y1R, Y2R, or both were activated. The sex-difference in Y1R expression was also observed in NTS. Conclusions Sex- and afferent-specific expression of Neuropeptide-Y receptors in baroreflex afferent pathway may contribute to sexual-dimorphic neurocontrol of BP regulation.


Factors such as minimum resolution overlay tolerances and maximum topography are key elements of IC fabrication. Circuit designers must understand the techniques lithographers use in manufacturing ICs. An overview of the resist work performed at SEMATECH, including resist characterization, process control, and modeling, and a look at future lithography trends are presented. Swing curve, exposure/focus latitude, contrast, reflective notching, development rate, and plasma and thermal resistance measurement procedures for performing resist evaluations are discussed.<<ETX>>