This paper describes a feminist doctoral research project undertaken to examine women's leadership in the Australian sugar industry. My purpose is three-fold. Firstly, I seek to bridge the theoretical and the practical by documenting the 'what' and 'how' of a feminist research project within rural sociology. To do so, I explore five principles which guided my approach to undertaking a feminist study. These were: focusing on gender, valuing women's experiences, rejecting the split between subject and object, emphasising personal empowerment and acting for political change. Secondly, I aim to highlight some of the difficulties and dilemmas such an approach brought and describe some of my attempts to work through these tensions. Thirdly, I seek to open up further debate and dialogue on the question of feminist research in rural sociology.


Identifying relationships among program elements, such as functions, is useful for program understanding, debugging, and analysis. We present func2vec, an algorithm that uses static traces to embed functions in a vector space such that related functions are close together, even if they are semantically and syntactically dissimilar. We present applications of func2vec that aid program comprehension.


Obtaining and retaining a good treatment result for traumatically lost incisors can be difficult for the clinician. In this case report, the management of a patient with the chief complaint of missing maxillary central incisors due to trauma is presented. The patient had a constricted maxilla with a bilateral posterior crossbite and an end-to-end relationship anteriorly. Orthodontic intervention took 19 months. The cusps and palatal surfaces of the canines were ground and flattened to meet the patient's esthetic requests.


The Doss-Sussmann (DS) approach is used for uniform simulation of the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) process. The DS formalism allows us to express trajectories of the CIR process through solutions of some ordinary differential equation (ODE) depending on realizations of a Wiener process involved. By simulating the first-passage times of the increments of the Wiener process to the boundary of an interval and solving the ODE, we uniformly approximate the trajectories of the CIR process. In this respect special attention is payed to simulation of trajectories near 0. From a conceptual point of view the proposed method gives a better quality of approximation (from a pathwise point of view) than standard, even exact, simulation of the stochastic differential equation at some deterministic time grid.


Small-scale turbulence and parasite infection are 2 important factors that govern the dynamics and fate of phytoplankton populations. We experimentally investigated the influence of turbulent mixing on the infectivity of the parasite Parvilucifera sinerae to dinoflagellates. Natural phytoplankton communities were collected during 3 stages of a bloom event in Arenys de Mar Har- bour (NW Mediterranean). The 15 to 60 µm size fraction was used as the inoculum and distributed into spherical flasks. Half of the recipients were exposed to turbulence while the rest were kept still. In the experiments, the dinoflagellate assemblage was mainly composed of Prorocentrum micans, Scrippsiella trochoidea and Alexandrium minutum. We observed a collapse of A. minutum and S. tro- choidea populations in the unshaken flasks, which coincided with an increase in parasite infectivity. After a short exposure to turbulence, the development of the dinoflagellate populations slowed down and stabilised as expected. In the shaken treatments, the infectivity was lower and the decay in the host cells numbers was delayed compared to the still treatments. The degree of interference of the turbulence with infectivity varied among the experiments, due to differences in cell abundances and possibly their physiological state. Results from a numerical model suggest that turbulence could lead to a 25 to 30% decrease in the maximum infection rate, which could be due to host population disper- sion and/or reduced host-parasite contact times. Turbulence may thus be effective in delaying the initial infection, but not in preventing it.


Abstract Background Approximately 1 in 5 and 1 in 2 of people infected with HIV and HCV respectively in the US are unaware of their infection. Risk based opt-in testing strategies result in missed or delayed diagnoses and may further stigmatize these illnesses. The use of routine opt-out testing increases test uptake and can identify patients with HIV or HCV early, resulting in improved outcomes and decreased transmission. This strategy has not yet been fully accepted or operationalized in many health care settings. Methods We implemented routine opt-out HIV and HCV testing for all inpatients using internal medicine resident and nurse driven screening models. Patients were eligible for each test if they had not been tested within 1 year and were not known to be infected. Residents were educated on rationale and protocols for routine opt out testing via one grand rounds lecture (January 2016) and one residency orientation lecture (August 2016). Between March and November 2016, residents were incentivized with gift cards awarded for most tests ordered. Nurses were educated through targeted forums. Instructions were distributed and placed in high traffic areas and HIV 1/2 fourth-generation Ag-Ab and HCV Ab orders were added to admission order sets. Patients were given a chance to decline after routine opt-out testing was offered and educational brochure provided, in accordance with Maryland law. Positive tests were confirmed using Western Blot initially, later changed to HIV 1/2 differentiation assay; HCV was confirmed with HCV RNA. Those with confirmed infection were linked to care. Results 71% of 3814 and 83% of 2219 eligible patients were tested for HIV and HCV; 54 (2%) and 390 (21%) were diagnosed with HIV and HCV respectively (Figure 1). Testing activity averaged 32 HIV and 28 HCV tests per month from January to March 2016 and increased after the noted interventions to an average of 300 HIV and 247 HCV tests per month from January to March 2017. Conclusion A high disease burden was found within the studied population, highlighting the benefit of routine opt out testing for HIV and HCV. Empowering residents and nurses to offer screening at time of admission is a viable strategy to scale up testing in the inpatient setting. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


The efficiency of nitrogen (N) use by crop plants depends, in part, on the leaching losses below the rooting depth in soils. A leaching column study was conducted to evaluate N transformation and leaching from three urea- based Controlled Release Fertilizers (CRF) and uncoated urea applied to a sandy soil. Each leaching was followed by 6 days of incubation at 33-35°c. After 18 leaching and dry cycles (3960 mL of water leached, equivalent to 90-cm rainfall), recovery of total N (sum of all forms in the leachate, residual soil N, and residual fertilizer N) accounted for 89, 85, 84, and 45% of the total N applied as Poly-S, Meister, Osmocote, and Urea, respectively. Cumulative N forms in 3960 mL leachate accounted for 59, 44, 33, and 28% oftotal N applied as Poly-S, Urea, Osmocote, and Meister, respectively. Leachate N accounted for 98% of total N recovery from uncoated urea, and 60% of leachate N was in Urea-N form. Cumulative NO 3 - -N in 3960 mL leachate accounted for 80, 98, 97, and 24% of the total N leached from Poly-S, Meister, Osmocote, and Urea amended soil columns, respectively. Soil residual N, (sum of NH 4 + -N and NO 3 - -N) after completion of 18 leaching and dry cycles, accounted for 11, 9, 3 and 0.9% oftotal N applied as Meister, Poly-S, Osmocote, and Urea, respectively. No fertilizer residue was recovered in the urea treatment. In the case ofthe CRF sources, the residual fertilizer N accounted for 48, 45, and 22% of total N applied: as Osmocote, Meister, and Poly-S, respectively. Among the CRF products, longevity of release was significantly greater for the Meister and Osmocote compared with Poly-S.


The Armillaria species mainly from Taibai Mountain were investigated. Four intersterility groups were discovered. They are Armillaria borealis, CBS J, CBS N and CBS F, and all of them belong to quadripolar heterothallism. The known distribution of some species was expanded. The Taibai Mountain may be the northernmost distribution boundary for CBS J.


The possibilities of the use of video materials while teaching the English language for specific purpose are considered in the arti-cle. The author marks out two ways of using audio-visual means and gives the examples of their use at the lessons of professional English language for the students of Institute of Engineering Entrepreneurship of Tomsk Polytechnic University.


Popular Abstract in English You may have never heard of gas turbine engines, but they are used in all kinds of un¬expected places. For example, many of the helicopters you see, a lot of s¬maller power plants and even the military vehicle use gas turbines. A gas turbine consists of a compressor, a combustion chamber and a turbine. Air is taken into the compressor and mechanically compressed. It is then mixed with fuel in the combustion chamber and ignited. The exhaust gases expand and are either used to produce thrust (in aircraft engines) or to produce mechanical power (in industrial gas turbines). In the first case, the gas stream is used to propel an aircraft, that is, the purpose of the turbine is only to drive the compressor. In the latter case, the desired output is mechanical power which means that more energy is taken out of the exhaust gases due to more turbine stages. The mechanical power is provided as shaft power and can for instance be used to drive a generator to produce electrical power. The efficiency of such an industrial gas turbine can be further increased by using the exhaust gases to produce steam in a heat exchanger. The steam can then be used for heating purposes or to produce more electricity in the steam turbine. To increase the efficiency of gas turbines, one is aiming at high temperatures at the turbine entrance, which has led to a massive development of new materials (for example, superalloys and thermal barrier coatings) and also material processing techniques and technology (directionally solidified and single crystal blades, for instance) for turbine blades, discs, and combustion chambers. This is the fundamental reason for the development and application of the superalloys, such as Alloy 718, and their continued improvement. The production of turbine was studied through-out this work, which includes three different turbine discs made of Alloy 718. This material is suitable for using in this section of turbine which operates at working temperature of about 800 ˚C. Alloy 718 fully retains its strength up to 700o C, yet it maintains high enough strength, for this turbine operation, up to 800 ˚C. That is main reason for using of Alloy 718 for turbine discs. The mechanical properties of this material are very suitable for high efficiency but at the same time this material is very difficult-to-machine because of these properties. The turbine discs are amongst the most critical components in the turbine. The primary function of the turbine discs is to provide a fixture for the turbine blades located in the gas stream, from which mechanical energy is extracted. The complete assembly of discs and blades is then capable of transmitting power to the fan and compressor section, via the shafts which run along almost the complete length of the turbine/engine. (Less)


Abstract We estimated the scale-length of the thin disc with the J and W1 magnitudes of the most probable red clump stars in the Galactic plane, − 0°.5 ⩽ b ⩽ +0°.5, in 19 equal sized fields with consecutive Galactic longitudes which cover the interval 90° ⩽ l ⩽ 270°. Our results are constrained with respect to the solar space density (D* = 5.95), which indicates that the radial variation of the density is lower for higher Galactocentric distances. The scale-length of the thin disc is 2 kpc for the fields in the Galactic anticentre direction or close to this direction, while it decreases continuously in the second and third quadrants reaching to a lower limit of h = 1.6 kpc at the Galactic longitudes l = 90° and l = 270°. The distribution of the scale-length in 19 fields is consistent with the predictions from the Galaxia model and its variation with longitude is probably due to the inhomogeneity structure of the disc caused by the accreted material or other features such as warp and flare.


Policy Iteration (PI) is a classical family of algorithms to compute an optimal policy for any given Markov Decision Problem (MDP). The basic idea in PI is to begin with some initial policy and to repeatedly update the policy to one from an improving set, until an optimal policy is reached. Different variants of PI result from the (switching) rule used for improvement. An important theoretical question is how many iterations a specified PI variant will take to terminate as a function of the number of states n and the number of actions k in the input MDP. While there has been considerable progress towards upper-bounding this number, there are fewer results on lower bounds. In particular, existing lower bounds primarily focus on the special case of k = 2 actions. We devise lower bounds for k≥3. Our main result is that a particular variant of PI can take Ω(kn/2) iterations to terminate. We also generalise existing constructions on 2-action MDPs to scale lower bounds by a factor of k for some common deterministic variants of PI, and by log(k) for corresponding randomised variants.


The two Ni-II atoms in the title complex, [Ni-2(CN)(4)-(C16H36N4)]center dot C3H7NO center dot 0.5H(2)O, are bridged by a cyanide ion. The macrocycle folds around one Ni-II atom, which is five-coordinated in an NiN5 square-pyramidal geometry. The other Ni-II atom is surrounded by the cyanide ions in an NiN4 square-planar geometry. The dimethylformamide solvent molecule is disordered over two positions in a 0.62 (1):0.38 (1) ratio and the water molecule is disordered about a center of inversion. The dinuclear molecule and solvent molecules are linked by N-H center dot center dot center dot O, N-H center dot center dot center dot N and O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the different attitudes towards string education held by string applied, string pedagogy, string education, and university symphony conducting faculty. A researcher-designed survey was created by informal interviews with public school string teachers, pre-college studio teachers, string performance students, string education students, string applied professors, string pedagogy professors, university conductors, and string education professors. Additional survey items were created from the research literature. The survey was sent to 200 university professors randomly selected from music units that are members of the National Association of Schools of Music. The response rate was 47% (N= 94). While survey results suggest certain attitudes held by string faculty, results indicate that there are no statistically significant differences among string faculty towards string education. The data seems to suggest that string faculty, no matter their specialty, tend to agree in their views towards music education, music performance, teacher preparation, and music school curriculum. Interviews were conducted in order to obtain more in depth insight into the attitudes of each string teacher group, as well as to ascertain how differences can be alleviated in order to find solutions to the current string teacher shortage. A leader in the profession in each teacher group was chosen for the interview process. Interviewees answered questions created after the survey data were analyzed. Possible solutions for the alleviation of the string teacher shortage were created from the information gathered in the interview process.


Introduction: Clinical governance is an important part of service evaluation and future planning. To facilitate reflection and learning from inpatient care, we commenced a monthly meeting to discuss all deaths occurring on the respiratory unit. Methods: All deaths, between November 2010 to 2012 in the unit (60 inpatient including 6 high dependency beds), were reviewed in a monthly departmental meeting. In addition to cause of death, co-morbidities were collated for each patient. Results: There were 4560 admissions in the unit with 325 deaths (7.1% of all admissions). 123 deaths were related to COPD, 86 related to pneumonia, 61 to cancer and cardiac conditions contributed to 90 deaths. 253 cases (of which 210 were primarily respiratory) were reviewed and data included in the analysis. The most common cause of death (1a on death certificate) was pneumonia (76 deaths; 23.3% of all deaths). Of the respiratory deaths, COPD contributed 50 (19.8%), lung cancer 29 (11.5%) and fifty-five (22%) were caused by other primary respiratory conditions (e.g., pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary embolism). Of note, cardiac conditions were the most frequent co-morbidity in respiratory deaths (74). Conclusion: Inpatient mortality meetings allow the members of the respiratory department to discuss challenging cases and learn from their outcomes with the aim of improving service provision. In total, smoking-related lung diseases contributed to 161 deaths (64%). The Hull and East Riding area has a higher smoking rate than the average in the UK (32% vs 22%). To combat this we have introduced an on-site smoking cessation service in the chest clinic and on all hospital wards with the aim of improving patient education, overall health, and reducing mortality.


We have investigated the possibility of measuring the electron neutrino mass with sub-eV sensitivity by studying the electron capture decay of 163 Ho with cryogenic microcalorimeters. In this paper we will introduce an experiment's concept, discuss the technical requirements, and identify a roadmap to reach a sensitivity of 0.1 eV/c 2 and beyond.


There is a significant psychological aversion to English as a foreign language in Saudi Arabia. General weakness among learners opting for English majors and undergraduate learners of the English language is noted. Different learners are unaware of learning styles most suited to them. This research discussed the necessity for sensitizing university teachers towards the contributing factors in the success or failure of teaching and learning the English Language in Saudi Arabia. Teaching-learning processes would be fruitful if the syllabus designers, teachers, and learners become aware of important factors like teacher's characteristics, learners' characteristics, teaching materials, and educational institutions. This study aimed to emphasize the role of the English language teacher in facilitating learning processes, through conducting active research of English language learners at Wadi Ad-Dawasir in Saudi Arabia. This research enhances the prospects of pedagogical studies of different language learning and teaching.


Volume 1 Sponsored by China Electrotechnical Society (CES) National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Organized and Hosted by Tsinghua University In Cooperation with IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) IEEE Beijing Section Supporting Organizations IEEE IAS Beijing Chapter IEEE PELS Beijing Chapter IAS, PES & PELS Hong Kong Joint Chapter China CES Power Electronics Institute China CES Electrical Control System & Equipment Institute Beijing Power Electronics R&D Center Zhejiang University Shanghai University Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Edited by Zhao Zhengming, Jiang Xiaohua and Huang Lipei


The authors report the design and performance of a versatile carbon doping system for solid-source molecular beam epitaxy using carbon tetrabromide (CBr4). This system is capable to achieve three orders of magnitude in doping by changing the CBr4 temperature along with varying the CBr4 leak rate into the growth chamber. The CBr4 temperature is controlled using thermoelectric coolers and thus can be adjusted easily and quickly. The CBr4 vapor pressure increases more than 1 decade when its temperature increases from −5 to 20 °C. The CBr4 leak rate is controlled using six different diameter orifices connected in parallel, and the flow to each orifice can be switched on and off independently using a pneumatic valve. The fast response time of these pneumatic valves enables us to change the doping abruptly. This system is suitable for growing sophisticated structures, which require wide doping range and fast changes in doping.


In 5G networks, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) has been proposed to enable computation and storage capabilities at the edge of Radio Access Networks. Proactive content caching in MEC is crucial to guarantee users' Quality of Experience thanks to the reduction of traffic latency. Predicting content popularity plays a key role in the effectiveness of proactive caching. In this paper, we propose a generic and flexible recommendation framework which allows recommending suitable learning and prediction algorithms among available ones, in order to predict content popularity. The investigated algorithms are categorized into two main classes: tree-based regressors and recurrent neural networks. Through the study case of YouTube video solicitation profiles, our proposed method, called Imputation-Boosted Collaborative-Filtering based Recommending Prediction Method (IBCF-RPM) shows its effectiveness in the prediction of content popularity for various popularity profiles. By running only 30% of the prediction algorithms, randomly chosen, on a given content profile, the proposed recommending method is able to estimate the accuracy of the other predictors and recommend a well-suited predictor for content popularity.


In classical experiments of granular cratering, a ball dropped on an evened-out bed of grains ends up within a crater surrounded by a uniform blanket of ejecta. In this Letter, we show that the uniform blanket of ejecta changes to a ray system, or set of radial streaks of ejecta, where the surface of the granular bed includes undulations, a factor that has not been addressed to date. By carrying out numerous experiments and computational simulations thereof, we ascertain that the number of rays in a ray system ∝D/λ, where D is the diameter of the ball and λ is the wavelength of the undulations. Further, we show that the ejecta in a ray system originates in a narrow annulus of diameter D with the center at the site of impact. Our findings may help shed light on the enigmatic ray systems that ring many impact craters on the Moon and other planetary bodies.


This artist's project represents four years of research (in part funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Council, UCR California Museum of Photography, and UCCA, UK (now titled University for the Creative Arts). The work has developed across platforms and resulted in a number of linked pieces, which extend and expand Johnson's interests in the interface between the archive, the book, the screen, and the museum.

The project has three distinct components: photographic site-specific installation, video triptych (projection/dual monitor work) and a published artist's book distributed by Art Data, London. The Feast Project was previewed and launched in April 2007 in the Oculorium Gallery/Project Space at the UCR California Museum of Photography in the USA.

This work represents a convergence of three strands of inquiry: identity and the body, sites of memory, and the archive. The work as a whole aims to explore how the female body is socially and sexually constructed through transformative religious ritual; contemporary practices of intervention and the museum; collecting, re(collecting) and the relationship of artefact and memory; and the archive as a site of reclamation and narration. Through critical intervention, found material has been mobilised and the 'record' put in question. The Feast Project operates as a set of interchanges between then and now, and reclaims a space for the reactivation of identity.

ARTIST'S BOOK
© 2007
Feast: Christy Johnson and 33 Confessors
Publication ISBN 978-1-870522-49-6
208 pages, b/w
Hardback Edition of 1,000
27.5 x 22 x 2 cm
Distribution: Art Data, London, UK

USA Book Launch and Artist's Talk
28 April 2007
University of California Riverside, California Museum of Photography

UK Book Launch and window work "Missal"
20 September 2007, bookartbookshop, London

Feast: Christy Johnson and 33 Confessors is a performative proposition, where levels of enactment and re-enactment are in dialogue. Johnson is particularly interested in the document as a ritual space, and how the book form can become a site for discursive interplay.

She has created and drawn upon two distinct but related archives: found photographic imagery (the appropriated record) and contemporary spoken narratives whereby the past and present are brought into contact with each other. She has sought and collected hundreds of First Communion photographic images from various countries in the Americas and Europe. The anonymous portraits span the years 1877-1970. The bookwork features the photographs of prepubescent girls and explores their performative staging as 'virginal brides' for the public communal event, as well as the private photographic record. Alongside the visual archive, Johnson has conducted interviews with thirty-three women of differing social backgrounds and nationalities, ages and current involvement and position to religion. The edited text excerpts have been taken from the audio archive and juxtaposed with the found images in order to oppose, support, challenge, complement, contradict, subvert, or go beyond the meanings offered by the photographs themselves.

At the end of the work, three essays provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the project:

•Archival Memories: Between History and Experience (pp.182-89) Margherita Sprio, Lecturer and Scheme Director MA Art and Film, Department of Art History and Theory, University of Essex, UK

•Retrieval and Transmittal in a Fictive Photographic Experience (pp.190-97) Catherine Clinger, Visiting Professor of Art History, Department of Art and Art History, University of New Mexico, USA

•All in White for the Feast: Whiteness in the Christian Imaginary (pp.198-205) Jenny Daggers, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies, Liverpool Hope University, UK

PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTALLATION
Oculorium Gallery
UCR/ California Museum of Photography, USA
Curated by Ciara Ennis

Feast: Christy Johnson and 33 Confessors
108 - 92 h x 61 w cm Lambda prints on Fugi archival paper

This floor to ceiling installation plundered the Feast archive, a depository of more than 400 found First Communion commemorative pictures from Europe and the Americas (1877-1970). A selection of 108 images enlarged and printed in colour (digital photographic Lambda prints) were presented in a three-row grid format on four walls that literally enveloped and surrounded the viewer - an army of pre-teen girls dressed in white. The anonymous photographic portraits explore and critique the initiatory performance of gender in ritual contexts (both sacred and secular), particularly addressing notions of purity and contamination. These monumentalised images become celebratory markers of an emergent prepubescent sexuality and desire. The fetishised 'virginal bride' motif once safely and happily in place, now reaches the challenging excesses of the fantastically bizarre. The size is a renunciation of where these photographs were originally placed, and the spectator confronted by a re-viewing. The sheer scale of the work exposes the physical nature of the First Communion event (both in the church and photographer's studio) and sets out to deconstruct this important symbolic moment. Female sexuality is not located in a comfortable place … it is not clear where it is … it is not fixed. Confronting the images, two voices emerge in dialogue (wall texts) where amnesia and sharp recall explore the flux of denial and excess.

VIDEO INSTALLATION
Project Space
UCR/ California Museum of Photography, USA
Curated by Ciara Ennis

The Set
Video triptych with continuous sound (projection/two 382 cm monitors)& prayer cushion seating
32 minute, synchronized loop (5 x 5 minutes sequences)

This installation explores the authorial nature of the First Communion rituals - rote performances in the Church move seamlessly to mock performances in the studio. The Set draws on the artifice of the recorded climatic moment (fixed image). This video work is a continuous re-enactment of five photographic portraits drawn from the Feast archive, and points to the absent, unseen event that is re-done (staged) for the photographer. The representational conventions that are to be adhered to (as with wedding photography) are exposed simply through a reflexive approach where the children hold their performances in the anticipation of the release.

Gender as performance is explored in terms of how boys and girls are expected to behave. Being good and acting as you are told breaks down in each of the five sequences with each child monitoring the other. The sound of a cough, sneeze, whisper or movement of the body reverberates in the studio, breaking and punctuating the monotonous real-time action.


Leptospirosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira species is a worldwide zoonotic infectious disease, but the mechanisms of leptospiral internalization remain poorly understood. Here, we report that mouse J774A.1 macrophages expressed integrin-subfamily proteins (ITGB1, ITGB2 and ITGB3). Antibody blockage and siRNA-based knockdown of ITGB1 decreased the internalization of leptospires into mouse J774A.1 macrophage cells. The internalization required focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activation in J774A.1 cells rather than phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K), and microfilament rather than microtubule aggregation during infection. The data indicated that the ITGB1/FAK/microfilament signaling pathway is responsible for leptospiral internalization in mouse macrophages.


A (nearly) linear dependence of the respiration rate on a given parameter value was proposed as the criterion for considering this parameter to be an efficient regulator of respiration in mitochondria. A number of possible candidates was tested using the dynamic model of oxidative phosphorylation developed previously, among others ADP, the ATP/ADP ratio, external phosphorylation potential and Atkinson's adenylate energy charge. Only the external phosphorylation potential log(ATP/ADP*Pi) was found to fulfil the above‐mentioned criterion and thus it was proposed to be the parameter which "actually" regulates oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria.


Background: Pruritus is a common manifestation in patients on hemodialysis. The aim of this study is to determine the distribution of pruritus and evaluate the association between pruritus and serum parathormone levels in chronic kidney disease patients on maintenance haemodialysis.
Methods:This analytic, descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed over 191 patients of maintenance haemodialysis in 2014. Information related to the patients including age, gender, residence, pruritus was extracted from questionnaires. Serum levels of intact parathormone were measured & data were analyzed.
Results: 68% of the patients had pruritus. The Mean ± SD of serum parathormone was 53.25±7.96 pg/ml in patients with pruritus and 81.91±9.34 pg/ml in patients without pruritus. Our study showed that most patients with pruritus had normal serum parathormone levels and no significant association was found between pruritus and serum parathormone levels.
Conclusion: serum parathormone level may not play a role in uraemic pruritus in these patients.
J Dhaka Medical College, Vol. 28, No.1, April, 2019, Page 54-59


Paper discusses a project of a system to support bus fleet management. Such a system is necessary to keep high position on market. A lack of complex solution available made us to design a new safe system from scratch. The paper analyses the transport firms needs and defines system functionality necessary to support efficiently a fleet of buses. The design is focused on IT system security and reliability.


Carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater is a relatively rare neoplasm and its longterm survival rate is considerably high. However, because of differences in tumor pathologic features and local invasiveness, a 5-year survival rate differ widely. We present a case of metastatic carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater presenting as a Krukenberg tumor in a 59-year-old woman. Eight months earlier, she had been diagnosed as well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater. Abdominal examination revealed a hard mass with mild tenderness in the RLQ area. The laboratory findings were unremarkable except for mild anemia. CT scan of the abdomen revealed enlargement of both ovaries. An exploratory laparotomy disclosed bilateral ovarian masses, 18 x 12 x 8 cm and 8 x 5.5 x 4 cm in size, respectively. Histologic findings of the both ovarian masses were consistent with metastatic adenocarcinoma from the ampulla of Vater.


The results of a longitudinal study on the cognitive development of one group of full-term and three groups of low risk preterm children with different gestational ages (GA) are presented. The 181 participants were divided into four GA groups of similar size. The aims were: 1) To check if there are differences in cognitive development (measured through the Batelle scale) among the GA groups. 2) To establish the predictive factors of cognitive development at 22 and 60 months of age, taking into account biomedical, environmental and individual factors. The results of the repeated measures ANOVA performed at 22 and 60 months of age indicated that the cognitive trajectories of the four GA groups were similar. Linear regression analyses showed that the effect of the different predictors changed in relation to the time of measurement of cognitive development. Biological factors and the quality of home environment had a moderate effect on the cognitive development at 22 months of age. Cognitive results obtained at 22 months of age, and, to a lesser extent, working memory had the greatest effect on cognitive development at 60 months. GA does not predict cognitive development. Preterm children do not show cognitive delay if they are healthy.


Background: Assertiveness is important for effective leadership and team building in nursing. Aim: to investigate the relationship between assertiveness and leadership styles among head nurses. Design: analytic cross-sectional. Setting: the study was carried out at Ain-Shams University Hospitals. Sample: It included all available (98) head nurses. Tools: A Self-administered questionnaire which included two different tools, assertiveness scale and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used for data collection. Results: The results showed that 77.6% of head nurses" had a high level of assertiveness, and high percentages were having transformational and transactional leadership, while less than two-fifth were using passive/avoidant leadership style. Significant positive correlations were revealed between the scores of assertiveness and all domains of transformational leadership, and the contingent reward domain of the transactional style, and negative correlations with passive/ avoidant leadership. Significant positive correlations were shown between the scores of assertiveness and all types of leadership outcomes. Conclusion: The study concludes that head nurses in the study settings have a high level of assertiveness. They mostly use the transformational and transactional leadership styles. Meanwhile, the scores of the transformational leadership domains of idealized influence (attributed), idealized influence (behavior), and inspirational motivation have positive effects on their assertiveness, while the laisser-faire leadership has a negative impact on it. Recommendations: The study recommends training courses for head nurses in certain areas of assertiveness and in situational leadership.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this review is to summarize the nature and focus of research that has been conducted into patients' and health care providers' perspectives of sexual and reproductive health access for people with disability.

INTRODUCTION
Article 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) requires persons with disability to be provided with equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services. However, there are few scoping or systematic reviews examining the provision of inclusive sexual and reproductive health services to people with disability. Current and planned reviews are either not inclusive of a full range of disabilities or geographical regions, are limited to reproductive health, or focus exclusively on the perspectives of health professionals.

INCLUSION CRITERIA
Qualitative, quantitative, mixed method studies, and gray literature concerning sexual and reproductive health service access for people with disability will be included. The UNCRPD definition of disability will be adopted, together with a multidimensional conceptualization of "access."

METHODS
The review will be conducted in accordance with JBI methodology. A search strategy has been developed for MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and gray literature. After de-duplication, results will be independently screened against the inclusion criteria by 2 reviewers. There will be no geographical limitations, but non-English-language publications will be excluded. Only literature published after the UNCRPD came into effect (May 3, 2008) will be included. Charting tools will be used for data extraction, and results will be presented in descriptive, diagrammatic and tabular formats.


The global financial crisis, increase in migration from troubled zones and the resulting more diverse multicultural and multilingual social settings across Europe have led to greater societal demands. As countries combat financial deficits and cut public spending, support to those in need decreases. Social inclusion has become one of governments' crucial societal challenges. Those hit hardest by the current crisis are the most vulnerable, particularly children and youths, who experience an increase in unemployment and decrease in general well-being and emotional health across all ages 1. Schools, together with the community, can work together to help tackle this challenge without additional financial burden. This paper presents research results from the transnational study INCLUD-ED funded within the FP6 programme of the European Commission. This project focuses on how educational practices involving the community can promote social cohesion without additional costs. Six schools in five European countries with a successful track record of transforming children's academic performance were researched through a longitudinal study over a period of four years. A number of positive transformative approaches leading to better academic performance, positive attitudes and tolerance amongst schoolchildren have been identified. Different dimensions of community involvement: family education; participation in decision-making; participation in school and curriculum and evaluation; as well as participation in the classroom have all had a significant educational impact. The research has also shown that community involvement led to benefits beyond the school walls with impact on improved housing, employment, health, social and political participation within the neighbouring communities.


Exhaust emission data from several fuel effects studies were normalized and subjected to statistical analyses. The goal of this work was to determine whether emission effects of property variation in alternate-source fuels were similar, less pronounced, or more pronounced than the effects of property variation in petroleum fuels. A literature search was conducted, reviewing hundreds of studies and finally selecting nine which dealt with fuel property effects on emissions. From these studies, 15 test cases were reported. Due to the wide variety of vehicles, fuels, test cycles, and measurement techniques used in the studies, a method to relate them all in terms of general trends was developed. Statistics and methods used included bivariate correlation coefficients, regression analysis, scattergrams and goodness-of-fit determinations. Insertion of alternate-source fuel properties into exhaust emissions prediction equations based on petroleum fuel results indicated that the effects of alternate-source fuel property changes on exhaust emissions were statistically indistinguishable from those associated with petroleum fuels.


Transport by moving charge-density waves in quasi-one-dimensional metals is a macroscopic quantum phenomena with many analogies to superconductivity. Motion occurs by quantum tunneling over large phase-coherent domains. Extensions of the basic theory are required to account for transport at low temperatures where compensation of CDW charge fluctuations by normal carriers is not complete. The theory, based on a small number of measureable parameters, accounts for a wide variety of ac and dc transport phenomena.


Instruction of innovative engineering design skills has been identified as an important goal for engineering educators. Some universities choose to delay the design content of their curriculum until the senior year, when the designers can utilize the engineering concepts learned in lectures. This delay is unnecessary as the skills needed for innovative designs can be learned independently from the engineering theories being implemented. The first year curriculum at OSU introduces three design courses, each with a manipulative rich laboratory provided by the TekBots program and staffed by freshman mentors. The three initial TekBots courses explore core topics to our incoming students, which include computer architecture, analog circuits, and digital circuits. Further enhancements to the first year electrical engineering course include curriculum development, increased collaboration with other departments, and development of a high school outreach program.


..". a richly textured intellectual biography... " History..". well worth reading and pondering by all who are concerned with the fate of humankind in capitalist civilization." Socialism and Democracy..". an extraordinary book. Although intellectually challenging, it is well worth the effort to read." New York City Tribune..". insightful and richly documented... " Review of Politics"The novelty and value of this book lie in Bergmann s painstaking examination of Nietzsche s reactions to and interaction with the political events and currents of his time." American Historical Review..". superb... " The Historian..". historian Bergmann has given the basic Nietzsche library a major addition... it is a reading of Nietzsche s early life, educational influences and later career by a scholar intent on recording the interaction of the philosopher with the political events of his own time." MonatshefteAmong both admirers and detractors, perhaps no issue has remained as hotly contested as Nietzsche s actual relationship to politics. Peter Bergmann s fine intellectual biography provides the first down-to-earth appraisal of Nietzsche s place among the individuals, events, and concerns of the Bismarckian age."


The authors describe two children with spondylometaphyseal dysplasia, Sutcliffe type. This easily recognizable form of bone dysplasia is characterized by coxa vara, minimal metaphyseal changes, oval vertebral bodies and metaphyseal corner fractures later in life. It is probably the most common type of spondylometaphyseal dysplasia. Early diagnosis is important for proper management.


Abstract. A social vulnerability evaluation of storm surges is important for any coastal city to commence in order to provide marine disaster preparedness and mitigation procedures and to formulate post-disaster emergency plans for coastal communities. This study establishes an integrated evaluation system of social vulnerability by blending a variety of single evaluation methods, applying the idea of combination weighting and calculating the social vulnerability index of storm surges. Shenzhen, with a current reputation of having the most economic development potential and a representative city in China, is chosen to evaluate its social vulnerability to storm surges via a historical social and economic statistical dataset spanning from 1986 to 2016. The research extends further by analyzing the city's temporal variability. Results reveal that social vulnerability keeps almost constant from 1986–1991 and 1993–2004, while it decreased sharply in the remainder of times to show a 'stair-type' declining curve over the past 30 years. Resilience is progressively increasing by virtue of a continuous increase in medical institutions, fixed asset investments and salary levels of employees. These determinants contribute to the overall downward trend of social vulnerability for Shenzhen. Exposure and sensitivity increased slowly with some fluctuation, causing the changes of social responsibility to transpire.


The wavefunction of a single spin system in a prepared initial state evolves to equilibrium with a heat bath. The average spin $$q(t) = p_{\uparrow}(t) - p_{\downarrow}(t)$$ exhibits a characteristic time for this evolution. With the proper choice of spin flip rates, a dynamical Ising model (Glauber) can be constructed with the same characteristic time for transition of the average spin to equilibrium. The Glauber dynamics are expressed as a Markoff process that possesses many of the same physical characteristics as its quantum mechanical counterpart. In addition, since the classical trajectories are those of an ergodic process (the time averages of a single trajectory are equivalent to the ensemble averages), the surfaces of constant temperature, in terms of the model parameters, may be derived for the single spin system.


Classic request-response Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has reached a level of maturity where SOA inspired extensions are enabling new and creative domains like the Internet of Things, real-time business or real-time Web. These new domains impose new requirements on SOA, such as a huge data volume, mediation between various data structures and a large number of sources that need to be procured, processed and provided with almost zero latency. Service selection is one of the areas where decisions have to be made based on consumer requests and service offerings. Processing this data requires typical SOA behavior combined with more elaborate approaches to process large amounts of data with near-zero latency. The approach presented in this paper combines pub-sub approaches for processing service offerings and mediations with classical request-response SOA approaches for consumer requests facilitated by Complex Event Processing (CEP). This paper presents a novel approach for subscribing to dynamic service properties and receiving up-to-date information in real-time. Therefore, we are able to select services with near-zero latency since there is no need to pull for property values anymore. The paper shows how to map requests to streaming data, how to process and answer complex requests with low latency and how to enable real-time service selection.


The Big Litter pick 2015 is sweeping across South Norfolk with more than 30 litter picks already booked and 23 more in the pipeline.


Low light photography suffers from blur and noise. In this paper, we propose a novel method to recover a dense estimate of spatially varying blur kernel as well as a denoised and deblurred image from a single noisy and object motion blurred image. A proposed method takes the advantage of the sparse representation of double discrete wavelet transform-a generative model of image blur that simplifies the wavelet analysis of a blurred image-and the Bayesian perspective of modeling the prior distribution of the latent sharp wavelet coefficient and the likelihood function that makes the noise handling explicit. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on moderate noise and severely blurred images using simulated and real camera data.


Finding an appropriate technical solution for reusing waste plastics is crucial for creating a circular plastic economy. Although mechanical recycling is the best option for recycling post-consumer plastics, some heterogeneous mixed plastics cannot be recycled to produce secondary material due to their very low properties. In this case, alternative routes should be considered in order to limit their disposal as much as possible. Therefore, in order to solve the environmental problems in the landfills of plastic waste recycling, and to improve the mechanical performance of bitumen for road pavement, the reuse of these post-consumer plastic wastes are preliminarily evaluated for the modification of bitumen for road use. The field of polymers used so far and widely studied concerns virgin materials, or highly homogeneous materials, in case of recycled plastics. In this work, a highly heterogeneous mixed plastic—Plasmix—from the separate collection in Italy, is used as a bitumen modifier for road construction. The research focused on the dry (into the mixture) and wet (into the binder) addition of different content of the Plasmix compound, with the aim of assessing the feasibility of the modification itself. Results of the mechanical tests carried out prove an increase in performance and that there is a potential of the addition of the Plasmix compound both for binder and mixture modifications.


Military veterans in the United Kingdom are considered a group at risk of experiencing health inequalities and a vulnerable population (Coll, Weiss, & Yarvis, 2012), particularly older veterans and those who have lost limbs.  Recruiting so-called 'hard to reach' populations has been a key focus of much health-related research.  A key reason for this is the fundamental importance of selecting an appropriate sample from a population which, at times, can be difficult to find and engage.  There is a lack of research examining the experiences of peer-recruiters, specifically the nature of research that is truly led by peer researchers as opposed to peer involvement in an element of the research process.  This study aimed to explore the peer recruiters' experience of being involved in a research study, and their perceptions of their involvement impacting the recruitment process.
A case-study methodology was employed to support an in-depth investigation into the experience of two peer-recruiters, and to provide insight into aspects that extend beyond participant recruitment alone.  This case study was part of a larger study which aimed to explore the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of older, limbless veterans across the life-course of which the peer-recruiters were involved.  Peer-recruiters took part in semi-structured telephone interviews and both interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Three themes were generated: Importance of the insider perspective; involvement in the wider project; personal and professional gain.  The peer recruiters believed that recruitment benefitted from the peer researchers' shared understanding of the participants' unique needs, as well as their understanding of barriers typically preventing engagement in research. This shared understanding was also perceived as having benefit to the participants' welfare throughout the research process. Peer recruiters also discussed their own involvement in the study, and felt a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction of helping others, as well as feeling as though their experiences positively impacted their own work.  However, geographical separation to the wider research team and communication issues within meetings were problematic and hindered their participation within the wider research study.
Peer recruitment was a successful method of recruiting a 'hard-to-reach' sample of older veterans with limb loss in this study.  Within policy-oriented health research, it is paramount that research findings should represent the full range of views, perspectives and needs of the target population (Thompson & Phillips, 2007).  Moreover, where underserved communities existing with particular healthcare needs, effective sampling is necessary in order to avoid bias, to recruit a large enough sample, and to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable members of a population are taken into consideration (Sadler, Lee, Lim, & Fullerton, 2010). To effectively engage participants in the recruitment process, the peer researchers utilised their own personal understanding of the veterans' unique needs and also the potential barriers that prevent engagement in research.  It is important to understand the 'military mind-set' in order to engage and develop a relationship of trust with the participants (Coll et al., 2012).


CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE (ed.) Medical theory, surgical practice: studies in the history of surgery, Wellcome Institute Series in the History of Medicine, London and New York, Routledge, 1992, pp. x, 331, £45.00 (0-415-00046-7). Finally a book on surgical history which steps outside the well trodden paths of-albeit indispensable-(auto)biographies and the progressivist descriptions of ever new technical achievements! As Christopher Lawrence shows in his introductory essay on 'The history and historiography of surgery', there remain many aspects in pre-modern and early modern surgery, let alone that of the twentieth century, that still need to be researched. This first paper summarizes the state of the art of surgical historiography of the volume under review although it does so chiefly from the Anglo-American point of view; more recent continental scholarship is hardly taken into consideration, yet there would certainly be a case to be made for a comparative approach. Three contributions give a refreshing insight into "classical" figures and themes such as 'Giovanni Battista Morgagni and eighteenth-century physical examination' (by Malcolm Nicolson), 'John Hunter's physiological surgery' (by Stephen Jacyna), and 'Joseph Lister and the germ theory of diseases' (by Christopher Lawrence and Richard Dixey). The direct insight into an atypical seventeenth-century London surgeon's work is given by Lucinda McCray Beier's analysis of Joseph Binns's casebook indicating a wider range of therapeutic possibilities than one would expect from the known reports of contemporary military surgeons. Roger French, too, uses unpublished material for his paper on 'Surgery and scrofula' namely the patients' records of the Aberdeen Infirmary from the eighteenth century, enabling him to link concepts and practice. Gert Brieger finds two periods in modern nineteenth-century American surgery which he terms "conservative" and "radical". His definitions of these often used terms are borne out by the American evidence he produces, although they might also be formulated quite differently against another background (which has actually been done by others). An enlightening view on the differences between systematic anatomical and surgical concepts of one same bodily structure (as they evolved over 150 years) is given by Lindsay Granshaw in her paper on 'Surgeons, anatomists, and rectal surgery 1830-1985'. Christopher Lawrence looks closely into the older nineteenth-century controversy over chloroform and ether anaesthesia in its continuation in the twentieth century by the experimentalist Alfred Goodman Levy and his clinical counterparts between 1910 and 1960. The volume is concluded by Ghislaine Lawrence presenting us with a rewarding paper on non-verbal sources in the history of surgery: instruments and other artefacts which raise a spectrum of fascinating questions other than those coming from traditional written sources, questions that can, however, only be answered satisfactorily with the help of such written sources. Medical theory, surgical practice is a very useful and stimulating book both for its new (and sometimes debatable) theoretical insights and for its many refreshing factual perspectives. A must for all those interested in serious history of surgery.


In this paper, we establish the Pexiderized stability of coboundaries and cocycles and use them to investigate the Hyers-Ulam stability of some functional equations. We prove that for each Banach algebra A, Banach A-bimodule X and positive integer n, H^n(A,X)=0 if and only if the n-th cohomology group approximately vanishes.


Objective:To explore darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) plus raltegravir (RAL) combination therapy in antiretroviral-naive patients. Design:Phase IIb, single-arm, open-label, multicenter study. Methods:One hundred and twelve antiretroviral-naive, HIV-1-infected patients received DRV/r 800/100 mg once daily and RAL 400 mg twice daily. Primary endpoint was virologic failure by week 24. Virologic failure was defined as confirmed viral load of 1000 copies/ml or more at week 12, or an increase of more than 0.5 log10 copies/ml in viral load from week 4 to 12, or a confirmed viral load of more than 50 copies/ml at or after week 24. Protease and integrase genes were sequenced in patients experiencing virologic failure. Results:Virologic failure rate was 16% [95% confidence interval (CI) 10–24] by week 24 and 26% (95% CI 19–36) by week 48 in an intent-to-treat analysis. Viral load at virologic failure was 51–200 copies/ml in 17/28 failures. Adjusting for age and sex, virologic failure was associated with baseline viral load of more than 100 000 copies/ml [hazard ratio 3.76, 95% CI (1.52–9.31), P = 0.004] and lower CD4 cell count [0.77 per 100 cells/&mgr;l increase (95% CI 0.61–0.98), P = 0.037]. When trough RAL concentrations were included as a time-varying covariate in the analysis, virologic failure remained associated with baseline viral load more than 100 000 copies/ml [hazard ratio = 4.67 (95% CI 1.93–11.25), P < 0.001], whereas RAL level below detection limit in plasma at one or more previous visits was associated with increased hazard [hazard ratio = 3.42 (95% CI 1.41–8.26), P = 0.006]. All five participants with integrase mutations during virologic failure had baseline viral load more than 100 000 copies/ml. Conclusion:DRV/r plus RAL was effective and well tolerated in most patients, but virologic failure and integrase resistance were common, particularly in patients with baseline viral load more than 100 000 copies/ml.


The aim of this project is to evaluate the road safety processes currently used in Queensland. This project focus on the study of the current road safety processes used in
Queensland to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries and how effective these programs and initiatives have been in reducing the number of serious injuries and fatalities.The
areas covered include; general road safety worldwide and in Australia; Road safety statistics in Queensland and analyses; Safety initiatives used in Queensland; Camera
Detected Offence Program (CDOP); Black Spot Program (BSP); Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program (HVSPP);Toowoomba Regional Council Road Safety Initiatives;.
 Older Driver Safety Programs and Initiatives; Young Driver Road Safety Programs and initiatives; Motorcycle Safety Initiatives; Anti Drink Driving Safety Initiatives; Older
driver (OD) safety initiatives ; Designated Driver Program;School Road Safety Initiatives; Australia wide Road Safety Statistics;overview of Canada and England road fatality rates; Global Road Safety; 5E's of road safety and Geometric Design .


The issue of sustainability has gained increasing importance in the agenda of government leaders and business managers alike, all over the world. Companies have come to realise that on top of being beneficial for the planet, strategies for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability policies represent important opportunities for businesses growth. Many such strategies are related to the business supply chain, where most decisions that impact emissions and sustainability are made. Examples of such decisions can be found in supply chain logistic network design and management: facility location, definition of transportation modes, and distribution policies, including which facilities should serve what markets. In this work, a nonlinear mathematical model to support the planning of more sustainable logistic networks was developed using a plausible hypothetical logistic network located in Brazil as a case. One aspect of the developed model that sets it apart from others in the current literature is that in addition to traditional logistic costs, carbon emission costs resulting from transportation activities along the supply chain were also taken into account in the analysis. Sensitivity analyses were conducted by using a computer simulation aimed at evaluating road and rail transportation modes, in terms of the impact that each has on the cost optimisation of the network configuration, especially in regard to the total cost of emissions and stocks held in the chain to ensure a desired level of customer service.


After long-term culture, mesenchymal stem cells alter their biological properties and enter into a state of replicative senescence. Although several classical biomarkers have been used for quantitative assessment of cellular senescence, no hallmark has been proven completely unique to the senescent state in cells. We used bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) from different healthy young donors and an in vitro model with well-defined senescence end points to identify a set of robust markers that could potentially predict the expansion capacity of MSCs preparations before reaching senescence. For each early passage BM-MSC sample (5th or 6th passages), the normalized protein expression levels of senescence-associated markers p16INK4A, p21WAF1, SOD2, and rpS6S240/244; the concentration of IL6 and IL8 in cell culture supernatants; and the normalized gene expression levels of pluripotency markers OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2 were correlated with final population doubling (PD) number. We revealed that the low expression of p16INK4A protein and a high OCT4 gene expression, rather than other evaluated markers, might be potential hallmarks and predictors of greater in vitro lifespan and growth potential, factors that can impact the successful therapeutic use of MSCs preparations.


AIMS
The aim of the current study was to develop and explore a series of new cytotoxic agents based on the conjugation between the thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine moiety and a second pharmacophore at the C2 or N3 position.

BACKGROUND
As the thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine core is a bioisostere of the 4-anilinoquinazoline, various new thienopyrimidine derivatives were synthesized by modifying the structure of the clinically used anticancer quinazoline EGFR inhibitors of the first generation - gefitinib, and second generation - dacomitinib and canertinib. It was reported that some thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives showed improved EGFR inhibitory activity. On the other hand, the benzimidazole heterocycle is present as a pharmacophore unit in the structure of many clinically used chemotherapeutic agents. Some 2-aminobenzimidazole derivatives, possessing anticancer activity, demonstrated EGFR inhibition and the benzimidazole derivative EGF816 is currently in the second phase of clinical trials.

OBJECTIVE
The objectives of the study were design of a novel series thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines, synthesis of the compounds and investigation of their effects towards human cancer HT-29, MDA-MB-231, HeLa, HepG2 and to normal human Lep3 cell lines. (American Type Culture Collection, ATCC, Rockville, MD, USA) Methods: The synthetic protocol implemented cyclocondensation of 2-amino-thiophenes and nitriles in inert medium, aza-Michael addition to benzimidazole derivatives and nucleophylic substitution at the N3 place. MTS test was used in order to establish the cytotoxicity of the tested compounds. SAR analysis and in silico assessment of the inhibitory potential towards human oncogenic V599EB-Raf were performed using Molinspiration tool and Molecular Operating environment software.

RESULTS
The MTS test data showed that almost all studied thieno[2,3-d]pyirimidines (9-13, 21-22 and 25) manifest high inhibiting effect on the cell proliferation at nanomolar concentrations, whereat compounds 9 (IC50 = 130 nM) and 10 (IC50 = 261 nM) containing amino acid moiety, and 21 (IC50 = 108 nM) possesing two thienopyrimidine moieties attached to a 1,3-disubstituted benzimidazole linker, revealed many times lower toxicity against Lep3 cells compared to the cancer cells. Thienopyrimidines 11-13 possessed high selectivity against HeLa cells. Compound 13 showed high inhibitory activity against MDA-MB-231 and HepG2, with IC50 1.44 nM and 1.11 nM respectively. To outline the possible biological target of the studied coumpounds, their potential to interact with human oncogenic V599EB-Raf was explored by a docking study. As a result, it was suggested that the benzimidazolyl and glycyl fragments could enhance the binding ability of the new compounds by increasing the number of hydrogen bond acceptors and by stabilizing the inactive form of the enzyme.

CONCLUSION
The thienopyrimidines tested in vitro towards human cancer HT-29, MDA-MB-231, HeLa, HepG2 and normal human Lep3 cell lines demonstrated cytotoxicity in nanomolar range. It was established that compounds 9, 10 and 21 showed many times lower toxicity against normal Lep3 cells that can provide a high selectivity towards all four cancer cell lines at small concentrations. Based on the analysis of the structure-activity relationship, the observed trends in the cytotoxicity could be related to the lipophilicity and the topological polar surface area of the tested compounds. The docking study on the potential of the new thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine-4-ones to interact with mutant V599EB-Raf showed that the compounds might be able to stabilize the enzyme in its inactive form.


We show that demanding team incentives to be robust to nonquantifiable uncertainty about the game played by the agents leads to contracts that align the agents' interests. Such contracts have a natural interpretation as team‐based compensation. Under budget balance they reduce to linear contracts, thus identifying profit‐sharing, or equity, as an optimal contract absent a sink or a source of funds. A linear contract also gives the best profit guarantee to an outside residual claimant. These contracts still suffer from the free‐rider problem, but a positive guarantee obtains if and only if the technology known to the contract designer is sufficiently productive.


The concept of EFTPOS is introduced and its development from cash dispensers and credit cards, through smartcards to the concept of a single, universal multifunction card is outlined. Such a card could subsume the array of cards that many individuals now possess, as well as contain advanced features. The article includes an examination of the main technologies used with a strong emphasis on the security measures employed, since fraud is a major concern.


I've been thinking about why I read the New York Times Book Review from cover to cover. If I have no intention of reading most of the books that any given issue reviews, why do I enjoy reading the reviews themselves? Part of the appeal might lie in the review's ability to survey and condense: forearmed by the Book Review, I won't have to stare blankly if someone mentions they're reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, even if I never get around to reading the book myself. Yet by this logic, I should enjoy CliffsNotes more than novels and abstracts more than articles – which I do not. Another explanation for the appeal of book reviews is that they steer one towards good books and away from bad ones. This, too, is inadequate, for I tend to be as interested in reviews of books I have already read as I am in those of books I plan to read. So again, the real puzzle is why one enjoys reading a review of a book that one would not actually enjoy reading. It is these cases that argue for the independent, self-contained nature of the review. A good review possesses a character distinct from that of the work that it discusses. At its core, the review is not a hermeneutical or scholarly appendage to a larger work, but an autonomous form of entertainment: a closet drama, staged only on the page, in which two protagonists seek fundamentally different ends.

 The dramatic essence of the review is most readily discernable in a "pan:" the withering, skewering, choose-your-favourite-metaphor-ing dismissal of a work's very right to exist. Take Clive James's recent review of Elias Canetti's posthumous Party in the Blitz: The English Years. James terms Canetti's memoir "a book fit to serve every writer in the world as a hideous, hilarious example of the tone to avoid when the ego, faced with the certain proof of its peripheral importance, loses the last of its inhibitions" (9). It is the virulence with which Canetti recalls his contemporaries (calling T. S. Eliot, for example, "a libertine of the void, a foothill of Hegel, a desecrator of Dante" or saying of Iris Murdoch, "Everything I despise about English life is in her") that motivates James's own uninhibitedly virulent review. Whereas the title of James's review is "Insistence on Myself," the Book Review's editors put the case more baldly in a subhead on the front cover: "Clive James: the Insufferable Canetti." James's review is as much an epitaph as it is an analysis, and its very forcefulness prompted me to pick up a copy of the book that had so incensed him.

 When panning a book that we have already suffered through, the reviewer becomes the avenging hero of an Elizabethan tragedy, righting a wrong and cutting the rot out of Denmark. While there is no book I could nominate as being categorically bad without some partisan coming to its defence, I suspect that I was not the only reader gratified by Walter Kirn's review of Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. How reaffirming to find that Kirn, like me, was annoyed by Foer's cloying narrator: "Kids, we're told, will say the darnedest things, but kids like Oskar – authorial surrogates with their darling whimsicalities and cute 'have you ever noticed?' observations … drive adults to the bar for a stiff drink" (1). I left the review, as I did not Foer's novel, with a sense of catharsis. Readers and reviewers alike may feel even more vindicated when the subject of such a pan is not a book, but a film, for while we may feel a twinge of regret for the solitary author who has failed ignominiously, we do not for a committee of writers and studio executives.

 When the pan is unjustified, however, or seems motivated by a reviewer's ire rather than by a work's deficiency, our sympathies shift. The reviewer is no longer a Hamlet, but an Iago, and while some part of us may still delight in his ruthlessness, we also identify with the author as victim. This is particularly true in the case of first-time novelists, for surely most avid readers of book reviews believe, on some level, that they have one good novel in them just waiting to be put down on paper. The first-time author is our surrogate, and we cringe for him. There may be yet a third panning scenario, one in which the reviewer becomes a quixotic mock-hero, tilting at windmills of public opinion, or an all-licensed fool, needling an omnipotent king. T. S. Eliot's assertion that Hamlet is "most certainly an artistic failure" comes to mind (143), as do any number of reviews that attempt to catalogue the deficiencies of the Harry Potter books.

 More favourable reviews, too, are fundamentally dramatic in nature. For the review may not simply be a precis or a summary. The author of the book has said something; the reviewer, no matter how much he admires the book, must say something different. If drama arises from two characters desiring conflicting outcomes, then the reviewer who sets out to praise a work may be tasked harder than one who means to castigate it. The unfavourable review questions a work's right to exist, but the favourable review must establish its own right to exist. The reviewer is cast not in a revenge tragedy, but in a Freudian family drama, and must mark his independence from the book that has given birth to his article. While the reviewer has far less space and time within which to assert his independent identity than did his book-writing subject, he does hold the clear advantage of speaking second. He, therefore, has a number of means by which he can encircle the book or shift the ground from under it. Whether by contextualising a work, by talking about a new work in light of the author's previous work, by discussing a book's reception, or by reviewing several works in light of each other, the reviewer seeks to make his own inscription on another's text.

 Yet the greater the book, the harder it is for the reviewer to scrawl his "Kilroy was here" across it. What can one say about Ian McEwan's Saturday, for example, that the book does not already say about itself? Reviewers of the novel have struggled to do more than load it with encomiums. Michiko Kakutani, for example, while praising the novel as "one of the most powerful pieces of post-9/11 fiction yet published," avers that "Saturday is too indebted to Mrs. Dalloway to resonate with the fierce originality of the author's last book, Atonement" (37). While Kakutani is right to note McEwan's debt to Virginia Woolf, she says far less about this relationship than does the author himself in his last novel. Briony, the narrator of Atonement, falls under the thrall of The Waves, which she reads three times and which directs her own writing (265). Yet the editor of a literary journal to which she submits a manuscript identifies Woolf's influence as a limitation, writing in a rejection letter:

…we wondered whether it owed a little too much to the techniques of Mrs. Woolf. The crystalline present moment is of course a worthy subject in itself… However, such writing can become precious when there is no sense of forward movement. Put the other way round, our attention would have been held even more effectively had there been an underlying pull of simple narrative. (194)

 This "underlying pull of simple narrative" is McEwan's great strength, one that allows him, consciously, to echo Mrs. Dalloway without being overridden by it. Kakutani's review is not so lucky, for McEwan's discussion of Woolf trumps her own, frustrating her bid for critical autonomy.

 Ultimately, the review is a dramatic form in that it draws its life and vigour from the interplay of competing voices. In an essay or an interview, authors more or less speak for themselves. A review, on the other hand, puts simulacra of an author and his text into dialogue with "the reviewer," a role that the reviewing author adopts for the occasion. Both authors therefore become characters when they enter the stage of the review. Thus, even the least appealing book can make for an entertaining and engaging review, for the dialogic nature of the review casts its subject as the stuff of drama.

References

Eliot, T. S. Selected Essays. London: Faber and Faber, 1932.
James, Clive. "Insistence on Myself." Rev. of Party in the Blitz: The English Years, by Elias Canetti. New York Times Book Review 2 Oct. 2005: 8-9.
Kakutani, Michiko. "A Hero with 9/11 Peripheral Vision." Rev. of Saturday, by Ian McEwan. New York Times Book Review 18 March 2005: 37.
Kirn, Walter. "Everything Is Included." Rev. of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer. New York Times Book Review 3 April 2005: 1.
McEwan, Ian. Atonement. New York: Doubleday, 2001.

 Citation reference for this article

 MLA Style
 Bolton, Matthew. "The Book Review as Closet Drama." M/C Journal 8.5 (2005). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> .
APA Style
 Bolton, M. (Oct. 2005) "The Book Review as Closet Drama," M/C Journal, 8(5). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from .


We have carried out the first survey of the pulsational line profile variability in rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) stars. We analysed high signal-to-noise ratio time-series observations of 10 sharp-lined roAp stars obtained with the high-resolution spectrographs attached to the Very Large Telescope and Canada‐France‐Hawaii Telescope. We investigated in detail the variations of Pr III ,N dII ,N dIII and Tb III lines and discovered a prominent change of the profile variability pattern with height in the atmospheres of all studied roAp stars. We show that, in every investigated star, profile variability of at least one rare-earth ion is characterized by unusual blue-to-red moving features, which we previously discovered in the time-resolved spectra of the roAp star γ Equ. This behaviour is common in rapidly rotating non-radial pulsators but is inexplicable in the framework of the standard oblique pulsator model of slowly rotating roAp stars. Using analysis of the line profile moments and spectrum synthesis calculations, we demonstrate that unusual oscillations in spectral lines of roAp stars arise from the pulsational modulation of linewidths. This variation occurs approximately in quadrature with the radial velocity changes, and its amplitude rapidly increases with height in stellar atmosphere. We propose that the linewidth modulation is a consequence of the periodic expansion and compression of turbulent layers in the upper atmospheres of roAp stars. Thus, the line profile changes observed in slowly rotating magnetic pulsators should be interpreted as a superposition of two types of variability: the usual time-dependent velocity field due to an oblique low-order pulsation mode and an additional linewidth modulation, synchronized with the changes of stellar radius. Our explanation of the line profile variations of roAp stars solves the long-standing observational puzzle and opens new possibilities for constraining geometric and physical properties of the stellar magnetoacoustic pulsations.


Patents help in protecting research and development efforts in an organization. They are known to increase valuation during merger and acquisition and act as signal for investors to make investment decisions in startups. Despite the value that patents add to a �rm, vast majority of patents remain unutilised across larger organizations. Environmental, Social, and Governance investing is gaining popularity and investors are increasingly using ESG analysis to make investments. In this paper, we studied startups that are funded. Further, we identi�ed and �ltered out startups that are ESG compliant. We found that startups that are ESG compliant have better patent utilization. We believe that startups that are ESG compliant will foster responsible investing and sustainable innovation.


Background There has been rapid integration of telehealth into care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about technology ownership, internet access and use for communication, and telehealth availability among cancer survivors, particularly those enrolled in Medicare. Objective This study aims to identify sociodemographic associations with technology ownership, internet access and use for communication, and telehealth availability in a population-based sample of Medicare-enrolled cancer survivors. Methods Data are from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey COVID-19 Summer 2020 Supplement administered between June 10 and July 15, 2020. Analyses were restricted to beneficiaries who reported a prior (nonskin) cancer diagnosis and a usual source of care (N=2044). Dichotomous outcomes included technology ownership, internet access, internet use for communication, and telehealth availability from providers. Sociodemographic correlates included sex, age, race/ethnicity, Medicare/Medicaid dual enrollment, rurality, census region, and self-reported comorbidities. Results Over half (957/2044, 53%) of cancer survivors reported using the internet for communication purposes, and 62% (1218/2044) reported that their usual provider had telehealth services available. Using the internet for communication purposes was reported less frequently for rural compared to urban survivors (adjusted probability of 28% vs 46%; P<.001) and for Hispanic and Black survivors compared to non-Hispanic White survivors (29%, 31%, and 44%, respectively; all P<.01). Rural survivors reported lower telehealth availability (53% vs 63%; P<.001); no significant differences in telehealth availability were identified by race/ethnicity. Conclusions During the COVID-19 pandemic, study findings highlight a complex digital divide among Medicare beneficiaries with a history of cancer related to device ownership necessary for telehealth, internet access and use for communication, and reports of providers having telehealth available. Multilevel approaches are needed to increase equitable telehealth availability and use for cancer survivors. Suggested strategies include increasing broadband internet access to providers and patients in at-risk communities, supporting telehealth implementation among providers that serve populations with known health disparities, raising awareness of providers' available telehealth services among patients, and screening for technology use and provision of telehealth-related technical assistance among older and historically underserved cancer survivors.


Carbamazepine which has been used as an anticonvulsivant for many years, has more recently been advocated for the control of aggressive behavior in epileptic and non epileptic populations. Carbamazepine is the drug of choice for patients whose aggressive outbursts are related to epilepsy. It appears that carbamazepine may also be affective in aggressive individuals with varying diagnoses (especially schizophrenic patients) but additional double-blind studies are needed. Patients experienced good control of aggressive behavior on carbamazepine in doses of 600 to 1,200 mg per day but the relationship of carbamazepine responsiveness to carbamazepine blood levels and concurrent medication (neuroleptic treatment) requires further studies. No significant problem has been encountered in the majority of patients receiving carbamazepine. However, it can rarely cause bone marrow suppression and hepatotoxicity so that blood counts and liver functions require monitoring.


In recognition of the critical need for an increased and diverse STEM workforce within the State of Michigan, the University of Michigan launched the Michigan STEM (M-STEM) Academy in the College of Engineering in the summer of 2008. Based on the successful and nationally recognized Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, M-STEM identifies talented diverse incoming engineering students with interest in STEM fields who, for reasons of socioeconomic class, first generation college student status, race, gender, or lack of high school rigor might not be successful in pursuing a Michigan STEM degree. M-STEM provides these students with a highly coordinated support system during the critical transition years between high school graduation and the declaration of a STEM concentration by the junior undergraduate year. Programmatic components and assessment of the first year will be discussed.


Innovation is an essential cornerstone of human development. Throughout history, humans have created an infinite amount of innovations, ranging from early hunting tools to modern technologies. In principle, innovation have improved human lives (e.g. advances in the life sciences and increasing life expectancy) and are a fundamental building block of economic development. However, economic development is not equal across all regions, as some regions tend to grow faster and at higher rates while others suffer from long periods of decline. Research in economic geography has linked these regional differences in economic growth with the innovation capacity in regions, as innovation do not occur anywhere at the same rate, but rather concentrate in specific places. To explain regional differences, knowledge usually enters models of knowledge production or economic development as a quantity without considering differences in the quality of knowledge. Research from various disciplines, however, emphasizes that knowledge is not alike, but shows substantial differences regarding quality. Some innovations stand out in the history of innovations, as they reshape existing paradigms (e.g. Copernican Revolution, Einstein's Theory of Relativity), change the pace of life (e.g. the printing press, the telephone, the internet), or reset technological boundaries (e.g. satellites, quantum computing). In fact, the literature provides a range of dimensions along which knowledge quality can be differentiated. For instance, new knowledge production relies on the combination of existing knowledge. Relatedness highlights that not every technology, or more general, any knowledge pieces can be combined with the same efforts and with the same success. Relatedness between technologies facilitates effective communication and learning and reduces uncertainties and risks. Alternatively, knowledge differs in its underlying complexity. Advancing and connecting the multitude of different technologies required for the moon landing might have been more complex than developing the PageRank algorithm for Google's search engine (Fleming and Sorenson 2001). Knowledge also varies in its degree of novelty. Some inventions introduce radically new products or processes such as Gutenberg's printing press, whereas others add marginal improvements or represent incremental modifications. Knowledge is also heterogeneous in its impact on the economy, society, and technology. The invention of the first automobile by Daimler and Benz or the first powered flyer of the Wright brothers lead to the emergence of new industries and reshaped existing technological paradigms. Other inventions do not even become innovations. Hence, (a) relatedness, (b) complexity, (c) degree of novelty, and (d) impact represent four important dimensions of knowledge quality, which the present thesis centers on. The findings of this thesis reveal that knowledge quality varies substantially between regions. The heterogeneity of places is not only important for differences in the production of new knowledge in pure quantitative terms, as often highlighted in previous research, but also crucially important to explain differences between places regarding the quality of new knowledge. Moreover, these qualitative differences of knowledge production between regions are crucial to explain the uneven development of places, for instance, in terms of economic growth and collective learning.


Climate change has impacted the crop yield and affected the livelihoods of the farmers. Using a systematic random sampling technique, 200 samples were collected from two districts, viz., Jhansi and Jalaun of Bundelkhand region, India from September to November 2017, while rainfall and temperature data were collected from 1969 to 2017 from the Indian Meteorological Department of India to find the link between farmers' perception on rainfall & temperature, and district's rainfall and temperature pattern in long-term.  Different statistical tools such as the Man Kendall test was employed to examine the rainfall and temperature trends, while the Breusch-Pagan test was used to check heteroscedasticity in the model. Further, the binary logistic regression model was also used to examine the determinants of farmers' perceptions using socioeconomic variables. The results confirm based on the majority of the farmers' perception that temperature has increased, while rainfall has declined. These results are in a similar line with the district's rainfall and temperature trends. The regression results suggest that gender, education, and access to toilets are less likely to influence the farmers' perception of climate change, while age, income, and access to electricity are significantly likely to influence the farmers' perception of climate change. Hence, policy should be implemented to enhance rural farming communities' awareness of climate change by providing training and creating awareness.


This paper presents the performance analysis of smart PCS based system for an accurate oxygen content measurement in the aqueous electrolyte solution. The system intends to measure the photo catalytic activity of the PCS which is sensitive to O2 by integrating the software and hardware design technique for more accurate results. The threshold voltage of the PCS changes due to photo catalysis process causing fluctuations in the PCS readout which is sensed by the microcontroller via an inbuilt 10 bit A/D converter. The digitized signal is processed and converted into corresponding value of O2 content. The proposed digital system is fast as compared to conventional flow injection analysis which is tiresome and time consuming job. The approach for this system relies on the fast operation of PCS which operates under sub threshold conditions and reduced computation time. The system is more user friendly and the outcomes of simulation are fairly in agreement with the theoretical estimations. The system is highly favourable for water quality monitoring applications due to reduced response time.


The oxygen concentration in molten binary Ni-based alloys was estimated by an electrochemical method using solid electrolytes. The electrochemical cell was Pt|Mo+MoO2|ZrO2(MgO)|O(in liquid)|Mo. The activity of oxygen determined from the electromotive force (EMF) of the cell increased when Cu was added to pure Ni. Namely, the oxygen concentration was higher than that for pure Ni only when the amount of Cu was between 1wt% and 30wt%. In binary Ni-Cr alloys, it was deduced that the addition of 15 and 20wt% Cr to pure Ni showed the lower oxygen concentration, although the liquid Ni-based alloys having 5, 7 and 10wt% Cr tended to have higher oxygen concentrations than pure Ni.


Purpose To compare the safety and efficacy of fixed-dose tafluprost/timolol combination (Taf/T-FDC) with those of fixed-dose latanoprost/timolol combination (Lat/T-FDC) by measuring the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering effect, ocular pharmacokinetics, and ocular surface toxicity. Methods The IOP-lowering effect of Taf/T-FDC and Lat/T-FDC in ocular normotensive monkeys was evaluated at 4 and 8 h after instillation in study A, at 12, 14, 16, and 18 h after instillation in study B, and at 24, 26, 28, and 30 h after instillation in study C. Drug penetration into the eye was evaluated by measuring the concentrations of timolol, tafluprost acid (active metabolic form of tafluprost), and latanoprost acid (active metabolic form of latanoprost) using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry after single instillation of Taf/T-FDC or Lat/T-FDC to Sprague Dawley rats. Cytotoxicity following 1–30 min exposure of SV40-transformed human corneal epithelial cells to Taf/T-FDC or Lat/T-FDC was analyzed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium assays. Undiluted and 10-fold diluted solutions of each FDC were evaluated. Results The IOP-lowering effect of Taf/T-FDC was almost equivalent to that of Lat/T-FDC at 4–8 h after instillation. The peak IOP reduction of Taf/T-FDC and Lat/T-FDC was observed at 8 h after instillation, and there is no difference between the two. The difference between them was observed at 24–30 h after instillation, and Taf/T-FDC demonstrated a significantly greater IOP-lowering effect than Lat/T-FDC at 24–30 h after instillation. The IOP-lowering effect of Taf/T-FDC was sustained up to 30 h after instillation, while that of Lat/T-FDC had almost disappeared at 28 h after instillation. Timolol concentrations in aqueous humor after Taf/T-FDC instillation were higher than those after Lat/T-FDC instillation (Cmax, 3870 ng/mL vs 1330 ng/mL; AUCinf, 3970 ng·h/mL vs 1250 ng·h/mL). The concentrations of tafluprost acid and latanoprost acid in aqueous humor after instillation of Taf/T-FDC and Lat/T-FDC, respectively, were similar to those after instillation of mono-preparations of tafluprost and latanoprost, respectively. The cytotoxic effect of Taf/T-FDC to the human corneal epithelial cells was significantly lower than that of Lat/T-FDC at all evaluated time points in both undiluted and 10-fold diluted FDCs. Conclusion Taf/T-FDC provides increased IOP-lowering effect duration and lower potential ocular surface toxicity than Lat/T-FDC.


The aerodynamic sounds around pairs of circular cylinders in tandem arrangements are directly simulated in this study. A lattice BGK model based on a finite difference scheme with multi specific heat ratio, which can easily simulated a diatomic gas such as air, is applied. The centre-to-centre distance (L) of the investigated configuration varies from 2 to 10 diameter (d), and results obtained are compare to the experimental ones. The Reynolds number and Mach number in simulations are Re=21,000 and Ma=0.056, respectively. The results show that we successively capture very small acoustic pressure fluctuations, with the same frequency of the Karman vortex street, much smaller than the whole pressure fluctuations around pairs of circular cylinders.


The hybrid finite element-boundary integral (FE-BI) method is used to model the effects of curvature variation on the resonant input impedance of cavity-backed aperture antennas recessed in the surfaces of prolate spheroids of varying dimensions. In order to assess the validity of these results, the resonant input impedance of the conformal antenna, for the limiting cases of zero axial and azimuthal curvatures, are compared with the resonant input impedances of cavity-backed aperture antennas conformal to cylindrical and planar surfaces, respectively. Results for the input impedance associated with a patch antenna mounted in a cavity flush with the surface of a prolate spheroid is presented.


Site-specific mutation of Glu-166 to Ala in beta-lactamase causes a millionfold reduction in catalytic activity toward both penicillin and cephalosporin substrates and results in the stoichiometric accumulation of a normally transient acyl-enzyme intermediate. Kinetic analysis indicated that substitution of Glu-166 by Ala leads to negligible effect on the acylation half of the reaction but effectively eliminates the deacylation reaction. Such differential effects on the rates of formation and breakdown of an enzyme-substrate intermediate have not been previously reported. Thus, unlike the situation for most transfer enzymes, e.g., the serine proteases, acylation and deacylation in beta-lactamase catalysis are not "mirror" images and must involve different mechanisms. The results suggest an explanation for the different catalytic activities between the beta-lactamases and the penicillin-binding proteins involved in bacterial cell-wall synthesis.


Performance requirement for an electrical switch is stringent. The operating mechanism mostly decides the performance. However, design of such mechanisms, which involve discontinuous motions, is not much addressed in the literature. The present work proposes a systematic procedure to design and analyze toggle based switching mechanisms. For the ab initio design of double toggle switching mechanisms, necessary structural criteria for a mechanism to exhibit double toggle phenomenon have been derived and verified. It is established that any double toggle mechanism cannot be used directly as a switching mechanism unless some necessary kinematic criteria are followed. With the help of these criteria a few switching mechanisms are constructed and their behaviours are examined through simulations. Finally, a novel double toggle switch is constructed with consideration of mass and geometric shape of the links. A systematic simulation based study has been performed to identify the influence of different kinematic and dynamic parameters on the functionality of a double toggle switching mechanism.


Some species of the genus Clostridium are efficient acetate producers and have been deemed useful for upgrading industrial biogas. An acetogenic, strictly anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive, subterminal endospore-forming bacterium designated strain PL3T was isolated from peatland soil enrichments with H2 and CO2. Cells of strain PL3T were 0.8-1.0×4.0-10.0 µm in size and rod-shaped. Growth of strain PL3T occurred at pH 6.0-7.5 (optimum, pH 7.0), at 20-40 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and with 0-1.5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0.5%). Biochemical analyses revealed that strain PL3T metabolized lactose, maltose, raffinose, rhamnose, lactic acid, sorbitol, arabinose and glycerol. Acetic acid was the predominant metabolite under anaerobic respiration with H2/CO2. The major cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0, C16 : 1 cis 9 and C17 : 0 cyc. The main polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, aminolipid and aminophospholipid. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain PL3T belongs to the genus Clostridium with the highest sequence similarity to Clostridium aciditolerans DSM 17425T (98.6 %) followed by Clostridium nitrophenolicum (97.8 %). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain PL3T was 31.1 mol%.The genomic in silico DNA-DNA hybridization value between strain PL3T and C. aciditolerans DSM 17425T was 25.1 %, with an average nucleotide identity of 80.2 %. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic differences, strain PL3T was suggested to represent a novel species of the genus Clostridium, for which the name Clostridium thailandense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is PL3T (=DSM 111812T=TISTR 2984T).