A study was made to evaluate the leukocyte aggregation test (LAT) in patients at risk for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and with confirmed AIDS using tuberculin, streptococcus and candida as recall antigens. These patients were selected on the basis of their well known absence of delayed hypersensitivity, a fact which should avoid false positive tests. Antigen-induced human peripheral blood leukocyte aggregation was measured quantitatively. The results obtained have been compared with the leukocyte migration inhibition test (LMIT) in patient and control groups. Among the 46 patients, less than 7% were positive for the LAT, whereas more than 50% were LMIT positive (P less than 0.001). These results suggest that there are fewer false positive reactions with LAT which can therefore be considered as a reliable method for assessing CMI in human. Furthermore, a negative LAT correlated well with negative delayed skin tests in more than 90% of the patients for the three antigens. These patients had either an AIDS or an advanced AIDS-related complex (ARC). In only eight of the patients was there a discrepancy in the results of the two tests. A positive LAT and a negative skin test were seen in three cases lacking opportunistic infections (OI), whereas a negative LAT and a positive skin test were found in patients with or without OI. In the latter, a negative LAT could indicate a more advanced stage of disease and hence a poor prognosis.


Radiative lifetimes of some levels belonging to 2p5 4p configuration of Ne I have been determined using electron excitation followed by selective laser excitation. The experimental results of this work are 123.8 ± 3.6 ns, 120.3 ± 2.8 ns and 135.9 ± 4.5 ns for the 4p'(3/2)1, 4p'(1/2)1 and 4p(5/2)2 levels respectively.


The first results of U-Pb dating of detrital zircons (dZr) from two samples characterizing the Taurica and Eski-Orda Groups of the Cimmerian structural complex of the Mountainous Crimea are presented. The strong similarity of the sets of ages of dZr from the Lower Taurica Formation of the Taurica Group and the Salgir strata of the Eski-Orda Group confirms the facial character of the primary relationships of these Groups. The studied Upper Triassic sandstones had a common feeding province and were formed, most likely, in different parts of the same sedimentary basin. It is most likely that this sedimentary basin was part of a continental margin of Baltica. The presence in samples of a significant number of dZr with very ancient ages >3.0 Ga (including 3 the oldest dZr grains with ages of ~3.9 Ga) makes the crystalline complexes represented in the present-day structure of the Ukrainian Shield as the very possible primary sources of these zircons. Crystalline complexes with such ancient ages are extremely rare over the world, but are widely represented in the Podolian and Cis-Azov blocks of the Ukrainian shield.


Aurein 1.2 is a 13-residue amphipathic peptide with antibacterial and anticancer activity. Aurein1.2 and its retro analog were synthesized to study the activity of the peptides in relation to their structure. The antibacterial test result showed the retro-analog is inactive. The secondary structural analysis by CD spectra indicated that both of the peptides at TFE/Water adopt alpha-helical conformation. MD simulation was performed on aurein 1.2 and retroanalog in water and TFE in order to analyse the factors that are involved in the activity difference between retro and the native peptide. The simulation results are discussed and validated in the light of experimental data from the CD experiment. Both of the peptides showed a relatively similar pattern for their hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, solvent accessible surfaces, and solvent accessible hydrophobic surfaces. However, they showed different in directions of dipole moment of peptides. Also, Our results further indicate that the reversion of the amino acid sequence affects flexibility .The data also showed that factors causing structural rigidity may decrease the activity. Consequently, our finding suggests that in the case of sequence-reversed peptide strategy, one has to pay attention to the role of amino acid sequence order in making flexibility and role of dipole moment direction in peptide activity. Keywords—Antimicrobial peptides, retro, molecular dynamic, circular dichroism.


Dielectronic recombination resonances of Ni17+ that form doubly excited states in Mg-like Ni were studied in the energy range up to 6.5 eV. We observed 3sεl → 3pnl, 3dnl (Δn = 0) resonances and a single 3sεl → 4s4p (Δn = 1) resonance in this energy region. A relativistic many-body perturbation theory calculation was performed to predict the positions and strengths of the resonances in this region. A comparison of the experimental data with the calculation yields an overall good agreement as regards the resonance positions and strengths. The discrepancies are predominantly theoretical underestimations of the rate coefficient. The 3s1/2–3p1/2 and the 3s1/2–3p3/2 energy splittings have been determined from the experiment.


ABSTRACT C-terminal Binding Proteins (CtBP) 1 and 2 are oncogenic transcriptional co-regulators overexpressed in many cancer types, with their expression level correlating to worse prognostic outcomes and aggressive tumor features. CtBP negatively regulates the expression of many tumor suppressor genes, while coactivating genes that promote proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and cancer stem cell self-renewal activity. In light of this evidence, the development of novel inhibitors that mitigate CtBP function may provide clinically actionable therapeutic tools. This review article focuses on the progress made in understanding CtBP structure, role in tumor progression, and discovery and development of CtBP inhibitors that target CtBP's dehydrogenase activity and other functions, with a focus on the theory and rationale behind the designs of current inhibitors. We provide insight into the future development and use of rational combination therapy that may further augment the efficacy of CtBP inhibitors, specifically addressing metastasis and cancer stem cell populations within tumors.


Polytene chromosome preparations of the ovarian nurse cells of Anopheles culicifacies females collected in 6 different parts of Baluchistan, Iran, during September-October 1987 and May-June 1988 revealed the existence of species A in this country. The chromosome arms are homosequential with those of species A of India. This report confirms the distribution of species A in Iran.


Taspoglutide is a novel analog of human glucagon-like peptide-1 [hGLP-1(7-36)NH2] in clinical development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Taspoglutide contains alpha-aminoisobutyric acid substitutions replacing Ala(8) and Gly(35) of hGLP-1(7-36)NH2. The binding affinity [radioligand binding assay using [(125)I]hGLP-1(7-36)NH2], potency (cAMP production in CHO cells stably overexpressing hGLP-1 receptor), and in vitro plasma stability of taspoglutide compared with hGLP-1(7-36)NH2 have been evaluated. Effects on basal and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion were determined in vitro in INS-1E cells and in vivo in normal rats. Taspoglutide has comparable affinity (affinity constant 1.1 +/- 0.2 nm) to the natural ligand (affinity constant 1.5 +/- 0.3 nm) for the hGLP-1 receptor and exhibits comparable potency in stimulating cAMP production (EC(50) Taspo 0.06 nm and EC(50) hGLP-1(7-36)NH2 0.08 nm). Taspoglutide exerts insulinotropic action in vitro and in vivo and retains the glucoincretin property of hGLP-1(7-36)NH2. Stimulation of insulin secretion is concentration dependent and evident in the presence of high-glucose concentrations (16.7 mm) with a taspoglutide concentration as low as 0.001 nm. Taspoglutide is fully resistant to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 cleavage (during 1 h incubation at room temperature with purified enzyme) and has an extended in vitro plasma half-life relative to hGLP-1(7-36)NH2 (9.8 h vs. 50 min). In vitro, taspoglutide does not inhibit dipeptidyl peptidase-4 activity. This study provides the biochemical and pharmacological basis for the sustained plasma drug levels and prolonged therapeutic activity seen in early clinical trials of taspoglutide. Excellent stability and potency with substantial glucoincretin effects position taspoglutide as a promising new agent for treatment of type 2 diabetes.


In radiation therapy, prior to each treatment fraction, the patient must be aligned to computed tomography (CT) data. Patient setup verification systems based on range imaging (RI) can accurately verify the patient position and adjust the treatment table at a fine scale, but require an initial manual setup using lasers and skin markers. We propose a novel markerless solution that enables a fully-automatic initial coarse patient setup. The table transformation that brings template and reference data in congruence is estimated from point correspondences based on matching local surface descriptors. Inherently, this point-based registration approach is capable of coping with gross initial misalignments and partial matching. Facing the challenge of multi-modal surface registration (RI/CT), we have adapted state-of-the-art descriptors to achieve invariance to mesh resolution and robustness to variations in topology. In a case study on real data from a low-cost RI device (Microsoft Kinect), the performance of different descriptors is evaluated on anthropomorphic phantoms. Furthermore, we have investigated the system's resilience to deformations for mono-modal RI/RI registration of data from healthy volunteers. Under gross initial misalignments, our method resulted in an average angular error of 1.5° and an average translational error of 13.4 mm in RI/CT registration. This coarse patient setup provides a feasible initialization for subsequent refinement with verification systems.


The incorporation of source directivity is important for a plausible and authentic auralization. While high-resolution measurement setups and data exist, it is yet not clear how detailed the directivity information has to be measured and reproduced with regard to perception. In particular, when source and listener are at the same location, resulting in a high direct-to-reverberant energy ratio, the precise shape of the directivity pattern might not yield perceptual differences. The paper approaches this question by a listening experiment in a virtual environment with generic directivity patterns and coincident position of listener and source. The experiment compares different spatial resolutions (spherical harmonic orders) of the directivity patterns for multiple virtual listener/source positions/orientations and levels of direct sound for speech and noise. The virtual environment employs a higher-order image-source model and binaural, dynamic Ambisonic playback. The results show that the exact shape of the directivity pattern is often perceptually irrelevant, while the preservation of the direct-to-reverberant energy ratio is more important.


3600 Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of phospholipid-dependent serine/threonine kinases that play an important role in cell proliferation and apoptosis. We have recently reported that PKCϵ is an anti-apoptotic protein that inhibits TRAIL-induced apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The p53 pathway has been shown to be an important regulator of TRAIL-induced apoptosis. In the present study, we examined the involvement of p53 in PKCϵ-mediated TRAIL resistance. We observed that PKCϵ overexpression in the MCF-7 cells (MCF-7/PKCϵ) was associated with a decrease in p53 at both the protein and mRNA level compared to vector-transfected control cells (MCF-7/Neo). Silencing p53 using siRNA abrogated TRAIL-induced cell death and caspase activation in MCF-7/Neo and MCF-7/PKCϵ cells. It has been shown that Akt regulates p53. Furthermore, we have previously shown that Akt acts downstream of PKCϵ and mediates survival of MCF-7/PKCϵ cells. Therefore, we determined the effect of Akt depletion on p53 levels. Knockdown of Akt in MCF-7/Neo and MCF-7/PKCϵ cells resulted in an increase in p53 level and enhanced cell death. These results demonstrate that PKCϵ may mediate TRAIL resistance via suppression of p53 expression in MCF-7 cells. (This work was supported by the grant CA71727 from the NCI.)


We tested the effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) of cultured M-1 mouse cortical collecting duct cells. [Ca2+]i was measured using fura 2 and a fluorescent imaging system. At a concentration of extracellular calcium ([Ca2+]o) of 1 mM, ET-1 (10(-12) to 10(-7) M) increased [Ca2+]i. A second application of ET-1 had no effect on Ca2+. In contrast, application of arginine vasopressin after an initial exposure to ET-1 induced a second Ca2+ response. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+ (1 mM EGTA) ET-1 also elicited a Ca2+ peak, indicating participation of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores in the initial Ca2+ peak. At [Ca2+]o of 10 mM, ET-1 also induced an intracellular Ca2+ peak but [Ca2+]i remained significantly elevated. The Ca2+ plateau phase was abolished by nickel (10 or 100 microM) and nifedipine (0.1 or 1 microM). We conclude that ET-1 mediates an increase in [Ca2+]i by Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and activation of a nickel- and nifedipine-sensitive Ca2+ entry mechanism.


A space-time spreading (STS) assisted near-instantaneously adaptive quadrature amplitude modulated (AQAM) multi-carrier CDMA (MC-DSCDMA) video transceiver is proposed and investigated. When the STS scheme is invoked for spreading the signal of each sub-carrier to multiple transmit antennas, the effects of channel-induced fading are substantially mitigated. Furthermore, turbo convolutional coding is invoked for enhancing the achievable BER versus SNR performance. The AQAM-aided STS MC-CDMA system was capable of maintaining a near-constant target BER and hence a near-constant video PSNR across a wide range of channel qualities, requiring a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as low as 7dB for achieving a perceptually pleasing video quality.


Background To explore the effect and mechanism of pirfenidone in inhibiting pulmonary fibrosis in connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD). Methods From 2018 to 2020, 50 CTD-ILD patients were enrolled in the clinical study. Based on whether pirfenidone was used during treatment, patients were enrolled into the pirfenidone group and the control group. Pulmonary function tests were compared before and after treatment. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and Krebs Von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) in venous blood before and after treatment. Rat type II (RLE-6TN) lung epithelial cells were cultivated for in vitro experiments, and they were sorted into the control group, bleomycin group, pirfenidone group, TNF-α group, Stattic group, and TNF-α/Stattic combined treatment group. For the in vitro experiments, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) tests were used to evaluate cell proliferation, Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction(RT–PCR) was performed to detect STAT3 and KL-6 mRNA expression levels, ELISA was utilized to detect TNF-α and E-cadherin expression levels, and Western blotting (WB) was performed to determine α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), vimentin, TNF-α, STAT3, phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (PSTAT3) and KL-6 expression. Results In the clinical study, the pulmonary function indices including forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF) and partial pressure (PaO2) of the patients in the study group were superior to those in the control group (P<0.05). The serum TNF-α, STAT3 and KL-6 levels in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). In the in vitro experiments, the α-SMA, vimentin, STAT3 and KL-6 levels in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the bleomycin group (P<0.05). Compared with those in the pirfenidone group, the α-SMA, vimentin, STAT3 and KL-6 levels in the TNF-α-treated group were significantly upregulated (P<0.05). Meanwhile, cell viability was further upregulated (P<0.05), and the expression of STAT3 and KL-6 was further decreased in the Stattic-treated group (P<0.05). In the group treated with infliximab combined with Stattic, TNF-α expression was significantly increased (P<0.05), cell activity was significantly restored (P<0.05), and the STAT3, KL-6 and E-cadherin expression levels were inhibited (P<0.05). Conclusions Pirfenidone improved pulmonary function 1 and decreased TNF-α, STAT3, and KL-6 expression in CTD-ILD patients. Moreover, pirfenidone inhibits cell fibrosis through the TNF-α/STAT3/Mucin 1(MUC1) pathway.


In this review, we focus on corporate governance-related research published in the Journal of Accounting Research (JAR) over the 2002-2018 period. Our main objective is not to provide an in-depth critical review of these papers, but rather to identify when and why corporate governance studies are relevant to accounting research and thus of interest to accounting journals – a question we often struggle with in our roles as authors, editors and reviewers. After a brief review of studies on executive pay (traditionally considered to be part of accounting research), we offer the following taxonomy for the rest of governance studies: (i) studies where a governance mechanism is the central determinant and an accounting construct is the outcome of interest ("governance-as-determinant" studies); (ii) studies where a governance "shock" is used to address an accounting question ("governance-as-shock" studies); (iii) studies where the governance mechanism is the construct of interest, but the mechanism itself is an accounting one (e.g. the audit committee); and, (iv) studies where a (non-accounting) governance mechanism is the construct of interest and the research question is fundamentally a governance question ("pure governance studies"). The relevance of studies that fall in the last sub-group to accounting research is not as obvious. Thus, we devote special attention to these papers, trying to identify why they were appealing to an accounting journal. We hope our review provides editors and reviewers at JAR and other accounting journals with a framework to assess the relevance of governance studies to accounting research, while also helping authors in successfully framing such studies.


Continuous adsorption and recovery characteristics for gold and lead-cyanide complexes in industrial wastewater were investigated by the Dowex 21K XLT resin. The Dowex 21K XLT resin could continuously remove over 95% for gold-cyanide complex until 520 bed volumes at the 0.5 mL/min of influent flow rate, however, could not remove lead-cyanide complex at all. The 96% of gold-cyanide complex adsorbed onto Dowex 21K XLT resin could be recovered by mixed solvent with HCl and acetone (7:3 ratio) within 8 bed volumes. Also, the bed volume for gold-cyanide complex using secondly reused Dowex 21K XLT resin was maintained as the 490, therefore, continuous process using Dowex 21K XLT resin can be sufficiently applied to the industrial wastewater containing gold ions.


The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies studied its member societies' activities related to responsible research in connection to open science, research integrity and research evaluation. In addition to these areas, the assessment covered the societies' scientific activities and activities promoting societal impact, as well as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the societies' ability to operate. The material was gathered through a survey carried out in November 2021. A total of 116 member societies, representing various fields, responded to it.


A well-documented property of the Beveridge–Nelson trend–cycle decomposition is the perfect negative correlation between trend and cycle innovations. We show how this may be consistent with a structural model where permanent innovations enter the cycle or transitory innovations enter the trend, and that identification restrictions are necessary to make this structural distinction. A reduced-form unrestricted version is compatible with either option, but cannot distinguish which is relevant. We discuss economic interpretations and implications using U.S. real GDP data.


This paper presents panoramix, a post-production workstation for 3D-audio contents. This tool offers a comprehensive environment for mixing, reverberating, and spa-tializing sound materials from different microphone systems: surround microphone trees, spot microphones, ambient miking, Higher Order Ambisonics capture. Several 3D spatialization techniques (VBAP, HOA, binaural) can be combined and mixed simultaneously in different formats. Panoramix also provides conventional features of mixing engines (equalizer, compressor/expander, grouping parameters , routing of input/output signals, etc.), and it can be controlled entirely via the Open Sound Control protocol.


We use experimental mid-infrared optical constants and extended effective medium approximations to determine the porosity and the band strengths of multi-phase composite ices grown at 30 K. A set of porous H2O:CH4 ices are taken as a prototypical example. As a benchmark and proof of concept, the stoichiometry of the ice constituents is retreived with good accuracy from the refractive indices and the extinction coefficients of the reference binary ice mixtures with known compositions. Accurate band strengths are then calculated from experimental mid-infrared spectra of complex ices. We notice that the presence of pores has only a small effect on the overall band strengths, whereas a water dilution can considerably alter them. Different levels of porosity are observed depending on the abundance of methane used as a gas contaminant premixed with water prior to background deposition. The absorption profiles are also found to vary with deposition rate. To explain this, we use Monte Carlo simulations and we observe that the deposition rate strongly affects the pore size distribution as well as the ice morphology through reorganization processes. Extrapolated to genuine interstellar ices, the methodology presented in this paper can be used to evaluate the porosity and to quantify the relative abundances from observational data.


A meshless approach is developed and used to predict buckling loads of discretely assembled composite panels made from skin and stiffeners. Particular emphasis is given to stringer run-outs within a stiffened panel, where abrupt eccentricity can trigger very large transverse displacements of the skin in front of the run-out tip and perturb the internal in-plane loads distribution. The effect of load eccentricity is included in the formulation. The final set of nonlinear equations is obtained by combining von Karman's formulation for moderately large deflections in plates with an extended Timoshenko approach for small initial perturbations. Solutions are calculated by means of a Rayleigh–Ritzmethod in conjunctionwith aGalerkin technique.Orthogonal eigenfunctions are employed to expand the variables of interest in generalized Fourier series. An iterative algorithm is proposed to calculate buckling loads. Limits of applicability, convergence of results, and further potential exploitations are discussed. Numerical results are compared with those from finite element analysis and other numerical approaches.


The purpose of the paper was in investigation of the planetary nebulae NGC 1535, 3242, 6210, 6543, 6572. 6720, 6826 6853 7009, 7027, 7662 and of the diffuse gaseous nebulae NGC 1976 (Orion) and 6618 (Omega), in order to determine H+, O++ and O+ concentrations in them and to evaluate the masses of luminous matter.

A 33-cm reflector with a sensitive photoelectric photometer has been mainly used for the observations. In one ease the photographs of NGC 6853 were taken with Maksutov 70-cm menisK telescope.

The photometer represented a combination of an antimony-cesium photoelectric multiplier and a direct current amplifier. The latter has n mounted according to Du Bridge-Brown scheme with an electrometric lamp. Fig. 8 gives a complete scheme of the photoelectric photometer.

17 Ao stars were observed to establish an absolute spectral sensitivity of the observational apparatus (photoelectric photometer and telescope). The multiplier spectral sensitivity in relative units was previously measured in the laboratory.

In estimating the absolute sensitivity, the temperature for Ao stars was admitted as equal to 15000°; illuminations by the stars were based on radiometric measurements; star magnitudes were taken from the catalogues BSD and HD.

Fig. 14. 15 represent the absolute spectral sensitivity of the observational equipment in deflection units/erg/sec.cm2 (illumination value). The sensitivity of the instrument is also shown in the case when light filters were used.

A number of faint 7—11 magnitude stars were observed, in order to cheat the accuracy of measurements.

The nebulae were being observed during 1954—1955.

In treating the observations, a contribution of terrestrial^atmosphere and say background glow was taken account of Table 17 gives the definite measurement results for 11 planetary nebulae and diffuse gaseous nebula NGC 6618. Measurements for the latter were made in its bright region having 4'42" diameter.

The Orion nebula was measured in its central region, in the environs of the Trapezium stars the map of which is given in fig. 16. Circles indicate the measured areas. The sizes of the former correspond to the used diaphragm with diameter of 62 angular seconds. Table 18 lists the results for the Orion nebula.

The values for the relative intensities of emission lines and of the continuous spectrum of nebulae and in the case of planetary nebulae also of the cental star spectrum intensity, necessary for our calculations. were taken from other authors papers. Illuminations in the above emissions are presented in table 21 for planetary nebulae, and in table 29-for the Orion nebula.

Using these data and the equations (7), (8), and (9). (§ 2) protons and twice and in some cases once ionized oxygen concentrations were calculated. Nebula masses were evaluated.

Planetary nebulae distances applied in calculations were those of B. A. Vorontzov-Veliaminov. The Orion nebula distance is taken as equal to 520 ps. and that of NGC 6618—to 1100 pc. A nebula radiation absorption in the interstellar space was taken account of.

The giant planetary nebula NGC 6853 was more closely investigated. Ion concentrations and mass values for several distances from the nucleus in each region were estimated. Relative data are shown in tables 25, 26 and 27.

This nebula is characterized by a comparatively low density and a considerable mass. It is quite possible that the matter distribution in this nebula is influenced by the forces of electromagnetic nature.

Table 30 lists the data on the Orion nebula concentrations and masses

A comparison of H+, O++ concentrations in planetary nebulae and masses reveals their great variety. The NGC 7027 is characterized by a greatest density, while the NGC 6853 by a smallest one.

A heavier hydrogen concentration in nebulae is associated with a heavy concentration of the twice ionized oxygen. The density of a nebula is mainly due to its volume. The mass differences of nebulae attain a centuple value.

The densities of nebulae are correlated with their shapes.

The very dense nebulae are planetoid-sperically shaped. The spherical double-shell nebulae have average densities. The nebulae with low density are spherically-annular.

The density in the central region of the Orion nebula is rather high

being of the same order as in the planetary nebulae with average density.

September. 1957.


Quantum entanglement plays a vital role in many quantum information and communication tasks. Entangled states of higher dimensional systems are of great interest due to the extended possibilities they provide. For example, they allow the realisation of new types of quantum information schemes that can offer higher information-density coding and greater resilience to errors than can be achieved with entangled two-dimensional systems. Closing the detection loophole in Bell test experiments is also more experimentally feasible when higher dimensional entangled systems are used. We have measured previously untested correlations between two entangled photons to experimentally demonstrate high-dimensional entangled states. We show violations of Bell-type inequalities for two d-dimensional particles (qudits) with d reaching up to 11. Our experiments use photons entangled in orbital angular momentum (OAM), generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC), and manipulated using computer controlled holograms.


The endocytosis of transferrin by rabbit reticulocytes was investigated by electron microscopy using transferrin labelled with colloidal gold. This complex was shown to bind and donate its iron to the cells in a manner comparable to native iron-transferrin. After incubation at 37 degrees C approximately 70% of the transferrin-gold particles were located within endocytotic vesicles. Treatment of the cells with pronase, EDTA, metabolic inhibitors and heating to 46 degrees C inhibited the endocytosis. The uptake of colloidal gold complexes of albumin and concanavalin A were compared with that of transferrin. Little endocytosis of these proteins was observed. It is concluded that colloidal gold is a suitable label for the investigation of transferrin endocytosis and that the endocytosis is specific for transferrin and sensitive to the action of reagents which damage membrane receptors, alter membrane function or impair cell metabolism.


152 Background: To report outcomes in two prospective proton therapy (PT) trials for localized prostate cancer.

METHODS
From 2006 to 2007, 171 low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients were treated with PT on prospective trials. Low-risk patients (N=89) were treated on PR01 with 78 CGE/39 fractions to the prostate. Intermediate-risk patients (N=82) were treated on PR02, a dose-escalation trial, with 78-82 CGE to the prostate and proximal seminal vesicles. Based on organ-constraint goals, 57 (69%), 13 (16%), and 12 (15%) PR02 patients received 82 CGE, 80 CGE, and 78 CGE, respectively. Toxicity was scored by CTCAE v3 and biochemical failure defined as nadir + 2 ng/mL.

RESULTS
The proportions of PR01 and 02 patients alive with no evidence of disease are 83 (93%) and 73 (89%); alive with disease, 1 (1%) and 1 (1%); and dead of intercurrent disease, 5 (6%) and 8 (10%), respectively. Only 2 patients had disease progression, both isolated pelvic-node recurrences. No patient died of prostate cancer or recurred locally. Grade (GR) 3 genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal (GI) complications occurred in 2 of 101 (2%), 0 of 13, and 4 of 57 (7%) patients receiving 78, 80, and 82 CGE, respectively. GR 3 GU toxicity occurred in 1 PR01 and 3 PR02 patients, including hematuria in 1 PR01 patient on anticoagulation; posttreatment TURP in 2 who had pretreatment (pre-tx) TURP; and dysuria in 1 with severe chronic pre-tx prostatitis. Multivariate analysis (MVA) of protocol, dose, age, prostate volume, pre-tx IPSS, pre-tx medical or surgical GU symptom management (SM), anticoagulation, and bladder wall V70 or V30 showed only pre-tx SM (P< .0001) and age (P =.007) to be associated with GR2+ toxicity. GR 3 GI toxicity occurred in 2 PR02 patients, including rectal bleeding in a patient on anticoagulation, and rectal bleeding and proctitis in a patient on anticoagulation who had a transrectal prostate biopsy. MVA of protocol, age, dose, anticoagulation, and rectal wall V70 or rectum V30 showed only rectal wall V70 (.045) and rectum V30 (.027) to be associated with GR 2+ rectal bleeding and proctitis.

CONCLUSIONS
PT may provide sufficiently reduced toxicity to permit further dose intensification and/or concomitant chemotherapy.


Planning a tourism trip is an important part for tourists so that their tour is satisfying. Service bureaus that have a function to help provide information and prepare tourist travel plans for tourists often provide random destination choices because they do not know the pattern of selecting tourist destinations. This will be detrimental to tourists when service bureaus make wrong tourism travel plans. Tourists also often find it difficult to determine which tourist destination to go to because they do not know the environmental conditions in tourist destinations. To overcome this problem, in this study, knowledge discovery and virtual tours are carried out to increase the promotion of tourism. Knowledge discovery is finding information or knowledge. Knowledge discovery uses data mining techniques to perform data analysis and find patterns. The data mining model that can be used is the frequent pattern by looking for Association Rule Mining from the data. Virtual tour is a technique that can provide 360 ??+ 180 degree images. The virtual tour will be able to show the overall environmental conditions at the tourist destination. The results that have been obtained are in the form of a quick recommendation of tourist attractions in accordance with the country of origin of tourists based on the Association rule mining values. The virtual tour has presented a 360 degree panoramic photo view to inform the environment situation in the place commented by the system.


Optical properties of AgxAu1-x alloys were obtained experimentally using spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements on thin films fabricated by electron beam evaporation. Thin film thicknesses varied between 170 and 330 nm, making size effects negligible. Values of the complex refractive index of the pure metals were in good agreement with literature reports. The optical data set reported in this work can accurately reproduce experimental results. This is very important because there are not reliable and systematic optical constants for the alloys. Moreover, we show that the weighted average of the refractive indices of the pure metals fails to represent those of the alloys, not only in the region near the onset for interband transitions but also in the near-IR region.


Really Simple Syndication(RSS) has been widely used in our daily lives, but RSS doesn't always collect interesting articles, user has to sift through every subscription for articles they like. The ranking of unread RSS articles has the potential power to release user from this heavy burden. Although user preferences can be learned from explicit feedbacks such as rating or tagging, implicit feedback techniques which collect information by monitoring users' natural behavior instead of asking them to explicitly give feedbacks become more attractive. There are several implicit feedbacks including scrolling and gazing, however, some of them may not be effective or require special equipments. In this article, we present a model-based approach for ranking unread RSS items and make recommendations via implicit behavior analysis. Since time spent on reading has been proved to be a useful measurement for user modelling, the approach aims at learning predictive models of user preferences from their implicit feedback of reading time only. User preference are expressed by latent semantic classes, and Bayesian inference with a set of heuristics is used to reveal the probability that an article may attract the user. Experimental evaluation shows substantial improvements over existing methods.


When driving on uniformly tining concrete pavement road, the whine noise which has high spectrum at the specific frequency related to the uniform tining space exist. In this paper, a randomization method of tining space for concrete pavements is proposed to reduce the whine noise. The proposed method is developed based on the LCG(linear congruential generator) algorithm. The design parameters used in the method are number of different tining space, ratio of each tining space, total linings of each size. sequence of actual tining under given constant drag length and texture. Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate the proposed method.


Economic sanctions, and the suspension of budget support in particular, are supposed to pressure target governments into complying with sanction demands by putting spending commitments at risk. In this article we argue that this is too simplistic since governments have more fiscal levers at their disposal. The case of Burundi illustrates this argument. Following Burundi's 2015 political crisis, donors imposed economic sanctions on the country and suspended all budget support to the national government. Using monthly data on the government's fiscal position between 2005 and 2017, we present evidence from a time series analysis showing that aid does not affect spending and that aid shortfalls are instead systematically compensated with domestic borrowing. It appears that the Burundian government has been able to withstand the sanctions and to fulfil its spending commitments by substituting domestic debt for aid. Thus, the economic costs of sanctions do not necessarily translate directly into political costs but are mitigated by the government's fiscal response.


Ms. Kerrie Pieloch is a clinical psychology Ph.D. candidate at Suffolk University. She received her Masters of Science in clinical psychology in May of 2015. Her clinical work focuses on developmental psychopathology with underserved populations. She is the co-PI for an NSF grant which provides scholarships and career counseling to engineering students at Suffolk University. Her role in the project is to assess career development trajectories for the scholarship students, create program evaluations, collect assessment data and disseminate information to the STEM community.


The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, incurred significant damage due to a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city had, by the late 2010s, regained economic and social normalcy after a sustained period of rebuilding and economic recovery. Through the concerted rebuilding effort, a modern central business district (CBD) with redesigned infrastructure and amenities was developed. The Christchurch rebuild was underpinned by a commitment of urban planners to an open and connected city, including the use of innovative technologies to gather, use and share data. As was the case elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions to social and economic life in Christchurch. Border closures, lockdowns, trading limitations and other restrictions on movement led to changes in traditional consumer behaviors and affected the retail sector's resilience. In this study, we used CBD pedestrian traffic data gathered from various locations to predict changes in retail spending and identify recovery implications through the lens of retail resilience. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns have driven a substantive change in the behavioral patterns of city users. The implications for resilient retail, sustainable policy and further research are explored.


OBJECTIVE
In daily medical work, most of the critically ill patients who cannot move by themselves are pulled and lifted by manpower, often relying on the cooperation of many doctors and nurses, which not only increases the risk of transfer and patients' discomfort, but also causes certain skeletal and muscle damage to the porters. The emergency department of the First Hospital of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province designed a kind of patient transfer device, and obtained the National Utility Model Patent (ZL 2018 2 0579844.X). The transfer device is composed of upper frame, lower frame and base. The upper frame and the lower frame are rectangular and in a horizontal position. The upper frame can slide laterally through the circular tubes which are fixed on the lower frame. The lower part of the base is provided with four universal foot brake wheels. During the usage, the booster frame facilitates the transfer of patients by the rolling and two sliding tracks of the circular tube, which can make patients move smoothly and comfortably, and reduce the working intensity of the transporter. This device has good practical value.


The aim of this article is to put into critical perspective the empirical findings on secrecy and withholding in research. In other words, by taking existing empirical literature into account, it is intended that a crucial question is answered: Is secrecy and withholding in research harmful or innocuous to science? To understand how secrecy and withholding in research have affected academic science, empirical studies have been placed in the wider context of Mertonian underpinnings of the anticommons threat. The turning point in testing the effects of secrecy and withholding of data and material on scientific research was marked by statistical studies based on surveys and bibliometric measures. These two types of empirical studies have given answers to the basic question since academia was threatened by different modes of practicing science.


Progress indicators provide information about downloading progress and the remaining time. Two common forms of indicator are bar and spinner. However, most studies have focused on the form of bar. Therefore, we are going to investigate which patterns of progress spinner show better perceived speed and satisfaction. Also the effects of provision of time information were studied. This study provided the progress spinner with different patterns with 4 seconds and 12 seconds download latencies. The participants evaluated overall satisfaction and perceived downloading speed. As a result, 'Speed Up' patterns showed the higher perceived downloading speed and satisfaction than 'Speed Down' patterns. In 4s situation, it was better with time information was absent. In 12s situation, it was higher in terms of the perceived downloading speed when time information was provided.


Bolting machine is a machine which is designed to conduct the making process of outside thread without rotating the handlebar of workpiece using hand manually, Therefore, the machine can help the processing in some industries which do not have qualified operators. The purpose of the designing and calculating of machine elements on senai machineis to create a design and make it in real product that can create outside thread with the maximum size of M11, to calculate parts of machine elements, i.e. axis diameter and sprocket chain and to create the real machine product. The designing method used follows these steps, i.e. problem identification, initial idea, improvement of the idea, analysis of design, decision making, and implementation. The result of the evaluation on concept design was the cutter holder on the chuck variable and themover shaft handle. The result of machine elements calculation showed that the electric motor power was 40 watt, shaft diameter was 25 mm with inside diameter of 16 mm, the bearing used was 6205 Ball Bearing, and the thread capacity was M11 metric thread.


All shipping liner companies divide their service regions into several rotations (strings) in order to operate their container vessels. A string is the ordered set of ports at which a container vessel will call. Each port is usually called at no more than twice along one string, although a single port may be called at several times on different strings. Moreover, hub-and-spoke operations is also the core of the operation and a major part of the trade volume is transhipped at least once along the origin-destination path. We present a mixed integer programming model which determines the location of transhipment ports and designs regional routes for the feeder serviens.\\ As for even small instance size the problem becomes intractable, we will also present a decomposition scheme developed for solving instances of problem.


Resonance fluorescence by an atom near the surface of a phase conjugator is studied. The atom is irradiated by a finite-linewidth laser beam, and the bandwidth is modelled by a randomly fluctuating phase. Expressions for the steady-state atomic density operator and the resonance fluorescence spectrum are obtained. For a small laser linewidth the spectrum contains two delta peaks: the usual peak at the laser frequency and its phase-conjugate image. In the limit of separated lines the spectrum consists of the Mollow triplet and its phase-conjugate replica. In the image triplet the positions of the fluorescence line and the three-photon line are reversed, as compared with the original triplet. Also, the intensity of the image spectrum is distributed differently over the three lines.


Sengon (Falcataria falcata (L.) Greuter & R. Rankin) plantations in Indonesia are threatened by attacks from Boktor stem borers and gall rust disease. Controlling pests and diseases is difficult; therefore, planting resistant trees obtained from tree selection programs is necessary. Currently, genomic breeding often incorporates GWAS, which uses thousands of SNP markers to identify markers with significant associations with the traits studied. This study aimed to bypass such expensive studies by identifying and developing SNP markers from sequences of putative resistance genes to Boktor stem borer and gall rust disease, identified from sengon transcriptomic data analysis. A total of 496,194 putative SNP sites were identified from transcriptomic sequences using the SAMtools and BFCtools programs, of which 119 SNP sites were associated with resistance genes. Of the 101 non-synonymous SNPs selected, only 12 were located in the conserved domain of each gene and were used for primer design. Of the 13 primers designed, only 10 were successfully amplified. Validation of 10 developed SNP markers on 100 sengon accessions using the HRM method confirmed a significant association between SNP markers and resistance traits, with a -log 10 (P-value) between 10.49 and 16.63. A few SNPs markers developed from putative resistance gene sequences are associated with resistance traits in sengon. Therefore, the SNP markers could be applied in selection programs for sengon trees resistant to Boktor stem borers and gall rust disease.


In this paper I propose a reading of Plotinus Enneads VI.1-3 \[41-43] On the genera of being which regards this treatise as a coherent whole in which Aristotle's Categories is explored in a way that turns it into a decisive contribution to Plotinus' Platonic ontology. In addition, I claim that Porphyry's Isagoge and commentaries on the Categories start by adopting Plotinus' point of view, including his notion of genus, and proceed by explaining its consequences for a more detailed reading of the Categories . After Plotinus' integration of the Categories into the Platonic frame of thought Porphyry saw the possibilities of exploiting the Peripatetic tradition both as a means to support the Platonic interpretation of the Categories and as a source for solutions to traditional questions. His allegiance to a division of being into ten, and his emphasis on semantics rather than ontology can be explained from this orientation. In the light of our investigation the alleged disagreement between Plotinus and Porphyry on the Categories changes its appearance completely. There are differences, but these can be best explained as confirmation and extension of Plotinus' perspective on the Categories and its role in Platonism.


To investigate how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) intervention affects cognitive function in randomized controlled trials of healthy postmenopausal women, the PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched for relevant publications up to 1 May 2020. Random‐effects, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis and meta‐regression analyses were conducted with 23 selected publications. HRT had a significant negative effect on global cognition (standardized mean difference (SMD): −0.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.08 to −0.01). Via subgroup analysis, for those older than 60 years and with more than 6 months' intervention duration, HRT aggravated global cognition (SMD: −0.05, 95% CI: −0.08 to −0.01; SMD: −0.05, 95% CI: −0.08 to −0.01). The results of meta‐regression demonstrated no significant association between HRT intervention and global cognition after adjusting for participants' age or intervention duration. In conclusion, HRT had a significant negative effect on global cognition, and this effect might be especially more visible for those aged more than 60 years and with more than 6 months' intervention. Further randomized controlled trials for postmenopausal women with a younger age and short‐term HRT exposure are necessary to clarify the effects of HRT on global and domain‐specific cognitive functions.


The lessened vital capacity in intrathoracic diseases and the recommendation that vital capacity be used as a test of physical fitness have renewed interest in the question of normal standards for vital capacity. The vital capacity varies greatly even among healthy individuals, and some of the factors which accompany these variations are known. Among them are the sex, weight, height, size of the chest, age and general physical fitness. The clinician desires a normal standard with which he may compare the vital capacity of his patient. Would he do better, for example, to compare it with the average for individuals of the same height, of the same weight or of the same chest measurements; or should he use some combination of these? Obviously, that standard is best which shows the least variation among normal individuals. The convenience of the standard also deserves some consideration, for a convenient standard is more


Creating robots that can act autonomously in dynamic unstructured environments requires dealing with novel objects. Thus, an offline learning phase is not sufficient for recognizing and manipulating such objects. Rather, an autonomous robot needs to acquire knowledge through its own interaction with its environment, without using heuristics encoding human insights about the domain. Interaction also allows information that is not present in static images of a scene to be elicited. Out of a potentially large set of possible interactions, a robot must select actions that are expected to have the most informative outcomes to learn efficiently. In the proposed bottom-up probabilistic approach, the robot achieves this goal by quantifying the expected informativeness of its own actions in information-theoretic terms. We use this approach to segment a scene into its constituent objects. We retain a probability distribution over segmentations. We show that this approach is robust in the presence of noise and uncertainty in real-world experiments. Evaluations show that the proposed information-theoretic approach allows a robot to efficiently determine the composite structure of its environment. We also show that our probabilistic model allows straightforward integration of multiple modalities, such as movement data and static scene features. Learned static scene features allow for experience from similar environments to speed up learning for new scenes.


The effectiveness of medical masks in preventing respiratory infection was investigated by testing bacterial leakage, filtration efficiency, respiratory resistance and oxygen concentration of the enclosed space. Polypropylene (PP) fibres were treated with dimethyldioctadecylam-monium bromide to impart a positive electrical charge capable of attracting bacteria. The fluffed PP fibres were used to make a polypropylene mask and to edge standard surgical and N-95 respirators to prevent leakage. A PP napkin was created by melting and blowing PP. The PP edging seal dramatically reduced bacterial leakage of standard masks and was more effective than adhesive paper tape edging in reducing respiratory resistance. Bacterial or viral filtration efficiency was almost 100% for the PP mask and the PP napkin. The specially designed PP mask with a synthetic adhesive at the edge of the mask may be more effective than the standard surgical mask and the N-95 respirator. The PP napkin is an important tool in preventing the spread of pathogens.


1 We have examined the effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY) on synaptic transmission and [Ca2+]i signals in rat hippocampal neurones grown in culture. [Ca2+]i in individual neurones displayed frequent spontaneous fluctuations often resulting in an elevated plateau [Ca2+]i. These fluctuations were reduced by tetrodotoxin (1 μm) or combinations of the excitatory amino acid antagonists 6‐cyano‐7‐dinitroquinoxaline (CNQX) (10 μm) and aminophosphonovalerate (APV) (50 μm), indicating that they were the result of glutamatergic transmission occurring between hippocampal neurones. 2 [Ca2+]i fluctuations were also prevented by Ni2+ (200 μm), by the GABAB receptor agonist, baclofen (10 μm) and by NPY (100 nm) or Y2 receptor‐selective NPY agonists. Following treatment of cells with pertussis toxin, NPY produced only a brief decrease in [Ca2+]i fluctuations which rapidly recovered. 3 Perfusion of hippocampal neurones with 50 mm K+ produced a large rapid increase in [Ca2+]i. This increase was slightly reduced by NPY or by a combination of CNQX and APV. The effects of CNQX/APV occluded those of NPY. NPY had no effect on Ba2+ currents measured in hippocampal neurones under whole cell voltage‐clamp even in the presence of intracellular GTP‐γ‐S. On the other hand, Ba2+ currents were reduced by both Cd2+ (200 μm) and baclofen (10 μm). 4 Current clamp recordings from hippocampal neurones demonstrated the occurrence of spontaneous e.p.s.ps and action potential firing which were accompanied by increases in [Ca2+]4. This spontaneous activity and the accompanying [Ca2+]i signals were prevented by application of NPY (100 nm). When hippocampal neurones were induced to fire trains of action potentials in the absence of synaptic transmission, these were accompanied by an increase in cell soma [Ca2+]i. NPY (100 nm) had no effect on these cell soma [Ca2+]i signals. NPY (100 nm) also had no effect on inward currents generated in hippocampal neurones by micropipette application of glutamate (50 μm). 5 Thus, NPY is able to abolish excitatory neurotransmission in hippocampal cultures through a pertussis toxin‐sensitive mechanism. However, no effect of NPY on Ca2+ influx into the cell soma of these hippocampal neurones could be discerned. These results are consistent with a localized presynaptic inhibitory effect of NPY on glutamate release in hippocampal neurones in culture.


Natural autoantibodies are immunoglobulins of isotypes IgM, IgG and IgA that are present under physiological conditions and that are directed toward self-antigens. Repertoires of self-reactive antibodies have been analysed intensively during the last decade and have been shown to be altered in a variety of autoimmune disorders, immunodeficiency syndromes and lymphoproliferative diseases. Immunoglobulin interactions via variable regions of antibody molecules account significantly for the functional integrity of natural self-reactive antibody repertoires. Recent data indicate that natural immunoglobulins of the isotype IgM might prove particularly useful for the control of antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases under certain conditions. Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA), an IgG-mediated autoimmune disorder, turns out to be a clinically relevant in vivo model to analyse the impact of autologous IgM on the development of IgG-mediated autoimmunity in humans. We here summarize current knowledge on the role of autologous IgM for regulating self-reactivity. Since natural self-reactive antibodies are critical for the regulation not only of auto- but also of alloimmune responses, as they occur for example in the setting of organ transplantation, regulation of immune homeostasis by pools of human normal IgM might be an interesting therapeutic target of broad interest for clinical medicine.


Flesh And Stone: Songs of Jake Heggie. Frederica von Stade, Joyce Castle, Zheng Cao, Mary Phillips, mezzo soprano; Jake Heggie, piano; Carey Bell, clarinet; Eugenia Zuckerman, flute; Dawn Harms, violin; Emil Miland, cello; Richard Worn, double bass; David Henderson, alto saxophone. (Classical Action; 62:37) Winter Roses: "To My Dad," "Sleeping," "Sweet Light." Statuesque: "Henry Moore: Reclining Figure in Elmwood," "Pablo Picasso: Head of a Woman," "Hatshepsut: The Divine Potter," "Alberto Giacometti: Standing Woman," "We're Through: Winged Victory." The Deepest Desire: Four Meditations on Love: "Prelude-The Call," "More is Required," "Love," "I Catch on Fire," "The Deepest Desire," "Primary Colors." The Starry Night-Four Songs: "The Starry Night," "Celestial Locomotion," "Reflection," "I Would Not Paint a Picture." This collection of four song cycles by Jake Heggie is presented to the public by an organization called Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS. Every musician involved in this project donated his and her time and talent to the cause, and there is an unmistakable air of affection and enthusiasm throughout these performances. These song cycles may bear little apparent similarity to each other, but Heggie tells us in the liner notes that they share a focus on "the fragile and fleeting nature of our lives; we are flesh and bone one day, ash and stone the next." The most recent of these four song cycles is also the most fun and most consistently entertaining. Statuesque was composed in 2005 for mezzo soprano Joyce Castle, a vibrant operatic artist who continues to deliver searing dramatic performances of roles like Klytemnestra and Herodias, as well as comic roles such as Prince Orlofsky. The University of Kansas-Lawrence, where she now teaches, commissioned a new composition for her from Heggie, who in turn contacted writer Gene Scheer for what became the first of a number of happy and successful collaborations. Heggie had the idea of creating the song cycle around an array of interesting statues, because of Castle's statuesque bearing, and Scheer ended up selecting the five statues that, in effect, are brought to life in these songs. Joyce Castle has been singing for a long time and it shows, but her somewhat aged yet still attractive instrument is ideal for this project, and her communicative potency is even more essential for the successful delivery of these varied and demanding songs. Case in point is "Pablo Picasso: Head of a Woman" in which the mezzo soprano impersonates both the fabled artist in baritonal grandeur and his somewhat ditzy model in a soprano-ish squeak, with Heggie's music lending such fun to the proceedings. "Hatshepsut: The Divine Potter" calls for more opulent singing against a backdrop of exotically shaded chords. "Alberto Giacometti: Standing Woman" opens with breathtaking poignancy that gives way to seething pain and anguish, with slashing syncopation that calls to mind Gershwin or Rodgers at their most dissonant, as the subject of this statue grapples with what it is to be permanently memorialized in stone with her original beauty jettisoned in favor of her sculptor's artistic vision. "We're Through: Winged Victory" is a similar theatric and vocal tour de force, but to comic rather than tragic effect, as this particular statuary subject allows her slow burning resentment to explode into a towering rage of exasperation that the museum visitors who parade past her fail to ask her the questions are scored for seven instruments, and Heggie uses their contrasting colors to delicious effect. The other three song cycles may be more straightforward affairs, but are superb creations all the same. Winter Roses was composed in 2004 for Frederica von Stade, but for some unexplained reason this disk includes only three of its seven songs. Thankfully, those three include Heggie's heartfelt setting of von Stade's poem titled "To My Dad," in which she tries to come to terms with the feelings of distance she has for her father who died before she was even born. …


Alain Touraine's theory of revolution is so-called theory of the "end of revolution". According to the author, while revolution was "the common trunk of the modern world", universalism of reason (inherited from Enlightenment philosophy) and the understanding of modernity as a change are displaced with the particularism of identity-searching and the understanding of modernity as conflict, as a sustainable equilibrium transforming revolution into "anti-revolution". The singularity of A. Touraine's approach consists of the fact that he refuses to define revolution and social movements reciprocally, one through another, or to consider them as closely related, as does European tradition. "Sociology of action" offers the opposite vision. Where social movements do not appear (or in the absence of an "anti-movement", as Touraine calls it), revolution is possible; conversely, where there are social movements, revolution cannot occur (although "anti-revolution" could take place). Revolution opposed social movements in the same way as the universalism of evolution opposed the particularism of history. Touraine defends the view of modernity as something in between these two oppositions. Modernity as a complex and conflict-filled "alloy" of the universalism of reason and technologies, and the particularism of cultural, national and class identities. The "end of the revolution" does not imply the end of history, the end of social change, the end of the politics, or the end of the non-institutional power struggle. Anti-revolution, of course, has revolutionary aspects, but the struggle of social movements with the pervasive influence of the large centralized State machinery is primarily defensive, not offensive in character, as it is in the case of the revolution Anti-revolution is not a struggle "for" power, or for reducing the distance between rulers and the ruled; it is "against" universalizing "programming", and a struggle for "happiness" as an individualized (and often "populist") vision of a society that corresponds to the group identity.


Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ovarian tissue transportation conditions (medium and period of time) on the morphology, apoptosis and development of ovine preantral follicles cultured in vitro. Each ovarian pair was cut into nine slices, with one fragment being fixed immediately (fresh control). The remaining fragments were placed individually in cryotubes containing conservation medium (minimal essential medium (MEM) without supplementation or MEM+ – with supplementation) and stored at 35ºC for 6 or 12 h without (non-cultured) or with subsequent culture for 5 days. Then, the fragments were processed for histological and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) examination. Preservation of ovarian slices in MEM or MEM+ (non-cultured) resulted in similar percentages of normal follicles when compared with the fresh control. Nevertheless, compared with the fresh control, a decrease in the percentage of normal follicles was observed in tissues cultured for 5 days. Only for tissues preserved in supplemented medium (MEM+) for 6 h, the percentage of TUNEL positive cells was similar between non-cultured tissues and tissues cultured for 5 days. Follicular activation and growth (follicular and oocyte diameter) were higher in cultured tissues than in fresh control or non-cultured tissues, except those from fragments preserved for 6 h in MEM and then cultured for 5 days in which no growth was observed. In conclusion, ovine ovarian tissue was successfully preserved in supplemented medium (MEM+) at a temperature close to physiological values (35°C) for up to 6 h without affecting apoptosis in the ovarian follicles and their ability to develop in vitro.


India is the largest film-producing nation in the world and the primary consumers of Indian popular cinema, centred on the Bombay film industry popularly known as Bollywood, are the masses. Bollywood, or Hindi commercial cinema, is marked as popular culture with all its connotations of trivial, inferior and low culture. Indian intellectuals and urban elites criticize Bollywood for its unrealistic song-and-dance sequences and repetitive/formulaic use of the repertoire of mythical tales, traditional musicals and melodramas. They prefer to watch art cinema or parallel cinema, which is marked as 'high' culture, as opposed to Hindi commercial cinema. Art films range from those of the Bengalilanguage cinema such as Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955) and Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome (1969) to films such as Mani Kaul's Uski Roti (1969), Girish Karnad's Kaadu (1973), M.S. Sathyu's Garam Hawa (1973) and Govind Nihalini's Aakrosh (1980). Film connoisseurs around the world are familiar with the works of many of these directors, as their films are shown in international film festivals. However, the academic and elite preference for and approval of art/parallel cinema has not translated into its embrace by the masses. Art films have miserably failed to attract or satisfy the non-literate and poor who comprise a considerable section of the paying customers in India. In the realm of sports, however, cricket has captured the imagination of both


This paper explores possibilities for more democratic approaches to researching learning in and through everyday workplace practices. This links with a concern with who is able to speak in representations of learning at work, what is able to be spoken about and how knowing, learning and experience are inscribed in theories of workplace learning. I propose that Rancière's notion of 'the distribution of the sensible', which draws attention to an aesthetic dimension of experience, knowledge and politics, provides a useful way of exploring learning in and through everyday workplace practices. The approach points to the possibility of knowledge without hierarchies and a shift from a knowledge – ignorance binary. An understanding of experience as aesthetic enables accounts of learning which counter the story of destiny in literature on learning in and through everyday practice. It also points to a very different way of doing academic research. The presupposition of equality is the point of departure in this approach and the purpose of research is the verification of equality (rather than the verification of oppression). The paper makes a significant contribution to literature on learning in and through everyday workplace practices by disrupting a prevailing view that knowledge is necessarily tied to identity.


There is limited literature on the magnitude of oral manifestations and the extent of awareness on its occurrence in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to assess the magnitude of, and extent of awareness on oral manifestations among PLWHA attending counselling and treatment centres (CTC) in Iringa Municipality in south-western Tanzania. A convenient sample of 200 PLWHA was included in the study in two CTC. Each participant was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Thereafter a quick clinical oral assessment by a dentist was performed to record any relevant abnormality. The mean age of participants was 38.4 ±11.9 years. Females were 63.3% and most of the participants had primary education (53%). Generally, 23.5% of the PLWHAs had at least one oral manifestation, with statistical significant difference across age groups. Clinical manifestations observed were mucosal ulcerations with or without severe periodontal lesions (7.0%), angular chelitis (7.0%), oral thrush (6.5%), Kaposi's sarcoma (1.5%), and hairy leukoplakia (1.0%). The majority (89.5%) of the PLWHAs had sound awareness on clinical oral manifestations with significant statistical difference by educational status – the strength increased linearly with educational status. In general, 77.0% of the PLWHAs had healthy oral cavities. In conclusion, the prevalence and severity of clinical oral manifestations among PLWHA was low and the majority of PLWHA were aware of the conditions. However, it is recommended that more intensive studies should be carried out to assess the standard strength of the public awareness on oral manifestations among PLWHA and ascertain the magnitude of the problem and facilitate appropriate control strategies.


In this paper, we propose a high-rate extension of the SoundStream codec which is able to generate almost transparent quality audio at 16 kbps for wideband speech signals. SoundStream shows reasonably good performance at low bit-rates (e.g. around 9 kbps), but its performance does not improve much when more bits are used for encoding the latent embeddings. Motivated by experimental results showing that neural audio codec performance is highly related to the characteristics of latent embeddings such as dimensionality, dependency, and probability density function shape, we propose a convolutional transformer architecture and an attention-based multi-scale latent decomposition method that significantly enhances codec performance when quantizing high-dimensional embeddings. Experimental results show the superiority of our proposed model over conventional approaches.


Superconducting electric machines (SEMs) have the potential to be commercially available in the coming years. This commercialization depends on the availability of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) produced on a large scale. HTSs have high current densities and low losses, making them the leading technology choice for future light and compact high-power-density superconducting rotating machines, with a particular niche for high torque at low frequency. The advantages of SEM in its fully superconducting design or hybrid configuration (conventional stator, superconducting rotor) inherit from the characteristics of the superconductor material. So, they can show greater efficiency at a higher power density and lighter frame than their conventional counterparts for an equivalent power rating. Applications like electric aircraft, naval propulsion, and wind turbines, among others, are likely to use SEMs if the rated power has to be increased beyond what is technically available with conventional technology. In this context, this paper reviews SEMs and their applications. However, it also aims to highlight the main the literature projects with a minimal Technology Readiness Level (TRL) larger than three. Due to the diversity of the superconductors' characteristics and the variety of machines, the modes of operation of SEMs can be quite distinct from conventional machines. Taking into account such diversity, SEMs are presented and sorted out by their operational principles and the choice of superconducting material. Finally, the future perspectives of SEM are discussed.


Background/Objectives: Generating innovative services are not just related to analyzing the customer and market needs, or applying the systematic innovation process, but it is also related to other key success factors that can lead to the success of innovation. This theoretical study focused on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) performance during implementing systematic innovation analysis method, such as TRIZ- theory of inventive problem solving, in solving service problems. Methods Analysis: This paper reviewed the results from previous studies and highlighted important factors in facilitating the systematic problems solving process, and integrating the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solution with the ultimate process outcome. Findings: The results of this paper emphasized on the two aspects for promoting the process. First aspect refers to necessary factors such as innovation champion and/or innovation team, important customer needs, create value, and organizational alignment for providing successful innovative services. The second aspect refers to individual, environmental, organizational, and technological factors which influencing the ICT integration with the process outcomes. Improvements/Applications: Taking in considering external and internal factors that may affect using systematic innovation analysis assists SMEs to find platforms to develop and improve their work.


Tea root lesion nematode, Pratylenchus loosi, is one of the most important crop pests in Iran, which causes loss in quantity and quality of tea. This study was carried out to identify the relationship between soil pH and population level of P. loosi. One hundred and eighty-three soil and root samples were taken randomly from all of the tea plantations in Iran. The nematodes were extracted from root samples with Coolen and d'Herd methods and from soil samples by sieving and centrifugation. Soil pH was measured by two methods: 1:1 dilution of soil:deionised water and 1:1 dilution of soil:dilute calcium chloride 0.01 M (Cacl2) solution. Range of mean population of P. loosi per gram of root was 0.66–884 and per 100 g of soil was 1–186 in all samples. The highest population of P. loosi was observed at pH 3.5–4.5 as if 71.33% of infested samples were observed at soil pH 3.5–4.5. The results of regression analyses showed that at pH ranges between 3.5 and 4.5, there is a correlation (P ⩽ 0.05) between soil pH and mean population of nematode per gram of feeder roots. This study demonstrated that the population density and damage potential of this nematode likely increases at pH < 4.5.


A simple chemical thinning process has been developed which allows high-quality TEM specimens to be prepared from bulk Y1Ba2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) material. This enabled the microchemistry of a statistically significant number of grain boundaries, with a wide range of misorientations, to be studied using TEM, STEM and EDX techniques. In YBCO samples where the overall stoichiometry is exactly 1:2:3 no unreacted CuO, BaCO3 or Y2O3 are present as grain boundary phases. Significant traces of segregated impurity elements (Mo, Zr and Sr in particular) were detected, and the presence of these impurities resulted in the formation of non-stoichiometric phases containing mostly Y, Ba and Cu. Segregation of these impurities was found to occur most often at grain boundaries where no high-symmetry relationship exists between the two grains. There is a direct correlation between the observed amount of impurity-induced grain boundary phases, the grain boundary orientations and the measured values of Jc.


A complement fixation test for polysaccharides of Cryptococcus neoformans was found to detect concentrations of as little as 0.25 to 1.0 µg/ml, depending on the preparation of polysaccharide. The test was less sensitive toward other polysaccharides but did react with those from Hansenula minuta, Hansenula capsulata, Cryptococcus laurentii and Diplococcus pneumoniae. The test was used to demonstrate that cryptococcal polysaccharide injected intracisternally into rabbits disappeared rapidly from the cerebrospinal fluid but appeared and persisted for weeks in the bloodstream. Cryptococcal polysaccharide injected i.v. into rabbits or mice also persisted in the bloodstream for weeks. The inability of mice to clear this foreign antigen from their bloodstream was felt to help account for the high titers of cryptococcal polysaccharide found in the mice infected with C. neoformans. An i.v. injection of polysaccharide into mice caused no gross toxicity but hastened mortality if the mice were infected subsequently with a large inoculum of C. neoformans.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the level of compliance and variability of mineral metabolism parameters over time in a sample of haemodialysis patients for the different ranges proposed (KDIGO guidelines/S.E.N recommendations) in both groups and individuals continuously.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
Every four months, we collected data on calcium, phosphorus, PTH and treatment in a sample of 44 patients followed up continuously for 32 months. We established the percentages of patients who complied with the objectives set for each parameter in both ranges: optimal (KDIGO) and acceptable (S.E.N.) in each control and the percentage that individually complied with the objectives in at least 75% of the determinations.

RESULTS
Compliance with the objective using the optimal range improved, although PTH did not exceed 50%. Using the acceptable range, the objective was achieved in the three parameters in over 70% and over 50% of patients achieved the three simultaneously while using the optimal range, 30% was never achieved. Individually, compliance with the optimal range was continuously achieved in 52.3% (calcium), 45.5% (phosphorus) and in only one patient in PTH, while when using the acceptable range, compliance was achieved in 84.1% (calcium) and 70.5% (phosphorus and PTH).

CONCLUSIONS
The use of less stringent criteria than the KDIGO guidelines in calcium, phosphorus and PTH objectives allows patients to remain continuously within appropriate ranges with less intervention and less individual variability.


Bacteriologic cultures of 65 rectal mucosal samples and 335 fecal samples from 53 horses and 5 cattle shedding Salmonella were performed. Salmonella spp were isolated from 34 (52%) rectal mucosal samples, 21 (32%) concurrent fecal samples, and 150 (45%) total fecal samples. The use of rectal mucosal samples when compared with concurrently obtained fecal samples significantly (P less than 0.025) improved the ability to isolate Salmonella spp. Concurrent bacteriologic culture of rectal mucosal samples and fecal samples resulted in 39 (60%) isolations. Compared with a series of fecal samples, Salmonella was isolated significantly more often when rectal mucosa and feces were cultured concurrently. Salmonella was isolated from rectal mucosal samples when it was not isolated from feces.


ABSTRACT. Veiga C.C.P., Serra, M.C., Rodrigues P.H.S., Bomfim P.C., de Oliveira P.C., de Souza B.G. & Ferreira A.M.R. [Emphysematous cystitis and emphysematous prostatitis in dog - case report]. Cistite e prostatite enfisematosas em cao - Relato de caso. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinaria, 34(2):91-95, 2012. Instituto de Veterinaria, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, BR 465 km 7, Seropedica, RJ 23890-000, Brasil. E-mail: email@example.com Emphysematous cystitis is an infectious disease of the bladder with the presence of air in the wall and light. It usually occurs in diabetes mellitus. Emphysematous prostatitis is an inflammation difficult case. The mechanism of air formation is the fermentation of glucose, but emphysematous prostatitis may also occur in non-diabetic animals. Ultrasonography has been widely used in the diagnosis of prostatic diseases and bladder. Radiographic examination can also bring information useful in diseases that affect the prostate and bladder of dogs. The purpose of this report is to describe the clinical, laboratory and imaging (radiography and ultrasound) from a canine patient, diabetic, with emphysematous cystitis and emphysematous prostatitis. By ultrasonography it was possible to identify the air inside the bladder and prostate, as well as radiographic exam in side projection, confirming the diagnosis of emphysematous cystitis and emphysematous prostatitis. The positive contrast cystography favored the identification of bladder wall thickening and facilitated the differentiation between the bladder and prostate. The bacterium was isolated Enterobacter sp. after 40 days of treatment with cefaclor, the animal was reassessed. In this second phase the changes in the radiographs and ultrasound showed an increase of the animal.


Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) replication and transcription activator (Rta/BRLF1) is an immediate-early transcription factor that controls the conversion of the latent viral genome into one undergoing lytic replication. By using a doxycycline-inducible expression system, the present study demonstrates that EBV Rta efficiently elicits growth arrest in the human epithelial cell line HEK293. In cells arrested by EBV Rta, the expression of p21 (CDKN1A), p27 (CDKN1B) and cyclin E were increased. In contrast, the levels of cyclin D1, CDK4 and CDK6 were sharply decreased. Activation of the host cell DNA damage response (DDR), indicated by the increasing phosphorylation of H2AX and p53 Ser15, was observed on day 3 and day 5 after EBV Rta expression, respectively. Finally, EBV Rta arrested cells exhibited strong senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining on day 10 after doxycycline induction. Together, these results indicate that, in addition to triggering viral lytic replication in epithelial cells, EBV Rta concurrently initiates a cellular senescence program that was previously undocumented. This finding, showing Rta may be centrally involved in inducing a host cell state amenable to efficient viral reproduction, in addition to its previously characterized regulation of viral transcription, provides new perspectives in understanding EBV pathogenesis.


Abstract The major metabolites found in the urine after administration of 3-hydroxyxanthine-8-14C to rats are 3-hydroxyuric acid, uric acid, xanthine, allantoin, and unchanged starting material. These metabolites can be accounted for by either the oxidizing or the reducing actions of xanthine oxidase and are influenced in vivo by the xanthine oxidase inhibitor, allopurinol. An enzymatic synthesis of 3-hydroxyuric acid is described. Xanthine oxidase activity is observable in the subcutaneous tissues where the compound is oncogenic, but there is no evidence that a xanthine oxidase-induced product is a proximate oncogen.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality design criteria for developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Currently, there are limited studies that highlight the required design criteria for the MOOC programming courses. A descriptive analysis was conducted to examine the characteristics of the three important quality design criteria which are (i) Instructional Design Criteria involving Lecture Organization and Culture; (ii) Technical Criteria involving User Interface, Video Content, Learning and Social Tools, and Learning Analytics; and (iii) E-Assessment. The data were collected from 306 respondents, representing the UUM MOOC students of 2018 class, were further analyzed using the T-Test hypothesis testing to determine whether both the programming and nonprogramming students require the same quality design criteria. The questionnaire used in this study consists of 46 items related to the MOOC quality design criteria that were adapted from previous studies. The results indicate that out of the nine constructs, four have obtained significant differences in the mean scores, namely the Video Content, Instructional Design, Culture, and E-assessment. This signifies that different quality design criteria are needed for both the programming and nonprogramming students. The outcome of this study may assist the developers in designing the MOOC by providing the required criteria according to its importance.


Two new species of the genus Stenoloba Staudinger, 1892 are described from the northwestern Yunnan Province of China. Stenoloba herbacea sp. n. belongs to the Stenoloba nigrabasalis Chang, 1991 species-group and is most similar to Stenoloba ochribasis Kononenko Ronkay, 2001 described from Laos. Stenoloba pontezi sp. n. belongs to the Stenoloba manleyi (Leech, 1889) species-group and is most similar to Stenoloba viridibasis Han Kononenko, 2009 described from Yunnan. Adults, male and female genitalia of new species are illustrated.


The $1.09 trillion budget that President Reagan sent to Congress on February 18, 1988, calls for large increases in science and technology spending while staying close to but not always within the limits of the budget summit agreement reached by the White House and congressional leaders late in 1987.

Big science was a big winner in the Fiscal Year (FY) 1989 spending plan, the last budget that the Reagan administration will bring to Congress. The Space Station and the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), two multibillion dollar federal projects that received ambiguous financial support from the House and Senate last year, will be back again, with requests of nearly $1 billion for the Space Station and $363 million for the SSC. For FY 1988, Congress approved $25 million for the SSC and funded the Space Station at $425 million, less than half the amount the White House originally requested. Reagan's 1989 budget also requests appropriations for the Space Station totaling $6 billion through 1991


A methodology for determining GPS RF C/A signal strengths is provided by combined measurement and analysis. Sky temperature, antenna front-end RF gain and noise characterizations are also provided. This methodology is especially applicable for calibration of GPS signal and noise levels for receiver testing.


Generalized resistance to thyroid hormone is a syndrome of reduced responsiveness of target tissues to thyroid hormone. The determination of amino acid sequences of the human thyroid receptor-beta (hTR beta), deduced from cDNA sequencing, has enabled evaluation of the genetic basis for this syndrome. Distinct point mutations in the ligand-binding domain of hTR beta have been identified in affected members of unrelated families, producing single amino acid substitutions that result in products with decreased or no hormone-binding activity. Inheritance in these families was autosomal dominant. We now report the molecular basis of generalized resistance to thyroid hormone in a consanguineous family unique for its autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Deletion of the entire coding region of both hTR beta alleles in homozygous affected members of the family was demonstrated by the failure to amplify the coding exons 3-8 by the polymerase chain reaction using primers specific for flanking intronic sequences and by the demonstration of the presence of only two noncoding exons in Southern blots hybridized with exon-specific probes. As expected, obligate heterozygotes were phenotypically normal, since, in contrast to alleles with point mutations, the deleted allele could not act in a dominant negative fashion. Survival and maintenance of a euthyroid state are presumably mediated through expression of the hTR alpha gene, present in affected subjects, and the maintenance of high thyroid hormone levels. Furthermore, the clinical manifestations were relatively more mild that those observed in a homozygous patient with a single amino acid deletion in the hTR beta gene.


Image denoising is an important pre-processing step for many image analysis and computer vision system. It refers to the task of recovering a good estimate of the true image from a degraded observation without altering and changing useful structure in the image such as discontinuities and edges. In this paper, we propose a new approach for image denoising based on the combination of two non linear diffusion tensors. One allows diffusion along the orientation of greatest coherences, while the other allows diffusion along orthogonal directions. The idea is to track perfectly the local geometry of the degraded image and applying anisotropie diffusion mainly along the preferred structure direction. To illustrate the effective performance of our model, we present some experimental results on a test and real photographic color images.


Objective: This study was aimed at investigating the levels and relationships of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor(VEGFR) in the bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNC) of chronic mountain sickness (CMS). Methods: A total of 34 patients with CMS and 30 controls residing at altitudes of 3 000-4 500 m were recruited for this study. The levels of VEGF, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 in bone marrow MNC were detected by flow cytometry technique and RT-qPCR. Results: The percentage of VEGFR2 positive cells in the bone marrow MNC of CMS were higher than that of the controls[20.7% (8.1%, 67.6%) vs 8.1% (2.2%, 14.9%), P<0.05], but that of VEGFR1-positive and VEGF-positive were similar in CMS and controls. The mRNA levels of VEGFR2 were higher in the bone marrow MNC of CMS than in the controls[1.7(1.0, 5.1) vs 1.0(0.4, 2.7), P<0.05], while VEGF and VEGFR1 mRNA levels were similar between the two groups. The percentage of VEGFR2 positive cells in CMS were significantly correlated with hemoglobin (r=0.453, P=0.007) and the percentage of VEGF-positive cells (r=0.373, P=0.030). Conclusions: Bone marrow MNC of CMS may show enhanced activity of the VEGF-VEGFR2 pathway, and it appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of CMS.


The autoimmune basis of segmental vitiligo (SV) has only recently been recognized. Systemic autoimmune diseases are less frequently associated compared to non-segmental vitiligo (NSV), but localized skin disorders – in particular linear morphea – have been repeatedly observed in patients with SV. The inflammatory response is documented on a clinical level with cases displaying erythematous borders or a hypochromic stage, on a histopathological level with predominantly CD8 lymphocytes migrating toward the basal layer and by flow cytometry demonstrating the antimelanocyte specificity of these cytotoxic T cells. The increased risk for halo naevi and NSV in these patients further underline the immune-mediated mechanisms of SV. Nonetheless, the localized and unique distribution pattern points to somatic mosaicism. This places SV in a category of similar diseases such as lichen striatus, blaschkitis, linear lupus erythematosus, and linear scleroderma where an immune reaction against genetically mutated skin cells is believed to be the underlying cause. All these disorders are characterized by a young age of onset, a temporary disease activity with spontaneous resolution, limited response to treatment, and often long-term sequelae. Although challenging, genetic research proving this genetic mosaicism could offer crucial insights into the pathogenesis of both segmental and non-segmental vitiligo.


This English for Specific/Occupational Purpose (ESP/EOP) program was meant to answer the needs of the Indonesian migrant labourers to improve their English for future employment as tour guides. The objectives of this research were to identify the contents that should be in the materials, to investigate the students' response about the later developed materials, and to study the lacks in the program. The material development process underwent the 7 stages of material development proposed by Nation and Macalister (2010), consisted of analysing the environment and the needs, following principles, setting goals and objectives, choosing contents and sequence, finding the format and presentation, monitoring and assessing, and evaluating the course. However, since it is online learning, the stages had to be combined with the stages specifically for online materials proposed by Hartoyo (2012). Thus, the content and sequence choosing stage consisted of the selection of the types of program, materials, software and tasks. The materials consisted of 2 parts which were the tutorials and the lessons. Using the Task-Based Language Teaching approach (Nunan, 2004), the materials were developed and implemented combined with real time online classes. The students' responses after the implementation were generally positive, although some improvements were still needed.


The aim was to study early outcomes in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation who were transported by emergency to the vascular center. Material and Methods . We studied medical records from 396 patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation. A telephone survey of patients or their relatives was conducted within two months after the emergency call. Results . In-hospital diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome was confirmed only in 30.6% of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation admitted to the vascular center. Cardiologists in the vascular center were ruling out diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation based on data of clinical examination and electrocardiography. During the following two months, 6.4% of the patients with ruled out diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome called emergency again; 2% of the patients were admitted with acute coronary syndrome to the vascular center; and 2.4% of the patients died at home. Conclusion . In real clinical practice, the assessment of myocardial necrosis biomarkers has been used not enough in cases of suspected acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation.


ABSTRACT.
 Recent surveys in southern Florida, USA, Brazil and Argentina, for biological control agents to assist in the control of the invasive Brazilian peppertree, have discovered several previously unknown species of plant mining Lepidoptera of the family Gracillariidae. Morphological descriptions with summaries of their biology for the following four new species and one new genus are presented: Caloptilia schinusifolia Davis and Wheeler, from Brazil and possibly Argentina; Eucosmophora schinusivora Davis and Wheeler, from Argentina and Brazil; Leurocephala schinusae Davis and Mc Kay, new genus and species, from Argentina and Brazil; and Marmara habecki Davis, new species, from Florida, USA. The larvae of all four species exhibit a hypermetamorphic development consisting of early instar sapfeeding and later instar tissue feeding stages typical for members of Gracillariidae. Larvae of M. habecki were also observed to possess an additional nonfeeding, transitional instar prior to the final instar as is typical for the genus (Wagner et al. 2000). Larvae of the new genus Leurocephala were discovered to undergo an intermediate, nearly apodal tissue feeding stage between the sapfeeding and final tissue feeding instars. Unique specimens representing an additional three species of Gracillariidae also have been reared from this tree in Argentina or Brazil, but these could not be identified because of inadequate material. COI barcodes were obtained for Marmara habecki, M. smilacisella, and an undescribed Marmara from Brazil. Each species was separated by a minimum barcode divergence of > 4.5% (Fig. 111).


In the light of experimental studies on balloons of several intubation tubes, the concepts of occlusive pressure, tracheal pressure and minimum occlusive volume are defined and dissociated. An in vivo study made it possible to determine the importance of the tracheal mucous pulse, the suppression of which could contribute to tracheal stenosis.


Integration of in situ and conventional ion microprobe U‐Th‐Pb zircon and monazite geochronology with 40Ar/39Ar hornblende, biotite, and muscovite thermochronology provides a temporal record of metamorphism, partial melting, fluids, and cooling of exhumed midcrustal to lower crustal rocks. The Valhalla complex, southeastern British Columbia, is one of a series of elongate gneiss domes within the Omineca belt of the Canadian Cordillera. We have performed U‐Th‐Pb and 40Ar/39Ar age measurements on migmatitic gneisses from a range of structural levels and settings within the Valhalla complex in an effort to better document the timing of migmatization and exhumation. Stromatic migmatites and leucosomes crystallized in boudin necks yield concordant U‐Pb zircon ages that cluster near 60 Ma and Th‐Pb monazite ages of circa 60–50 Ma. In situ analyses of monazite in samples that contain <10% leucosome yield a bimodal distribution at 70–65 and 62–57 Ma. The younger ages are similar to migmatite zircon ages. 40Ar/39Ar analyses from the same rocks document cooling at 51–49 Ma. These new data, combined with field, structural, and petrologic data from this and previous studies of the Omineca domes, indicate that a large region (thousands of km2) of orogenic crust may have been partially molten during the Early Tertiary (>60–50 Ma). However, the combined data also suggest that melt crystallization (circa 60 Ma) in the Valhalla complex occurred rapidly and before the other domes within the Omineca belt. Cooling at 49 Ma throughout the Omineca is associated with regional extension and exhumation of migmatites in the domes. The presence of abundant migmatites and the similarity in timing of melt crystallization and cooling in domes along the 400‐km‐long Omineca belt is consistent with localization of exhumation at the boundary between the flowing crust of the hinterland and the rigid, colder crust of the Rocky Mountain foreland.


This paper presents results from research conducted at the Central Florida Remote Sensing Laboratory, to estimate the HIRAD wind speed and rain rate measurement performance in hurricanes under realistic operating conditions. These computer simulations use the MM5 numerical hurricane model as the "nature run" to provide realistic 3D environmental parameters (rain, water vapor, clouds and surface winds) from which wide-swath brightness temperature measurements are calculated using an advanced radiative transfer model (RTM). This RTM includes a rain model for the hurricane environment and an ocean surface emissivity model for hurricane force winds over incidence angles from nadir to > 60°. Simulations were done for typical high altitude "Figure-4" flight tracks on a global Hawk unmanned aircraft, and include realistic sources of errors, such as antenna pattern and cross-polarization effects, which are expected in the actual observations. Using these simulated HIRAD measurements with errors, Monte Carlo retrievals of wind speed and rain rate were performed using databases of sea surface temperatures and climatological hurricane atmospheric parameters. Examples of retrieved hurricane wind speed and rain rate images are presented, and comparisons of these retrieved parameters with the nature run are made. Statistical analyses are performed and RMS measurement errors are characterized over a broad range of wind and rain conditions and as a function of path length over the full HIRAD swath. These results will be used as error estimates for HIRAD performance in future numerical Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs).