ABSTRACT As a prebiotics, lactosucrose plays an important role in maintaining human gastrointestinal homeostasis. In this study, a thermostable enzyme from Arthrobacter sp. 10138 was screened from six β-fructofuranosidase-producing strains for the lactosucrose production and the coding gene was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli for efficient expression. Recombinant β-fructofuranosidase was purified and biochemically characterized by MALDI-TOFMS spectrometry. The transfructosylation product by this recombinant enzyme was determined to be lactosucrose rather than other oligosaccharides or polysaccharides by HPLC and LC-MS. Efficient extracellular secretion of β-fructofuranosidase was achieved by the optimization of signal peptide and induction conditions. It was found that with the signal peptide torT, the highest extracellular activity reached 111.01 U/mL, which was 38.4-fold higher than that with the OmpA signal peptide. Under the optimal conditions (pH 6.0, temperature 50°C, enzyme amount 40 μg/ml, sucrose 150 g/L and lactose 150 g/L), 109 g/L lactosucrose was produced with a molar conversion ratio of 49.3%. Here the thermostable β-fructofuranosidase from Arthrobacter sp. 10138 can be used for efficient synthesis of lactosucrose, and this provides a good startpoint for the industrial production of lactosucrose in the future. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Descending necrotizing mediastinitis( DNM) is often a lethal condition resulting from odontogenic or cervical infection, with a previously reported mortality rate of 25 to 40%, which is known to accompany occasional pericardial effusion. Here, we report a case of diffuse DNM with cardiac tamponade.


We present a dialog act annotation for German Twitter conversations. In this paper, we describe our annotation effort of a corpus of German Twitter conversations using a full schema of 57 dialog acts, with a moderate inter-annotator agreement of multi-⇡ = 0.56 for three untrained annotators. This translates to an agreement of 0.76 for a minimal set of 10 broad dialog acts, comparable to previous work. Based on multiple annotations, we construct a merged gold standard, backing off to broader categories when needed. We draw conclusions wrt. the structure of Twitter conversations and the problems they pose for dialog act characterization.


Application of e-business concepts and models can be successful, but anecdotal evidence has indicated numerous failures. In this paper we use a framework (the I-Frame) to analyze a bestpractice implementation of a buyer-owned electronic trading exchange at Komatsu America Corp. – Peoria Manufacturing Operations (KAC-PMO). The I-Frame is derived from five existing models in the literature and describes the benefits and factors for successful implementation of Internet-based purchasing of direct materials through a buyer-owned electronic trading exchange. The I-Frame views benefits and success factors from different angles: business process, purchasing costs, product quality, technology, organization, and trust between business partners. To large extent the benefits and success factors in the KAC-PMO case can be recognized in the I-Frame. Moreover the I-Frame contains ideas for the further enhancement of purchasing at KAC-PMO. In general, purchasing managers could use the IFrame when investigating possibilities for improvements in the procurement business function. Through future research the I-Frame can be enhanced.


A novel analytical expression for DFB laser sensitivity to external optical feedback is derived based on coupled-wave theory. The expression reveals that the sensitivity is proportional to the ratio between the output power from the reflector-side facet and the magnitude of Lagrangian of the electromagnetic field in the cavity. The simplicity of the expression helps in estimating the sensitivity of DFB lasers with complex cavity structures. >


Introduction: Pancreatitis is a very common gastrointestinal disease that results in hospital admission. Early detection and treatment leads to better outcomes. This is the first reported case of pancreatitis secondary to elevated tacrolimus in a patient with prior renal transplantation after receiving Paxlovid for a COVID-19 infection. Case Description/Methods: A 57-year-old male with past medical history of 4 renal transplants secondary to posterior urethral valves who presented to the emergency room with acute onset epigastric pain for 24 hours. He was on tacrolimus 5 mg every 48 hours monotherapy for his immunosuppression. 10 days prior to his presentation he had developed chills and anxiety. He tested positive for COVID-19 at that time on a home rapid test. His symptoms had not significantly improved and given his immunosuppressed state he was given Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir). He took 2 days of Paxlovid, however after his second day of treatment he developed severe epigastric pain requiring him to go to the emergency room. On admission his labs were notable for a lipase of 150 U/L (ULN 63 U/L). He underwent a CT scan was notable for an enlarged pancreatic head and neck with peripancreatic fat stranding (Figure). He also had a right upper quadrant ultrasound without any cholelithiasis and only trace sludge noted. His creatinine was noted to be 1.81 mg/dl which was above his baseline of 1.2 mg/dl. His tacrolimus trough level resulted at a level 45.6 ng/ml and later peaked at 82.2 ng/ml. His liver enzymes were normal. He was treated as acute pancreatitis with hydration and his tacrolimus was held with overall clinical improvement. Discussion(s): Tacrolimus is one of the most common medications used in solid organ transplantation. It is a calcineurin inhibitor that inhibits both T-lymphocyte signal transduction and IL-2 transcription. It is metabolized by the protein CYP3A and levels are monitored closely. Paxlovid is currently prescribed as an antiviral therapy for COVID-19 infection. The ritonavir compound in Paxlovid is potent inhibitor of CYP3A. Currently the guidelines do not recommend Paxlvoid as a therapeutic in patients taking tacrolimus as there is concern about increased drug levels. There have been several case reports of pancreatitis in setting of tacrolimus. This case report helps to demonstrate the need for close monitoring of therapeutics levels, especially in medications with high risk of drug to drug interaction to help prevent serious side effects such as tacrolimus induced pancreatitis.


Fungal infections have been increasing during the last decades. Scedosporium and Lomentospora species are filamentous fungi most associated to those infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. Considering the limited options of treatment and the emergence of resistant isolates, an increasing concern motivates the development of new therapeutic alternatives. In this context, the present study screened the Pathogen Box library to identify compounds with antifungal activity against Scedosporium and Lomentospora. Using antifungal susceptibility tests, biofilm analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and synergism assay, auranofin and iodoquinol were found to present promising repurposing applications. Both compounds were active against different Scedosporium and Lomentospora, including planktonic cells and biofilm. SEM revealed morphological alterations and synergism analysis showed that both drugs present positive interactions with voriconazole, fluconazole, and caspofungin. These data suggest that auranofin and iodoquinol are promising compounds to be studied as repurposing approaches against scedosporiosis and lomentosporiosis.


We report some considerations on the design of a parallel magnetic pulse compressor, including the circuit equivalence condition, the ohmic loss estimation of the magnetic core material and the influence of the core geometry on its saturation time. In particular, we describe the case of a one-stage saturable transformer compressor and present the parameter selection criteria and some experimental results.


BACKGROUND
Unilateral renal agenesis is a rare finding. There are no large-scale studies reporting this finding in early pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the incidence of unilateral renal agenesis (URA) and of associated anomalies diagnosed by early prenatal trans-vaginal sonography.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective chart review of all 59,382 trans-vaginal scans performed at 14-16 weeks gestation by a single operator at different clinics during the period 1994-2013.

RESULTS
The incidence of URA was 1:1212 (49/59382 cases). Associated anomalies were diagnosed in 22 cases (45%). Renal anomalies were diagnosed in 22.4%. Extra-renal anomalies (with exclusion of a single umbilical artery or nuchal edema as isolated findings) were diagnosed in 24.5%. Ambiguous genitalia were diagnosed in 8.2%.

CONCLUSIONS
URA is a rare finding in early trans-vaginal sonography. Associated anomalies are very common and should be sought.


This paper is an examination of certain assumptions that, I hold, lie in the background of MacIntyre's conception of the formation of the intellectual schema as found, most prominently, in Whose Justice? Which Rationality? and Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry. A thorough examination of MacIntyre's concept of the rational schema, I will show, reveals that the parsing he proposes to carry out on intellectual history is confronted with a problem that finds its analogue in the field of biological taxonomy. In order to carry out this project of determining where the seams lie in intellectual history one must first recognize that the parsing itself is a scheme-dependent undertaking. As such it is not unlike the necessarily somewhat arbitrary identification of species and genera in the biological realm. In other words, it should be recognized that intellectual history, like the morphology of the plant and animal kingdoms, is continuous, not discreet. An almost wholly unexamined assumption that stalks through Whose Justice? and Three Rival Versions is that there are something like intellectual natural kinds in the history of ideas. Indeed, the notion that there are "traditions" at all in the sense in which MacIntyre uses the term may be a highly conventional artefact of an Enlightenment-era view of intellectual progress. This leads me to conclude that MacIntyre has failed to observe that the view of traditions and schemes neatly succeeding one another, on which much of his critique is dependent, is itself a product of the perspective he calls "encyclopedia." This, in turn, will make manifest why it is that almost all of MacIntyre's examples of rational scheme-switching are from the natural sciences rather than the normative, a fact I will show is connected to a paradigm of linear progression that one tends to find in the exact sciences, but not in praxis.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse community-based tourism (CBT) initiatives in the post-socialist rural Romania in terms of the holism of the tourist project and the implementation of the local participation. The paper focusses on chances and challenges of CBT.

Design/methodology/approach

Once the main objective was established, three research interests arose: How and why tourism played a significant role in the economic and social development of the rural local community? How has the local community participated in the starting and maintenance of the CBT projects and who played a key part? How can the level of success of the CBT implementations be qualitatively measured? Qualitative methodologies (interviews, on-site observations, informal discussions) were applied to survey the four case studies.

Findings

Natural and cultural features ensure a versatile potential for touristic exploitation of the Romanian rural area, but the villages are endangered by post-socialist economic and social transformations. Innovative approaches of CBT in rural areas ignited by charismatic leaders with entrepreneurial spirit develop based on the existent social, natural and cultural capital, but on the other hand, endeavours can be vulnerable because of hindering local municipalities or sustainability issues.

Practical implications

The findings facilitate recommendations in favour of effective CBT ventures.

Originality/value

Learning about the contribution of CBT to a sustainable development of rural regions with no/little tradition of private entrepreneurship can contribute to the revitalization of rural areas facing post-socialist challenges.


The prediction of microsatellite instability (MSI) and microsatellite stability (MSS) is essential in predicting both the treatment response and prognosis of gastrointestinal cancer. In clinical practice, a universal MSI testing is recommended, but the accessibility of such a test is limited. Thus, a more cost-efficient and broadly accessible tool is desired to cover the traditionally untested patients. In the past few years, deep-learning-based algorithms have been proposed to predict MSI directly from haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained whole-slide images (WSIs). Such algorithms can be summarized as (1) patch-level MSI/MSS prediction, and (2) patient-level aggregation. Compared with the advanced deep learning approaches that have been employed for the first stage, only the naïve first-order statistics (e.g., averaging and counting) were employed in the second stage. In this paper, we propose a simple yet broadly generalizable patient-level MSI aggregation (MAg) method to effectively integrate the precious patch-level information. Briefly, the entire probabilistic distribution in the first stage is modeled as histogram-based features to be fused as the final outcome with machine learning (e.g., SVM). The proposed MAg method can be easily used in a plug-and-play manner, which has been evaluated upon five broadly used deep neural networks: ResNet, MobileNetV2, EfficientNet, Dpn and ResNext. From the results, the proposed MAg method consistently improves the accuracy of patient-level aggregation for two publicly available datasets. It is our hope that the proposed method could potentially leverage the low-cost H&E based MSI detection method. The code of our work has been made publicly available at https://github.com/Calvin-Pang/MAg.


In this work, the effects of surfactant and solvents, such as benzyl alcohol and n-propyl alcohol, on the human hair dyeing with acid dye was investigated including the amount of dyes in hair according to dyeing time, temperature, and pH. And the damage of dyed hair was assessed by water retention, protein release, and SEM images of the dyed hairs. By adding benzyl alcohol in acid dyeing, the dyeing rate was increased and the dyeing equilibrium was established at early stage. The water retention of the dyed hair was increased and the protein release of the dyed hair was decreased. Therefore the hair was damaged less during the dyeing.


We explore the time evolution of radiatively-inefficient accretion flows. Since these types of accretion flows are convectively unstable, we also study the effects of convection in the present model. The effects of convection are applied to equations describing angular momentum and energy. In analogy to the traditional α-prescription, we introduce the convection parameter αc to study the influences of convection on physical quantities. The model is studied in two cases: the transport of angular momentum due to convection inward and outward. We found the physical variables are sensitive to the parameter αc and are also dependent on the direction of angular momentum that is transported by convection. As for angular momentum transfer inward, the accretion flow can be convectively dominated and radial infall velocity becomes zero. Moreover, we found the radial dependence of the density and radial velocity takes an intermediate place between steady state radiatively-inefficient accretion flow and steady state advection-dominated accretion flow. This property is in accord with direct numerical simulation of radiatively-inefficient accretion flows.


Historically the divisions between the mental health and substance abuse fields have been so deep that attempts to provide coordinated treatment across service sectors for people with dual diagnoses of psychiatric disorder and substance use disorder have failed. The authors describe a program in Maine designed to develop collaboratives, or communities of providers, who work together to offer coordinated mental health and substance abuse treatment and support. Surveys of provider agencies in one collaborative conducted one year and two years after the collaborative was established showed an increase in interagency referrals, joint assessments of clients, and jointly sponsored training and client services.


We propose a new mechanism, with an intuitive interface, for a walking guidance system for the visually impaired. The user pushes the mechanism using a long handle like walking stick, and the mechanism steers to navigate along a given route using environmental sensors, communicating the steering angle to the user by twisting the handle. Using the interface, users are aware of their direction to go and can walk without hesitation. A navigation method incorporating simple topological map information is proposed for the mechanism, and a prototype system that follows the walls surrounding a route is developed. Experiments illustrate the usability and performance of the proposed interface and system.


Abstract Background This is a description of a pilot project that was implemented at the Muhima Hospital, the largest maternity hospital in Rwanda. The goal of the program was to facilitate the teaching of staff the best practice of maternal child health. The program was established through monthly staff trainings using three evidenced-based global maternal and neonatal health programs: Helping Babies Breath, Helping Mothers Survive, and Basic Life Support. Methods The "Train the Trainer Model" was used and monthly staff trainings were developed and implemented. The students were experienced nursing staff trained by advanced midwifery students during their clinical rotation at Muhima Hospital. Human Resources for Health (HRH) educational mentors supported the students and staff during the trainings. Following the first training, Muhima staff nurses were selected based on expertise and enthusiasm to be future trainers. These nurses received advanced instruction as trainers. The long-term program goal is that all hospital staff and students complete each of these three training programs once every two years. Results Initially the staff expressed resistance to the process, but this barrier was overcome as the staff became comfortable and effective as providers and trainers. Trainings done in the local language elicited more participation compared to trainings in English. Staff and students enjoyed the simulations and developed a comfort level and camaraderie between staff, students and HRH educators. Conclusions Challenges of sustainability in relation to motivation and organizational issues is being discussed with the hospital director and the staff trainers. Planning and organizing are ongoing, with the goal to expand the program to include health centers. This professional staff development project and the desire for community outreach programs are impressive. Community outreach would be beneficial for the professional development of the nurse midwife trainers and staff in the rural district facilities throughout Rwanda. Key words : helping babies breath, helping mothers survive, basic life support, teaching, training, Rwanda


Aflatoxins (AFs) are dangerous mycotoxins, which include a great number of lipophilic molecules produced by aerobic microscopic fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus causes health hazard including death to human and livestock. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ozone gas treatment on the fungal growth and detoxification of AFs contaminated wheat and corn grains. Ozone concentration treatments 40 mg / Kg wheat for 1 hour and 80 mg / Kg corn for 2 hours of exposure time respectively were applied to contaminated samples of wheat and corn grains. It was observed that completely inhibition of Aspergillus growth and consequently the total aflatoxin content was decreased. In vivo, the biosafety assessment for 72 male albino rats fed on diet containing 70% wt. of ozone treated AFs – contaminated grains were evaluated comparing to control groups. Results indicated that rats fed on AFs contaminated grains have significantly increased the serum enzymes activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), malondialdehyde (MDA) content as well as the serum levels of creatinine, urea, glucose, total Original Research Article El-Sisy et al.; ARRB, 34(3): 1-18, 2019; Article no.ARRB.54014 2 cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG). Also, it was observed that a significant decrease in the level of serum total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), reduced glutathione (GSH) and testosterone hormone comparing to control groups. However, the oral administration of ozonized groups ameliorated the biochemical parameters compared to rats fed on contaminated grains. Moreover, histopathological studies of liver, kidney and testis tissues of rats fed on contaminated grains that revealed different lesions and changes in tissues, inversely to that improving effects in tissues of ozonized contaminated grains – fed rats. It was concluded that ozonization treatment were most effective in reduction of mold count and degradation of aflatoxins content for grains during storage.


Background: The discharging middle ear is a source of global concern. There is every need to investigate and report on the socio-demographic factors of this illness especially in Nigerian children. Aim: To determine the Socio-demographic factors associated with otitis media among children in Enugu, South-east Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional in design and done at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. All consecutive children aged 0 and 17 years presenting during the months of June and August 2006 with middle ear discharge were included in the study. Informed consent was obtained from parents or guardians of the children. Assent was obtained from older subjects. Children who had discharge of the middle ear were consecutively recruited into this study. Auroscopy was carried out on all of them to ascertain middle ear pathology. A structured questionnaire designed for this study was used to record information on subjects' biodata. Data was analysed using SPSS version 11.0 and PEPI version 4.0 statistical software. Results: One hundred children aged 0 to 17 years were included in this study. There were 53 males (53%) and 47 females (47%) with a male: female ratio of 1.13:1. Twenty- five (25.0%) of the 100 subjects were from the upper socio-economic class, whereas 24/100 (24.0%) and 51/100 (51.0%) subjects were from the middle and lower socio-economic class respectively. A significant interaction was found when a chi-square test of independence was calculated between social class and type of otitis media (χ2 = 8.78; P = 0.01), hence chronic otitis media was more common than acute otitis media in children from the lower socio-economic class when compared with the upper and middle classes. Conclusion: Discharging otitis media was commoner among the under 5's population. Chronic discharging otitis media tended to affect more the children from the lower social class.


In the context of the analysis of remotely sensed data the question arises of how to analyse large volumes of data. In the specific case of agricultural fields in flat areas these fields can often be modelled in terms of geometric primitives such as triangles and rectangles. In this case the options are classical i.e. bottom-up, starting at the pixel level and resulting in a segmented, labelled image or top- down, starting with a model for image partitioning and resulting in a minimum cost estimation of shape hypotheses with corresponding parameters. Standard bottom-up classification methods usually concern the pixel as a main element and try to label the pixel individually. But various errors are involved in the image analysis with these methods. Mixed pixels, simplicity of the basic assumptions in the classification algorithms, sensor effects, atmospheric effects, and radiometric overlap of land cover objects lead to the wrong detection in image analysis. In this paper we propose a Model-Based Image Analysis (MBIA) approach to analyze the remotely sensed data. In this manner using the available knowledge about the remote sensing system we generate some hypothesis maps and then test them using the radiometric measurements (images). In order to test the method we used the boundaries of the agricultural fields stored in a GIS to model the objects in the scene. The results of the method have been compared with the result of a traditional Maximum-Likelihood (MLH) classification and a standard Object-Based Classification (OBC) using the boundaries. Using this approach we could reach to the 94% overall accuracy.


This Article re-examines the possible utility of the concept of culture in comparative law. It reviews some limits and misuses of the concept of culture and introduces a components approach to using it in comparative analysis. First presented at a Symposium inspired by Laurence Tribe's The Invisible Constitution, the Article takes up a key question emerging from Tribe's work: How does a constitution constitute? Two conceptual tools from anthropology and sister disciplines, performative speech acts and performance theory, lend insight into how discourse produces literal meaning and, in parallel, produces and reproduces speech act communities. Having introduced a components approach to undertaking comparative work, the Article then suggests putting the pieces back together; to demonstrate how a holistic treatment of culture might be deployed in larger projects, the Article reviews one against racism and another against ideology-based assertions of group superiority. With a more analytical look at the work of "constituting" and with new tools for studying it, the Article concludes that the concept of culture can facilitate comparative analysis not only between different national jurisdictions, but also between different speech act communities (like law and religion) within a given jurisdiction. * Assistant Professor of Law and of Anthropology, Saint Louis University; J.D., Yale Law School; Ph.D., University of California Berkeley Department of Anthropology. I thank Professors Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Michal Rozbicki, Efthimi Parasidis and Jeff Redding for their feedback or support, and to Clay Counts for being a thoughtful and enthusiastic interlocutor. This work benefitted from feedback at the Invisible Constitutions Symposium, and I thank the Center for International and Comparative Law and the International Law Students' Association of Saint Louis University for their work producing the Symposium. Finally, I thank the student editors of the Saint Louis University Law Journal for their persistence, patience, and professionalism during a year of institutional turbulence. SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 408 SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 57:407


The high production and export in processed form of shrimp produces side product in the form of shrimp shell waste. The problem faced was so far, the shrimp shell waste has not been processed into products that have high selling value, namely in the form of organic fertilizer and liquid fertilizer containing chitin. The research objective was to formulate strategy in the effort to develop shrimp shell waste processing business. This research is a descriptive with quantitative and qualitative approach and was held in May-October 2018. Locations in Situbondo and Banyuwangi Regencies. Respondents came from 2 districts, namely Situbondo and Banyuwangi Regency. Data collection techniques with FGD and filling out questionnaires. Data analysis using SWOT analysis and QSPM. Research results are the order of priority strategies: (1) protection and commitment to business development, (2) increasing business capacity and quality of human resources of business people, (3) business promotion in coastal areas that are potential in the market to investors, (4) efforts to open market access for shrimp shell waste processing products, (5) dissemination of the existence of shrimp shell waste processing business to the community, (6) synergy between joint unit group and the government in the development of processing businesses.


All existing superconducting instrumentation for measuring the concentration of iron stored in the human liver requires liquid helium for its operation. We report the mathematical modeling, optimization, and instrumental performance of an instrument that uses high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors. Requiring only liquid nitrogen to operate, the susceptometer represents the first medical application of the phenomenon of high-temperature superconductivity with the potential for widespread clinical utility.


Abstract This study focuses on the effects of the bromine atom on the molecular structure parameters in the main tautomeric forms of 5-bromouracil (5BrU), and as well, its effect on hydration and on the Watson-Crick (WC) pairs as compared to uracil molecule. The influence of the bromine atom was studied in several environments. The hydration effect on the molecular structure and energies of the main tautomeric forms of 5BrU was analyzed by considering a variable number of water molecules in explicit form up to 30 to simulate the first and second hydration shells. The 'mutagenic' 2-hydroxy-4-oxo (U2) enol tautomer of 5BrU, but not of uracil, was absolutely favored over the keto form in clusters with more than 20 water molecules. For all calculations, B3LYP and M06-2X Methods were used. The effect of the bromine atom when it was inserted into the natural and reverse WC pairs uridine-adenosine was also determined, and counterpoise (CP) corrected interaction energies were calculated. The effect of the bromine atom was analyzed in several DNA:RNA hybrid microhelices. Different backbone and helical parameters were calculated and compared. The bromine atom destabilizes its base pair, with a remarkable increase in the rise parameter (Dz) corresponding to the microhelix, and to a slight increase in the diameter (d). Molecular docking calculations were also carried out with 5BrU for targeted proteins associated with diabetes, hepatocellular carcinoma and breast and lung cancers. The molecular docking analysis confirms that the 5BrU molecule may play an important role as a promising inhibitor against breast cancer. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma


This paper explores how today's global monetary order differs from Keynes' original vision, as captured by his early Bretton Woods drafts, and how we got here. It also speculates whether Keynes' ideas, specifically his vision for the global monetary order, are still relevant to the contemporary world, after 80 years have passed since the publication of The General Theory. The paper argues that Keynes' hope for a global order without a hegemon could be considered overly rational and maintains that it may be worthwhile to recall what Keynes himself wrote in his memoir My Early Beliefs: "civilization [is] a thin and precarious crust erected by the personality and the will of a very few, and only maintained by rules and conventions skillfully put across and guilefully preserved".


This paper addresses the problem of real-time action recognition in trimmed videos, for which deep neural networks have defined the state-of-the-art performance in the recent literature. For attaining higher recognition accuracies with efficient computations, researchers have addressed the various aspects of limitations in the recognition pipeline. This includes network architecture, the number of input streams (where additional streams augment the color information), the cost function to be optimized, in addition to others. The literature has always aimed, though, at assigning the adopted network (or networks, in case of multiple streams) the task of recognizing the whole number of action classes in the dataset at hand. We propose to train multiple specialized module networks instead. Each module is trained to recognize a subset of the action classes. Towards this goal, we present a dissimilarity-based optimized procedure for distributing the action classes over the modules, which can be trained simultaneously offline. On two standard datasets–UCF-101 and HMDB-51–the proposed method demonstrates a comparable performance, that is superior in some aspects, to the state-of-the-art, and that satisfies the real-time constraint. We achieved 72.5% accuracy on the challenging HMDB-51 dataset. By assigning fewer and unalike classes to each module network, this research paves the way to benefit from light-weight architectures without compromising recognition accuracy1.


Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a prominent role in understanding the evolution of the Universe. They are thought to be thermonuclear explosions of mass-accreting carbon-oxygen white dwarfs (CO WDs) in binaries, although the mass donors of the accreting WDs are still not well determined. In this article, I review recent studies on mass-accreting WDs, including H- and He-accreting WDs. I also review currently most studied progenitor models of SNe Ia, i.e., the single-degenerate model (including the WD+MS channel, the WD+RG channel and the WD+He star channel), the double-degenerate model (including the violent merger scenario) and the sub-Chandrasekhar mass model. Recent progress on these progenitor models is discussed, including the initial parameter space for producing SNe Ia, the binary evolutionary paths to SNe Ia, the progenitor candidates for SNe Ia, the possible surviving companion stars of SNe Ia, some observational constraints, etc. Some other potential progenitor models of SNe Ia are also summarized, including the hybrid CONe WD model, the core-degenerate model, the double WD collision model, the spin-up/spin-down model and the model of WDs near black holes. To date, it seems that two or more progenitor models are needed to explain the observed diversity among SNe Ia.


We described two patients with chronic sensory neuronopathy who had anti-HTLV-I antibody in serum and cerebrospinal fluid but no signs of myelopathy, A sural nerve specimen revealed severe degeneration of myelinated and unmyelinated axons. The second patient had subclinical Sjogren's syndrome suggestive of a possible link among human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), Sjogren's syndrome and sensory neuronopathy, respectively. The broad spectrum of neurologic disorders associated with HTLV-T infection now would include chronic sensory neuronopathy.


In this paper, fully integrated FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonator) filters have been newly designed, fabricated, and characterized for W-CDMA mobile communication system applications by using silicon bulk micromachining technology. The proposed FBAR ladder type filters are realized by connecting 3 resonators in series and 4 resonators in parallel. The utilized resonators are comprised of aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric material sandwiched by Mo electrodes on top of silicon nitride supporting membrane. The measured quality factor is 1530 at 1.9 GHz. The fabricated FBAR filters have insertion losses of ¿2.8 dB over the pass band, 0.5 dB ripple in pass band, absolute attenuation of 35 dB and 43 dB at 1.6 GHz to 1.875 GHz and 2.110 GHz to 2.170 GHz, respectively. They have the better performance characteristics than the conventional SAW (surface acoustic wave) filters. The actual die sizes of the fabricated FBAR filter are 1.2 mm × 1.4 mm before packaging and 3 mm × 3 mm after packaging, respectively.


Recent trends in empirical macroeconomic research - embedding long-run relationships in models via cointegration, modeling the correlation between seasonal cycles and business cycles, building endogenous growth models, and the interest of policymakers in inflation targeting - have increased the importance of long-time series of macroeconomic data. Among the more important of such data are quantitative measures of monetary policy, such as the adjusted monetary base. Previously published data for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis adjusted monetary base begin in 1935 (seasonally unadjusted), and in 1950 (seasonally adjusted). In this analysis, the authors develop a consistent time series for the adjusted monetary base that begins in 1918, shortly after the founding of the Federal Reserve System.


The controller area network (CAN) bit stuffing mechanism, albeit essential to ensure proper receiver clock synchronization, introduces a significant, payload-dependent jitter on message response times, which may worsen the timing accuracy of a networked control system. Accordingly, several approaches to overcome this issue have been discussed in literature. This paper presents a novel software payload encoding scheme, which is able to guarantee that no stuff bits will ever be added to the data field by the CAN controller during transmission and, hence, lessens jitters considerably. Particular care has been put in its practical implementation and its subsequent evaluation to show how the simplicity and inherent high performance of the scheme make it suitable even for low-cost, embedded architectures.


This paper summarizes a methodology for developing quantitative answers to the question, "How low can energy use go within the commercial buildings sector?" The basic process is to take each building in the 1999 CBECS public use data files and create a baseline building energy model for it as if it were being built new in 2005 with code-minimum energy performance. The 1999 CBECS data form a statistical model of the commercial buildings sector by using a set of 5,430 buildings with weighting factors to indicate how many more such buildings are represented by each member. For each building, we used 1999 CBECS data on floor area, number of floors, census division, basic climatic design criteria, principal building activity, and number of employees. The expanded building descriptions needed for detailed energy modeling with EnergyPlus were generated by applying ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 and augmenting with data from Huang and Franconi (1999), probabilistic assignments, and other assumptions. The technical potential of energy design measures, for the sector as a whole, were then evaluated by altering and rerunning the energy models, comparing perturbed results to each baseline, and then aggregating performance metrics. The primary benefit of the method is that the CBECS weighting factors provide a robust way of aggregating national results from simulations of individual buildings. However, it is also challenging because it requires considerable computing resources. The methodology is recommended for future analyses when the results must properly reflect the national implications and when only a limited number of scenarios need to be investigated.


Abstract: Based on dynamic information collected from different time intervals in some real situations, this paper firstly proposes a dynamic single valued neutrosophic multiset (DSVNM) to express dynamic information and operational relations of DSVNMs. Then, a correlation coefficient between DSVNMs and a weighted correlation coefficient between DSVNMs are presented to measure the correlation degrees between DSVNMs, and their properties are investigated. Based on the weighted correlation coefficient of DSVNMs, a multiple attribute decision-making method is established under a DSVNM environment, in which the evaluation values of alternatives with respect to attributes are collected from different time intervals and are represented by the form of DSVNMs. The ranking order of alternatives is performed through the weighted correlation coefficient between an alternative and the ideal alternative, which is considered by the attribute weights and the time weights, and thus the best one(s) can also be determined. Finally, a practical example shows the application of the proposed method.


Skepticism toward climate change has a long tradition in the United States. We focus on mass media as the conveyors of the image of climate change and ask: Is climate change skepticism still a characteristic of US print media coverage? If so, to what degree and in what form? And which factors might pave the way for skeptics entering mass media debates? We conducted a quantitative content analysis of US print media during one year (1 June 2012 to 31 May 2013). Our results show that the debate has changed: fundamental forms of climate change skepticism (such as denial of anthropogenic causes) have been abandoned in the coverage, being replaced by more subtle forms (such as the goal to avoid binding regulations). We find no evidence for the norm of journalistic balance, nor do our data support the idea that it is the conservative press that boosts skepticism.


Perimeter intrusion detection systems are an integral part of most physical security systems. The mainfocus of the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PID) is on the fence intrusion. To secure public and private placessuch as military bases, airports, power station and security related application, the used of perimeter fencing iswidely applicable for isolating and protecting. Fence structures merely prevent a percentage of intrusions orpostpone them. Therefore, to monitor and investigate activities on or around the university, a higher level of securityis needed. The system used major components as Arduino board, 8x8 LED display, ultrasonic sensor, 16x2 LCDdisplay module and speaker. The unauthorized person who tries to intrude the university woulld be sensed, detectedand alarm would generate a signal that an intruder was trying to enter the university. The sound level depended onthe distance, the nearer the intruder and stronger would be the alarm signal. PID system displayed the distance of theobject or personal found in its region on the LCD display. This system was very useful for security applications.Ultrasonic sensor would be searching if there was a motion in its range.


Acoustically-tracked subsurface floats provide insights into ocean complexity and were first deployed over 60 years ago. A standard tracking method uses a Least-Squares algorithm to estimate float trajectories based on acoustic ranging from moored sound sources. However, infrequent or imperfect data challenge such estimates, and Least-Squares algorithms are vulnerable to non-Gaussian errors. Acoustic tracking is currently the only feasible strategy for recovering float positions in the sea ice region, a focus of this study. Acoustic records recovered from under-ice floats frequently lack continuous sound source coverage. This is because environmental factors such as surface sound channels and rough sea ice attenuate acoustic signals, while operational considerations make polar sound sources expensive and difficult to deploy. Here we present a Kalman Smoother approach that, by including some estimates of float behavior, extends tracking to situations with more challenging data sets. The Kalman Smoother constructs dynamically constrained, error-minimized float tracks and variance ellipses using all possible position data. This algorithm outperforms the Least-Squares approach and a Kalman Filter in numerical experiments. The Kalman Smoother is applied to previously-tracked floats from the southeast Pacific (DIMES experiment), and the results are compared with existing trajectories constructed using the Least- Squares algorithm. The Kalman Smoother is also used to reconstruct the trajectories of a set of previously untracked, acoustically-enabled Argo floats in the Weddell Sea.


This paper describes how contracting-out of public transport has tended to focus mainly on operations. However, this conference series has considered ideas concerning tendering for service specification (the architecture mode) and tendering for planning provision. Yet there has been only limited progress in the contracting-out of such tactical functions in public transport. This paper reviews the options and progress with such contracting-out and this might include an authority contracting-out its transport planning functions to an external party or sub-contracting out certain key functions. It might involve the creation of a third party planning body that includes representation from a range of stakeholders including authorities and operators. Various other forms of public-private partner are possible. Alternatively, contracting-out might involve a tendering regime in which service quantity and quality and fare structure and levels were award criteria along with, instead of, subsidy or in which there were incentives for operators to re-specify the tender in terms of services and fares. The paper concludes that there is a lack of evidence about the efficacy of the various alternatives.


Reprogramming somatic nuclear function by transplantation of nuclei into recipient oocytes is associated with a morphological remodeling of the somatic nucleus. Successful cloning of animals by nuclear transplantation (NT) demonstrates that reprogramming somatic cell function is possible. However, low pregnancy rates and high frequencies of lethal abnormalities in animals born suggest that reprogramming is rarely complete. To address this issue, we tested the hypothesis that nuclear transplantation leads to nuclear remodeling deficiencies. We report the identification of several markers of morphological remodeling, or lack thereof, of mouse cumulus cell nuclei after transplantation into oocytes. Notably, nuclear transplant mouse embryos exhibit nuclear assembly of the differentiated cell-specific A-type lamins at the one-cell stage, as a result of misregulation of lamin A gene expression. The transplanted nuclei also display enhanced concentration of the nuclear matrix-associated protein NuMA as a result of translation from maternal mRNA and de novo transcription. The A-kinase anchoring protein 95 (AKAP95), a marker of the nuclear envelope-chromatin interface, is of somatic origin. Furthermore, greater resistance of AKAP95 and DNA to in situ extractions of one-cell stage NT embryos with non-ionic detergent, DNase, RNase and NaCl reflects an enhanced proportion of heterochromatin in these embryos. Passage through first embryonic mitosis does not rescue the defects detected in one-cell stage embryos. We propose that somatic nuclear reprogramming deficiencies by NT might emanate from, at least in part, failure to remodel the somatic nucleus morphologically into a functional embryonic nucleus.


The issues regarding the demands of creative, innovative, and professional teachers are certainly on the concern of stakeholders and practitioners in education. Substantial efforts were conducted by the government to meet the 21 st -century teachers having the four competencies required for being a teacher and coping with the needs of modern education. A survey research was conducted to collect respondents' opinion as the main source of data to describe whether the 21 st -century teachers are on the demands and to gain information that the students have a similar perception to teacher's competencies required by the government. Seventy-five questionnaires related to the competencies were given to students of English Education Study Program of 2013 to 2016. The questionnaires were aimed at collecting written information dealing with what the students perceived towards the activities implemented by teachers in the process of teaching and learning. The result of questionnaire analysis revealed that most students expected the 21 st -century teachers to have skills in teaching and in connecting it with the development of today's technology and today's student characteristics. The data also showed that the students constructed the same characteristics of teacher's competencies required by the government regarding pedagogy, personality, sociality, and professionality.


Individuals are increasingly confronted with transactions and decisions in digital environments. This shift in consumption behaviour and context has a high potential to influence operational business processes in various fields such as the grocery retail industry and contribute towards more sustainable operations across different levels. Accordingly, organizations need to identify opportunities to actively influence the purchase behaviour of consumers in line with social, economic and ecological objectives. Therefore, based on a threefold research approach, we develop and test several digital nudges to influence customer decision-making in the context of online grocery sustainability. First, digital nudge principles and instantiations are deduced from theory, before we develop several digital nudges and test their perception effectiveness by means of an eye-tracking experiment. Finally, the most effective nudge designs are employed in a sophisticated online-experiment, empirically indicating the significant value of hyperbolic discounting and anchoring for influencing e-grocery delivery preferences.


An advanced hierarchically porous nanosheets-constructed three-dimensional (3D) carbon material (HPNSC) is prepared by using low-cost agricultural waste-nelumbium seed-pods as the precursor, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the activator. The as-prepared HPNSC material has a hierarchically porous nanosheets-constructed structure with 3D carbon nanosheet network morphology, which can enable fast and efficient transfer of Li+/Na+/H+ during charge–discharge process. The assembled HPNSC//HPNSC symmetric supercapacitors exhibit an improved energy density of 41.3 W h kg−1 with a power density of 180 W kg−1 in 1 mol l−1 Na2SO4 electrolyte. The energy density can still be maintained at 16.3 W h kg−1 even if the power density is increased to 9000 W kg−1. When acting as the reversible electrode for lithium ion batteries, this HPNSC material can achieve a high specific capacity of 1246 mA h g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. Moreover, sodium ion battery with HPNSC electrode exhibits excellent cycling performance of 161.8 mA h g−1 maintained even after being cycled 3350 times. The electrochemical performances clearly indicate that the HPNSC developed in this work is a very promising energy storage electrode material, and can further provide new insights for designing and developing highly porous materials for energy storage in other fields.


The problem of parameter estimation by i.i.d. observations of an inhomogeneous Poisson process is considered in situation of misspecification. The model is that of a Poissonian signal observed in presence of a homogeneous Poissonian noise. The intensity function of the process is supposed to have a cusp-type singularity at the change-point (the unknown moment of arrival of the signal), while the supposed (theoretical) and the real (observed) levels of the signal are different. The asymptotic properties of pseudo MLE are described. It is shown that the estimator converges to the value minimizing the Kullback-Leibler divergence, that the normalized error of estimation converges to some limit distribution, and that its polynomial moments also converge.


ABSTRACT Diabetic Retinopathy is a major cause for blindness, identified early by the formation of exudates in the retina. The conventional method followed by opthalmogists is the regular supervision of the retina. As this method takes time and energy of the opthalmogists, a new feature based classification for the detection of exudates in color fundus image is proposed in this paper. This method reduces the professionals work to examine on every fundus image rather than only on abnormal image. The exudates are separated from the fundus image by thresholding and removal of optic disk using morphological operation and connected component analysis. The features are extracted from processed image and used for classification of images as exudates and non-exudates.


Post‐mining restoration sites often develop novel ecosystems as soil conditions are completely new and ecosystem assemblage can be spontaneous even on afforested sites. This study presents results from long‐term monitoring and evaluation of an afforested oil‐shale quarry in Estonia. The study is based on chronosequence data of soil and vegetation and comparisons are made to similar forest site‐types used in forest management in Estonia. After site reclamation, soil development lowered pH and increased N, K, and organic C content in soil to levels similar to the common Hepatica forest site‐type but P, total C, and pH were more similar to the Calamagrostis forest site‐type. Vegetation of the restoration area differed from that on common forest sites; forest stand development was similar to the Hepatica forest‐type. A variety of species were present that are representive of dry and wet sites, as well as infertile and fertile sites. It appears that novel ecosystems may be developing on post‐mining reclaimed land in Northeast Estonia and may require adaptations to typical forest management regimes that have been based on site‐types. Monitoring and evaluation gives an opportunity to plan further management activities on these areas.


A new mineral species, petermegawite, ideally Al6(Se4+O3)3[SiO3(OH)](OH)9⋅10H2O, was discovered at the El Dragón mine, Potosí Department, Bolivia. It occurs as aggregates of bladed or tabular crystals. Associated minerals are Co-bearing krut′aite–penroseite (matrix), chalcomenite, 'clinochalcomenite' (not IMA approved), molybdomenite, lepidocrocite, goethite, ahlfeldite, and calcite. Petermegawite is colorless in transmitted light and transparent with a white streak and vitreous luster. It is brittle and has a Mohs hardness of 2–2½. Cleavage is perfect on {001}. The measured and calculated densities are 2.27(5) and 2.32 g/cm3, respectively. Optically, petermegawite is biaxial (+), with α = 1.545(5), β = 1.554(5), γ = 1.567(5) (white light). An electron microprobe analysis yielded an empirical formula (based on 10 non-H cations pfu) of Al6.00[(Se0.89S0.11)Σ1.00O3]3[(Si0.90Al0.07)Σ0.97O2.81(OH)1.19](OH)9⋅10H2O, which can be simplified to Al6[(Se,S)O3]3[(Si,Al)O3(OH)](OH)9⋅10H2O.
 Petermegawite is orthorhombic, space group Cmc21 with unit-cell parameters a = 16.2392(2), b = 10.96370(10), c = 15.3367(2) Å, V = 2730.57(5) Å3, and Z = 4. Its crystal structure is characterized by clusters of six-membered rings of edge-sharing AlO6 octahedra with an SiO3(OH) tetrahedron situated at the center of each ring and three Se4+O3 triangular pyramids appended outside the ring. These clusters are joined together by hydrogen bonds to form heteropolyhedral layers parallel to (001). The H2O molecules that are not bonded to any non-H cations are sandwiched between the layers. The cluster formed by a six-membered AlO6 octahedral ring with an SiO3OH tetrahedron at the center of the ring in petermegawite has the composition [Al6(SiO3OH)O6(OH)9(H2O)6]6−. It is topologically identical to the clusters of composition [Al6(AsO4)O7(OH)9(H2O)5]8− that are found in bettertonite and penberthycroftite. As a new polyoxometalate building block, this type of cluster may be expressed with a general chemical formula [TM6X25], where T = tetrahedrally coordinated cation, M = octahedrally coordinated cation, and X = O, OH, H2O.


Following the accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011, both experts and the national government provided insufficient information on radiation, leading to widespread distrust in the community. This study aimed at clarifying the association between anxiety about radiation and health literacy among residents in evacuation and non-evacuation areas in Fukushima. A questionnaire survey was sent to randomly sampled residents between August and October 2016, and data from 777 responses (38.9% valid response) were analyzed. The questionnaire assessed current radiation anxiety and discrimination and prejudice based on radiation exposure through seven items and communicative and critical health literacy through five items. Multiple regression analysis of the association between radiation anxiety and health literacy showed that the level of health literacy was significantly negatively associated with radiation anxiety in the evacuation areas (marginally in the non-evacuation areas) and marginally negatively associated with discrimination and prejudice in the evacuation areas but not in the non-evacuation areas. Therefore, improving health literacy could alleviate radiation anxiety.


Finding the ground state of a system with a complex energy landscape is important for many physical problems including protein folding, spin glasses, chemical clusters, and neural networks. Such problems are usually solved by heuristic search methods whose efficacy is judged by empirical performance on selected examples. We present a proof that, within the large class of algorithms that simulate a random walk on the landscape, threshold accepting is the best possible strategy. In particular, it can perform better than simulated annealing and Tsallis statistics. Our proof is the first example of a provably optimal strategy in this area.


Excel assignments were used as extra credit in an intermediate algebra course. Ninety per cent of the students had a home computer and seventy per cent were familiar with Excel. There was not a significant linear correlation between the amount of Excel that the students performed and their achievement in algebra. One-third of the students did less than 50% of the extra credit Excel assignments. The old saying 'You can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink' certainly was true in this study. Many of the students enjoyed the integration of computer software with algebra.


In the Abrantes area of the Ossa Morena Zone the NW tip of the Tomar-Badajoz-Cordoba Shear Zone (TBCSZ) stops against the Porto-Tomar-Ferreira do Alentejo Shear Zone (PTFASZ). Basement nappes of Cadomian age were thrust to the NE during the Variscan orogeny. Low intermediate pressure granulites contrast with high pressure eclogite Cadomian assemblages in the axial zone of TBCZ where we infer the presence of a Cadomian suture. It is proposed that the intra-plate basement nappe system of OMZ is connected via the PTFA paleotransform to the basement nappes of the NW Iberia inter-plate transported suture system.


Although age-at-injury influences chronic recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI), the differential effects of age on early outcome remain understudied. Using a male murine model of moderate contusion injury, we investigated the underlying mechanism(s) regulating the distinct response between juvenile and adult TBI. We demonstrate similar biomechanical and physical properties of naive juvenile and adult brains. However, following controlled cortical impact (CCI), juvenile mice displayed reduced cortical lesion formation, cell death, and behavioral deficits at 4 and 14 d. Analysis of high-resolution laser Doppler imaging showed a similar loss of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the ipsilateral cortex at 3 and 24 h post-CCI, whereas juvenile mice showed enhanced subsequent restoration at 2–4 d compared with adults. These findings correlated with reduced blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption and increased perilesional vessel density. To address whether an age-dependent endothelial cell (EC) response affects vessel stability and tissue outcome, we magnetically isolated CD31+ ECs from sham and injured cortices and evaluated mRNA expression. Interestingly, we found increased transcripts for BBB stability-related genes and reduced expression of BBB-disrupting genes in juveniles compared with adults. These differences were concomitant with significant changes in miRNA-21-5p and miR-148a levels. Accompanying these findings was robust GFAP immunoreactivity, which was not resolved by day 35. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of EC-specific Tie2 signaling abolished the juvenile protective effects. These findings shed new mechanistic light on the divergent effects that age plays on acute TBI outcome that are both spatial and temporal dependent. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Although a clear "window of susceptibility" exists in the developing brain that could deter typical developmental trajectories if exposed to trauma, a number of preclinical models have demonstrated evidence of early recovery in younger patients. Our findings further demonstrate acute neuroprotection and improved restoration of cerebral blood flow in juvenile mice subjected to cortical contusion injury compared with adults. We also demonstrate a novel role for endothelial cell-specific Tie2 signaling in this age-related response, which is known to promote barrier stability, is heightened in the injured juvenile vasculature, and may be exploited for therapeutic interventions across the age spectrum following traumatic brain injury.


A general problem is to classify the real forms of a complex variety up to isomorphism. This paper introduces the polar group of a real form X of a complex variety Y as a tool to distinguish such real forms. This group is an invariant of X which encodes information about the residual divisors in the coordinate ring of Y over the coordinate ring of X. We calculate polar groups for various curves, including the real line R and the algebraic 1-sphere S.


The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to describe and interpret the lived experiences of Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) in Japan as they faced some challenges with language barriers. There is still a gap that needs to be addressed because little did these foreign English teachers know that teaching English in a non-native English-speaking country like Japan comes with a lot of challenges especially with the language barrier. The theories that guided this study were Krashen's (1981) Monolingual Approach and Bandura's (1997) Social Cognitive Theory. The central questions of this study were intended to determine the lived experiences of ALTs with language barrier and how the ALTs ascribed to their experiences. Purposive sampling was used in which nine (9) participants consented to be a part of this study. Six (6) out of nine (9) participants were from Kyoto City, while the remaining three (3) were from Hamamatsu City. The study used in-depth interviews, which was cross-examined through behavioral observations from recorded videos and poetic transcriptions. The findings indicated that ALTs experienced language barriers when communicating with students and Japanese co-teachers, lesson planning, and lack of professional development and training.


The epidemiology of smoking, and contemporary and historical accounts of tobacco consumption, together suggest that the patterning of smoking by class, gender and gender role identities may differ markedly for people born at different stages in the establishment and demise of smoking in the 20th century. Here, we report an analysis that examines this assertion using empirical data collected from men and women living in the west of Scotland, an area with high rates of smoking, who were born in the 1930s, 1950s and 1970s. Class trends in smoking were less apparent for men than for women in the older two cohorts and there was little evidence of class patterning in either sex in the youngest participants. There was little relationship between the measures of gender role orientation and current smoking amongst men. Amongst women, the strongest association was between smoking and a well-validated measure of 'femininity' in the 1950s cohort; each unit increase in 'femininity' score increased the odds of being a smoker by 46%. In this same cohort of women, there was also a weaker relationship between smoking and higher masculinity scores. These results are discussed in the context of continuing use of gendered imagery to exploit new markets in the developing world.


BACKGROUND
Fasting small bowel motor abnormalities have been described in cirrhotic patients.

AIM
To investigate the effects of orally administered casein in small bowel motor activity in cirrhotic patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Six healthy subjects and 23 cirrhotic patients were studied. Motility of the upper part of the small bowel was studied by means of perfused manometric catheters, during a basal period and after infusion of 30 g of casein in the stomach.

RESULTS
Basal recordings showed a cyclical activity in all healthy subjects and in 9 cirrhotics (further considered as group 1). In 14 patients, basal cyclical activity was absent and were further considered as group II. Frequency of contractions after casein infusion was higher in group II patients than in group I and healthy controls (2.2 +/- 0.3, 1.3 +/- 0.2 and 0.9 +/- 0.2 cpm respectively). Intestinal motor index after casein infusion was also higher in group II. There was a progressive decline with time in motor activity after casein infusion, being maximal at 45 min, in healthy subjects and group I. This decline was not observed in group II.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with cirrhosis have an altered small bowel motor response to casein. Since group II of patients had a greater percentage of Child C patients, the abnormalities seem to be related to the degree of liver failure.


This work presents a characterization of several random variables related to cellular mobile telephony in a network that uses dynamic channel allocation (DCA). These variables are characterized by means of their statistical distributions. A simulation tool has been developed in order to achieve this characterization. The simulator implements the performance of a UMTS network (as an example of a DCA network), taking into account issues such as power management and call access control. The simulator provides data about channel holding time, time between two consecutive handoffs (handoff traffic characterization) and handoff duration, along with quality of service information about the simulated environment. Numerical results are analyzed and conclusions drawn.


The article is devoted to the actual problem of how to improve the reliability of the urban electric network. Based on the statistical analysis of the breakdown of electrical equipment in urban distribution networks in Dushanbe for the periods of 2017-2018 and for the reasons of damage leading to these emergency outages, the factors that affect the distribution of damage leading to emergency outages are identified. Taking into account the identified factors, a power consumption forecasting system is proposed that takes into account the local conditions of the city of Dushanbe. it allows us to suggest a way to control the operating parameters of the electric network, thereby increasing the reliability of the city's electric network in Dushanbe based on the recommendation of power consumption standards. Implementation of the control of the proposed method for improving the reliability of power supply to the urban electric network is proposed on the basis of the functionality of modern smart electricity metering using the control algorithm. To implement the control algorithm, schematic design for receiving and transmitting information from smart power metering to the data collection centre is proposed.


This paper analyzes multiple articles that demonstrate the effects of poor nutrition on school-age children. The research shows that having a healthy, balanced diet improves brain capacity, maximizes cognitive capabilities, and improves academic performance in school-age children. Alternatively, the research also shows that having too much junk food and an unhealthy diet decreases academic performance by limiting the amount of information to the brain. The brain is able to both retain and recall on demand. The literature also shows the danger of not having enough nutrition and the effects of food insufficiency, which can lead to malnutrition as well as poor academic performance. Overall, this research illustrates the need to aid children in maintaining a nutritious lifestyle. Whether at home or at  school, there is a responsibility of the community; locally, regionally or governmentally, to afford each child an equal chance to succeed academically. Socioeconomic status has been shown to have an effect on a child academically, and this paper shows that coming from a poorer neighborhood should not decrease that child's chances of being a well-adjusted, healthy student.


In this article, the authors interrogate legal and economic history to analyze the process by which the Chicago School of Antitrust emerged in the 1950s and became dominant in the United States. They show that the extent to which economic objectives and theoretical views shaped the inception of antitrust law. After establishing the minor influence of economics in the promulgation of U.S. competition law, they highlight U.S. economists' caution toward antitrust until the Second New Deal and analyze the process by which the Chicago School developed a general and coherent framework for competition policy. They rely mainly on the seminal and programmatic work of Director and Levi (1956) and trace how this theoretical paradigm became collective—that is, the "economization" process in U.S. antitrust. Finally, the authors discuss the implications and possible pitfalls of such a conversion to economics-led antitrust enforcement.


The existence of a control Lyapunov function with the weak infinitesimal decrease via the Dini or the proximal subdifferential and the lower Hamiltonian characterizes asymp-totic controllability of nonlinear control systems and differential inclusions. We study the class of nonlinear differential inclusions with a right-hand side formed by the convex hull of active C 2 functions which are defined on subregions of the domain. For a simplicial triangulation we parametrize a control Lyapunov function (clf) for nonlinear control systems by a continuous, piecewise affine (CPA) function via its values at the nodes and demand a suitable negative upper bound in the weak decrease condition on all vertices of all simplices. Applying estimates of the proximal subdifferential via active gradients we can set up a mixed integer linear problem (MILP) with inequalities at the nodes of the triangulation which can be solved to obtain a CPA function. The computed function is a clf for the nonlinear control system. We compare this novel approach with the one applied to compute Lyapunov functions for strongly asymptotically stable differential inclusions and give a first numerical example.


A spectrally sparse signal of order $r$ is a mixture of $r$ damped or undamped complex sinusoids. This paper investigates the problem of reconstructing spectrally sparse signals from a random subset of $n$ regular time domain samples, which can be reformulated as a low rank Hankel matrix completion problem. We introduce an iterative hard thresholding (IHT) algorithm and a fast iterative hard thresholding (FIHT) algorithm for efficient reconstruction of spectrally sparse signals via low rank Hankel matrix completion. Theoretical recovery guarantees have been established for FIHT, showing that $O(r^2\log^2(n))$ number of samples are sufficient for exact recovery with high probability. Empirical performance comparisons establish significant computational advantages for IHT and FIHT. In particular, numerical simulations on $3$D arrays demonstrate the capability of FIHT on handling large and high-dimensional real data.


This paper is concerned with microfinance in Africa post Covid-19, a crisis from which the continent is still recovering while new crises such as climate change challenges emerge. The resilience of the microfinance sector to crises must not only address operational weaknesses revealed by the pandemic, but also exploit the post-crisis potential to build resilience in areas such as digitalization and smallholder agriculture. New rules and regulations should target microfinance providers (MFPs) and enable them to quickly comply with new rules and those normally in force. This paper calls for the inclusion of all forms of MFPs, allowing for customized applications of policies and regulations. Moreover, measures for regulators include re-defining post-COVID-19 target groups, enhancing liquidity and MFP risk-based management, ensuring sustainability and best practices, activating prompt monitoring of the sector, and ensuring a consultative and coordinated culture. Measures for MFPs include increased micro-saving, avoiding subsidies, unlocking the full potential of smallholder farmers, a strong movement towards inclusive digital finance, product development, and partial movement towards crises-resistant, non-interest types of lending in countries with Muslim minorities.


Acute mountain sickness (AMS) commonly occurs at altitudes exceeding 2000-2500 m and usually resolves after acclimatization induced by a few days of chronic residence at the same altitude. Increased ventilation and diuresis may contribute to the reduction in AMS with altitude acclimatization. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of intermittent altitude exposures (IAE), in combination with rest and exercise training, on the incidence and severity of AMS, resting ventilation and 24-h urine volume at 4300 m. Six lowlanders (age, 23 +/- 2 years; body weight, 77 +/- 6 kg; values are means +/- S.E.M.) completed an Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire (ESQ) and Lake Louise AMS Scoring System (LLS), a resting end-tidal partial pressure of CO2 ( PETCO2) test and a 24-h urine volume collection at sea level (SL) and during a 30 h exposure to 4300 m altitude-equivalent (barometric pressure=446 mmHg) once before (PreIAE) and once after (PostIAE) a 3-week period of IAE (4 h.day(-1), 5 days.week(-1), 4300 m). The previously validated factor score, AMS cerebral score, was calculated from the ESQ and the self-report score was calculated from the LLS at 24 h of altitude exposure to assess the incidence and severity of AMS. During each IAE, three subjects cycled for 45-60 min.day(-1) at 60-70% of maximal O2 uptake (VO2 max) and three subjects rested. Cycle training during each IAE did not affect any of the measured variables, so data from all six subjects were combined. The results showed that the incidence of AMS (%), determined from both the ESQ and LLS, increased (P<0.05) from SL (0 +/- 0) to PreIAE (50 +/- 22) at 24 h of altitude exposure and decreased (P<0.05) from PreIAE to PostIAE (0 +/- 0). The severity of AMS (i.e. AMS cerebral symptom and LLS self-report scores) increased (P<0.05) from SL (0.02 +/- 0.02 and 0.17 +/- 0.17 respectively) to PreIAE (0.49 +/- 0.18 and 4.17 +/- 0.94 respectively) at 24 h of altitude exposure, and decreased (P<0.05) from PreIAE to PostIAE (0.03 +/- 0.02 and 0.83 +/- 0.31 respectively). Resting PETCO2 (mmHg) decreased (i.e. increase in ventilation; P<0.05) from SL (38 +/- 1) to PreIAE (32 +/- 1) at 24 h of altitude exposure and decreased further (P<0.05) from PreIAE to PostIAE (28 +/- 1). In addition, 24-h urine volumes were similar at SL, PreIAE and PostIAE. In conclusion, our findings suggest that 3 weeks of IAE provide an effective alternative to chronic altitude residence for increasing resting ventilation and reducing the incidence and severity of AMS.


Few constitutional issues have so consistently held the attention of scholars and politicians over the last thirty years as the distribution of war powers between Congress and the President. While the Vietnam War and the War Powers Resolution provided the initial sparks,1 Presidents since then have been more than forthcoming in offering new fuel for the war powers debate, particularly President Reagan.2 Not only have presidents carried out acts one could consider "war," such as invading Grenada, Panama, or Iraq, but they also have assisted groups seeking to topple foreign governments, such as Nicaragua's, often without notifying, much less receiving permission from, Congress. These "little wars" and covert actions have ignited yet another flame of the post-Vietnam debate.' Several scholars, led by Professors Charles Lofgren and Jules Lobel, have turned to the long-neglected power of Congress to grant letters of marque and reprisal4 to support congressional authority over all military actions short of declared war.


Background/Aims: Recent experience with endoscopic transmural drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts prompted the use of a similar technique for the primary treatment of infected pancreatic fluid collection (PFC) such as pancreatic abscess and infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN). The aim of this study was to determine the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic transmural drainage for the primary treatment of infected PFC complicating acute pancreatitis. Methods: In 11 patients, a total of 13 infected PFC (11 pancreatic abscesses and 2 IPNs) compressing the stomach, duodenum, or both were drained endoscopically by means of an endoscopic fistulization followed by stent (s) placement alone or additional nasopancreatic catheter insertion. Complete resolution of PFC was defined as the absence of symptoms and no residual collection on the follow-up computed tomography. Results: Complete resolution was achieved in 12 infected PFC (92%) (10 pancreatic abscesses and 2 IPNs) after stent placement for a mean duration of 31 days. For IPN and 2 pancreatic abscess, insertion of a nasopancreatic catheter was required to irrigate thick pus or necrotic debris. There was 1 case of bleeding (8%) but no mortality. Conclusions: Endoscopic transmural drainage is an effective therapy with minimal morbidity for infected pancreatic fluid collection compressing the gut lumen and is a valuable alternative to surgical drainage.


Uptake of 3H-cGMP by cultured murine 3T6 cells was studied. The cells were shown to contain radioactivity 1 minute after its addition, with the level of radioactivity increasing during a 3 hour incubation period. By this time, the intracellular non-metabolized cGMP corresponded to 1-5% of the whole intracellular radioactivity. In the presence of theophylline the uptake of 3H-cGMP by cells was seen decreasing, however, the portion of non-metabolized cGMP reached 45-50% of the whole intracellular radioactivity. Thus, the presence of theophylline made it possible to maintain the high level of intracellular cGMP. It is concluded that the incubation of cell cultures in the medium with cGMP may be useful for achieving an elevating intracellular cGMP concentration and for studying the biological effect of cyclic nucleotide.


Tonsillar stones are the products of calcified accumulates of cellular debris and microorganisms, in the crypts of palatine tonsils. Tonsillar stones are common findings and the known cause of bad breath (halitosis). Development of large tonsillar stones, however, is rare with only a few cases reported in the literature. We present the case of a 45-year-old man with a history of recurrent sore throat and tonsillitis for a long period, and snoring with other unremarkable ears, nose and throat findings. A large-sized tonsillar stone detected in the left tonsil measured 3.1 × 2.3 cm. The patient underwent elective stone removal and tonsillectomy.


Three arguments based on geological evidence are put forward to support the importance of magmatic underplating processes during continental flood basalt vulcanism. (1) Petrological evidence of gabbro fractionation in erupted basaltic sequences allows estimates to be made of the minimum total mass of concealed cumulate material, which is retained in deep crustal magma chambers, possibly along the Moho, and is comparable in amount to the erupted material. (2) In the Karoo province (southern Africa) large volumes of rhyolite along the S.E. continental margin were generated from basaltic precursors, either as partial melts of alreadyemplaced solid basic material or as crystal fractionation products of large volumes of basic magma. In either case very substantial volumes of concealed basic rocks are at least locally implied. (3) Studies of geomorphology suggest that the area of the Karoo province experienced at least 1 km of permanent uplift associated with the vulcanism. This appears to be the consequence of the emplacement of an underplated gabbroic layer ca. 5km thick.


With contributions from an international team of eighty leading experts and pioneers in the field, this book presents a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge about the function, use, and production of blood plasma proteins. In addition to details of the operational requirements for the production of plasma derivatives, the book describes the biology, development, research, manufacture, and clinical indications of essentially all plasma proteins with established clinical use or therapeutic potential.


Connective tissue diseases (CTD) are characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against several tissues. These autoantibodies occur against cell membrane, cell receptors, plasma proteins, and cytoplasmic and nuclear components. In laboratories, anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies are widely used in diagnosis of CTD. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and accompaniment of ANA and anti-dsDNA antibodies in diagnosis of several CTD and also to study the prevalence of ANA and anti-dsDNA in a group of 88 patients with various types of CTD. ANA were detected by immunofluorescence (IFA) using HEp-2 cells (Zeus Scientific, Inc. USA) and anti-dsDNA antibodies using Crithidia luciliae (BioSystems, Spain) as substrates in immunofluorescence. ANA Western Blot (WB) Immunoassay (ImmuBlot, International Immuno-Diagnostics, USA) was also used along with the tests referred to previously. ANA was found in the sera of 84 (96.5%) patients while anti-dsDNA was detected in 7 (7.95%). Moreover different fluorescence patterns were also evaluated with ANA IFA in accordance with anti-dsDNA results. Mixed patterns in three and a homogeneous pattern in four anti-dsDNA positive patients' sera were determined on HEp-2 cell line by IFA. Seven sera which were ANA and anti-dsDNA positive with IFA were also found to be positive with WB and their ANA patterns with the specific ANA WB bands were also evaluated. It was observed that IFA results were in concordance with WB results. Our data indicated that the above findings should be controlled and evaluated with a more advanced method such as western blotting technique in order to confirm the presence of specific antibodies along with clinical outcome of the patients. As a result we think that ANA WB method is an appropriate technique in diagnosis of CTD as anti-dsDNA and ANA bands can be evaluated together with this method.


As the Human Genome Project increases the predictive power of human genetics, emerging gene chip technology and other advances of genetic testing will give more information to people about their genetic predilections. If insurance companies were allowed to use this information, they would set premiums such that many who need life-saving medical treatment would have no access to it. Americans would not accept this disparity; instead, genetic information will likely remain private, making the modern health insurance system unprofitable for companies and thus pushing the United States towards a universal health care system in the near future.


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The authors present a method of the functional treatment of fractures of the humeral shaft at their department. They document its results on a group of 32 patients.

MATERIAL
The described method was used between 1992 and 2000 in 36 patients. Evaluation covered 32 patients. The minimal interval between the end of the treatment and evaluation of the group of patients was 1 year. Treated were closed fractures of the medial and distal thirds of the shaft. The average age of patients at the time of injury was 47 years (range, 18-87 years).

METHOD
The method described by the authors is based on the principles of the functional treatment of fractures advocated by Sarmiento. After indicating the patient for this therapy, a classic "rigid" fixation is assembled in the phase I. After obtaining elastic stability, it is replaced in phase II by a sleeve allowing full flexion of the elbow and minimally limiting the range of motion in the shoulder. As soon as mechanical stability develops (signs of callus on radiograph), the treatment enters its phase II which is characterised by a sleeve not limiting the motion of joints at all. The treatment ends upon the presence of a bone callus and absence of pain at the fracture site. During the whole therapy the skin condition is monitored and emphasis is put on the prevention of Sudeck's algoneurodystrophy. The authors evaluate the result of the treatment with a focus on the limitation of the range of motion of joints and the developing angulation of the humeral shaft.

RESULTS
The method of the functional treatment resulted in the healing of 97% of patients. Only in one case there developed a non-union requiring surgery. Hospitalized were 22% of patients, the average duration of hospitalization was 9.3 days (except for the patient with the nonunion). The total duration of fixation was 97 days (interval of 58 to 183 days). Limitation of the range of motion of the glenohumeral joint was found out in 47%, of the elbow in 28% of cases. However, the limitation itself exceeded only in 1 case 25 degrees. The resulting angulation of the axis of the limb with unlimited range of motion of the joint limits subjectively 1 patient.

DISCUSSION
The authors attempt to address in their work the permanent conflict between the concepts of the surgical and conservative therapy. They themselves prefer the method of functional treatment at their department. They fully support the fact that the function is necessary for both healing and prevention of the subsequent limitation of the range of motion. For the sake of the function, in harmony with others they waive the requirement for an accurate anatomical reduction of fragments. The results they present prove a high percentage of healing without complications. The resulting angulation of the humeral shaft limits the patients neither from the functional nor cosmetic viewpoints. Subjective evaluation of the course of the treatment by patients was mostly positive. A prerequisite of the success of the method is also selection of patients from which it is possible to expect cooperation with the physician throughout the whole treatment.

CONCLUSION
The results of the evaluated group of patients managed by the method of the functional treatment entitle the authors to state that this procedure is the method of choice in the therapy of closed fractures of the distal two thirds of the humeral shaft not associated with neural or vascular lesion, although the exact mechanism promoting the process of osteogenesis in the course of the treatment is not quite known. The benefit of this method is that patients may be almost exclusively treated in the out-patient department and that there is a minimal incidence of complications. However, it is a time-intensive procedure both for the physician and the patient.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the tolerance of the sugarcane cultivars RB855453, RB845257, SP90-3414, SP90-1638, SP89-1115, SP81-3250, IAC91- 2218 and IAC91-5155 at early post-emergence after application of sulfentrazone + diuron + hexazinone; sulfentrazone + metsulfuron-methyl, diuron + hexazinone + clomazone; metribuzin + diuron + hexazinone, diuron + hexazinone + MSMA; and ametryn + trifloxysulfuron-sodium + diuron + hexazinone, using the difference with the paired control. It was assumed that the control paired to the respective treatments can facilitate the evaluation of the cultivars' tolerance to the herbicide treatments. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, using the factorial 8 (cultivars) x 6 (herbicides). The plots consisted of six rows of sugarcane, with a central line for the treatment herbicide (TH) and a matched control (TP), with the other lines being used as borders. To check whether the mean differences (TP-TH) did not differ from zero, the following statistics was used: t = (TP-TH)/((QMRes/n)1/2 or, equivalently, the least significant difference of zero, dms0 (TP TH) =|t/((QMRes/n)1/2)|, where QMRes is the mean square analysis of variance (with 47degrees of freedom and p<0.05, t=2), n represents the number of repetitions of their average, 2 to compare the herbicides in a single cultivar, and 2x6 =12 to compare the overall mean of the cultivars. According to the methodology proposed, the cultivars were tolerant to the association of herbicides without any negative effect on yield and quality of the final raw material, although there were initial differences between the cultivars related to toxicity, chlorophyll content, and plant height.


Background: An increase in knee laxity during the menstrual cycle may increase the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury. Objective: To investigate whether changing knee laxity during the menstrual cycle correlates with changing knee joint loads in a cutting manoeuvre. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Laboratory testing. Participants: 25 healthy women, with a normal menstrual cycle, no history of oral contraceptive use, and no previous knee injury Interventions: Serum hormone concentrations were assessed and knee joint laxity at a load of 89 N was measured during the follicular, ovulation and luteal phases. Participants performed 10 trials of a cutting manoeuvre to quantify knee joint mechanics at each test session. Main outcome measurements: Knee joint laxity (mm), peak knee angle (°) and knee joint moment (Nm) and knee joint impulse (Nms). Results: Increased knee laxity was observed during ovulation compared with the luteal phase, but no significant changes in knee mechanics corresponding to menstrual phases were found. A positive correlation was found between changes in knee laxity and changes in knee joint loads (Δmoment or Δimpulse) from the follicular phase to ovulation, and from ovulation to the luteal phase (p<0.05). Women in whom knee laxity increased showed increased knee loads, and those in whom knee laxity decreased showed decreased knee loads during the menstrual cycle. Conclusions: Knee laxity correlates positively with knee joint loads, and increased knee laxity during the menstrual cycle may be a potential risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injuries in certain women during sports activity.


Achaete-scute homolog 1 is a lineage oncogene of high-grade pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors. Due to the relatively few studies investigating the epigenetic regulation of achaete-scute homolog 1 expression, we wanted to address whether DNA methylation of the achaete-scute homolog 1 CpG island is associated with clinicopathological features in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors and to investigate its effect on the expression of this gene. Here, We performed multiplex immunohistochemistry (PerkinElmer, Waltham, MA, USA) to check for achaete-scute homolog 1 and Notch homolog 1 expression in 139 pulmonary neuroendocrine tumor samples. Quantitative measurements of achaete-scute homolog 1 CpG island methylation were conducted using the MassARRAY EpiTYPER (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). The correlation between immunohistochemistry data, methylation data, and clinicopathological information was analyzed. Achaete-scute homolog 1 methylation levels were increased in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors compared to those in normal controls (0.107 vs 0.061, p < 0.001), and among the achaete-scute homolog 1 CpG island, only CpG_6 and CpG_7.8 showed higher methylation levels in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (0.208 and 0.135, respectively) compared to those in normal lung tissues (0.072 and 0.087, respectively; p < 0.001). Moreover, the methylation level of CpG_6.7.8 was higher in patients with stage I pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors than in patients with stage II/III pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (0.19 ± 0.16 vs 0.14 ± 0.07, p = 0.012). The hypermethylation of CpG_6.7.8 showed an inverse correlation with achaete-scute homolog 1 protein expression (r = −0.408, p = 0.007, Spearman test). Finally, we found that CpG_6.7.8 of the achaete-scute homolog 1 CpG island is frequently hypermethylated in early-stage pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors, and this aberrant hypermethylation is negatively correlated with achaete-scute homolog 1 expression in this tumor spectrum.


Calculational results for the photoionization cross sections leading to the ionic Mg+(\rm3s,3p,4s and 3d) states from the excited 3s3p 1,3Po states of atomic magnesium are reported in the energy region from the first ionization threshold up to the Mg+(4p) threshold limit. For these calculations, we have used an enhanced non-iterative variational R-matrix approach combined with multichannel quantum-defect theory at the R-matrix surface. Autoionizing doubly excited 1,3S, 1,3P and 1,3D resonance structures converging to the Mg+(3p, 4s, 3d and 4p) thresholds are discussed with resonant energies Er, effective quantum numbers n* and widths Γ. The present photoionization cross sections are in good agreement with previous available calculations. There is excellent agreement between length and velocity gauges in our calculations.


The reversible isomerization of syn-1 to anti-1 occurs without cleavage of metal-ligand bonds, as demonstrated through a [4 + 2] cycloaddition with trans-1,2-bis(trimethylsilyl)ethene as the dienophile, which led to the trapping of an ortho-quinodimethane intermediate. Further evidence comes from kinetic studies. Ring opening in 1 proceeds considerably more slowly than in the case of the non-complexed analogue, a finding that can be explained by entropy effects.


The article is devoted to the analysis of semantic, grammatical and communicative structure of simple sentences with the special variety of the predicate expressed by two verbs. The place of such components in the general typology ofpredicates is found out, specific of its connection with other component of grammatical structure of sentence - subject - is characterized.


A case of a child with Becker's muscular dystrophy is presented. Because of the genetic and clinical similarity with the more common Duchenne muscular dystrophy, these two diseases are compared. Since muscular dystrophy often initially presents with toe walking, flat-foot, and waddling gait, podiatrists may be the first physicians to see the child and provide early diagnosis.


Recent clinical and laboratory studies have suggested that changes in brain serotonin (5-HT) function may contribute to anxiety symptoms and anxiety-type behaviors. Among the anxiety disorders, perhaps the most compelling evidence implicating 5-HT exists for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In controlled trials, patients with OCD were markedly more responsive to treatment with 5-HT-selective uptake inhibitors such as clomipramine, fluvoxamine, or fluoxetine than to norepinephrine-selective or nonselective uptake inhibitors or to other psychoactive drugs. Studies with 5-HT agonists and antagonists also support a role for 5-HT in OCD. In this review, pharmacologic studies involving 5-HT-selective therapeutic and anxiogenic agents and non-5-HT-selective anxiogenic agents in patients with OCD are compared and contrasted with similar studies in patients with anxiety and panic disorder.


E&P technology in the energy transition era is more rapidly progressed because of various innovations from other industries, digital transformation, and broader knowledge sharing from other industrial sectors. Therefore, skills of engineers in frontline: namely employees in operating companies (OPCO) will have deeper impacts on project values. To uplift their technical competency, this paper discussed how to maximize leaning/training program values and provide the opportunities from long term perspective as a part of holistic talent development management system. In-house leaning/training courses and/or commercial training programs, which have been commonly provided, will not be sufficient for pursuing competitive level in future as long as the knowledge sharing opportunities are limited to in-house or generalized contents for maximum numbers of demand. Thus, the opportunities are unlimited by incorporating additional seminar/training courses, offered from stakeholders: an asset lead in particular, into the OPCO's youth development plan (YDP) to be more effectively provided from many viewpoints of participant adequateness (discipline, technical interest, maximum number of attendees), annual schedule planning, and interactive feedback to improve the programs.
 INPEX/JODCO, an asset lead international oil company (IOC) responsibly developing concession of the Abu Dhabi offshore field, has been operating domestic oil/gas fields and an abroad giant LNG project, furthermore, managing various non-operating projects all over the world. From all the projects, therefore, many types of knowledge-sharing seeds have been gathered to prepare seminar/training contents and lecturers via the IOC's corporate technical division while taking OPCO's demands into account. Dozens of programs have been offered since 2018 for various disciplines. One of them: the JODCO Drilling Academy (JDA), providing total 61 courses as of November 2022 covering major drilling & completion related topics is recognized as the most successful contribution. A cycle from seminar planning, execution, feedbacks, and updating are established to work as a cross-collaborative talent development management system.


The analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using the SNaPshot technique (Applied Biosystems) is a fast and sensitive method for the reliable identification of disease‐associated mtDNA SNPs, genetic ancestry mtDNA SNPs and forensically important mtDNA SNPs. The detection of many SNPs in one multiplex PCR and one subsequent multiplex minisequencing reaction is challenging for laboratories who want to establish this technique, due to the problem that there is no allelic ladder available for mtDNA SNP analysis via SNaPshot technique. Normally, the laboratory has to invent long‐term testing and studies. The interpretation of false and correct alleles is up to some specialists knowing the expected and the estimated size of each allele SNP. We here present a protocol to assemble up to 84 alleles of 42 different mtDNA SNPs in an allelic ladder that is based upon reference alleles. We recommend using allelic ladders/reference alleles for SNP analysis to maintain high‐quality analysis standards.