AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA

3598

Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been described as an important step in cancer progression contributing to metastasis. Several epithelial markers including cell adhesion protein E-cadherin are characteristically lost during EMT with concomitant new expression of mesenchymal markers such as N-cadherin. Several transcription factors, including Snail and Twister, are able to repress E-cadherin expression. We previously showed that protein kinase D1 (PKD1), a serine-threonine kinase, is down regulated in advanced prostate cancer and interacts with E-cadherin. In this study, we demonstrate that knockdown PKD1 or E-cadherin by RNA interference (RNAi) can induce expression of EMT markers, Vimentin, Fibronectin and N-cadherin in prostate cancer cells; over expression of PKD1 represses expression of EMT markers and induces expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin, decreases cell motility and increases cell aggregation. Snail, but not Twister, is responsible for induction the expression of Vimentin and N-cadherin in PC. We demonstrate that PKD1 directly binds to Snail by yeast two-hybrid test and co-immunoprecipition. These results suggest that PKD1 may prevent EMT by repressing Snail function. Combined with our previous finding that PKD1 is down regulated in advanced prostate cancer, we propose that PKD1 is a novel EMT repressor, which may be mediated by Snail. Understanding the molecular mechanism of PKD1 function in cells identifies novel targets for therapeutic targeting and contributes to novel biomarker discovery.


Abstract One of the most persistent topoi in American culture is the mystique of the frontier. From John Smith's adventurous account of colonizing Virginia to the contemporary road movie, and from Frederick Jackson Turner's declaration of the frontier's closure to its revivals in Star Trek or Avatar, narratives of pioneering and conquering the 'wilderness' continue to serve as defining metaphors of the national imaginary. What is often left out of these tales, however, are their subtexts of terror and violence. As Richard Slotkin, David Mogen, and other critics have argued, the frontier's implications of uncanny encounters with the Other, of existential threats and uncertain spatial orientation, have made it a suitable setting for gothic fiction - and thus also an ideal space for the negotiation of sociopolitical anxieties. In tracing precisely the connection between terror and territory from the Puritan salvation narrative to the contemporary horror film, this paper explores the multilateral reverberations of frontier gothic. With the examples of Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative (1682), Charles Brockden Brown's Edgar Huntly (1799), Eduardo Sanchez's and Daniel Myrick's Blair Witch Project (1999), and M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004), I will highlight the processes and techniques by which the semantics of the frontier is recoded along the lines of spiritual, gendered, ethnic, psychological, and - not least - narratological and aesthetic boundaries. The encounter with the Other, I am arguing, is deeply invested with alternative meanings, emphasizing ambiguity, unreliability, and the fallacies of representation. Engaging the mode of frontier terror thus significantly contributes to the Gothic literary tradition, but it also forms a powerful subtext to American historiography


Nanoscience is the branch of science pertaining to the study of minute particles on an atomic or molecular scale, whose size is measured in nanometers. A nanometer represents one billionth of a meter (i.e., 10-9 m). Nanotechnology is an emerging branch of engineering that involves the use of particles on a nanoscale (1-100 nm). Thus, the application of nanotechnology in the field of dermatology is the Nanodermatology. Nanodermatology represents one of the most emerging fields for which an increasing interest is rising among scientists as well as pharmaceutical companies. Nanotechnology has revolutionized the treatment of several skin diseases. It is effective in targeted delivery of active medicaments and cosmetic ingredients. The skin forms the first point of contact for a diverse number of nanomaterials. Nanomedicine in dermatology has opened a new era in the diagnosis and treatment of various skin disorders. Possible applications of nanotechnology in dermatology and cosmetics include sunscreens, moisturizers, anti-aging formulations, phototherapy, ani-sepsis, vaccines, skin cancers, hair and nail care, etc. In this review after an introduction of nanotechnology, author has described various types of nanoparticles followed by various possible indications of nanotechnology in dermatology and cosmetics. An account on safety of nanoparticles has also been added to the review.


Our experiments were conducted to evaluate, in rat myometrium, the potential contribution of a protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) pathway in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate mediated by bombesin, endothelin-1 (ET-1), and carbachol. The production of inositol phosphates (InsP) by agonists and AlF4- was partly inhibited (35-40%) by genistein and tyrphostins, two PTK inhibitors. Genistein attenuated uterine contractions elicited by the stimulation of muscarinic and bombesin receptors, whereas pervanadate, a protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, potentiated receptor-mediated contraction. Tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were detected in detergent extracts from agonist- and pervanadate-stimulated myometrium. The amount of InsP produced in response to pervanadate was related to the tyrosine phosphorylation status of phospholipase C-gamma1. In contrast, with ET-1 and bombesin, phosphorylated phospholipase C-gamma1 made a minor contribution. Additional findings were rather consistent with a role for Ca2+. In fura-2-loaded cells, genistein partly decreased both the transient and sustained intracellular Ca2+ concentration phases induced by bombesin. The removal of extracellular Ca2+ or the addition of nifedipine inhibited (35%) InsP production due to bombesin and ET-1. The inhibitory effects of genistein and tyrphostins were abolished in Ca2+-depleted medium, were not additive with that of nifedipine, and (as for nifedipine) were counteracted by the Ca2+ channel agonist Bay K 8644. The data are consistent with a PTK-mediated process in the activation of the voltage-gated Ca2+ influx that is involved in the production of InsP by stimulated G protein-coupled receptors.


The study was conducted on 64 Charles Foster albino rats which were equally distributed into 8 even-matched groups, following a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design by varying three independent factors at two levels: nutrition--normal and undernutrition, environmental--enrichment and impoverishment, and drug treatment--vehicle and piracetam (100 mg/kg, ip). Prenatal nutrition was induced by restricting the mother's food intake. The environmental enrichment/impoverishment and the vehicle/drug treatments were given during the postweaning period of the rat pups. The animals were subjected to original and subsequent reversal brightness discrimination learning tests in a single unit T-maze at 8-9 weeks of age. The results indicate that undernutrition and environmental impoverishment significantly attenuated the original discrimination as well as the reversal discrimination learning. Piracetam treatment improved the learning performance of normally reared rats and also attenuated the original and reversal learning deficits induced by prenatal undernutrition and postnatal impoverishment. The results indicate that piracetam may be useful in memory deficits induced by malnutrition.


The present study provides the first list of marine araphid pennate diatoms from Ngor (Senegal). A total of 18 taxa belonging to 9 genera, 9 families, and 8 orders of Fragilariophyceae Class were described and identified by light microscopy in Ngor's waters between July 2009 and November 2011. All these taxa are new for the microflora of Ngor.


Market power is a complex matter that is approximated with quantitative indicators within economics. However, these indicators may not fully capture market power, or they may fail to identify it, although it may be present. Moreover, a quantitative approach restricts market power as a concept, impeding the ability to discuss its relationship with other concepts, such as sustainability. This paper extends the definition of market power, following Foucault's understanding of power and the associated theoretical discussions of power from different disciplines. We extended Foucault's work by including systems thinking to capture the importance of the prevalent system's paradigm, which is the ultimate initiator of action. Apart from distinguishing different elements of power, we also integrate an instrumental view on the elements of power. The developed frame allows us to understand the dynamic character of power as a force that strives to maintain or ameliorate the position of the paradigm that it serves. Based on this frame, we outline how this extended understanding of power can be used to analyze market power itself, and its relation with sustainability.


Abstract Commentary posted by visitors to online news articles shows evidence of their attitudes and prejudices. A qualitative study was undertaken on commentary made by anonymous users on articles relating to Minister Blade Nzimande's statements on the introduction of African language courses in higher education and the introduction of a compulsory isiZulu course at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The tertiary language context in South Africa shows a distinct move from bilingual instruction to monolingual, English-based instruction. Despite the fact that sufficient policy frameworks and infrastructure exist in terms of multilingualism and the promotion of African languages, in reality more has to be done if policy provisions are to be realised. The news article commentaries show contradicting views regarding the teaching and use of African languages and languages more generally at tertiary level. The importance of English was also clear from the commentaries. Furthermore, negative and even erroneous perceptions apparently exist regarding African languages as learning targets. These perceptions lead to negativity, anger and even outright rejection of African languages. It is clear that a lot has to be done to counter ignorance of the social and educational value of these languages. A number of possible practical problems were identified that have to be taken into account by universities. In conclusion, it is clear that negative attitudes have to be addressed by means of language attitude planning and that existing resources at universities should be developed.


: Citrus essential oil were extracted from citron peel of cultivated in Gohong (CCP) using environmentally friendly supercritical carbon dioxide method. Antioxidant activity and aroma composition of the essential oils extracted by the SC-CO 2 method were evaluated by comparing with those extracted by organic solvent method. Fatty acid composition, DPPH scavenging, and antioxidant activity of the oils obtained by different extraction condition of SC-CO 2 method were investigated and their antioxidant activities were compared with commercially available lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree oils. As the results, linoleic acid was most abundantly found from CCP oil extracted by the SC-CO 2 method and cis-11,144-eicosadienoic acids was second abundantly found. Radical scavenging ability of DPPH was 98% when the concentration of CCP oil was 50 mg/mL. This scavenging ability increased with the increase of oil concentration. On the other hand, flavonoids content (84 mg/100g) of the CCP oil extracted by the SC-CO 2 method was slightly higher than that (75 mg/100g) by hexane extraction. The results, obtained from CCP oil by GC-MS, indicated that, among 66 components, the content of terpenes was 55.8% and limonene was 27.3%.


Information integration is one of the most important aspects of a Data Warehouse. When data passes from the sources of the application-oriented operational environment to the Data Warehouse, possible inconsistencies and redundancies should be resolved, so that the warehouse is able to provide an integrated and reconciled view of data of the organization. We describe a novel approach to data integration in Data Warehousing. Our approach is based on a conceptual representation of the Data Warehouse application domain, and follows the so-called local-as-view paradigm: both source and Data Warehouse relations are defined as views over the conceptual model. We propose a technique for declaratively specifying suitable reconciliation correspondences to be used in order to solve conflicts among data in different sources. The main goal of the method is to support the design of mediators that materialize the data in the Data Warehouse relations. Starting from the specification of one such relation as a query over the conceptual model, a rewriting algorithm reformulates the query in terms of both the source relations and the reconciliation correspondences, thus obtaining a correct specification of how to load the data in the materialized view.


ACTH is a 39-amino acid peptide synthesized in the pituitary as part of the precursor molecule, POMC. Analysis of bovine anterior pituitary homogenates and secretory vesicles revealed that in addition to ACTH-(1-39), ACTH-(1-37) and ACTH-(1-38) were also present in the lobe, indicating that carboxyl-terminal processing of ACTH-(1-39) occurred in vivo. Mono- and dipe;tidyl carboxypeptidase activities that cleaved ACTH-(1-39) were detected in bovine intermediate and anterior pituitary secretory vesicle membranes and characterized. The dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase activity liberated ACTH-(1-37) and the dipeptide, Glu-Phe, and the monocarboxypeptidase activity generated, to a smaller extent, ACTH-(1-38) and phenylalanine from ACTH-(1-39). Kinetic studies indicated that the formation of ACTH-(1-37) occurred within minutes, whereas the formation of ACTH-(1-38) occurred within hours. Both enzymatic activities had a pH optimum of 5.5 and a Km of 14-18 microM for ACTH-(1-39), and were inhibited by serine and some thiol, but not metallo- or aspartic protease inhibitors. These unique serine carboxypeptidase(s) may function as a converting enzyme in vivo.


The novel coronavirus (now called SARS-CoV-2) initially discovered in Wuhan, China, has now become a global pandemic. We describe a patient presenting to an Emergency Department in Rhode Island on March 12, 2020 with cough and shortness of breath after a trip to Jamaica. The patient underwent nasopharyngeal swab for a respiratory pathogen panel as well as SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. When the respiratory pathogen panel was positive for human metapneumovirus, the patient was treated and discharged. SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR came back positive 24 hours later. Although respiratory viral co-infection is thought to be relatively uncommon in adults, this case reflects that SARS-CoV-2 testing algorithms that exclude patients who test positive for routine viral pathogens may miss SARS-CoV-2 co-infected patients.


Giovanni Battista Antonelli before his arrival in Spain in 1559, being in his thirties, had spent the first part of his life in his native country, Italy. The present research concentrates on this territory and those years: a context of wars, captains, architects, theorists and treatises, many known and less known personalities who influenced Antonelli military engineering education. More detailed information appear in Italian archives about Giovan Francesco Guidi di Bagno and Antonelli: the first, Count of Montebello, was an important mercenary captain for the more powerful personalities, while the second was, at that time, at his service. Fiduciary and family relationships interlinked around the Count Guidi and others eminent personalities such as Giovanni Battista Belluzzi called "Sanmarino", Cosimo I Medici up to Juan Manrique de Lara and Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna, to mention the main ones. This investigation tries to shed light on the first part of Antonelli learning, as he took part to the War between Florence and Siena and in the Naples Kingdom. He subsequently left for Flanders with the Spanish army and reaching eventually Spain. During Felipe II Reign, after having written the Epitomi, he started the well known career of Antonelli family as military engineers. It was especially Battista, the younger brother, one of the main representatives in the history of military engineering, especially between the 16th and 17th centuries. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2015.2015.1692


The present constitution- promulgated by the Constitutional Assembly (CA) in September, 2015 is the seventh written document in the constitutional history of Nepal which has institutionalized Federal Democratic Republic achieved after the success of peoples' movement of 2006. It was made based on the principles of constitutionalism. The constitution of Nepal has addressed different issues for a modern state and is regarded as a progressive, people oriented constitution. It has also paved paths for further economic development. It has opened door for rights of the people, political stability, restructuring of the state, and sustainable peace and development of the state. However, there are many prospects as well as numerous challenges for its proper implementation. Some Madhes based parties (People of Terai) and ethnic minorities have criticized the constitution for being unable to address their pertinent issues fully. However, they have involved in the process of constitution implementation by participating in first local, provincial and federal level election held under new constitution. So the government needs to bring the Madhesh based parties and other groups into a peaceful consensus and should pave a path for implementation of this constitution. At the same time, implementation of federalism, election of local bodies, sustainable peace, political stability and development are among other challenges faced by this constitution. Janapriya Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 6 (December 2017), Page: 148-159


Summary A general one-dimensional soil water infiltration scheme is coupled to an infinite slope stability analysis model to illustrate the potential of exploring the impact of soil suction and parameter variability in stability analysis. The primary data base used for this investigation is published data for the Mid-Levels area of Hong Kong. The model is used to show that current procedures in the estimation of c′ and φ′ derived from strength tests do not perhaps accurately reflect the strength of the residual soils examined. More generally, the desirability of two-dimensional modelling in the context of both soil suction/pore pressure models and stability analysis is discussed, but the parameterization and validation problems of such a scheme are considered to be immense.


We present the theoretical results on using the spontaneous emission which is induced from a two-level atom embedded in a photonic crystal with two bands and one forbidden gap. It is shown that the emission field from the atom is composed of two parts, one is a localized field, which always exists, and the other is one or two propagating modes. The emission of the propagating mode depends on the gap size and the relative position of the upper-level of the atom with respect to the edges of the two bands. The propagating modes have a sudden jump from zero to a certain value when the gap or the related position of the upper level changes. This jump can be used to design an active optical two-channel or four-channel switch. Due to the localized field being within a few dozen atoms, the switch can be designed in a few micrometers.


Kingston Pier was constructed during the Second Penal Settlement on Norfolk Island using locally sourced stone and convict labour, which affords it a great deal of heritage importance. This has been borne out by the recent listings of the surrounding convict site on both the National and World Heritage Lists. This convict precinct on Norfolk Island is called the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area (KAVHA). For a period of several years before the refurbishment funding was approved, concern had been growing about the condition of the pier with regards to both safety for every day use and the preservation of what many consider to be an integral part of the heritage of Norfolk Island. This paper discusses not only the unique features of Kingston Pier, but also the challenges of the safety, economic, political, heritage and environmental framework, within which to achieve the project aims, which stated simply were to repair and stabilise the structure (so it could continue as a working pier), and to preserve its heritage values.


The paper includes the manner of classification of the behavioural events associated to the component parts of a transverse hydrotechnical work, as well as the statistic study upon the distribution of these events. What could be enhanced is the existence of a cluster of 7 behavioral events, associated to the 20 component parts of a transverse work, as well as the flexible character of three theoretical distributions (normal, Charlier type A and Beta) used in fitting the experimental distribution.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the feasibility and efficacy of a modified constraint induced therapy protocol on stroke patients.

METHODS
This study was carried out during the period from August 2001 to January 2002 at the Riyadh Medical Complex, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Six stroke patients with subacute cerebrovascular accident (<6 months) were included in the study. Three male and 3 female patients with a mean age of 54.3+/-6.9 years (range 45-67 years), and mean duration of hemiparesis of 4.7 months (range 2.3-5.8 months). They were divided randomly into 3 groups of 2 patients. The first 2 patients (constraint induced therapy group) participated in half an hour of physical and occupational therapy sessions 3 times per week for 10 weeks. During the same period, their unaffected arms and hands were restrained 5 days per week for 5 hours identified as times of frequent use. The second 2 patients (traditional therapy group) received regular therapy administered after 10 weeks. The last 2 patients (control group) received no therapy. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Motor Recovery After Stroke (Fugl), Action Research Arm Test (ARA), Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT), and Motor Activity Log (MAL) were administered to the patients.

RESULTS
Patients receiving modified constraint induced therapy exhibited substantial improvement on the Fugl, ARA, and WMFT, as well as increases in amount and quality of use of the limb using the MAL. While patients receiving traditional physical and occupational therapy, and no therapy patients exhibited few improvements.

CONCLUSION
Modified constraint induced therapy may be an efficacious method of improving function and use of the affected arms in stroke patients exhibiting learned nonuse.


Work shifts, diving pattern, diving lung volumes, and counterweights were studied in professional Korean women breath-hold divers wearing wet suits. One of the major differences, compared with their diving pattern only a few years ago when wearing cotton suits, is the prolongation of the diving shifts from 70 to 180 min in the summer and 10 to 120 min in the winter. In sustained diving the average dive and surface times in a 5-m dive are 32 and 46 s, and in a 10-m dives, 43 and 85 s, respectively. During a 3-h shift the total bottom time for harvesting is 37 min in 5-m dives and 17 min in 10-m dives. Rates of descent and ascent are 0.55 and 0.84 m/s. The wet suit divers adjust their counterweights to obtain a 12% positive buoyancy at the surface of sea water in contrast to the 8% positive buoyancy of cotton suit divers. The average lung volumes before and after a dive are 79% and 64% of their vital capacities, values similar to those of previous cotton suit divers.


This paper describes a physiologically based toxicokinetic model for 1,3-butadiene uptake, distribution, and metabolic clearance in mice. Model parameters for metabolic activity were estimated from the correspondence between computer simulation studies and experimental results as published in the literature. The parameterized model was validated with independent literature data. With the resulting model, the relative importance of lung metabolism as compared to metabolism in the liver increased with decreasing ambient air concentrations. This was due to saturation of metabolism in the alveolar area of the lung, which occurred in the simulations at ambient air concentrations well below current threshold limit values. At higher air concentration, liver metabolism became relatively more important. The tendency toward increased importance of lung metabolism at low doses indicates the necessity of careful extrapolation of in vivo results to low doses. Moreover, this trend may also contribute to species difference in susceptibility to the carcinogenic activity of butadiene. Imagesp496-aFigure 1.Figure 2.Figure 3.Figure 4.Figure 5.Figure 6.Figure 7. AFigure 7. BFigure 8. AFigure 8. B


Discusses the Bill of Lading and its differences under UK, US and Greek law. Bases the paper on the fact that, under UK and US law, property in the goods sold passes from seller to buyer when the parties intend to pass it (regardless of whether or not delivery actually took place); whereas, under Greek law, ownership of goods passes from seller to buyer only if the intention to pass goods is supported by actual delivery. Asserts that this difference in national law causes problems in international trade. Explores the law in more depth, citing a number of cases and quoting legal precedents. Concludes that the intention of the parties concerned should be taken into consideration.


Sonny Fareham's lover - and also her boss - is the charismatic Tony Bridgeman, a successful and ruthless man who usually gets what he wants. But for Sonny, the affair that has promised a future of hope and happiness must end in desperate fear. Late one evening, Sonny overhears a private conversation between Tony Bridgeman and his wife. Only then does she realise she is in great danger. Pregnant and afraid, Sonny flees her home to make a new life in the north of England, where she meets a gregarious and motherly new friend, Ellie Kenny. When the mysterious and handsome David Langham seems drawn to her, Sonny almost dares to believe that she could be happy again. But never far away is the one person who wants to destroy everything that she now holds dear...


Samples of the Fort Payne Formation (Lower Mississippian) of central Tennessee typically contain 50% or more chert, with the bulk of the balance consisting of replacive dolomite. Low-iron calcite and ferroan calcite are common and minor ankerite is also present. The relative sequence of diagenetic replacement was established by cross-cutting relations as: low-iron calcite replaced by chert replaced by dolomite, introduction of ankerite, and finally, replacement by ferroan calcite of both chert and dolomite (dedolomitization). Thus dedolomitization was the last diagenetic phase. Complete replacement, rim replacement, and replacement of cores of dolomite rhombs by ferroan calcite was observed. Ferroan calcite fills veins, vugs, and intergranular pores and replaces sponge sp cules. Dedolomite occurs in both surface and subsurface samples, and there is no evidence for an unconformity within or adjacent to the Fort Payne, suggesting that the dedolomite is not related to exhumation and weathering. Minor mineralogy and sedimentary structures suggest a subtidal shelf, quiet-water environment of deposition. Stratigraphic relations suggest shallow burial. Dedolomitization of the Fort Payne occurred after lithification, probably during shallow burial, when ferrous iron was derived from indigenous minerals. End_of_Article - Last_Page 501------------


BACKGROUND
Although limited, the evidence base for Community-Based Palliative Care (CBPC) has shown that it improves patient health outcomes, increases satisfaction, and decreases cost. Minimal data exist comparing points of entry into palliative care and patient transition outcomes.

OBJECTIVES
In 2014, Four Seasons Compassion for Life was awarded a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Healthcare Innovation Award to expand an existing CBPC model into additional counties and to propose a new payment approach. The goal of this article is to evaluate the tracking of point of entry into palliative care and patient transition outcomes in the model.

DESIGN
All participant transition outcomes are tracked from point of entry, including large and small hospitals, nursing facilities, and home/clinic. Evaluation of tracking data was conducted over the first two years of the project (September 1, 2014-September 1, 2016).

RESULTS
A total of 2482 patients entered the project, 905 through smaller hospitals (<300 beds, 32%), 474 through larger hospital systems (>500 beds, 17%), 823 from nursing facilities (29%), and 640 in the home/clinic (22%). Hospice transition was highest with home/clinic referrals, followed by nursing facilities, smaller hospitals, and larger hospitals. Palliative care deaths and discharges are higher in larger hospitals. Re-enrollment back into palliative care after previous discharge occurred in 177 (17.8%) of discharged patients.

CONCLUSION
CBPC leads to the highest percentage of hospice transitions coming from the home/clinic setting. Differences between small and large hospitals demonstrate a different patient population with higher transitions to hospice and lower palliative care deaths in smaller hospitals.


The article considers the stages of the banking industry evolution from the formation of the corporate business service market to the creation of ecosystems for retail customers. The prerequisites for the formation of ecosystems in Russia are identified and the factors hindering their development are identified. As a result of the research, the following conclusions are made: the transition to the stage of ecosystem formation is dictated by current consumer preferences; the consortium in the form of an ecosystem provides a number of undeniable advantages for its participants such as: building up the client base, differentiating investments, entering new industry niches, minimizing operating costs; the negative aspects of ecosystems from the point of view of the consortium's functioning include: a high level of dependence on a related player, combining client bases and the risk of their leakage, low adaptability to the environment. The conclusion is also formed about the negative impact of ecosystems on the market of small and medium-sized businesses by monopolizing industries and washing the latter out of them.There is no conflict of interests.


This paper evaluates the dynamic performance of a newly proposed smart base isolation system employing Magneto-Rheological Elastomers (MREs). MREs belong to a class of smart materials whose elastic modulus or stiffness can be adjusted by varying the magnitude of the magnetic field. The base isolation systems are considered as one of the most effective devices for vibration reduction of civil engineering structures in the event of earthquakes. The proposed base isolation system strives to enhance the performance of the conventional base-isolation system by using controllable MREs. To validate the effectiveness of the MRE-based isolation system, an extensive simulation study has been performed using a five degree-of-freedom structure under several historical earthquake excitations. The results show that the proposed system outperformed the conventional system in reducing the responses of the structure in all the seismic excitations considered in the study.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Celecoxib can inhibit cell proliferation, regulate cell cycle and induce apoptosis, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. This study was to investigate the association between the NF-kappaB (kappaB) pathway and the apoptosis of breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 induced by celecoxib.

METHODS
The expression of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Cell proliferation and cell cycle were detected by MTT and flow cytometry (FCM), respectively. The protein expressions of caspase-3 and p65 in MDA-MB-231 cells were detected by western blot.

RESULTS
After incubation with different concentrations of celecoxib for 48 h, COX-2 mRNA expression in MDA-MB-231 cells was decreased in a dose-dependent manner compared with untreated cells (P<0.05). Proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells was reduced drastically in a dose-and time-dependent manner after celecoxib treatment (P<0.05). Combination of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and celecoxib exerted similar inhibition effect to celecoxib alone on cell growth (P>0.05). High-dose celecoxib induced an increase in the percentage of G0/G1 phase cells accompanied by the change in DNA ploidy. The cellular caspase-3 level was enhanced whereas the p65 level was decreased in celecoxib-treated MDA-MB-231 cells after 24 h in comparison to those in the control cells.

CONCLUSION
Celecoxib could inhibit MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation and promote cell apoptosis by down-regulating the NF-kappaB signaling pathway.


A nonlinear control strategy involving a geometric feedback controller and adaptive approximation of the plant is presented. The plant is approximated by a linearized model and a neural network which approximates the higher order error terms. Online adaptation of the network is performed using steepest descent with a dead zone function. The proposed strategy is applied to two case studies for output tracking of set points. The results show good tracking comparable with utilizing the actual model of the plant (usually unknown) and better than that obtained when using the linearized model alone.


Cyanobacterial blooms are a serious threat to public health and water quality due to the production of cyanotoxins as a result of nutrient pollution from industry, agriculture, domestic waste as well as global warming. The microcystins (MCs) are the most abundant cyanotoxins consisting of >200 analogues causing both acute and chronic toxicity, sometimes resulting in death. In Asian countries, such as Sri Lanka, reports of kidney disease are constantly increasing. Although no direct link between metal and pesticide contamination in water and kidney disease has been found, high concentration of cyanobacteria cells in drinking water wells implies that the nephrotoxic effects of cyanotoxins might play a key factor in the reports of Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we propose a nature-based approach for water treatment which will study the hypotheses that cyanotoxins can cause CKDu. Sri Lankan bacterial isolates (Alcaligens sp., Roseateles sp., Bacillus sp., and Micrococcus sp.) known to degrade microcystins, were used to form biofilm on biochar from Sri Lankan crop residues, such as coconut shells. The immobilisation of the microbes was assessed via a high-throughput colourimetric assay, followed by monitoring the biodegradation rate of microcystins when added to the immobilised cultures. Biodegradation products were analysed and identified through molecular networking and quantified via LC-MS/MS. Ultimately, this project will provide safe water in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 as well contributing in sustainable goals 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 12 (Responsible Production and Consumption).


Abstract:  Precipitation data is generally collected from rain gauge stations. However, each measurement represents only the amount of rainfall at that particular spot, not precipitation in the surrounding area. Radar approaches are considered to offer a good spatial description of precipitation, but hardly predict precipitation quantities with acceptable accuracy. To enhance our understanding of the properties of precipitation in this study, high resolution radar‐rainfall estimates are compared with ground observations for an extreme precipitation event. The Taipei City area and the Shihmen reservoir watershed, situated in northern Taiwan, were chosen as the study sites, and the passage of Typhoon Nari through these areas on September 16‐18, 2001, was taken as the case study event. It was concluded that radar reflectivity from the Wufenshan radar station can be helpful for identifying precipitation variations during the passage of a land falling tropical cyclone. Spots with extreme rainfall can be identified when radar approaches are performed, but not based on gauge approaches, although compared to the gauge approaches to the radar‐estimated rainfall over the investigated domain tended to be overestimated. The divergence between radar‐rainfall and gauge‐rainfall can be identified via subwatershed investigations.


ABSTRACT: This study evaluated the effect of Morus nigra leaf extract, with or without supplementation, on morphology, activation and DNA damage of preantral follicles cultured within sheep ovarian tissue. Ovaries were collected and divided into fragments, being one fixed for histological and Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) analysis (fresh control). The remaining fragments were cultured for 7 days in alpha minimum essential media (α-MEM) supplemented with bovine serum albumin (BSA), insulin, transferrin, selenium, glutamine, hypoxanthine and ascorbic acid (α-MEM+; control medium) or into medium composed of M. nigra extract without supplements (0.1; 0.2 or 0.4mg/mL) or supplemented with the same substances described above for α-MEM+ (MN 0.1+; 0.2+ or 0.4+mg/mL). Then, tissues were destined to histological and TUNEL analysis. The α-MEM+ treatment had more morphologically normal follicles than all M. nigra extract treatments. However, α-MEM+ treatment also showed signs of atresia because the percentage of TUNEL positive cells was similar in α-MEM+ and in 0.1mg/mL M. nigra without and with supplements. Moreover, a reduction in the primordial follicles and an increase in the growing ones were observed in all treatments, except 0.2mg/mL M. nigra. In conclusion, the follicles cultured at 0.1mg/mL M. nigra extract were in good condition and able to continue their development, as demonstrated by the same rates of DNA damage and follicular activation as the control medium.


The increased use of a-c instruments over a frequency range of 25 to 3,000 cycles for aircraft and industrial applications has imposed new requirements on instrument design. It is recognized that the standard type of a-c ammeters and voltmeters normally calibrated for use at a given frequency are subject to errors in indication when used at other frequencies. This paper describes the manner in which one line of a-c ammeters and voltmeters can be compensated to have minimum errors resulting from changes in frequency over a range of 25 to 3,000 cycles. Errors found in the uncompensated and compensated types of instruments with changes in frequency are shown, and a practical means of determining the amount of compensation and its application to ammeters and voltmeters is presented.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Mutation / loss of ATRX expression has been described in anaplastic gliomas. The present study explored the role for ATRX status in the molecular classification of anaplastic gliomas and the impact of ATRX status on survival in the biomarker cohort of the NOA-04 trial.

Patients (n=123) of the NOA-04 trial were analyzed for ATRX expression using immunohistochemistry. ATRX status was correlated with age, reference histology, IDH, 1p/19q and MGMT status, and the efficacy endpoints of the NOA-04 trial.

Loss of ATRX expression was detected in 42% of anaplastic astrocytomas, 24% of anaplastic oligoastrocytomas and 10% of anaplastic oligodendrogliomas. It was restricted to IDH mutated tumors and almost mutually exclusive with 1p/19q co-deletion. Anaplastic oligoastrocytoma harboring ATRX loss shared a similar clinical course with anaplastic astrocytoma. Survival analysis showed a separation of IDH mutant tumors into two groups based on ATRX status: Tumors with ATRX loss have a significantly better prognosis (median time to treatment failure 1758 days [95% CI 1316 days - to not reached] vs. 968 days [95% CI 496 days - to not reached], log rank test, p = 0.0044). Independent of histological subtype, patients whose tumors harbored ATRX loss had a longer overall survival when initially treated with radiotherapy rather than with chemotherapy (p = 0.03).

ATRX status helps to re-classify oligoastrocytomas, since ATRX loss is a hallmark of astrocytic tumors. Furthermore, ATRX loss defines a subgroup of tumors with a favorable prognosis and predicts benefit from radiotherapy.

Citation Format: Benedikt Wiestler, David Capper, Tim Holland-Letz, Andreas von Deimling, Stefan M. Pfister, Michael Platten, Michael Weller, Wolfgang Wick. ATRX loss refines the classification of anaplastic glioma and is a favorable prognostic marker. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-80. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-LB-80


ABSTRACT Background Although 8q21.11 microdeletion syndrome (8q21.11 DS) has been reported in association with congenital corneal opacities, reports of the clinicopathological features and management are scarce. Methods We reviewed medical records including ophthalmic evaluations, imaging, operative reports, and pathology reports of two unrelated patients referred to the Ophthalmology Clinic of UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh with a cytogenetic diagnosis of 8q21.11 DS. Results Ophthalmological evaluation of both children revealed bilateral enlarged, staphylomatous, and cloudy corneas with neovascularization. These findings were consistent with the diagnosis of congenital corneal staphyloma (CCS). In one patient, anterior segment optical coherence tomography and high-frequency ultrasound revealed materials consistent with lens remnants embedded in the cornea; this was confirmed by histopathology. In the second patient, lens was found to be adherent to the cornea during surgery. One eye underwent enucleation for corneal perforation secondary to elevated intraocular pressure. In the other eyes, treatment consisted of penetrating keratoplasty combined with vitrectomy. Ahmed tube was subsequently placed to control intraocular pressure. Conclusion 8q21.11 microdeletion syndrome can be associated with bilateral CCS, likely related to a combination of anterior segment developmental anomalies and elevated intraocular pressure. Tectonic penetrating keratoplasty is necessary to prevent corneal perforation, together with a strict control of the intraocular pressure.


Just as the Internet is shifting its focus from information and communication to a knowledge delivery infrastructure, we see the Grid moving from computation and data management to a pervasive, worldwide knowledge management infrastructure. We have the technology to store and access data, but we seem to lack the ability to transform data tombs into useful data and extract knowledge from them. We review some of the current and future technologies that will impact the architecture, computational model, and applications of future grids. We attempt to forecast the evolution of computational grids into what we call the next-generation grid, with a particular focus on the use of semantics and knowledge discovery techniques and services. We propose a comprehensive software architecture for the next-generation grid, which integrates currently available services and components in Semantic Web, Semantic Grid, P2P, and ubiquitous systems. We'll also discuss a case study that shows how some new technologies can improve grid applications.


To the Editor—In a longitudinal study with a maximum follow-up of more than 3 years, Vigil et al found that both intermittent (IC) and persistent (PC) MRSA nares colonization increased subsequent incidence of MRSA infection and that further distinguishing between IC and PC may not improve risk prediction. The authors found increased risks of IC and PC patients in all their statistical analyses, but they also reported and compared conflicting relative frequencies of infection. The aim of this letter is to point out that the proper measure of infection incidence must lie between the numbers reported by Vigil et al., and that the statistical difficulty stems from the longitudinal design, which we believe is an asset of their study. In their table 1, Vigil et al report so-called incidence proportions (ie, the number of observed infections divided by the number of patients within colonization groups) of 11.2% (IC) and 16.3% (PC). In contrast, the proportions based on a Kaplan-Meier analysis of time-to-infection were 13% (IC) and 21% (PC). The incidence proportions are too small. The reason is that patients were followed from study entry until infection, death, or closure of the study. Closure of the study leads to censored observations. The incidence proportions, therefore, report proportions of an observed infection. This measure does not address a patient's safety concern. For the individual patient, whether and when an infection occurs is relevant, whether this happens before administrative closure of the observational study is not. The incidence proportions are too small because the probability of the fact that an infection occurs and that it is observed is less than the probability that an infection occurs (irrespective of the observation status). In contrast, the proportions based on the Kaplan-Meier curves are too large. The reason is that the aim of a Kaplan-Meier analysis is to approximate the incidence proportions in the absence of censoring if the incident event occurs in every patient's life, although possibly after closure of study. Death is such an incident event, and a Kaplan-Meier curve is a technique from the analysis of survival data. Infections, however, may be precluded by death without prior infection, and Kaplan-Meier estimates of infection incidence overestimate the probability of infection because the method implicitly assumes that eventually all patients will be infected. The proper tool for quantifying absolute infection risks in a longitudinal study as that of Vigil et al is a generalization of the Kaplan-Meier estimator to multiple outcome types. This is the so-called Aalen-Johansen estimator, which decomposes a proper Kaplan-Meier estimator of infection-free survival into approximated proportions of infection and approximated proportions of death without prior infection. Also known as cumulative incidence functions of competing risks, these curves will yield infection proportions that lie between the biased estimates reported by Vigil et al.


Storm water runoff from urban roadways contains anthropogenic pollutants, which are mainly generated from traffic-related activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of pollutants from the roadway runoff as well as first flush effects. Storm water runoff was sampled during five storm events from the experimental site in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. From the hydrographs and pollutographs for the roadway runoff, the concentration of pollutants increased with increasing runoff flow in the low flow rate event, but did not significantly increase in the high flow rate event. Moreover, according to the analysis of cumulative pollutant mass versus runoff volume curves from five storm events, the first 50% of the runoff volume transported 62% of TOC and Mo, 60% of SS, 59% of Fe, Mn and Cu, 58% of Ni, 57% of Cd and Pb, 56% of Al, 55% of Zn, and 54% of Cr, as the mean values. The first 30% and 80% of the runoff volume also transported 34-43% mass of the pollutants and 82-88% mass of the pollutants, respectively. This study for storm water runoff may also provide useful information to correctly design treatment facilities, such as detention tanks and ponds, filtration and adsorption systems.


ABSTRACT Stimulation of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor tyrosine kinase, Met, induces mitogenesis, motility, invasion, and branching tubulogenesis of epithelial and endothelial cell lines in culture. We have previously shown that Gab1 is the major phosphorylated protein following stimulation of the Met receptor in epithelial cells that undergo a morphogenic program in response to HGF. Gab1 is a member of the family of IRS-1-like multisubstrate docking proteins and, like IRS-1, contains an amino-terminal pleckstrin homology domain, in addition to multiple tyrosine residues that are potential binding sites for proteins that contain SH2 or PTB domains. Following stimulation of epithelial cells with HGF, Gab1 associates with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and the tyrosine phosphatase SHP2. Met receptor mutants that are impaired in their association with Gab1 fail to induce branching tubulogenesis. Overexpression of Gab1 rescues the Met-dependent tubulogenic response in these cell lines. The ability of Gab1 to promote tubulogenesis is dependent on its pleckstrin homology domain. Whereas the wild-type Gab1 protein is localized to areas of cell-cell contact, a Gab1 protein lacking the pleckstrin homology domain is localized predominantly in the cytoplasm. Localization of Gab1 to areas of cell-cell contact is inhibited by LY294002, demonstrating that phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity is required. These data show that Gab1 is an important mediator of branching tubulogenesis downstream from the Met receptor and identify phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and the Gab1 pleckstrin homology domain as crucial for subcellular localization of Gab1 and biological responses.


The main purpose of this paper is the attempt to assess the currently existing system of monitoring of activities in the field of industrial waste management. The article characterized the state of industrial waste management in Poland in recent years and listed the main groups of waste and main areas of their application. In the paper there is the role of waste monitoring and the description of tasks of different entities in the field of control and supervision of waste management. Moreover, the paper shows the structure of waste monitoring and describes the system of waste monitoring in Poland, and presents the IT systems that supporting the work of supervisory authorities as well.


A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of integrated nutrient management (INM) modules on yield and soil properties in late sown Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czernj. & Cosson.]. In this study, 16 INM module combinations of organic (Farm yard manure and vermicompost), inorganic and biofertilizers were used. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. The numbers of secondary branches were conspicuously higher than primary and tertiary branches and these also bear higher number of siliquae/branch. The contribution of secondary branches was highest in seed yield of mustard. Integrated use of 100% recommended fertilizer dose (RDF) along with organic sources of nutrients resulted in significantly higher number of branches/plant, siliqua/branch, seeds/siliquae and seed yield of mustard as compared to application of 100% RDF (NPK) alone. The total N, P and K uptake by the crop ranged between 76.1 kg/ha in control and 187.2 kg/ha in 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) + FYM 5 t/ha + vermicompost (VC) 2.5 t/ha + Azotobacter. Integration of inorganic and organic sources of nutrients improved the soil organic carbon (SOC) content, availability of soil nutrient status (N, P and K), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and dehydrogenase activity (DHA) in soil, whereas the use of chemical fertilizer alone showed a pronounced decline of these parameters.

 Key words: Integrated nutrient management, Indian mustard, seed yield, oil content, soil health.


Introduction: A recent study suggests that yoga respiratory training (YRT) is an effective intervention to improve respiratory muscle (RM) function in healthy elderly, although the effects of YRT remain unknown in impaired elderly. Furthermore, the cost evaluation related to RM intervention on this population is uncommon. Aim: To evaluate the costs and consequences of YRT to improve the RM function in institutionalized elderly. We hypothesized that YRT is a low-cost intervention and would improve respiratory functioning. Methods: Fifty-four elderly from 2 nursing-homes in Valencia (Spain), who were unable to walk, were randomly assigned to a control group (n=27) or YRT group (n=27). The supervised training protocol lasted 6 weeks (5 days/week) during 2009. Maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) were assessed at 4 time points. The costs were presented in 2009 €, were identified those related to staff, consumables and capital for intervention, and health professional perspective was adopted. Results: Analysed sample (control, n=24; YRT, n=24). ANOVAs revealed significant improvements in MIP ( F 3,138 =9.122, p F 3,138 =9.102, p F 3,138 =9.167, p The total costs were calculated attending different criteria: control group (5722€), YRT group (8022€), per elderly in YRT group (297€) and per nursing-home (6872€). Conclusion: YRT applied to the institutionalized elderly improves RM functioning and is a low-cost intervention that could be incorporated into the physiotherapist daily routines in the nursing-homes.


Purpose of the Study: This article critiques Rowe and Kahn's conceptualization of successful aging using tenets of the life course perspective. Design and Methods: A review and synthesis of the literature on successful aging and studies that use a life course perspective. Results: We draw on life course principles that view development as a dynamic lifelong process, embedded in historical time and place, and influenced by the web of rela tionships individuals are linked to, as well as more distal social structural factors. This discussion questions the relatively static nature of Rowe and Kahn's successful aging model, its emphasis on personal control over one's later-life outcomes, and neglect of historical and cultural context, social relationships, and structural forces in influencing later-life functioning. Implications: Caution in using the model in its current formulation is needed, and we promote thinking about how successful aging can better align with micro- and macrolevel issues through utilization of a life course perspective.


The purpose of this study is to describe the improvement of fourth grade student learning outcomes at SD 4 Karangbener through the application of the Jigsaw learning model.This research is a classroom action research conducted for 2 cycles, each cycle consists of 2 meetings. Each cycle consists of 4 stages, namely: planning, implementing actions, observing, and reflecting. The subjects of this study were teachers and fourth grade students of SD 4 Karangbener Bae Kudus, totaling 19 students. The method of data collection was done through tests, interviews, observations, and documentation. The instruments used were in the form of observation sheets for teaching teacher skills, observation sheets for students' affective and psychomotor aspects of learning outcomes, multiple choice tests, and interview guide sheets. The data analysis used is quantitative and qualitative data analysis.The results of this study showed that the first cycle obtained a percentage of 68.42%, an increase of 89.50% in the second cycle. Affective domain student learning outcomes in the first cycle an average score of 14 (good) increased to 16.64 (very good) in the second cycle. While the psychomotor learning outcomes obtained an average score of 15.5 (good) increased by 18 (very good) in the second cycle. The researcher concludes that the use of the jigsaw learning model can improve learning outcomes in learning theme 6 my ideals in class IV SD 4 Karangbener.


Lynch syndrome is one of the most common hereditary cancer syndromes. It is caused by germ line mutations of DNA mismatch repair genes and predisposes affected individuals to the development of colorectal cancer and extracolonic malignancies with a lifetime risk of over 50%. Lynch syndrome-associated cancers show the high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H) phenotype and are characterized by signs of a pronounced local anti-tumoral immune response, suggesting that the immune system plays an active role in the surveillance and natural history of these cancers. The progression of MSI-H cancers is triggered by mutations in microsatellite sequences within gene-encoding regions, which can cause shifts of the translational reading frame and lead to the generation of immunogenic frameshift peptides (FSP) at the carboxy-terminal end of the respective proteins. FSP-specific immune responses have been observed frequently in MSI-H cancer patients and Lynch syndrome mutation carriers. We have therefore initiated a clinical phase I/IIa vaccination trial that evaluates vaccination with a combination of three FSP antigens in patients with MSI-H colorectal cancer, UICC stage III and IV. Preliminary data demonstrate that no treatment-associated severe adverse events have been observed after FSP vaccination. Moreover, significant T cell and humoral immune responses against FSP antigens were induced in the majority of vaccinated patients. The observation of strong FSP-specific immune responses in vaccinated patients suggests that FSP-based vaccination may represent a novel option for the treatment of MSI-H colorectal cancer patients. Moreover, FSP vaccination may be used for tumor prevention in Lynch syndrome mutation carriers in the future. Citation Format: Matthias Kloor, Miriam Reuschenbach, Julia Karbach, Reza Rafiyan, Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, Claudia Pauligk, Elke Jaeger, Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz. Frameshift peptide vaccination: Towards cancer prevention in Lynch syndrome. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr CN01-03.


Cattle infected with Babesia bovis face a bifurcated fate: Either die of the severe acute infection, or survive and carry for many years a highly persistent but generally asymptomatic infection. In this review, the author describes known and potential contributions of three variable or highly variant multigene-encoded families of proteins to persistence in the bovine host, and the mechanisms by which variability arises among these families. Ramifications arising from this variability are discussed.


The proportion of the Latin American population above age 65 y is expected to rise substantially. To better define the prevalence of infectious diseases and micronutrient deficiencies, assess immunological status, and evaluate associations between nutritional status and infection, we performed a cross-sectional study of elderly Ecuadorians in a low-income peri-urban community in Quito, Ecuador. Culturally adapted questionnaires, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin response, micronutrient, and immunological assays were performed in randomly selected Ecuadorians aged > or = 65 y. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were developed to assess relationships between micronutrient concentrations and history of infection, DTH, and immune function. Participants (n = 352; mean age +/- SD, 74.4 +/- 6.4 y) recalled recent episodes of colds/influenza-like syndromes (62.8%), cough (61.0%), urinary tract infection (37.9%), diarrhea (32.2%), fever (24.1%), and pneumonia (3.5%). A prospective substudy of respiratory infections (RI) in 203 elderly revealed similar findings. Colds and pneumonia occurred in 42.8 and 7.9% of participants, respectively, during 737 person-weeks of observation (3.6 +/- 1.1 wk per person). Anemia and micronutrient deficiencies, especially for vitamins C, D, B-6, and B-12 and folic acid and zinc, were common. Plasma vitamin C was associated with interferon-gamma (IFNgamma) (P < 0.01) and zinc with IFNgamma and interleukin-2 (each P < 0.0001). RI history was associated with any micronutrient deficiency (P < 0.001). The burden of infectious diseases, micronutrient deficiencies, and anemia was substantial in this elderly Ecuadorian population. Deficiencies of essential vitamins and minerals place these elderly adults at risk for infections through their negative impact on immune function.


In previous work, the similarity relationship for the water vapor variance in the interfacial layer (IL) at the top of the convective boundary layer (CBL) was proposed to be proportional to the convective velocity scale and the gradients of the water vapor mixing ratio and the Brunt‐Vaisala frequency in the entrainment zone. In the presence of wind shear in the IL, the similarity relationship was hypothesized to also include a dependence on the gradient Richardson number. Simultaneous measurements of the surface buoyancy flux, wind‐shear profiles from a radar wind profiler, water vapor mixing ratio and temperature measurements and their gradients from a Raman lidar provide a unique opportunity to thoroughly examine the function used in defining the variance and validate it. These observations were made over the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site. We identified 19 cases from 2016 during which the CBL was quasi‐stationary and well mixed for at least 2 hr in the afternoon. Furthermore, we simulated the CBL using a large‐eddy simulation (LES) model for these cases and derived the water vapor variance and other profiles to test the similarity function. Utilizing this unique combination of observations and LES, we demonstrate that the water vapor variance in the IL has little‐to‐no dependence on wind shear. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the predicted variance using the original similarity function matches the observed and LES‐modeled variance very well, with linear correlations between the two variances of 0.82 and 0.95, respectively.


Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous disease with currently still unknown mechanisms of development. Besides genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been discovered as one of the crucial players in gastric carcinogenesis through posttranscriptional regulation of tumor suppressor and oncogenes. A substantial number of deregulated miRNAs have been revealed in gastric cancer and the biological significance of those miRNAs has been confirmed in multiple functional experiments. A growing number of studies suggest involvement of miRNAs in various steps of gastric carcinogenesis: from gastritis toward metastatic disease. Great biological stability of miRNAs opens novel fields in biomarker research with potential clinical implementation in screening, diagnosis, prediction of prognosis and therapeutic management. In this review, we provide the basic knowledge of miRNA biogenesis and discuss extensively the role of miRNAs in gastric carcinogenesis, including Helicobacter pylori-related miRNA alterations and potential translational clinical implementations.


In recent years, deep learning has found widespread applications in tasks such as segmentation and classification. Fine-tuning hyperparameters is crucial to improve performance, with the learning rate being a key parameter. Various methods, including adaptive learning rates, learning rate scheduling, and cyclical learning rates, have been used to optimize learning rates. Cyclical learning rates offer significant benefits with minimal computational cost, as seen in previous research. This study introduces a novel approach to tuning the cyclical learning rate, which incorporates the exponential moving average. These methods are applied to the BraTS 2021 dataset for segmentation tasks, resulting in superior performance compared to the previous approach. Our proposed method reduces the epochs required to reach convergence by 19 and 54 epochs for U-Net and Dense U-net, respectively. For Res U-net, the epoch needed to convergence is 10 epochs more. However, the proposed method produces lower loss values with 0.707, 0.657, and 0.665 compared to the previous method with 0.712, 0.685, and 0.725 for U-net, Res U-net, and Dense U-net, respectively.


The widely popular browser extensions now become one of the most commonly used malware attack vectors. The Google Chrome browser, which implements the principles of least privileges and privilege separation by design, offers a strong security mechanism to protect malicious websites from damaging the whole browser system via extensions. In this study, we however reveal that Chrome's extension security model is not a panacea for all possible attacks with browser extensions. Through a series of practical bot-based attacks that can be performed even under typical settings, we demonstrate that malicious Chrome extensions pose serious threats, including both information dispersion and harvesting, to browsers. We further conduct an in-depth analysis of Chrome's extension security model, and conclude that its vulnerabilities are rooted from the violation of the principles of least privileges and privilege separation. Following these principles, we propose a set of countermeasures that enforce the policies of microprivilege management and differentiating DOM elements. Using a prototype developed on the latest Chrome browser, we show that they can effectively mitigate the threats posed by malicious Chrome extensions with little effect on normal browsing experience.


"Sleep. Your eyelids are getting heavy. Sleep. Watch the swinging object. Concentrate. When you awake you will be completely under my power." These words are familiar language to almost all of us, from images of the popular media, of a hypnotist attempting to place a subject in a hypnotic state. This subject has proved to be a source of fascination for many, and a source of intense debate in both psychological theory and jurisprudence for over two centuries, largely because of one controversial issue: can a person be induced to commit acts which are against his or her normal prudence and moral standards by means of hypnosis (or its historical antecedent, mesmerism)? The mysterious power of hypnotic coercion has moreover been absorbed into the popular consciousness, as reflected by the issue frequently featuring in fiction. For a single telling example, note the words of the villainous Baron Gruner to Sherlock Holmes: "You have heard of post-hypnotic suggestion, Mr Holmes? Well you will see how it works, for a man of personality can use hypnotism without any vulgar passes or tomfoolery." The notoriety of hypnotic techniques is no doubt in no small measure due to accounts of sexual coercion of hypnotized subjects, as evidenced in the 1976 New South Wales Supreme Court case of R v Palmer, where a lay hypnotist was convicted on charges of rape, attempted rape and indecent assault. Evidence that this threat has been regarded as real by the courts even though no such case has arisen in South African law emerges from the declaring undesirable under the Publications and Entertainment Act 26 of 1963 of the magazine "True Men" for the publication of an article entitled "Amateur Hypnotism … Ruins 50 Girls a Week". Gibson notes that "the idea that one person can dominate the will of another by occult or arcane means" goes back to the dawn of history, and is founded in pre-scientific ideas about magic and witchcraft. It has furtherbeen suggested by Gibson that in the present day, "hypnosis" has become a construct which has replaced "witchcraft" in the context of an accused performing criminal acts through an agent by means of coercion (perhaps this statement applies to both Anglo-American and European systems, less so to SA where witchcraft is as yet still a significant issue). This process has been aided by the proliferation of myths which have come to be established surrounding the notion of hypnosis in the public mind. The myths include: that hypnosis is done to the subject (as opposed to being self-induced); that it involves a battle of wills, with the stronger party (the Svengali-like hypnotist) winning over the weaker one; that the hypnotist must be a charismatic person; that hypnotic subjects are foolish or weak; that the hypnotist has unlimited power over the subject; that hypnosis is equivalent to sleep or loss of consciousness; that hypnosis is dangerous and destructive of the will; that hypnosis is a cure-all; that hypnosis confers special powers on subjects; that the hypnotic trance is irreversible; that hypnosis is fakery or sham behaviour; that hypnosis is a "truth serum" and that there are people who cannot be hypnotized. The law is not immune to these myths, and hypnotism has yet to be formally categorized in the general principles of criminal law. The search for a clear and rational explanation of the nature of hypnosis has further not beenassisted by the differing theories which have been offered in this regard. As will be indicated later, the courts (rather unsurprisingly) have also found difficulty with the concept.


The concept of the Electronic Purse is designed to make a commoner get relieved from his tension of maintaining transactions of his daily utilities. The aim of this Purse is to maintain all the transactions that a commoner performs in his daily life automatically. It is done using the concept of pure embedded systems. An embedded system is induced into our normal purse which will likely record all the transactions by itself. Aim of the concept is to reproduce all the transactions whenever demanded by the user. Simple enough to say, technology is personified.


Electronic circuit simulation engines often use Kirchhoff's laws and branch equations as the physical theory and the systems of equations following from them as a mathematical formalism for the numerical simulation algorithms. We will show how to create a very different computer simulation scheme based on adaptive transformations of interactive circuit elements and their communication. An object-oriented computer language, C++, will be a natural implementation environment. The resulting simulation algorithm will model the actual physical behavior of a network, eliminating the obsolete phase of solving systems of equations.


analysis of the current debate between contextual and principle-centered ethics; Paul Peachey's attempt to relate theology to world affairs; and George Webber's description of the Christian minister's reaction to contemporary social problems. The reader may not welcome all of Tom Driver's discussion concerning "Sexuality and Jesus," but he will find it provocative at points. The book has two values: it affords a cross-section of contemporary theological thought, and it makes this available in one small volume. Nolan P. Howington m.


We investigate an optimal integrated control of the vehicle equipped with active steering system and independent braking system. The proposed controller uses DYC(Direct Yaw moment Control) and active 4WS(4 wheel steering) simultaneously to improve the handling and stability of vehicle. A model following robust controller that specifies the required yaw moment and total lateral tire force is designed though LMI(Linear Matrix Inequality) formulation. To generate the target steer angles and reference brake pressures in each 4 wheel, the control allocation method is synthesized via quadratic programming. Simulation results show that the proposed integrated controller enhances the stability and handling of vehicle effectively in several driving maneuvers.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the library employment in UAE and explore the perceptions of academic librarians toward job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions needed to improve employment opportunities for librarians in UAE.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through an online survey questionnaire. A total of 62 academic librarians from public and private universities and colleges participated in the study. The collected data are analyzed to answer research questions and verify the hypotheses.

Findings

Respondents expressed high satisfaction with salary and benefits, job positions, responsibilities given to them, and appreciations from senior management. However, they are found unsatisfied with promotion policies and employment opportunity. They reported challenges for getting jobs and expressed concerns about the future of librarians in UAE. With the exception of experience, findings of the study show no significant difference of demographic factors on job satisfaction, the perceived employment opportunity, and challenges. Majority of participants believe that employment opportunity for librarians can be improved through IT courses, promotion policies, training, career structure, marketing, and changing school name. They agree that reducing the number of students will not improve employment opportunities for librarians.

Research limitations/implications

This is a descriptive study based on a survey questionnaire. Future studies may use qualitative methods such as the interview for more exploration and in-depth analysis.

Practical implications

The findings provide concerns about the future of librarianship in UAE and appeal to library educators, managers, and decision makers to improve employment opportunities for librarians.

Originality/value

The paper reports original research findings on job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions as perceived by academic librarians in UAE.


Many of the games with the Indonesian culture adaptations has been developed nowadays. Some of them are made for commercial markets and the other still developed as portfolio and also academic purposes. Some games, already had great gameplay and also had some beautifully digitalized artwork. However, in academic level games projects such as communications designs student's final projects games prototyping, they often show many errors in the process, especially at gameplay and asset's development. This circumstances happened because they (the students) lack of the knowledge about how to make a good gameplay based on narrations and always concern about how to designing the visual contents than make it have a great game. With the qualitative research methods by analyzing a games' project called Taman Putroe Phang, a game project which adapting the Aceh's Kingdom Romance History. Using game development theory and game design theories, this research wants to explain about how the game developed using board game/ tabletop prototyping before go to the digitalized final game design. The research purpose is to give a perspective and helps the beginner game designer to make a success game prototype using the table top mock up at the process, that shown in game's prototype.

Keyword: Games, Games' mock up, table top game, board game, Aceh's Kingdom History


OBJECTIVES
To investigate owner attitudes and dietary practices following cancer diagnosis in a dog.

METHODS
A retrospective cross-sectional survey of 75 dog owners presenting with their dogs to a tertiary referral oncology service through a demographic questionnaire and in-person or telephone interviews regarding the dog's nutrition.

RESULTS
Conventional diets (71%) were most commonly fed as a single diet to canine cancer patients followed by homemade cooked (7%) and homemade raw (4%). Several owners (18%) provided combinations of these diets. Owners reported some distrust towards conventional diets (51%). Appetite loss occurred in 35% of dogs and diet changes reported for 25% of dogs in the study involved exclusion of a conventional (63%) and/or inclusion of a homemade (54%) component. 90% of owners noted the diet change was associated with the cancer diagnosis. Supplements were given by 39% of owners. 85% of owners highly valued veterinary nutritional advice.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Following a cancer diagnosis, dog owners appear to change their approach to managing their dog's nutrition. Given the value owners place on veterinary nutritional advice, veterinarians have a key role in guiding nutritional management of the canine cancer patient.


Software framework (SF) brings forth lots of conveniences for software reuse in specific domains. It is well-known that a framework is much harder to be developed than a common reusable component. Based on the conception of component-based software framework (CBSF) that provides black-box reuse approach, a development process for geo-workflow domain is in discussion. A geo-workflow application is one sort of workflow management systems applied in the geographic information domain, and can be implemented through reusing component-based geo-workflow framework (CBGWF). From the methodological point of view, the following steps are necessary to develop a CBGWF: domain analysis, domain design, framework design and implementation. The outputs of them are domain models with identified variabilities, domain-specific software architecture (DSSA), and products of software framework, respectively. In the context of geo-workflow, domain variabilities, which areidentified and classified first, involve variabilities of geospatial data types, variabilities of geospatial data management, variabilities of geospatial operations, variabilities of processes, and variabilities of geospatial data representation. These variabilities can be organized in a tree view. Then, using HMB style, DSSA and architecture of CBGWF are designed, where the former can be regarded as a template of the latter. Finally, the framework component development based on EJB component model and the reuse of CBGWF are described in brief. Compared with other geo-workflow systems, the main advantage consists in its flexibility caused by the extensibility of CBGWF.


Low-temperature fermentations (13 degrees C) are considered to improve wine aromatic profiles. However, because the risk of stuck and sluggish fermentations is high, these fermentations are not common. The aim of this paper was to analyze the effect of different preadaptation protocols in two commercial wine strains on the fermentation and some wine parameters. Preadaptation is understood to be the process between the rehydration of active dry yeast and the inoculation. In this study, it consisted of preparing a fermentation starter (addition of yeast grown at 25 degrees C) or inocula preadapted at low temperatures (as before, but grown at a fermentation temperature of 13 or 17 degrees C). These results were compared with those of rehydrated active dry yeast, and a commercial "cryotolerant" yeast was used as a reference. General fermentation kinetic parameters, yeast imposition, nitrogen consumption, and main wine products were analyzed. The results showed that the preadaptation of a yeast could improve the fermentation performance, although this improvement was strain-dependent. Low-temperature fermentations also had some general effects: reduction of acetic acid and fusel alcohol production and increased concentrations of glycerol. When the yeast performed better in fermentation because of preadaptation, nitrogen consumption was faster and the wine's "negative" attributes (acetic acid, fusel alcohols) were significantly reduced. Thus, in some strains, preadaptation could be an effective mechanism for improving low-temperature fermentation, which also significantly reduces detrimental wine attributes.


The application describes a method for the preparative purification of RNA, which method is distinguished in that the RNA is purified by means of HPLC using a porous reversed phase as the stationary phase. The use of the porous reversed phase in this HPLC method is also described.


The information from the documents written during colonial times by Spanish friars attempted to provide an overview of the thought of Mesoamerican indigenous societies. These ideas are permanently imprinted religious concepts that ordered the culture, and that signal the efforts of men to find its role in the world and give sense to the astronomical and natural phenomena that are integrated into their religion, particularly in the creation of myths. The generation of the gods, their tasks and areas of action are explored here through the texts of Fray Andres del Olmo.


To the Editors:

To further comment on the safety, tolerability and efficacy profile of linezolid in treating "difficult" tuberculosis (TB) cases, following the recent study by Villar et al . [1], we here report on the experience of the E. Morelli Hospital in Sondalo, Italy, a reference centre for difficult-to-treat TB cases, e.g. those affected by multidrug-resistant (MDR)- and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-TB, located in northern Italy [2–3].

As reported elsewhere [3], linezolid has been prescribed "off label" in Sondalo, Italy since 2005 to treat patients for whom at least four active drugs cannot be ensured, according to World Health Organization recommendations [4].

Administration of linezolid, within regimens designed to balance efficacy and tolerability, needs to be guided by clear scientific evidence focused on the ideal dosage (per kg body weight per day) and duration [1, …


We present an approach to mitigating the risks of malicious image editing posed by large diffusion models. The key idea is to immunize images so as to make them resistant to manipulation by these models. This immunization relies on injection of imperceptible adversarial perturbations designed to disrupt the operation of the targeted diffusion models, forcing them to generate unrealistic images. We provide two methods for crafting such perturbations, and then demonstrate their efficacy. Finally, we discuss a policy component necessary to make our approach fully effective and practical -- one that involves the organizations developing diffusion models, rather than individual users, to implement (and support) the immunization process.


The Javan warty pig (Sus verrucosus) is an endemic pig to Java and Bawean Islands, while population on Madura Island is thought to be extinct. The problem in establishing ex-situ captive breeding is the lack of information on biology or physiology. A study on these aspects was conducted in 16 Javan warty pigs and 2 cadavers in Surabaya Zoo, Surabaya. Birth profile was evaluated and blood collections were conducted, as well as analysis on spermatozoa morphology. Data showed that blood parameters were not different among the age groups (juvenile and adult) or sex and within the range of Sus scrofa. Extreme values were only obtained from the palette with the female reaching 14.5 x 103/mm3, while adult male and juvenile pigs were 58-75 x 103/mm3. Diameter of both testicles with skin intake was 56.42 mm, with the length of left testicle being 83.29 mm and right testicle 78.88 mm. Javan warty pig spermatozoa had longer size for the head and tail lengths compared to average pigs sperms. Litter size was between two to four, with the average of 2.75 litters (SD 0.98). Low litter size in this species is something that has to be concerned from the conservation point of view, therefore a captive breeding population program needs to be considered.Key words: Javan warty pig, Sus verrucosus, blood parameters, sperm


Pricing greenhouse gas emissions involves making trade-offs between consumption today and unknown damages in the (distant) future. The optimal carbon dioxide (CO2) price, thus, is based on society's willingness to substitute consumption across time and across uncertain states of nature. Standard constant relative risk aversion preference specifications, meanwhile, conflate the two. Moreover, they are inconsistent with observed asset valuations, based on a large body of work in macroeconomics and finance. This literature has developed a richer set of preferences that are more consistent with asset price behavior and separate risk across time and across states of nature. In this paper, we explore the implications of these richer preference specifications for the optimal CO2 price. We develop the EZ-Climate model, a simple discrete-time optimization model in which the representative agent has an Epstein-Zin preference specification, and in which uncertainty about the effect of CO2 emissions on global temperature and on eventual damages is gradually resolved over time. We embed a number of features including potential tail risk, exogenous and endogenous technological change, and backstop technologies. In contrast to most modeled carbon price paths, the EZ-Climate model suggests a high optimal carbon price today that is expected to decline over time. It also points to the importance of backstop technologies and to potentially very large deadweight costs of delay. We decompose the optimal carbon price into two components: expected discounted damages and the risk premium. JEL code: D81, G11, Q54.


B7-H4 is a recently discovered B7 family member that has inhibitory effect on T cell immunity. However, the signaling mechanism of the B7-H4-expressing cells remains unclear. Previous work has shown that B7-H4 expression was enhanced on B cells by infection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and engagement of induced B7-H4 exerted cell death of EBV-transformed B cells. Here we found that B7-H4 was constitutively expressed on EBV-positive Burkitt¡ s lymphoma cells and that engagement of B7-H4 significantly reduced cell viability of Raji cell. Engagement of B7-H4 resulted cell cycle arrest at G0-G1 phase in a dose- and time-dependent manner. To clarify the mechanism of B7-H4 triggering induced cell cycle arrest, cell cycle regulatory factor was examined by RT-PCR and immunoblotting. B7-H4 triggering down-regulated CDK4/6 and up-regulated p21 expression at both protein and RNA level. Furthermore, CDK2 and cyclineE/D expression was down-regulated by B7-H4 triggering. Additionally, the down-regulation of phospho-AKT and phospho-cyclinE was clearly detected in B7-H4 triggering Raji cells, but the phosphorylation of p53 was constitutively maintained. These results represent that B7-H4-mediated signaling on EBV-positive B cells modulates cell cycle through down-regulation of AKT pathway. We conclude that B7-H4 may have the potency for use in EBV-associated cancer therapy.


With the advance of integration technology, it has become feasible to implement a microprocessor, a vector unit, and a multimegabyte bank-interleaved L2 cache on a single die. Parallel access to strided vectors on the L2 cache is a major performance issue on such vector microprocessors. A major difficulty for such a parallel access is that one would like to interleave the cache on a block size basis in order to benefit from spatial locality and to maintain a low tag volume, while strided vector accesses naturally work on a word granularity. In this paper, we address this issue. Considering a parallel vector unit with 2/sup n/ independent lanes, a 2/sup n/ bank interleaved cache, and a cache line size of 2/sup k/ words, we show that any slice of 2/sup n+k/ consecutive elements of any strided vector with stride 2/sup r/R with R odd and r /spl les/ k can be accessed in the L2 cache and routed back to the lanes in 2/sup k/ subslices of 2/sup n/ elements.


In this essay I explore contemporary British TV comedy that unsettles and offends its audience by pushing humour to its very outer limits. Attempts to breach decorum and provoke the reader/audience is not a new phenomenon, and by looking at the Modernist rejection of bourgeois values I try to contextualise this fascination with transgression and provocation.

The British writer and director Chris Morris (The Day Today, Brass Eye, Jam, Four Lions) has continously pushed the limits of humour in his many TV-shows, and has consequently caused extreme outrage and offence in Britain.
To understand where this offence comes from, and why a humorous mode of expression is unacceptable when discussing serious and sensitive subject matters, I trace back the historical dismissal of comedy in Western academia.

The rediscovery of Mikhail Bakthin's theories of Medieval carnivals will be discussed so as to re-evaluate comedy and view it in new and challenging ways.


The subject of this paper is the research of the electronic banking services market in the South Backa region. The aim of this paper is to systematise the supply of services by commercial banks. On the other hand, the aim of the paper is to evaluate the extent to which citizens use electronic banking services. The research methodology includes the application of the analytical method to the evaluation of the banking sector's supply of services, the survey method and the statistical processing of data in the empirical analysis of demand. The results of the research showed that there is a rich offer of electronic banking services in the Republic of Serbia and that it is widely accepted.


Modern real-time applications are very dynamic and cannot cope with the use of worst case execution time to avoid overload situations. Therefore scheduling algorithms that are able to prevent timing faults during overload are required. In this context, the value parameter has become useful to add generality and flexibility to such systems. In this paper, we present the scheduling algorithm called DMB (dynamic misses based), which is capable of dynamically changing tasks value in order to adjust their importance according to its timing faults rate. The main goal of DMB is to allow the prediction of timing faults during overloads and thereby support a dynamic tuning of tasks fault rate. It is used to enhance the features of the previously defined TAFT (time-aware fault-tolerant) scheduler. Obtained results show that DMB in conjunction with TAFT reached the most promising results during overloads, allowing to control tasks degradation in a graceful and determined way


This article aims to analyze how measures to promote Internet access, and users' competencies influence the use of electronic government services in Brazil. We adopted Sen's Capability Approach as theoretical framework in order to analyze the microdata from the ICT Households 2013, a national-wide survey coordinated by the Regional Center for Studies on Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br). The results indicate that for social classes C (middle class), D and E (lower class) the increase in the odds ratio of the use of e-gov services is strongly influenced by both internet access preferably at home or work (individual access) as well as the users' internet skills.


With the increasing application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), TCM‐induced reproductive toxicity has gradually aroused people's concern. Various TCM, such as Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f., Radix Aconiti lateralis Preparata and Rhizoma Pinelliae, are currently reported to cause reproductive toxicity in humans and animals. However, a summary of the material bases, mechanisms and biological markers of TCM‐induced reproductive toxicity is still lacking. This review filled the gap by searching and summarising relevant studies and articles published on PubMed, CNKI and Web of Science databases from January 2000 to November 2021. The risk ingredients involved in TCM‐induced reproductive toxicity were divided into glycosides, alkaloids, phenols, terpenoids, anthraquinones, lactones, plant toxin proteins, animal toxins and so forth. Potential mechanisms underlying TCM‐induced reproductive toxicity, including steroidogenic toxicity, lipids metabolism abnormity, energy insufficiency, oxidative stress and apoptosis, were illustrated. We also outlined possible biomarkers, especially biomarkers of effect involved in TCM‐induced reproductive toxicity, including anti‐oxidant enzymes, signalling pathways, genes and growth factors.


Collective Thomson scattering (CTS), a promising diagnostic for fusion plasmas now made feasible by the availability of high-power gyrotrons in the millimeter wavelength range (Costley et al., 1988, JET Report R(88)08, Abingdon, Oxon), is known to be particularly sensitive to the presence of fast-ion populations in the plasma. The authors investigate the effects on CTS spectra of the anisotropies often involved in the production, heating, confinement and slowing down of these energetic populations in a fusion device. Two kinds of velocity-space anisotropies are considered: (a) that associated with the transfer of energy from an external source to a reduced number of degrees of freedom (e.g. perpendicular acceleration of ions during ICRH), and (b) that associated with transverse particle losses due either to orbits intersecting the walls or to magnetic field ripples. Numerical computations of the CTS spectra have been performed for the relevant cases and a number of features characterizing the plasma behaviour in the presence of suprathermal-ion populations, typically the enhancement of the fluctuation level at the lower hybrid resonance are quantified analytically.


When Columbus arrived on the shores of Hispaniola, a rich and complex civilisation already existed that forms the core of American cultural history. Exploring ancient southeastern Indian sites from the metropolis of Cahokia (near present-day St Louis), ancient capital of the American heartland, to the island stronghold of Calos - king of the Florida Calusa - the author examines the significance of these prehistoric cultures. Bringing together scholarship from classics in architecture, archaeology and iconography, she discusses 20 sites of Mississippian culture, describing the religious patterns of the inhabitants and the sophisticated art-works that supported their sacred practices. She also addresses the controversial topic of repatriation of Indian artifacts and the continuing problem of archaeological "looting" of Indian sites and ceremonial centres. Illustrated with maps, site plans and photographs of the ruins of ancient ceremonial centres along with sculpture, ceramics and other artifacts, this book aims to captures the timeless beauty and technical sophistication of the art and architecture of pre-Columbian America.


Background/Context Students' ready engagement in electronic games and the relative ease with which they sometimes learn complex rules have intrigued some educators and learning researchers. There has been growing interest in studying electronic gaming with the aim of trying to work out how learning principles that are evident in games can be harnessed to make everyday academic learning more engaging and productive. Many studies of students' learning while gaming have yielded recommendations for teaching and learning in regular classrooms. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus The intent of this work is to describe various ways in which students' ready engagement in, and quick learning when playing, electronic games have been assumed to provide useful guidance to educators. This goal is pursued by means of analysis of the relevant research and the prescriptions for classroom teaching and learning that have emerged it. Close critical examination of these attempts to infer educational practices from electronic gaming yields three general strategies that have been pursued. The focus of this study has been on evaluating the relative value of these three general strategies. Research Design This is an analytic article that provides a description of an array of attempts to derive educational principles from the perceived success of students' learning while they are engaged in electronic games, a meta-analytic organization of these attempts into three general categories, and an evaluation of each of these categories' success in contributing to education or failure to do so. Conclusions/Recommendations The analysis leads to the conclusion that the three main approaches to understanding the connection between gaming and education have included, first, seeing games as teaching desirable learning skills through the simple act of playing; second, a focus on the integration of curriculum content into games; and, third, an effort to abstract learning principles embedded in electronic games and applying these to educational content. Close examination of each of these three approaches in turn leads to the conclusion that the third approach is the one that holds the greatest potential value for educational practice.


The effect of folic acid and the combined effect of folic acid(FA) + vitamin A + vitamin E on the prevention of teratogenesis induced by cyclophosphamide during pregnancy were observed. The results showed that cyclophosphamide resulted a decreased weight and length of the fetuses, an increased rate of neural tube defects and a retardation of ossification centers. The neural tube defects rates in the groups with no any supplementation, supplemented with folic acid alone and supplemented with FA + vitamin A + vitamin E were 87.27%, 42.93% and 30.08% respectively(P < 0.01). The supplementation of FA or the combined supplementation resulted also in greater fetal weight and length, increased ossification of supraoccipital bone (P < 0.01). The study suggested that the combined effect of FA, vitamin A and vitamin E was superior to FA alone.


Ischemic changes of cardiac muscle under cardioplegia must be evaluated at a subcellular level from functional aspects using cytochemical procedures as well as from morphological aspects. In this study, kinetics of Ca++-ATPase activity of rat cardiac myocytes under GIK-cardioplegia was estimated using a new one-step lead citrate method reported by Ando et al. The Ca++-ATPase activity of mitochondria in myocytes which had temporally increased at 15 minutes after initiation of cardioplegia, showed a slight decrease at 30 minutes and then almost disappeared at 60 minutes. At 60 minutes after the cardioplegia, the Ca++-ATPase activities of the sarcoplasmic reticula and myofilaments were well preserved and electromicroscopic findings of the myocytes remained normal. Thus, changes of Ca++-ATPase activity of mitochondria are considered to reflect ischemic damage of myocyte sharply, proceeding morphological changes in ultrastructure.


The ability to increase laser-induced cutaneous blood vessel damage selectivity is dependent upon optimizing various intrinsic laser parameters. Varying the laser emission wavelength, pulse duration, and/or incident energy dosage allows the clinician potential improvement in the laser treatment of cutaneous small blood vessel processes such as port-wine hemangioma and telangiectasia. The pulsed dye laser at 577 nm and a pulse duration of 300 to 400 microseconds, incorporates desired laser parameters into its design. Clinical evaluation of the therapeutic outcome with this laser reveals favorable results while significantly minimizing potential adverse side effects.