The effects of local administration of the dopamine receptor agonists apomorphine and pergolide were investigated in the isolated autoperfused hindquarters, renal and superior mesenteric vascular beds of the rat, in order to assess whether presynaptic dopamine receptors in these vascular regions could play a role in the hypotensive effect of these agents. In the three vascular beds, local infusion of apomorphine and pergolide did not influence perfusion pressure per se, but clearly reduced the pressure response to electrical stimulation of the sympathetic innervation. Increases in perfusion pressure induced by local administration of noradrenaline were not influenced by apomorphine and pergolide. The inhibitory effect of apomorphine and pergolide on stimulation-evoked pressure responses was completely antagonized by the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol. The alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist rauwolscine, which completely blocked the inhibitory effect of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist UK-14,304-18 on neurogenic vasoconstriction, had no influence on the inhibitory effect of apomorphine and pergolide. Like haloperidol, the DA2-receptor antagonist domperidone antagonized the inhibition of neurogenic vasoconstriction by apomorphine in the three vascular beds; the DA1-receptor antagonist SCH 23390 had no influence. These results indicate that inhibitory DA2-receptors are present on the sympathetic innervation to the hindquarters, renal and superior mesenteric vascular beds of the rat.


To the Editor.— I was very interested to see the article by Achauer and co-workers (1982;247:2271). I was dining in a restaurant last fall when a person was burned severely by a flaming drink. In this instance, the unfortunate patron, who was having a birthday party, was ordered a flaming drink as a surprise by his friends. He did not realize in the poor lighting that he was drinking from a flaming glass, and sustained severe facial, mouth, and, apparently, esophageal burns. It is clear that we must encourage the restaurants in our own communities to adopt appropriate safety guidelines, such as those proposed in the article. An additional requirement, almost self-evident, would be to make the patron aware that he is being served a flaming drink.


Nanotechnology is one of the most dynamic research areas and the fastest-growing market. Developing eco-friendly products using available resources to acquire maximum production, better yield, and stability is a great challenge for nanotechnology. In this study, copper nanoparticles (CuNP) were synthesized via the green method using root extract of the medical plant Rhatany (Krameria sp.) as a reducing and capping agent and used to investigate the influence of microorganisms. The maximum production of CuNP was noted at 70 °C after 3 h of reaction time. The formation of nanoparticles was confirmed through UV-spectrophotometer, and the product showed an absorbance peak in the 422–430 nm range. The functional groups were observed using the FTIR technique, such as isocyanic acid attached to stabilize the nanoparticles. The spherical nature and average crystal sizes of the particle (6.16 nm) were determined using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis. In tests with a few drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria and fungus species, CuNP showed encouraging antimicrobial efficacy. CuNP had a significant antioxidant capacity of 83.81% at 200 g/m−1. Green synthesized CuNP are cost-effective and nontoxic and can be applied in agriculture, biomedical, and other fields.


One of the weaknesses of most current academic word lists is that they fail to do justice to the large stock of multiword units that are typical of academic language. The objective of this chapter is to raise awareness of the importance of phrasal academic vocabulary. After a brief critical survey of three recently compiled phrasal academic lists, the chapter highlights the potential contribution of learner corpus data to identifying the most useful units for teaching purposes. The approach is illustrated with a case study of phrasal metadiscourse based on corpora of novice and expert native writing, and subcorpora from the International Corpus of Learner English representing L2 writers from six different mother tongue backgrounds.


During the last decade, protection of civilian and military operational platforms or vehicles against threats has been an issue of increased importance. A significant difference exists between warfare as viewed ten years ago and the nature of conflict today. More emphasis is being placed on short range positive ID, wide field of regard situational awareness and quick reaction times .The standard countermeasure is inadequate when not accompanied by a set of efficient sensor. The sensor packages primarily consisting of an alerting device of four different detection steps: pre-alert, giving the directions of possible attack, detection of an action of attack, identification of the threat and finally the precise localization (3-D). The design of the alerting device is greatly depending on which it will be used, the associated cost and the nature of the threat. Recently the requirements for these sensors have become more and more stringent due to the growing number of scenarios. The attack can practically be from any direction, implying the need for a large Field of Regard, the attack range and the type of threat can vary considerably. Especially the localization at short ranges is a challenging issue which can be addressed by an optimized panoramic imager. The new panoramic IR panomorph lens imager, considered, and evaluated at ImmerVision is presented for integration on various platforms. This innovative panomorph approach provides enhanced performance with better pixel/cost ratio by providing an increased resolution in the zone of interest. The IR panomorph based sensor is as an aberration-corrected hemispheric imager with a custom lens designed to match the resolution the IR camera (MWIR-LWIR) with improved image quality, field coverage and resolution for target detection, classification, and tracking. Various configurations and scenarios including advantages and drawbacks are discussed.


Summary Lymph nodes of mice of the C3H strain were compared with those of the BALB/cAnSp, BALB/Sp, MA/Sp, and A/Sp strains on the basis of size and morphology. In addition lysine-2-C14 incorporation in vivo was studied in lymph nodes of C3H/Sp and C3Hf/AnSp strain mice. Animals of different ages, with and without the milk agent, and in different physiological states (virgin and breeder) were employed. The lymph nodes of virgin mice of the C3H stocks were larger at all ages than those of similar mice of the other stocks. Breeding was accompanied by an increase in the size of the lymph nodes of most of the strains studied except the C3H stocks. Nodes of mice of the C3H stocks with the milk agent showed more sinus reticulum-cell hyperplasia at all ages than was found in corresponding mice of the other stocks. This was less marked in milk agent-free animals. The milk agent apparently was not responsible for the large size of the lymph nodes of C3H/Sp and C3H/AnSp mice, inasmuch as the enlarged nodes were also found in milk agent-free mice of the C3Hf/AnSp strain. However, lysine-2-C14 incorporation into nodes of C3H/Sp mice differed from that in C3Hf/AnSp mice. The possible relation of these findings to the high mammary tumor incidence among the C3H/Sp and C3H/AnSp mice is discussed.


Abstract:The term minority is today applied to describe beleaguered, persecuted, and exiled people whose subordination is preserved or merely "tolerated" by majoritarian politics inherent to modern states. As this introduction indicates, however, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries minority politics became a rubric for sociopolitical emancipation, providing a framework for intellectuals in colonized Asia and Africa to question European powers' treatment of marginalized communities. Bar Sadeh and Houwink ten Cate contend that "minority" has unique value as an instrument for historical analysis that is restricted neither solely to minority-majority relations nor to debates about (political) representation. Instead, the authors propose a global intellectual history of "minority" as a concept and experience, which is explored in the essays compiled in this special section, "Minority Questions." By examining the diverse genealogies of the concept of minority, the essays that follow provide a valuable contribution to efforts to redress historical wrongs, even as they offer a range of explanations for the enduring legacy and power of this multifaceted concept.


It is not uncommon to be treating people with addiction who also have significant other health problems, including heart, renal or liver failure, diabetes and vascular disease. These conditions require regular medications to be taken. This can be a problem for people living with addiction and difficult social circumstances affecting compliance, among other issues. Our perspective provides a summary of general pharmacological factors affecting medicine taking in people with addiction problems, to provide a guide for hospital doctors in this setting.


Background: This study aimed to investigate the demographic factors, comorbidities, and laboratory results of diabetic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 171 diabetic patients with COVID-19 admitted based on chest CT scan findings to the COVID-19 ward of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Hormozgan, Iran from 1 March to 1 June, 2020. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test was performed, and the patients were divided into three groups (mild, moderate, and severe) based on the severity of disease. Then we investigated the demographic factors, comorbidities, and laboratory results of diabetic patients with severe COVID-19 severity. Results: Regarding comorbidities, there was no significant difference between the three groups. Moreover, there was a significantly lower lymphocyte count in the severe group compared to moderate and mild groups (P = 0.001). We showed the increase in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine to be significantly associated with increased disease severity (P = 0.001 and P = 0.009, respectively). We also showed a significant difference in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels between different groups of patients (P = 0.002) with a higher level of AST in the severe group (P = 0.020). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and troponin were also significantly associated with an increase in COVID-19 severity in patients with diabetes (P = 0.013 and P = 0.002, respectively). Conclusion: There was a significant association between disease severity and BUN, creatinine, AST, LDH, and troponin levels in diabetic patients with COVID-19. There was no significant association between different groups regarding severity of disease and comorbidities.


A pyroclastic flow deposit keeps a fingerprint of the physical processes that occurred in the flow during transport and settling. Part of this information is recorded in the texture of the deposit offering an instantaneous view of the flow prior to freezing. In this work we introduce some texture's analysis techniques, based on image analysis, that we have developed or tuned during the last years.


Net blotch, caused by Pyrenophora teres, is a major barley (Hordeum vulgare) leaf disease worldwide. P. teres occurs as two forms-P. teres f. teres, and P. teres f. maculata-inducing net and spot-like symptoms, respectively. An intact-seedling assay, where entire seedlings are inoculated by spraying with a conidial suspension, is frequently used for phenotyping net blotch. However, this presents a biosecurity risk in the glasshouse when nonlocal isolates are being screened. Alternatively, a detached-leaf assay (DLA-droplet method) can be used in which leaf segments laid out in a covered tray are inoculated with droplets of a conidial suspension, confining the inoculum. However, using this method, net and spot form symptoms cannot be distinguished from each other. We have developed an improved DLA (DLA-spray method) in which detached whole leaves are sprayed with the inoculum to produce distinct lesions. We compare the results for the three phenotyping methods above using four isolates from both net and spot forms of the disease to inoculate a standard set of eight barley genotypes. Results indicate that the DLA-spray method is a functional, informative and rapid test that readily differentiates the two forms of the pathogen in a biosecure environment.


: Search asymmetry of emotional faces is defined as the condition in which it is faster to detect a negative emotional target face among positive emotional distractor faces than a positive target face among negative distractor faces. There is a lot of controversy regarding how this effect can be explained. Based on the latest behavioral and neurocognitive research, search asymmetries could possibly be explained by the emotional factors of threat capture and disengagement from emotion hypothesis, and the perceptual factors of closure, perceptual grouping and other facial features. Through the comparison of the two perspectives and corresponding experimental evidence, further research can integrate emotional and perceptual factors to explain the search asymmetry effect.


We consider doing Bayesian inference by minimizing the KL divergence on the 2-Wasserstein space $\mathcal{P}_2$. By exploring the Riemannian structure of $\mathcal{P}_2$, we develop two inference methods by simulating the gradient flow on $\mathcal{P}_2$ via updating particles, and an acceleration method that speeds up all such particle-simulation-based inference methods. Moreover we analyze the approximation flexibility of such methods, and conceive a novel bandwidth selection method for the kernel that they use. We note that $\mathcal{P}_2$ is quite abstract and general so that our methods can make closer approximation, while it still has a rich structure that enables practical implementation. Experiments show the effectiveness of the two proposed methods and the improvement of convergence by the acceleration method.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the characteristics of growth users over a long time to strategically collect a large amount of specific users' tweets. Twitter reflects events and trends in users' real lives because many of them post tweets related to their experiences. Many studies have succeeded in detecting events along with real-life information from a large amount of tweets by assuming users as social sensors. To collect a large amount of tweets based on specific users for successful Twitter studies, the authors have to know the characteristics of users who are active over long periods of time.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors explore the status of users who were active in 2012, and classify users into three statuses of Dead, Lock and Alive. Based on the differences between the numbers of tweets in 2012 and 2016, the authors further classify Alive users into three types of Eraser, Slumber and Growth. The authors analyze the characteristic feature values observed in each user behavior and provide interesting findings with each status/type based on Gaussian mixture model clustering and point-wise mutual information.

Findings

From their sophisticated experimental evaluations, the authors found that active users more easily dropped out than inactive users, and users who engaged in reciprocal communications often became Growth type. Also, the authors found that active users and users who were not retweeted by other users often became Eraser type. The authors' proposed methods effectively predicted Growth/Eraser-type users compared with the logistic regression model. From these results, the authors clarified the effectiveness of five feature values per active hour to detect intended Twitter user growth for strategically collecting a large amount of tweets.

Originality/value

The authors focus on user growth prediction. To appropriately estimate users who have potential for growth, they collect a large amount of users and explore their status and growth after three years. The research quantitatively clarifies the characteristics of growth users by clustering using robust feature values and provides interesting findings obtained by analysis. After that, the authors propose an effective prediction method for growth users and evaluate the effectiveness of their proposed method.


Nearest neighbor (NN) sampling provides more semantic variations than pre-defined transformations for self-supervised learning (SSL) based image recognition problems. However, its performance is restricted by the quality of the support set, which holds positive samples for the contrastive loss. In this work, we show that the quality of the support set plays a crucial role in any nearest neighbor based method for SSL. We then provide a refined baseline (pNNCLR) to the nearest neighbor based SSL approach (NNCLR). To this end, we introduce pseudo nearest neighbors (pNN) to control the quality of the support set, wherein, rather than sampling the nearest neighbors, we sample in the vicinity of hard nearest neighbors by varying the magnitude of the resultant vector and employing a stochastic sampling strategy to improve the performance. Additionally, to stabilize the effects of uncertainty in NN-based learning, we employ a smooth-weight-update approach for training the proposed network. Evaluation of the proposed method on multiple public image recognition and medical image recognition datasets shows that it performs up to 8 percent better than the baseline nearest neighbor method, and is comparable to other previously proposed SSL methods.


This paper describes the construction and operation of a water-cooled noble gas ion laser which generates average powers of the order of a milliwatt at 5 strong transitions between 195 and 225 nm. This pulsed laser has been operated at repetition rates up to 200 Hz and has produced average powers up to 5.1 mW at 219.2 nm. The pressure and voltage dependence of output power, along with preionization effects, gain, saturation intensities, and the effects of discharge current pulse length are discussed. The optical pulses can be precisely synchronized with respect to an electrical reference signal, and the laser operates at all wavelengths with Brewster windows, permitting convenient interchanging of resonator mirrors. This device has been designed for use as an ultraviolet illuminator in a photoelectron microscope.


In a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), a logically centralized controller is responsible for computing and installing paths in order to transfer packets among geographically distributed locations and remote users. Accordingly, this would necessitate obtaining the global view and dynamic network state information (NSI) of the network. Therefore, the centralized controller periodically collects link-state information from each port of each switch at fixed time periods. While collecting NSI in short periods causes protocol overhead on the controller, collecting in longer periods leads to obtaining inaccurate NSI. In both cases, packet losses are inevitable, which is not preferred for quality of service (QoS). Packet loss needs to be reduced by minimizing the protocol overload on the controller and collecting accurate NSI to provide better QoS. This work proposes an effective prediction method for collecting NSI (PM-NSI) that significantly reduces packet loss and controller protocol load allowing the controller to collect accurate NSI in longer periods. The proposed method is compared against the existing NSI collection method, which collects NSI periodically, in use on the RYU controller and the Mininet emulator by using a dynamic routing algorithm. The test results indicated that PM-NSI reduces controller load around 1000% by collecting NSI in longer periods and so outperforms the existing periodic NSI collection method in terms of packet loss, jitter, controller load, and thus QoS.


A lightning flash is initiated by electrical breakdown of the air in a cloud. This process, commonly known as the preliminary breakdown, signifies the initiation of a stepped leader. Such a stepped leader propagates towards the earth, in a succession of nearly discontinuous surges or steps. The stepped leader leaves a charged, conducting channel in its wake. When the leader reaches the ground, the current flowing in the channel increases abruptly, marking the beginning of the return stroke. After the first return stroke, several subsequent return strokes may occur, each of which is preceded by a fast, continuously moving leader the dart leader which propagates from cloud to earth down the channel made by the stepped leader. This chapter is concerned with the mathematical modelling of return strokes.


Noninfectious hemagglutinins were prepared from the allantoic fluids of embryonated chicken eggs infected with Sindbis virus or with Murray Valley encephalitis virus.


The object the present work is to present a model for a retinal prosthesis. The translation of an algorithm on the standard technology of silicon sets a trade off between accurate of model and feasibility to implementation. That is, a high accurately of the model, normally results in more complexity, and therefore minus feasibly its implementation in hardware. To develop the model was necessary to review the receptive field concept, its classification and retinal architecture. The model consists in to reproduce the signal in a ganglion cell. This model has the advantage that is very simple with a high feasibly to implement on standard technology silicon. The mathematical representation comprises sustained and transient response which is the classification of the receptive fields. A second contribution of this work is the interpretation of the response of ganglion cell which will be analyzed along the developmental of this work. Simulations results are presented using the mathematical representation.


Drug resistance is one of important factors limiting effect of most cancer therapies. Understanding mechanisms causing resistance can facilitate overcoming resistance. c-MET gene activation, via either activating mutations or gene amplification, is an oncogenic driver for some non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) in patients as well as in patient derived xenograft (PDX) (1). c-MET gene activation is also one of the two most dominant TKI-resistance seen among the patients treated with EGFR-TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitors) (1, 2). Therefore, c-MET inhibitor could become an important treatment option for NSCLC patients whose c-MET is either de nova activated or activated during TKI treatment (1). We recently demonstrated that Crizotinib (PF2341066), an approved drug against NSCLC with ALK-fusion and a known c-MET inhibitor, can effectively treat NSCLC with c-MET gene amplification, including those resistant to EGFR-TKIs (1), in PDXs. Specifically, we described two models LU1901 and LU2503 – both with amplified gene, accompanied with over-expression, of c-MET, and both sensitive to Crizotinib (complete regression in LU2503, while near-complete regression in LU1901) (1), confirming the c-MET activation as dominant oncogenic driver for these two tumors. In the present study, interestingly, the treated LU1901 tumors subsequently re-emerge and re-grow even in the presence of continuous treatment. In particular, the re-growed LU1901 become completely resistant to Crizotinib (we call LU1901R), even after it was re-engrafted. Pharmacodynamic analysis revealed that the LU1901R tumor has similar level of phosphorylation (or activation) of c-MET as the parental LU1901. Crizotinib treatment caused nearly-similar inhibition of c-MET in both LU1901 and LU1901R, as well as the downstream signaling, including pMEK and pAKT by Crizotinib in both LU1901 and LU1901R tumors along with c-MET inhibition. All these suggest that the threshold of c-MET activation for prompting tumor growth/survival is significantly lower in LU1901R than LU1901. We are currently characterizing the LU1901R in order to identify the mechanisms of resistance, and attempt to find approach to overcome them. In summary, we have successfully developed c-MET inhibitor resistant models that may reflect resistance emergence in the clinics. These models could be particularly useful in investigating clinical resistant mechanisms and evaluating new therapy that can overcome resistance. Citation Format: Mengmeng Yang, Xiaoming Song, JIe Cai, Youzhu Wang, Taiping Chen, Jean-Pierre Wery, Yiyou Chen, Henry Li. Treatments of NSCLC-PDX with c-MET gene amplification by c-MET inhibitors lead to rapid development of drug resistance. [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 5630. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5630


A miniature ultrasonic motor using first-order bending vibration of a cylinder with two free-free ends has been developed in this investigation. It is based on Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3) O3-PbTiO3 crystal with high piezoelectric response. The stator of the motor is optimized by finite element method. The stator is 4.8 mm in diameter and 18 mm in length. The nonlinear characteristics of the stator are discussed in this study and a fitted formula is given. The resonant frequency and mechanical quality factor of the stator decrease with voltage. The main performance of the motor is measured. The rotation speed reaches 450 r/m, with a maximal torque of 0.6 mNm. The motor can run with low voltage.


Assessing and quantifying cyber risk accurately in real-time is essential to providing security and mission assurance in any system and network. This paper presents a modeling and dynamic analysis approach to assessing cyber risk of a network in real-time by representing dynamically its vulnerabilities, exploitations, and impact using integrated Bayesian network and Markov models. Given the set of vulnerabilities detected by a vulnerability scanner in a network, this paper addresses how its risk can be assessed by estimating in real-time the exploit likelihood and impact of vulnerability exploitation on the network, based on real-time observations and measurements over the network. The dynamic representation of the network in terms of its vulnerabilities, sensor measurements, and observations is constructed dynamically using the integrated Bayesian network and Markov models. The transition rates of outgoing and incoming links of states in hidden Markov models are used in determining exploit likelihood and impact of attacks, whereas emission rates help quantify the attack states of vulnerabilities. Simulation results show the quantification and evolving risk scores over time for individual and aggregated vulnerabilities of a network.


Ice shelves play a vital role in regulating loss of grounded ice and in supplying freshwater to coastal seas. However, melt variability within ice shelves is poorly constrained and may be instrumental in driving ice shelf imbalance and collapse. High‐resolution altimetry measurements from 2010 to 2016 show that Dotson Ice Shelf (DIS), West Antarctica, thins in response to basal melting focused along a single 5 km‐wide and 60 km‐long channel extending from the ice shelf's grounding zone to its calving front. If focused thinning continues at present rates, the channel will melt through, and the ice shelf collapse, within 40–50 years, almost two centuries before collapse is projected from the average thinning rate. Our findings provide evidence of basal melt‐driven sub‐ice shelf channel formation and its potential for accelerating the weakening of ice shelves.


The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors for travelers' diarrhea (TD) reported by visitors to Cuzco, Peru. In this cross-sectional study, self-administered questionnaires looking at perceived occurrence of health problems and pre-travel health advice were obtained from departing travelers at Cuzco's International Airport between August and November 2002. A total of 5,988 travelers participated in the study. The mean age was 35 years, and 51% were women. The prevalence of TD was 24%. Factors associated with TD in the multivariable analysis were use of antibiotic prophylaxis (OR: 3.20), vaccination against cholera (OR: 1.44), history of advice for safe food and water consumption (OR: 1.46), being younger than 35 years of age (OR: 1.37), being a resident of the United States (OR: 1.28), not staying in hotels in Cuzco (OR: 1.13), and number of unsafe food or beverages consumed (OR: 1.04). Remaining in Cuzco < 1 week was a protective factor (OR: 0.58). TD is common among travelers to Cuzco. This study suggests that conventional recommendations are not invariably effective at decreasing TD.


The E × B staircase [1, 2] is a spontaneously formed, turbulence-driven self-organising pattern of quasi-regular, long-lived and localised shear flow [3] and stress layers. These layers coincide with long-lived pressure corrugations and are interspersed between regions of turbulent avalanching. The typical spacing between these layers is mesoscale, noted ∆ ∼ 25 − 30ρ i [1, 4] —in-between the turbulence auto-correlation length c ∼ 5ρ i at micro scales and the profile macroscale L 100ρ i , see e.g. Fig.2 in [1]— and sets the outer scale of the turbulent avalanching. Here ρ i is ion Larmor radius. Whilst arresting, statistically, to mesoscales the detrimental avalanching these layers, located at the " steps of the staircase " are beneficial to confinement. The E×B staircase is thus best understood as a self-organising and dynamical set of weak or permeable transport barriers. Strong mean zonal flows are generated and endure at the steps of the staircase, resulting in localised deviations of the poloidal flow from its oft-assumed neoclassical prediction [5].


The stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes are environmental isotopes, which widely exist in various kinds of water. Their relative abundance variation in water can indicate the water circulation and mechanism of water use in plant. This research selected two major kinds of greening tree species, evergreen coniferous Platycladus orientalis and deciduous broad-leaved Quercus variabilis, in Beijing mountainous area, and the water movement process in soil-plant-atmosphere continuum was investigated by the variation characteristics analysis of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions in precipitation, soil water, groundwater, plant stem water and leaf water. The results showed that the meteoric water line equation of the study area was δD=7.17δ18O+1.45 (R2=0.93), and the soil evaporation line equation was δD=3.85δ18O+1.45 (R2=0.76). A certain degree of evaporation fractionation existed in the processes of rainfall infiltration into soil water. In different seasons, the δD and δ18O values of precipitation, soil water and spring water had different variation regularity. In rainy season, the mean δD and δ18O values were in order of precipitation> spring water>soil water, with the precipitation and soil water supplied spring water together; in dry season, the order was precipitation > soil water > spring water, and the precipitation and spring water both contributed to soil water. The δD and δ18O fitting line equations of stem water of P. orienta-lis and Q. variabilis were respectively δD=5.03δ18O-30.78 and δD=3.0δ18O-48.92. The uptake water of Q. variabilis was more enriched than that of P. orientalis, and the depth of Q. variabilis water uptake in soil profile was shallower than P. orientalis. The leaf water isotopic variation of Q. varia-bilis was more sensitive to atmospheric environment, with the kinetic isotopic fractionation of Q. variabilis being more enriched than that of P. orientalis, but they had the same response to variation of environmental condition.


Future neutrino-oscillation experiments are expected to bring definite answers to the questions of neutrino-mass hierarchy and violation of charge-parity symmetry in the lepton sector. To realize this ambitious program it is necessary to ensure a significant reduction of uncertainties, particularly those related to neutrino-energy reconstruction. In this paper, we discuss different sources of systematic uncertainties, paying special attention to those arising from nuclear effects and detector response. By analyzing nuclear effects we show the importance of developing accurate theoretical models, capable to provide quantitative description of neutrino cross sections, together with the relevance of their implementation in Monte Carlo generators and extensive testing against lepton-scattering data. We also point out the fundamental role of efforts aiming to determine detector responses in test-beam exposures.


Alpha thalassemia (alpha-thal) is one of the most common hemoglobin (Hb) disorders in the world. Alpha-globin genes are located on chromosome 16. The majority of alpha-thal mutations are deletions but point mutations are found as well. Since the Iranian population is a mixture of different ethnic groups, frequency and distribution of alpha-globin mutations in various regions of the country need to be clarified. These findings can contribute to a wider understanding of this disorder.


The condition of the Glomeruli, or filter sacks, in renal Direct Immunofluorescence (DIF) specimens is a critical indicator for diagnosing kidney diseases. A digital pathology system which digitizes a glass histology slide into a Whole Slide Image (WSI) and then automatically detects and zooms in on the glomeruli with a higher magnification objective will be extremely helpful for pathologists. In this paper, using glomerulus detection as the study case, we provide analysis and observations on several important issues to help with the development of Computer Aided Diagnostic (CAD) systems to process WSIs. Large image resolution, large file size, and data scarcity are always challenging to deal with. To this end, we first examine image downsampling rates in terms of their effect on detection accuracy. Second, we examine the impact of image compression. Third, we examine the relationship between the size of the training set and detection accuracy. To understand the above issues, experiments are performed on the state-of-the-art detectors: Faster R-CNN, R-FCN, Mask R-CNN and SSD. Critical findings are observed: (1) The best balance between detection accuracy, detection speed and file size is achieved at 8 times downsampling captured with a 40 χ objective; (2) compression which reduces the file size dramatically, does not necessarily have an adverse effect on overall accuracy; (3) reducing the amount of training data to some extents causes a drop in precision but has a negligible impact on the recall; (4) in most cases, Faster R-CNN achieves the best accuracy in the glomerulus detection task. We show that the image file size of 40 χ WSI images can be reduced by a factor of over 6000 with negligible loss of glomerulus detection accuracy.


Information retrieval systems typically weight the importance of search terms according to document and collection statistics (such as by using tf x idf scores, where less common terms are given higher weight). We consider here the scenario where a user can express her own subjective weighting of the importance of the terms that form the query on top of the system-generated weighting, and show how this should modify the relevance scores of documents. This has been allowed before, but only by ad hoc heuristics. We give the first principled method for taking into account the user's subjective weighting of the importance of query terms. Our method is based on an approach by Fagin and Wimmers, that gives a simple formula derived from any existing "unweighted" ranking function. A naive application of the formula would require issuing as many distinct queries as there are terms in the query (search terms), thus damaging the response time of the retrieval. We explain here how to "smoothly" integrate the formula in most information retrieval systems so as not to affect the retrieval performance in terms of response time.


We present an overview of the design potential of nano-porous anti-reflection coatings (ARCs) and the associated challenges in its fabrication. Genetic algorithm optimization for the most effective ARCs on glass for normal and all incident angles is carried out and an admittance loci-based pictorial is used to visualize their performance. We then describe the advantages of using nano-porous multi-layers vis-a-vis other types of moth-eye type nano-grating films: Principally trading high performance and high cost of fabrication for good performance and lower cost facile synthesis. We describe some of the issues involved in the fabrication of such multi-layer stacks on glass and polymeric substrates and provide suggestions for overcoming these limitations.


To determine the effects of lifting time and storage on water-stress resistance of nursery-grown white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings, we compared gas exchange, water relations and mortality of 3-year-old seedlings lifted in October 1991 and stored at -2 degrees C for 3 months with seedlings lifted in January 1992. The seedlings were placed in nutrient solution and subjected to -1.1 or -2.7 MPa water stress induced by polyethylene glycol 3350 for 9 days. Water stress, but not lifting time, had a significant effect on seedling net assimilation, symplastic volume and turgor loss point. In a second experiment, seedlings lifted in October 1991 were stored at -2 degrees C for 7 months and compared with seedlings lifted in May 1992. The seedlings were planted in pots, and their gas exchange and water relation parameters measured in response to gradual water stress. The results suggest that prolonged cold storage retards photosynthetic recovery of seedlings after planting. Higher rates of net assimilation in seedlings lifted in May were not directly related to their water status. Nonstomatal limitations were the primary factor influencing photosynthetic rate. We conclude that the inferior ability of cold-stored seedlings to tolerate water stress was due to poor osmotic adjustment and a lag in recovery of photosynthesis.


We construct an optimal debt portfolio model with the purpose of optimizing the Hungarian government debt portfolio. To analyze the characteristics of the costs and corresponding risk factors of the Hungarian debt portfolio we simulate issuances of chosen instruments on a specified time horizon. We apply a multiobjective optimization scheme to construct compositions of financing that minimize the costs and risks of the debt portfolio. Our purpose is to find the set of Pareto-optimal solutions that minimize expected costs, volatility of costs and refinancing risks while maximizing average time to re-fixing. The results of the multiobjective optimization can be used to help in constructing a medium term debt management strategy.


. Communicable disease was source from insect still excess at public until know. Between insect what became vector were mosquito, fly and cockroach. Insect was vector well growing in bad sanitation environment. Like dirty sewer or sewage was possibility to gro wing mosquito like source thing like culex spp. beside making disturbing and peacefully taking part becoming filariasis vector or another disease be caused infection filariasis warn to human acausing cripple to human body when the next stage of disease. Research goal is to know how far the dijJerence multiple extract concentration soursop leaf to be larvasida in death of culex quinquefasciatus larvae. This research is using 3 treatment which is 0,2 %, 0,4 % and 0,6 % concentration. Treatment has been repeat 6 time. After getting enough data, next step is statistic analysis with probit analysis test. The conclusions are the death of culex quinquefasciatus larvae causing by extract concentration soursop leaf adding extract concentration soursop leaf have influence to the death of culex larvae. According probity analysis test is show that effective concentration to LC 50 and LC95 with Confidence Limits is can be acepted is 95%, as one by one are 0,631 % and 1,571 % betwen top and below limits. The result of reseach can be hoping to be usefull for extermination of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito.


The objective of this study is to know how big the influence of digital marketing in marketing communication strategy. Digital marketing is one of the tool to promote a product through media. Beside that, digital marketing can also facilitate the producer and the consumer into doing the buy and sell process. The method used in this study is descriptive method with qualitative approach. This study is caused by the rapid growth of technology in Indonesia, which caused digital marketing involved in marketing process. The result of this study shows that there is an impact from digital marketing in a marketing process. In conclusion, digital marketing is one of the main needs in marketing process that cannot be left out. With the rapid growth of technology, digital marketing is more affordable than any other methods. Besides, with the existence of digital marketing, it also facilitates the producer and consumer.


The crosstalk between metabolism and reproduction is essential for species survival. When dysfunctional, this interaction may decrease reproductive efficiency, but in physiological conditions of high energy demands, e.g., pregnancy and lactation, it is highly beneficial. Females display adaptive responses that assure offspring survival and health, including increased food intake and suppression of the reproductive function. Some of these physiological responses are modulated by leptin actions in neuronal pathways that are still unclear. The hypothalamic ventral premammillary nucleus (PMv) is a key integrative node of metabolic cues and reproductive status, comprised of either leptin-depolarized or -hyperpolarized neurons. Here, we show that the subset of leptin-hyperpolarized neurons coexpresses dopamine transporter (DAT) and prolactin receptor. DAT expression is higher in prepubertal conditions, when reproductive function is suppressed. These neurons innervate AgRP presynaptic terminals and may potentiate their inhibitory actions on reproduction. We further applied a mathematical model to reconcile our new findings with the current literature and to verify if those neurons are putative components of the metabolic control of reproduction. In our model, leptin-depolarized PMv neurons project to and directly stimulate kisspeptin and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. Leptin-hyperpolarized PMv DAT neurons are directly stimulated by prolactin and project to inhibitory control sites. During conditions of high prolactin levels, i.e., late pregnancy and lactation, this pathway may overcome the former, facilitating AgRP actions in the suppression of the reproductive function. Our model also predicts that overstimulation of this pathway may underlie earlier puberty and reproductive deficits observed in conditions of metabolic dysfunction. Significance Statement Women with excess or low energy stores (e.g., obesity or anorexia) have reproductive deficits, including altered puberty onset, disruption of reproductive cycles and decreased fertility. If able to conceive, they show higher risks of miscarriages and preterm birth. The hypothalamic circuitry controlling the interplay between metabolism and reproduction is undefined. Neurons in the ventral premammillary nucleus express leptin receptor and project to reproductive control sites. Those neurons are essentially glutamatergic, but functionally and phenotypically heterogeneous. They either depolarize or hyperpolarize in response to leptin. We show that leptin-hyperpolarized neurons coexpress dopamine transporter and prolactin receptor, and project to AgRP inhibitory output. Computational modeling was applied to build a neuronal network integrating metabolism and reproduction in typical and dysfunctional physiology.


Three features of early life course of Americans and Europeans during the twentieth century are of note: (1) the increased age-grading of transitions; (2) the closer spacing of different transitions, and (3) the more extensive overlap between economic and family transitions. Historical changes in the structure of individual life histories have been interpreted alternatively, as a consequence of industrialization and urbanization, or as the result of rising levels of the family and personal incomes available for consumption and investment in human capital skills. In this article we bring additional evidence to bear on this debate by comparing historical changes in the early life transitions of men and women in Japan and the United States. Trends in the transition to adulthood systematically relate to the structure of schools and labor markets in the two nations, drawing attention to the various life course implications of the institutional forms under which industrial societies may organize.


In this work we present an experimental method which allows to investigate experimentally the energy and momentum distribution of the carriers which are injected by an STM tip into a metallic sample. We perform in situ ballistic-electron-emission microscopy (BEEM) and spectroscopy (BEES) simultaneously with atomic-resolution STM. The experiments are done at 77K on epitaxial CoSi2 films on Si(111) and Si(100). The potential of the method to improve on our understanding of tunneling on an atomic scale will be illustrated by two important findings: For the first time we have directly observed variations of the tunneling distribution on an atomic scale. The BEEM data also give evidence for a pronounced forward focussing of the angular distribution of the tunneling electrons.


As a potential technology feature for 6G wireless networks, the idea of sensing-communication integration requires the system not only to complete reliable multi-user communication but also to achieve accurate environment sensing. In this paper, we consider such a joint communication and sensing (JCAS) scenario, in which multiple users use the sparse code multiple access (SCMA) scheme to communicate with the wireless access point (AP). Part of the user signals are scattered by the environment object and reflected by an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) before arriving at the AP. We exploit the sparsity of both the structured user signals and the unstructured environment and propose an iterative and incremental joint multi-user communication and environment sensing scheme, in which the two processes, i.e., multi-user information detection and environment object detection, interweave with each other thanks to their intrinsic mutual dependence. The proposed algorithm is sliding-window based and also graph based, which can keep on sensing the environment as long as there are illuminating user signals. The trade-off relationship between the key system parameters is analyzed, and the simulation result validates the convergence and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


Four hundred twenty-six white male and female, ninth and eleventh graders completed questionnaires that evaluated race, homosexual, HIV/AIDS, and fat prejudice, and sex-role stereotyping. A factor of intolerance was determined using all five scales. Regression analyses evaluated whether the association of prejudice attitudes among friends was conditional on friendship reciprocity, closeness, having one versus two friends, congruity of friends' prejudices, authoritative parenting, and degree of prejudice of the target adolescent. Friends' prejudices and stereotypes were not associated. Possible explanations were offered, including: discussions of prejudice and stereotyping may be rare among students; adolescents assume that their friends have similar attitudes to their own and thus don't question apparent differences; and adolescents may influence each other's behaviors, but not prejudices or stereotypes.


A novel luminescent Zn(2+) ions chemosensor, a cyclometalated platinum(II) bipyridyl acetylide complex, was designed. Of particular significance is that it shows a high sensitivity towards Zn(2+) ions without interference from other biologically important cations in acetonitrile. The tautomerization of amide favors detecting Zn(2+) ions among other HTM (heavy and transition metal) ions in aqueous systems.


Cancer narratives reveal and create truths about living with cancer. In this personal essay about telling the story of his father's death from complications of chemotherapy, the author reflects how his father's story became his story. The narrative the author shared with others served to frame a criticism of medical oncologists' reluctance to discuss death. A criticism his father, who appreciated the reticence, would reject. The truth of the author's father's story is that he expected the unpleasantness he experienced toward the end of his life to be necessary if he were to live longer. The truth of the author's story, as an academic leukemia specialist, is that the unrealistic expectations created by many cancer stories interfere with providing good end of life care.


Abstract The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of Ocimum basilicum (O. basilicum) was shown previously. In the present study, the effect of O. basilicum on tracheal responsiveness (TR) to methacholine and ovalbumin (OVA), bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) levels of oxidant–antioxidant biomarkers as well as total and differential white blood cell (WBC) in sensitized rats was examined. Six groups of rats including control (group C), sensitized rats to OVA (group S), S groups treated with three concentrations of O. basilicum (0.75, 1.50, and 3.00 mg/ml) and one concentration of dexamethasone (1.25 μg/ml) (n = 8 for all groups) were studied. TR to methacholine and OVA, total WBC count, percentages of eosinophils, monocytes, neutrophils, and levels of oxidant biomarkers were significantly increased but other measured parameters were significantly decreased in group S compared to group C. TR to methacholine and OVA, percentages of eosinophils, monocytes, neutrophils, and levels of oxidant biomarkers were significantly decreased but lymphocytes and antioxidant biomarkers were significantly increased in S groups treated with dexamethasone and at least two higher concentrations of the extract compared to group S. Total WBC count was also decreased in treated S groups with dexamethasone and high extract concentration. The effect of extract on most measured parameters was significantly lower than dexamethasone treatment. The effects of two higher concentrations of the extract on most variables were significantly higher than the effect of low extract concentration. These results showed the concentration-dependent effect of O. basilicum on tracheal responses, lung inflammatory cells, and oxidant–antioxidant parameters in sensitized rats.


How abolitionism evolved from an elite and conservative movement to a radical, grassroots reform cause; Most accounts date the birth of American abolitionism to 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison began publishing his radical antislavery newspaper, The Liberator. In fact, however, the abolition movement had been born with the American Republic. In the decades following the Revolution, abolitionists worked steadily to eliminate slavery and racial injustice, and their tactics and strategies constantly evolved. Tracing the development of the abolitionist movement from the 1770s to the 1830s, Richard Newman focuses particularly on its transformation from a conservative lobbying effort into a fiery grassroots reform cause. What began in late-eighteenth-century Pennsylvania as an elite movement espousing gradual legal reform began to change in the 1820s as black activists, female reformers, and nonelite whites pushed their way into the antislavery movement. Centered in Massachusetts, these new reformers demanded immediate emancipation, and they revolutionized abolitionist strategies and tactics - lecturing extensively, publishing gripping accounts of life in bondage, and organizing on a grassroots level. Their attitudes and actions made the abolition movement the radical cause we think of it as today.


Wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs) can enable many important applications such as intelligent agriculture, pipeline fault diagnosis, mine disaster rescue, concealed border patrol, and crude oil exploration. The key challenge to realize WUSNs is the wireless communication in underground environments. Most existing wireless communication systems utilize a dipole antenna to transmit and receive propagating electromagnetic (EM) waves, a method that does not work well in underground environments due to the high material absorption loss. The magnetic induction (MI) technique provides a promising alternative solution that could address the current problem in underground environments. Although MI-based underground communication has been intensively investigated theoretically, little effort has been made so far to develop a testbed for MI-based underground communication that can validate the theoretical results. In this article, a testbed of several MI-based communication systems is designed and implemented in an in-lab underground environment. The testbed realizes and tests not only the original MI mechanism utilizing a single coil but also recently developed techniques that use the MI waveguide and threedirectional (3D) MI coils. The experiments are conducted in an in-lab underground environment with reconfigurable environmental parameters, such as soil composition and water content. This article provides the principles and guidelines for developing the MI underground communication testbed, which is very complicated and time consuming due to the new communication mechanism and the new wireless transmission medium.


Abstract : We describe a design of fault-tolerant features for the PANSAT communications satellite, a design which can address a wide variety of possible faults. We discuss system errors, program errors, and data errors, each subdivided into a variety of types. We discuss acceptance tests that can be used to detect faults, and the appropriate remediation methods for each type.


We have carried out a detailed analysis that compares steady state versus pulsed tokamak reactors. The motivations are as follows. Steady state current drive has turned out to be more difficult than expected—it takes too many watts to drive an ampere, which has a negative effect on power balance and economics. This is partially compensated by the recent development of high temperature REBCO superconductors, which offers the promise of more compact, lower cost tokamak reactors, both steady state and pulsed. Of renewed interest is the reduction in size of pulsed reactors because of the possibility of higher field Ohmic transformers for a given required pulse length. Our main conclusion is that pulsed reactors may indeed be competitive with steady state reactors and this issue should be re-examined with more detailed engineering level studies.


This paper presents a general framework of utilizing a fused measurement of the building instantaneous cooling load to improve the reliability of the chiller sequencing control in building automation systems. The fused measurement is obtained by combining the complementary advantages of two different approaches to measuring the building cooling load. One approach is the direct measurement, which calculates the building cooling load directly, using the differential water temperature and water flow rate measurements. The other is the indirect measurement, which calculates building cooling load based on chiller models using the instantaneous chiller electrical power input, etc. The combination strategy is tested using the field data collected from the central plant of the air-conditioning system in a high-rise building in Hong Kong. The confidence degree associated with the fused measurement is systematically evaluated. Periodic update of the fusion algorithm parameters is also developed to improve the performance of the fusion strategy and the chiller sequencing control.


Papers on all aspects of marine ecology—floristic or faunistic, littoral, inshore, offshore and deep sea—are acceptable. The Journal is intended, however, particularly to be a forum for work on the physiology, biochemistry and behaviour of organisms in relation to their ecology; experimental work on eco-systems and on individual organisms in relation to their ecology will be especially welcome. Although this kind of work will be stressed, papers of a descriptive character—particularly if they aim at elucidating or illuminating general ecological problems and principles—will be considered for inclusion. Articles on new techniques and methods, will, if their importance warrants it —be published, as will those concerned with 'theoretical' ecology. One consists


The velamen roots in epiphytic orchids are rather complex, and their environmental role remains poorly understood. Fungal associates are known in the velamen roots of tropical orchids, but the magnitude of their diversity in particular species remains unknown. The primary aim of this work was to explore endophytic fungal species associated with the velamen roots of three tropical epiphytic orchids. Velamen roots were collected from 30 plants of Rhynchostylis retusa and 25 plants each of Epidendrum radicans and Oncidium sphacelatum. Endophytic fungi were isolated from 2160 segments. Twenty species of velamen-root-associated fungal endophytes were separated with a culture technique. The isolated strains were grouped into morphotypes, subsequently identified morphologically and by means of ITS DNA barcoding. Ascomycota were the dominant group with 18 species. Trichoderma cf. asperellum, Endomelanconiopsis endophytica, Trichoderma cf. atroviride and Lasiodiplodia theobromae were the most frequent taxa isolated. A majority of the identified fungi were common to more than one orchid. Colonisation rate, isolation rate, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, species richness and species evenness of the endophytic fungi from different orchids were studied and were tested for significance with the Kruskal-Wallis H test. The colonisation rate and isolation rate of fungal associates in the velamen roots were found to be distinctly the lowest in Rhynchostylis retusa.


Weaning weight (WW) records were used to investigate the presence of a genotype x ecological region interaction as well as the magnitude and significance of such an interaction. Records from herds were allocated to one of three veld types that described the specific region in which each herd was situated, i.e. sweetveld (Region 1), sourveld (Region 2) and mixed veld (Region 3). The data set consisted of 2136 records for Region 1, 3984 for Region 2 and 11432 for Region 3. Weaning weight data from each region was considered as separate traits and two trait analyses of the three different regions were carried out to determine (co)variance components. Weighted direct heritability estimates for WW ranged from 0.23 to 0.45. Direct genetic correlations of Regions 2 and 3 with Region 1 were significant and were 1.00 and 0.71 respectively. This indicates that no G x E occurred between Regions 1 and 2, but indeed between Regions 1 and 3. The genetic correlation between Regions 2 and 3 (0.60) were not significantly different from 0.


For the first time, nano-scale rods of NaLaxYb9-x(SiO4)6O2 (x=1,3,5,7,9) crystals (NLS) activated with Er3+ have been synthesized through a mild hydrothermal conditions with subsequent calcination. The as-obtained products were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results indicate that the compound has an apatite structure and crystallizes in the hexagonal system, space group P63/m. The excitation spectrum and emission spectrum were also emplyed to investigate the optical properties of the nano-rods. The Er3+ doped NLS exhibit green/red up-conversion luminescence under excitation with a diode laser at 980 nm.


This essay discusses the decoration of a Flemish art cabinet gifted by Charles II to his supporter Sir Thomas Myddelton after the Restoration of the monarchy. I analyze how the so-called Chirk Cabinet uses the images of the seven works of mercy and other biblical stories to express Charles's gratitude to the royalists and to legitimize the restored monarchy. By discussing connections between the cabinet's imagery and Charles's life, I show that the cabinet constructs a providential narrative that presents Charles as a monarch with the right to rule that is God-given and manifested itself in his trials and tribulations, and his eventual triumph. Finally, by examining the visual and haptic engagement that the Chirk Cabinet demanded from its viewers, I demonstrate that the cabinet's sections' dynamic metamorphoses and kinetic transitions reenacted the transformation of the exiled heir to the throne into the divinely anointed king.


The estimation of P- to S-wave velocity ratio in the subsurface has many applications in gas-bearing reservoir prospecting, lithology discrimination and anomalous pore pressure prediction. Conventionally, it is estimated with the P-wave and S-wave velocities/moduli/impedances that are directly obtained from pre-stack seismic data using the existing reflection coefficient equation (e.g. the Aki-Richards approximation). However, this indirect inversion method creates cumulative errors for the estimated PSR results. To eliminate cumulative errors, we first propose a novel generalized elastic impedance that has more explicit physical meaning compared with conventional elastic impedance. Then, we derive a linear P-wave reflection coefficient equation in terms of the P- to S-wave velocity ratio, P-wave velocity and density under the assumption of weak contrast. Furthermore, a robust AVO inversion method is constructed with the proposed reflection coefficient equation in the Bayesian framework. Cauchy and Gaussian probability distributions are used as the priori probability distribution of the model parameter and likelihood function, respectively, to predict the maximum posteriori probability solution for P- to S-wave velocity ratio, P-velocity and density. Synthetic and field examples illustrate that the proposed direct inversion method performs with higher accuracy compared with the indirect method that inverts for the P-wave and S-wave velocities and also illustrate the feasibility of our method for inverting the three parameters even with strong noise. Our inverted results conform to the drilling results, which validates the robustness of the proposed direct inversion method.


How cancer cells adapt to stress Bacteria adapt to harsh conditions such as antibiotic exposure by acquiring new mutations, a process called stress-induced mutagenesis. Cipponi et al. investigated whether similar programs of mutagenesis play a role in the response of cancer cells to targeted therapies. Using in vitro models of intense drug selection and genome-wide functional screens, the authors found evidence for an analogous process in cancer and showed that it is regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. This pathway appears to mediate a stress-related switch to error-prone DNA repair, resulting in the generation of mutations that facilitate the emergence of drug resistance. Science, this issue p. 1127 An evolutionarily conserved program of adaptive mutagenesis accelerates drug resistance in human cancers. In microorganisms, evolutionarily conserved mechanisms facilitate adaptation to harsh conditions through stress-induced mutagenesis (SIM). Analogous processes may underpin progression and therapeutic failure in human cancer. We describe SIM in multiple in vitro and in vivo models of human cancers under nongenotoxic drug selection, paradoxically enhancing adaptation at a competing intrinsic fitness cost. A genome-wide approach identified the mechanistic target of rapamycin (MTOR) as a stress-sensing rheostat mediating SIM across multiple cancer types and conditions. These observations are consistent with a two-phase model for drug resistance, in which an initially rapid expansion of genetic diversity is counterbalanced by an intrinsic fitness penalty, subsequently normalizing to complete adaptation under the new conditions. This model suggests synthetic lethal strategies to minimize resistance to anticancer therapy.


In the white book of Bitcion, Satoshi Nakamoto described a bitcoin system that can realize point-to-point online payment without a third-party organization. After supporting this magical application scenario and subverting the traditional centralized system, the blockchain technology has attracted worldwide attention, triggered a research upsurge of blockchain consensus algorithm, and produced a large number of innovative applications. Although various consensus algorithms continue to evolve with the iteration of blockchain products and applications, Proof of Work (POW) and Proof of Skake (POS) algorithms are still the core of consensus algorithms. This paper discussestwo algorithms of POW and POS in blockchain consensus mechanism, and analyzes the advantages and the existing problems of the two consensus mechanisms. Since consensus mechanism is the main focus of blockchain technology and has many influencing factors, this paper discusses the current problems and some improved ideas, and selectes some typical algorithms for a more systematic introduction. In addition, some important issues related to safety and performance are also discussed. This paper provides the researchers a great reference on blockchain consensus mechanism.


Experimental research over the last two decades has shown that the anatomical connectivity among neurons is largely non-random across brain areas. This complex organisation shapes the flow of information, giving rise to specific pathways and motifs, which are ultimately responsible for processes like emotions, cognitive functions and behaviour, just to mention few. Due to the spectacular progress of technology, the study of the brain wiring diagram, known as connectomics, has received considerable attention in recent years, resulting in the proliferation of large data sets. From one side, this adds a significant contribution towards a better understanding of the complex processes that take place in the brain. On the other side, however, analysing such large connectivities is a hard task that has not yet found a satisfactory solution. Particular evidence has been found for bidirectional motifs,occurring when two neurons project onto each other via connections of equal strength, and unidirectional motifs, when one of the two connections is dominant. These specific motifs were found to correlate with short-term synaptic plasticity properties, which are related to resources availability for signal transmission. The aim of this thesis is to add a contribution to the ongoing efforts spent on answering the two main questions related to motif evidence: How can we satisfactory detect and measure motifs in large networks and why do they have the characteristics that we observe? Following existing literature, we hypothesise that bidirectional and unidirectional motifs appear as a consequence of learning processes, which move the distribution of the synaptic connections away from randomness through activity dependent synaptic plasticity. Based on this, we introduce a symmetry measure for global connectivity and a statistics-based heuristic algorithm for directed and weighted graphs that is able to detect overlapping bidirectional communities within large networks. On the other side, to address the why question we introduce an error-driven learning framework for short-term plasticity that acts jointly with Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity, a well-known learning mechanism for long-term plasticity: By allowing synapses to change their properties,neurons are able to adapt their own activity depending on an error signal. This results in more rich dynamics and also, provided that the learning mechanism is target-specific, leads to specialised groups of synapses projecting onto functionally different targets, qualitatively replicating the experimental results of Wang and collaborators in 2006.


A comparative study on target identification using the radar cross section (RCS) signature of an aircraft in both the frequency domain and the range domain is conducted. A maximum likelihood method is employed to perform the identification process. Generalised likelihood identification when the received RCS signal is attenuated by an unknown amount is also examined. Target identification could be quite computationally intensive since a large number of library reference signatures may have to be searched to declare an identification. The use of an orthogonal transform is proposed to reduce the computational requirement. It is found that the discrete cosine transform is very effective in compacting the RCS signature in the frequency domain, and the Haar transform is more efficient in the range domain. The application of orthogonal transforms can reduce the computational complexity by at least 50% while maintaining the same identification accuracy.


Cells are packed full of molecular motors that carry out a plethora of different functions. In their Perspective,
 Junge and Nelson
 discuss two recent studies (
 Meier
 et al.,
 Murata
 et al.) that shed light on the workings of rotary electromotors, one designed to drive the synthesis of the energy carrier molecule ATP, the other to pump sodium cations at the expense of ATP hydrolysis


In this paper, inertia wheel pendulum balance control is performed by using swing up and PID controller. Paper provides predictions on real time design balance system. Predictions were performed through data that were classified and tested by machine learning via MATLAB. Data obtained a result of the analyze of balance positions and swinging times of the wheel different diameters and weights in real-time. Through to this work will be able to predictable which wheel characteristics can be controlled and balanced.


Objectives Natural disasters have been frequent in recent years. Effective treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease following natural disasters is an unsolved problem. We aimed to develop a comprehensive surgical treatment shelter to provide emergency interventional services for patients with critical cardiovascular disease following natural disasters. To evaluate the radiation and protection measures through monitoring c-arm X-ray machine radiation in the comprehensive surgical treatment shelter. We evaluate the radiation and protection measures through monitoring c-arm X-ray machine in the comprehensive surgical treatment shelter. Methods The radiation dose detectors were used to evaluate the abdominal radiation dose rate when the surgical personnel were next to the c-arm X-ray machine with or without lead shade protection etc. The operation was carried out in nine perspective method detection that was the anteroposterior, head, right shoulder and foot position. Results (7.89 ± 0.19 to 229.80 ± 1.30, P<0.001), head position (16.86 ± 0.11 to 255.20 ± 1.30, P<0.001); right shoulder (32.38 ± 1.38 to 249.00 ± 1.22, P<0.001); right former inclined (37.84 ± 0.35 to 134.60 ± 1.52, P<0.001); left shoulder (38.20 ± 0.07 to 282.40 ± 1.14, P<0.001); left front inclined (26.54 ± 0.15 to 276.00 ± 1.22, P<0.001); liver (36.50 ± 0.19 to 126.00 ± 1.22, P<0.001); spleen (34.36 ± 0.21 to 261.00 ± 1.00, P<0.001);foot (36.44 ± 0.22 to 149.00 ± 1.00, P<0.001). Conclusions Although the radiation safety in the square cabinet c-arm X-ray machine intraoperative application was really high, the radiation in the teach area cannot be ignored, and we still need to strengthen the protection measures.


In this paper, we utilize the linguistic structures of texts to improve named entity recognition by BRNN-CNN, a special bidirectional recursive network attached with a convolutional network. Motivated by the observation that named entities are highly related to linguistic constituents, we propose a constituent-based BRNN-CNN for named entity recognition. In contrast to classical sequential labeling methods, the system first identifies which text chunks are possible named entities by whether they are linguistic constituents. Then it classifies these chunks with a constituency tree structure by recursively propagating syntactic and semantic information to each constituent node. This method surpasses current state-of-the-art on OntoNotes 5.0 with automatically generated parses.


Methods of solving inverse problems which arise in determining atomic parameters are briefly reviewed. The parametric method of studying series perturbations in the spectra of complex elements is considered in more detail. The classification of interacting series complexes given here, together with the generalized Edlén series formula and the corresponding results, modifies existing concepts regarding the role of interactions of different series.


Abstract : In structural engineering it is imperative to design each system to survive the inputs anticipated over the design life of the structure. Strong motion inputs cause systems to execute nonlinear responses, and during the strong motion responses, structures accumulate damage. Therefore, the capability to model nonlinear responses and to assess the damage level in a structure is essential for optimal design. Techniques for the diagnosis of damage in inelastic structures have been developed. The dissipated energy in mechanical systems is taken as a measure of damage accumulation. Two models for the simulation of damaged structural response have been developed. Both the single-degree-of-freedom and multi-degree-of-freedom systems were included in the analysis. The objective of this study is to use these models to estimate the amount of energy dissipated due to a strong motion input. The results show that structural damage can be predicted, even in the presence of measurement noise. (Author)


Glucose intolerance characterized by postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia is commonly seen in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). The aim of this study is to clarify the relation between glucose intolerance and disorder of liver function in patients with LC. The 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (75 g OGTT) and the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp combined with 0.2 g/kg oral glucose load (HECGL) were conducted in 61 patients with LC. Based on the results of 75 g OGTT, the 61 patients with LC were divided into groups, 21 (34.4%) patients with normal glucose tolerance (LC-NGT), 12 (19.7%) patients with impaired glucose tolerance (LC-IGT) and 28 (45.9%) patients with diabetes mellitus (LC-DM). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level was normal in 50 (82.0%) patients with LC. All patients with LC showed insulin resistance in both peripheral (skeletal and adipose) and hepatic tissues evaluated by HECGL, although significant correlation between the degree of glucose intolerance and the severity of hepatic dysfunction was not observed. Insulin resistance in both liver and peripheral tissues is the early sign in the patients with LC. This fact indicates that nutritional care from early stages of LC would be necessary in the patients.


Objective: To investigate whether the orientation of the electrical T-axis and the spatial QRS-T angle provide independent diagnostic and prognostic information in patients presenting with acute chest pain. Methods: Patients with symptoms suggestive of acute cardiac pathology, who were seen by a general practitioner and for whom a prehospital electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded by the ambulance service between 1992 and 1994 were investigated. The ECGs (n = 2,261) for our study population were stored for off-line analysis by the Modular ECG Analysis System. QRS- and T-axes were computed from the reconstructed vectorcardiographic X, Y and Z leads. During the year 2000, a follow-up of the entire cohort was performed, and the vital status of the patients was determined via the civil registrar's office. Cox multivariable regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relation between the orientation of the T-axis, the spatial QRS-T angle and long-term mortality. Results: An abnormal orientation of the T-axis and the spatial QRS-T angle were associated with an increased likelihood of cardiac diseases and an increased risk of all-cause mortality during short- and long-term follow-up. Conclusions: We conclude that the frontal T-axis and the spatial QRS-T angle are important determinants of diagnosis and prognosis in patients presenting with acute chest pain. The reintroduction of vectorcardiography in routine clinical practice might therefore be reconsidered.


Several tens of specimens of Lower Bajocian Albarracinites (type species A. albarraciniensis Fernandez-Lopez, 1985), including microconchs and macroconchs from the Iberian Range, have been studied. This ammonite genus ranges in the Iberian Range from at least the Ovale Zone to the uppermost Laeviuscula Zone of the Lower Bajocian (Middle Jurassic). The macroconch counterpart is thought to be a group of stephanoceratids previously attributed to Mollistephanus, Riccardiceras and other new forms described in this paper. Two chronologically successive species of Albarracinites have been identified: A. albarraciniensis and A. submediterraneus sp. nov. The evolution of the Albarracinites lineage represents a hypermorphic peramorphocline starting from depressed, small and slender serpenticones of A. westermanni, to larger planorbicones with more cadiconic phragmocones and body chamber of subcircular cross section belonging to A. submediterraneus sp. nov., through A. albarraciniensis Fernandez-Lopez. In contrast, Mollistephanus planulatus (Buckman), M. cockroadensis Chandler & Dietze and M. mollis Buckman represent a peramorphocline by acceleration, producing adults of similar size but more compressed and with increasing ontogenic variation of shell ornament. Albarracinites and Mollistephanus subsequently developed two opposite peramorphoclines or gradational series of morphological changes undergoing greater development and ontogenic variation. These two genera show diverse palaeobiogeographical distributions too. Albarracinites is rarely recorded in the Mediterranean and Submediterranean from the Discites to the Laeviuscula Zone, whereas Mollistephanus is more common in north-western Europe and other biochoremas of the western Tethys from the Discites Zone to the Sauzei Zone. Albarracinites seems to be the earliest stephanoceratid lineage in western Tethys, branching off from the otoitid Riccardiceras by proterogenetic change and resulting in paedomorphosis at the Aalenian/Bajocian boundary. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:09B95E3C-00E7-4A9E-907B-656255AA7B00


Stream-dwelling salmonids and bullheads occupy similar resource niches in northern rivers. It is therefore tempting to assume that they might be involved in a competitive interaction, with potential implications for the habitat use and growth of brown trout (Salmo trutta). We conducted artificial-stream experiments to test whether a putative competitor, Alpine bullhead (Cottus poecilopus), had an effect on the habitat use of under-yearling (0+) and yearling (1+) trout. We hypothesised that (i) 1+ trout would be competitively superior to 0+ trout, forcing the younger fish to suboptimal habitats, and that (ii) bullhead might affect the habitat use and prey selection of 0+ trout but less so that of 1+ trout. Against our predictions, no effect of bullhead was found on the habitat use of either age class of brown trout. Instead, yearling trout seemed to force bullheads to suboptimal microhabitats with high current velocities. Presence of yearlings also decreased the growth of under-yearling fish and caused a shift in their diet composition. These findings suggest that competitive interactions may not limit the coexistence of brown trout and bullheads in boreal rivers. Intraspecific interactions between trout age classes may be more important, with potentially detrimental effects on the growth and overwintering success of 0+ trout.


Introduction: Congenital sideroblastic anemia (CSA) is an uncommon cause of inherited anemia characterized by pathologic iron accumulation. Severity of anemia and blood transfusion requirements are variable. Aberrations in iron-heme metabolism that underpin CSA result in iron overload, often preceding transfusion. The only curative therapy for CSA is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), offered to select patients with severe transfusion dependent anemia. Mutations in several genes have been identified to be responsible for CSA. Mutations in SLC25A38, encoding a mitochondrial glycine transporter required for heme biosynthesis, are a rare cause of CSA. Homozygosity for a novel founder missense mutation in SLC25A38 (c.560G>A) has been detected in a Canadian First Nations Northern Cree population. The associated phenotype is a severe anemia presenting in infancy and characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis and iron loading. The natural history and treatment outcomes of CSA caused by the c.560G>A mutation have not been described.
 Objectives: (1) To characterize the clinical features in patients homozygous for this founder mutation, including propensity to iron loading and (2) to describe the treatment course and outcomes for red cell transfusion, iron chelation, pyridoxine supplementation and HSCT.
 Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre and CancerCare Manitoba of all affected individuals homozygous for the c.560G>A mutation in SLC25A38.
 Results: Seven affected individuals (three females and four males) were identified. Comorbidities including dextrocardia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, rheumatoid arthritis and global developmental delay were noted in three members of the kindred, but there was no evidence of a syndromic form of CSA. The median age of presentation with anemia was 6 months (24 days - 4.4 years). The median age of CSA diagnosis was 1.5 years (6 months - 22 years). Alternative causes of anemia were initially suspected in five of the seven patients: iron deficiency, resulting in oral iron supplementation, and alpha thalassemia. Uniformly, individuals presented with a microcytic, hypochromic anemia, with elevated ferritin prior to first red cell transfusion. All affected individuals required red cell transfusion support, with six of seven patients requiring chronic transfusions at a median frequency of every four weeks. One individual, though chronically anemic, did not require regular transfusion support until the age of 20 years. One patient carried a successful pregnancy with transfusion support, but delivered prematurely. For all individuals, iron chelation was recommended, with six individuals starting chelation within three years of initiation of transfusions. Hepatic, cardiac, pituitary and pancreatic iron overload, and resultant organ dysfunction were noted in two subjects who did not adhere to chelation; one died of neutropenic sepsis after starting deferiprone for cardiac iron overload. Six individuals were given trials of pyridoxine supplementation, with two demonstrating a transient partial response with a rise in reticulocyte count and decrease in transfusion frequency. Three individuals underwent allogeneic HSCT (two from matched sibling donors, and one from a matched unrelated donor), at 5.5 years, 7.2 years, and 28 years. The oldest and most iron-loaded of the three died in the post-transplant period due to complications of sepsis. The other two individuals remain transfusion free, at 9 months and 15.6 years post-HSCT.
 Conclusions: A novel founder mutation in SLC25A38 causing CSA among individuals of Canadian First Nations Northern Cree descent results in a severe transfusion-dependent anemia. Despite a common genetic etiology, phenotypic variability was noted, with one individual having marked tolerance to anemia. A partial transient response to pyridoxine was noted in two individuals, raising the question of an alternative role for SLC25A38 in heme biosynthesis. HSCT, when performed before significant iron overloading, was beneficial. Characterization of this phenotype and evidence of successful HSCT may assist clinicians in identifying affected individuals with CSA and initiating timely and effective treatment.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Insulin resistance increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias; however, the underpinning mechanisms for this increased risk remain to be fully defined. Insulin resistance impairs mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) in skeletal muscle, both of which are counteracted by aerobic exercise (AE). Therefore, we considered whether similar events occur in the brain, specifically in regions such as cerebrum and hippocampus which are rich in insulin receptors and mitochondria. We determined whether AE would counteract mitochondrial deficits in hippocampal and cerebral mitochondrial function in high fat diet (HFD) induced insulin resistance. Four weeks of HFD in mice induced hippocampal insulin resistance which was corrected by AE. HFD decreased ATP production and increased ROS emission in isolated cerebral mitochondria, which were rescued with AE. Impairments in mitochondrial function with HFD were paralleled by reductions in mtDNA copy number, mRNA expression of mitochondrial genes, and oxidative enzyme activities (e.g., citrate synthase, COX) in the hippocampus, which were corrected by AE. We also observed excessive mitochondrial fission in the hippocampus following HFD, which was prevented by AE. Proteomic analysis of the hippocampus showed that HFD led to oxidative post-translational modifications (PTMs) of mitochondrial proteins; however, this increase in oxidative PTMs to mitochondrial proteins with HFD was almost completely reversed by AE. Further, intranasal administration of the insulin receptor antagonist S961 prevented AE-induced improvements in ATP production and ROS emission in isolated cerebral mitochondrial during HFD, demonstrating that AE enhances cerebral mitochondrial function during HFD by resensitizing brain insulin signaling. Disclosure G. Ruegsegger: None. P.M. Vanderboom: None. S. Dasari: Consultant; Self; The Binding Site. K. Klaus: None. K. Nair: None.


TRINEly COLLEGE AND DUN"S HOSPITAL. S03w fifty years ago a liccat-(1 cadexaminawln fee of £5 'Was imnposed on candidates for each of thle final examuinatious in medicine and surgrery in the Unjiversity of Dublin with the avowed object of landing the prov'(es to the governors of Sir Pattick Dun's Hospital-tlheni a purely y medical hospital-Jfor tlle purpose ot establislihing saraical.beds. The main argumleint used to justify the cotr-se tlen adopted lwas thZat university students would thus be enabled. to.attend, their wlhole liospital practicq at D)un's-and tlhereby save in tfIe total lhospital fees payable by tlhem. Since tlheni matter-s lhave chllangaed. It is no longer compulsory for u-iniversity stuldelnts to attend alny of tlleir bospital curriculum at Dun's, uor can the paymlent of the Iiccat fees be claimiied to effect a savinia in total lospital fees. Indecd, these fees lhave meanwvhile been raised at all the Dublini lhospitals, Duns inieluded. 'T'le milajoIritv of the iiuiversity students are now distLributed over thle various otler Dtublin lhospitals, and at (lifferent tilmes in recenit -cars the above conidition of affairs has lc(' to expressiOnIs of dissatisfaction froi cliniical teachers in tlhesc hospitals, wlhile stuLdents generally anud their guiardians do not realize the pulrpose for whlichl tlhe tieat fees aro clharged and to wlhiclh tlley aire devotecl. Tihe muatLer hlas aain conice to the fore, anid counisel's opinion h!as beenl taken by botlh sides as to the legality of the positioni, tlle claimii being advanced, oU. belhalf of Dun's Hospital, thlat a contrzact exists fromi wlicl the Colleg,e canniot vithidraw. To the imiipartial onllooker it is niot clear lhc, unlider present circuimistanices, the conitinuance of thle charge cai he jtustified eitlher by tlle receivers of tle benefaction or by the vicarious dJoniors. It is to be lhoped tllat an eqluitable solution of the difficulty will be foundl, and(l that the matter will now be put onl a proper basis onice for all.


Background: Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in India. According to RNTCP guidelines, all efforts are to be made to diagnose tuberculosis on the basis of detection of AFB/ MTB in the clinical specimen; hence all those cases where AFB/ MTB have not been detected are presumptive cases of tuberculosis. In this background, the present study aims to detect AFB/ MTB in the sputum of clinico-radiologically presumptive cases of pulmonary tuberculosis using direct ZN microscopy, Modified Petroff's method followed by ZN microscopy & MGIT liquid culture method. Materials and Methods: A total of 94 sputum samples which were negative for AFB by direct ZN microscopy at the DMC of the institute, were subjected to Modified Petroff's method followed by microscopy & MGIT liquid culture test to find out any additional yield of bacteriologically confirmed disease. Result: Out of 94 specimens, 20 (21.28%) were positive for AFB on ZN microscopy post Modified Petroff's method. Among all the specimens, 30 (31.91%) were found to be positive by MGIT liquid culture method with average time to detection growth (TTD) around 16.73 days (2-38 days). Conclusion: Modified Petroff's method followed by ZN microscopy & MGIT test for mycobacterial culture can improve case detection.


The synthesis of new cyclopenta-acridinones and -phenothiazines by cyclization of N-aryl indanes under acidic conditions or via Bernthsen thionation is reported.


One of the more significant uses of the p-n junction variable capacitor is as an HF (> 100 mc) tuning element. Structures which have been available have had rather low Q at these frequencies. In order to determine the limits imposed on Q by the physics of the device, a fundamental study has been made of the problems of the HF junction capacitor. Equations have been developed for the prediction of Q in alloyed and diffused structures. Optimization criteria are proposed which permit design of capacitors in which Q is no longer a significant limitation. In support of the theory, experimental results are presented on units designed and fabricated in accordance with the optimization criteria. Q's in excess of 500 have been observed at 100 mc.


As life expectancy rises and the survival rate after acute cardiovascular events improves, the number of people living and dying with chronic heart failure is increasing. People suffering from chronic ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease may experience a significant limitation of their quality of life which can be addressed by palliative care. Although international guidelines recommend the implementation of integrated palliative care for patients with heart failure, models of care are scarce and are often limited to patients at the end of life. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a model designed to improve the early integration of palliative care for patients with heart failure. This model has enabled patients to access palliative care when they normally would not have and given them the opportunity to plan their care in line with their values and preferences. However, the effectiveness of this interdisciplinary model of care on patients' quality of life and symptom burden still requires evaluation.


A recent paper describes a striking expression pattern during somite formation for a chick ortholog of the fly hairy gene. Before segmentation, c-hairy1 mRNA oscillates in the presomitic mesoderm such that three distinct spatial patterns are seen. The authors use a series of ingenious manipulations to show that these phases follow each other in time, adding up to a 90-minute periodicity in c-hairy1 expression. The discovery of this clock of gene expression emphasizes the importance of temporally regulated events in the establishment of spatial patterns.


The fluid force due to labyrinth seal sometimes makes the turbomachineries unstable under higher rotating speed, higher pressure and higher power. Therefore, it is important to predict the magnitude and the direction of the fluid force and to evaluate the stability of the rotor system in design process. This paper shows the experimental results of the fluid force induced by a straight labyrinth seal and the rotordynamic coefficients calculated from the fluid force. Influences of the number of fins under the rotating speed, whirling speed, inlet pressure, and inlet tangential velocity are mainly investigated on a stability of the rotor system. The results show that increase of the number of fins makes the fluid force small and the rotor system stable, an increase of inlet pressure makes the fluid forces large and an increase of inlet tangential velocity makes the rotor system unstable.


Background. Failure of orthodontic bracket bonds is a common occurrence during orthodontic treatment. Different techniques have been suggested in the literature to remove resin residues from the bracket bases and enamel surfaces to prepare the surfaces again after debonding. This study attempted to compare multiple rebond shear strengths (SBS) of debonded brackets following preparation with sandblasting and CO2 laser. Methods. The brackets were bonded on 30 human and bovine maxillary central incisors using self-curing composite resin. SBS was measured using Hounsfield testing machine. The brackets were rebonded for two other times after composite resin residues on their surfaces were removed, either with air abrasion or CO2 laser. The debonded brackets and enamel surfaces were also evaluated after each debonding procedure under a stereomicroscope in order to determine adhesive remnant index (ARI). SBS of debonded brackets after each step were compared between sandblast and CO2 laser groups. Results. We observed significant differences in SBS values between pre-recycling and first (P = 0.04), second (P = 0.007) and third recycling (P = 0.007) with laser. Recycling with sandblasting resulted in a decrease in SBS after the first and second recycling procedure; however, the SBS increased after the third recycling procedure, with no significant differences. Conclusion. SBS of brackets after recycling with sandblasting and laser beams was not significantly different, and both were at a favorable level. However, repeating the recycling procedure with sandblasting resulted in more favorable SBS compared to laser.


ABSTRACTThe University of ManchesterRobert Stephen KulkaDoctor of Engineering (EngD)Influence of Material and Constraint Variation on the Fracture Toughness Behaviour of Steels2012The analysis of fracture toughness test data from standard specimens is often based upon the assumptions of planar crack fronts and homogenous material properties. However, these assumptions do not hold true for all test geometries or real components. The overall objective of this EngD was therefore to develop the methodologies used in fracture assessment of steel components, by incorporating a reduction in the conservatisms inherent in the assessment procedures. These conservatisms are associated with applying a ?lower bound? treatment to steel components, which in reality contain significant variability in effective fracture toughness, due to either material considerations (macroscopic or microstructural), or geometrical considerations including the effect of crack tip constraint.The first method developed allows a comparison of a variation of fracture toughness values throughout a component, to a variation of the localised effective crack driving force. The main feature of this method takes advantage of the nature of the ductile-to-brittle transition regime of fracture toughness, where there is significant scatter. This leads to a probabilistic prediction of the location of fracture initiation, and a less conservative estimate of failure load, used to derive enhanced fracture toughness for the component. The second method calculates less conservative fracture toughness values for steels where there is significant heterogeneity in the dataset. The effects of measurement uncertainty on derived fracture toughness values can be monitored to improve probabilistic estimates of the heterogeneous fracture toughness values. These methods have been developed into predictive software tools, validated against data from the literature.Finite element analysis of various configurations of compact tension and bend specimen, under different constraint conditions, was used to identify fracture mechanics parameters and constraint factors that will be of use in deriving accurate fracture toughness relationships from future testing programmes. The viability of low constraint specimens for accurately characterising increases in fracture toughness has been assessed. These recommendations enhance the relationships and advice suggested in the testing standards and literature. Loss of constraint in thin components can be quantified by a triaxiality parameter, which can be used to predict an increase in fracture toughness through use of a damage model, in this case developed based on a ductility exhaustion approach. This model can be used to predict initiation of ductile fracture in configurations with low constraint, leading to less conservative fracture toughness values, enhancing the guidance in the various defect tolerance assessment procedures.


The use of enzymes to recover soluble peptides with functional properties from insoluble proteins could prove to be very expensive, implying high reaction times and low yields. In this study, the insoluble granular protein, previously delipidated, was hydrolyzed using enzymes (trypsin) as a comparison to the proposed alternative method: subcritical water hydrolysis (SWH) using both nitrogen and oxygen streams. The result of the hydrolysis was characterized in terms of the yield and peptide size distribution as well as different functional properties. The SWH of the delipidated granules resulted in a higher recovery yield than that obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis in half of the time. The foaming capacity of the peptides obtained by SWH was higher than that obtained by trypsin hydrolysis, although the foam stability was lower. Slight differences were detected between these peptides in terms of their emulsifying properties.