The best valve substitute for aortic valve replacement (AVR) in terms of hemodynamic performance, durability, incidence of complications, and survival remains the subject of much debate. It has been suggested that valve performance is influenced by the potentially modifiable variable prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM). PPM has been reported to be detrimental for survival and symptom resolution mainly due to the promotion of unfavorable prosthesis hemodynamics with secondary impaired left ventricular remodeling. Nevertheless, an increasing number of studies with various study designs and outcomes present conflicting results. Thus, there is no convincing evidence for PPM's detrimental effects. The aims of this research were to evaluate the impact of PPM on in-hospital complications and survival, to evaluate whether postoperative heart failure can be detected using brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) as a predictive biomarker, to investigate the influence of PPM in bioprostheses with respect to recovery of left ventricular diastolic function and left ventricular mass regression, and to evaluate the influence of prosthesis-patient mismatch on left ventricular remodeling following aortic valve replacement for severe valve insufficiency. The present work demonstrated that PPM was not associated with low cardiac output syndrome, but rather an independent risk factor for a neurological event during the postoperative period after valve replacement. PPM had no impact on either early or late mortality. Postoperative heart failure following AVR was associated with a high early postoperative mortality and was predicted by elevated BNP levels on arrival in the ICU. PPM did not impair left ventricular mass regression or the recovery of diastolic function. Left ventricular remodeling was initiated regardless of preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction or PPM. In conclusion, the clinical relevance and the prevention of PPM seem subordinate and to improve patient outcome, priority should be given to the design of a durable, non-thrombogenic prosthesis permitting easy handling and reducing surgical complexity. (Less)


The detection of events from online social networks is a recent, evolving field that attracts researchers from across a spectrum of disciplines and domains. Here we report a time-series analysis for predicting events. In particular, we evaluated the frequency distribution of top n-grams of terms over time, focusing on two indicators: high-frequency n-grams over both short and long periods of time. Both indicators can refer to certain aspects of events as they evolve. To evaluate the models accuracy in detecting events, we built and used a Twitter dataset of the most popular hashtags that surrounded the well-documented protests that occurred at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) in late 2015.


We consider processes involving irreversible nucleation and growth of two-dimensional islands during submonolayer deposition, mediated by anisotropic diffusion. If h|| and h⊥ are hop rates in orthogonal directions, we set ε = h⊥/h|| ≪ 1 and examine the decrease of the island density with increasing h||. We find a crossover from scaling characteristic of anisotropic diffusion to that characteristic of isotropic diffusion at h|| ∼ r2tε-2, where r is the deposition rate and t is time. For Si-on-Si(001) deposition with r = 1/600 MLs-1, this crossover should occur around 450 K.


Shipping activities in the Baltic Sea, including oil transport and oil handled in harbors, have a number of negative impacts on the marine environment and coastal zone. Oil discharges from ships represent a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Oil spills cause the contamination of seawater, shores, and beaches, which may persist for several months and represent a threat to marine resources. One of the main tasks in the ecological monitoring of the Baltic Sea is an operational satellite and aerial detection of oil spillages, determination of their characteristics, establishment of the pollution sources and forecast of probable trajectories of the oil spill transport. Since 1993 there is no regular aerial surveillance of the oil spills in the Russian sector of the southeastern Baltic Sea. In June 2003 LUKOIL-Kaliningradmorneft initiated a pilot project, aimed to the complex monitoring of the southeastern Baltic Sea, in connection with a beginning of oil production at continental shelf of Russia. It was performed on the base of satellite remote sensing (AVHRR NOAA, SeaWiFS, MODIS, TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, SAR imagery of ERS-2 and ENVISAT) of SST, sea level, chlorophyll concentration, mesoscale dynamics, wind and waves, and oil spills. A number of oil spills have been detected in the period between June 2003 and July 2004


Purpose To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Collamer posterior chamber phakic refractive lenses with a central port design (EVO and EVO+ Sphere and Toric Visian ICLs) for correction of moderate-to-high myopia with or without astigmatism. Patients and Methods Six-month results of a multicenter clinical trial performed under United States FDA Investigational Device Exemption. Subjects 21 through 45 years of age with myopia ranging from −3.00 D to −20.00 D and astigmatism up to 4.00 D underwent implantation of EVO or EVO+ Sphere or Toric Visian ICLs. Uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected (CDVA) distance visual acuities, manifest refraction, intraocular pressure (IOP), endothelial cell density, and adverse events were evaluated over 6 months. Results This clinical trial enrolled 629 eyes of 327 subjects with mean age 35.6 ± 5.09 years. Mean preoperative spherical equivalent (SE) measured −7.62 ± 2.75 D (range: −3.00 to −15.62 D). At 6 months, mean SE was −0.079 ± 0.33 D, with 90.5% within ± 0.50 D of target and 98.9% within ±1.00 D of target. Mean postoperative UDVA and CDVA were −0.059 ± 0.10 logMAR and −0.13 ± 0.08 logMAR, respectively. 52.3% of eyes gained lines of CDVA. Efficacy and safety indices were 1.06 and 1.24, respectively. No eye experienced pupillary block, required peripheral iridotomy or iridectomy, developed anterior subcapsular cataract or had elevated IOP due to angle narrowing or pigment dispersion. Mean endothelial cell density declined by 2.3%. Conclusion EVO ICL lenses demonstrated accuracy of refractive correction and achievement of high levels of UDVA. This clinical trial confirmed that the central port design of EVO and EVO+ Sphere and Toric Visian ICL lenses functions effectively to allow physiologic flow of aqueous humor, thus eliminating the requirement for preoperative peripheral iridotomies. The results of this clinical trial resulted in FDA approval on March 25, 2022.


An important aspect of medical device development is the need to understand how a device produces a specific biological effect. The focus can then be on optimizing that effect by device modification and repeated testing. Several reports from this lab have targeted programmed cell death, or apoptosis, as a cellular pathway that is induced by exposure of transformed leukemic T-cells in culture to specific frequency and intensity electromagnetic fields (EMFs). An EMF delivery device capable of selectively inducing T-cell apoptosis in human tissues could be used to enhance healing by limiting the production of molecules that promote inflammatory disorders such as psoriasis and tendonitis. In the present study, we examined the normal T-cell response to EMF exposure in vitro. In the peripheral blood, 70-80% of the lymphocytes are T-cells, and thus is a rich source of normal cells that match the transformed T-cells used in other experiments (Jurkat cells). We isolated lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of humans and rats, cultured them in nutritive medium and exposed them to either a complex 1.8 mT pulsed EMF (Electrobiology, Inc.), a 0.1 mT, 60 Hz power frequency EMF or a 0.2 mT, 100 Hz sinusoidal EMF. Control lymphocytes were cultured similarly, without field exposure. Lymphocytes were then treated with T-cell mitogens and evaluated for proliferative capacity after an additional 72 hours culture. Results indicate that T-cell proliferation is modulated by in vitro exposure to defined EMFs. The potential use of an EMF delivery device capable of selectively inducing such T-cell effects is discussed.


Abstract Objectives Advance care planning (ACP) is linked with high-quality clinical outcomes at the end of life. However, ACP engagement is lower among African Americans than among Whites. In this study, we sought to identify correlates of ACP among African American women with multiple chronic conditions for two reasons: (1) African American women with multiple chronic conditions have high risks for serious illnesses, more intensive treatments, and circumstances that may require substitutes' decision-making and (2) identifying correlates of ACP among African American women can help us identify important characteristics to inform ACP outreach and interventions for this group. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 116 African American women aged ≥50 years who were recruited from the central area of a mid-western city. Results On average, participants were 64 years old (SD = 9.42). The majority were not married (78%), had less than a college education (50%), and had an annual income of $15,000 (54%). Their mean numbers of chronic conditions and prescribed medications were 3.31 (SD = 1.25) and 8.75 (SD = 4.42), respectively. Fifty-nine per cent reported having talked with someone about their preferences (informal ACP); only 30% had completed a living will or a power of attorney for healthcare (formal ACP). Logistic regression showed that age, the number of hospitalizations or emergency department visits, and the number of prescription medications were significantly correlated with both informal and formal ACP; other demographic and psychosocial characteristics (the knowledge of ACP, self-efficacy, and trust in the medical system) were not. Significance of results Results of this study suggest a need for targeted, culturally sensitive outpatient ACP education to promote ACP engagement in older African American women, taking into account age, the severity of chronic conditions, and levels of medication management.


Introduction The Lincolnshire Home Deaths Project Group brought together organisations from across the county to develop new ways of working that were patient focused and to ensure that end of life services dovetailed. This included a night care pilot which identified the need for an assessment and communication tool endorsed by the health and social care community to enable the needs led prioritisation of resource in end of life care. Aims To enable clear, accurate and effective communication of need across organisations to support the allocation and re-allocation of available night care resources for patients at the end of life based on their clinical need. Method The 'responsive need' tool was devised by members of the group using the work of two organisations, St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice and Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Gold Standards Framework prognostic indicators as a resource. Results ▶ The tool has become the common 'currency' of Communication County wide and is incorporated into SystmOne palliative care template. ▶ It has enabled the provision of End of life care according to need, and stopped unmet need for complex patients in the pilot area. ▶ Given clinicians confidence that the care will be there when the patient needs it; releasing care and supporting new ways of working. Discussion This tool has given us a shared language and supported the clinician in their decision making. It has enabled us to achieve the aim of allocating care on the basis of need and urgency. Conclusion The responsive needs tool has supported choice at end of life for patients and would be of interest to both those commissioning and providing end of life care.


Integrated chemostratigraphy and biostratigraphy in Cretaceous pelagic carbonate successions and associated organic sediments of the Ionian basin (western Greece) show the first documentation of the Cenomanian Turonian (OAE)2 and Lower Albian (OAE)1b Oceanic Anoxic Events from western Greece. Preliminary study of the Pindos basin (western Greece) has also identified a black shale horizon which may corresponds to the Lower Albian (OAE)1b Oceanic Anoxic Event.


Research on the emergence of the configuration known as "religion" requires tracing the articulation among biological, psychological and social processes. This research must take into account evolutionary approaches; first, in terms of hominid evolution, for it is only by taking into consideration work on symbolization, language development, the capacity to engage in metacognition and cooperation, the tendency to form hierarchies, engage in violence, sexual differentiation, and related topics, that one can hope to trace the emergence of certain relatively stable features of human behavior. But since symbolization and the other capacities mentioned above are exercised in specific social circumstances—which themselves could not have come into existence were it not for the exercise of those capacities—it is essential to consider social evolution, especially insofar as this evolution leads to the appearance of stratified societies and to the kind of labor that prevails in them.


It has been stated that the topic of design is not conducive to assessment by concept inventory. While design problems are more ambiguous than problems in analytical subjects, such as physics, statics, or thermodynamics; the broader design education community of scholars might agree on a set of concepts that are essential to the fundamental understanding of design. Following a review of textbooks, industry interviews, and other literary sources, this paper will propose a set of commonly accepted overarching concepts that might form a nucleus of an engineering design concept inventory. This is intended primarily to initiate a dialog among the design engineering education community about the future development of a design concept inventory and it's applicability in assessing the design content knowledge of undergraduate engineering students prior to entering the profession as graduate engineers.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


The purpose of the study is to find out the effect of plyometric and aerobic exercise on obesity among school student. To achieve this purpose, fourty five school student aged between 14 to17 years, studying in the ONGC public school children were selected. The subjects were divided into three equal groups of fifteen subjects each, namely aerobic exercise group, Plyometric exercise group and control group. The aerobic exercise group was given cycling, calisthenics, Rhythmic exercises, continuous slow running. Plyometric exercise group was given Squat jumps, simple jumps, hurdle jumps, step jumps, jumping rope, jump on boxes, and single leg-hops daily for twelve weeks. Weight was tested before (pre) and after (post) the training programme for both experimental and control group by using Waist circumference. ANCOVA was used to find out the significant difference if any between the groups. The results of this study indicate that the Aerobic exercise group has significantly improved from plyometric exercise and control group the selected dependent variable namely waist circumference. However control group did not show any improvement on the obesity as it was not involved in any of the specific training programme.


Several researchers are concentrated on cancellation of salt and pepper noise from the two-dimensional signals like digital images and uses several filters like mean filter, median filter, trimmed median filter etc., for removal of noise. A novel approach has been implemented using a filter so called Additive White Median Filter (AWMF) for filtering the twodimensional signal which uses a schematic procedure where mean value of the particular window size is used instead of median value for the removal of high density noise from the signals without changing the clarity of the digital image. In this scheme noisy pixels are replaced with the neighborhood non noisy pixels mean value. Whenever the window selected dynamically is non-flexible with the corrupted pixels, then the size of the window is increased in order to flexible with pixels. The selection of window size depends on the noise density in the image and also corrupted pixel density in the window. Hence a variable window size is chosen for the removal of noise in the pixels. The novel scheme is subjected to various aspects of the two-dimensional signal and also for different noise levels in order to evaluate the performance. Comparative studies proves that the novel scheme removes the salt and pepper noise effectively with better image quality compared with conventional methods and recently proposed methods such mean filter, modified decision based unsymmetric trimmed median filter, median filter and adaptive median filter. The simulation results shown in the below sections and from which it is clear that the newly defined novel approach has removed salt and pepper noise better than all the conventional methods for variable noise levels and also it removes noise without losing the edge information.


The CMS collaboration has developed a fast Monte Carlo simulation of the CMS detector with event production rates ∼100 times faster than the GEANT4-based simulation, with comparable accuracy for most of the high level observables to be used in the physics analyses. We discuss basic technical principles of the CMS Fast Simulation and their implementation in the different components of the detector: the silicon tracker, the electromagnetic calorimeter, the hadronic calorimeter, the muon system, the Level 1 and the High Level Trigger. Comparison of the Fast Simulation results both with the GEANT4-based Full Simulation and with the LHC data will be shown.


Acrylic bone cement is significantly weaker and of lower modulus of elasticity than compact bone. It is also weaker in tension than in compression. This limits its use in orthopedics to areas where tensile stresses were minimum. Many authors have shown that addition of small percentages of fiber reinforcement by hand mixing improved the mechanical properties significantly but with variable results. In this investigation we have examined the mechanical properties of machine-mixed, commercially available carbon-fiber-reinforced bone cement. Appropriate samples of normal low-viscosity cement and carbon-fiber-reinforced cement were prepared and tested mechanically. Carbon fiber increased the tensile strength and modulus by 30% and 35.8% respectively. The compression strength and modulus, however, increased by only 10.7%. Similarly, bending and shear strengths improved by 29.5% and 18.5%, respectively. Diametral compression strength, which is an indirect measure of tensile strength, however, showed only 6.2% improvement. The maximum temperature rise during polymerization was also reduced significantly by the fiber reinforcement.


Advances in high-throughput technologies, such as ChIP-chip and ChIP-PET (Chromatin Immuno-Precipitation Paired-End diTag), and the availability of human and mouse genome sequences now allow us to identify transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) and analyze mechanisms of gene regulation on the level of the entire genome. Here, we have developed a computational approach which uses ChIP-PET data and statistical modeling to assess experimental noise and identify reliable TFBS for c-Myc, STAT1 and p53 transcription factors in the human genome. We propose a mixture probabilistic model and develop computational programs for Monte Carlo simulation of ChIP-PET data to define the background noise of the sequence clustering and to identify the probability function of specific DNA-protein binding in the eukaryotic genome. Our approach demonstrates high reproducibility of the method and not only distinguishes bona fide TFBSs from non-specific TFBSs with a high specificity, but also provides algorithmic and computational basis for further optimization of experimental parameters of the ChIP-PET method.


It has been known for some time that one of the peripheral clinical complications of chronic heart failure (CHF) is a dysfunctional skeletal muscle microvascular system. This results in a sluggish and compromised O2 delivery when skeletal muscle is activated for normal activity or during exercise. In this issue of Acta Physiologica, a research team from Kansas State University in the United States measured muscle microvascular PO2 (PO2mv) as a means of determining the driving pressure for O2 diffusion from capillary to resting and contracting skeletal muscle fibres of control rats and rats with CHF. They hypothesized that as NO availability is diminished in CHF, this factor may be key to the impaired PO2mv seen in CHF and that this in turn contributes to the reduced exercise capacity in CHF patients. Using SNP and l-NAME to manipulate microvascular NO metabolism, this study demonstrated that the pathological profiles of PO2mv associated with severe CHF are at least in part due to impaired NO availability. The intriguing results of this research support the hypothesis that vascular NO availability is one of the critical factors leading to microvascular dysfunction during CHF, and the authors suggest that interventions designed to increase NO availability may help increase exercise tolerance in patients with this disease. Michael C. Hogan, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA firstname.lastname@example.com Guest editor


Objective:To investigate the effectiveness and compliance of the 2 year specific immunotherapy in patients with allergic rhinitis. Method:Two hundred and sixty-two patients of allergic rhinitis were treated with SLIT for 2 years. The symptom questionnaire about effectiveness and compliance were obtained 2 years after SLIT. The patient satisfaction was also investigated. Result:Sixty patients had complete compliance and 202 patients had poor compliance. Of the 142 children, 40 (28%) cases had complete compliance, and of the 118 adult patients, 20 cases (17%) had complete compliance. There was obvious difference between the two (P<0.05). Comparing of before and after treatment, total medication score, total nasal symptom score and every symptom score decreased obviously (P<0.05). Two years after treatment, the total effective rate was 63%,there was significant difference between the children group and the adult group (P<0.05). Conclusion:There are a lot of factors affecting the treatment compliance of sublingual immunotherapy, such as patients, family, health care workers and social support, etc. In the course of treatment, a series of strategies can be adopted to improve the treatment compliance. SLIT is an effective method for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, and the treatment effect of children is better.


Background: The role of tonsillectomy history on the course of COVID-19 infection has not been determined, including COVID-19 colonization in the tonsillar tissue and reduce the cytokine activity of palatine tonsil tissue and the immune response of humoral with cellular immune.
Objective: To determine the effect of tonsillectomy in the development of COVID-19 infection.
Patients and Methods: It was collected 150 cases diagnosed with COVID-19 and they admitted to Diyala Hospitals. Data including age, gender, smokers, and symptom status were collected.
Results: The total number of the patients who were positive COVID-19 was 150, the 102 (68%) of them were males and 48 (32 %) were females. It was found that the highest incidence rate was noticed among non-smoking patients (114 cases) compare to smokers (36 cases) (p<0.0001). It was appeared a significant difference (p<0.0001) of the symptoms of COVID-19 patients with tonsillectomy relative to the patients without tonsillectomy history.
Conclusion: Patients that infected with COVID-19 and they have  a history of tonsillectomy have more systemic response including fever, chills and other symptoms compare to the patients without tonsillectomy history.


Despite the significant improvements in speaker recognition enabled by deep neural networks, unsatisfactory performance persists under noisy environments. In this paper, we train the speaker embedding network to learn the "clean" embedding of the noisy utterance. Specifically, the network is trained with the original speaker identification loss with an auxiliary within-sample variability-invariant loss. This auxiliary variability-invariant loss is used to learn the same embedding among the clean utterance and its noisy copies and prevents the network from encoding the undesired noises or variabilities into the speaker representation. Furthermore, we investigate the data preparation strategy for generating clean and noisy utterance pairs on-the-fly. The strategy generates different noisy copies for the same clean utterance at each training step, helping the speaker embedding network generalize better under noisy environments. Experiments on VoxCeleb1 indicate that the proposed training framework improves the performance of the speaker verification system in both clean and noisy conditions.


Background: Recent studies suggest that the spatio-temporal dynamics of critical signaling molecules can mediate heterogeneous response to therapeutic intervention. Here, we set out to apply live cell imaging of single cells in high throughput to correlate the dynamics of androgen receptor (AR) with response to taxane chemotherapy in heterogeneous prostate cancer (PCa) cell populations. Methods: We previously developed a 3-step high throughput imaging and data analysis workflow to improve measurements of the dynamic phenotype in heterogeneous populations. We treated PCa cells stably expressing GFP-AR with AR ligand and quantified nuclear/cytoplasmic GFP intensity to measure nuclear translocation of AR over a 30 min time course. Then we treated cells with paclitaxel and tracked cells9 response for 24h. Results: Applied to PCa cell lines stably expressing GFP-AR, we measured considerable heterogeneity of AR translocation in response to ligand stimulation. We quantified populations of non-responders and classified responding cells based on the dynamics of AR. Evaluation of cell morphology revealed a fraction of relatively large cells to be exclusively slow responders to AR ligand. We measured heterogeneous response to treatment with paclitaxel that correlated with cell phenotype. Conclusion: We conclude that cell morphology features in heterogeneous PCa cell populations correlate with AR translocation dynamics and drug response. Future experiments will include expression of the constitutively active AR variant AR-v7 to analyze its effect on the dynamics of wild-type AR and on single cell response to paclitaxel chemotherapy. Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference. Citation Format: Katherin Patsch, Anjana Soundararajan, Mark Engeln, Mitchell E. Gross, Shannon M. Mumenthaler, Daniel Ruderman. Heterogeneity of androgen receptor dynamics and drug response in prostate cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Engineering and Physical Sciences in Oncology; 2016 Jun 25-28; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A29.


Abstract In this study physical and chemical analyses of soils were conducted in four areas of the habitat fresh mixed coniferous forest typical of the Kampinos National Park (20% forest area KPN). An attempt was made to evaluate the stock of organic carbon in every genetic horizon and the whole profiles of selected soils, and one counted the indicator ITGL (FSTI - Forest Soil Trophizm Index). In the examined soils, the particle size distributions, the content and ability to store organic carbon was analyzed as well as the amount of total nitrogen, C:N ratio, soil reaction and sorption properties. The highest content and stock of organic carbon was noted in the Brunic Arenosol (Distric) Postagricultural. In the investigated soils, the reserve of the organic carbon is accumulated in almost equal proportional shares, dividing soil into horizontal organic and mineral parts.


The study of structure-function relationships in the neurotrophin family has in recent years increased our understanding of several important aspects of neurotrophin function. Site-directed mutagenesis studies have localized amino acid residues important for binding to the low-affinity (p75LNGFR), as well as to the members of the Trk family of tyrosine kinase receptors. A cluster of positively charged residues has been shown to form a surface for binding to p75LNGFR in all four neurotrophins. Differences in the spatial distribution of these charges among the different neurotrophins may explain some of their distinct binding properties. Elimination of these positive charges drastically reduces binding to p75LNGFR but not to the Trk family members, and it does not impair the biological properties of the neurotrophins in vitro, arguing that binding to and activation of Trk receptors is sufficient to mediate the biological responses of neurotrophins. In contrast, the binding sites to Trk receptors appear to be formed by discontinuous stretches of amino acid residues distributed throughout the primary sequence of the molecule. These include the N-terminus, some of the variable loop regions and a beta-strand. Despite their apparent distribution, when viewed in the three-dimensional structure of NGF, these residues appear grouped on one side of the neurotrophin dimer, delineating a continuous surface extending approximately parallel to the twofold symmetry axis of the molecule. Two symmetrical surfaces are formed along the axis of the neurotrophin dimer providing a model for ligand-mediated receptor dimerization. In the neurotrophin family, co-evolution of cognate ligands and Trk receptors has developed specific contacts through different residues in the same variable regions of the neurotrophins. Thus, binding specificity is determined by the cooperation of distinct active and inhibitory binding determinants that restrict ligand-receptor interactions. Binding determinants to the Trk receptors can be manipulated independently in a rational fashion to create neurotrophin analogues with novel ligand-binding properties. In this way, second-generation chimeric neurotrophins with multiple specificities (pan-neurotrophins) have been engineered which may have valuable applications in the treatment of neurodegeneration and nerve damage.


1. Neural pathways controlling reflex withdrawal of the siphons have been examined in the surf clam. Conduction-velocity measurements, coupled with intracellular recordings of postsynaptic responses, indicate that the pathways involved are among the fastest in the relevant nerve trunks. 2. Cell bodies of neurons in the efferent limb of the reflex are located in specific paired regions of the visceral ganglion. Their axons are distributed to ipsilateral effectors via branches of the posterior pallial nerve and input to these cells is derived from a wide area of the periphery involving both sides of the animal. This pronounced sensory convergence can adequately account for symmetrical siphon withdrawal. 3. It is concluded from several lines of evidence that fast reflex pathways within the ganglion are monosynaptic in nature. In addition, the prolonged time course of the postsynaptic response to single volleys, and the capabilities of the synaptic contacts for spatial and temporal summation, make it possible to account for after discharges in the efferent pathways lasting a second or more. Prolonged activity from these cells has not been observed in isolated visceral ganglion preparations, and it is possible that the sustained closure is controlled by pathways involving different groups of neurons.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the morphological basis of portal hypertension happened at the early stage of liver damage.

METHODS
Sixteen mongrel dogs were injected intraperitoneally with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) once a week for 4 weeks and then once every 4 days, totally for 7 weeks. Before the experiment and 7 weeks after the beginning of experiment, small pieces of liver tissues were taken through a median upper abdominal incision and underwent HE staining, Masson's staining, and immunohistochemistry with alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) to label the activated astrocyte (hepatic stellate cell, HSC), and transmission electron microscopy. The portal vein pressure was measured by puncture of gastroepiploic vein. The diameter of spleen was measure too.

RESULTS
Since the second weeks after the experiment, the dogs showed vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, weight loss, and varicose vein in the abdominal wall. One dog died of toxic enteritis 3 weeks after the beginning of experiment. 7 weeks after the injection of CCl(4), the average portal vein pressure of the rest 115 dogs was 22.7 cm H(2)O +/- 1.5 cm H(2)O, significantly higher than that before the experiment (12.2 cm H(2)O +/- 1.9 cm H(2)O, 1cm H(2)O = 0.098 kPa, P < 0.05). The long diameter of spleen of the 15 dogs was 24.4 +/- 3.1 cm, significantly greater than that before the experiment (18.7 cm +/- 2.4 cm, P < 0.05). Seven weeks after the injection of CCl(4) the appearance of liver did not change remarkably among the dogs, however, the spleens of the dogs showed swelling and stagnation of blood. No obvious ascites was seen. HE staining showed slight liver damage, such as fatty degeneration of liver cells; Masson's staining and electron microscopy showed typical sinusoid capillarization. alpha-SMA immunohistochemistry stain showed increased number of activated HSCs. Immunohistochemistry showed a number of alpha-SMA positive cells in the hepatic lobules. Portal hypertension was successfully induced in 15 dogs.

CONCLUSION
At the early stage of liver damage the possible cause of portal hypertension is the increased resistance of blood stream due to sinusoid capillarization and activation of HSC.


The traditional electromagnetic wave wireless communication in the underground environment has the problem of unstable channel path loss, large antenna size, high path loss, etc. To address these issues, the channel models of magnetic induction communication and magnetic induction waveguide communication based on quasi-static field coupling are proposed, and the characteristics of magnetic field strength, path loss, bandwidth, and channel capacity are analyzed in detail. The results show that the magnetic induction communication system channel is stable, compared with the ordinary induction communication, and the path loss of magnetic induction waveguide communication is reduced a lot, even in the case of high noise and transmission distance increased by more than 20 times. But the bandwidths of the two ways are small and similar. The path loss and bandwidth decide the system capacity, and system capacity is also affected by the number of turns, working frequency, coil resistance, and size.


We study the evidence for a connection between active galactic nuclei (AGNs) fueling and star formation by investigating the relationship between the X-ray luminosities of AGNs and the star formation rates (SFRs) of their host galaxies. We identify a sample of 309 AGNs with 10 41 < L X < 10 44 ?> erg s−1 at 0.2 < z < 1.2 ?> in the PRIMUS redshift survey. We find AGNs in galaxies with a wide range of SFR at a given LX. We do not find a significant correlation between SFR and the observed instantaneous LX for star-forming AGN host galaxies. However, there is a weak but significant correlation between the mean LX and SFR of detected AGNs in star-forming galaxies, which likely reflects that LX varies on shorter timescales than SFR. We find no correlation between stellar mass and LX within the AGN population. Within both populations of star-forming and quiescent galaxies, we find a similar power-law distribution in the probability of hosting an AGN as a function of specific accretion rate. Furthermore, at a given stellar mass, we find a star-forming galaxy ∼2–3 more likely than a quiescent galaxy to host an AGN of a given specific accretion rate. The probability of a galaxy hosting an AGN is constant across the main sequence of star formation. These results indicate that there is an underlying connection between star formation and the presence of AGNs, but AGNs are often hosted by quiescent galaxies.


Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of staged surgery for patients with closed Lisfranc injury and dislocation. Methods This study included 48 patients with acute closed Lisfranc injury and dislocation admitted between July 2016 and July 2021. The patients were divided into two groups. 23 patients in group A underwent staged surgeries included emergency reduction within 4–8 h after injury, and open reduction and internal fixation of Lisfranc injury and first tarsometatarsal joint fusion after the swelling had subsided. 25 patients in group B underwent open reduction and internal fixation as an elective procedure after the swelling had subsided. American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) midfoot scores and visual analog scale (VAS) scores were used for assessment at the final follow-up. Results A total of 48 patients with closed Lisfranc injury and dislocation were included. The lengths of hospitalization were 11.52 ± 1.61 day and 19.80 ± 2.37 day in groups A and B, respectively. The total lengths of surgery were 67.34 ± 1.71 min and 104.36 ± 8.31 min in groups A and B, respectively. 48 patients completed the final follow-up (follow-up period range: 12–24 months, mean: 18 months). All fractures had healed at 12–18 weeks after surgery (mean: 14.6 weeks). At the 1-year postoperative follow-up, the AOFAS and VAS score was 86.87 ± 4.24 and 1.91 ± 0.78, respectively, during weight-bearing walking in group A patients and 71.72 ± 5.46 and 3.20 ± 1.17 in group B. By the end of the follow-up period, only 2 patients in group B had developed traumatic arthritis and no patients had joint re-dislocation or required secondary surgery. Conclusion Staged surgery for closed Lisfranc injury with dislocation reduced the incidence of perioperative complications and achieved good surgical outcomes while shortening the lengths of surgery and hospitalization.


Formal education takes place in the classroom, where learning involves intensive verbal communication between teachers and students. Therefore, classrooms must offer the necessary conditions for good teaching and learning activities, especially teacher-student communication. It is in this context that the importance of classroom acoustics is highlighted. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the acoustic quality in two classrooms. To this end, the perception of teachers and students about the noise inside and outside the classroom was investigated through questionnaires. Then, the background noise levels and the reverberation time values inside the classrooms were evaluated in situ. These results were compared with the assessment of the subjective perception of the questionnaires. The levels of background noise found in classrooms were above what NBR 10152 recommends. The subjective assessment showed that students and teachers perceive the noise in classrooms and consider them bothersome. According to the teachers, noise is a factor that negatively affects teaching. In conclusion, the results obtained in this work show the lack of acoustic comfort in classrooms and highlight the need for interventions.


Protein dimerization facilitates cooperative, high-affinity interactions with DNA. Nuclear hormone receptors, for example, bind either as homodimers or as heterodimers with retinoid X receptors (RXR) to half-site repeats that are stabilized by protein-protein interactions mediated by residues within both the DNA- and ligand-binding domains. In vivo, ligand binding among the subfamily of steroid receptors unmasks the nuclear localization and DNA-binding domains from a complex with auxiliary factors such as the heat shock proteins. However, the role of ligand is less clear among nuclear receptors, since they are constitutively localized to the nucleus and are presumably associated with DNA in the absence of ligand. In this study, we have begun to explore the role of the ligand in vitamin D3 receptor (VDR) function by examining its effect on receptor homodimer and heterodimer formation. Our results demonstrate that VDR is a monomer in solution; VDR binding to a specific DNA element leads to the formation of a homodimeric complex through a monomeric intermediate. We find that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, the ligand for VDR, decreases the amount of the DNA-bound VDR homodimer complex. It does so by significantly decreasing the rate of conversion of DNA-bound monomer to homodimer and at the same time enhancing the dissociation of the dimeric complex. This effectively stabilizes the bound monomeric species, which in turn serves to favor the formation of a VDR-RXR heterodimer. The ligand for RXR, 9-cis retinoic acid, has the opposite effect of destabilizing the heterodimeric-DNA complex. These results may explain how a nuclear receptor can bind DNA constitutively but still act to regulate transcription in a fully hormone-dependent manner.


The reradiation characteristics of a grating coupler for a grounded dielectric slab waveguide are investigated for the transverse magnetic mode, taking into account the finite conductivity of the ground plane. A pair of canonical equations for the coupler are derived. Analyses based on the solution of the canonical equations show the effects of the finite conductivity on the minimum reradiation coefficient, the optimum modulation index of the grating, the optimum incident angle, and the sensitivity of the reradiation to the changes in the incident angle about the optimum value. The coupler with the grating on the conducting surface is compared with the coupler having the grating on the film-cover interface for both the transverse-magnetic and transverseelectric modes.


As the observation result, tourism destination represents a complex social system, called a tourist destination system, consisting of four basic subsystems: tourists, providers or managers of tourism, communities, and other organizations or institutions. Tourism development of a region is based on the design, promotion and publication to a number of potential travelers as well as providing the services needed for tourists to access and live in the tourist destination. The advantages of tourist destinations are usually based on the resources available in their place. To support the publication of tourist destinations, it takes information system services that are easy to use and seen by potential tourists, which are publication of tourism destination and its itinerary integrated through web applications and Google Maps. This research produce a data model design as a support for implementation of information system. This data model has been normalized so that data becomes independent and data duplication does not occur so that it can be used together on other systems.


Marsh birds are highly elusive and select wetland habitats that are difficult to navigate, as well as easily damaged by human observers. Autonomous recording units (ARUs) have been used to determine presence or absence of marsh bird species, but little is known about distance effects on detection probability. Therefore, our objectives were to 1.) evaluate if ARUs can be used to accurately count three marsh bird species (e.g., Clapper Rail, Least Bittern, Seaside Sparrow), 2.) estimate detection probability curves based on ARU recordings, and 3.) determine the area surveyed by the ARU for the three species. We arranged ARUs to record calls from our marsh bird species broadcasted from Bluetooth speakers at fixed distances. We replicated natural calling scenarios by playing calls in different number combinations of individuals, ranging from 1 to 10 birds. To reduce interference from real bird vocalizations, we conducted our experiment in a recently burned pine savanna habitat that had similar herbaceous vegetation structure to the coastal emergent wetland habitats preferred by these species in southern Mississippi. We used Raven Pro bioacoustics software to produce sonogram images of the broadcasted calls to count individuals in each recording. Detection probability of each species by distance was calculated in program R. Results showed that ARUs may be useful for counting individuals at close distances for some species (< 100m), but most counts biased low. In Clapper Rails and Least Bitterns, count accuracy decreased between 100 and 125 meters from the ARU but closer (50-100 meters) for Seaside Sparrows. There was also a significant decline in count accuracy with increasing chorus size. With further study and advancing technology, ARUs may be able to supplement marsh bird surveys and limit logistical issues.


A single-step method for the preparation of thin sol-gel/copper mixed films is described, which is based on a novel electrochemical sol-gel methodology, resulting in nanocomposite coating. The method combines electrochemistry with the acceleration of sol-gel hydrolysis and condensation processes. While sol-gel is deposited as a result of increasing the pH in the vicinity of the electrode surface, copper ions are electrochemically reduced. Characterization of the deposited films was accomplished by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, tunneling atomic force microscopy, and other surface techniques. The different parameters that affect the structure and composition of the deposited films have been examined. We found that the morphology and grain size of the films are strongly affected by the ratio between the sol-gel monomer and copper ions. Furthermore, the potential of deposition affects also the composition of the films as it controls the kinetics of sol-gel and copper deposition.


Labeling training examples at scale is a perennial challenge in machine learning. Self-supervision methods compensate for the lack of direct supervision by leveraging prior knowledge to automatically generate noisy labeled examples. Deep probabilistic logic (DPL) is a unifying framework for self-supervised learning that represents unknown labels as latent variables and incorporates diverse self-supervision using probabilistic logic to train a deep neural network end-to-end using variational EM. While DPL is successful at combining pre-specified self-supervision, manually crafting self-supervision to attain high accuracy may still be tedious and challenging. In this paper, we propose Self-Supervised Self-Supervision (S4), which adds to DPL the capability to learn new self-supervision automatically. Starting from an initial "seed," S4 iteratively uses the deep neural network to propose new self-supervision. These are either added directly (a form of structured self-training) or verified by a human expert (as in feature-based active learning). Experiments show that S4 is able to automatically propose accurate self-supervision and can often nearly match the accuracy of supervised methods with a tiny fraction of the human effort.


Bipolar disorders are common psychiatric disorders that affect 1–5% of the population worldwide. Major advances in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of the disorders have recently occurred. The majority of published reports, however, originate from the Western hemisphere, mostly Europe and the United States. There is a shortage of data from the Arab world on bipolar disorders. In an era of globalization and rapid communication, it is not clear to what extent research findings pertaining to one part of the world are by necessity applicable to other parts. Psychiatric disorders are known to be affected by the culture in which they occur, and knowledge of variations in illness presentation in different ethnic groups is also increasing. However, knowledge of variations affecting Arab populations remains quite limited. This paper provides a critical review of the literature on bipolar affective disorders in the Arab world, pointing to major gaps in knowledge and future opportunities to fill these gaps.


Methionine adenosyltransferase III (MATIII) catalyzes S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) synthesis and, as part of its reaction mechanism, it also hydrolyzes tripolyphosphate. Tripolyphosphatase activity was linear over time and had a slightly sigmoidal behavior with an affinity in the low micromolar range. On the contrary, AdoMet synthetase activity showed a lag phase that was independent of protein concentration but decreased at increasing substrate concentrations. Tripolyphosphatase activity, which appeared to be slower than AdoMet synthesis, was stimulated by preincubation with ATP and methionine so that it matched AdoMet synthetase activity. This stimulation process, which is probably the origin of the lag phase, represents the slow transition between two conformations of the enzyme that could be distinguished by their different tripolyphosphatase activity and sensitivity toS-nitrosylation. Tripolyphosphatase activity appeared to be the rate-determining reaction in AdoMet synthesis and the one inhibited by S-nitrosylation. The methionine concentration necessary to obtain half-maximal stimulation was in the range of physiological methionine fluctuations. Moreover, stimulation of MAT activity by methionine was demonstrated in vivo. We propose that the hysteretic behavior of MATIII, in which methionine induces the transition to a higher specific activity conformation, can be considered as an adaptation to the specific functional requirements of the liver.


Contex: Sexual function during pregnancy affects martial satisfaction of couples and increases empathy in the completion of pregnancy and women's self-confidence with reduction in fears. Studies on the sexual function of Iranian pregnant women have shown controversial results. The present study aimed to review the sexual function of Iranian pregnant women. Methods: The international and national databases of Web of Science/ISI, PubMed, Scopus, MagIran, and SID databases using "sex", "sexuality", "sexual intercourse", "sexual function", "sexual dysfunction", and "pregnancy" without a time limit. We included all the papers published in Persian and English reporting the mean score of sexual function of pregnant women. Based on the pre-designed form, the required data included the name of the first authors, year of publication, sample size, research setting, questionnaire type, and methodological quality, which were extracted and recorded. Data analysis was performed in STATA version 14 using a meta-analysis method and random-effects models. The heterogeneity of the studies was evaluated utilizing the I2 test. Results: In total, 11 articles with the total sample size of 2,657 were reviewed. The highest and lowest standard scores of sexual function were reported in the first pregnancy trimester (58.92%; 95% CI: 54.08-63.75) and the third trimester (47.70%; 95% CI: 23.18-39.56), respectively. In addition, publication bias was significant in the first (P=0.001), second (P=0.009), and third trimesters (P=0.014). Conclusion: The sexual function of women was found to reduce through pregnancy progress. Therefore, sexual function assessment and counseling on pregnancy care seem crucial for pregnant women.


The main aim of this paper is to introduce to find similar patterns of use in the data gathered from Learning Online Network with Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach (LON-CAPA), and eventually be able to make predictions as to the most-beneficial course of studies for each learner based on their present usage. The system could then make suggestions to the learner as to how to best proceed. The objective is to predict the students' final grades based on their web-use features, which are extracted from the homework data. Using a GA to optimize a combination of classifiers test data we selected the student and course data of a LON-CAPA course, we design, implement, and evaluate a series of pattern classifiers with various parameters in order to compare their performance on a dataset from LON-CAPA. Keywords—Data Mining, Genetic Algorithm, Clustering, Classification, Prediction.


Doping of semiconductors from a gas atmosphere is a technique which is well established in device technology. However, little has been reported about short-time laser-induced diffusion,1,2 which promises some advantages compared to conventional methods. Only the irradiated areas are doped. Using pulsed lasers, these areas are heated for a short time in which diffusion can take place. Due to rapid cooling, very high nonequilibrium concentrations of dopants can be incorporated as active donors or acceptors in a thin layer.


All sizes of the chemosensory hairs on the labellum of the blowfly, Phormia regina, contain neurons which respond to chemical stimulation with diphasic impulses if the recording electrode is at the tip of the hair. The impulses are initially positive, then become negative and return to the base line. The negative phase can be abolished by the action of anesthetics (xylocaine, cocaine, procaine, chloral hydrate) and tetrodotoxin, an extract from the puffer fish. The negative phase is increased by strong salts, mechanical injury, and thermal injury, which also act to reduce or abolish the positive phase. Simultaneous recordings from the side and the tip of the hair show that both positive and negative phases appear first at the side. These results indicate that the impulse is initiated in or near the cell body at the base of the hair and under certain conditions is propagated antidromically up the dendrite to the tip.


This research investigates the sorption properties of bisphenol A (BPA), 17β estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in an aquatic environment by investigating the effectiveness of using batch and continuous processes. The adsorbents used were activated carbon of 2 mm and 0.4 mm diameter with powdered poly 1-methylperrol-2- ylsquaraine (PMPs).They were applied to remove BPA, E2 and EE2 from aqueous solutions at a fixed concentration of 2 mg/l. The influence rate of agitation and dosage on EDCs removal and adsorption capacity was investigated by conducting a series of batch experiments. The adsorption equilibrium was achieved in 2 h with average percentage removal of 98.2 %( BPA) 96.5 %( E2) and 94.5 %( EE2).The kinetic adsorption process could be described by pseudo-first order model by AC1 and intra-particle kinetics by PMPs. The adsorption constants were evaluated according to Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and D-R isotherm models. The experimental adsorption data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption model but best for Langmuir (R2=0.99).


This paper investigates the relationship between political ideas and life stories, i.e., the influence of biographical learning on political orientation. It focuses on the political discussions among intellectuals
 and politicians who belong to the birth cohort of the late 1940s and early 1950s, the so called Zhiqing generation, and describes embedded and developed stereotypes of political identity and legitimation.


Access to subspecialty care for rural Kansans remains a Challenge. With the advent of a state telecommunications network, telemedicine subspecialty consultation was initiated. In March 1995, a tele-oncology practice was established as a collaborative effort between the KUMC and HMC. Hays is located in rural Kansas, approximately 280 miles (450 km) west of KUMC. The goal was to simulate a conventional medical Oncologypractice. Clinics are combined telemedicine (two per Week) and outreach on site (two per month). With the establishment of such a clinic, some practical issues should be Considered. Most important is the establishment of an organizational infrastructure for shortand long-term strategic operation of the telemedicine practice. An effective organizational structure allows for proper operation of this complex medical application. For example, an on-site coordinator (ideally with a background in telecommunications) must be identified to work With the consultant site. This individual will coordinate room time, schedule appointments, 'trouble shoot' the equipment, and work with the technician on the consultant site. A mechanism for evaluation of the programme must be established and maintained for continuous adjustment and improvement. When establishing a telemedicine clinic, there are multiple medical concerns to address including: type of services reqUired, identification of a rural practitioner partner, and aSSignmentof a health-care professional to be with the patient dUring the video consult. First, before the establishment of a telemedicine clinic, an assessment must be performed to determine services required. Surveys of physicians and hospital administrators should be conducted to delineate specific needs. In our case, oncology care was requested as a cancer clinic had been in Hays previously. Next, an on-site rural practice partner should be identified. For our clinic, an oncologist new to the Community agreed to partner the telemedicine practice. During the telemedicine consultation, a health-care professional must bepresent with the patient. This may be the referring physician if time wlll allow, but a nurse or physician's assistant may serve in this role as well. In our situation, an oncology nurse


As a meshfree particle method, the Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method is ideally suited for simulating the complicated behaviour of water surface with fragmentation. In this paper, the original formulations of MPS method are revisited from the view point of momentum conservation. Modifications and corrections are made to ensure the momentum conservation in a particle-based calculation of viscous incompressible free-surface flows. The excellent performance of Corrected MPS (CMPS) method in the exact (and nearly exact) conservation of linear (and angular) momentum is shown by a simple numerical test. The CMPS method is then applied to the simulation of wave breaking and post-breaking. Refined simulation of a solitary plunging breaker and resultant splash-up is demonstrated through comparisons with experiment. A tensor-type strain-based viscosity is also proposed for further enhanced CMPS reproduction of splash-up.


Abstract Occipitotemporal regions within the face network process perceptual and socioemotional information, but the dynamics and information flow between different nodes of this network are still debated. Here, we analyzed intracerebral EEG from 11 epileptic patients viewing a stimulus sequence beginning with a neutral face with direct gaze. The gaze could avert or remain direct, while the emotion changed to fearful or happy. N200 field potential peak latencies indicated that face processing begins in inferior occipital cortex and proceeds anteroventrally to fusiform and inferior temporal cortices, in parallel. The superior temporal sulcus responded preferentially to gaze changes with augmented field potential amplitudes for averted versus direct gaze, and large effect sizes relative to other network regions. An overlap analysis of posterior white matter tractography endpoints (from 1066 healthy brains) relative to active intracerebral electrodes in the 11 patients showed likely involvement of both dorsal and ventral posterior white matter pathways. Overall, our data provide new insight into the timing of face and social cue processing in the occipitotemporal brain and anchor the superior temporal cortex in dynamic gaze processing.


Banana is the most important fruit crop such as rice, wheat, and maize. Banana (Musa spp.) is cultivated in more than 130 countries in the tropics and subtropics and is a staple food crop for millions of people. Its cultivation is affected by various diseases. Among them BSD (Banana Streak disease) caused by (Banana streak Virus) is one of the most important constraints in banana production worldwide. BSV is the causal agent of this viral disease in Banana crop (Musa spp.) It is a member of the family Caulimoviridae, genus Badnavirus. Badnaviruses have bacilliform-shaped virions, =30 X 150 nm in size and a circular, noncovalently closed dsDNA genome. BSV has a monopartite genome of ~ 7.2-7.8 Kb encoding three open-reading frames (ORFs). And causes heavy economic loss in banana cultivated areas after showing chlorotic and necrotic streaks on leaves. On the basis of symptoms such as green streaks on pseudostem, stunted growth, distorted fruit in smaller branches, leaf samples were taken for isolating genomic DNA using CTAB method with some modification in Selvarajan protocol. DNA was quantified (50ug/lit DNA). PCR amplification was performed on all isolates from IARI, New Delhi, Hastinapur (UP), and Healthy sample for early detection of virus. PCR done with the help of specific primer forward (BSMysV & RNase H 5466) and reverse (BSMysV & RNase H 6196) primers, using total extracted DNA. The Agarose gel was loaded with ladder DNA (1kb), followed by sample DNA. Among DNA samples, all showed amplification by specific primer pair of BSV. During the study it has been clear that the isolates of Meerut and IARI New Delhi were infected by BSV. So, based on this analysis, it can be concluded that, detection of virus early and proper eradication of infectious plants is very important before passing of virus to another healthy plants.

https://www.ijcmas.com/11-8-2022/Chhavi Malik, et al.pdf


In this paper we propose a formal dialogue game in which two players aim to determine the best explanation for a set of observations. By assuming an adversarial setting, we force the players to advance and improve their own explanations as well as criticize their opponent's explanations, thus hopefully preventing the well-known problem of 'tunnel vision'. A main novelty of our approach is that the game supports the combination of argumentation with abductive inference to the best explanation.


The mechanisms underlying weight gain resulting from antipsychotic drugs are not fully understood, although antagonism of the 5-HT2C receptor is likely to contribute. Animal studies indicate that the drugs most likely to cause weight gain, clozapine and olanzapine, have direct effects on the NPY-containing neurons of the hypothalamus; these neurons mediate the effects of the circulating anorexigenic hormone leptin on the control of food intake. The substantial differences between individuals in the extent of antipsychotic-induced weight gain suggest that genetic factors may be important. We have been studying pharmacogenetic correlates and find that a common 5-HT2C receptor promoter region polymorphisms demonstrates strong associations with weight gain in two first episode psychotic samples. In both series, we have found further association of antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain with a common and functional polymorphism of the gene for leptin. Along with initial BMI, these two pharmacogenetic factors account for almost 30% of the variance in drug-induced weight gain. Interestingly, the 5-HT2C polymorphism appears to determine levels of circulating leptin, providing a potential mechanism underlying the genetic association of the 5-HT2C receptor with weight gain. We have undertaken functional studies of haplotypes of the 5-HT2C promoter region and find the allele associated with protection from weight gain results in reduced promoter activity. These findings demonstrate the value of pharmacogenetics in determining liability to a major side effect of antipsychotic treatment, and indicate both the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying this side effect.


ABSTRA C T The acceptance about Human Resourcesof Police Brigadir an effort to find a qualified personnel police Brigadir in accordance with prescribed rules, but it always rising the problem in practical level. With the frequent occurrence of the problems at the practical level, researchers reviewing which is relating to the governance as measured by indicators of transparency and accountability. Polda Bali as local police located in the province of Bali which is carrying out of Brigadir implement revenue. In this research use descriptive qualitative method. To obtain the data, the authors did a field observation  as well as in-depth interviews associated with the acceptance of human resources of Police Brigadir in Polda Bali fiscal year 2015. The result of this research are: First the implementation of Police Brigadir revenue in Polda Bali using principles BTAH (Clean, Transparent, Accountable, Humanist) which is used as a reference in the implementation. Second, before the test begins there are the creation of a treaty and signatories of a written or spoken commitment it called pakta intergritas. Third, looking from indicators of transparency in the implementation process of tests Police Brigadir revenue from the beginning to the end already fulfill the transparency but related to the socialization of SMA/SMK is not maximal yet. Fourth, as general looking from indicators of accountability for implementing Police Brigadir revenue has been good although there are differences in the phenomenon of measuring instruments used. This research is expected with the implementation of Police Brigadir revenue of accountability associated with the tool used is prepared. Keywords: Human Resources, Good Governance, Transparency and Accountability.


Maintenance of the transmission efficiency of the telephone plant is conducted by a special force using methods and apparatus that have been developed for this purpose. This paper gives a brief description of the transmission characteristics of some of the common types of telephone circuits, outlines a general method for measuring their transmission efficiency and describes several of the most modern types of transmission measuring sets together with a brief mention of the oscillators which supply the power for testing.


This paper is based on the authors' long-term observations of migrant students studying at universities in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area — Yugra. The paper is devoted to the current issues that nearly every higher education institution in Russia is aware of. Most non-native-speaking students have a low level of Russian language knowledge, which poses challenges for mastering linguistic disciplines, on the one hand, and challenges for teaching, on the other hand. The paper examines the historical background of the modern ethnic situation in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area — Yugra. Socio-economic conditions in the area attract immigrants not only from other regions of the Russian Federation but also from post-Soviet countries. The authors describe the social profile of a migrant student, and provide a review of unresolved issues in teaching the discipline of Russian Language and Speech Culture to students of non-philological majors, while paying special attention to the challenges in teaching the Russian Dialectology and Modern Russian Language Morphology disciplines to students majoring in philology. The pressing issues of teaching migrant students should not be ignored. The authors suggest ways to address these issues. One of these is based on stricter requirements for applicants applying for philological majors. The other one suggests simultaneous training and correction of missing Russian language skills.
Keywords: KhMAO-Yugra, migrant students, university, Russian language


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To the intensity of laser light irradiated to the weld zone and the sweeping speed control to an appropriate value, and provides a manufacturing method and a crimp terminal of the crimp terminal to laser welding a workpiece with high quality. By irradiating and sweeping a laser beam on the workpiece with a bending part of the metal sheet in a tubular shape, to customize parts of the laser between the ends of the metal sheet in the bending direction of the partial welding, the portion pressing portion the crimp terminals are prepared for. Irradiated with a laser beam, and the width of the weld bead formed in the welding portion is a 80μm ~ 390μm, preferably 172μm ~ 273μm.


Our brain can almost effortlessly decompose visual data streams into background and salient objects. Moreover, it can track the objects and anticipate their motion and interactions. In contrast, recent object reasoning datasets, such as CATER, have revealed fundamental shortcomings of current vision-based AI systems, particularly when targeting explicit object encodings, object permanence, and object reasoning. We introduce an unsupervised disentangled LOCation and Identity tracking system (Loci), which excels on the CATER tracking challenge. Inspired by the dorsal-ventral pathways in the brain, Loci tackles the what-and-where binding problem by means of a self-supervised segregation mechanism. Our autoregressive neural network partitions and distributes the visual input stream across separate, identically-parameterized and autonomously recruited neural network modules. Each module binds what with where, that is, compressed Gestalt encodings with locations. On the deep latent encoding levels interaction dynamics are processed. Besides exhibiting superior performance in current benchmarks, we propose that Loci may set the stage for deeper, explanation-oriented video processing—akin to some deeper networked processes in the brain that appear to integrate individual entity and spatiotemporal interaction dynamics into event structures.


We administered extracts of the horn of the African Black rhinoceros intragastrically to 7 rabbits, at the same time as injecting bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intravenously into the rabbits to produce fever. At a dose of horn (50 mg/kg) similar to that allegedly used to reduce human fever, and at ten times that dose, the fever response to LPS was not significantly different (P > 0.05, t-test) to the response to LPS injection when boiled water was administered instead of horn extract. The known antipyretic indomethacin, however, at a dose of 10 mg/kg significantly reduced the response to LPS.


Currently, social networks have become one of the most used channels by society to share their ideas, their status, generate trends, etc. By applying artificial intelligence techniques and sentiment analysis to the large volume of data found in social networks, it is possible to predict the personality of people. In this work, the development of a data analysis model with machine learning algorithms with the ability to predict the personality of a user based on their activity on Twitter is proposed. To do this, a data collection and transformation process is carried out to be analyzed with sentiment analysis techniques and the linguistic analysis of tweets. Very successful results were obtained by developing a training process for the machine learning algorithm. By generating comparisons of this model, with the related literature, it is shown that social networks today house a large volume of data that contains significant value if your approach is appropriate. Through the analysis of tweets, retweets, and other factors, there is the possibility of creating a virtual profile on the Internet for each person; the uses can vary, from creating marketing campaigns to optimizing recruitment processes.


Since 1993, we have witnessed the creation of international criminal courts for the first time since the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals in the aftermath of World War II. The 50-year gap between the post-World War II tribunals and the current international criminal courts means that the present international courts and judges are the first in our modern era to conduct trials of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes on an international stage. Not only are the courts and the role of the international criminal judges new, but also many of the issues coming before the courts are issues of first impression. This article explores judicial decision-making in four important cases that involve issues of first impression in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the International Criminal Court. The cases illustrate the depth of knowledge and legal reasoning that was required of the judges in these new tribunals and the lasting contribution of the decisions to the development of international criminal law.


Abstract Background The Jat Sikh population is the largest endogamous group of Punjab, a state in north-west India, and has not yet been explored for genetic polymorphism based on X-STR genetic markers. In India, which is the second most populous country in the world, only two population studies based on X-STR markers have been reported so far. Aim To explore the genetic diversity of 12 X chromosomal STR genetic markers in the Jat Sikh population of Punjab and expand the X-STR polymorphism database. Subjects and methods In this study, a total of 200 Jat Sikh individuals (100 males and 100 females) residing in Punjab were investigated for 12 X-STR markers using the Investigator Argus X-12 QS Kit. Results The highest power of discrimination (PD) in females (PDf) and males (PDm) was observed to be 0.965 (DXS10135) and 0.929 (DXS10135 and DXS10148), respectively. DXS10135 was found to be the most polymorphic and discriminating locus among all the studied loci in both males and females with highest values of power of discrimination (PD) and polymorphic information content (PIC) as well. Conclusion Overall, the studied markers of the Argus 12 X-STR kit provide high polymorphic information which may prove to be an important tool in resolving issues such as missing person identification, incest, immigration disputes, kinship analysis and genealogical studies. The dataset obtained from this study will add to the present database of X-STRs.


The effects of the 1967 Abortion Act, legislation which extends to women living in England, Wales, and Scotland, are reviewed. The Act was not backed by any specific allocation of money for facilities or staff within the National Health Service and the service provided has varied from district to district. Yet, the number of abortions increased rapidly in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This process had slowed down by 1974, when the number of abortions dropped for the 1st time. The introduction of free contraception seems to have had an important effect; the number of abortions declined by nearly 9000 from 1973-76, and the abortion rate fell from 11.4 to 10.5/1000 women aged 15-44. The number increased in 1977 and 1978, possibly because of adverse publicity about the side effects of oral contraception (OC). The rate of abortion in Scotland, although lower than the rate in England and Wales, has risen steadily since 1969. An important effect of the 1967 Act has been to reduce the number of deaths due to illegal abortions. In the 1st decade of legal abortion, the proportion of all maternal deaths that were due to abortion dropped from 25% to 7%. The number of recorded deaths due to abortion declined from 160 during 1961-63 to 9 during 1982-84. There were 7 deaths after legal abortions during 1982-84 and 4 during 1985-87. 21 years after the passage of the Act half of all women having legal abortions pay for them. The regional differences in the provision of abortion services have persisted since 1968. The proportion of abortions performed in the 1st trimester increased from 66% in 1969 to 86% in 1987, yet the proportions of early abortions in Britain still compare poorly with other countries. In the US, women have been able to request abortion in the 1st trimester since 1974; by 1977 this led to 91% of abortions being performed in this period. Regional differences in the surgical methods persist, and there may be considerable delays between a woman asking for an abortion and the procedure being performed. A Marplan poll conducted in 1988 reported that 80% of those surveyed thought that women should have the right to choose an abortion in the 1st few months of pregnancy; 15% disagreed, and 5% did not know or did not respond. The number of women coming to Britain for abortions peaked in 1973, when 56,000 came. The rate of abortion per 1000 women in England and Wales is 14.8, a moderate figure when compared to other nations -- rates range from 5.6 in the Netherlands to 181 in the USSR.


It can be said – without any fear of contradiction-that as a country, Nigeria has been thoroughly misruled by members of the political class. In this regard, all the regimes that the country has had since the departure of the colonialists in 1960 are culpable. Inspite of this, the country has produced a number of great and eminent people in all fields of human endeavour, and one of these is Chinua Achebe. This essay is aimed at celebrating the life of Achebe who is widely acclaimed as a literary giant. While acknowledging the fact that like all human beings, Achebe was not perfect, it is contended that he was a great patriot, a globally venerated writer, and an indefatigable critic of bad governance and the domination of man by man.


The distribution of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (AspATm) in liver cells was studied in rats fed pyridoxine-deficient and control diets. Mitochondrial aminotransferase activity was found mainly in the matrix fraction, with smaller amounts in the outer membranes, intermembrane space and cytosol. The precursor of the enzyme was detected in the liver cytosol of both vitamin B-6--deficient and control rats, and its amount was similar in the two groups. When pyridoxal phosphate was added to the assay system, the ratio of enzyme activity to antigenic activity (E/A) of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase in the cytosol of both vitamin B-6--deficient and control rats was about 70% of that in the matrix of control rats. On the other hand, the E/A of the matrix enzyme in deficient rats was 53% of that of controls. From these results we concluded that pyridoxal phosphate is not necessary for translocation of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase into mitochondrial matrix and that abnormal molecules of the enzyme may be formed in the matrix of vitamin B-6--deficient rat liver.


This text includes the following chapters and appendices: Common Number Systems and Conversions, Operations in Binary, Octal, and Hexadecimal Systems, Sign Magnitude and Floating Point Arithmetic, Binary Codes, Fundamentals of Boolean Algebra, Minterms and Maxterms, Combinational Logic Circuits, Sequential Logic Circuits, Memory Devices, Advanced Arithmetic and Logic Operations, Introduction to Field Programmable Devices, Introduction to the ABEL Hardware Description Language, Introduction to VHDL, Introduction to Verilog, and Introduction to Boundary-Scan Architecture. Each chapter contains numerous practical applications. This is a design-oriented text.


From time to time, the capitalism has been likened to hell on earth not least with those dark satanic mills. Rosa Luxemburg came close to perceiving capitalism as a vampire system in arguing that it could only repr oduce itself on an expanded scale by absorbing non-capitalist production, thereby inf ecting the life-blood on which it depended. This continues to have resonances in the curr nt theory of accumulation by dispossession, Harvey (2003) and Fine (2006) for cr itique. Frimpong-Ansah (1991) has posited the African vampire state as the antith esis of the developmental state. And there is also the classic contribution by Taussig ( 1980) in which confrontation with the commodity is perceived as experiencing the devi l itself, quite apart from the moneylenders in the temple. 1


Gallium nitride (GaN) nanoneedles were synthesized by using the hydride vapor phase epitaxy method at various growth temperatures and times under a HCl:NH3 flow ratio of 1:38. The morphology of GaN nanostructures varied according to the growth temperatures, and nanoneedles were formed at 640°C temperature zone. Further, their heights and diameters increased with increasing growth time whereas the stems of the nanoneedles coalesced. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the GaN nanoneedles were orientated along the [0001] direction and underwent biaxial compressive stress. Also, the Raman spectra exhibited the smallest compressive strain in the sample grown for 60 min compared to the other samples.


Background: Lenz-Majewski syndrome (LMS) is characterized by osteosclerosis and hyperostosis of skull, vertebrae and tubular bones as well as craniofacial, dental, cutaneous, and digit abnormalities. We previously found that LMS is caused by de novo dominant missense mutations in the PTDSS1 gene, which encodes phosphatidylserine synthase 1 (PSS1), an enzyme that catalyses the conversion of phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidylserine. The mutations causing LMS result in a gain-of-function, leading to increased enzyme activity and blocking end-product inhibition of PSS1. Methods: Here, we have used transpose-mediated transgenesis to attempt to stably express wild-type and mutant forms of human PTDSS1 ubiquitously or specifically in chondrocytes, osteoblasts or osteoclasts in zebrafish. Results: We report multiple genomic integration sites for each of 8 different transgenes. While we confirmed that the ubiquitously driven transgene constructs were functional in terms of driving gene expression following transient transfection in HeLa cells, and that all lines exhibited expression of a heart-specific cistron within the transgene, we failed to detect PTDSS1 gene expression at either the RNA or protein levels in zebrafish. All wild-type and mutant transgenic lines of zebrafish exhibited mild scoliosis with variable incomplete penetrance which was never observed in non-transgenic animals. Conclusions: Collectively the data suggest that the transgenes are silenced, that animals with integrations that escape silencing are not viable, or that other technical factors prevent transgene expression. In conclusion, the incomplete penetrance of the phenotype and the lack of a matched transgenic control model precludes further meaningful investigations of these transgenic lines.


During the past five years, 127 newborn infants with marked anoxia, severe cardiac failure or respiratory problems secondary to a cardiac lesion were operated upon at l'Hôpital Ste-Justine, Montreal, Quebec.Infants in cardiorespiratory distress from a cardiac lesion for which the surgical treatment is well established, such as complicated coarctation of the aorta, were either cured or improved in 78% of cases. The fatal outcome following medical treatment of patients suffering from lesions for which the surgical treatment is not yet well established, e.g. interruption of the aortic arch, led us to operate upon these infants with the hope of salvaging some of them despite the high surgical risk.The decision to operate was usually based on clinical grounds; however, cine-angiocardiography was at times required to establish the exact diagnosis. Light anesthesia was essential to the success of the operation. Postoperative care was facilitated by a team of nurses well experienced in the treatment of newborn subjects with heart lesions. Fluids were administered in a minimum quantity of 700 c.c./m.(2) for 24 hours, and potassium was the only electrolyte added to the replacement fluids. Respiratory problems were reduced to a minimum by active physiotherapy. However, intubation with aspiration of tracheobronchial secretions was carried out when necessary.


When Kinsey Millhone's landlord asks her to help deceased World War II vet Johnnie Lee's family find out why the military has no record of his service, she thinks it'll be a cinch. But she is about to meet her match in world-class prevaricators who take her for the ride of her life.When Lee's apartment in burgled and a man named Ray Rawson, who claims to be an old friend of Lee's, is beaten up, Kinsey soon finds herself on the trail of a pregnant woman with a duffel bag. Soon the intrepid P.I. is following leads halfway across the country and encountering another man from Lee's past--a vengeful psychopath.Stalked by a new enemy and increasingly suspicious of Rawson--not to mention running out of time and money--now Kinsey must steer a collision course to solve a decades-old mystery that some would like better left unsolved....


Cryptomys hottentotus pretoriae is a co-operatively breeding rodent that exhibits seasonal breeding and a reproductive division of labour. Body mass, reproductive tract morphometrics, ovarian histology and plasma oestrogen and progesterone concentrations were studied in 189 females from 49 colonies. Although the birth of the offspring is confined to the months of May through to November, qualitative analysis of ovarian histology revealed that females retained reproductive function during the summer non breeding period (December March) . Seasonal differences were found in ovarian morphometrics and progesterone and oestrogen concentrations which are associated with enhanced follicular activation in April and May and subsequent conceptions from May tlu"ough to November during the breeding period. The continuance of ovarian function during the non-breeding period as evidenced by the production of corpora lutea in reproductive females parallels the situation found in the male members of the colony. Interestingly, the non-breeding period coincides with the period of maximal dispersal opportunities in the summer rainfall areas inhabited by the highveld mole-rat. Non-reproductive females, while exhibiting some follicular development failed to ovulate in the confines of the colony, as evidenced by a lack of corpora lutea. The endocrinological data supports the lack of ovulation in these socially suppressed non-reproductive females. Body mass, reproductive tract morphometlics, testicular histology and plasma testosterone concentrations were studied in 92 males from 37 colonies. The available evidence suggests that there is a gradual increase in testicular mass and volume with


Aim. In an in vivo experiment, to study the effect of local intraoperative application of 0.05% cyclosporin A solution on the conjunctival and scleral regeneration after surgery on the rabbit eyes with steroid-induced  glaucoma. Materials and methods. At the first stage of the experiment, a model of steroid-induced glaucoma was reproduced for 29 male Californian rabbits by injecting 0.5 ml of a 0.4% solution of dexamethasone subconjunctivally in both eyes once a week for 3 months (12 subconjunctival injections for each rabbit). At the second stage of the experiment, after the development of  steroid glaucoma, the rabbits were divided into the main group, consisting  of the subgroup «a» ( n = 8) and the subgroup «b» ( n = 8), and the comparison group ( n = 8). All animals were performed a penetrating incision of the conjunctiva and a non-penetrating incision of the sclera of one of the eyes. A hemostatic sponge impregnated with 0.05% cyclosporin А solution was applied to the intervention area in the main group, in the subgroup «a» – for 3 minutes, in the subgroup «b» – for 6 minutes. In the comparison group, the cytostatic was not used. Results. The use of 0.05% cyclosporin А solution led to a decrease in the  infiltration of fibroblasts and inflammatory cells into the area of surgical  injury. On the 4th day after the surgery, cell density in the intervention area  in the subgroup «a» with 3-minute application of cytostatic-antimetabolite solution was 2.7 times lower ( p = 0.043) than in the comparison group, while exceeding the values in the subgroup «b» by 3.2 times ( p = 0.036). The number of fibroblasts in the subgroups «a» and «b» was 3.6 ( p = 0.043) and 12.8 times ( p = 0.031) less than in the comparison group, and a shift in the cellular composition of the infiltrate towards the fibroblastic population occurred only on the 14th day after the surgery. Conclusion . Intraoperative application of 0.05% cyclosporin А solution significantly slows down the course of regeneration, reducing infiltrative inflammation in the intervention area, which prevents excessive scarring.


A partial cDNA clone encoding the gene for human transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) was isolated from a human bladder carcinoma cell line (5637) cDNA library. Following restriction enzyme processing and ligation of synthetic oligonucleotide linkers, the gene was inserted into a plasmid and transfected into Chinese hamster ovary cells. Clonal selection and growth conditions resulted in a method for production of recombinant human TGF-beta 1 at 7 mg/liter in conditioned cell medium. Through a combination of low pH treatment, cation-exchange chromatography, and salt precipitation, the recombinant human TGF-beta 1 was purified in milligram amounts to > 95% purity in a yield of about 36%. Purification to homogeneity was accomplished by chromatography on C18 silica gel. Amino acid analysis, N-terminal sequencing, and growth inhibition assays indicate identity with the molecule from human platelets.


A method of computerized cough sound analysis is described. The sounds of nocturnal and post-exercise coughs from a child with asthma were compared with those from a child without asthma. The spectrographic patterns of voluntary cough at rest from the two children were similar. The pattern seen after exercise from the asthmatic child was different from the resting cough but similar to that seen during recorded nocturnal cough. In contrast the post-exercise cough from the non-asthmatic child was similar to the cough seen at rest. Refinement of this method of cough sound analysis may be useful in the diagnosis of asthma in young children.


The Aquarelle project aims at developing a distributed multimedia information system, o ering access to information describing and documenting European cultural heritage such as painting, sculptures, historical sites and monuments, musical instruments and furniture. Cultural information, is currently provided by many cultural organizations (museums, libraries, galleries, etc.) across European borders, under various forms and structures (record, document, image, drawings or text bases etc.), using di erent information management systems (DBMS, IRS, KB) and platforms. One of the main objectives of the Aquarelle project is to provide a uniform access to these heterogeneous collections of data. In this paper we present the limitations of the current Aquarelle architecture to explore the structure of available data sources and we suggest some guidelines and solutions for the future version of the Aquarelle information system. More precisely, we split our recommendations into two parts: some more realistic ones for the near future, some more ambitious ones requiring a deeper evolution of the current architecture. Furthermore, we review recent projects on heterogeneous database querying and integration that go beyond traditional IRS keyword or full text based search. This state of the art illustrates possible long range functionalities of Aquarelle. Two demonstrations have been done in conjunction with these recommendations to illustrate some current trends in query interoperability against heterogeneous data sources.


The tissues consisted of adenocarcinoma of the prostate were examined by immunohistochemical study with monoclonal antibody (43-21-1-1) against gamma-seminoprotein (gamma Sm)2). The degree of staining regarding any correlation with the histological grade was evaluated. The prostatic tissues were obtained by transurethral resection or by fine needle biopsy from untreated 38 patients. The avidin-biotin peroxidase complex technique was used to stain on 3 microns-sections of 10% formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue. In addition, immunohistochemical staining with the commercialized antibodies to prostate-specific antigen (PSA; polyclonal, DAKO) and to prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP; polyclonal, DAKO) was done simultaneously for a comparative study. The degree of immunoperoxidase stain was classified into two categories, namely location and pattern, and was graded from 0 to 3, respectively. The product of the degree of location and the degree of pattern was noted as the total score. The mean of score was calculated in each histological grade. Then the means of total scores were compared and evaluated as having any statistical difference by Student's t test among 3 histological grades as well as among 3 primary antibodies used in this study. When the monoclonal antibody to gamma-Sm was used for immunoperoxidase staining, the means of total scores and the rates of negative reactions (% Negative) in 3 histological grades were 6.8 +/- 1.8 (M +/- SD) and 0% in well (N = 9), 4.4 +/- 2.4 and 14% in moderately (N = 22), and 1.8 +/- 2.3 and 54% in poorly differentiated lesions (N = 11), respectively. There were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) among 3 histological grades.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The assumption that climate mitigation can only be afforded at a particular level of income is implicit in global climate negotiations. This suggests that middle-income countries may reach a tipping point in their development process where low-carbon investment becomes more viable. In order to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, this tipping point needs to be brought forward in time: upper-middle-income countries are already responsible for 37.8% of global CO2 emissions. We explore the scope for large-scale investment in climate mitigation in Johor Bahru, a fast-growing industrial city in Malaysia. We find that the city could reduce per capita emissions by 10.0% by 2025, relative to 2014 levels, through cost-effective investments. If the returns could be recovered and reinvested in low-carbon measures, Johor Bahru could reduce per capita emissions by 35.2% by 2025, relative to 2014 levels. This result suggests that the tipping point may be a function of political will and institutional capacity as well as income. This has substantial implications for global climate policy discussions, particularly the opportunities and responsibilities of middle-income countries. If comparable savings can be delivered across cities in middle-income countries, this would equate to a reduction in global emissions of 6.3% with the exploitation of cost-effective options and 11.3% with the exploitation of cost-neutral options. Investing in economically attractive low-carbon measures could also provide cities in middle-income countries with an opportunity to build the political momentum and institutional capacities necessary for deeper decarbonization.


This paper presents a time split token-based con- tention resolution (TS-TBCR) protocol for providing multiple classes of traffic access to a shared wireless media. Since the protocol requires immediate response from the base station, it is best suited for short-range wireless applications. The key feature of the protocol is that it allows multiplexing of various services with high throughput even under heavy traffic loads. The protocol provides near perfect scheduling of information transfer by reserving a small part of the bandwidth for contention resolution. This resolves contention in an a priori manner, thus preventing collisions and leading to high channel bandwidth utilization. This protocol allows the system to support a high load while keeping packet loss probability within acceptable limits. Using a token-based mechanism, the protocol implements an access scheme, as well as a service (scheduling) discipline. The protocol is analytically modeled and extensive simulations performed to evaluate its performance. Results indicate that for multimedia traffic transport, the protocol can dynamically, and without any centralized control, realize any service discipline from first-in first-out (FIFO: complete fairness) to head-of-line (HOL: complete biasing), merely based on the relative service requirements of the traffic classes. This brings in fairness since no service class is excessively penalized.


This article is about the state of multiculturalist politics in the Netherlands. It assesses the popular claim that a paradigmatic change has occurred in the Netherlands due to events such as 9/11 and the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. The article argues that although changes are significant, both in discourse and in practice, they must be viewed as part of a process of rethinking the relation between newcomers and the state that goes back as far as the end of the 1980s. Long-standing claims about the exemplary form of multiculturalism in the Netherlands were always ambiguous at least, or even hard to sustain. The article criticises the persistent idea that Dutch accommodating integration policies since the end of the 1970s are an extension of the historical tradition of 'pillarisation'. Only by going beyond this myth can we understand why recent changes are much less of a break with the past, and why multiculturalism was never accepted or practised as fully as has often been suggested in more stereotypical depictions of Dutch integration policy.