to three days is not the optimal time for scanning as bone healing is only just beginning and soft tissue hyperaemia may interfere with the image. A more reliable delay after trauma is seven to 10 days.2 Isotope scans are indeed less expensive and more sensitive than conventional radiographs. Our aim is to give medical staff, especially junior doctors, confidence to treat this condition by adequate soft tissue splintage when they do not have access to isotope departments. MRAYoUNG


The direct force measurement between colloidal surfaces has been an essential topic in both theories and applications of surface chemistry. As particle size is decreased from micron size down to true nano size (<10 nm), surface forces are increasingly important. Nanoparticles at close proximity or high solids loading are expected to show a different behavior than what can be estimated from continuum and mean field theories. The current tools for directly measuring interaction forces such as a surface force apparatus or atomic force microscopy (AFM) are limited to particles much larger than nanosize. Here a modified colloidal probe technique is suggested using a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) to overcome this problem. Determination of zero separation in AFM is critical to extract a reliable force-separation curve when MWNT is used as a probe. Hence, a systematic approach to the data collection for a nanosize colloidal probe is proposed and a sample of a direct surface force measurement curve obtained with the MWNT probe is presented.


We evaluate the effects of mobility and reservations on new call blocking and handoff blocking in multirate wireless networks. The model evaluated uses fixed channel assignment (FCA) with priority for handoffs over new call arrivals by reserving a number of channels for handoff calls in all the cells. The performance measures used are new call blocking and handoff drop probabilities. The methodology used is that of implied costs which we calculate from the the network net revenue which considers the revenue generated by accepting a new call into the network as well as the cost of a handoff drop in any cell. Simulation and numerical results are presented showing the accuracy of the model. We present numerical results showing the effect of reservations on the call blocking probability. The implied cost analysis shows that mobility has a significant knock-on effect on the traffic elsewhere in the network and we capture this effect through the net revenue which is sensitive to the level of mobility. We calculate the sum revenue for a given network by maximizing the net revenue using implied costs in a gradient descent algorithm. This analysis indicates that in the case of multiple classes of traffic the call carrying capacity of the network is sensitive to the choice of reservation parameters.


Most of the existing algorithms for parameter estimation of damped sinusoidal signals are based only on the low-rank approximation of the prediction matrix and ignore the Hankel property of the prediction matrix. We propose a modified Kumaresan-Tufts (MKT) algorithm exploiting both rank-deficient and Hankel properties of the prediction matrix. Computer simulation results demonstrate that compared with the original Kumaresan-Tufts (1982) algorithm and the matrix pencil algorithm, the MKT algorithm has a lower noise threshold and can estimate the parameters of signal with larger damping factors.


Loss or mutation of p53 may have multiple biological and genetic effects that result in accelerated tumor progression. Loss of p53 in some tumors has been correlated with a marked decrease in tumor cell apoptosis. p53 loss may also accelerate tumor growth through an increase in cell proliferation rates. To examine the effects of p53 loss on tumor progression in a controlled experimental context, we previously crossed p53-deficient mice to mammary tumor-susceptible Wnt-1 transgenic (TG) mice. The resulting female Wnt-1 TG offspring of this cross all developed mammary tumors, regardless of p53 status (p53+/+, p53+/-, or p53-/-). However, female p53-/- Wnt-1 TG mice developed tumors much sooner than their p53+/+ counterparts. In this report, we demonstrate that the average growth rates of tumors missing (p53-/-) or losing p53 (p53+/- with loss of heterozygosity) are accelerated compared to tumors with both wild-type p53 alleles (p53+/+). This accelerated growth rate appears to be due primarily to increases in rates of tumor cell proliferation. Tumor cell apoptotic levels were modest and were not measurably different in the presence or absence of wild-type p53. These results differ substantially from other mouse tumor models in which p53 loss was closely correlated with accelerated growth rates through attenuated apoptosis. Thus, the mechanisms by which p53 loss influences tumor progression may differ, depending on the tissue type and/or the oncogenic pathways involved.


An unusual case of a perforated Richter's hernia in which is presented with abscess cavity contained a chicken bone. Richter's gernia is difficult to diagnose before strangulation occurs. The surgeon must be prepared to follow small bowel resection with a second operation for definitive repair of the hernia.


The concept of resilience is attracting increasing attention across a wide range of academic disciplines and business sectors. While academic researchers have increasingly employed the concept to inform their work on sustainability, there is also growing interest in a wider conceptualisation of resilience as the focus for tourism planning. With these thoughts in mind, this exploratory paper reviews how the concept of resilience is both illuminating academic research on sustainability and guiding the development of new planning strategies, within the tourist industry and offers some wider reflections on the use of the concept within the industry.


Introduction: In-service training of nurses plays an indispensable role in improving the quality of inpatient care. Need to enhance the effectiveness of in-service training of nurses is an inevitable requirement. This study attempted to design a new optimal model for in-service training of nurses. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in two stages during 2015-2016. In the first stage, the Grounded Theory was adopted to explore the process of training 35 participating nurses. The sampling was initially purposeful and then theoretically based on emerging concept. Data were collected through interview, observation and field notes. Moreover, the data were analyzed through Corbin-Strauss method and the data were coded through MAXQDA-10. In the second stage, the findings were employed through 'Walker and Avants strategy for theory construction so as to design an optimal model for in-service training of nursing staff. Results: In the first stage, there were five major themes including unsuccessful mandatory education, empowering education, organizational challenges of education, poor educational management, and educational-occupational resiliency. Empowering education was the core variable derived from the research, based on which a grounded theory was proposed. The new empowering education model was composed of self-directed learning and practical learning. There are several strategies to achieve empowering education, including the fostering of searching skills, clinical performance monitoring, motivational factors, participation in the design and implementation, and problem-solving approach. Conclusion: Empowering education is a new model for in-service training of nurses, which matches the training programs with andragogical needs and desirability of learning among the staff. Owing to its practical nature, the empowering education can facilitate occupational tasks and achieving greater mastery of professional skills among the nurses.


Whenever we discuss regarding the alcoholism, which may be chronic or acute, it seems that the people who consumes alcohol may be due to any causes, it leads to an Alcoholic addiction. In the primary stage of alcoholic consumption, it may not harm to body but some socioeconomic problem may occur. Sometimes the family members as well as friends also ignore to such activities of user knowingly or unknowingly. Users often take beetle with tobacco products in order to conceal the fact, which may also harm to their body. As the time passes and if it is not controlled by him-self or family, then such person falls down to another world, from where he does not want to come back and he makes distances from family as well as good friends. At last a stage comes where he becomes ruined socially, economically, physically and mentally. Some users even try to commit suicide due to frustration. Homicidal activities and sexual violence may also be noticed. Now-adays alcoholism is a commonest cause for incidents of murder and rape as well as traffic accidents. Hence if the consumer adopt the lifestyle described in Ayurveda and Yoga, then one can give up the addiction of alcohol and able to lead a happy and healthy life


An investigation has been made of the structure and properties of synthetic polypeptide monolayers spread at the air/water interface. Two series of high molecular weight polymers have been examined, esters of polyglutamic acid and polymers with hydrocarbon side-chains. The structure has been investigated by measurement of the force/area relations and surface potentials with a Langmuir trough, and by measurement of the exchange rates of peptide deuterium. These direct methods have been supplemented by observations by infrared spectroscopy and electron diffraction on collapsed films removed from the surface. It is found that in all cases the properties of the monolayer are consistent with a structure consisting of condensed ordered arrays of α-helices. The collapse of a monolayer to form a bilayer causes either a plateau or an inflexion in the force/area curve. From the pressure required to form the bilayer and the work of adhesion between the polymer and water, obtained from Young's equation, the free energy of the polymer/vapour interface has been calculated. The deuterium exchange measurements show that exchange can take place in an intact α-helix, and how the exchange rate is influenced by the accessibility of the peptide group to water, the pH of the substrate and the hydrophobic nature of the side chain; the conclusions are important in the interpretation of deuterium exchange in proteins.


When Professor Abiola Francis Irele passed in 2017, we had met a couple of months earlier at a conference hosted by the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPTC) in Johannesburg. Throughout the huge conference, I had been beside Irele, ravenously tapping into his wealth of knowledge and experience, plying him with an endless barrage of questions relating to our intellectual history and the key figures who had indelibly marked and shaped its trajectory. The esteemed professor, ever so patient, was ready to respond to even the most uncomfortable of entreaties. He possessed the unflappable sangfroid of a sage yet there was nothing inaccessible about his almost earthy aura. He was unfailingly modest and never condescended to me even when he had ample reason to do so.
He passed within three months of returning to Harvard in the United States where he had been based and then it fell upon his dear friend, Professor Olabiyi Babalola Yai to inform me. Yai was clearly distraught declaring he had lost his brother. As Yai expressed the great loss, one felt his heart had been ripped out leaving behind a gaping void. At the conference, Irele and I had discussed Yai's work. When I brought up the issue, Irele had uncharacteristically not found the exact words to capture the essence of Yai's oeuvre. He had sort of winced, indicating by making carving gestures with his hands that Yai worked like a fastidious sculptor of words. Yai's writing, in other words,was an exercise in textural sculpture, akin to a furnace of skewed intellectual contestation, and a work of unyielding scribal architecture. If rough, uneven and perhaps sometimes imprecise on the surface, it was an imprecision that seemed deliberate, forged in the hardened crucible of character formation, with the range and sturdiness of mountain rocks or the blasted rigor of gnarled ancient trees. That is what I had read in Irele's wince and gestures in relation to the unique work of Professor Olabiyi Yai.


Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of treating selected cases of inferior retinal detachment in silicone oil-filled eyes using a supplemental scleral buckling with external drainage of subretinal fluid, versus performing a second vitreoretinal surgery and silicone oil endotamponade. Methods: A prospective interventional pilot study that was performed on silicone oil-filled eyes with inferior retinal detachment. Twenty-three eyes of 23 consecutive patients were alternatively distributed between 2 groups: Group A included 12 eyes treated with supplemental scleral buckling with drainage of subretinal fluid and without the removal of silicone oil, and Group B included 11 eyes treated with silicone oil removal, vitreoretinal surgery, and reinjection of silicone oil. The preoperative data included indications and details of primary vitreoretinal surgery, cause of retinal redetachment, subretinal fluid, grade of proliferative vitreoretinopathy, lens status, and the duration between primary vitreoretinal surgery and reoperation. The postoperative examination included the best-corrected visual acuity, retina status, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, silicone oil, and any reported complication. Follow-up examinations were scheduled at Day 1, weekly for 1 month, and monthly thereafter till the end of the follow-up period which extended for at least 2 months after silicone oil removal. Results: The average number of detached clock hours per eye was 2.7 in Group A and 2.4 in Group B, caused by a mean of 1.58 ± 0.80 break per eye in Group A and 1.48 ± 0.66 break per eye in Group B. The mean interval between the primary vitreoretinal surgery and the scleral buckling procedure in Group A patients was 2.83 ± 1.22 months (range, 1–5 months), while in Group B, the mean interval between the primary and the secondary vitreoretinal surgeries was 3.00 ± 1.61 months (range, 1–6 months). The mean operative time was statistically significantly (P < 0.05) shorter in Group A (38.7 ± 11.2 minutes) than in Group B (65.3 ± 15.1 minutes). The mean follow-up duration was 15.00 ± 3.22 months in Group A and 14.18 ± 2.99 months in Group B. After silicone oil removal, the retina was attached in 10 of the 12 eyes (83.3%) and redetached in 2 eyes (16.7%) in Group A, while in Group B, the retina was attached in 9 of the 11 eyes (81.8%) and redetached in 2 eyes (18.2%) after silicone oil removal. The mean logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution best-corrected visual acuity has improved from 1.82 ± 0.72 to 1.36 ± 0.52 in Group A patients (P > 0.05) and from 1.93 ± 0.74 to 1.55 ± 0.63 in Group B patients (P > 0.05) at the end of the follow-up duration. Conclusion: For selected cases of inferior retinal detachment in silicone oil-filled eyes, supplemental scleral buckling could be as effective as a second vitreoretinal surgery. Scleral buckling could offer a faster, less invasive, and better economic alternative to repeated vitreoretinal surgery for treatment of such cases.


Phospholipids are major components of most eukaryotic cell membranes. Changes in metabolic states are often accompanied by phospholipid structure variations. The structural changes of phospholipids are the hallmark of disease states, or specific lipid structures have been associated with distinct organisms. Prime examples are microorganisms that synthesize phospholipids with, for example, different branched chain fatty acids. Assignment and relative quantitation of structural isomers of phospholipids that arise from attachment of different fatty acids to the glycerophospholipid backbone are difficult with routine tandem mass spectrometry or with liquid chromatography without authentic standards. In this work, we report on the observation that all investigated phospholipid classes form doubly charged lipid-metal ion complexes during electrospray ionization (ESI) and show that these complexes can be used to assign lipid classes and fatty acid moieties, distinguish isomers of branched chain fatty acids, and relatively quantify these isomers in positive-ion mode. Use of water free methanol and addition of divalent metal salts (100 mol %) to ESI spray solutions afford highly abundant doubly charged lipid-metal ion complexes (up to 70 times of protonated compounds). Higher-energy collisional dissociation and collision-induced dissociation of doubly charged complexes yield a diverse set of lipid class-dependent fragment ions. In common for all lipid classes is the liberation of fatty acid-metal adducts that yield fragment ions from the fatty acid hydrocarbon chain upon activation. This ability is used to pinpoint sites of branching in saturated fatty acids and is showcased for free fatty acids as well as glycerophospholipids. The analytical utility of doubly charged phospholipid-metal ion complexes is demonstrated by distinguishing fatty acid branching-site isomers in phospholipid mixtures and relatively quantifying the corresponding isomeric compounds.


Crowdsourcing, as a strategy to engage customers and leverage on their knowledge and ideas, is a phenomenon relatively new in the beauty industry. Some brands such as Kylie Cosmetics or Charlotte Tilbury have used crowdsourcing solutions before, in form of occasional engagement campaigns, but it is rather unusual for cosmetics companies to rely on crowdsourcing in their regular business activities. Volition Beauty, a start-up cosmetics company from San Francisco, United States, uses crowdsourcing and customer engagement to position itself on the market and build its brand image, which is a strategy previously unknown among the beauty brands. The company claims to develop its beauty products based only on the ideas submitted by the brand's community members and chosen in a process of online voting. By these activities, Volition Beauty creates a unique brand image strategy, and this research seeks to explore the ways it is done. Through qualitative content analysis of data extracted from the company's Instagram posts and blog articles it was possible to identify direct strategies the brand implements, consisting of themes direct co-creation incentives, direct engagement incentives, insights into the co-creative process and the benefits of crowdsourcing, and indirect incentives such as love for co-creative community/social identity, values – brand's symbolic function, real solutions for real women and revolutionizing the beauty industry. The research offers the view that, based on the example of Volition Beauty, cosmetics companies wishing to crowdsource can use the approach to position itself as brands that listen to the customers' needs and problems and offer them solutions in the form of personalized, high-quality products. What is more, the solutions, defined by Volition Beauty as "real solutions for real women", refer to the inclusiveness of the process in which the community members are included into the company's business activities and "given a voice". Lastly, based on the Volition's Beauty research, the community is claimed to be the core of the crowdsourcing company's identity and to be given power and influence to create the brand collectively with the brand executives. All of these characteristics are part of a brand image that the case study company, Volition Beauty, tries to create, to finally make a claim that crowdsourcing can "revolutionize the beauty industry".


Online prostitution is prostitution or activities that make a person as an object to be traded through electronic or online media, the media used, such as Whatsapp and other applications. In other words, here the people those who are responsible to be able to respect the norms and values embodied in the lives of people for cases of online prostitution can destroy the future of the nation in case they were found with offenders who are still teenagers and the lack of regulation of traction. Regulations invitation to entrap prostitutes. In this research, the author uses socio-juridical namely the review of secondary data in the form of legislation, as well as the outcome of legal scholars, such as books related to the subject matter to then proceed with research on primary data (obtained directly from the respondents). From the research problem, there are two things that can be inferred. Law enforcement against criminal acts of online prostitution in Polres Cirebon City Jurisdictions has been running and has conducted a series of investigative actions and investigations to unravel the cases of online prostitution. From the results of investigations conducted by the Police Cirebon Resort know that the perpetrators of online prostitution utilize Whatsapp. Building partnerships with the wider community partnerships in the wider community to help hack into your account - an account associated with seller of �young women� through online media. Suggestions in this research are; The first law enforcement against criminal acts of online prostitution by Polres Cirebon should be more intensive and thorough, because online prostitution is spreading very fast and the activities or transactions done through electronic media that police had difficulty in finding evidence and the investigation process difficult. Secondly, the hope that more people concerned about this online prostitution activities to facilitate the Polres Cirebon in overcoming it.Keywords: Law Enforcement; Criminal Act; Online Prostitution.


- The main limiting factors for the productive potential of wheat crops are related to the competition with weeds for resources such as water, light and nutrients. Nitrogen (N) is an important nutrient used to maintain crop productivity, as well as promoting the competitive ability of crops and therefore suppress the weed growth. In this context, the goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of wheat plants in competition with ryegrass under different levels of nitrogen fertilization. Treatments were arranged in a factorial design, where factor A consisted in nitrogen rates (0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg ha -1 ) and factor B consisted in ryegrass and wheat plants ratios, which were: 100/0 (pure stand of 64 wheat plants), 50/50 (32 wheat plants and 32 ryegrass plants) and 0/100 (pure stand of 64 ryegrass plants). Competition between the culture and ryegrass by N resulted in mutual damages, but the culture was more competitive than weeds, regardless of the N dose. The use of doses up to 120 kg N ha -1 increased the evaluated variables for wheat and ryegrass. Interspecific competition and nitrogen in higher than 120 kg N ha -1 doses reduced the morphological variables mass of the aerial part dry matter and leaf area of wheat and ryegrass.


Solutions of EDTA and citric acid have been used as canal irrigants. These substances must be compatible with apical periodontal tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate comparatively the cytotoxicity of a 17% EDTA solution and that of three solutions with different concentrations of citric acid (10, 15, and 25%) on cultured fibroblasts. The solutions were diluted to 0.1% and 0.5% in culture medium and then applied to NIH 3T3 cells. After 0, 6, 12, and 24 h (short-term assay; viability) and 1, 3, 5, and 7 days (long-term assay; survival), the cells were counted. The data were compared by ANOVA. In the short-term experiments, all solutions presented a percentage of cell viability similar to that of control cells, except for the 17% EDTA solution diluted to 0.5%. After the long-term assay, all groups presented a continuous and progressive cell growth except for the 17% EDTA solution and for the 25% citric acid solution at a 0.5% dilution. The citric acid solution did not impair cell growth and viability, proving to be noncytotoxic in vitro.


This Discussion Paper focuses on the question whether there can be any link between post-FSAP EU financial law and the impact of the financial crisis on EU citizens. In other words : would it be possible that existing rules have facilitated the emergence of the financial crisis and/or the extent of the losses for EU citizens? It is argued that such link cannot be excluded. More specifically, certain rules enshrined in the Capital Adequacy Directive, the Prospectus Directive, UCITS Directives and MiFID may have contributed to the emergence and/or impact of the financial crisis. On that basis it is further argued that it will be key now to identify any such problematic rules and decide what remedial action should be undertaken. As all involved parties – including the European Commission, the Member States or supervisory authorities – have their own interests to protect, it seems recommended that the European Parliament establishes a Financial Crisis Expert Committee that would work independently from any political or business influence. Ideally, such Committee should consist of internationally recognized academia – accountants, legal scholars, economists and behavior psychologists – including a sufficient number of experts who can think "out of the box" and experts with no links to the financial industry.


Although many animation, deformation and metamorphosis techniques have been proposed, the simultaneous combination of those three transformations has never been addressed for three-dimensional objects so far. This paper presents a framework for controlling metamorphosis between two animated implicit models built from skeletal elements. It relies on the animated BlobTree model that encompasses the animation and metamorphosis in a unified and coherent fashion. Our method is general and supports a wide range of animation systems such as key-frames or physically based systems.


This paper presents an energy aware learning automata-based routing protocol, ICLEAR, for wireless sensor network that adopts a novel approach to increase the network lifetime. This protocol is energy saver and manager both. We decrease energy consumption to increase network lifetime and manage routing discovery procedure to find best route in energy consumption by irregular cellular learning automata concept. In this paper, we first introduce the model of cellular learning automata in which learning automata are used to adjust the state transition probabilities of cellular automata. Then use irregular cellular learning automata for routing problem in network. Finally, We simulate and evaluate proposed routing protocol, ICLEAR, with other learning automata based routing protocols by Glomosim simulator.


To overcome the limitations of the current pertussis vaccines, those of limited duration of action and failure to induce direct killing of Bordetella pertussis, a synthetic scheme was devised for preparing a conjugate vaccine composed of the Bordetella bronchiseptica core oligosaccharide with one terminal trisaccharide to aminooxylated BSA via their terminal ketodeoxyoctanate residues. Conjugate-induced antibodies, by a fraction of an estimated human dose injected into young outbred mice as a saline solution, were bactericidal against B. pertussis, and their titers correlated with their ELISA values. The carrier protein is planned to be genetically altered pertussis toxoid. Such conjugates are easy to prepare, stable, and should add both to the level and duration of immunity induced by current vaccine-induced pertussis antibodies and reduce the circulation of B. pertussis.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

We have recently demonstrated that mechanical perturbation of endothelial cells from ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles (USMB) results in enhanced tumour radiosensitivity. When exposed to high-power ultrasound, microbubbles release energy in the form of local mechanical forces on the membranes of surrounding endothelial cells. Upon irradiation, rapid vascular shutdown occurs followed by extensive secondary tumour cell death. Our hypothesis is that USMB-based endothelial membrane perturbations produce ceramide via a sphingomyelinase (ASMase) pathway, and act synergistically with radiation to enhance overall tumour response. Here we investigate the role of the SMase-ceramide pathway on USMB-based endothelial radiosensitization.

Experiments were carried out in wild type (C57BL/6) and ASMase knockout mice, implanted with a fibrosarcoma line (MCA-129). Animals were treated with radiation doses varying from 0-8 Gy alone, or in combination with USMB. In addition, we pre-treated a subset of animals with sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). Treatments with USMB consisted of a 16-cycle tone burst at a 500 kHz center frequency and 570 kPa using a 2.86 cm element diameter ultrasound transducer. The total insonification time was 750 ms over 5 minutes. Microbubbles (Lantheus Medical) were injected through the tail-vein resulting in a blood volume concentration of 1% or 3% (v/v). Treatment response was assessed with Doppler ultrasound acquired at 3, 24 and 72 hrs using a VEVO770 preclinical ultrasound system. The vascularity index (VI) was used to quantify power Doppler data. Staining using ISEL, ceramide and CD31 immunohistochemistry of tumour sections was used to complement ultrasound images, and to confirm results.

Results suggest a link between USMB-based radiosensitization and ASMase. We observed an average decrease of 30% in the VI by 3 hrs in wild type tumours receiving 8 Gy radiation alone. In contrast, those receiving 8 Gy and USMB resulted in a VI decrease of up to 50%. Similarly, while 2 Gy alone induced minimal effects on the tumour vasculature, combining it with USMB resulted in up to 40% decrease in the VI by 24 hrs. Vascular effects were significant (p < 0.05) and sustained for up to 72 hrs after combined treatments. These resulted in significant cell death. In contrast to wild type animals, ASMase knockout mice, or wild-type mice receiving S1P, were found to be generally resistant to the anti-vascular effects of radiation and USMB. We noted minimal cell death and no vascular shutdown following any of the treatments in those experimental groups. Overall conclusions drawn from this work point to a mechanotransduction-like effect that results in endothelial radiosensitization.

Citation Format: Gregory Jan Czarnota, Ahmed El Kaffas, Anoja Giles, Azza Al Mahrouki, Amr Hashim. Ultrasound-stimulated microbubble based biomechanical enhancement of radiation cell death: Role of acid sphingomyelinase and ceramide. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1812. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1812


This paper explores project management in creative projects, drawing wisdom from interviews with four leaders of artistic projects from dance, theatre, film and fashion. The results tell us that several factors are important in such projects: project culture and atmosphere are extremely important; challenge and fun in the work are necessary for people to feel engaged; the participants focus on the process itself, rather than the outcome; passion, rather than specific requirements, drives the work; understanding the project environment is important; the leader must mark the direction and communicate the project vision clearly; barriers of language, culture and physical space must be broken to facilitate creative work; attention to the human side of a project is especially important as feelings, artistic expression, and deep relationships are often involved.


Background Community treatment order (CTO) use in Australia and New Zealand ranges from less than 40 per 100 000 population in Western Australia and Canterbury to over 100 per 100 000 in Victoria, South Australia and Waitemata. Recent publications on CTO use now permit a meta-regression to investigate whether differences in CTO use by jurisdiction affect either the possible predictors or outcomes of CTOs. Aims To assess whether factors associated with CTO placement or subsequent outcomes vary by rates of use. Method A systematic search of PubMed/Medline, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and PsycINFO for any Australian or New Zealand study comparing CTO cases with controls receiving voluntary psychiatric treatment. This study was prospectively registered with PROSPERO (protocol registration number: CRD42022351500). Results There were 35 articles from 16 studies identified in the search, plus unpublished data from a further study. Of these, 29 publications were included in meta-analyses. Two were from New Zealand. People who were male, single and not engaged in work, study or home duties were significantly more likely to be on CTOs. In addition, those from migrant backgrounds were 47% more likely to be on an order. On meta-regression, cases in jurisdictions with higher CTO rates had higher proportions of females or individuals with diagnoses other than non-affective psychoses. High-use jurisdictions were also less likely to show reductions in readmission rates or bed-days. Conclusions There are marked differences in the possible predictors and outcomes of CTO placement between high- and low-use jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand. These findings may have implications elsewhere and indicate that better-targeted CTO placement might improve outcomes.


This paper proposes a new sensorless vector control method for energy-efficient and wide-speed-range drives of permanent-magnet synchronous motors. The proposed sensorless method has the following features: 1) wide-speed-range drive under voltage limit; 2) current limitation; and 3) high efficiency. These features are realized in a very simple manner and can operate adaptively in all sensorless driving modes, including motoring/regenerating and steady/transient states. The usefulness of the proposed method is verified by extensive experiments.


The population of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the British Isles is in decline and is being supplanted by the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). It has been suggested that parapoxvirus‐associated disease has caused significant mortality in red squirrels and that grey squirrels are the source of the virus. A direct enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the measurement of antibody to squirrel parapoxvirus. We tested 140 sera from red squirrels and 223 from grey squirrels from different populations in the UK. A high percentage (61%) of apparently healthy grey squirrels, were found to have been exposed to the parapoxvirus. Only 2.86% (4/140) of red squirrels had antibody and three of these animals had parapoxvirus‐associated disease. We postulate that the grey squirrel may act as a reservoir host for the virus.


This paper is based on an empirical study using in-depth qualitative interviews that examines how Roman Catholic undergraduate seminarians in the United States understand gender, sexuality and masculinity. The findings describe how seminarians reject interactionist and social constructionist models of gender, and rely on a strict biological based model where sex/gender are seen as a unified concept. This leads them to adopt an "essential male inclusivity", where they argue that all people assigned male at birth have equal claim to "manhood", which eases pressures on them to act in gender normative ways. The social-psychological and identity-based motivations of these beliefs are examined in connection to their life in the seminary and other anticipated occupational characteristics. In contrast, the seminary's mandates around both celibacy and compulsory heterosexuality, make sexuality more fraught than gender for seminarians. The larger consequences of these perspectives are also explored in regard to gender inequality, homophobia, and the lack of acceptance for the LGBTIQ+ community.


The Asian-Pacific scene at present is marked by turbulent economic conditions and varying degrees of political instability, yet foreign relations are relatively favorable. Two key issues in Northeast Asia——North Korean nuclearization and cross-Taiwan Straits relations——remain unresolved, but current trends are generally hopeful. In Southeast and South Asia, conditions have been marked by economic decline stemming from the domestic scene and prominent cases of political tension. Yet, the risk of a war between Asian-Pacific states is at a record low.


Purpose Pediatric obesity disproportionately impacts Hispanic or Latino/a adolescents. Culturally appropriate family-based behavioral initiatives to improve weight status are warranted. The purpose of this research was to determine prevalence rates and identify protective factors associated with having overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥ 85th percentile) to inform Hispanic or Latino/a-targeted behavioral intervention development. Design Secondary data analyses of a population-based statewide survey. Setting Minnesota public high schools. Participants Male (n = 2,644) and female (n = 2,798) Hispanic or Latino/a 9th and 11th graders (N = 5,442). Measures Obesity-related behaviors (meeting fruit and vegetable [F&V] and physical activity [PA] recommendations), family caring, family country/region of origin, and weight status. Analysis Stepwise logistic regression models (F&V, PA), stratified by biological sex, were used to identify protective factors of overweight/obesity. Results The overall prevalence of meeting F&V and PA recommendations was 11.0% and 11.8%, respectively. Meeting F&V recommendations was not protective against overweight/obesity in either sex. Yet, males and females who met PA recommendations had significantly lower odds of having overweight/obesity (p < .05). In F&V and PA models, family caring was protective against overweight/obesity in females (p < .05), and family country/region of origin was protective against overweight/obesity in both sexes (p < .05). Conclusion Findings illustrate a need for obesity prevention initiatives for Hispanic or Latino/a youth. More research is needed to understand the protective nature of family caring and country/region of origin.


Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is used clinically to monitor physiological dysfunctions such as myelosuppression or infection. In the research laboratory, ANC is a valuable measure to monitor the evolution of a wide range of disease states in disease models. Flow cytometry (FCM) is a fast, widely used approach to confidently identify thousands of cells within minutes. FCM can be optimised for absolute counting using spiked‐in beads or by measuring the sample volume analysed. Here we combine the 1A8 antibody, specific for the mouse granulocyte protein Ly6G, with flow cytometric counting in straightforward FCM assays for mouse ANC, easily implementable in the research laboratory. Volumetric and Trucount™ bead assays were optimized for mouse neutrophils, and ANC values obtained with these protocols were compared to ANC measured by a dual‐platform assay using the Orphee Mythic 18 veterinary haematology analyser. The single platform assays were more precise with decreased intra‐assay variability compared with ANC obtained using the dual protocol. Defining ANC based on Ly6G expression produces a 15% higher estimate than the dual protocol. Allowing for this difference in ANC definition, the flow cytometry counting assays using Ly6G can be used reliably in the research laboratory to quantify mouse ANC from a small volume of blood. We demonstrate the utility of the volumetric protocol in a time‐course study of chemotherapy induced neutropenia using four drug regimens. © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry


Universal and rigorously derived concept of dynamic complexity (ccsd-00004906) shows that any system of interacting components, including society and civilisation, exists only as a process of highly inhomogeneous, qualitative development of its complexity. Modern state of civilisation corresponds to the end of unfolding of a big enough level of complexity. Such exhausted, totally "replete" structure cannot be sustainable in principle and shows instead increased instability, realising its inevitable replacement by a new kind of structure with either low or much higher level of complexity (degrading or progressive development branch, respectively). Unrestricted sustainability can emerge only after transition to the next, superior level of civilisation complexity (ccsd-00004214), which implies qualitative and unified changes in all aspects of life, including knowledge, production, social organisation, and infrastructure. These changes are specified by the rigorous analysis of underlying interaction processes. The unitary, effectively one-dimensional and rigidly fixed kind of thinking, knowledge, and social structure at the current level of complexity will be replaced by "dynamically multivalued", intrinsically creative kind of structure at the forthcoming superior level of development. We propose mathematically rigorous description of unreduced civilisation complexity development, including universal criterion of progress. One obtains thus a working basis for the causally complete, objectively exact and reliable development science and futurology.


Electrofluorochromism owing to redox reactions on the center europium (Eu) ion in ionic liquids is examined for the helicate complexes (abbreviated to EuL) with hexadentate pyridine derivative. Typical electrofluorochromism requires extra electroactive units complementing intra- or intermolecular energy transfer to quench fluorophores. Herein unprecedentedly simplified electrofluorochromic system overcoming such issues is demonstrated by utilizing reversible electrochemistry of EuL between Eu3+ and Eu2+, which accompanies large emission transition. A 3-electrodes electrochemical switching device is facilely prepared with ionic liquid [BMIM][PF6] and EuL mixture. Benefiting from the stable helical coordinated structure of the ligand in [BMIM][PF6], highly enhanced red fluorescence of EuL with small quantity (≤ 1 wt%) is utilized. Rapid response and large contrast of luminescence are achieved: the emission is drastically quenched at the reduced state (Eu2+), and it is successfully restored by subsequent oxidation (Eu3+). The reversible fluctuation of excitation and emission spectra of an electrofluorochromic device is achieved in the potential window within ±2 V. The device affords excellent optoelectric properties in terms of well-controlled luminescence switching depending on the applied potentials and its durability. This work paves an efficient and smart way toward Eu luminescence control in the optoelectronic devices.


Systems are always be checked and accepted easily. But with time passing by, systems are getting more and more slowly, and eventually, exceed the limit of users' patience. It's quite often that one Bottleneck appears followed by another was just solved. Therefore, finding the point of balance and making best use of all the resource in a certain range is a more realistic purpose. In this article, was taken as an example, optimization was done in the field of cluster, database and application. An efficient and effective optimizing strategy for massive data management system was raised. Moreover, this strategy can be popularized in all information management system.


South Maritime Dobrudja, known in the literature as the Southern coast of the Black Sea balneary seaside benefits of particular climatic conditions, due to the interaction of the sea and land, which create excellent conditions for tourism activities. The association between marine and plateau environment has offered and will continue to offer natural reserves for an adequate capitalization of the area, in terms of balneary climatic. By analyzing the combination of climatic factors and weather events we can state the values and regimes of meteorological elements underlying the genesis of a climatic system. Romanian seaside is regarded as a unique landscape, as a spatial interference area of forms and characters specific of two environments, well defined, marine and lacustrine environment, plateau and dry land environment. Romanian coastline provides an ideal environment for the practice of sunbathing (heliotherapy) and air baths (aero therapy). For further development of tourism it is necessary to be known the manifestations of indexes indicating the state of comfort or discomfort the human body is subjected to. Analysis of cutaneous climatic stress allows the identification of the periods of the year when the sensations of heat and cold affect the human body and the thermoregulation. Sensations felt on the skin are due to direct contact with air, but depend on the air temperature and air flow rate.


The progressing process of urbanization causes areas that were once previously green to turn into areas with a high rate of runoff. For this reason, all activities aimed at the alternative management of rainwater in the city are extremely important. The aim of the work is to compare the share of rainwater management in urban catchments to various alternative forms of management of these waters (including rain gardens and green roofs). The paper compares the outflows from the sample catchment with different runoff coefficients and after the implementation of various Low Impact Development (LID) practices to the catchment. The calculations were carried out using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) program version 5.1.012 with LID controls developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). The rainfall data used to carry out the simulation was derived over the last three years from the meteorological station in Krakow.


ABSTRACT Aging is associated with cognitive decline and decreased concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the gut. SCFAs are significant in that they are protective to the gut and other organs. We tested the hypothesis that the aged gut microbiome alone is sufficient to decrease SCFAs in the host and produce cognitive decline. Fecal transplant gavages (FTGs) from aged (18–20 months) or young (2–3 months) male C57BL/6 mice into germ-free male C57BL/6 mice (N = 11 per group) were initiated at ~3 months of age. Fecal samples were collected and behavioral testing was performed over the study period. Bacterial community structures and relative abundances were measured in fecal samples by sequencing the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Mice with aged and young microbiomes showed clear differences in bacterial β diversity at 30, 60, and 90 d (P = .001 for each) after FTGs. The fecal SCFAs, acetate, propionate, and butyrate (microbiome effect, P < .01 for each) were decreased in mice with an aged microbiome. Mice with an aged microbiome demonstrated depressive-like behavior, impaired short-term memory, and impaired spatial memory over the 3 months following the initial FTG as assessed by the tail suspension (P = .008), the novel object recognition (P < .001), and the Barnes Maze (P = .030) tests, respectively. We conclude that an aged microbiome alone is sufficient to decrease SCFAs in the host and to produce cognitive decline.


Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) assure better flexibility and increase efficiency by reusing the services to utilize distributed capabilities that may be located in independent trust domains and improve interoperability by providing new opportunities to connect heterogeneous platforms. But it also increases the complexity in the Cross-Organizational Boundaries due to increasing and outsourcing need for e-government organizations to work together and to meet their various customer needs, thus, there is a need for interoperability across organizational boundaries of e-government heterogeneous platforms. A broad range of SOA-platforms is available focusing on Web Service enabling and orchestration that is a key control mechanism that invokes Services to work and to provide control within an organization. This paper addresses a new Cross-Organizational Orchestrator Model that consists of three main components: business services, Cross-Organizational Meta service, and an orchestrator. Then, we are found that our architecture remains cross-organizational e-government interoperability while increases quickness and scalability, bring down the difficulty, improve the utility of advanced extensibility, reliability, flexibility and agility of whole e-government platforms.


In this paper, we extend our previous study of addressing the important problem of automatically identifying question and non-question segments in Arabic monologues using prosodic features. We propose here two novel classification approaches to this problem: one based on the use of the powerful type-2 fuzzy logic systems (type-2 FLS) and the other on the use of the discriminative sensitivity-based linear learning method (SBLLM). The use of prosodic features has been used in a plethora of practical applications, including speech-related applications, such as speaker and word recognition, emotion and accent identification, topic and sentence segmentation, and text-to-speech applications. In this paper, we continue to specifically focus on the Arabic language, as other languages have received a lot of attention in this regard. Moreover, we aim to improve the performance of our previously-used techniques, of which the support vector machine (SVM) method was the best performing, by applying the two above-mentioned powerful classification approaches. The recorded continuous speech is first segmented into sentences using both energy and time duration parameters. The prosodic features are then extracted from each sentence and fed into each of the two proposed classifiers so as to classify each sentence as a Question or a Non-Question sentence. Our extensive simulation work, based on a moderately-sized database, showed the two proposed classifiers outperform SVM in all of the experiments carried out, with the type-2 FLS classifier consistently exhibiting the best performance, because of its ability to handle all forms of uncertainties.


Agile models promote fast development. XP and Scrum are the most widely used agile models. This paper investigates the phases of XP and Scrum models in order to identify their potentials and drawbacks. XP model has certain drawbacks, such as not suitable for maintenance projects and poor performance for medium and large-scale development projects. Scrum model has certain limitations, such as lacked in engineering practices. Since, both XP and Scrum models contain good features and strengths but still there are improvement possibilities in these models. Majority of the software development companies are reluctant to switch from traditional methodologies to agile methodologies for development of industrial projects. A fine integration, of software management of the Scrum model and engineering practices of XP model, is very much required to accumulate the strengths and remove the limitations of both models. This is achieved by proposing an eXScrum model. The proposed model is validated by conducting a controlled case study. The results of case study show that the proposed integrated eXScrum model enriches the potentials of both XP and Scrum models and eliminates their drawbacks.


The article summarizes present knowledge on the relationship between use of oral contraceptives use and the risk of hormone dependent cancers. The authors conclude that, at present, this knowledge does not warrant a change in current prescription practice.


The energy in the district heating system is transforming into a clean, low-carbon and integrated production and consumption mode to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil energy. The district heating system has developed to the fifth generation currently, and the water temperature is continuously reduced, and thus the heating efficiency is improved. The proportion of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy in substations will continue to increase. In this paper, substation configurations of the fifth-generation district heating system are firstly reviewed, and the exergy analysis is applied to the thermodynamic simulation of the district substations. Thermal simulation models of several types of substations mainly based on solar water heating, water source- and air source- heat pumps or combined forms are developed, the conventional heat exchanger substation is also modeled to compare their performance. The optimization algorithm in Matlab/Simulink is used to solve the thermodynamic numerical model, and performance indicators such as exergy and efficiency are selected to evaluate the performance of these systems.


Malignant mixed mesodermal tumor is a rare tumor of the ovary and its histogenesis is controversial. We report the case of an ovarian tumor that seemed to be a pure carcinoma and recurred as a carcinosarcoma, and suggest a possible histogenesis for this kind of tumor. The patient was a 62‐year‐old Japanese woman. The primary tumor was confined to the right ovary and was a histologically poorly differentiated endometrioid adenocarcinoma with focal squamous differentiation. The tumor recurred as peritoneal dissemination 9 months later showing a histological appearance of carcinosarcoma of heterologous type. The recurrent tumor also contained intermingled foci of similar histology as the primary tumor. The carcinomatous component of the recurrent tumor showed more obvious differentiation to adenocarcinoma with increased expression of epithelial markers compared to the primary tumor. Epithelial membrane antigen was positive also in a few cells of the sarcomatous component, which implies that this tumor had features of metaplastic carcinoma. The DNA ploidy pattern of the primary ovarian tumor was diploid, while an additional aneuploid subpopulation appeared in the recurrent tumor. These findings suggest the possible histogenesis of carcinosarcoma of the ovary as progression and clonal evolution of endometrioid adenocarcinoma.


The aggregation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as they encounter biological and environmental systems can dictate their fate and transport. Here, we present a rapid, affordable, and robust analytical method for quantifying AgNP aggregation that combines a single particle electrochemistry technique called particle impact voltammetry (PIV) with the strengths of UV-vis spectroscopy. This orthogonal technique, designated PIV/UV-vis, enables the quantitative evaluation of aggregation kinetics by simultaneously measuring changes in the redox behavior of individual AgNPs and spectroscopic changes in the bulk AgNP colloidal solution. We demonstrate that the frequency of AgNP collisions measured by PIV is correlated to the concentration of monodisperse AgNPs in solution. In this way, aggregation can be quantified by the disappearance of AgNP collisions, much like in UV-vis where aggregation is quantified by the rate of disappearance of the localized surface plasmon resonance band of monodisperse AgNPs. The PIV/UV-vis technique was validated by determining the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) of 40 nm AgNPs in the presence of monovalent and divalent cations. The CCC values determined by PIV and UV-vis were in excellent agreement with one another and were determined as 43 ± 4 and 43 ± 3 mM Na+ and 3.0 ± 0.3 and 3.0 ± 0.1 mM Mg2+, respectively. Using dynamic light scattering, aggregation was confirmed by monitoring changes in AgNP hydrodynamic diameter and results show a clear distinction in aggregation behavior above the CCC. Further, zeta potential measurements were used to monitor changes in AgNP surface charge as another measure of colloidal stability. Overall, PIV/UV-vis is a powerful technique to measure AgNP aggregation due to its speed, affordability, reproducibility, and potential broad applicability.


In 1932 Carl Schmitt, one of Germany's most renowned constitutional theorists and conservative writers, published Legalitat und Legitimitat. The book pointed to the danger that national socialists or communists might take power by legal means and destroy the Weimar constitution. Yet by the spring of 1933, Schmitt had joined the NSDAP; he helped to institutionalize Gleichschaltung, and for the next few years seemed to be the movement's tame legal philosopher, the Third Reich's Kronjurist. His change of direction and the vacillating nazi attitude towards him have long been a subject of speculation. For many years the prevailing interpretations presented Schmitt as an intellectual underminer of the Weimar Republic, who saw his hopes and expectations fulfilled in the Machtergreifung, so that his embracement of nazism could be viewed as a natural transition.' More recent studies, however, have revived the question by showing that, before 1933, Schmitt had actually opposed national socialism.2 Fortunately, several sources of information have now shed further light on the controversy. These include the Schmitt file compiled by the Sicherheitsdienst, selected documents from Schmitt's unpublished personal papers, and his own comments on the subject.3 This evidence shows how a man who had argued that the Reichspresident was the legal defender of the constitution4 could so rapidly transfer his allegiance to the usurpers; the compromises he made as well as his difficulties under the new regime are clearly


Interactions of 4,9-diazapyrenium cations with nucleotides and polynucleotides were studied in buffered aqueous solution
(pH 5 or 7) by UV-Vis, fluorescence, NMR and viscometry. The formation of stacked nucleotide / 4,9-diazapyrenium and nucleotide-phenanthridinium complexes of 1 : 1 stoichiometry with log Ks 1.6 - 2.8 and log Ks<1 to 2.3, respectively, suggests that larger surface of the former cationic heteroaromatics does not considerably enhance nucleotide binding. The stability constants were found independent on nucleotide charge suggesting the dominance of aromatic stacking over coulombic interactions in such complexes. Monomeric 4,9-diazapyrenium cations bind to ss- and ds-polynucleotides by intercalation. Affinities were found to be essentially independent on the number of permanent charges present in the aromatic system but strongly dependent on a type of substituents attached. 2,7-Diamino substituted 4,9-diazapyrenium derivative has shown the highest affinity toward polynucleotides, the highest double helix stabilisation and highly specific fluorescence response on binding to double-stranded G - C (quenching) and A - U(T) (emission increase) polymers. Interactions of 2,7-diamino-4,9-diazapyrenium derivative with ss-polynucleotides, in contrast to other derivatives, depend strikingly on the nucleobase composition and in some cases on pH. The bis(4,9-diazapyrenium) dicationic derivatives, differing in rigidity and length of the linkers connecting diazapyrenium units, were found to bind ds-polynucleotides by monointercalation; some of them exhibited strong additional interactions of the non-intercalated diazapyrenium unit with the outer surface of a polynucleotide.

The novel phenanthridinium - nucleobase conjugates were prepared and studied by spectroscopic methods. An analysis of 1H NMR, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectra in aqueous media revealed intramolecular aromatic stacking interaction between phenanthridinium unit and nucleobase, resulting with folded conformation of molecules. Fluorimetric titrations showed that phenanthridinium- nucleobase conjugates 9, 10, 15 and 16 and reference phenanthridinium compounds 9 and 14 form 1 : 1 non-covalent complexes with nucleotides in water with binding constants ranging from 101 to 102 mol-1 dm3, while compounds 11 and 13 form intercalative type of 1 : 1 complexes with nucleotide aromatic unit inserted between phenanthridinium and covalently attached nucleobase, yielding binding constants of 103 -104 mol-1 dm3. Conjugates are binding either complementary or non-complementary nucleotides, showing a lack of any base recognition. Aromatic π...π stacking interactions are found to be dominant in complexes of all studied compounds with nucleotides. Adenine containing N-protonated conjugates 10 and 11 exhibit specific spectroscopic changes and two orders of magnitude higher affinity toward poly-U than uracil conjugates 12 and 13 and the reference compound 9 due to the existence of specific interactions between adenine and uracil, possibly Watson-Crick hydrogen bonding between the bases stacked on the phenanthridinium moiety. Contrary to 10 and 11, the N-methylphenanthridinium- -adenine conjugate 16 exhibited at pH 5 preferred binding to double stranded (ds-) poly-AH+. The binding studies of N-methylated compounds 14-16 with ss-polynucleotides showed no preference of conjugates to polynucleotides containing complementary nucleobases. The results reveal that the presence of protonated or permanently charged intercalator units in the conjugates dramatically changes their binding preferences for polynucleotides.


It is argued that an unwarranted dichotomization of geometrical illusions has produced theories whose explanatory scope is limited to either assimilation or contrast. Since recent attempts at integration lack precision, a 1977 unified model of the perception of extern by Brigner was revised to predict accurately both assimilative and contrastive phases of the parallel lines illusion. Application of the revised model to other geometrical illusions was discussed and a means of parsimoniously accounting for variations in assimilative illusions occurring with age and with lightness of the stimulus figure was suggested.


The authors derive a number of results on sufficient conditions under which the 2-D polynomial interpolation problem has a unique or nonunique solution. It is found that, if the sum of the degrees of the irreducible curves on which the interpolation points are chosen is small compared to the degree of the interpolating polynomial, then the problem becomes singular. Similarly, if there are too many points on any of the irreducible curves on which the interpolation points are chosen, then the interpolation problem runs into singularity. Examples of geometric distribution of interpolation points satisfying these conditions are shown. The examples include polynomial interpolation of polar samples, and samples on straight lines. The authors propose a recursive algorithm for computing 2-D polynomial coefficients for the nonsingular case where all the interpolation points are chosen on lines passing through the origin. The result is applied to the problem of nonuniform frequency sampling design for 2-D FIR filter design, and a few examples of such design are shown. >


Aim We hypothesize that the level of plant invasion at the
scale of vegetation plots is affected by the different sizes of
regional species pools of alien plants adapted to particular
habitats.We test these species-pool effects in the context of
alien species exchange between analogous habitats on two
continents. Location North and South Carolina, and the Czech
Republic (both as native and invaded range). Methods We
identified native and alien vascular plant species within 6059
vegetation plots from 27 habitats of eastern North America and
Central Europe. We compared the habitats' level of invasion,
expressed as the proportion of alien species in a
representative sample of vegetation plots from each habitat,
with the contribution of each habitat to the alien species
pool, calculated as the proportion of species of this habitat
that are native to one continent and donated as aliens to the
other. Results A habitat's level of invasion on one continent
increases with the proportion of alien species donated to its
regional species pools by analogous habitats on the other
continent, i.e. the more of its native species a habitat
contributes as aliens, the more of them establish in analogous
recipient habitats (direct species-pool effect). The habitat's
level of invasion on the same continent also increases with the
proportion of native species that those habitats themselves
donate to regional species pools on the other continent, i.e. a
habitat that gives many aliens also receives many aliens
(reciprocal species-pool effect). Main conclusions We
demonstrate that when a habitat on one continent donates more
of its native species to the alien species pool, the analogous
habitat on the recipient continent also contains a greater
number of aliens. The same donor habitat is itself also the
recipient of more alien species invading from the analogous
habitats of other continents.


Schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma spp. is a serious public health concern, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Praziquantel is the only drug currently administrated to treat this disease. However, praziquantel-resistant parasites have been identified in endemic areas and can be generated in the laboratory. Therefore, it is essential to find new therapeutics. Antioxidants are appealing drug targets. In order to survive in their hosts, schistosomes are challenged by reactive oxygen species from intrinsic and extrinsic sources. Schistosome antioxidant enzymes have been identified as essential proteins and novel drug targets and inhibition of the antioxidant response can lead to parasite death. Because the organization of the redox network in schistosomes is significantly different from that in humans, new drugs are being developed targeting schistosome antioxidants. In this paper the redox biology of schistosomes is discussed and their potential use as drug targets is reviewed. It is hoped that compounds targeting parasite antioxidant responses will become clinically relevant drugs in the near future.


Multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were synthesized via methane chemical vapor decomposition using low-cost activated carbon (AC) as support for Fe and Ni catalyst. Maximum methane conversions of 98% and 42% were observed on Fe and Ni catalysts respec- tively at reaction temperature of 750 n C by on-line gas chromatography. Bundles of MWNTs with an average internal dia ~ 20nm at 850 n C over Ni catalyst and thin-walled CNTs (dia ~ 8 nm) formed over Fe catalysts were confirmed by morphological studies by transmission electron microscopy. CNTs formed over Fe catalyst illustrated a typical tip-growth phenomenon. The for- mation of MWNTs was further supported with the data obtained from thermogravimetric analysis. The ideal condition for CNTs growth was noticed under N2/CH4 gas flow ratio of 2:1 rather than H2/ CH 4 atmosphere.


Abstract:In this epistolary essay, I theorize what otherwise-as-marronage can look like for teacher- educators and/or curriculum theorists who are isolated within or bifurcated between harmful institutional divides. I argue that marronage is already creating otherwise worlds and always has—and I propose that embracing marronage can not only help us heal from the falsely individualistic institutions of education but also actively reorient ourselves toward each other in an ethic of relationality. I address this love letter to Leigh Patel because her work first opened my thinking toward decolonization, answerability, and fugitivity/marronage as opposed to the closed circuit of 'critical' liberal humanism. The letter also centers around her 2019 visit to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the social geographic fugitive space of the Hub/Raíces Collective—an occupied space in the School of Education that exemplifies a fugitivity that is tension-filled in part due to its resistance to interest convergence and the unruly consequences of learning. Patel's visit to the School of Education serves as backdrop upon which to explore the limits and possibilities of both studying and living otherwise in teacher education. In other words, marronage as a problem for thought in teacher education reveals how curriculum theory and teacher education cannot exist without each other—no matter how thoroughly the academic industrial complex stratifies the social order toward the falsely competitive, individualistic, self-replicating Man of liberal humanist education. Indeed, the pluralities of otherwise chart paths toward intellectual collectives capable of building worlds outside of anti-Blackness and settler colonialism.


In order to elucidate the influence of an additive on the copper electroplating process, several substituted benzotriazole compounds are used in plating solutions. Copper deposits obtained from the additive-free and additive-containing acidic solutions were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Among the systems studied, additive-free deposition gives the roughest deposits. Using benzotriazole (BTA) or N-(1H-benzotriazol-1-ylmethyl)formamide (amide-BTA) as an additive yields the smoothest deposits. Deposition in the presence of 1-(methoxymethyl-1H-benzotriazole (MeOMe-BTA) or methyl-1H-benzotriazole (Me-BTA) results in rough deposits which resemble those obtained in the additive-free deposition. Scaling analysis was employed to analyze the AFM images. The results indicate that deposition without additives follows the Wolf-Villain + step flow model. Copper growth in the presence of BTA or amide-BTA is suggested to follow a different model, namely, the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang model. With MeOMe-BTA or Me-BTA as additives, copper growth also follows the Wolf-Villain + step flow model. The images and the scaling analysis clearly show a marked effect of triazole ring substitution on the copper deposition. The different action exerted by these compounds can be explained by their ability to form oligomers with cuprous ions. The deposits were characterized by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Significant inclusion of organic matter and sulfur species was found in the deposits obtained from additive solutions.


The aim of this study is to synthesize flame-retardant additive by using B/P/N and to investigate this additive's performance in the ultraviolet (UV) curable system. Therefore, in the first stage, borate ester (triethanolamine borate, TEAB) was synthesized by the reaction of boric acid and triethanolamine. In the second stage, phosphate salt of borate ester (triethanolamine borate polyphosphoric acid, TEAB-PPA) was synthesized by the reaction of borate ester (TEAB), which synthesized in the first stage and PPA. Thermal stability and flammability of the samples were evaluated by thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and limiting oxygen index. The samples were characterized with the following analyses: Fourier transform infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, UV transmittance, gel content, water absorption capacity, and stress–strain test. Hydrophilicity of the samples was determined by the contact angle measurements. Moreover, the surface morphology of the samples was investigated by a scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectrometer mapping. The obtained results prove that boron, nitrogen, and phosphorus increased the flame retardancy property of the synthesized additive and suggest desired flame retardancy using various resins and different ratio of additives.


Studies have shown that bacterial contamination are common on inanimate surfaces. One of the common surfaces that can transmit bacteria is toilet door handles. Improper hygiene practice of toilet users can be the cause of transmission of pathogens including antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistant bacteria were isolated form the toilet door handles in INTI International University from a previous study. However, these isolates were poorly identified, and the complete antibiogram pattern were not done as well as the pure cultures were not preserved. Thus, the aim of this study was to reisolate and reidentify the antibiotic resistant bacteria from the toilet door handles in INTI International University as well as to determine the resistant pattern of the isolates using the antibiotic disk diffusion method. Bacterial sample were obtained from each toilet cubicles in the female toilets in the academic block of INTI International University. The sample were inoculated in nutrient broth and incubated at 200rpm, 37℃ for 16-18hr. The pure culture of 46 isolates were identified using several confirmatory tests such as gram staining, catalase test, oxidase test, TSI agar test and IMVIC test. Furthermore, the isolates were grown also grown onto MSA and MacConkey agar to further identify the genus and species. Out of 46 pure isolates, 42 isolates were able to be identified its genus and species using Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology 9th edition, whereas, 4 isolates cannot be identified. Several possible genus and species were identified such as Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus spp and Salmonella spp. Different antibiotics such as amoxicillin, ampicillin, cefoxitin, penicillin G, ofloxacin, vancomycin as well as gentamycin were used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of gram positive and gram negative isolates based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 27th Edition. From a total of 42 identified isolates, 10 isolates were resistant to antibiotics. Out of 11 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, 1 isolate (2.38%) was resistance to cefoxitin explaining the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from the toilet door handles. Meanwhile, 5 isolates of S. epidermidis (11.90%) were resistant toward both penicillin G and cefoxitin showing the presence of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria. This study shows that the toilet door handles can be one of the significant inanimate surface to transmit antibiotic resistant bacteria from one individual to another in INTI International University. Personal hygiene is important to remove the spread of these pathogen in the environment.


For the continued airworthiness of an aircraft during its entire economic service life, fatigue and damage tolerance design, analysis, testing and service experience correlation play a pivotal role. In a transport aircraft there are usually two spars to take the bending loads. The main spar takes a major portion of this bending moment. It is the major critical structural elements in a transport wing. Most service structural failures in structures are due to fatigue cracks. Fatigue cracking cannot be avoided but can be tolerated by suitable damage tolerance design. In large transport wings the main spar is an integrally machined component which gets mechanically fastened to the skin and ribs. The mechanical fastening leads to severe stress concentration at a few fastener holes. Under service loading a fatigue crack can initiate from the most severe stress concentrator. This fatigue crack will grow under service loading first in the flange and then grow into the spar web. This crack growth can lead to catastrophic failure if not detected during service and repaired. This project work will investigate alternate structural design of the main spar to make it damage tolerant. The spar construction here will be having one more intermediate flange and at an assumed height of 1/3 rd from the bottom flange of the spar. In the event of fatigue cracking the bottom flange and web may fail but the top flange, web and the intermediate flange will remain intact and can be designed to carry the required design limit load. A finite element modeling and analysis approach will be employed to study both types of spar constriction and validate the damage tolerance design concept.


The Prelude, Wordsworth's great autobiographical poem, is crucial to our understanding of his life and poetry. This epic work covers the experiences of Wordsworth's boyhood and his poetic development; his debt to literature; the awakening of his passionate interest in man; his hopes and despair for the French Revolution; his life in London and in the country, the highs and lows of his career; his relationship with his sister Dorothy and his friendship with Coleridge. Through The Prelude Wordsworth was at last free to devote his life to its true vocation and to record his gratitude for the gift which brought him that freedom. Written between 1798 and 1805, it was first published posthumously in 1850 after intensive revision in Wordsworth's later years. This volume contains the original 1805 text edited from manuscripts with a comprehensive introduction and notes.


We report on a new cathode which is based on die-pressed matrices made from scandia-doped tungsten powder. Transition temperatures from space charge to temperature limited emission are as low as 840° Cb(W) for emission of 5 Amps/cm2. Transitions are sharper than previously published scandate cathodes and compare favorably with M and ternary alloy cathodes. We present emission curves on several cathodes, show comparisons to other types of cathodes, and offer tentative explanations for the improvement. We discuss their suitability in microwave tubes at loadings of 5-10 Amps/cm2.


Schema integration is the problem of creating a unified target schema based on a set of existing source schemas and based on a set of correspondences that are the result of matching the source schemas. Previous methods for schema integration rely on the exploration, implicit or explicit, of the multiple design choices that are possible for the integrated schema. Such exploration relies heavily on user interaction; thus, it is time consuming and labor intensive. Furthermore, previous methods have ignored the additional information that typically results from the schema matching process, that is, the weights and in some cases the directions that are associated with the correspondences. In this paper, we propose a more automatic approach to schema integration that is based on the use of directed and weighted correspondences between the concepts that appear in the source schemas. A key component of our approach is a novel top-k ranking algorithm for the automatic generation of the best candidate schemas. The algorithm gives more weight to schemas that combine the concepts with higher similarity or coverage. Thus, the algorithm makes certain decisions that otherwise would likely be taken by a human expert. We show that the algorithm runs in polynomial time and moreover has good performance in practice.


This paper uses the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to analyse the missing links in attempts to address the problems of flooding in Nigerian cities. Previous flooding and the recent ones have been attributed to heavy downpour, blockage of water channels and drainages, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and building of houses along channels. Areas that are neglected but pertinent to flood mitigation include: (1) degreening activities that remove green cover; (2) paving of open spaces with asphalt and concrete that accentuate storm water volume as percolation is reduced; and (3) unpaved surfaces that generate debris and silts that cause siltation and sedimentation of Atlantic Ocean and Lagoon with the consequence of rising sea level and coastal flooding. The paper reports the findings of longitudinal studies on causative factors of urban flooding. The studies commenced in Ile-Ife and Ibadan in 1997, conducted in Lagos in 1998-2000 and 2011 and in Ibadan in 2011 and 2012. The paper identified gaps between and among the stakeholders in environmentalism and ecosystemic balance at state and local levels. Indications from Ile-Ife, Lagos and Ibadan show that the three cities are experiencing degreening activities. For example, in Ile-Ife and Lagos, the green areas account for the least proportions, 24.1% and 27% of open spaces around buildings respectively, while 75.9% and 73.0% of the available open spaces are either paved or unpaved with the problem of heat radiation that demands additional energy for operating artificial cooling system and consequently increased global warming. In addition, degreening activities cause flooding. As more and more land is urbanised, and trees and grasses are replaced by asphalt and concrete, rainwater has less chance to be absorbed. Thus, storm water rushes down the streets while areas that were never flooded are now routinely under water.
Other studies in Lagos show that: (i) there is an increase in the rate of sedimentation and sea level rise (ii) rainstorms in the city have become more intense and urban flooding will be more severe. Floods have devastated many parts of Lagos and Ibadan leading to loss of several lives and property and the displacement of several people. Statistics confirms that between 2011 and 2012, more than 150 billion naira (about $1 billion) was lost in Lagos, while 2,105 buildings were flooded in Ibadan with property damaged estimated in billions of Naira. As a result, the Lagos and Oyo States" Governments spent several millions of Naira on relief to the victims. This paper raises some fundamental questions on the roles of stakeholders (scholars, public officials, practitioners, professionals and citizens) within the built environment in designing strategies at mitigating urban flooding. This paper considered it imperative for the adoption of pragmatic and problem-solving strategies that can help in mitigating flooding in Lagos and Ibadan. Consequently, the paper designs an African Polycentric Urban Greenery Model (APUGM) that can be applied to addressing the challenges of flooding in the two cities. The paper emphasizes, among other considerations, the use of traducture in reaching the grassroots for solution to the recurrent challenges of flooding. The paper also designs strategies that Lagos and Oyo states" governments could adopt for the depopulation of the two cities – Lagos and Ibadan respectively through de-urbanisation, de-migration and re-migration.


Abstract Victor Kattan's "From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1891–1949" is an archival excavation of the Israeli-Palestinian (Arab-Israeli) conflict and its origins. This review will examine the contours of Kattan's book followed by a brief examination of objectivity in academic scholarship often enunciated through the concept of 'balance' as it relates to those scholars (like Kattan) working on the conflict. Finally, this review will explore some of the weakness of the arguments that Kattan advances.


This Discussion Meeting takes place against a background in which it is often stated that between one-quarter and one-third of the potential harvest of the world's food crops is lost to weeds, diseases and pests, and that another 10-15% is lost during post-harvest storage under poor conditions. Losses are not so large in developed countries, where control procedures are applied more widely and effectively, and where food stores are maintained carefully. The control procedures rely heavily on herbicides, fungicides and insecticides and so evoke increasing concern of a social and environmental nature. The present situation may be summarized in the following quotation from the Report of the Royal Commission on the Environment, Agriculture and pollution (Anon. 1979): We accept that the continued use of pesticides is essential to maintain food supplies and that much care is taken by manufacturers, and through existing control machinery, to ensure safety in use and to minimize adverse environmental effects. We are concerned, nevertheless, about the scale of pesticide use.


In this study, the characteristics of simulated tropical cyclones (TCs) over the western North Pacific by a regional model (the WRF model) are verified. We utilize 12 km horizontal grid spacing, and simulations are integrated for 5 days from model initialization. One hundred and twenty-five forecasts are divided into five clusters through the k-means clustering method. The TCs in the cluster 1 and 2 (group 1), which includes many TCs moves northward in subtropical region, generally have larger track errors than for TCs in cluster 3 and 4 (group 2). The optimal steering vector is used to examine the difference in the track forecast skill between these two groups. The bias in the steering vector between the model and analysis data is found to be more substantial for group 1 TCs than group 2 TCs. The larger steering vector difference for group 1 TCs indicates that environmental fields tend to be poorly simulated in group 1 TC cases. Furthermore, the residual terms, including the storm-scale process, asymmetric convection distribution, or beta-related effect, are also larger for group 1 TCs than group 2 TCs. Therefore, it is probable that the large track forecast error for group 1 TCs is a result of unreasonable simulations of environmental wind fields and residual processes in the midlatitudes.


This book is not another broad, superficial survey of African art. It is an attempt to get past the usual clichks that surround and often obscure African art and history, and to reconsider the basic ideas that underly the art of black Africa and its study. It is thus concerned with attitudes and ideas as well as with facts. This duaI approach, in which attention is given to methodology as well as data, is one of the strongest points of the book. It starts with a discussion of the evolution of Western attitudes toward African art and culture, which both heightens the reader's awareness of his own preconceptions about Africa, and provides a context for the discussion of African history which follows. The interesting (if somewhat sketchy) historical survey provides a context for chapters on the artist (his personality and social role, materials and techniques, training, patronage and aesthetic judgement) and on the relationships between art and society. These in turn are followed by three chapters that discuss specific types of plastic expression : 'Masks', which considers techniques, types, ritual usage and ideological significance; 'Statues', which addresses itself to problems of form and meaning and the designation of imagery (fetish, incarnation, commemorative) and 'From Myth to History', which approaches the problem of narrative reliefs, giving particular attention to symbolism and metaphor. A brief concluding chapter rounds off the book with a very interesting discussion of the so-called 'decadence' of contemporary African art and some remarks on the future. There are over 200 black and white illustrations, including maps, of varying size and quality, but generally well integrated with the text, and an appendix in chart form coordinates African history with events in Europe and the Middle East. On the whole, the book addresses itself intelligently and knowledgeably to many of the most important and problematic aspects of African art and history. It asks many pertinent questions and it provides some interesting answers. At the same time, it is marred by some serious faults. One of its leitmotifs is a running argument against a shadowy legion of ethnocentric specialists and scholars whom the author uses as a foil for his own ideas. Although this device sometimes works, the frequent references to a benighted 'them' often gives the book an uncomfortably polemical tone; a feature emphasized, unfortunately, by a certain jumpiness in the English translation. Further, although the author has read very widely and freely quotes and refers to a large body of documentary material, there is not a single footnote in the book. This is particularly disconcerting in a work that sets out to 'prove' so many points.


Cardiac pacing techniques and equipment have developed dramatically in recent years. Bradycardias and tachycardias may be effectively treated by pacing. Bradyarrhythmias: It is generally accepted that pacing is indicated for a sustained symptomatic bradycardia. Prophylactic pacing for'high-risk' bundle branch block in acute myocardial infarction is more controversial. A new era in cardiology has been introduced with the advent of'physiological pacing', i.e. pacing of the heart with the maintenance of atrioventricular synchrony and varying the heart rate according to the body's metabolic leads. Modern pacing systems, which allow the atria and ventricles to contract in sequence, improve cardiac haemodynamics, result in subjective improvement and increase exercise tolerance. There are, however, pacemaker-associated and pacemaker-mediated tachyarrhythmias. Further advances in technology should overcome these problems. Tachyarrhythmias: Intracardiac electrocardiograms are often useful in the diagnosis of tachyarrhythmias, especially wide complex tachycardias. Rapid pacing of the atria in certain supraventricular tachycardias or of the ventricle in ventricular tachycardia is an alternative to cardioversion in many instances. This form of treatment is usually utilised in conjunction with drug therapy.


PURPOSE
This study was designed to use infrared photorefraction to measure accommodation in awake-behaving normal and strabismic monkeys and describe properties of photorefraction calibrations in these monkeys.

METHODS
Ophthalmic trial lenses were used to calibrate the slope of pupil vertical pixel intensity profile measurements that were made with a custom-built infrared photorefractor. Day to day variability in photorefraction calibration curves, variability in calibration coefficients due to misalignment of the photorefractor Purkinje image and the center of the pupil, and variability in refractive error due to off-axis measurements were evaluated.

RESULTS
The linear range of calibration of the photorefractor was found for ophthalmic lenses ranging from -1 D to +4 D. Calibration coefficients were different across monkeys tested (two strabismic, one normal) but were similar for each monkey over different experimental days. In both normal and strabismic monkeys, small misalignment of the photorefractor Purkinje image with the center of pupil resulted in only small changes in calibration coefficients, that were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Off-axis measurement of refractive error was also small in the normal and strabismic monkeys (approximately 1 D to 2 D) as long as the magnitude of misalignment was <10 degrees.

CONCLUSIONS
Remote infrared photorefraction is suitable for measuring accommodation in awake, behaving normal, and strabismic monkeys. Specific challenges posed by the strabismic monkeys, such as possible misalignment of the photorefractor Purkinje image and the center of the pupil during either calibration or measurement of accommodation, that may arise due to unsteady fixation or small eye movements including nystagmus, results in small changes in measured refractive error.


MOTIVATION
Prokaryotic genomes are sequenced and annotated at an increasing rate. The methods of annotation vary between sequencing groups. It makes genome comparison difficult and may lead to propagation of errors when questionable assignments are adapted from one genome to another. Genome comparison either on a large or small scale would be facilitated by using a single standard for annotation, which incorporates a transparency of why an open reading frame (ORF) is considered to be a gene.

RESULTS
A total of 143 prokaryotic genomes were scored with an updated version of the prokaryotic genefinder EasyGene. Comparison of the GenBank and RefSeq annotations with the EasyGene predictions reveals that in some genomes up to approximately 60% of the genes may have been annotated with a wrong start codon, especially in the GC-rich genomes. The fractional difference between annotated and predicted confirms that too many short genes are annotated in numerous organisms. Furthermore, genes might be missing in the annotation of some of the genomes. We predict 41 of 143 genomes to be over-annotated by >5%, meaning that too many ORFs are annotated as genes. We also predict that 12 of 143 genomes are under-annotated. These results are based on the difference between the number of annotated genes not found by EasyGene and the number of predicted genes that are not annotated in GenBank. We argue that the average performance of our standardized and fully automated method is slightly better than the annotation.


Indigenous Tayal experiences of dispossession in Taiwan reflect a familiar pattern of state-sanctioned property rights precluding recognition of Indigenous rights. This paper examines Tayal customary institutions and how they have governed, and continue to govern, land interests in customary domains. In an agricultural economy encompassing patterns of mobility and long-term movement between areas, Tayal people maintain continuing rights in land that is not currently or permanently occupied or used. However, following Second World War and Taiwan's occupation by the Chinese Nationalist Kuomingtang party, a new system of individually registered property titles was established, only allowing registration of individual land in settled fields that were occupied and cultivated. Interests in fallowed land were not registrable and such land was reclassified as State property. The system's enforcement in the 1950s was central to the dispossession and non-recognition of Tayal rights and parallel discourses making Indigenous people invisible. We argue that unpacking the ontologies behind hegemonic understandings of property in Taiwan offers ground for recognizing the plurality, messiness and openness that articulate contestations over time, space and property. In the context of Taiwan's 2016 Presidential Apology to Indigenous citizens, we conclude that contested constructions of temporality and spatiality are fundamental to challenging Indigenous dispossession.


The dough characteristics of mixtures of wheat flour and potato starches from three different cultivars (Eniwa, Benimaru and Norin No. 1) were investigated using a Brabender farinograph. The water absorption of control wheat dough was higher than that for all mixture doughs and decreased significantly with increases in potato starch. The peak time of wheat flour-potato starch mixtures ranged from 21.0 to 22.5 min, with no large difference with increase of potato starch. Dough stability significantly increased with increase of potato starch. The increase of potato starch in the mixtures decreased the tolerances of mixing, indicating that they were weaker than the control flour. Breakdown time of mixtures tended to be the same as for control wheat flour up to 5 % potato starch, above which it increased significantly. Results are applicable to the substitution of potato starch in certain wheat-based foods such as noodles, breads, biscuits, and crackers.


Alstroemeria plants are widely cultivated in many countries especially in Western Europe and North America and popularity has increased in recently due to its long-base life, large variety of colors and low energy requirement during cultivation period. So far, more than 60 species have been released on the commercial market in the world. To meet the demand of consumer and develop the elite Alstroemeria cultivars, conventional breeding including cross-hybridization and selection as well as mutation breeding were used. However, as other important ornamental plants such as lily, rose, carnation and orchids accepted the biotechnological methods, this newly-born approach should be applied and developed an optimized the genetic transformation system. Then, this biotechnological approach can be fused with the conventional breeding methods and thus can be contributed to the production of elite Alstroemeria plants containing agriculturally good genetic traits which are useful for the both farmers and consumers in the future. In this paper, we reviewed the botanical and genetical features of Alstroemeria plants and its biotechnological approaches in the last decades.


Making a correct knowledge management, as well as its representation, constitutes a challenge that transcends our days and seeks for constant solutions using Semantic Technologies, specifically ontologies. This paper is aimed at sharing practical experiences in the knowledge management in agricultural projects through ontology-based information system (SIGECA). The OntoEnvironmental ontology was modeled according to the NeOn methodology and the ontology web language OWL-DL and its purpose is to facilitate the integrated work with indicators and environmental characteristics for agricultural projects. SIGECA is based on a software architecture that integrates the necessary technologies to manage semantic knowledge. This architecture is integrated by the inference machine constituted by the Jena and OWL API frameworks, together the Pellet reasoner, which allows extracting implicit knowledge of the ontology and making recommendations to satisfy the environmental information needs of the project specialists. It also offers the user a natural language interpretation of the recommendations made by the system. The use of the SIGECA improves the prevention from the design stage, of the possible environmental impacts that can be caused by the execution of the projects.


Vinca alkaloids are used clinically against a variety of hematological and solid tumors. These compounds interact with tubulin subunits to prevent microtubule assembly, inducing abnormal chromosome segregation in dividing cells and causing aneuploidy. The vinca alkaloid vincristine sulfate (VCR) and the semisynthetic analog vinorelbine (VRB) were studied by analysis of micronuclei (MN) in cultured human lymphocytes using the cytokinesis block method. Furthermore, fluorescence in situ hybridization with a human alphoid satellite pancentromeric DNA probe was used to detect centromeres in isolated MN of VRB- or VCR-treated lymphocytes. At all the doses tested, both chemicals induced a significant increase in MN frequencies in binucleated (BN) cells (P < 0.001). The maximal effect was reached at a dose of 0.50 microgram/ml. At this dose, VRB produced an approximately 5-fold increase with respect to the control frequency of MN, while with VCR, this frequency increased 10-fold. Both drugs produced a slowing of the cell cycle, causing a decrease in the percentage of BN cells. This effect was lower with VRB. The percentages of centromere-positive MN were 89.79 and 87.60% in VRB- and VCR-treated cultures, respectively (control 27.03%). The high percentage of positive-signals in treated cultures (P < 0.001) indicates that the MN contained whole chromosomes. Our results confirm the aneugenic mode of action of these chemicals, VRB having less genetic effect.