We present an interactive approach for segmenting thin volumetric structures. The proposed segmentation model is based on an anisotropic weighted Total Variation energy with a global volumetric constraint and is minimized using an efficient numerical approach and a convex relaxation. The algorithm is globally optimal w.r.t. the relaxed problem for any volumetric constraint. The binary solution of the relaxed problem equals the globally optimal solution of the original problem. Implemented on today's user-programmable graphics cards, it allows real-time user interaction. The method is applied to and evaluated on the task of articular cartilage segmentation of human knee joints and segmentation of tubular structures like liver vessels and airway trees.


We report on the geometry and mechanics of knotted stiff strings. We discuss both closed and open knots. Our two main results are that (i) their equilibrium energy as well as the equilibrium tension for open knots depends on the type of knot as the square of the bridge number and (ii) braid localization is found to be a general feature of stiff string entanglements, while angle and knot localizations are forbidden. Moreover, we identify a family of knots for which the equilibrium shape is a circular braid. Two other equilibrium shapes are found from Monte Carlo simulations. These three shapes are confirmed by rudimentary experiments. Our approach is also extended to the problem of the minimization of the length of a knotted string with a maximum allowed curvature.


The transport of trace granular gas (swarm) in a carrier granular fluid is studied by means of the Boltzmann-Lorentz kinetic equation. Time-dependent perturbation theory is used to follow the evolution of the granular swarm from an arbitrary initial distribution. A nonhydrodynamic extension of the diffusion equation is derived, with transport coefficients that are time dependent and implicitly depend on the wave vector. Transport coefficients of any order are obtained as velocity moments of the solutions of the corresponding kinetic equations derived from the Boltzmann-Lorentz equation. For the special case of the initial distribution of swarm particles, transport coefficients are identified as time derivatives of the moments of the number density. Finally the granular particle transport theory is extended by the introduction of the concept of non-particle-conserving collisions.


Chromosomes of higher eukaryotes are cytologically differentiated into euchromatin, which decondenses at telophase, and heterochromatin, which remains visibly condensed (Heitz 1929). In Drosophila, heterochromatin forms at blocks of repetitive DNA, both simple sequence repeats (Mayfield and Ellison 1975; Lohe et al. 1993) and moderately repetitive sequences apparently derived from transposable elements (Carmena and Gonzalez 1995; Le et al. 1995; Pimpinelli et al. 1995). When euchromatin and heterochromatin are juxtaposed, mosaic gene silencing can occur, a phenomenon known as position-effect variegation (PEV). Although PEV has been familiar to geneticists for decades, mechanistic questions have only recently been addressed: What differences between euchromatin and heterochromatin are responsible for silencing? How do trans- acting factors participate in silencing? How are genes silenced from a distance? Do repeats play a direct role? Answering these questions is becoming increasingly important, given the mounting evidence that some of the same questions arise for PEV-like phenomena in a wide variety of systems. The focus of this brief critical review is recent work that seems most relevant to epigenetic phenomena, especially those involving repeats. Other aspects of PEV are discussed in excellent comprehensive reviews by Lewis (1950), Spofford (1976), and Weiler and Wakimoto (1995). DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEV Genes are subject to PEV in different situations that represent different vantage points from which interactions between euchromatin and heterochromatin can be observed. The most common situation is when a euchromatic gene is moved next to heterochromatin by chromosomal rearrangement, i.e., classic PEV. Figure 1a illustrates classic PEV on the famous...


For a symplectic manifold (M,ω) with exact symplectic form we construct a 2-cocycle on the group of symplectomorphisms and indicate cases when this cocycle is not trivial.


AIM
To explore the possibility of endothelin-1(ET-1) as a serological marker of early diagnosis and progression of radiation induced lung injury.

METHODS
One hundred and ninety female rats were randomly divided into control group (group C) and experimental groups, namely, radiation group (group R), fluvastatin treatment group (group Flu), retinoic acid treatment group (group Ra) and dexemethasone treatment group (group Dex). The chests of rats in experimental groups were exposed to radiation by linear accelerator after anesthesia. The radiation dose for each rat was 15Gy, 2Gy per minute, and radiation distance was 1 meter. The next day after radiation, fluvastatin (20 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) ) was administered orally in group Flu, retinoic acid (20 mg. kg(-1). d(-1)) in group Ra and dexemethasone (3.33 mg. kg(-1). d(-1)) in group Dex. The rats in group C and group R were medicated with the equal volume of normal saline. On the 5th, 15th, 30th, and 60th day after radiation, five rats were randomly chosen from each group respectively. The sera were harvested by decapitation or cardiopuncture and at the same time, lung tissues were cut off. The levels of serum ET-1 and LN were detected by radioimmunological assay(RIA). The pathologic changes of lung tissue were observed under light microscope.

RESULTS
Compared to the control group, serum ET-1 level began to increase on the 5th day after exposure to radiation and reached the peak on the 60th day in group R. The levels of laminin and hyaluronic acid began to rise on the 30th day and the 60th day respectively. The elevation of serum ET-1 level in group R was obviously earlier than that in other groups and correlated to extent of lung injury.

CONCLUSION
The serum ET-1 can be used as a marker of early diagnosis and dynamic changes of radiation lung injury.


This review covers the 390 novel marine natural products described to date from deep-water (>50 m) marine fauna, with details on the source organism, its depth and country of origin, along with any reported biological activity of the metabolites. Relevant synthetic studies on the deep-sea natural products have also been included.


Sialic acids are critical components of many glycoconjugates involved in biologically important ligand-receptor interactions. Quantitative and structural variations of sialic acid residues can profoundly affect specific cell-cell, pathogen-cell, or drug-cell interactions, but manipulation of sialic acids in mammalian cells has been technically limited. We describe the finding of a previously unrecognized and efficient uptake and incorporation of sialic acid analogues in mammalian cells. We added 16 synthetic sialic acid analogues carrying distinct C-1, C-5, or C-9 substitutions individually to cell cultures of which 10 were readily taken up and incorporated. Uptake of C-5- and C-9-substituted sialic acids resulted in the structural modification of up to 95% of sialic acids on the cell surface. Functionally, binding of murine sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-2 (Siglec-2, CD22) to cells increased afterN-glycolylneuraminic acid treatment, whereas 9-iodo-N-acetylneuraminic acid abolished binding. Furthermore, susceptibility to infection by the B-lymphotropic papovavirus via a sialylated receptor was markedly enhanced following pretreatment of host cells with selected sialic acid analogues including 9-iodo-N-acetylneuraminic acid. This novel experimental strategy allows for an efficient biosynthetic engineering of surface sialylation in living cells. It is versatile, extending the repertoire of modification sites at least to C-9 and enables detailed structure-function studies of sialic acid-dependent ligand-receptor interactions in their native context.


CEO turnover in listed companies has increased over the past decades. This paper explores whether or not changing CEO has a significant effect on company performance. We use the Strategic Leadership and Strategic Choice perspectives to explain why CEO turnovers could have an effect on company performance and the Population Ecology perspective to explain the contrary. With a quantitative approach complemented with qualitative interviews we then analyze CEO turnover by comparing it to the stock performance of 341 companies listed on the Swedish stock exchange from 1994 to 2009. Our statistical analyses show that CEO turnover has a negative correlation with company stock development. This effect is strongly significant in the short run (0-1 year), and only slightly significant in the long run (02 and 0-3 years) but is consistent over all periods. While there are many possible explanations our results indicate that changing CEO does affect company performance and that the Strategic Leadership and Strategic Choice perspectives are better at describing a CEO's effect within a company.


3-D integration technology is emerging as an attractive alternative to increase the transistor count for future chips. The majority of the existing 3-D integrated circuit (IC) research is focused on the performance, power, density, and heterogeneous integration benefits offered by 3-D integration. All such advantages, however, ultimately have to translate into cost evaluation when a design strategy has to be decided. Consequently, system-level cost analysis at early design stages is imperative to decide on whether 3-D integration should be adopted. This paper presents a cost estimation method for 3-D ICs at early design stages and proposes a set of cost models that include wafer cost, 3-D bonding cost, package cost, and cooling cost. The proposed 3-D IC cost estimation method can help designers analyze the cost implication for 3-D ICs during the design space exploration at the early stage, and it enables a cost-driven 3-D IC design flow that can guide the design choice toward a cost-effective direction. Based on the proposed cost estimation method, this paper demonstrates two case studies that explore the cost benefits of 3-D integration for application-specific integrated circuit designs and many-core microprocessor designs style, respectively. Finally, this paper suggests the optimum partitioning strategy for future 3-D IC designs.


Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is a reactive, self-limited, monophasic disease triggered by a preceding bacterial or viral infection. GBS has also been linked to underlying systemic diseases, certain malignancies, surgery, pregnancy, trauma severe infection, and tissue transplantation (bone marrow and organs). Although its pathogenesis is unclear, it is likely to be a consequence of an immune mediated process. Therefore, we believe that GBS results from an aberrant immune response that somehow mistakenly attacks the nerve tissue of its host, most probably by recognizing a molecular similar epitope mechanism (molecular mimicry). Immune reactions against these epitopes result in acute inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy or acute axonal forms. GBS has a worldwide distribution with an annual incidence of approximately 1.2-8.6 cases per 100,000 people. Both genders are at similar risk (but there is a slight male predominance). All ages are affected, although the distribution is bimodal. The supporting measures are critically important to provide optimal treatment. Immunomodulation with plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin treatments shorten the disease course. Outcome is generally good, with virtually full recovery in 70-80% of the patients. In this review physiopathological aspects and clinical implications of GBS are fully discussed.


This work discusses a nudging intervention mechanism combined with an artificial intelligence (AI) system for early detection of learners' risk of failing or dropping out. Different types of personalized nudges were designed according to educational principles and the learners' risk classification. The impact on learners' performance, dropout reduction, and satisfaction was evaluated through a study with 252 learners in a first-year course at a fully online university. Different learners' groups were designed, with each receiving a different set of nudges. Results showed that nudges positively impacted the learners' performance and satisfaction, and reduced dropout rates. The impact significantly increased when different types of nudges were provided. Our research reinforced the role of AI as useful in online, distance, and open learning for providing timely learner support, improved learning experiences, and enhanced learner-teacher communication.


A method for quantitative measurement of the photochemical decomposition of the anti-inflammatory agent, indoprofen (INP) is descriped. An RPLC-based assay that could determine the extent of degradation of INP in a rapid, sensitive, and accurate manner was developed. The method was validated under photoirradiation. Quantitation was monitored with an Inertsil ODS-3V column using a mobile phase of acetonitril and 1% HOAc solution in deionized H2O. Statistics relevant to the system criteria, peak integrity and resolution among the parent drug and its degradation products were performed. From the intra- and inter-day tests, the coefficients of variation were found to range from 0.59% to 4.25% for the former and from 0.71% to 4.86% for the latter. The good selectivity and specificity of this RPLC-based procedure render it suitable for measurements of INP stability.


This article examines the influence of ethical theory on informed consent and explores its importance and application in labour. Informed consent is demonstrated as an essential component of health care.


Encouraged by continuous advances in FPGA technologies, we explore high performance multi-processor-on-a-programmable-chip (MPoPC) reconfigurable architectures. This paper proposes a methodology for assigning resources at run time and scheduling large scale floating point, data parallel applications on our mixed mode HERA MPoPC. HERA stands for heterogeneous reconfigurable architecture. An application is represented by a novel mixed mode task flow graph which is scheduled to run under a variety of independent or cooperating parallel computing modes: SIMD (single instruction, multiple data), multiple SIMD and MIMD (multiple instruction, multiple data). The reconfigurable logic is customized at static time and reconfigured at run time to match application characteristics. An in-house developed parallel power flow analysis code by Newton's method is employed to verify the methodology and evaluate the performance. This application is of utmost importance to any power grid


Abstract The aim of this study was to establish an overview of medicinal plants in the Saida and El Bayadh regions through a survey of herbalists. Our survey included more than 60 herbalists spread over the territory of two Wilayas (provinces), in an area representing more than 3% of Algerian territory. At the same time, and when conditions permitted, families were interviewedand their answers most often guided our survey. In addition, we collected information on: traditional herbalists, the most exploited species, areas of origin, periods and quantities exploited, as well as the influence of this mode of exploitationon present and future biodiversity in these regions. Analysis of the data showed that threats to the biological diversity of medicinal plants mainly included human actions and natural changes. Herbalists practise this trade mostly by inheritance and they are willing to train in the field of herbalism. The frequency of use of medicinal plants as alternative medicine is very important in the social life of populations.


This book consists of a series of "case study" reports by nineteen individuals who originally presented the data at the 1959 National Packaging Conference in Chicago. The reader, therefore, will not find this book to be a handy reference of the "principles of packaging." Rather, he will find a series of well-documented case histories of specific packaging problems. For ease in reading, the material is grouped under four main headings. Under "Packaging for Consumer Sales," eight different case studies are presented by persons engaged in selling their own branded products for consumer purchase. They cover various important packaging poblems, such as: 1) The importance of design of packages which are retailer oriented to enhance the possibility of securing shelf space. 2) The combined merchandising, packaging, and display concept required to increase the average expenditure for a family of products. 3) The creation of a quality image for a specialty line. 4) How one company "remodeled" its existing packages of a product widely used, which are distributed through several types of outlets. 5) The functional requisites of packaging. The majority of these reports are illustrated with specific examples of the products of that writer's Company. The variety of packaging problems are such that almost everyone can recognize a kindred one. The case history method of discussion is welcome in that "packaging principles" are discussed in reference to specific products and marketing environment. The second section, "Some New Materials and Applications," is devoted to explaining the growing use of cardpacks, aluminum as a can-making material, aerosols, and pressuresensitive tapes. These are not case studies but a list of reasons why these materials should be considered in developing "the package" for your product. Present successful uses are shown as well as a discussion of the product and merchandising characteristics which should be considered in using these "new" packaging materials. It is an idea-provoking section. The third section, "Packaging for Shipment," discusses packaging research, military packaging, and some new materials for shipping containers. This section may not be sufficiently specific for the shipping expert, yet may be too specific for the people with a general interest in packaging. The last section, "Some Improved Packaging and Handling Operations," consists of three specific studies. They cover: 1) A systematic method of achieving cost reduction. 2) A method of co-ordinating packaging specifications with data-processing equipment used in production control. 3) A method of combining packing with the filling of consumer orders for service parts, called "picking and packing." The explanations are good and should be helpful to people having similar problems. This book, therefore, is not a book in the usual sense in which one author is developing his own thesis. Rather, it is a series of short articles, each developing one specific idea which is not related to the others, except that all are in the broad field of packaging.


Introduction Suicide is an important public health concern in China. We examined suicide mortality by place, sex, and age group from 2010 to 2021 to identify and quantify significant suicide mortality changes in China. Methods We retrieved age-standardized and age-specific suicide mortality rates by place (urban vs. rural) and sex from the Chinese Health Statistical Yearbook and population data from the 2010 and 2020 Chinese National Population Census. Line graphs were used to demonstrate trends in suicide mortality. Joinpoint regression models were fitted to detect the time periods experiencing significant suicide mortality changes, and average annual percent change (AAPC) and annual percent change were reported to quantify changes in suicide mortality from 2010 to 2021. Results The overall age-standardized suicide mortality rate decreased from 10.88 to 5.25 per 100,000 population between 2010 and 2021 (AAPC=−5.3%, 95% confidence interval: −6.5%, −4.0%). Similar reductions in suicide mortality were observed for both males and females, as well as in urban and rural settings during this period. From 2010 to 2021, significant declines in suicide mortality were observed among the three older age groups (25–44 years, 45–64 years, and 65 years or above), while a substantial increase was noted in the youngest age group (5–14 years). No significant change was found in suicide mortality rates for the 15–24 year age group. Subgroup analyses based on location and sex revealed consistent findings. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest a probable overall success of suicide prevention efforts in China over the past decade. However, the recent increase in suicide mortality among children aged 5–14 years calls for the attention of injury researchers, policymakers, and public health practitioners.


This article analyzes emblematic aspects of the Novelas ejemplares, establishing the various categories in their manifestations, from the less elaborate to those examples fully integrated into the fictional plots, from those wich present an implicit visual dimension to the more clearly connected to the the universe of emblems.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate localized patterns of patellar tendon deformation during passive knee flexion. Ultrasound radiofrequency data were collected from the patellar tendons of 20 healthy young adults during knee flexion over a range of motion of 50°-90° of flexion. A speckle tracking approach was used to compute proximal and distal tendon displacements and elongations. Nonuniform tissue displacements were visible in the proximal tendon (P < .001), with the deep tendon undergoing more distal displacement than the superficial tendon. In the distal tendon, more uniform tendon motion was observed. Spatial variations in percent elongation were also observed, but these varied along the length of the tendon (P < .002), with the proximal tendon remaining fairly isometric while the distal tendon underwent slight elongation. These results suggest that even during passive flexion the tendon undergoes complex patterns of deformation. Proximal tendon nonuniformity may arise from its complex anatomy where the deep tendon inserts onto the patella and the superficial tendon extends to the quadriceps tendon. Such heterogeneity is not captured in whole tendon average assessments, emphasizing the relevance of considering localized tendon mechanics, which may be key to understanding tendon behavior and precursors to injury and disease.


Abstract: This study reports parasitological records of eight species of marine rockfishes (Sebastes auriculatus, S. chlorostictus, S. umbrosus, S. miniatus, S. atrovirens, S. constellatus, S. serranoides, and Scorpaena guttata) collected from Todos Santos bay and San Quintin coast, Baja California, Mexico. The vermilion rockfish, S. miniatus, showed the highest parasite species richness (two species of monogeneans, two species of digeneans, three species of nematodes and one species of copepods), while the lowest richness was found in S. atrovirens and S. umbrosus (one species of copepod and one species of nematode, respectively). The species S. auriculatus, S. chlorostictus, S. constellatus, S. serranoides, and S. guttata showed a richness of up to four parasite species. Seven of the eight fish species (except S. atrovirens) presented larval stages of nematodes Anisakis sp., Pseudoterranova sp. and Hysterothylacium sp. (prevalences ranging from 8.3 to 100%), which were found in the fish mesentery (guts). The parasite species with the highest prevalence values (>80%) were found in S. miniatus (Anisakis sp.), S. guttata (Anisakis sp. and Hysterothylacium sp.), S. umbrosus (Anisakis sp.), S. auriculatus (Anisakis sp.), and S. constellatus (Anisakis sp.). The most abundant parasite species (>4 ind./host) were recorded in S. guttata (Anisakis sp. and Hysterothylacium sp.), S. umbrosus (Anisakis sp.), S. constellatus (Parabothriocephalus sagitticeps), and S. miniatus (Anisakis sp.). The parasite species with the highest intensity of infection values (>5 ind./host) were found in S. constellatus (P. sagitticeps), followed by S. guttata (Anisakis sp., Hysterothylacium sp.), S. umbrosus (Anisakis sp.), and S. serranoides (Microcotyle sebastis). The present study, in addition to listing the helminths and parasitic copepod species (and providing quantitative data on them) of eight commercially important scorpaenid fish species in the northwestern Mexico, can also serve as a baseline for future parasitological studies on these fish species.


It has been disclosed that transmutation of the atomic nuclei of alkaline metals and the atomic nuclei of the cathode material takes place during plasma electrolysis of water. As a result, excessive quantity of gases is generated.


Spontaneous esophageal perforation into the pleural cavity (Boerhaave's syndrome) is a rare life-threatening condition, which requires early diagnosis and urgent management. The diagnosis of such critical condition in many cases is delayed because of atypical clinical presentation, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Cytological examination of pleural fluid can provide early, fast and accurate diagnosis of such critical condition and help in better and early management of this disease. We describe a case of an 81-year-old female with esophageal perforation who presented with a left sided pleural effusion. The correct diagnosis was established in this case by observing gastrointestinal-like fluid characteristics of the thoracic drainage upon cytological and chemical analyses and the rupture was confirmed by esophagography. The cytological examination of pleural fluid revealed benign reactive squamous cells, fungal organisms, bacterial colonies, and vegetable material consistent with a ruptured esophagus. Cytological examination of pleural fluid is a rapid and accurate technique that can help in establishing the diagnosis of this challenging entity and guide initiation proper management of this unusual entity.


To explore the underlying pathogenic mechanism of Parkinson's disease (PD) with concomitant postural abnormalities (PDPA) through the relationship between its gait and brain function characteristics. PD patients from the neurology outpatient clinic at Ruijin Hospital were recruited and grouped according to whether postural abnormalities (including camptocormia and Pisa syndrome) were present. PD-related scale assessments, three-dimensional gait tests and brain resting-state functional magnetic imaging were performed and analyzed. The gait characteristics independently associated with PDPA were decreased pelvic obliquity angle and progressive downward movement of the center of mass during walking. PDPA features included decreased functional connectivity between the left insula and bilateral supplementary motor area, which was significantly correlated with reduced Berg Balance Scale scores. Functional connectivity between the right insula and bilateral middle frontal gyrus was decreased and significantly correlated with a decreased pelvic obliquity angle and poor performance on the Timed Up and Go test. Moreover, through diffusion tensor imaging analysis, the average fractional anisotropy value of the fibers connecting the left insula and left supplementary motor area was shown to be decreased in PDPA. There is decreased functional connectivity among the insula, supplementary motor area and middle frontal gyrus with structural abnormalities between the left insula and the left supplementary motor area; these changes in brain connectivity are probably among the causes of gait dysfunction in PDPA and provide some clues regarding the pathogenic mechanisms of PDPA.


It is possible to carry out PD location using the time difference of PD pulses received by a UHF antenna array. In practical applications, the electromagnetic interference within the substation will pollute these received signals and make it difficult to calculate the time difference of the PD pulses, which, thus, reduces the reliability of the PD source locating. Based on the segmented processing technology, an adaptive Wavelet de-noising method is proposed in this paper. Considering that the level and the time-frequency characteristic of the background noise differ little in microsecond time period of sampling, each waveform acquired by PD detecting system are divided into two sections, the one without PD pulse is used for the calculation of the wavelet coefficients which are used to estimate the de-noising thresholds of the signal. The influence of this adaptive wavelet de-noising process on the PD pulse time delay calculation is analyzed in details. The results of simulation and application show that this method can suppress noise effectively and extract the PD pulse accurately, which contribute to the reliability of the PD source locating.


This review focuses on the nutritional effects from birth until age at first calving on growth, mammary developmental changes, and first-lactation milk yield in heifer calves. The advancement in the genetic potential and the nutritional requirements of the animals has hastened the growth rate. Genetic selection for high milk yield has suggested higher growth capacity and hence increasing nutritional inputs are required. Rapid rearing by feeding high energy or high concentrate diets not only reduces the age of sexual maturity but also lowers the time period of attaining the age of first calving. However, high energy diets may cause undesirable fat deposition thereby affecting future milk yield potential. Discrepancies exist whether overfed or overweight heifers at puberty can influence the mammary development and future milk yield potential and performance. The data on post-pubertal nutritional management suggested that body weight at calving and post-pubertal growth rate is important in first lactation milk yield. There is a continuous research need for strategic feeding that accelerates growth of dairy heifers without reduction in subsequent production. Nutritional management from birth, across puberty and during pregnancy is critical for mammary growth and for producing a successful cow. This review will mostly highlight studies carried out on dairy breeds and possible available opportunities to manipulate nutritional status from birth until age at first calving.


The control volume approach in fluid mechanics relies upon the conservation of energy, momentum and angular momentum. However, open channel flows are typically related to only conservation of energy and momentum. Thus, for flows of non-uniform velocity and non-hydrostatic pressure distributions, the number of unknowns is larger than that of equations for depth-averaged models. This gap resulted in semi-empirical approaches either using momentum or using energy conservation. However, a more fundamental depth-averaged model may be developed by accounting for angular momentum balance. This basic approach was largely overlooked in hydraulic practice. The generalized form of the control volume conservation laws in curvilinear flow are presented herein, including the angular momentum balance. The development is used to prove that the classical Boussinesq-type solution does not satisfy the angular momentum balance. A more general Boussinesq approach is considered and applied to the 2D free overfall, indicating its ability to reproduce the salient flow features.


Aims and Objectives: Adverse drug reaction (ADR) may infringe upon compliance, which compromises therapy outcomes in chronic diseases. Our study focused on pharmacovigilance in stigmatizing disease vitiligo, concern with improving disease management incorporating current medical knowledge. Materials and Methods: Therapies in 250 vitiligo cases were scrutinized over period of six months, examining consistency to consensus approach and profiling of the adverse effects. Results: Adverse drug effects occurred in fifth of localized and third of generalized vitiligo patients. Adherence to consensus line of therapy resulted significantly in less adverse effect incidence, and steroid overtreatment was major determinant of risk. Conclusion: Consistency of treatment to consensus approach based on disease extent is prudent to reduce adverse drug effects in vitiligo. Increased vigilance, due psycho-social address, and incorporation of safe and efficacious new immunomodulator drugs is emphasized for consideration toward improved current vitiligo management.


A computer program has been written to assist in the analysis of adenosine 5'-triphosphate data. The program is designed to calculate a dilution curve and to correct sample and adenosine 5'-triphosphate standard data for background and dilution effects. In addition, basic statistical parameters and estimates of biomass carbon are also calculated for each group of samples and printed in a convenient format. The versatility of the program to analyze data from both qauatic and terrestrial samples is noted as well as its potential use with various types of instrumentation and extraction techniques.


The lifecycle concept in real estate management is of increasing relevance to owners and users. Especially through public procurement routes such as Public Private Partnerships lifecycle management gets into the focus during project development. But there is also an uncertainty about the efficiency gains through lifecycle management. The aim of this paper is to compare different lifecycle concepts in research literature and to analyse the perception of lifecycle concepts, strategies and instruments in public real estate management. For this investigation a written questionnaire was sent out via email to over 1000 interviews. The target group comprised real estate mangers from cities and districts as well as on federal level from universities and public real estate companies . The results of the study show that awareness of life cycle management is generally present amongst public real estate owners and managers. Although most of the lifecycle management instruments are well known, they are rarely applied in practice. Conclusions of this paper show where the lifecycle concept in real estate management is appropriate and how more value for the different stakeholders by applying lifecycle management can be retrieved.


The reported incidence of dracunculiasis (i.e., Guinea worm disease) in Nigeria declined substantially during 1992--the fourth consecutive year in which reports of known cases declined. This report summarizes dracunculiasis surveillance data for Nigeria and describes progress toward eradication of this disease.


Foliar sprays of validamycin A (VMA) controlled cabbage black rot effectively in pot and field trials. In a pot test, VMA reduced the number of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) in leaves. VMA inhibited the production of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) on yeast-peptone (YP) agar containing carbohydrates. Injection of EPS from Xcc on medium containing VMA produced fewer lesions than that without VMA. These results suggested that VMA might inhibit the multiplication of Xcc in plants and affect the quantity and quality of EPS. © Pesticide Science Society of Japan


This paper compares the goods and characteristics models of the consumer within a traditional demand framework. We examine the nonparametric revealed preference conditions for the goods and characteristics models, and we develop a methodology for testing nested models of this class using nonparametric revealed preference techniques. Of primary interest is to make a comparison on the basis of predictive success, which requires that we develop a method to relate set predictions across models. This allows us to nonparametrically identify the model which best fits the data, and in doing so, to identify the value added by the characteristics structure in explaining consumer behavior. We then explore the effects of hypothetical price variation as implied by our findings in order to nonparametrically bound any comparative statics of interest. We implement these procedures on household panel data from the UK milk market. The primary result is that the better fit of the characteristics model is entirely attributable to dimension reduction.


The deformation mechanism of polypropylene–EPDM rubber blends during fracture was studied by post-mortem SEM fractography. The deformation mechanism was determined for various blend morphologies and test conditions. Brittle fracture merely gives rise to voids, which are caused by voiding of the rubber particles. In the case of ductile fracture, voiding of rubber particles and strong shear yielding of the matrix takes place. In this yielding process these voids become elongated. As the fracture surface is approached the voids are more deformed. At high test speed, in ductile fracture, along the fracture surface a layer is formed without deformation. The thickness of this layer is 10– 100mm. This layer without deformation indicates that during deformation relaxation of the matrix material in this layer has taken place. With the formation of the relaxation layer the impact energy increases. The relaxation layer has thus a blunting effect. If a blend with large EPDM particles (1.6mm) is deformed, in the rubber particles now several cavities are formed and these cavities are positioned near the interface with the matrix. It can be expected that it is an advantage to have several small cavities instead of one large cavity. The polypropylene matrix was found to deform by a shear yielding mechanism and multiple crazing was not observed. q 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


The antioxidant potential of polyherbal compounds namely, nephtone and immuplus was assessed for therapeutic management of an experimental model of oxidative stress induced by ochratoxin, at a toxic level of 2.5 ppm in feed. A total of ninety sexed male broiler chicks (Cobb strain) of day old age were procured for the study. The chicks were randomly divided into six groups consisting of fifteen in each group. Group 1 is supplied with normal basal diet from day 1 up to 42 nd day. Group 2 is administered with nephtone@ 1.2 ml / 15 birds for 1 – 2 weeks, 2.4 ml / 15 birds for 3 – 4 weeks and 4.8 ml / 15 birds for 5 – 6 weeks. Group 3 was given Immuplus@ 75mg / 15 birds for 1 – 4 weeks, 150mg / 15 birds for 5 – 6 weeks. Group 4 was administered with Ochratoxin@ 2.5 ppm in feed for 42 days. Group 5 was given Ochratoxin@ 2.5 ppm for first 28 days followed by basal diet from 29 – 42 days. Group 6 birds received ocharatoxin@ 2.5 ppm upto 42 days from day one along with a combination of nephtone and immuplus dosage as mentioned group 2 and group 3 respectively. Antioxidant defense profile (GSH-Px, GSH-R, catalase) was evaluated in blood and GSH, and TBARS was evaluated in liver. Serum parameters like ALT, BUN and total protein were evaluated as biomarkers of hepatic damage and kidney damage. Antioxidant enzyme levels and biochemical parameters were significantly altered in the ochratoxin toxic control groups. These parameters were normal in the controls (groups 1, 2, 3 and group 6 that was given immuplus therapeutically.


In this paper, the finite element analysis of residual stresses in butt welding of two similar plates is reviewed with the ANSYS software. For this paper work thermal structural direct coupled field analysis is used to simu- late welding process. The residual stress distribution and magnitude in the axial direction was obtained. Finite element analysis is the effective method to carry out the stress analysis and to identify the stress gradient in the component. In this project temperature vari- ation and stress, strain characteristics of the butt welded steel plate were studied and results were derived by Finite element analysis and coupled field analysis. This analysis is very useful for the engineers worrying in the field of welding technology and processes. Comparison between experimental residual stresses and FEA residual stresses is done. These results are found to be very much similar


The dependence of energy distributions within droplets on internal absorption effects has been investigated by calculations based on Mie theory and the geometrical optics approximation and experiments. The objective was to evaluate the accuracy of the geometrical optics approximation in calculating droplet volume to fluorescence intensity proportionality, required for planar droplet sizing measurements in sprays based on Mie scattering and fluorescence intensity from droplets. A geometrical optics approach was used to calculate the energy-density distribution in the meridional plane of a droplet and this was compared to the Mie theory solution for a range of imaginary refractive indices mi = 1×10-5 to mi = 5×10-4. Integration of the energy density distribution over the droplet volume provided a method to compare experimental and theoretical results. Good agreement was found for the energy density and volume integrated energy distribution patterns obtained from both calculation methods and the experimental results. Quantitative comparison of the volume integrated energy results shows that for the investigated range of absorptivity Mie theory calculations lead to results that are ≈30% higher than in the geometrical optics case. This discrepancy is independent of light absorption and droplet size. Tunnelling waves were identified as the cause for the discrepancies between Mie theory and geometrical optics; these contribute to high energy density in the rim region of the droplet images.


The structural stability, magnetic properties and electronic structure of tetragonal BiCoO3 under pressure have been studied by first-principles density functional calculations. The calculated results reveal that no tetragonal-to-cubic and ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transitions occur up to 30 GPa with a volume compression of about 25%. An electronic spin crossover transition of the Co3+ ion from the high-spin to nonmagnetic low-spin configuration (magnetic moment collapse) occurs at 4 GPa by about 4.87% volume compression, which is concomitant with a first-order isosymmetric transition and an insulator-to-semimetal transition. The metallization in BiCoO3 is driven by the spin-state transition at high pressure. Coexistence of the structural, spin-state and insulator-to-semimetal transitions implies that there is a strong coupling among the lattice, spin and charge degrees of freedom in BiCoO3.


The need to implement genetic resources management strategies within international networks is particularly acute for citrus. It appears to be an urgent priority to consider the significant loss of in situ diversity occurring in the Asian citrus native areas, due to environmental degradation, and biotic constraints. Technical and informative characteristics of STMS markers make them particularly adapted for both in situ and ex situ genetic resources management within networks. We are currently developing such markers in Citrus from a small insert genomic library of Cleopatra mandarin enriched for (GA)n and (GT)n sequence repeats. From 3000 initial selected colonies only 40% have displayed good size insert including microsatellite sequences. 871 of these clones have been sequenced. We present the results obtained for the first set of 91 couples of designed primers tested with 60 accessions of the Aurantioideae sub-family. 48 couples of these primers display clear mono focus mendelian segregating ratio. For these markers, amplifications were always successfull for true citrus (Poncirus, Fortunella and Citrus) Severinia buxifolia and Eremocitrus glauca the success of amplification was quite low for Clausenae tribe. From 10 accessions analysed at each level, the number of allele per locus changed from 1 to 9 (average: 3.45 allele per locus) at the intraspecific level (C. reticulata) and between 3 to 11 (average: 6.29) at the intrageneric level (Citrus; 10 species represented), Average observed heterozygosity are respectively 0.50 and 0.53 for each of them. These values are higher than ones observed for other codominant markers such as isozymes or RFLP. Neighbour-joining classification of true citrus is in accordance with the known relationship and evolution of citrus genera and species. Additionally we recommend a sub-set of markers as molecular descriptor for global Citrus germplasm management. (Texte integral)


The present paper presents results of the TRACE code assessment against post dryout experimental data obtained in tubes and annuli. The investigations have been focused on the experiments carried out at 70 bar pressure, 10 K inlet subcooling and the mass flux variation between 500–2000 kg/(m2 s). Various axial power distributions (uniform, inlet peaked, middle peaked, and outlet peaked) have been used in the tube geometry. Uniform power distributions, with various ratios between the inner and the outer power have been used in the annulus geometry. The validation results indicated that the discrepancies between measured and calculated data are in a range of ±20%. In addition a sensitivity study has been performed in which the influence of several parameters (including cell size and boundary conditions) on computational results have been investigated.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


There are many inherited disorders associated with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAADs), like Marfan syndrome and Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS). The 4 patients in this study all had TAADs and were initially diagnosed with suspected Marfan syndrome. We collected peripheral blood samples from the patients and their family members and then attempted to identify the causal mutation using different methods including PCR, Sanger sequencing, and next generation sequencing. We identified 3 novel heterozygous mutations including 2 splicing mutations of FBN1 and 1 missense mutation of TGFBR2 in our patients. Although these mutation sites have been reported in the Human Gene Mutation Database, the nucleotide changes are different. All novel mutations found in this study were confirmed to be absent in 50 unrelated normal individuals of the same ethnic background. The RT-PCR results of 2 splicing mutations verified that the mutations can lead to the skipping of exons. The RT-qPCR results indicated that FBN1 mRNA levels were nearly 50 percent lower in the patients than in normal controls, indicating that there is almost no expression of truncated fibrillin-1 because of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) mechanism. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report these 3 novel mutations. However, the pathogenicity of these mutations still needs further confirmation. Our study has confirmed or corrected the clinical diagnosis, and enlarged the mutation spectrum of FBN1 and TGFBR2. The results should be helpful for prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling.


Critically reviews the process of the Islamization of knowledge as applied toward the discipline of economics over the last thirty years. One of the lacuna behind the not yet fully developed field of Islamic economics is the nondevelopment of its methodological aspects. This has been a result of narrowing the understanding of methodology to that of usul al-fiqh, which unfortunately has been limited to mean the legal sciences or jurisprudence. Since Islamic economics is a social/human science, the way forward is to develop an usul al-iqtisad, or methodology of social science, that may be quite different in its specific rule and criteria compared to the former. The author calls for revisiting the methodological aspect of the Faruqi work plan for the Islamization of knowledge, which has been overlooked and neglected.


The distribution functions of photons in squeezed and correlated light for one-mode and multimode eases are obtained based on the method of integrals of motion. Correlation coefficient and squeezing parameter are calculated. The possibility to generate squeezed light using nonstationary Casimir effect is discussed. Quantum parametric Josephson junction is proposed as quantum vacuum generator of electrical vibrations.


The improvement and modification of the surface hardness of glass-ionomer dental cements was investigated in the studies discussed in this thesis to allow the range of clinical applications of these cements to be extended. Storing the cements in non-aqueous media whilst heating at 60 oC increased the surface hardness compared to storage in water at 37 oC. The corresponding compressive strength showed no significant changes.

The bioactivity of two commercially available glass-ionomer dental cements was investigated after it was established that the surface hardness of a dental cement was improved by storing the materials in biologically natural bovine milk. In particular the observations of the appearance of the surface were noted as well as cation release studies and calcium to phosphorus ratios calculated. The results indicated that a surface layer of calcium phosphate had formed and created a barrier around the cement preventing the loss of strengthening ions.

An investigation was also made into formulating a novel hybrid cement. This process included the deployment of additives/co-reactants within the cement formulation. By incorporating zinc phosphate into a strontium based glass-ionomer elevated levels of fluoride release were obtained when compared to the original commercially available glass-ionomer. SEM images show that this additive had an effect on the surface morphology of the glass. The bioactivity studies performed on these cements show the uptake of calcium over one week, indicating that there is the possibility that these new hybrid cements are bioactive. Refinement of the new hybrid materials has produced cements with antimicrobial properties as well as higher surface hardness values than the original glass-ionomer.


Introduction: The dental patient's anxiety and expectation may significantly alter their vital signs. The use of local anesthetics associated with a vasoconstrictor may also alter the vital signs of these patients, promoting hemodynamic changes that may result in emergency situations. Objective: To evaluate the influence of anxiety of patients submitted to third molar extraction and the use of different anesthetic substances with adrenaline on their vital signs (oxygen saturation, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure) in different moments. Material and method: Forty patients answered the questionnaire of the Dental Anxiety Scale (Corah's Scale) and fear (KleinKnecht's Scale) and were submitted to third molar extraction in two surgical times for the use of articaine or mepivacaine, both associated with adrenaline. The results were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test, Student's t test, and Pearson's correlation coefficients (α=0.05). Result: There was no significant differences in saturation or heart rate. The blood pressure showed significant variations during time for both anesthetics, however mepivacaine resulted in a longer postoperative time to restore blood pressure. Patients with high or moderate anxiety and high fear index were those who had positive correlations with the highest blood pressure values. Conclusion: Anxiety and fear positively influence the increase in blood pressure. Mepivacaine promoted a greater resistance to the return of normal vital signs, especially blood pressure levels. Descriptors: Anxiety; fear; vital signs; blood pressure; local anesthetic. Dantas, Nesso, Mituuti et al. Rev Odontol UNESP. 2017 Sept-Oct; 46(5): 299-306 300


Multimedia is a term commonly heard among educational setup. Multimedia are compulsory for an education in many ways for developing thinking, effective communication, solving questions, , curiosity and interest. In this study to identify positive effects of multimedia on the child's education (3-6).The study was conducted in the year 2013 in Lucknow city. The main area selected for the study was Alambagh. In this area selected five mohllas. A total of 120 Pre-primary and primary teachers (respondents) were selected for the study. Random sampling method was used for sample selection and self made questionnaire schedule was used for data collection. t test used in research for data analysis. The results revealed that the multimedia can encourage children's to learn new things and motivate to do things in own way. Multimedia has quality to increased children's knowledge and communication skills in positively.


Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess whether bone mass and metabolism are impaired in genetically at-risk children with screening-detected celiac disease. Methods: Included were 71 children with screening-detected celiac disease diagnosed at 10.0 ± 0.7 (mean ± standard deviation) years and 142 matched controls and 30 children with screening-detected celiac disease diagnosed at 3.3 ± 0.4 years of age presently on a gluten-free diet for 6.9 ± 1.1 years and 60 matched controls. All participants were assessed for bone mineral density (BMD) of total body and spine by dual x-ray absorptiometry, serum 25(OH) vitamin D3, parathyroid hormone (PTH), interleukin (IL)-1&bgr;, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-15, interferon gamma, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Results: At diagnosis, screening-detected celiac disease children as compared to controls had a mean −0.03 g/cm2 reduced BMD of both total body and spine (P = 0.009 and P = 0.005, respectively), a mean −11.4 nmol/L lower level of 25(OH) vitamin D3 (P < 0.001), and a mean +1.0 pmol/L higher PTH level (P < 0.001). Systemic levels of the cytokines IL-1&bgr;, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, and tumor necrosis factor alpha were all increased in screening-detected celiac disease as compared to controls (P < 0.001). No difference in BMD, 25(OH) vitamin D3, PTH, and cytokine levels were detected in children on a gluten-free diet compared with controls. Conclusions: Children with screening-detected celiac disease have reduced BMD, lower levels of vitamin D3, higher levels of PTH, and signs of systemic inflammation compared with controls. These differences were not found in celiac disease children on a gluten-free diet, indicating that children with screening-detected celiac disease benefit from an early diagnosis and treatment.


In the simulation technique,copyright can cover all the issues of duplication.However,with the application of digital technique and popularity of Internet,a great number of works can be duplicated casually,and as a result,a new challenge is faced by copyright under network environment.Through introducing the arguments about private duplication,this paper explores the orientation of private duplication,analyzes Copyright Law's regulation on private duplication and its insufficiency and finally proposes some measures of perfecting the private duplication system under network environment,trying to help to solve related problems in judicial practice.


Community Service as a unit of Higher Education Tri Dharma College aims to improve the standard of living of the community around the campus, the interests of Islamic boarding school students increase the scientific repertoire of Calculation and Filing of SPT PPh Pasal 21/26 which is accurate and correct as a debriefing to face work readiness in the industrial business world. The descriptive analysis method is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative to describe the characteristics of respondents and the tendency of students toward training from primary and secondary data. The training for calculating and filling PPh Pasal 21 is very unique, interestingly, the students are very enthusiastic about learning taxation and can add to the scientific treasures with the results of the initial test and final test being very unique from 57 respondents, interestingly from 37,34 the predicate changed to 86,97 the predicate was good.


This chapter examines how urban policy actors organize policy practice according to their understanding of the diverse city. In contrast to the national level, cities are sometimes considered to have a pragmatic approach to governing (ethnic) diversity. Yet urban policies also reflect local norms and identities. As such, the city functions as a local discursive condition for and product of understandings of the social world, including processes of differentiation and boundary-drawing. A comparison of policies dealing with migrant incorporation in Amsterdam and The Hague – two highly diverse cities in The Netherlands – shows that a discrepancy may exist between overarching discourses and policy practices. While municipal policy discourses suggest a coherent programme, policy practices are rather fragmented. Even though policy actors explain this divergence (also) in terms of pragmatism, they use distinct, city-specific logics to identify what is 'pragmatic' and arrive at different outcomes. 'Urban imaginaries' or tacitly shared imaginations about the place of migrants in the urban community serve to provide orientation in this regard.


Abstract Though largely unknown today, "Ned Buntline" (Edward Zane Carroll Judson) was one of the most influential authors of 19th-century America. He published over 170 novels, edited multiple popular and political publications, and helped pioneer the seafaring adventure, city mystery and Western genres. It was his pirate tales that Tom Sawyer constantly reenacted, his "Bowery B'hoys" that came to define the distinctive slang and swagger of urban American characters, and his novels and plays that turned an unknown scout into Buffalo Bill, King of the Border Men. But before "Ned Buntline" became a mainstay of the popular press, he had been on his way to becoming one of the nation's highbrow literary elites. He was praised by the leading critics, edited an important literary journal, and his stories appeared in the era's most prestigious publications. This study examines how and why "Ned Buntline" moved from prestigious to popular authorship and argues that the transformation was precipitated by one very specific event: in 1846, Edward Z. C. Judson was lynched. A close examination of Judson's life, writing, and the coverage of him in the newspapers of the day (including the remarkable story of how he survived a lynching) demonstrates that the same issues that led to his lynching also led to his rebirth as a new kind of American author.


Coke deposition and deactivation of a zeolite-containing catalyst have been studied in aromatization of propane, butane, or their mixture. A quantitative relationship between the rates of accumulation of the carbonic residue and conversion of initial hydrocarbons has been revealed and a procedure for calculating one of these quantities from experimental values of the other has been proposed.


We consider the resource-constrained scheduling of loops with inter-iteration dependencies. A loop is modeled as a data flow graph (DFG), where edges are labeled with the number of iterations between dependencies. We design a novel and flexible technique, called rotation scheduling, for scheduling cyclic DFGs using loop pipelining. The rotation technique repeatedly transforms a schedule to a more compact schedule. We provide a theoretical basis for the operations based on retiming. We propose two heuristics to perform rotation scheduling, and give experimental results showing that they have very good performance.


Thrombospondins (TSP) are adhesive glycoproteins which are synthesized, secreted and incorporated into the extracellular matrix of a variety of cells, including mammary epithelial cells. These molecules are included in a gene family that is composed of at least four members. Their roles in the mammary gland are associated with two contradictory functions: antiangiogenesis and tumor invasiveness. To define the role of TSP1 in the mammary gland, the steady-state level of TSP1 mRNA in both normal (HB100) and breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, T47-D, MDA-MB-231, ZR-75-1) was established. We also observed that the TSP1 protein synthesis is down regulated in breast cancer cell lines as compared to the HB100 cell line. These results show that TSP1 is expressed in well differentiate cells, and suggest that TSP1 could be associated with the antiangiogenesis.


The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of nitriding of the substrate made of 42CrMo4 steel on thermal stability of the antiwear CrCN coating deposited on its surface using Cathodic Arc Evaporation method. Samples of non-nitrided and nitrided substrate/CrCN coating systems were tested with Modulated Temperature Thermodilatometry, which program included system annealing in 26 h, temperature of 290°C and argon atmosphere. Recorded during tests, changes in substrate elongation in response for changes of sample temperature, enabled qualitative determination of changes in stress states in the coatings as a result of samples annealing. Annealing of the system with nitrided substrate resulted in smaller change in residual stress in coating than for the system with non-nitrided substrate, which can indicate its better thermal stability. Values of residual stresses in coatings calculated by sin2ψ method before and after annealing on the basis of tests performed using X-Ray diffraction, agree with results of dilatometric tests.


Gastrodia Brown (1810: 330; Gastrodieae, Epidendroideae) is a mycoheterotrophic orchid genus distributed in temperate and tropical regions of Asia, Oceania, Madagascar, and Africa (Cribb et al. 2010, Hsu & Kuo 2010, Suetsugu et al. 2018). It is characterized by fleshy tubers, absence of normal leaves, united sepals and petals and two mealy pollinia without caudicles (Cribb et al. 2010, Hsu & Kuo 2010, Hsu et al. 2012, Suetsugu et al. 2018).


This paper presents a non-contact air-coupled Lamb wave imaging technique using a two-dimensional (2D) cross-correlation method that not only detects the damage but also precisely quantifies for orientations and sizes. The air-coupled transducers (ACT) is used together with a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV) for sensing, making a fully non-contact Lamb wave system used for this study. We first show that single-mode Lamb wave actuation can be achieved by the ACT-based on Snell's law. Detailed study and characterization of the directional ACT Lamb waves are conducted. For damage detection, a 2D cross-correlation imaging technique that uses the damage introduced scattered waves of all directions is proposed for correlating with the incident waves. The frequency-wavenumber filtering technique is used to implement the acquisition of the scatted waves and incident waves, respectively. In the end application to notches with various orientations and various sizes in terms of depth and length is given. The results show the proposed technique can precisely imaging the damages and can quantitatively evaluate the damage size in terms of length and depth.


Academic literacy requires the progressive mastery of textual and discursive forms of each discipline. The aim of this study is to analyze the learning styles of college students, comparing them by type of episteme (Human SciencesSciences). The research was a descriptive-correlational study with a transversal design. We applied the Index of Learning Styles of Felder & Silverman (1998) to 62 engineering students and 71 psychology students of first-year of a public university in Argentina. The main results show that students begin higher education with different learning styles. The discrepancies found were accentuated by the type of discipline; obtaining statistically significant differences in the styles of perception (sensory-intuitive), representation (visual-verbal) and comprehension (sequential-global).The engineering students were defined as sensory and visual. Instead, the guidelines in Psychology are intuitive, verbal, and sequential. Educational implications are discussed.


This paper reports on the design of a Second Life campus for a new innovative post-graduate research programme at the Open University, UK, a world leader in supported distance higher education. The programme, launched in October 2009, is a part-time Master of Philosophy (MPhil) to be delivered at a distance, supported by a blend of synchronous and asynchronous Internet technologies. This paper briefly discusses the pedagogical thinking behind the Second Life campus, and the way the implementation was designed to meet the pedagogy. The paper also reports on the outcome of an early evaluation we have conducted.


The paper considers the fact of the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius L.) colonization of the Dyakovsky (Saltovsky) forest area, which occupies more than 18,000 hectares on the Yeruslan sands in the Saratov and Volgograd Trans-Volga regions. This forest area is located 25 km from the semi-desert of the Caspian lowland. According to our data, the black woodpecker appeared in the Dyakovsky forest in the winter of 2011–2012 after an extensive fire in the very hot summer of 2010. The mass of dead trees led to an outbreak of xylophagous development, which most likely led to the emergence of a settled population of the black woodpecker in the Dyakovsky forest. For 10 years, we have been conducting observations of the named population. Using the route method, parameters of its density in the winter period were determined, part of the nesting sites was identified, which confirms the year-round habitation and reproduction of the black woodpecker in the Dyakovsky forest. Our observations of the black woodpecker dispersal in the Trans-Volga region are consistent with the data of those authors who established the appearance of this species on the Lower Volga in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain. In all likelihood, the black woodpecker dispersal in the Trans-Volga region is associated with both some change in the structure of habitats, with some increase in the abundance of this species in the main part of the habitat, and with other factors cited in this work. According to modern concepts, the location of habitats is determined by the "climatic space", which is potentially suitable for the settlement of a particular species. Other factors interacting with the climate determine the actual development of the territory of this space by the species. Such facts of changes in the boundaries of the habitats of separate species as a result of climate change and factors interacting therewith are widespread in the world.


Abstract The current study investigated relationships between dispositional mindfulness, self-esteem, and social anxiety using self-report measures. Correlational data were collected from 205 Australian undergraduate students who completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS). Mindfulness significantly predicted high levels of self-esteem and low levels of social anxiety. Mediation analysis supported the role of self-esteem as a partial mediator between mindfulness and social anxiety. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.


We sequenced the RNA genome of hepatitis E virus (HEV) recovered from an acute hepatitis patient living in Changchun, China. The HEV-CCC220 isolate thus obtained was 7,193 nt in length and contained ORF1 (5,121 nt, 1,706 aa), ORF2 (2,025 nt, 674 aa), and ORF3 (345 nt, 114 aa) plus uncompleted 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions. When compared with full-genome isolates so far reported, the CCC220 isolate segregated to genotype IV although the nucleotide similarity to the previous genotype IV isolates was only 83.9–85.6%. Comparison of a partial sequence (300 nt) within the ORF2 between the genotype IV isolates from China, Taiwan and Japan also indicated the phylogenetic uniqueness of the CCC220 isolate: even the highest homology was less than 90%. These findings suggest that the CCC220 isolate might represent HEV strains that are indigenous to Changchun, China.


Environmental factors in a gas-and-oil producing region were hygienically evaluated for their influence on the health of adolescents living in the towns of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District (KMAD) - Yugry. The air was found to be polluted by incomplete oil and gas combustion products from flares, by emission from emergency conditions at gas-and-oil-producing enterprises. The major ambient air pollutants were formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, and suspended solids. The hazard indices upon combined exposure to chemicals were 9.81, 7.65, 4.79, and 4.01 in Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Nefteyugansk, Khanty-Mansiysk, respectively. The population's potential health risk associated with a water factor in all the four towns was due to the presence of manganese and silicon. Hazardous substances available in the ambient air and water, as well as natural and climatic living conditions were ascertained to influence the health of adolescents. The results of the study served as a basis for substantiation of measures to reduce pollution of ambient air and drinking water supply objects in the KMAD-Yugry and a package of measures to improve the health of adolescents.


Intense, ephemeral foraging events within localized hot spots represent important trophic transfers to top predators in marine ecosystems, though the spatial extent and temporal overlap of predators and prey are difficult to observe using traditional methods. The southeastern Bering Sea has high marine productivity along the shelf break, especially near marine canyons. At a hot spot located near Bering Canyon, we observed three foraging events over a 12 day period in June 2005. These were located by aerial surveys, quantified by airborne lidar and visual counts, and characterized by ship-based acoustics and net catches. Because of the high density of seabirds, the events could be seen in images from space-based synthetic aperture radar. The events developed at the shelf slope, adjacent to passes between the Aleutian Islands, persisted for 1 to 8 days, then abruptly disappeared. Build-up and break down of the events occurred on 24 hr time scales, and diameters ranged from 10 to 20 km. These events comprised large concentrations of euphausiids, copepods, herring, other small pelagic fishes, humpback whales, Dall's porpoise, short-tailed shearwaters, northern fulmars, and other pelagic seabirds. The lidar and acoustic remote sensing data demonstrated that prey densities inside the events were several times higher than those outside, indicating the importance of including events in forage fish surveys. This implies a need for either very intensive traditional surveys covering large expanses or for adaptive surveys guided by remote sensing. To our knowledge, this is the first time that an Alaskan hot spot was monitored with the combination of airborne and satellite remote sensing.


Introduction: With advances in medicine, more systemic patients seek dental treatment. On the other hand, oral health care is an essential part of pregnancyand diabetes mellitus health care. The aim of this study was to assess dentist's awareness about dental management of pregnant and diabetic patients. Materials & Methods: This study was conducted on 106 out of 204 dentists attending in oral medicine congresses and continuous education programs from June 2009 to June 2010. A self-established questionnaire with approved validity and reliability was used. Along with demographic data, some multiple choice questions about dental management of diabetic and pregnant patients were asked. Totally 20 points were assigned to questions and awareness was classified to excellent (18-20 points), good (14-Results: The mean awareness score (MAS) was moderate (10.5±2.5). The MAS for pregnancy was (3.5±1.78) of 10 and for diabetes mellitus were (7±1.32) of 10. MAS were higher in women especially about diabetes mellitus but it was not significantly different. The University of Graduation and years of career were not significantly related to awareness status. Education and treatment attitude for pregnant patients were not related to awareness but women had a higher attitude in treatment of pregnant patients (P<0.05). The lowest awareness was about indications of consultation in diabetic patients and the highest awareness was about administration of suitable antibiotic and analgesic during pregnancy. Conclusion: The awareness level of dentists studied here was moderate and low about dental management in pregnancy and diabetes mellitus which should be improved via continuous education programs.


Summary form only given. A lot of theoretical and experimental work has been done this last decade an single spatial soliton propagation and twin-soliton interactions in planar Kerr waveguides, as it is well known that Kerr solitons can only be stable in a (1+1)D geometry. The (1+1)D nonlinear Schrodinger equation that governs soliton propagation also governs modulational instability, a parametric wave mixing process which amplifies, spatially speaking, weak transverse perturbations or periodic modulations of an intense homogeneous plane wave in a nonlinear diffractive medium. Such exponential growth of spatial frequency sidebands may lead to the generation of periodic arrays of soliton beams. We present an experimental demonstration of the generation and stable propagation of extended periodic arrays of bright spatial solitons in a planar waveguide.


The present research attempted a Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) of airflow over a steep, three-dimensional isolated hill by using the latest multi-cores multi-CPUs systems. As a result, it was found that 1) turbulence simulations using approximately 50 million grid points are feasible and 2) the use of this system resulted in the achievement of a high computation speed, which exceeded the speed of parallel computation attained by a single CPU on one of the latest supercomputers. Furthermore, LES was conducted by using the multi-GPUs systems. The results of these simulations revealed the following findings: 1) the multi-GPUs environment which used the NVDIA® Tesla M2090 or the M2075 could simulate turbulence in a model with as many as approximately 50 million grid points. 2) The computation speed achieved by the multi-GPUs environments exceeded that by parallel computation which used four to six CPUs of one of the latest supercomputers.


We assessed the clearance of endogenous pseudouridine in humans to evaluate the potential use of this modified nucleoside as a marker of glomerular filtration rate. Pseudouridine concentrations in serum ultrafiltrates and in the corresponding 24-h urine specimens from 19 healthy men were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Mean (and SD) pseudouridine concentrations in serum and urine from this group averaged 2.77 (0.34) mumol/L and 203.2 (64.8) mumol/L, respectively. The calculated clearances of the nucleoside [87.3 (24.9) mL/min, n = 19], however, averaged approximately one-third lower than the corresponding creatinine clearances in the same individuals [131.8 (28.4) mL/min]. Measurement of simultaneous clearances of [3H]pseudouridine and [14C]inulin in rats also yielded a lower pseudouridine clearance, 0.78 relative to inulin. Our results are thus consistent with a partial net reabsorption of pseudouridine in both experimental animals and in humans, indicating that this compound would not be a suitable endogenous marker for routine estimation of the glomerular filtration rate.


Reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide is critical to prevent climate change. Carbon
dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) provides one step in that direction. Mesoporous
materials, such as silica, are studied as sorption materials for CCS to decrease
the energy demand of regeneration compared to the more frequently used
liquid amines. In the search for the optimal sorption material, the isosteric heat of
adsorption, Qst, of CO2 is a key factor to consider. In this project the CO2 adsorption
ability of colloidal silica nanoparticles (NP) provided by AkzoNobel PPC AB
was measured optically using Indirect Nanoplasmonic Sensing (INPS). INPS relies
on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR), which is highly sensitive to the
refractive index of the surrounding medium. Thus, it constitutes a suitable tool
for detecting gas adsorption on solid surfaces. Specifically, INPS provides an effective
way of studying CO2 adsorption without influencing the sample and without
calibration. Colloidal silica nanoparticles of two sizes were studied, along with two
types of amine functionalizations. A reproducible method for depositing the silica
nanoparticles on the INPS sensor surface was developed. It was established that the
silica particles indeed adsorb CO2 and a larger LSPR response was obtained for the
smaller particles due to their larger specific surface area. The estimated isosteric
heat of adsorption agreed well with literature. The average value for bare silica particles
was 19.9 kJ/mol and for amine functionalized NPs the average isosteric heat
was slightly lower, namely 14.6 kJ/mol.


Many higher educational institutions now offer distance academic programmes through the Internet and the World Wide Web, to cater for the needs of growing numbers of distance education students. Before an academic library can adequately address the needs, preferences, and expectations of its remote patrons, however, it needs to understand the peculiarities and challenges of serving patrons at a distance. The Distance Learning Unit of the University of Maiduguri is one of the leading distance education institutions in Nigeria, and its library is among those actively engaged in ascertaining the needs of remote library users and developing services and resources to meet these needs. A portrait of library resources and services available to distance learning students is presented, and results of a survey conducted to assess the distance learning students' perceptions, expectations and use of library resources are reported. A key finding is that students are pleased with the quality and availability of library services, but not full partakers of the vast array of services and collections. Keywords: information needs, distance learning, remote library users, distance education


Here is a discussion on the fabrication, characterization, and economic considerations of a set of complex hybrid integrated circuits being used in exploratory switching applications. Several approaches to fabrication are discussed. One approach is unique in that it includes four distinct technologies in addition to simple thin film interconnections. They are (1) beam crossovers, (2) thin film resistors, (3) thin film capacitors, and (4) metallized via holes to a backplane. Alternate approaches including discrete capacitor elements are also discussed.


Background In recent phase-I/II studies, pomalidomide (POM) has shown activity in myelofibrosis (MF) patients (pts) with anemia and/or thrombocytopenia. In the first cohort of the German multicenter MPNSG 01-09 phase-II trial, 38 MF pts were treated with POM 2 mg QD +/- prednisolone (PRED); 34% responded according to IWG-MRT criteria or became RBC-transfusion independent (Schlenk et al., ASH 2012). Additional 58 MF pts were treated in the second study cohort with POM 0.5 mg QD +/- PRED. Main inclusion criteria were age >50y, RBC-transfusion-dependency or Hb <10 g/dL, and/or PLT <50 /nL. The study population (n=96) represents advanced disease: 24% high-risk pts, 65% intermediate-II risk pts, and 11% intermediate-I risk pts according to the DIPS score (DIPSS).

Aims To explore the presence of copy number alterations (CNAs), uniparental disomies (UPDs) and MPN-related gene mutations in the 01-09 study cohort and to correlate genetic parameters with treatment response.

Methods Affymetrix 6.0 SNP arrays were used for genome-wide screening of CNAs and UPDs in 91% (87/96) of pts. Frequently mutated genes were analyzed in all pts using PCR-based techniques and sequence analysis of coding exons: JAK2 V617F, MPL W515L, ASXL1 (exon 12), EZH2 (exon 2-20), IDH1/2 (exons 4), SRSF2 (exon 1-2), and TP53 (exon 4-10).

Results In total, 78 CNAs were identified by SNP array analysis. The overall frequency of CNAs was 52% (45/87 pts); 24% (21 pts) showed ≥2 CNAs, while 7% (6 pts) had a complex genotype defined by ≥3 genomic aberrations. Recurrent large (>5 Mb) gains were trisomy 8 (7%; n=6), gain 1q, and trisomy 9 (5% each; n=4), whereas recurrent large losses were identified in 20q (11%; n=10), 5q (8%; n=7), 13q (7%; n=6), 7q/7 (6%; n=5), and 12p/12 (2%; n=2). Moreover, 20% (17/87) of pts showed 19 informative micro-deletions (<5 Mb).

Large UPDs (>10 Mb) affecting a terminal end of the chromosome were present in 32% (28/87) of pts. The most frequent UPDs occurred in 9p including JAK2 (17%; n=15). Other recurrent UPDs mapped to 1p (5%; n=4), 4q, and 7q (2% each; n=2). UPDs in 9p were associated with JAK2 V617F in all pts, whereas 75% (3/4) of pts with UPD in 1p were MPL W515L mutated.

Mutations in JAK2 (V617F) and MPL (W515L) were present in 55% (53/96) and 6% (6/96) of pts, respectively. The mutation frequencies for the remaining genes were 30% ( ASXL1 ; n=29/96), 9% ( SRSF2 ; n=9/96), 5% ( EZH2 ; n=5/96), 2% ( TP53 ; n=2/96), and 1% ( IDH2 ; n=1/96). Taken together, at least one mutation was found in 79% (76/96) of pts, whereas 21% (20/96) of pts lacked any of these mutations; 28% (27/96) of pts showed ≥2 concurrent mutations.

To evaluate genetic differences and predictive factors, pts were separated into a responder (R, n=23) and a non-responder (Non-R, n=73) group. Regarding DIPSS, Non-R pts were not associated with higher risk compared to R pts: 27% (20/73) high risk vs. 17% (4/23) ( p =0.334), 61% (44/73) intermediate-II risk vs. 79% (18/23), and 12% (9/73) intermediate-I vs. 4% (1/23) ( p =0.275). However, the overall frequency of CNAs was in trend higher in the Non-R group: 56% vs. 39% ( p =0.159). Since the total number of genomic losses was similarly distributed (27% vs. 29%), the difference was mainly due to the higher frequency of large genomic gains/trisomies: 4% (R) vs. 22% (Non-R) ( p =0.083). UPDs were similar frequent in R and Non-R pts (26% vs. 34%) ( p =0.466).

The total number of gene mutations was not different between both groups (n=25 in 23 R pts vs. n=77 in 73 Non-R pts) ( p =0.475). However, genetic alterations being associated with unfavourable outcome were enriched in the Non-R group: ASXL1 mutation (39% vs. 22%), EZH2 mutation (5% vs. 0%), loss in 5q (30% vs. 4%), trisomy 8 (9% vs. 0%), 12p / ETV6 deletion (6% vs. 0%), 17p deletion / TP53 mutation (3% vs. 0%), and complex genotype (7% vs. 0%). Taken together, adverse genetic alterations were significantly more frequent in Non-R pts compared to R pts: 48% (35/73) vs. 22% (5/23) ( p =0.026). Of note, adverse genetic alterations indicated high risk according to DIPSS in no more than 50% (12/24) of the pts.

Conclusion Our study on a well-defined patient cohort with advanced MF revealed a high frequency of genetic alterations reflecting the molecular complexity of the disease. Pts with adverse genetic alterations identified by SNP-array and mutation analyses were not sufficiently represented by DIPSS and showed inferior response to POM +/- PRED.

Disclosures: Reiter: Sanofi: Honoraria. Gattermann: Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding. Platzbecker: Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding. Hochhaus: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Travel Other; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Ariad: Consultancy, Honoraria. Schlenk: Amgen: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Chugai: Research Funding; Ambit: Honoraria.


Objective. During x-ray-guided interventional procedures, the medical staff is exposed to scattered ionizing radiation caused by the patient. To increase the staff's awareness of the invisible radiation and monitor dose online, computational scatter estimation methods are convenient. However, such methods are usually based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, which are inherently computationally expensive. Yet, in the interventional environment, immediate feedback to the personnel is desirable. Approach. In this work, we propose deep neural networks to mitigate the computational effort of MC simulations. Our learning-based models consider detailed models of the (outer) patient shape and (inner) anatomy, additional objects in the room, and the x-ray tube spectrum to cover imaging settings encountered in real interventional settings. We investigate two cases of scatter prediction. First, we employ network architectures to estimate the full three-dimensional (3D) scatter distribution. Second, we investigate the prediction of two-dimensional (2D) intensity projections that facilitate the intra-procedural visualization. Main results. Depending on the dimensionality of the estimated scatter distribution and the network architecture, the mean relative error of each network is in the range of 12% and 14% compared to MC simulations. However, 3D scatter distributions can be estimated within 60 ms and 2D distributions within 15 ms. Significance. Overall, our method is suitable to support the online assessment of scattered ionizing radiation in the interventional environment and can help to lower the occupational radiation risk.


This study utilized the HEXACO 1) model developed by Lee et al. to investigate the effect of personal level personality variables on adaptive performance of new pilots engaged in domestic airlines. As a result of the analysis, it was found out that extroversion had a statistically significant effect on adaptive performance, while openness to experience and conscientiousness did not affect the adaptive performance statistically. In the analysis of interaction between personality variables and demographic variables, there was a statistically significant interaction effect between the origin and extroversion. Second, it was confirmed that the extroversion variable had an influence on the adaptive performance, suggesting that personality variables should be reflected in the selection of new pilots. Third, when the extroversion level was low, the adaptive performance of the civilian was relatively lower than that of the military. Openness( 개방성 ), Conscientiousness( 성실성 ), Extroversion( 외향성 )


Silicon nitride (Si3N4) in a form of single and multi-layer nanofilms is proposed to be used as a dielectric layer in nanocapacitors for operation in harsh environmental conditions. Characterization of surface morphology, roughness and chemical bonds of the Si3N4 coatings has an important role in production process as the surface morphology affects the contact surface with other components of the produced device. Si3N4 was synthesized by using low pressure chemical vapour deposition method and depositing single and multi-layer (3 – 5 layers) nanofilms on SiO2 and polycrystalline silicon (PolySi). The total thickness of the synthesized nanofilms was 20 – 60 nm. Surface morphology was investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Chemical bonds in the layers were identified by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) method. (From the SEM and AFM images it was estimated that both single and multi-layer coatings are deposited homogenously. Si-N breathing and stretching modes are observed in FTIR spectra and the surface morphology is highly dependent on PolySi, therefore suggesting the decrease of the roughness of the bottom electrode for use in the nanocapacitors.


With reference to legal principles such as freedom of contract and freedom of labour, it is examined whether a non-restraint of trade agreed upon with a (female) veterinary surgeon married to a veterinarian is legally operative in view of the fact that this contract in restraint of trade is not based on any legal relationship. This leads to the conclusion that arguments may be advanced, which cast doubt on the legality of these contracts. This does not imply that now the cause is open to the free setting up of a practice by the veterinarian married to a veterinary surgeon. It is briefly stated for which reasons possible competition may be unlawful in this case, so that the veterinarian will be liable in damages when damage has been sustained. In conclusion, attention is drawn to a number of other legal problems, bearing all these stipulations.


The absorption of type-II nanostructures is often weaker than type-I counterpart due to spatially separated electrons and holes. We model the bound-to-continuum absorption of type-II quantum rings (QRs) using a multiband source-radiation approach using the retarded Green function in the cylindrical coordinate system. The selection rules due to the circular symmetry for allowed transitions of absorption are utilized. The bound-tocontinuum absorptions of type-II GaSb coupled and uncoupled QRs embedded in GaAs matrix are compared here. The GaSb QRs act as energy barriers for electrons but potential wells for holes. For the coupled QR structure, the region sandwiched between two QRs forms a potential reservoir of quasi-bound electrons. Electrons in these states, though look like bound ones, would ultimately tunnel out of the reservoir through barriers. Multiband perfectly-matched layers are introduced to model the tunneling of quasi-bound states into open space. Resonance peaks are observed on the absorption spectra of type-II coupled QRs due to the formation of quasi-bound states in conduction bands, but no resonance exist in the uncoupled QR. The tunneling time of these metastable states can be extracted from the resonance and is in the order of ten femtoseconds. Absorption of coupled QRs is significantly enhanced as compared to that of uncoupled ones in certain spectral windows of interest. These features may improve the performance of photon detectors and photovoltaic devices based on type-II semiconductor nanostructures.


Many philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists argue for the thesis that both the self and free will - as commonly understood by us - are illusions created by our nervous system. An example of such a line of argument can be found in Bruce Hood's book `The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity'. I first consider the main ideas put forward by Hood in support of the view that the self and free will are illusions. Then I turn to criticisms of his arguments regarding the illusoriness of the self, citing arguments from philosophy and neuroscience. In criticizing his arguments for the illusoriness of free will, I advocate compatibilism and seek to focus on the elucidation of research into our everyday intuitions relating to free will.


Background: Bronchiolitis is an acute lower respiratory viral infection, caused by the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in 60–85% of cases and other respiratory viruses in remaining ones. It is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants and toddlers during the winter and early spring months. At the moment, there is no consensus on its treatment worldwide. The prevalence is increasing in port Sudan eastern Sudan, while we have no admission policy or a unified management protocol. Therefore, the aim of this study is: (1) to formulate an admission policy and a new simple management protocol; (2) to determine the factor(s) that increased the prevalence in port Sudan as a secondary objective; and (3) to compare the outcome in the study (119 infants) and historical (135 infants) groups concerning the hospitalization length and death rate as a primary objectives. Method: This is a hospital-based, controlled clinical trial (CCT) study, demographic data were collected by a questionnaire, and data were analyzed manually. Severity criteria for acute bronchiolitis are defined. A management guideline was defined and applied to bronchiolitis cases (119 case) with intention to treat, from October to April each year (2013–2015). All infants aged between 1 and 23 months with only acute bronchiolitis were included, while cases with bronchiolitis and associated dysmorphic features, heart disease, tracheo-oesophageal fistula, other respiratory diseases, other morbidities, infants below one month or above two years were excluded from this study. The outcome was compared to a group of matched infants with bronchiolitis (135 cases) who received antibiotics, B2 agonist, and steroids, between October and April of years 2011–2012. Results: While several new lifestyle factors increased the prevalence, the new guidelines decreased the admission rate (9.6 vs 5.7 mo), is simple and effective, less expensive, and the duration of hospitalization also reduced (p = 0.04).


We present a new method for identifying the source regions of lightning‐generated whistlers observed at a fixed location. In addition to the spatial distribution of causative lightning discharges, we calculate the ratio of lightning discharges transmitted into ground detectable whistlers as a function of location. Our method relies on the time of the whistlers and the time and source location of spherics from a global lightning database. We apply this method to whistlers recorded at 15 ground‐based stations in the Automatic Whistler Detector and Analyzer Network operating between 2007 and 2018 and to located lightning strokes from the World Wide Lightning Location Network database. We present the obtained maps of causative lightning and transmission rates. Our results show that the source region of whistlers corresponding to each ground station is around the magnetic conjugate point of the respective station. The size of the source region is typically less than 2,000 km in radius with a small fraction of sources extending to up to 3,500 km. The transmission ratio is maximal at the conjugate point and decreases with increasing distance from it. This conforms to the theory that whistlers detected on the ground propagated in a ducted mode through the plasmasphere, and thus, the lightning strokes of their causative spherics must cluster around the footprint of the ducts in the other hemisphere. Our method applied resolves the whistler excitation region mystery that resulted from correlation‐based analysis methods, concerning the source region of whistlers detected in Dunedin, New Zealand.


Systemic and intratympanic steroids are most widely used for treating idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Other treatments include vasodilator, immunosuppressant and antiviral medication. However, only 61% of patients achieve full recovery, and controversies about the standard treatment still exist. In this case report, we present a patient with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss who failed to respond to systemic and intratympanic steroid treatments but subsequently recovered after undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy.


BRAF is an oncogenic protein kinase that drives cell growth and proliferation through the MEK-ERK signaling pathway. BRAF inhibitors have demonstrated antitumor efficacy in melanoma therapy but have also been found to be associated with the development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCCs) in certain patients. Here, we report that BRAF is phosphorylated at Ser729 by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a critical energy sensor. This phosphorylation promotes the association of BRAF with 14-3-3 proteins and disrupts its interaction with the KSR1 scaffolding protein, leading to attenuation of the MEK-ERK signaling. We also show that phosphorylation of BRAF by AMPK impairs keratinocyte cell proliferation and cell-cycle progression. Furthermore, AMPK activation attenuates BRAF inhibitor-induced ERK hyperactivation in keratinocytes and epidermal hyperplasia in mouse skin. Our findings reveal a mechanism for regulating BRAF signaling in response to energy stress and suggest a strategy for preventing the development of cSCCs associated with BRAF-targeted therapy. Citation Format: Che-Hung Shen, Ping Yuan, Rolando Perez-Lorenzo, Yaqing Zhang, Sze Xian Lee, Yang Ou, Li Cai, John M. Asara, Lewis C. Cantley, Bin Zheng. Phosphorylation of BRAF by AMPK impairs BRAF-KSR1 association and cell proliferation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Melanoma: From Biology to Therapy; Sep 20-23, 2014; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(14 Suppl):Abstract nr B09.


The objective of the present paper is to give some characterizations for a (Gaussian) hypergeometric function to be in various subclasses of starlike and convex functions. We also consider an integral operator related to the hypergeometric function.


INTRODUCTION
Interest in the development of functions that estimate the likelihood of an individual suffering a future cardiovascular disease (CVD) event has increased in recent times (e.g. Framingham sheets, SCORE-Systematic COronary Risk Estimation, PROCAM, etc.). However, the estimates of absolute risk may show substantial variations between different populations, because of geographical, cultural, social, behavioural and genetic differences, as well as various methodological issues related to the predictive models employed. We sought to calibrate the SCORE equations to the Greek population.

METHODS
We used the SCORE system that offers an estimation of total fatal CVD risk in "high" and "low" CVD risk European countries. The project pulls together a pool of datasets from 12 European countries and 2.7 million person-years of observation. A mathematical procedure to adjust the risk estimates for individual countries was applied, based on local mortality and risk factor prevalence data from the ATTICA epidemiological study, which enrolled 3042 men and women (18+ years old), from the Attica region of Greece.

RESULTS
We present the calibration of the HellenicSCORE (equations, charts) by age group and sex, based on mortality data, as reported by the National Statistical Services, and prevalence data regarding smoking, total cholesterol and blood pressure levels, as reported by the ATTICA study.

CONCLUSION
The proposed HellenicSCORE will hopefully result in better estimation of the risk of CVD death in Greece and enhance handling of CVD risk factors in the referent population.