Prostate cancer (PCa) demonstrates significant intra and inter tumor heterogeneity, similar to many other solid tumors. The "gold standard" of therapy for metastatic prostate cancer is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Although ADT is initially effective, acquired resistance, termed castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), almost always occurs. It is believed that development of CRPC is governed by both intrinsically resistant progenitor cells and by acquired genomic mutations. Clinically advanced CRPC tumors often display loss of PTEN (40%) and aberrations in TP53 (50%), the presence of which in primary prostate cancer are associated with poor clinical prognosis. Our goal is to identify novel targeted therapies against progenitor cells harboring Pten/Tp53 mutations. To enable high throughput screening, we derived multiple cell lines from a PB-Cre4 Ptenfl/fl;Tp53fl/fl mouse model before (intact) and after (castrate) castration. The RNA-seq analyses of the 8 resultant cell lines revealed distinct clustering of intact and castrate lines as well as patterns of expression characteristic of progenitor cells. Cell lineage marker analysis showed strong KRT8 and minimal KRT5 expression. Using these 8 distinct luminal cell lines, we performed the mechanism interrogation plate (MIPe) screen, a high throughput 1,912 compound screening assay at the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). Post-screen informatics data processing and subsequent analysis sorted out compounds that displayed strong activity (1.1 and 1.2 curve class). Multiple compounds were unique to each cell line, however, no difference in sensitivity between the two groups of intact and castrate cell types was observed. Grouping of intact and castrate cell lines together as one population identified a diverse array of 235 compounds (12% of MIPe library) with robust activity against most of the cell lines. Some of these compounds are redundant for specific targets that are key regulators of a multitude of signaling pathways, such as the heat shock protein HSP90AB1, which was targeted by 11 different compounds. In contrast, other targets, like BIRC5, were potently targeted by only one compound. A majority of the 235 compounds targeted components of signaling pathways important in PCa, including: 28 compounds targeting PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling (AKT1, PIK3CA, mTORc 1/2), 13 compounds targeting cell cycle regulators (CDK1, CDK4), 13 compounds targeting DNA repair and replication (CHEK1, TOP2A), 6 compounds targeting NFKB signaling (IKBKB,ITK) and 5 compounds targeting MAPK signaling (MAPK8, MAP2K1). Using high throughput screening technology to sort for compounds based on potency and activity identified clinically and biologically relevant therapeutic applications for existing compounds in a novel context, Pten/Tp53 null PCa progenitor cells. Citation Format: Keith H. Jansson, John K. Simmons, Caitlyn Fuller, Supreet Agarwal, Paul G. Hynes, Lei Fang, Ross Lake, Jacob Cawley, Lauren Stahl, Xiaohu Zhang, Rajarshi Guha, Craig Thomas, Kathleen Kelly. Elucidating potential therapeutic targets in a model of Pten/Tp53 null prostate cancer using high-throughput screening technology. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-281.


In medical education, teaching cases are usually prepared by domain experts from their individual viewpoints. The irrelevance of such teaching cases not only contradicts with the fact that a practical case study is usually related to more than one disciplines, but also may degrade students' learning performance. In this paper, we describe a medical web-based system called HINTS, which features its design and implementation of cross-discipline teaching cases. This study proposes how an Internet-based PBL (Problem-Based Learning) teaching case should be presented to the students such that it provides an integrated, effective, and efficient means for them to develop an overall perspective and knowledge of patient care problems. Furthermore, the system made use of the concept of the document-view architecture, but was implemented with a rule-based mechanism that is different from those documented in the literature. Based on our experiments, the system turns out to be a very successful one. The system has been installed in National Cheng Kung University Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan for trial purpose. Some experiments are conducted to verify the advantages of designing teaching cases crossing different disciplines.


Animals generate diverse motor behaviors, yet how the same motor neurons generate distinct behaviors remains an open question. Drosophila larvae have multiple behaviors – e.g. forward crawling, backward crawling, self-righting and escape – and all of the body wall motor neurons (MNs) driving these behaviors have been identified. Despite impressive progress in mapping larval motor circuits, the role of most motor neurons in locomotion remains untested, the majority of premotor neurons (PMNs) remain to be identified, and a full understanding of proprioceptor-PMN-MN connectivity is missing. Here we report a comprehensive larval proprioceptor-PMN-MN connectome; describe individual muscle/MN phase activity during both forward and backward locomotor behaviors; identify PMN-MN connectivity motifs that could generate muscle activity phase relationships, plus selected experimental validation; identify proprioceptor-PMN connectivity that provides an anatomical explanation for the role of proprioception in promoting locomotor velocity; and identify a new candidate escape motor circuit. Finally, we generate a recurrent network model that produces the observed sequence of motor activity, showing that the identified pool of premotor neurons is sufficient to generate two distinct larval behaviors. We conclude that different locomotor behaviors can be generated by a specific group of premotor neurons generating behavior-specific motor rhythms.


A new strategy for the preparation of an integrated three-source intumescent flame retardant (IFR) has been developed to improve the flame-retardant and smoke suppression performance of epoxy resin (EP) with a synergistic flame retardant effect. Herein, the synthesis of a macromolecular spirocyclic phosphorus/nitrogen-containing IFR poly sulfonamide spirocyclic pentaerythritol bisphosphonate (SAPC) is reported via a two-step method that uses pentaerythritol, phosphorus oxychloride and sulfonamide (SAA) as raw materials. Subsequently, the SAPC was incorporated into EP to prepare the composite to investigate its thermal stability, flame retardancy, and smoke suppression performance. Herein, a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis showed that the addition of SAPC increased the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composite. Cone test results indicated that the incorporation of 8 wt % SAPC significantly improved the flame-retardant performance for the composite, with a 43.45% decrease in peak of heat release rate, a 28.55% reduction in total heat release, and a 30.04% decrease in total smoke release. Additionally, the composite received the V-0 rating in a UL-94 vertical burning test, accompanied by the "blowout" phenomenon. After the addition of SAPC, the amount of flammable gas products from the EP composite decomposition was obviously suppressed, and the amount of non-flammable as was increased. All of this suggests a good dilution role of SAPC. There are enough reasons to believe that the enhanced flame-retardant and toxicity suppression performance for the EP composite can be attributed to the good coordination of carbonization agent, acid source, and blowing agent in the SAPC structure.


Although the essential role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the control of intracellular bac-terial infection is well established, it is uncertain whether the related cytokines lymphotoxin-α (LTα3) and lymphotoxin-β (LTβ) have independent roles in this process. Using C57Bl/6 mice in which the genes for these cytokines have been disrupted, we have examined the relative contribution of secreted LTα3 and membrane-bound LTβ in the host response to aerosol Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. To overcome the lack of peripheral lymph nodes in LTα−/− and LTβ−/− mice, bone marrow chimeric mice were constructed. LTα−/− chimeras, which lack both secreted LTα3 and membrane-bound LTβ (LTα1β2 and LTα2β1), were highly susceptible and succumbed 5 wk after infection. LTβ−/− chimeras, which lack only the membrane-bound LTβ, controlled the infection in a comparable manner to wild-type (WT) chimeric mice. T cell responses to mycobacterial antigens and macrophage responses in LTα−/− chimeras were equivalent to those of WT chimeras, but in LTα−/− chimeras, granuloma formation was abnormal. LTα−/− chimeras recruited normal numbers of T cells into their lungs, but the lymphocytes were restricted to perivascular and peribronchial areas and were not colocated with macrophages in granulomas. Therefore, LTα3 is essential for the control of pulmonary tuberculosis, and its critical role lies not in the activation of T cells and macrophages per se but in the local organization of the granulomatous response.


The purpose of clinical diagnosis is to determine the most fitting treatment for individual pathological conditions, and the process of diagnosis and treatment is one of feedback control system. In this paper, application of "optimal control theory" to diagnostic process was discussed and one example of computer program was showed. When diagnostic process is regarded as one of control system, medical treatment, pathological internal conditions and clinical findings are replaced to input variables, state variables and output variables respectively, and if the interrelationship of these three variables is quantitatively represented, it becomes to a problem of optimal control theory. As a clinical application, "insulin therapy in diabetic coma" was proposed. Injection of insulin and infusion therapy as input variables, and blood glucose level and insulin level state variables were used respectively, and the iterrelationship was mathematically represented based on the simulation study of blood glucose kinetics. This model was programmed for digital computer. When observed data of blood glucose level and details treatment were entered, the dosis of insulin to be injected now, fitting to the desired blood glucose level after adequate time, is computed.


In 37 diabetic patients with severe acidosis (pH less than 7.0; [HCO3-] less than 5.0 mMol/l), administration of insulin was preceded by a rapid infusion of molar sodium bicarbonate in order to obtain partial correction of acidosis (pH approximately 7.20). 31 patients survived (83,8%); 6 patients died in cardio-circulatory failure associated in two cases with acute pulmonary edema. Initial administration of bicarbonate appears to be beneficial in preventing the deleterious effects of prolonged severe acidosis, such as cardiac arrhythmias, shock or acute pulmonary edema. Furthermore, partial correction of acidosis decreases the total dose of insulin necessary to compensate hyperglycemia and thereby reduces the danger of late hypoglycemia. This treatment calls for frequent checks on acid-base status and serum potassium. In most cases hypokalemia develops, but can be easily corrected by administration of potassium chloride. Normalization of arterial pH by bicarbonate infusion is not recommended in view of the development of late hypernatremia and metabolic alkalosis.


Unlike it is usually held, medieval noble families often divided its states among their sons, instead of leaving the whole possession to the first-born male. This article is about the division of the states of the house of Anglesola, and, mainly, about the last of the lordships that emerged from its repeated divisions: the barony of Utxafava. Thanks to the will of his first lord and some other documents we can know about the family possessions, the relations between its members, and their very complex hereditary customs. Twice the inheritance went from a son to the mother and from the mother to a nephew. At the end, the barony came back to the original lordship through purchasing.


Few studies have provided in vivo tibiofemoral kinematics of the normal knee during dynamic weight-bearing activities. Indeed, gold standard measurement methods (i.e., intracortical pins and biplane imaging) raise ethical and experimental issues. Moreover, the conventions used for the processing of the kinematics show large inconsistencies. This study aims at synthesising the tibiofemoral kinematics measured with gold standard measurement methods. Published kinematic data were transformed in the standard recommended by the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB), and a clustering method was applied to investigate whether the couplings between the degrees of freedom (DoFs) are consistent among the different activities and measurement methods. The synthesised couplings between the DoFs during knee flexion (from 4° of extension to −61° of flexion) included abduction (up to −10°); internal rotation (up to 15°); and medial (up to 10 mm), anterior (up to 25 mm), and proximal (up to 28 mm) displacements. These synthesised couplings appeared mainly partitioned into two clusters that featured all the dynamic weight-bearing activities and all the measurement methods. Thus, the effect of the dynamic activities on the couplings between the tibiofemoral DoFs appeared to be limited. The synthesised data might be used as a reference of normal in vivo knee kinematics for prosthetic and orthotic design and for knee biomechanical model development and validation.


Historically, suicide narratives in cyberspace have been studied under the Suicide Media Contagion hypothesis. This hypothesis states that exposure to suicide stories in mass media are a risk factor in the production of suicide. In this essay, I make a critical reflection on this hypothesis from Social Psychology, constructivism and Physiological Psychology. Then, I propose a new way of understanding suicide media narratives from the conceptual framework of Social Construcctionism and virtual communities.


Introduction: CETP has been considered as a possible target for treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, first clinical studies employing CETP inhibitors have failed to demonstrate clinical benefit. Additionally, we have previously shown that low endogenous plasma levels of CETP are associated with increased mortality in CAD patients. We hypothesized, that low CETP plasma levels are associated with decreased HDL function. Methods: Serum HDL efflux capacity was measured in 154 patients of the Ludwighshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study displaying extremely low ( 2.13 μ g/ml, n = 77) CETP concentrations in their plasma, respectively. Patients were referred to coronary angiography at baseline. Median follow-up time was 7.75 years. Primary and secondary endpoints were cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, respectively. Results: We found increased levels of HDL-cholesterol and Apo-AI in the fourth quartile of HDL efflux capacity. No differences were found concerning other lipoprotein parameters including triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol and ApoB. After adjustment for age, sex and HDL-cholesterol, hazard ratios for overall and cardiovascular death were lower in the second and third efflux quartile when compared to quartiles 1 and 4, pointing toward a U-shaped association between serum HDL efflux and mortality. In addition, serum HDL efflux capacity was lower in low CETP patients when compared to high CETP patients (15.1 ± 1.75 versus 15.96 ± 2.51 µg/ml, p = 0.015). Conclusion: Decreased serum HDL efflux capacity might at least partially explain the observed increased mortality in patients with low CETP concentration as well as in patients treated with CETP inhibitors, which is again questioning the rationale of CETP inhibition for treatment of arteriosclerosis in coronary artery disease patients.


The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has commissioned an international comparative study of other countries' approaches to the quality assessment of academic standards and quality. The findings from this research are presented below.
The choice of countries was made by HEFCE in relation to three criteria: a focus on approaches that are risk-based, low-burden and outcomes-focused; systems that have quality assessment arrangements that could be compared with the UK and potentially applied or adopted; and the parameters of time-scale and budget for the research.
The three countries examined in this study are (in order): Norway, the US, and Australia. Given the size and diversity of the US system, two regional accreditation systems were chosen as exemplars.


Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process, which is used by the cells for cytoplasmic quality control. This process is induced following different kinds of stresses e.g., metabolic, environmental, or therapeutic, and acts, in this framework, as a cell survival mechanism. However, under certain circumstances, autophagy has been associated with cell death. This duality has been extensively reported in solid and hematological cancers, and has been observed during both tumor development and cancer therapy. As autophagy plays a critical role at the crossroads between cell survival and cell death, its involvement and therapeutic modulation (either activation or inhibition) are currently intensively studied in cancer biology, to improve treatments and patient outcomes. Over the last few years, studies have demonstrated the occurrence of autophagy in different Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK)-associated cancers, notably ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), Neuroblastoma (NB), and Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). In this review, we will first briefly describe the autophagic process and how it can lead to opposite outcomes in anti-cancer therapies, and we will then focus on what is currently known regarding autophagy in ALK-associated cancers.


This paper presents experimental study on dispersive waves propagation in steel rails. The propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves was generated by an impulse hammer and measured in three points. Wavelet transform (WT) and short time Fourier transform (STFT) were applied to analyze the time signals. Analysis of signal by STFT does not provide a proper timefrequency representation due to a fixed size window. The wavelet transform can effectively identify the time-frequency components in waves. The wavelet signal processing of the experimental wave propagation signals is intended to be used for rail flaw detection.


Background General population studies have found significant relationships between obesity and depression, including identifying obesity as a risk factor for onset of depression. In SLE and RA, rates of depression are elevated, but the role of obesity as an independent risk factor for depression in these conditions has not been studied. Objectives To examine the risk of depression onset for obese and non-obese women with SLE or RA. Methods Analyses use data from the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases, collected at 6-month intervals primarily by questionnaire. All participants have physician confirmed SLE/RA. Depression was determined through self-report. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from self-reported height and weight; obesity was defined using validated SLE- and RA-specific BMI cut-points (SLE ≥26.8; RA ≥26.1)1,2. Cox proportional hazard models estimated the risk of becoming depressed associated with obesity at baseline. Multivariate analyses adjusted for age, race, current smoking, prednisone use, baseline disease activity (SLE: 0-100 rating of SLE activity; RA: Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index [RADAI]), baseline functioning (SF-36 Physical Component Score), and changes in disease activity and functioning between baseline and the interview prior to depression onset (or last observation). Women who reported current or past depression at baseline were excluded from analysis. Results For SLE, 827 women were included; for RA, 12,844 women. Mean follow-up time was 2.7 years for SLE and 3.7 years for RA. Using disease-specific obesity criteria, 52.0% of women with SLE and 44.5% of women with RA were obese at baseline. Among women with SLE, 24.3% who were obese later developed depression, compared to 18.3% of those not obese (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR]=1.43 [1.06,1.93]). Adjusting for covariates, obesity remained a significant independent risk factor for development of depression (HR =2.82 [1.40, 5.68]). Among women with RA, 20.2% of those who were obese later developed depression, compared to 16.7% of those not depressed (HR=1.28, 95% CI 1.18,1.38). Adjusting for covariates, obesity remained a significant independent risk factor for development of depression (HR=1.14 [1.03,1.27]). Risk of depression onset associated with obesity among women with SLE/RA SLE (n=827) RA (n=12,844) Obesity criterion ≥26.8 ≥26.1 Obese at baseline 52.0% 44.5% Became depressed, not obese 18.3% 16.7% Became depressed, obese 24.3% 20.2% Multivariate HR† (95% CI) for obesity 2.82 (1.40, 5.68) 1.14 (1.03, 1.27) Women who met criteria for depression at baseline were excluded.† HR = Hazard ratio. Multivariate model adjusted for age, race, smoking, prednisone use, baseline disease activity, baseline physical functioning, and changes in disease activity and functioning between baseline and year prior to depression onset (or last observation). Conclusions Obesity appears to be an independent risk factor for development of depression among women with SLE and RA, even after controlling for disease activity, function, changes in disease activity and function, and other relevant factors. This is a clinically important finding, as obesity is modifiable, and reducing obesity is likely to lead to additional health benefits such as reduced cardiovascular disease. References Katz et al. Arthritis Care Res 2011; 63:261. Katz et al. Arthritis Care Res 2013;65:62. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Intercepted solar radiation by leaf will influence energy balance in plant. The energy balance in leaf is a complex process, which results in biomass growth. Here, we modeled leaf energy balance to estimate dry matter growth in soybean. In the field, we measured intercepted radiation in canopy (1 meter above surface) with two treatments: soybean with 50% shading (N50%M0) and no-shading (N0%M0) twice a week. Then we sampled a biomass with destructive technique every week in each treatment. Our results showed that the intercepted radiation in no-shading treatment was higher (400 J/m2) than those in shading one (250 J/m2). The results were consistence with the high biomass growth at 12 weeks after planting, which observed in no-shading treatment. Then we validated our model by 1:1 plot test. Our finding revealed that no-shading treatment showed a good agreement with the observed biomass (closed to 1:1 plot), whereas the shading treatment tended to predict under estimate of biomass.


Monoreactive high affinity pathologic autoantibodies were supposed previously to derive through somatic mutation from polyreactive low affinity autoantibodies that are encoded by a small set of unmutated V region genes in fetal and neonatal B cells. However, recent data exploring the physiologically expressed Ab repertoire and the importance of the stochastically generated heavy chain CDR3 (H-CDR3) in autoreactivity suggest that this scheme is incomplete. Here we analyzed via gene-swapping experiments and site-directed mutagenesis the relative contributions of the mutations in the light chain variable region (VL) and the heavy chain variable region (VH) domains and of the H-CDR3 in the autoreactivity of two IgM rheumatoid factors (RF), one a polyreactive low affinity Ab, the other a monoreactive high affinity Ab. These two RFs derived from the same V kappa III (humkv325) and VH1 (51p1) genes, but differed from each other by a few mutations and by the structure of the H-CDR3. The analysis of the reactivity patterns of different combinations of wild-type and in vitro engineered hybrid gene products clearly demonstrates the main influence of the H-CDR3 in the autoAb activity profiles. The results directly demonstrate the previously proposed hypothesis, namely, that the H-CDR3 plays a critical role in distinguishing poly- from monospecific RF. However, the data also indicate that self polyreactivity is a very fragile property and is dependent upon the primary structure of the VH segment.


Volunteer and career firefighters are at risk of major depressive disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder, and other mental health disorders due to the demanding and unpredictable nature of their employment. The mental health risks are exacerbated by the need to work extended hours, night shifts, and/or rotating schedules, or the competing demands of other employment, especially in volunteer firefighters. The mental health disorders and risk factors interact with altered sleeping patterns. In the current study, we examined volunteer and career firefighters regarding the association between mental health and sleep, drawing from a national Canadian mental health survey of 1217 firefighters. Most (69%) of the firefighters reported less than ideal sleep quality and 21% screened positive for clinical insomnia, with no significant difference between volunteer and career subgroups. Firefighters with insomnia had higher odds ratios (OR) and frequencies for PTSD (OR = 4.98), generalized anxiety disorder (OR = 7.15), panic disorder (OR = 6.88), social phobia (OR = 4.98), and major depressive disorder (OR = 7.91), than firefighters without insomnia. The burden of sleep disorders and their association with mental health disorders suggests that sleep should be considered in health monitoring and self-management, environmental design, fire service work-organization policies, and health programming.


This paper, by the former Justice Department Pardon Attorney, discusses the role that executive clemency plays in the modern day criminal justice system. It concludes that "our commitment to determinate sentencing ought by all rights to make it easy to carve out a respectable role for pardon," which was intended by the Framers to provide necessary flexibility where the legal system is unable to take appropriate account of individual circumstances. The paper explores the tension between rule-based justice and discretionary mercy, suggesting ways of accommodating these two great principles of decision in a determinate sentencing system. It traces the evolution of the pardon function in the federal justice system, and explains the atrophy of pardon in recent years. It attributes the break-down of the pardon process at the end of the Clinton Administration as much to its capture by prosecutors and bureaucrats within the Justice Department, as to any lack of discipline and judgment shown by the departing President Clinton. It analyzes the other symposium essays in terms of the relative importance they ascribe to regularity and discretion in the theory and practice of pardoning. Finally, it proposes that reliance on a rule-based administrative system maximizes the President's ability to use his constitutional power as the Framers intended. The good news about the final Clinton pardons is that they have drawn attention to problems in the justice system that have been simmering for years. The evident need to rethink how pardon should be used and administered provides an early opportunity to consider these problems. Recognizing the limits of pardon should encourage law reform efforts, and recognizing the limits of the law should identify a place for pardon.


Service-learning is a form of experiential education that connects classroom instruction with community service for the benefits of the partners involved. While the effects of service-learning on college students are well documented in Western settings, considerably less is known about these effects in Eastern contexts. Given the current profound political changes in Egypt and the greater Arab world, this research utilized a case study design to explore the potential of service-learning for developing civic awareness among college students at a university in Northern Egypt. Findings revealed that participation in service-learning allowed students valuable opportunities to connect with others from backgrounds different from their own. Through their work in the community, students gained important civic skills, including thinking critically and addressing public problems, developing perspective-taking positions, and enhancing coping capabilities. The study outcomes suggest a cultural shift in Egypt that validates young adults as a productive segment of population thus affording them structured opportunities for civic engagement through which they could exercise their leadership skills and effect positive change in their communities. The ongoing critical engagement of students in their communities where they grapple with questions about the structural causes of inequalities in society is pivotal for service-learning to be a truly empowering learning experience.


Land degradation and declining soil fertility challenge the productivity of forest plantations. Changes in soil properties could act as indicators for monitoring forest plantation management and productivity. This study highlights changes in soil properties and stand productivity over time (1, 3, and 5 years) in an Acacia mangium plantation in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Soil pH, total N concentration, and available P were found to decline significantly with stand age. Significant differences were observed between soil organic C for different stand ages, with the youngest stand showing the highest C. The study showed that the current A. mangium plantation was able to store 74.9, 89.9, and 138.9 t C ha-1 in the 1-, 3-, and 5-year-old stands, respectively, and soil was the main contributor for the total C pools. All soil chemical attributes showed declining trends with stand age. These declines indicated that the present management practices are not sustainable and that management inputs are necessary.


DNA damaging agents, such as cisplatin and etoposide, are employed for the treatment of a wide array of solid tumors, but the prolonged use of chemotherapeutic drugs is limited by their toxicity and by the development of resistance. To overcome these major roadblocks to improved prognosis requires mechanism-based therapeutic strategies that maximize the antitumor effect of drugs while limiting their toxicities. These agents exert anticancer effects via multiple mechanisms, yet their most prominent mode of action involves the generation of DNA lesions followed by activation of the DNA damage response and induction of the BCL-2 family-dependent mitochondrial apoptosis. However, the signaling pathways that connect to BCL-2-family-regulated cell death are not entirely clear. Noxa, a BH3-only pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family protein, causes apoptosis by specifically interacting with the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family protein MCL-1 to induce its proteasome-mediated degradation. We show here that the DNA damaging agents cisplatin and etoposide upregulate Noxa expression, which is required for the phosphorylation of MCL-1 at Ser64/Thr70 sites, proteasome-dependent degradation, and as a consequence, apoptosis. Noxa-induced MCL-1 phosphorylation at these sites occurs at the mitochondria and is primarily regulated by CDK2. MCL-1 and CDK2 form a stable complex and Noxa binds to this complex to facilitate the phosphorylation of MCL-1. When Ser64 and Thr70 of MCL-1 are substituted with alanine, the mutated MCL-1 is neither phosphorylated nor ubiquitinated, and becomes more stable than the wild-type protein. As a consequence, this mutant can inhibit apoptosis induced by Noxa overexpression or cisplatin treatment. These results indicate that Noxa-mediated MCL-1 phosphorylation followed by MCL-1 degradation is critical for apoptosis induced by DNA damaging agents through regulation of the Noxa/MCL-1/CDK2 complex. Of note, the identified phosphorylation sites are only observed in human MCL-1; thus, the regulatory mechanism shown here may be human-specific. It is of interest in the future to analyze whether CDK2 expression/activity correlates to cisplatin-resistance in patient samples. Citation Format: Wataru Nakajima, June Y. Lee, Nicolas Maxim, Kanika Sharma, Mark A. Hicks, Thien-Trang Vu, Angela Luu, William Andrew Yeudall, Nobuyuki Tanaka, Hisashi Harada. DNA damaging agent-induced apoptosis is controled by MCL-1 phosphorylation and degradation mediated by the Noxa/MCL-1/CDK2 complex. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2981.


Radiography of the epididymis, vas deferens and vesicle was formed in 72 subjects admitted for sterility. The technique employed, its indications, and the results achieved are discussed. Several examples are presented.


The potent tumor-promoting agent 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) is surface active and was found to occupy a limiting area of 62 sq A/molecule in monolayers at the air-water interface. The interfacial tension of aqueous TPA solutions is decreased by increasing the bulk-phase TPA concentrations up to 2 x 10(-6) M,beyond which no further decreases were observed. This concentration is in agreement with the apparent solubility limit previously obtained. The apparent aqueous solubility limit of the more hydrophobic phorbol-didecanoate is 5 x 10(-8) M. Interaction of TPA with egg phosphatidylcholine monolayers at the air-water interface was shown by an increase in the surface pressure of the monolayer from 22 dynes/cm, initial film pressure, to 34 dynes/cm 90 min after introduction of TPA into the aqueous subphase. It was shown by gel filtration chromatography that a similar phorbol derivative, tritiated phorbol-didecanoate, binds to phospholipid vesicles. Differential scanning calorimetry also indicated that the addition of either TPA or an inactive stereoisomer, 4-alpha-phorbol-didecanoate, to phospholipid bilayers results in a marked reduction of the enthalphy of the minor transition of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes. Several fluorescence polarization probes for membrane fluidity indicate that TPA does not affect this membrane parameter. Further, the presence of TPA induces no measurable change in the cation permeability of phospholipid vesicles, the conductance of planar bilayer membranes, or the electrophoretic mobility of negatively charged liposomes. The lack of a specific effect with bilayers alone, combined with the documented physiological effects at low TPA concentrations, point to the possibility of a specific membrane component as the receptor for TPA at the plasma membrane.


The recent report for the Commission of the European Communities on current multilingual activities in the field of scientific and technical information and the 1977 conference on the same theme both included substantial sections on operational and experimental machine translation systems, and in its Plan of action the Commission announced its intention to introduce an operational machine translation system into its departments and to support research projects on machine translation. This revival of interest in machine translation may well have surprised many who have tended in recent years to dismiss it as one of the 'great failures' of scientific research. What has changed? What grounds are there now for optimism about machine translation? Or is it still a 'utopian dream' ? The aim of this review is to give a general picture of present activities which may help readers to reach their own conclusions. After a sketch of the historical background and general aims (section I), it describes operational and experimental machine translation systems of recent years (section II), it continues with descriptions of interactive (man‐machine) systems and machine‐assisted translation (section III), (and it concludes with a general survey of present problems and future possibilities section IV).


Permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) with a sinusoidal back electromotive force are widely used in domestic appliances for the reduction of acoustic noises and energy consumption. PMSMs are generally controlled with a sinusoidal waveform current. Typically, PMSMs are controlled by vector-controlled sinusoidal drives, which require powerful computational resources. Hence, simpler sinusoidal wave drives such as V/f drives, which control the phase difference between the voltage and the current (power factor of PM motor), have been proposed for controlling PMSMs. This paper presents a new method that does not require current sensors but can be used to estimate the phase difference by sampling the voltage of the shunt resistor, which is used to detect the overcurrent supplied to the inverter. This method enables the detection of current and accurate estimation and appropriate control of the phase difference. Using this method, we could control the phase difference and achieve high efficiency, cost reduction, and high reliability.


We study the number and the length of systoles on complete finite area orientable hyperbolic surfaces. In particular, we prove upper bounds on the number of systoles that a surface can have (the so-called kissing number for hyperbolic surfaces). Our main result is a bound which only depends on the topology of the surface and which grows subquadratically in the genus.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of 3 environmentally friendly fertilizers and their effect on the growth of Chinese cabbage and its contents of bioactive compounds. The following fertilizers were applied: purslane extract, 5% sulfur, and 15% phosphoric acid with 5% calcium. A total of 9, 9, and 11 components were detected for fatty acids, carotenoids, and glucosinolates, respectively. The contents of cis-7 hexadecenoic acid, linoleic acid (C18:2n6c+t), and linolenic acid (C183n3) were generally increased, and also carotenoid amounts of violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, lutein, 13-cis-s-carotene, α-carotene, s-carotene, and 9-cis-s-carotene were significantly increased by fertilizer treatments. All fertilization treatments decreased the amounts of progoitrin, a strong goitrogenic, by 20.9% (H fertilization) to 53.8% (HJ fertilization). Expression analysis of fatty acid, carotenoid, and glucosinolate biosynthesis genes showed that fertilizer treatments affected the accumulation of bioactive components by changing gene expression levels. These environmentally friendly fertilizers can add value to Chinese cabbage by increasing its yield and nutritional value.


One drug known to inactivate calmodulin and two others to block Ca2+ channels were applied to isolated superfused retinae of the crayfish Astacus leptodactylus and their influence on the receptor potentials (RP) was studied. Trifluoperazine causes an increase of the amplitude of maximum (h max) of RP and a prolongation of the time of half decrease (t2). Furthermore, trifluoperazine could antagonise the effect of raised calcium concentration of superfusate, which decreases h max and shortens t2 of the RP. Iproveratril and D-600 cause a transient increase and thereafter a progressive decrease of h max of the RP. There is a difference between effects of both drugs on t2 of the RP. The mechanisms of effects of these drugs on the sensitivity of the isolated retina are discussed.


Despite alarming reports about rising bacterial resistance rates against antimicrobial agents, it has to be stated that in Switzerland most bacteria are still susceptible to many antimicrobials. Even in intensive care units, resistance problems concentrate – at least for the time being – in few patients and/or temporarily in an ICU. However, preventive action by applying hygiene measures and by using antimicrobial agents restrictively has to be taken already now. The situation has to be monitored carefully to prevent spread of resistant bacteria. Of concern are especially the following: gram-negative bacteria producing β-lactamases capable of destroying a wide array of β-lactam antibiotics or having a reduced uptake of carbapenems and quinolones due to altered membrane proteins; enterococci resistant against glycopeptides or having high resistance against aminoglycosides resulting in lack of synergism with penicillins; the increaseing number of pneumococci resistant against penicillin and macrolides; and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.


It is hard to talk about race. Discussions about race in general and racial discrimination in particular are potentially unnerving, which explains in large measure why such conversations are so few and far between. All too frequently, these discussions take place only after a horrific incident that draws public attention to race, such as the brutal dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, or the Good Ol Boy Roundup in Tennessee, or the white supremacist in Los Angeles who went on a racially motivated crime wave and murdered an Asian-American postal worker and shot at young children in a Jewish day care center. In the health context, discussions about race are particularly rare. But that is beginning to change. Over the past year, widespread attention has been focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health. President Clinton and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala have committed the nation to the ambitious yet reachable goal of eliminating racial and ethnic disparities by 2010 in six areas of health status while continuing the progress we have made in improving the overall health of the American people.1 The six areas of focus are infant mortality, cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and immunization.


Background: Students at pre clinical level at Fatima Jinnah Dental College are taught root canal treatment on endodontic typodonts. Technical quality of the root canal treatments performed by these students was assessed to determine success of teaching methodology and reinforcement of tooth morphology concepts. Methodology: In this cross-sectional study, obturation quality of 20 anterior and 30 posterior endodontic typodonts were evaluated on the parameters of length, density and taper. The collected data was evaluated using SPSS software, version 20.0. Chi square analysis was applied to compare the quality of root canal obturation between types of tooth. Kappa statistics was used for inter examiner reliability. Results: After assessing the three variables, adequate length control was observed in (92.9%), while 7.1% of under filling was seen in both groups. Percentage of teeth showed homogeneity in obturation density that is 30%, 60% teeth showed acceptable, whereas 10% showed unacceptable obturation homogeneity. 55.6% teeth showed perfect obturation taper and 4% showed acceptable. Conclusion: The obtained results showed root canal treatment quality done by Fatima Jinnah Dental College undergraduate dental students to be adequate on anterior endodontic typodont teeth as compared to posterior endodontic teeth. This will guide us in utilizing further demonstration hours and more practice time on posterior endodontic teeth. Our study also displayed the need of incorporating hands on practice of root canal treatments on extracted teeth before students are allowed to work on patients. Keywords: Root Canal Treatment, Endodontic Typodont, Obturation, Preclinical.


An experiment conducted during summer seasons of 1989 to 1995 on medium black clay soil showed that the pod and fodder yields were significantly higher when crop was sown at 22.5 cm in all the individual years and in pooled results except, during 1993, where 30.0 cm row spacing was found to be significdntly superior with respect to pod yield. Different plant population levels had no remarkable influence on pod yield in individual years as well as in pooled results. However, fodder yield increased with increase in plant population. Interaction effect of row spacing x plant population was found significant in individual years but results were not consistent, though 22.5 cm row spacing with 3.5 to 4.0 lakh plants/ha recorded higher pod and fodder yields then rest of the treatment coimbinations. Keeping 22.5 cm row spacing with 3.5 lakh plants/ha turned out to be more profitable.


The concept of identity reflects the ongoing shifts in political theories when external parameters that did not previously fall into the optics of political research become a part of political reflection and political analysis. Emphasizing sociocultural issues captures not only the departure from the linear normativity of political theory and pragmatics but also the search for modern explanatory models that cannot be reduced merely to institutional determinism. The controversy and ambiguity of the civic identity concept are imposed on the need for interpreting the formation of civic communities in the newly emerged independent countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union (on the example of Russia and Armenia), including the possibilities of protest and project identity. Methodologically the article is based on the perception that the construction of civic identity cannot be reduced to the normative understanding only. The authors bring out the causal complexes that predetermine the construction of civic identity, while also highlighting the differences in how civic communities and their value focuses are perceived and constructed in Russia and Armenia. The authors also define the general features of civic identity, which can be described as a common basis of solidarity, the removal of particularity and a shared vision of the future.


The chemical effects of near ultraviolet light (equivalent to that in terrestrial sunlight) on polypropylene and on poly(ethylene terephthalate) are described in some detail with particular emphasis on identification of the important primary bond-breaking reactions. It is shown that the critical processes are a Norrish Type I, a Norrish Type II, and polymer hydroperoxide formation and photolysis in the case of both these thermoplastics. The degradative changes result in the buildup of polar groups and polymer end groups primarily on or near the surfaces of irradiated films. Surface growing fungus tests do not indicate microbial susceptibility for films of commercial-grade polypropylene, poly(ethylene terephthalate), or several other common thermoplastics. Even after extensive photodegradation, which might be expected to enhance biodegradability, these materials do not appear to support significant surface growth.


The hyper-continuum which covers whole light regions with a spectra intensity of 100-1000 MW/nm has been generated by a self-trapped intense femtosecond laser pulse in atmospheric pressure rare gases. The optimum condition to generate the UV and VUV regions have been studied for laser power and gas pressure. Pulse duration, group delay, and spatial divergence of the hyper-continuum have been measured as a function of wavelength.


The current computing facilities at TUNL have been in operation for 14 years. Design considerations for a new computer system, to be installed and operational by mid 1980, are discussed. The new large memory 32 bit minicomputers appear to provide the most cost effective way of handling the data acquisition and analysis needs of a medium size nuclear physics laboratory.


The Far InfraRed Spectroscopic EXplorer (FIRSPEX) is a novel concept for an astronomy satellite mission that will revolutionise our understanding of the properties of the Interstellar Medium (ISM) and star formation through velocity resolved spectroscopic observations at multi-terahertz frequencies. FIRSPEX comprises a fully cryogenic (~4K) heterodyne payload and a ~1.2 m primary antenna to scan the sky in a number of discreet spectroscopic channels delivering 3dimensional spectral information. The spectral range selected contains important molecular, atomic and ionic species; the majority of which cannot be observed from the ground. FIRSPEX is UK led with additional contributions from partners throughout Europe. FIRSPEX opens up a relatively unexplored parameter space that will produce an enormously significant scientific legacy by focusing on the properties of the multi-phase ISM, the assembly of molecular clouds in our Galaxy and the onset of star formation topics which are fundamental to our understanding of galaxy evolution.


INTRODUCTION
The cognitive neuropsychiatric approach to auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) attempts to explain the phenomena in cognitive or information-processing terms and ultimately their brain bases.

METHODS
A narrative review of the literature and an overview of this special issue of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry.

RESULTS
First, an operational definition of AVHs is offered. Next, clues to etiology are derived from a detailed consideration of the clinical phenomenology of "voices", their form and content. Functional and structural neuroimaging studies suggest the importance of left-side language areas in the generation/perception of AVHs.

CONCLUSIONS
Existing cognitive neuropsychiatric models provide a useful framework for the understanding of AVHs. However, data need to be applied more specifically to these models so that they may be refined.


One of the major challenges today is to learn how to share spaces that have been made for all. This is not just relating to the use of old public space, it is also about creating new common space. Apparently, cultural, social and economic activities of certain societal groups influence access to public space, but these activities do not necessarily include all users or contribute to its overall sustainability. The aim of this article is to analyse how stakeholder negotiate and conduct activities, how these form and change, how they permit and confine access to public space for different users, in which ways they allow to negotiate access, and how they relate to sustainability with focus on a case study on local groups that are associated with Indrachowk Square, Kathmandu. Results of this study show that triple-bottom line sustainability is profoundly influenced by cultural activities. Further, there must be access opportunities for the various users of space. Access to space appears as dynamic process closely linked to negotiations about how to use it. In order to get and maintain access, competence development related to knowledge, values, feelings and cultural beliefs connected with the space plays an important role, and achieving this competence can be in turn encouraged by fostering specific cultural and sustainability related activities.


To achieve the complete remission (CR), acute leukemia (AL) patient must get through the period of myeloid ablation after chemotherapy that the white blood cell (WBC) count in peripheral blood decreases rapidly. To observe the relationship of WBC count with therapeutic effectiveness after chemotherapy in previously untreated AL, eighty cases of previously untreated acute leukemia who took the first induction chemotherapy course were analyzed. Blood routine was carried out 2 to 3 times every week while the bone marrow pictures on 12th and 20th day after chemotherapy were observed. 80 patients were divided into 3 groups based on the lowest value of WBC count after chemotherapy: <or= 0.4 x 10(9)/L group, (0.4 - 0.9) x 10(9)/L group and > 0.9 x 10(9)/L group. The results showed that the complete remission rates after the first course of chemotherapy were 60 vs 55.6 vs 27.3% respectively in the three groups which WBC counts were <or= 0.4 x 10(9)/L, (0.4 - 0.9) x 10(9)/L and > 0.9 x 10(9)/L. The total efficaciousness rates were 90 vs 92.6 vs 66.7 respectively in the three groups. The efficaciousness rate of the first two groups significantly differed from the third group (P < 0.01). However, no significant difference was shown between the first and second groups. It is concluded that the leukocyte count after the first course of chemotherapy may be an early indicator to predict the efficaciousness of chemotherapy.


Purpose Conventional hemodialysis (HD) treatment has an acceptable removal of small uremic molecules, but so-called "middle molecules" in the range of 0.5–60 kDa are poorly cleared with HD compared to a native kidney, which may contribute to morbidity in the dialysis population. Hemodiafiltration (HDF) has a better removal of middle molecules compared to HD but is technically demanding and requires well-functioning dialysis access. The newly introduced medium cutoff (MCO) filters have been developed to enhance middle molecule clearance in HD-mode. The aim of this study was to compare reduction ratios (RRs) of molecules with different molecular weights (0.06–150 kDa) during dialysis with MCO dialyzer (used in HD-mode) compared to online-hemodiafiltration (ol-HDF) treatment with a conventional high-flux dialyzer. Patients and Methods This is a prospective controlled single-center cross-over study, including 16 patients in Malmö, Sweden. All patients had ongoing post-dilution ol-HDF treatment before the study. The study compared reduction ratios of small-, middle-, and large-sized molecules during a single 4h dialysis treatment with post-dilution ol-HDF (Polyflux 210H) to a 4h dialysis treatment with MCO dialyzer (Theranova 500) in HD-mode. Between treatments, the patients had a washout period of at least two weeks of their ordinary HDF treatment to reach their ordinary steady state. Results ol-HDF had significantly higher RR for cystatin C (13 kDa), compared to MCO (RR 68.1 vs 65.8, p=0.003), during a 4h dialysis treatment (mean convection volume of 24.5 L for HDF, and mean Qb of 324 mL/min for HDF and 323 mL/min for MCO). There was no significant difference in the RR for other middle molecules, or for smaller or larger molecules. Conclusion Overall, the RRs were comparable for ol-HDF and MCO-HD. There was a slightly higher RR of cystatin C (a small middle molecule) for HDF compared to MCO but no difference in other measured molecules.


In this work, polymeric nanoparticles containing Pregabalin was prepared and optimized the ideal concentration of polymer based on its in vitro release profile for a period of 24hrs.The nanoparticles were prepared by solvent displacement method using various concentrations of Eudragit S100 (EPNP1-EPNP5). The prepared nanoparticles were characterized for its particle size, zeta potential, drug content, entrapment efficiency and invitro drug release profile. The preformulation study results confirmed the compatibility between the drug and other excipients used in the formulation. The optimized formulation was selected based on its particle size, entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release profile. The formulation which contains 300mg of Eudragit S100 (EPNP5) was selected as optimized concentration for the controlled release of Pregabalin for a period of 24hrs.


This research aimed to determine the use of story completion technique in improving students" speaking skill at the second grade students of MAN 1 Kota Jambi. The independent variable of this research was Story Completion Technique and the dependent variable was students" speaking skill. This research use quantitative research, with the quasi experimental design. The population of this research was the tenth grade students of MAN 1 Kota Jambi which consist of 117 students. The sample of the research consisted of 42 students which were taken by using purposive sampling technique, 21 students from X IPA 2 as experimental class and 21 students from X IPA 1 as control class. The researcher was collect the data by test, the test by used in pre-test and post-test. To analyze the data, the researcher used statistical analysis. It works to count scoring, the result of the test. The data indicated that, there was a significant difference between the students" pre-test and post-test in the experimental class and pretest and post-test in the control class. The mean score of the students" pre-test of experimental group was (3,03) with standard deviation was (0,55) and the mean score on the post-test was (3,61) with standard deviation was (0,57) in the experimental class was higher than mean score of pre-test (2,93) with standard deviation was (0,54) and the mean score of the post-test was (3,16) with standard deviation was (0,30). From the t-test, the researcher found that, the value of the t-test (4.64) was higher than the t-table (2.093) at the level of significant 0.05 with degree of freedom (df) = 19. Based on the result of the t-test also shown that, there was a significant of the use Story Completion as technique in teaching speaking skill on students because the t-test, 4.64 was higher than t-table, 2.093 (4.64> 2.093). Based on the finding and discussion of the research, it can be concluded that, the use of story completion is effective to improve the students" speaking skill in the second year students at MAN 1 Kota Jambi.


The hypermap concept was introduced in 1992 as a way to hyperlink geospatial features to text, multimedia or other geospatial features. Since then, the concept has been used in several applications, although it has been found to have some limitations. On the other hand, Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) adopt diverse and heterogeneous service oriented architectures (SOAs). They are developed by different standard bodies and are generally disconnected from mass market web solutions. This work expands the hypermap concept to overcome its limitations and harmonise it with geospatial resource oriented architecture (ROA), connecting it to the semantic web and generalising it to the World Wide Hypermap (WWH) as a tool for building a single 'Digital Earth'. Global identifiers, dynamic links, link purposes and resource management capabilities are introduced as a solution that orchestrates data, metadata and data access services in a homogeneous way. This is achieved by providing a set of rules using the current Internet paradigm formalised in the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) architecture and combining it with existing Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. A reference implementation is also presented and the strategies needed to implement the WWH, which mainly consist in a set of additions to current Geographic Information System (GIS) products and a RESTful server that mediates between the Internet and the local GIS applications.


This guide has been created to assist new and part-time faculty; however it contains information and links useful to all faculty at Cape Fear Community College.


B.M. Debov's dictionary Romanic component in rhymes of French rap (On the specificity of youth's word-creation)". Ivanovo: Publishing House of Ivanovo State University, 2020. – 221 p. is the continuation of the preceding works of the author – dictionaries of abbreviations and deviating from norm vocabulary of youth (verlan, rap). The selection and analysis of Romanic (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Provensal) vocabulary is an evident quality of the dictionary. Among the words forming the rhymes are internationalisms (maestro, opera, villa, etc), names of well-known national dishes (macaroni, pizza), popular Latin American dances (lambada, samba, tango) and also the names of drugs used by some youngsters (cocaїna, marijuana). One can consider rap as a source to supplement vocabulary. The dictionary by V.M. Debov is undoubtedly interesting for those who study Romanic languages.


In recent years the difficult question "what
constitutes scientific misconduct?" has troubled
prominent ethicists and scientists and
tied many a blue-ribbon panel in knots. In
teaching an ethics class for graduate and undergraduate
students over the past few years,
we have identified what seems to be a necessary
starting point for this debate: the clearest
possible understanding of how science actually
works. Without such an understanding, we believe,
one can easily imagine formulating
plausible-sounding ethical principles that
would be unworkable or even damaging to
the scientific enterprise.


The treatment of 3,3a,4,5-tetrahydro-3-aryl-2-phenyl-2H-benzo[g]indazoles 4 with I2/DMSO led to the oxidation of the five-member rings (5) as well as the iodination of N-phenyl moieties along with oxidation of the five-member rings (6). However, the reactions of 4 with CuCl2/DMSO gave only compounds 5. The reaction of N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) with compounds 4 resulted in fully aromatization along with bromination at C-5 of the indazole rings (7). The indazole six-member rings in compounds 5 and 6 also underwent aromatization along with bromination by using NBS (7 and 8).


This study develops statistical procedures using actual sample observations for estimating a large-scale demand system for foods. The result is a complete matrix of, all direct, crossprice, and expenditure elasticities for 40 food items and 1 nonfood item. The demand system illustrates the, interdependent nature of demand for foods at the disaggregated level and provides practical information for use in commodity forecasting and policy analysis.


We review the emission of molecular hydrogen (H2) in planetary nebulae (PNe) and we discuss the association between this emission and the bipolar morphology of the objects. We describe the energy levels of the hydrogen molecule, the main excitation mechanisms (shocks and fluorescence) and the ways of discrimination between the different excitation mechanisms. We propose another way of identification of the excitation mechanism based on H2 kinematical studies. We present preliminary results of the H2 kinematics we are conducting on a sample of five bipolar PNe. By means of this study we are able of identifying shocks as the main excitation mechanism of the H2 emission lines in these objects. We have also estimated the masses of the H2 gas in these PNe and the result implies that the progenitor's masses of these objects are larger than those of typical PNe progenitors.


The purpose of this article is to place sport in a social, cultural and educational context. This implies definitions of culture, education and sport, and the academic association of each to the others. However, it is seen that culture, education and sport have commonly-held meanings which, in some cases, eradicate the need for further clarification. So, apart from defining these important concepts, this article will also deal with the pervading nature of sports in society, sport as a system of sub-cultures and the degree to which sport has become an important symbol for individuals and societies worldwide. Sports has a variety of functions for different segments of society and therefore different meanings to those different populations. Everyone knows what a culture is. Everyone knows what education is. And everyone knows what sports is. But everyone has slightly different definitions of culture, education and sports.


The effect of oxygen incorporation on microstructure and media performance in CoCrPt-SiO2 films with various oxygen contents (OC) from 3 to 10 at% at different CoCrPt-SiO2 film thicknesses (tMAG) from 2 to 27 nm is investigated. Nonuniform microstructure with less grain isolation close to Ru and more grain isolation at the top region is clearly seen. Higher density of stacking faults is found at the top region. A higher OC is needed to reduce the thickness of the initial layer with less grain isolation. The increase in coercivity and saturation magnetization with increasing OC is due to the formation of lower Cr and higher Pt-containing core grains caused by the preferred oxidation of Cr. These excess Pt atoms mostly align along the c-axis direction. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant enhanced by the excess Pt improves thermal stability factor but it is sensitive to temperature. Crystallographic c-axis orientation and magnetic anisotropy dispersion deteriorate with increasing OC but are independent of tMAG


Both daily and seasonal fluctuations of renewable power sources will require large-scale energy storage technologies. A recently developed integrated battery and electrolyzer system, called battolyser, fulfills both time-scale requirements. Here, we develop a macroscopic COMSOL Multiphysics model to quantify the energetic efficiency of the battolyser prototype that, for the first time, integrates the functionality of a nickel-iron battery and an alkaline electrolyzer. The current prototype has a rated capacity of 5 Ah, and to develop a larger, enhanced system, it is necessary to characterize the processes occurring within the battolyser and to optimize the individual components of the battolyser. Therefore, there is a need for a model that can provide a fast screening on how the properties of individual components influence the overall energy efficiency of the battolyser prototype. The model is validated using experimental results, and new configurations are compared, and the energy efficiency is optimized for the scale-up of this lab-scale device. Based on the modeling work, we find an optimum electrode thickness for the nickel electrode of 3 and 2.25 mm for the iron electrode with optimal electrode porosities in the range of void fraction of 0.15-0.35. Additionally, electrolyte conductivity and the gap thickness are found to have a small effect on the overall efficiency of the device.


The increased body of knowledge that has accumulated over the past 25 years concerning both body and mind in the pre-, peri and postnatal field in humans needs to be put into practice in the form of providing information to help potential parents and future children; this would allow mental illnesses to be kept to a minimum at a grass-roots level. This should be made the concern of both the government and of society, for which the repercussions of damage in early childhood constitute a considerable financial burden, e.g. in health care and as a result of juvenile delinquency and drug addiction. For the purposes of preparatory information, the age of 14-16 should mark a break in the long chain of educational principles passed down from one generation to the next. This is an age at which childhood is still fresh in an individual's mind and false treatment at the hands of someone he or she relates to can still be remembered and corrected; moreover, young people of this age are open to new experiences and, most importantly, (excessive) demands are not yet made of them, as the responsibility of parenthood is still far off. The idea is that a building or an institute should be made available in which young people can spend two weeks. Information and opportunities for discussion are provided concerning the correct treatment that a child needs and expects from conception onwards in accordance with the evolutionary development of human beings. Jean Liedloff's book Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenen Gluck, gegen die Zerstorung unserer Glucksfahigkeit in der fruhen Kindheit (In Search of Lost Happiness, Against the Destruction of Our Ability To Be Happy in Early Childhood) forms part of the basis for communication. Opportunities for creative activities, such as playing musical instruments, dance, pantomine, painting and modelling in clay, are equally important in order to activate and develop the imaginative potential of the participants, something that will later be of benefit to their children. The team of supervisors is made up of experts from the fields of psychoanalysis/psychotherapy, behavioural biology/ethology, gynaecology, art therapy and body therapies. The preparatory information is designed to enable young people to be able to make a conscious decision at a later stage about whether or not to have children.


We describe Pad++, a zoomable graphical sketchpad that we are exploring as an alternative to traditional window and icon-based interfaces. We discuss the motivation for Pad++, describe the implementation, and present prototype applications. In addition, we introduce an informational physics strategy for interface design and briefly contrast it with current design strategies. We envision a rich world of dynamic persistent informational entities that operate according to multiple physics specifically designed to provide cognitively facile access and serve as the basis for design of new computationally-based work materials.


Technology enhancement makes the computing available everywhere and provides access to widely distributed resources which is known as Mobile Computing. Mobile computing enables innovative applications through the sharing of computing resources among mobile devices such as notebook, smart phones and Personal Digital Assistant (PDAs) without any pre-existing infrastructure. Mobile computing includes a number of technologies and devices. The state of the user, static or mobile, does not affect the information management capability of the mobile platform. A user can continue to access and perform data manipulation during the state of mobility by using mobile computing devices. Delivering data packets between pair of processors is a primary responsibility of any mobile computing network. This activity is performed using a routing strategy. Maximize reliability of the data packets always a major concern while transmitting the data from one point to another point. In mobile computing it is the process of determining the data path through the network that data packets will move from the one computing device to another computing device. Routing strategy for data transmission is an important factor for achieving high degree of reliability. Multiple data packets are move within a network from source to destination in order to execute on available processing units with the objective of getting maximum reliability of data packets. This research paper present a routing strategy to achieve maximum data packets transmission reliability in mobile computing network during the data transmission.


The photosensitized oxidation of alkaline mesentericopeptidase in the presence of methylene blue results in a first-order rate of inactivation. The loss of enzymatic activity towards casein and N-acetyl-L-tyrosine ethyl ester closely correlates with the destruction of one histidyl residue. A pK value of 6.8 is determined from the sigmoid pH-dependence of the photoinactivation rate. This suggests the involvement of a normal titrating imidazole group in the active site of mesentericopeptidase. The competitive inhibitor Na-benzoyl-L-arginine protects the enzyme from photoinactivation. A conclusion is made that the active site histidyl residue is modified. Circular dichroism spectra show no change in the protein conformation during the photodynamic treatment.


Hosts exploit various approaches to defend against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection. microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key negative post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and have been reported to play important roles in regulating virus infection. Here, we identified that miR-150 was differentially expressed in virus permissive and non-permissive cells. Subsequently, we demonstrated that PRRSV induced the expression of miR-150 via activating the protein kinase C (PKC)/c-Jun amino-terminal kinases (JNK)/c-Jun pathway, and overexpression of miR-150 suppressed PRRSV replication. Further analysis revealed that miR-150 not only directly targeted the PRRSV genome, but also facilitated type I IFN signaling. RNA immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that miR-150 targeted the suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1), which is a negative regulator of Janus activated kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of the transcription (STAT) signaling pathway. The inverse correlation between miR-150 and SOCS1 expression implies that miR-150 plays a role in regulating ISG expression. In conclusion, miR-150 expression is upregulated upon PRRSV infection. miR-150 feedback positively targets the PRRSV genome and promotes type I IFN signaling, which can be seen as a host defensive strategy.


The author found within the framework of comprehensive treatment of haemophiliacs in the temporary after-care unit of the department of clinical haematology of the Regional Institute of National Health in Plzen that on average 58.5% of the patients have carious teeth. They present their experience with dental treatment of these patients and discuss some problems. They emphasize that systematic, early and careful dental care of haemophiliacs within the framework of care at the district level is essential.


Reductions in barriers to global trade have not been accompanied by a widespread loosening of restrictions on international flows of capital, especially in China. This study shows that China has some of the most restrictive controls and uses them effectively to bias flows of cross-border capital heavily in favor of foreign direct investment (FDI) and limit flows of portfolio and bank assets and liabilities, as well as reducing capital flow volatility. China is now facing pressure to speed up its opening to all forms of cross border capital. But since China is still struggling to strengthen its domestic financial structure, capital account liberalization would expose it to considerable risks and potentially high costs.


Behavioral stress facilitates long-term depression but impairs long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Recent evidence in vitro demonstrates that the NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype glutamate receptor antagonist Ro25-6981 prevents the behavioral stress-facilitated hippocampal long-term depression. It is, however, unknown whether Ro25-6981 influences hippocampal long-term depression and long-term potentiation induction in vivo under stressful condition. Here, we found that infusion of Ro25-6981 (2.3 μg in 6 μl, intracerebroventricular for 10 min) 30 min before low-frequency stimulation prevented the facilitation of hippocampal long-term depression by acute stress in anesthetized adult rats. Moreover, infusion of Ro25-6981 30 min before high-frequency stimulation reversed stress-impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation. These results suggest that the NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype glutamate receptors are crucial for the effects of behavioral stress on hippocampal long-term depression and long-term potentiation in vivo.


Using new criteria for histological effects of anti-cancer treatment, the effects of hormono-chemotherapy on 10 patients with prostatic cancer not previously treated were compared with those on 10 patients who received conventional hormone therapy. Marked effects were observed in 4 (40%) patients received hormono-chemotherapy but not observed in patients who received conventional hormone therapy (chi 2 test, p less than 0.05). All four cases who showed marked effects were in stage B at the beginning of treatment. Hormonal effects were more obvious in well differentiated cancer, and the effects of chemotherapy were observed in some cases with moderately and poorly differentiated cancer. Therefore, the addition of chemotherapy is recommended as the initial therapy on prostatic cancer to reduce the relapsing rate, especially for patients with poorly and moderately differentiated cancer.


Until recently, Port Harcourt was known as the "garden city of Nigeria" because of its neatness and the overwhelming presence of vegetation and flowers all over the metropolis. But today, the presence of piles of refuse dotting the entire city may have turned Port Harcourt rather to a "garbage city". Indiscriminate dumping of wastes – industrial, commercial and household – such as food waste, paper, polyethene, textiles, scrap metals, glasses, wood, plastic, etc. at street corners and gutters, is still very common. The situation is so bad that traffic flow is obstructed, while there is likelihood that leachates from such dumps, after mixing with rain water, have the potential to contaminate drinking water. The basic solid waste management processes of collection, transport, segregation and final disposal appear to be very inefficient. This research carefully assessed the present system of solid waste management in Port Harcourt, with the aim of identifying the main bottlenecks to its efficiency and the way forward. The subject matter of solid waste management is the main object of discussion throughout this article.


News for inclusion in this section … activities of schools and departments of journalism, staff appointments and changes, curricular developments and the like … must reach Professor Beth, School of Journalism, University of Kansas, by the first of the month preceding publication. News for the December issue must reach him by November 1.


The thermal stabil i ty of Cu/CoSi2 contacted p+n shallow junction diodes with and without TiW diffusion barr ier was investigated with respect to metal lurgical reaction and electrical characteristics. Without the diffusion barrier, the Cu (2000 A)/CoSi2 (700 ,~)/p+n diodes (with a junction depth of 0.2 v~m measured from the silicide surface) were able to sustain a 30 s rap id thermal annealing (RTA) in N2 ambient up to 450~ without losing the integri ty of the devices characteristics. The Cu3Si phase was observed at the CoSi2/Si interface after 500~ annealing; the phase penetra ted through the CoSt2 layer causing a catastrophic change in layer structure after 700~ annealing. With the addi t ion of a 1200 A thickness of TiW diffusion barr ier between Cu and CoSt2, the junction diodes were able to sustain the RTA treatment up to 775~ without degrading the basic electrical characteristics, and no metal lurgical reaction could be observed even after an 800~ annealing. Copper has been regarded as a potential metallization material in deep submicron integrated circuits because of its low resistivity (1.67 ~12-cm for bulk) and superior high electromigration resistance. I'2 However, copper forms Cu-Si compounds at very low temperatures (200~ 3-7 The high diffusivity of Cu will also introduce deep level traps in Si that deteriorate the device performance. ~ To make the Cu as an interconnect metal for Si devices, the thermal reaction of Cu with the underlayer materials and devices must be carefully evaluated. Since silieides have been widely used as contact materials in ultralarge scale integrated (ULSI) circuits, many studies have been made on Cu/silieide systems and their diffusion barriers properties. 9-15 It has been reported that Cu reveals different reaction behavior with different silieides) 6 Copper was found to diffuse across the silicide layer and form the Cu-Si compound below the silieide layers in the Cu/CrSi2/Si and Cu/CoSi2/Si systems; on the other hand, Si is the dominant diffusing species and diffuses out to react with Cu to form Cu~Si in the Cu/TiSi2/Si structure. Apart from the interdiffusion through the silieide layer, Cu was also found to react with the silicide layer in the Cu/ TiSi2/Si system. 16 Because the reaction in the Cu/silieide/Si structure is so complicated and always occurs at relatively low temperature, a more detailed understanding on the reaction mechanism is desirable, and an effective diffusion * Electrochemical Society Active Member. barrier layer is required for the application of the Cu/sili-


Quantitative phase analysis of multicomponent mixtures using X-ray powder diffraction data has been approached with a modified version of the Rietveld computer program of Wiles & Young [ J. Appl. Cryst. (1981), 14, 149-151]. This new method does not require measurement of calibration data nor the use of an internal standard; however, the approximate crystal structure of each phase of interest in a mixture is necessary. The use of an internal standard will allow the determination of total amorphous phase content in a mixture. Analysis of synthetic mixtures yielded high-precision results, with errors generally less than 1.0% absolute. Since this technique fits the complete diffraction pattern, it is less susceptible to primary extinction effects and minor amounts of preferred orientation. Additional benefits of this technique over traditional quantitative analysis methods include the determination of precise cell parameters and approximate chemical compositions, and the potential for the correction of preferred orientation and microabsorption effects.


In this paper we investigate a turbo detection scheme designed for robust video transmission over an uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel. We first introduce a novel block error-correcting code, referred to as an extrinsic information transfer (EXIT)-chart optimized block code (ECOBC), which benefits from soft decision decoding. The ECOBC exploits both the residual redundancy which manifests itself in terms of the non-uniform probability distribution of K-bit strings inherent in the video encoded bit-stream, as well as the intentional redundancy imposed by the ECOBC for mitigating the effects of transmission errors. As our first novel contribution, we address the design of ECOBCs by formulating the necessary and sufficient condition, which ensures that the EXIT function of the softbit ECOBC decoder reaches the (1,1) point in the EXIT chart. Secondly, we propose a novel real-valued free-distance metric for characterizing the ECOBC's performance. Furthermore, the attainable performance and the computational complexity imposed by the ECOBC are investigated. The effects of the interleaver delay on the ECOBC's performance are also quantified. As an additional result, we demonstrate that at a fixed system bandwidth, the turbo detection scheme using the H.264 video codec with the error concealment tools disabled but amalgamated with the proposed ECOBC as well as an additional generalized low-density parity-check (GLDPC) code may lead to an approximately 2.5 dB signal-to-noise ratio gain in comparison to the benchmarker having the same total bit rate, which operated the H.264 scheme with the error concealment tools enabled hence resulting in a higher video rate and amalgamated with the same-rate GLDPC code, but dispensing with our novel ECOBC.


Functional ceramics have come into a new era with the concept that materials may exhibit combined effects or various functional properties which can be composed together to form a new material, device or system. Several examples which are now being studied and developed are introduced: Ceramic damping and acoustic dumb devices through piezoelectric+electrostrictive; Optical memory devices developed by photovoltaic+ferroelectric; Pyroelectric transformers taking advantage of PTC+pyroelectric; Pyroelectric energy converters obtained by induced phase transitions (F/sub RI//F/sub RH/); Smart actuators by induce phase transition effects. Principles and experimental results are discussed.


Organizational voice described as employees' attitude of expressing their opinions to influence organizational activities reluctantly has three varieties of "acquiescent voice" including acquiescence behaviour relying on submission; "defensive voice" including self-defence behaviour because of a certain fear; and "prosocial voice" behaviour toward others relying on cooperation; and these varieties differentiate according to the motives underneath of organizational voice. In the present study, it was investigated whether organizational voice behaviour and varieties of organizational voice behaviour significant origin of organizational change and development exhibit significant difference according to the demographical variables, or not. To that end, a survey study was conducted on the white-collar employees of the Denizli City companies ranked in the ISO 500 list. In the analysis of data collected from 202 white-collar employees, T-Test and ANOVA methods were employed. As a result of these analyses, it was revealed that organizational voice behaviour varieties displayed by employees were not significantly correlated with any demographical variable statistically.


Alpha-particle-induced soft errors in SOI MOSFETs are examined using a three-dimensional device simulation. A bipolar mechanism induced by the alpha-particle incidence is investigated in detail when an alpha particle penetrates from the drain region toward the source region. In SOI MOSFETs, the drain collected and source injected charges are mainly due to a bipolar mechanism. The bipolar mechanism in SOI MOSFETs is quite different from that which has been so far reported in bulk MOSFETs, and operates with a very small current of less than 1 nA for a very long time of 1 ns to 100 ms. The drain collected and source injected charges are strongly dependent on various device parameters and lifetimes. The results suggest that the bipolar mechanism is a significant cause of soft errors in SOI MOSFETs. >


Individual CEO characteristics may affect architectural choices through the application of managerial discretion. Systems such as organizations and their products are not purely driven toward modularity because of external forces. Individual CEO characteristics may constitute an additional dimension to established mirroring considerations that impacts both the choice of architecture and the correspondence between product and organization architectures.


The leather jacket industry is one of the strategic industry for local economy in Sub Province Garut, West Java. The aim of research is to analyzed characteristics of leather industry using The Diamond Porter (1990) model. The data were collected using questionnaire, survey, in depth interview and combination of them. The analysis was done by descriptive analysis. The study was conducted to leather industry in the area of Garut Kota and Karangpawitan suburb. It was found out that the continuity of the industry was supported by local conditions as well as municipal government. The research also revealed that the linkage among supporting industries such as raw material suppliers were very strong. Their linkage with local government was moderate, while the linkage with related industries such as banking, R & D institution or university was categorized as weak.


Because of the pandemic's impact on morbidity and mortality, nursing leaders have witnessed a marked increase in the number of staff who experience crisis and extreme stress during their shift. This hospital's Engagement and Resilience Council aimed to mediate this stress by implementing resilience-building interventions during moments of peaked stress. Preliminary data show these interventions may markedly improve stress levels in frontline caregivers by up to 52% in some clinical settings.


A Reissner mixed variational theorem (RMVT)-based third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) is developed for the static analysis of simply-supported, multilayered functionally graded material (FGM) plates subjected to mechanical loads. The material properties of the FGM layers are assumed to obey either the exponent-law distributions through the thickness coordinate or the power-law distributions of the volume fractions of the constituents. In the present theory, Reddy's third-order displacement model and the layerwise parabolic function distributions of transverse shear stresses are assumed in the kinematic and kinetic fields, respectively, a priori, where the effect of transverse normal stress is regarded as minor and thus ignored. The continuity conditions of both transverse shear stresses and elastic displacements at the interfaces between adjacent layers are then exactly satisfied in the present RMVT-based TSDT. On the basis of RMVT, a set of Euler_Lagrange equations associated with the possible boundary conditions is derived. In conjunction with the method of variable separation and Fourier series expansion, the present theory is successfully applied to the static analysis of simply-supported, multilayered FGM plates subjected to mechanical loads. A parametric study of the effects of the material-property gradient index and the span-thickness ratio on the displacement and stress components induced in the plates is undertaken.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the validity and reliability of the Hebrew and Arabic translations of the complete and shortened versions of the Care Transition Measure (CTM)-a measure of patients' experience of the transition between hospital and community care.

DESIGN
Translation of questionnaire's items, evaluation of reliability, construct validity, factor structure and convergent validity.

SETTING
An oncology center at a tertiary care facility that serves the entire population of the north part of Israel.

PARTICIPANTS
Patients receiving care at the clinics of an oncology treatment center. Main outcome measure Psychometric properties of both the 15-item (complete) and 3-item (shortened) versions of the CTM in Hebrew and Arabic. Reliability established using internal consistency with Cronbach's-alpha. Exploratory factor analysis conducted using Varimax rotation. Convergent validity determined with Pearson correlation and ANOVA tests.

RESULTS
Three hundred and eighteen Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking oncology patients completed the questionnaire. Cronbach's-alpha for the questionnaire was 0.94 and 0.90 for the Hebrew and the Arabic versions, respectively. Factor analysis resulted in three factors in each of the translated versions with a cumulative variance of 73.41% and 69.2% in the Hebrew and Arabic versions, respectively. Tests of the convergent validity showed that the measure is correlated with health status and that the shortened and complete versions' ratings are consistent across different patient groups.

CONCLUSION
The translated Hebrew and Arabic versions of the questionnaire are reliable and valid instruments to assess patients' transitions across settings in diverse populations.


How much income mobility was there in South Africa between 2008 and 2012? Did this mobility serve to equalise or disequalise longer-term measures of income? In this paper we address the first question by assessing the extent of absolute and relative economic mobility. We then turn our attention to the second question of the joint relationship between mobility and inequality, and implement a new measure that is designed to reveal just how equalising or disequalising mobility has been. We find that there was a lot of absolute and relative mobility in the period covered by the first three waves of NIDS, and that this mobility served to equalise longer-term incomes slightly. ∗email@example.com Doctoral student and researcher at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Unit, University of Cape Town. †firstname.lastname@example.com Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town and the Director of SALDRU. Holder of the DSD/NRF National Research Chair of Poverty and Inequality Research. Principal Investigator on the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Poverty and Inequality at UCT.


A semiclassical model of semiconductor laser noise, based on the Green's function method, is used to derive analytical formulas for the amplitude and frequency noise spectra taking into account incoming vacuum fluctuations and noise due to internal loss. This formalism also takes into account phenomena such as gain suppression as well as spatial hole burning (SHB). The amplitude noise squeezing is studied for Fabry-Perot structures pointing out the influence of the laser structural parameters. A complete agreement with already existing quantum mechanical models is found. However, extension of the model to SHB induces limitations in the squeezing performances, which are very important for more complex structures as will be pointed out in detail, in Part II.


This note discusses the adjustment of cost measurement to account for learning. By learning is meant improvements in productive efficiency resulting from use of a (health) technology in routine practice. A recently proposed method is shown to be potentially misleading. Alternatively, it is suggested that the total cost is decomposed in treatment cost and learning cost. Furthermore, if there is uncertainty about the long-run unit cost, learning will reveal the true cost. A method to adjust the learning cost for the value of this information is illustrated.


The game jockey is a new practice between DJing and video gaming. This study underlines the difficulty to hybridize these two creative cultures. Game jockey implies a person, who will mix games during a live performance, by adapting to the players' feelings. We will present key concepts of the DJ practice and the similarities to the game universe. Based a Jockey – Game – Players triangle, we offer a creation research that tries to evaluate the possible figure of the jockey and the use of game samples. Our triangle model opens on cultural practices that are to invent.


Abstract Objectives Although diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are progressively being implemented across various arenas in academic medicine, biomedical research, and healthcare, significant inequities throughout medicine and biomedical research remain. One means by which to rectify these long-standing inequities is through the implementation of a position dedicated to DEI among journal editorial boards; thus, we sought to assess the extent to which this position has been implemented among high-impact biomedical research journals. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the editorial boards of the top 100 journals by impact factor (IF) across 30 medical specialties. All editorial board positions (editors-in-chief, deputy, associate, and assistant editors, as well as editorial and advisory board members) were included. We also assessed the proportion of other named-position editors (i.e. social media and statistics editors), and compared these to the proportion of DEI editors. Results Among the 100 highest IF biomedical journals (range: 12.035–508.702), 6 (6%) have a DEI editorial position. In contrast, 25 (25%) and 35 (35%) journals have at least 1 social media or statistics editorial position, respectively. The DEI editorial position comprises 0.086% of the 6974 total editorial positions, while social media (60/6974) and statistical (196/6974) editors comprise 0.86% and 2.81% of total journal editorial board positions, respectively. Conclusions Few of the most influential biomedical journals have implemented a formal, named position dedicated to DEI. Biomedical journals should consider establishing a dedicated DEI editorial position, and ensure this individual position is publicly denoted on the editorial board.


Although the description of the emplacement and the weathering of the New Caledonia peridotites are well documented, the reconstruction of the planation surfaces formed upon the ultrabasic massifs are poorly documented. Ambiguities remain on the timing and modality of weathering and related supergene nickel ore. The data and interpretations presented here are based on paleomagnetic analysis of lateritic ferricretes and fluvial sediments. In Tiebaghi an age of 25 Ma has been obtained along a section crossing the plateau. Well constrained ages of 0-5 Ma to 25 Ma have been obtained in Goro, highlighting possible stepped paleosurfaces. The Tiebaghi Massif displays a single episode of ferricrete development during latest Oligocene times, whereas the Goro site reveals several episodes of ferricrete development from latest Oligocene to Pliocene-Quaternary times. Samples from the Kopeto-Boulinda Massif and lower Nepoui surfaces have been further studied; they could not be dated by paleomagnetism, except the silico-ferruginous matrix of the Nepoui conglomerate giving an age close to 10-25 Ma. This age is rather imprecise but 1) the weathering of the fluvial conglomerates fossilized by the silicification followed their deposition and 2) the conglomerates are locally interstratified in Lower Miocene marine limestones. Moreover the detailed petrographic study of the ferricretes confirms rearrangements of nodules and pisolites, more important in the upper parts of the toposequence, where they also follow the smooth slopes of the topography. They probably result from the dismantling of early lateritic ferricrete and laterites capping a former landscape. All the data can be interpreted in reconstructing a fossil paleolandscape in New Caledonia triggered by a Lower Miocene uplift, responsible for the drastic erosion of the oldest profiles, the creation of highly incised river systems and the deposition of coarse fluvial conglomerates. In the Fluvio-lacustrine Fm of the southern Grande Terre, new paleomagnetic data enable to reconstruct old (25 to 15 Ma) ferruginisation episodes interstratified within fluvial units, while younger (0-5 Ma) secondary concretioning phases are also recorded. They could be attributable to recent incision of the succession, until the creation of the current hydrographic network.


Sacred groves (kavukal) are seen through out Kerala, having varied forms, cultural practices and belief systems. The vegetation in the groves is highly varied viz. mangroves, fresh water swamps, or other tropical forest types. Deities worshipped in the groves are also highly varied. One such type is the sacred grove dedicated to serpent God and serpent worship is considered to be one of the oldest and most prevalent forms of nature worship in the world. While serpent worship is seen through out India, only in Kerala, people worship serpent in the sacred groves dedicated to them called, Sarpa kavu. The study brought out three broad types of groves in Palakkad, viz. the primitive, the recent and the sacraments devoid of groves. Worship, rites and rituals associated with the grove include both primitive ones like Noorum palum, Kalemezhuthupattu and the Vedic types like Sarpa bali and Payasa homam. Beside these, the myths and beliefs associated with serpent worship are also discussed in detail. The study brings to light the existence of groves devoid of any vegetation, indicating that sacred groves can be relicts from a past socio-cultural epoch, which served to transmit the cultural heritage generations from pre-historic time. Conservation of natural resources in the past involved many taboos, rituals and other religious practices and sacred groves was such a traditional socio-cultural mechanism aiming at nature conservation that integrated socio-cultural aspects for conservation.