Background: Urolithiasis is a metabolic disease of complex and multifactorial etiology, characterized by uroliths formation in the urinary system. It becomes clinically important when obstruction occurs, with little chance of reversal of the situation, and prevention is the best option for maintaining the integrity of the reproductive capacity. For this, the aim of this research was to know the clinical and biochemical profile of urolithiasis and predict the evolution of the disease in Santa Ines sheep breed fed with calculogenic diet, as well as to evaluate the prevention potential of vitamin C. Materials, Methods & Results: In this study, 14 healthy male Santa Ines sheep, aged approximately 90 days, were divided into two groups (G1without vitamin C and G2 with vitamin C, 1 g/dayly/orally) fed on calculogenic diet for 120 days. The animals were examined weekly, including observation of clinical signs, and blood and urine analysis were performed. Final leukogram revealed leukocytosis by neutrophilia in G2. There was aciduria in 57.14% (G1) and 71.43% (G2) and the presence of blood cells, bacteria and sperm to the urinary sediment. There were hyperproteinemia and proteinuria, but no significant elevation in serum albumin and globulin, urea and creatinine concentrations. Urine urea remained high. Serum uric acid was higher in M15 and M16, although inferior to those obtained in urine. No hyperglycemia was reported and urine concentrations remained stable over time, with a peak observed at M16. Serum AST presented a significant increase in M12 and M13, but returned to normal just after. Urine revealed significant turbidity and density changes for G1 and G2. Haematuria was observed in G1 and G2; however, changes in color and odor were evidenced only in G2. It was verified that, although most of the animals presented aciduria, 42.86% of G1 and 28.57% of G2 presented alkaline urinary pH. Crystals found in both groups were amorphous phosphate, calcium carbonate, triple phosphate and calcium phosphate. Discussion: High-grain diet becomes a risk factor to the development of the disease, even face to high water consumption. The confinement condition, associated to the hyperprotein diet and high phosphorus levels characterized by the large supply of concentrate to which the animals were submitted, are implicated as risk factors for the disease development. Urinary acidification is cited as an efficient alternative for the prevention of formation of struvite calculous and calcium phosphate, happened often in sheep species, so vitamin C was used. Clinical characteristics of urolithiasis are related to the location/degree of obstruction and time elapsed from obstruction to clinical care, and may begin abruptly with anorexia, colic, depression, strangulation with oliguria, hematuria or anuria. Intensity and manifestation of clinical signs of urolithiasis is dependent on the occurrence and degree of obstruction as a result of pain and consequent metabolic disorders. The design of the biochemical profile has been shown to be effective in elucidating the behavior of renal function biomarkers, such as urea and creatinine over of the process of calculus formation and installation of the disease. Presence of crystals, flaking cells and other elements such as cylinders can cause an increase in urinary density. Although the urinary pH of herbivores is naturally alkaline, it varies according to the animal's diet. Though the perceptual of the urinary acidification superior on G2, it did not prove to be effective in preventing the development of obstructive urolithiasis, which occurred in 28.57% (2/7) of the animals that received vitamin C. Thus, other concentrations should be tested, with possibility of success and favorable conditions (economic and palatability) than the current acidifier.


Scott A. J. (2002) A new map of Hollywood: the production and distribution of American motion pictures, Reg. Studies 36, 957–975. In this paper, I offer a reinterpretation of the economic geography of the so-called new Hollywood. The argument proceeds in six main stages. First, I briefly examine the debate on industrial organization in Hollywood that has gone on in the literature since the mid-1980s, and I conclude that the debate has become unnecessarily polarized. Second, I attempt to show how an approach that invokes both flexible specialization and systems-house forms of production is necessary to any reasonably complete analysis of the organization of production in the new Hollywood. Third, and on this basis, I argue that the Hollywood production system is deeply bifurcated into two segments comprising: (1) the majors and their cohorts of allied firms on the one hand; and (2) the mass of independent production companies on the other. Fourth, I reaffirm the continuing tremendous agglomerative attraction of Hollywood as a locale for motion-picture production, but I also describe in analytical and empirical terms how selected kinds of activities seek out satellite production locations in other parts of the world. Fifth, I show how the majors continue to extend their global reach by means of their ever more aggressive marketing and distribution divisions, and I discuss how this state of affairs depends on and amplifies the competitive advantages of Hollywood. Sixth and finally, I reflect upon some of the challenges that Hollywood must face up to as new cultural-products agglomerations arise all over the globe, offering potential challenges to its hegemony.


Significance
 The employment market is dominated by online platforms, not just job search apps, but transport and services platforms that link gig workers to customers. Indeed, the government expects the digital economy to play a key role China's 14th Five Year Plan (2021-25) in terms of driving growth, consumption and employment.

 Impacts
 Employment for women in the digital economy will be disproportionately low-paid.
 Young workers will face relatively higher rates of unemployment and under-employment.
 Workers in the digital economy will organise themselves to defend their interests but risk arrest and detention.


Abstract. Interpreting catchment-mean erosion rate from in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be concentration in stream sands requires calculating the catchment-mean 10Be surface production rate and effective mass attenuation length, both of which can vary locally due to topographic shielding and slope effects. The most common method for calculating topographic shielding accounts only for the effect of shielding at the surface, leading to catchment-mean corrections of up to 20 % in steep landscapes, and makes the simplifying assumption that the effective mass attenuation length for a given nuclide production mechanism is spatially uniform. Here I evaluate the validity of this assumption using a simplified catchment geometry to calculate the spatial variation in surface skyline shielding, effective mass attenuation length, and the total effective shielding factor for catchments with mean slopes ranging from 0° to 80°. For flat catchments (i.e., uniform elevation of bounding ridgelines), the increase in effective attenuation length as a function of hillslope angle and skyline shielding leads to a catchment-mean total effective shielding factor of one, implying that no topographic shielding factor is needed when calculating catchment-mean vertical erosion rates. For dipping catchments (as characterized by a plane fit to the bounding ridgelines), the catchment-mean total effective shielding factor is also one, except for cases of extremely steep range-front catchments, where the shielding correction is counterintuitively greater than one. These results indicate that in most cases, topographic shielding corrections are inappropriate for calculating catchment-mean erosion rates, and only needed for steep catchments with non-uniform distribution of quartz and/or erosion rate. By accounting only for shielding of surface production, existing shielding approaches introduce a slope-dependent systematic error that could lead to spurious interpretations of relationships between topography and erosion rate.


Spin cat states are superpositions of two or more coherent spin states (CSSs) that are distinctly separated over the Bloch sphere. Additionally, the nuclei with angular momenta greater than 1/2 possess a quadrupolar charge distribution. At the intersection of these two phenomena, we devise a simple scheme for generating various types of nuclear spin cat states. The native biaxial electric quadrupole interaction that is readily available in strained solid-state systems plays a key role here. However, the fact that built-in strain cannot be switched off poses a challenge for the stabilization of target cat states once they are prepared. We remedy this by abruptly diverting via a single rotation pulse the state evolution to the neighborhood of the fixed points of the underlying classical Hamiltonian flow. Optimal process parameters are obtained as a function of electric field gradient biaxiality and nuclear spin angular momentum. The overall procedure is seen to be robust under 5% deviations from optimal values. We show that higher level cat states with four superposed CSS can also be formed using three rotation pulses. Finally, for open systems subject to decoherence we extract the scaling of cat state fidelity damping with respect to the spin quantum number. This reveals rates greater than the dephasing of individual CSSs. Yet, our results affirm that these cat states can preserve their fidelities for practically useful durations under the currently attainable decoherence levels.


The 2010 ACLS Guidelines recommend a combination of goal-oriented interventions provided by an experienced multidisciplinary team for all cardiac arrest patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Important objectives of post-cardiac arrest are:
• Optimizing cardiopulmonary function and perfusion of vital organs
• Managing acute coronary syndromes that includes acute cardiovascular interventions
• Implementing therapeutic hypothermia
• Implementing strategies to prevent and manage organ system dysfunction.
Attention should be directed to treating the precipitating cause of cardiac arrest after the ROSC. It is helpful to review the H's and T's mnemonic to recall factors that may contribute to cardiac arrest or complicate resuscitation or post-resuscitation care.
The induction of mild therapeutic hypothermia (target temperature 32 to 34oC) is beneficial in patients successfully resuscitated after a cardiac arrest. Induced hypothermia after successful resuscitation leads to one additional patient with intact neurological outcome for every 6 patients treated. One good randomized trial (HACA study group) and pseudo randomized trial (Australian study, Bernard et al) reported improved neurologically intact survival to hospital discharge when comatose patients without of hospital cardiac arrest (VF) were cooled for 12 or 24 hours. No RCTs have compared outcome between hypothermia and normothermia for non-VF cardiac arrest. Early prognostication of neurological outcome in comatose cardiac arrest survivors is an essential component of post cardiac arrest care. Poor outcome is defined as death, persistent unresponsiveness, or the inability to undertake independent activities after 6 months. Certain clinical criteria have been demonstrated to be reliable in identifying individuals with a very poor prognosis. Absent pupillary or corneal reflexes, or absent or only extensor motor responses at three days after cardiac arrest are invariably associated with a poor outcome. Potential confounding factors in the clinical assessment of patients in hypoxic ischemic coma include acute metabolic derangements (e.g. renal failure, liver failure and shock), the administration of sedative or neuromuscular agents, and induced-hypothermia therapy.


Introduction Previously we have reported good outcomes following a pilot study of latent TB infection (LTBI) assessment and treatment by a dedicated TB Pharmacist.1 Since that time, the service has been imbedded within our local practice to reduce waiting times, improve chemoprophylaxis adherence, enhance treatment outcomes, and minimise adverse drug reactions whilst maintaining a high standard of care. In addition, patients with more complex medical needs requiring biological therapy are now not excluded from this service. Aim to review the safety and effectiveness of the Pharmacy-led Clinic Methods Medical records of all cases of LTBI seen by the TB Pharmacist were reviewed retrospectively. Data obtained included patient demographics, treatment ± side-effects and clinical outcomes. Results 206 patients with LTBI seen between Jan 2012 and December 2015 were identified (see Table 1). Contact tracing and the requirement for biological therapy were the commonest reasons for referral. 185 (89.8%) successfully completed treatment: 3 declined; 8 lost to follow up; 10 stopped due to side-effects. Significant drug side-effects included hepatitis, peripheral neuropathy, nausea and vomiting and only resulted in 2 non-completion, the rest were due to fatigue and headache. Of the 8 who stopped 1 developed active TB whilst on biological therapy. Patient satisfaction was good and patients would recommend this service to a friend or family member. Conclusion The LTBI Pharmacy-led clinic has been successfully implemented and incorporated into our local TB practice with good outcomes. Keeping with the Carter Review,2 it is important to utilise the skills and knowledge of previously unrecognised clinical partners to deliver high quality care. Patients were happy to be seen by the pharmacists. Poly pharmacy patients appreciated time spent to simplify regime and manage potential interaction. References Abunga YO, Luwemba G, Brij SO. Diagnosis and management of TB: P59 Treatment and Drug Surveillance of Latent Tuberculosis Infections (LTBI) by a TB Pharmacist: A pilot study. Thorax 2012;67(Suppl 2):A88. Department of Health. Independent report – Productivity in NHS hospitals [ONLINE]. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/499229/Operational_productivity_A.pdf (Accessed 6 July 2016). Abstract P117 Table 1 Number (%) Declined treatment Lost to follow-up Stopped due to side-effects Contact screening 105(50.9) 1 8 8 Biological therapy 71(34.4) 1 0 2 New entrant screening 18(8.7) 1 0 0 Occupational health 12(5.8) 0 0 0 Total number of patients seen 206 3 8 10


The transition of the tachycardia from narrow to wide by a spontaneous atrial premature contraction causing a long‐short sequence and right bundle branch block


The COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan China has threatened the safety and affected all aspects of human life throughout the world both in European, American, African, Middle Eastern, Australian and Asian countries including Indonesia. The problem of the epidemic cannot yet be fully addressed by the World Health Organization (WHO) so that all countries in the world competing to find a vaccine to tackle the outbreak. The latest development of a case that has been declared a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) last March shows that more than 4 million people have been infected with fatalities of nearly three hundred thousand people in more than two hundred countries. This condition then gave rise to the question in the public how the role of state institutions in responding to threats to public security, especially the intelligence sector, whose information is not widely known to the public. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of Intelligence in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of the defence of the Indonesian universe. Role theory is the author's analysis instrument to spell out the description of the role and importance of Intelligence in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is written in a qualitative methodology using a phenomenological approach and data collected from interviews and documentation studies. This research concludes that Intelligence has a real and significant role in the level of identification and detection of outbreaks and their impact so that it becomes a vital input in the formulation of policies relevant to the country in responding to the pandemic.


Abstract Conclusions: Staphylococcus species were the most common bacterial isolates from patients with otitis media with effusion (OME). Unexpectedly, however, there was no difference in the identity or antibiotic resistance of bacteria isolated from patients with recurrent and non-recurrent OME. Objectives: Antibiotic resistance has increased due to indiscriminate overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Bacterial strains isolated from patients with recurrent OME seem to be more pathogenic and more resistant to antibiotics than strains isolated from patients with non-recurrent OME. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in identity and antibiotic sensitivity profiles of bacterial strains isolated from patients with recurrent and non-recurrent OME. Methods: We collected 900 middle ear fluid (MEF) samples from 654 pediatric patients who underwent ventilation tube insertion due to OME, then compared the identity and antibiotic sensitivity profiles of bacterial strains. Recurrent OME was defined as a requirement for ventilation tube reinsertion after tube extrusion. Results: There was no difference in the identity of bacterial isolates from patients with non-recurrent and recurrent OME regardless of the number of ventilation tubes inserted. Antibiotic sensitivity tests showed that the two groups differed in sensitivity to penicillin and erythromycin, but not to other antibiotics.


Ordinance No. 2019-359 dated 24 April 2019, art. 2 On 24 April 2019, the French Government issued an Ordinance No. 2019-359 amending the Commercial Code provisions relating to "transparency,…


The generation and migration of geofluids in subduction zones are discussed for the subducting slab and the overlying mantle wedge and crust in terms of theoretical models and observations. Theoretical models include several mechanisms of fluid migration, e.g., Rayleigh-Taylor instability, Stokes ascent, channel flow, and porous flow, whose characteristic lengths and velocities differ significantly. As a result, these mechanisms may occur in different settings within subduction zones. We compare seismic and geochemical observations with the model of fluid migrations, based on which a typical fluid fraction within the mantle wedge is estimated to be 0.1 to 1 vol.%. Accordingly, it is suggested that fluid migration within the mantle wedge is driven by the buoyancy of the fluid, rather than being dragged by the flow of solid matrix. This suggests the fluid rises vertically. In the shallow part of the mantle wedge and within the arc crust, in particular the upper crust, the channel flow seems to be dominant. However, the relationship between these channels and the surface exits observed as volcanoes and hot spring systems is unclear. To better understand fluid distribution and migration, we need to incorporate more observations (e.g., electrical conductivity structure) and models (e.g., models of petrological and thermal structures).


The objective of this study was to determine some morphological, mineral, amino and organic acid characteristics of buckwheat, bread wheat, triticale, durum wheat and triticale genotypes. Nutritional quality characteristics of buckwheat are similar to bread and durum wheat, barley and triticale genotypes in minerals, amino acid and organic acid compositions. When compared with Sönmez (S, bread wheat), Dumlupınar (D durum wheat), Ince (I barley) and Karma (K, triticale) genotypes; Aktaş (A) and Güneş (G) buckwheat genotypes are rich in minerals, amino acid and organic acid. Buckwheat may be an important component as well as other cereals in the food industry. Besides, as gluten-free genotypes Aktaş and Güneş buckwheat genotypes could be widely used for producing gluten-free products beneficial for persons with gluten intolerance (celiac disease). Further detailed and systematical studies will help to determine biochemical composition, to improve usability, and breed new genotypes in buckwheat.


Job satisfaction of employees is one of the most challenging concepts in any organization and is the basis for many of the policies and management strategies to increase productivity and efficiency. It is influenced by many factors including environmental and personal factors, income, nature and social status of the job, organizational prestige, promotion, job security, lack of role ambiguity, and physical job conditions Co-workers. This study was carried out to determine the factors affecting job satisfaction employees of Semnan health center's to meet the challenges and increase efficiency. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in 2013, over 93 employees with a employment history of over 2 years. Method and data collection was through job descriptive inventory (Job Descriptive Index); data was collected and analyzed using SPSS16. The results of questionnaire analysis in seven items regarding job satisfaction, show satisfaction supervision and leadership (77.2%), management policy (77%), job stability (63.4%), environmental conditions (59.6%), cross-relation between Co-workers (58.6%), salary and benefits (53.4%) and opportunities for growth, development and promotion (53.2%). Based on evaluated items, the overall job satisfaction in this study was moderate. Thus, in terms of job satisfaction, it seems that different factors affective in different ratios. Job satisfaction is not only very important by itself, but also important concerning its impact on other aspects of the job attitude. In fact, by increasing job satisfaction, other aspects of job attitudes such as organizational commitment, job involvement and organizational atmosphere can be improved. This point can also be seen in proposed models and research carried out by professionals in this field.


wavelength. The increase of decay time for longer wavelengths is originated from the spatial separation of electrons and holes due to the piezoelectric field. Initially, the piezoelectric field is screened by the excitation pulse and electron and hole wavefunctions have a good overlap. The PL peak is centered at 900 nm wavelength and the decay time constant is small because the large oscillator strength related to wavefunction overlap. When the carrier density decreases the piezoelectric field tilts again the band edges; electrons and holes are pushed toward opposite sides of the SQW; and there is a decrease of the wavefunction overlap. The PL peak redshift and the decay time constant become larger because the reduction in the oscillator strength. The inset in Fig.3 show PL intensity decay curves of sample (111)A. The PL intensity maximum is reached later in decay curves measured at longer wavelength in agreement with the above explanation.


Ionotropic glutamate α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors are the major mediators of fast synaptic neurotransmission. In this work, we used primary cortical cultures from rats as a model system to study AMPA receptor regulation during in vitro cell maturation and after synaptic activity modifications. The levels of AMPA receptor mRNA and protein, along with the alternative splicing and RNA editing of the AMPA receptor subunit (GluR1-4) mRNAs, were analyzed in immature (DIV5) and mature (DIV26) rat neuronal cultures. We observed an increase in the expression of all four AMPA receptor subunits during in vitro neuronal maturation. This finding might be due to the formation of new synapses between neurons during the development of a complex neuronal network. We also analyzed the effects of stimulation (KCl and glutamate) and inhibition (APV/TTX) on rat mature neuronal cultures (DIV26): stimulation with KCl led to an overall down-regulation of GluR1 and GluR3 AMPA receptor subunits and an up-regulation of the GluR2 subunit. Similarly, glutamate treatment induced a significant down-regulation of GluR1 together with an up-regulation of GluR2. In contrast, the chronic blockade of neuronal activity that resulted from APV/TTX treatment up-regulated GluR1 and GluR3 with a parallel down-regulation of GluR2 and GluR4. RNA editing at the R/G site increased during neuronal cell maturation for all AMPA receptors (from 8–39% at DIV5 to 28–67% at DIV26). Unexpectedly, all the treatments tested induced a marked reduction (ranging from −9% to −52%) of R/G editing levels in mature neurons, primarily for the mRNA flip variant. In summary, we showed that cultured rat cortical neurons are able to vary the stoichiometric ratios of the AMPA receptor subunits and to control post-transcriptional processes to adapt fast synaptic transmission under different environmental conditions.


The action of buffered potassium permanganate as a fixative for electron microscopy has been investigated. Electron contrast has been shown to be produced by the deposition of granular material in the tissue. The particles are about 50 A in diameter. Actual fixation of the tissue is performed by the dehydrating alcohol. Histochemical studies have shown that RNA and histones are removed, whereas phospholipid-protein complexes are 'unmasked'. The reaction of the permanganate with unmasked protein gives rise to high membrane contrast in electron micrographs.


Vegetation monitoring, recording the recovery or change in plant cover over time, for several Karoo shrubs was undertaken to evaluate the Savory Grazing System on a farm in the Succulent Karoo. This evaluation was quantified by establishing if the proposed 120day rest period between grazing events was sufficiently long enough for complete recovery of the vegetation. Complete recovery was described as sufficient regrowth after a grazing event so that continual cover loss would not result over time. Optimum resting periods would ensure that cover loss, due to grazing, could be recovered so that plant size and reproductive potential was not detrimentally affected. The ellipse intercept method was used to sample piospheres (or zones of attenuating animal impact) around water points in two vegetation types. From these results, 320 line transects for vegetation monitoring were located between 140 and 180m from the water points. One and a half year old piospheres of one farm were compared to seventeen year old piospheres on another farm with similar vegetation composition. The piospheres on the younger farm were expanding at an approximate linear rate of 80m per year, however, this rate slows considerably, as was found on the farm with older piospheres. Stability or equilibrium appears to be reached at approximately 320m from the water point in the older system. The line transects were used to record the change in cover of palatable and unpalatable Karoo shrubs on a monthly basis over an 18 month period. In all instances it was concluded that the proposed 120-day rest period was not sufficiently long enough for complete recovery of the vegetation. The highly palatable species, especially Osteospermum sinuatum and Tetragonia spp., were the most heavily utilized and detrimentally affected. Larger individuals of the palatable shrubs O. sinuatum and Tetragonia spp. were more severely grazed than smaller individuals as a result of smaller individuals utilising spiny nurse plants under which to establish. If the present rest period is continued the result could be overgrazing and local extinction of these important fodder species. The responses of two highly palatable species, O. sinuatum and Tetragonia spp., were monitored closely in relation to rainfall and grazing events. Grazed and ungrazed (protected) individuals were monitored over one year to substantiate the results obtained


Reflection-in-action means to think what we do while we are doing. The present text analyzes this activity on the part of the nurse professional considering the caring moment, which constitutes the encounter between the caregiver and the cared for. It is suggested that the reflective practice be stimulated during the educational process and for that, faculty must be prepared. The reflective practice presents advantages such as: updating, renewal, knowledge generation, among others.


Floor space allowance for pigs has substantial effects on pig growth and welfare. Data from 30 papers examining the influence of floor space allowance on the growth of finishing pigs was used in a meta-analysis to develop alternative prediction equations for average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and gain : feed ratio (G : F). Treatment means were compiled in a database that contained 30 papers for ADG and 28 papers for ADFI and G : F. The predictor variables evaluated were floor space (m2/pig), k (floor space/final BW0.67), Initial BW, Final BW, feed space (pigs per feeder hole), water space (pigs per waterer), group size (pigs per pen), gender, floor type and study length (d). Multivariable general linear mixed model regression equations were used. Floor space treatments within each experiment were the observational and experimental unit. The optimum equations to predict ADG, ADFI and G : F were: ADG, g=337.57+(16 468×k)-(237 350×k 2)-(3.1209×initial BW (kg))+(2.569×final BW (kg))+(71.6918×k×initial BW (kg)); ADFI, g=833.41+(24 785×k)-(388 998×k 2)-(3.0027×initial BW (kg))+(11.246×final BW (kg))+(187.61×k×initial BW (kg)); G : F=predicted ADG/predicted ADFI. Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that BW is an important predictor of ADG and ADFI even after computing the constant coefficient k, which utilizes final BW in its calculation. This suggests including initial and final BW improves the prediction over using k as a predictor alone. In addition, the analysis also indicated that G : F of finishing pigs is influenced by floor space allowance, whereas individual studies have concluded variable results.


A method is described for carrying out statistical processing of the individual phases of all the modes guided in a perturbed birefringent single-mode fiber. The method is based on optical heterodyne detection processes using a signal beam with orthogonal linearly polarized two-frequency components and a local oscillator beam. All the time-varying phases of the guided modes are taken out separately and processed to offer their power spectra and correlation functions from which the phase fluctuations can be evaluated statistically. >


ABSTRACT To determine optimal strategies to induce specific-antibody-secreting cells (specific ASC) in the rectal and vaginal mucosae, we immunized monkeys with a prototype mucosal immunogen, cholera toxin (CT), given locally or via gastric or parenteral administration. Repeated rectal or vaginal CT immunizations induced strong mucosal and systemic ASC responses. The mucosal responses were, however, confined to the immunization sites and comprised high levels of both specific antitoxin immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG. Large numbers of specific IgA and IgG ASC were detected in cell suspensions from dissociated genital and rectal tissues, demonstrating local accumulation of effector B cells at these sites. Intragastric immunization with CT did not per se give rise to cervicovaginal or rectal ASC responses but did prime for a rectal IgA ASC response to local booster immunization. Both rectal and vaginal immunizations also induced circulating blood IgG ASC and IgA ASC. In conclusion, these results show that local administration of antigen to the rectal or vaginal mucosa results in higher ASC responses than systemic or distant mucosal delivery. Furthermore, both the vaginal and the rectal mucosae can serve as inductive sites for systemic ASC responses. These observations should be relevant to the development of vaccines against sexually transmitted diseases such as that caused by human immunodeficiency virus.


The rapid charging of lithium ion battery cells while minimizing degradation is a key challenge in battery management. Offline optimal control frameworks employing physics-based models provide a first-principles approach to this problem that provides critical insights and benchmarks for real-time oriented online optimization algorithms. In this work, we approach the optimal control problem of minimizing both charging time and degradation of a NMC battery using the single shooting optimization framework, employing a coupled electrochemical- thermal-aging model. The aging mechanism used captures growth of the SEI layer, solvent diffusion. The effectiveness of the single shooting method using a piecewise polynomial control and the low sensitivity of the method to chosen numerical parameters in the multi-objective problem is illustrated. The tradeoff between charging time and degradation is investigated numerically.


Premise of the study: We developed a bioinformatic pipeline that leverages a publicly available genome and published transcriptomes to design primers in conserved coding sequences flanking targeted introns of single-copy nuclear loci. Paullinieae (Sapindaceae) is used to demonstrate the pipeline. Methods and Results: Transcriptome reads phylogenetically closer to the lineage of interest are aligned to the closest genome. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms are called, generating a "pseudoreference" closer to the lineage of interest. Several filters are applied to meet the criteria of single-copy nuclear loci with introns of a desired size. Primers are designed in conserved coding sequences flanking introns. Using this pipeline, we developed nine single-copy nuclear intron markers for Paullinieae. Conclusions: This pipeline is highly flexible and can be used for any group with available genomic and transcriptomic resources. This pipeline led to the development of nine variable markers for phylogenetic study without generating sequence data de novo.


ABSTRACT Research into post-independence identity shifts among Kazakhstan's Russian-speaking minorities has outlined a number of possible pathways, such as diasporization, integrated national minority status and ethnic separatism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with young people in Almaty and Karaganda, I examine how Russian-speaking minorities identify with the state and imagine their place in a 'soft' or 'hybrid' post-Soviet authoritarian system. What is found is that Russian-speaking minorities largely accept their status beneath the Kazakh 'elder brother' and do not wish to identify as a 'national minority'. Furthermore, they affirm passive loyalty to the political status quo while remaining disinterested in political representation. Russian-speaking minorities are also ambivalent towards Kazakh language promotion and anxious about the increasing presence of Kazakh-speakers in urban spaces. This article argues that two factors are central to these stances among Kazakhstan's Russian-speaking minorities: the persistence of Soviet legacies and the effects of state discourse and policy since 1991.


To the Editor: Recently a case report investigated the use of transfusing a variety of blood products in successfully achieving remission of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).3 An editorial in the same journal commented on the etiology of this enigmatic syndrome and pointed out the need for further investigation using plasma components to achieve remission.' In the following case, remission of TTP was achieved in a young woman with irreversible renal damage using plasma exchange by intermittent pheresis. A 20-year-old woman having prodromal symptoms of easy bruising, fatigue, and deteriorating renal function for six months was admitted with clinical and laboratory findings of severe upper nephron nephrosis, pulmonary edema, anemia, and moderate thrombocytopenia (50,000 to 70,OoO/pl). Her mother had died at 3 1 years of age with systemic lupus erythematosus and nephritis. Tests for antinuclear antibodies, LE cells, rheumatoid factor, and anti-DNA were normal. Steroid therapy had no effect on her clinical symptoms. A renal biopsy showed fibrin and platelet thrombi in glomerular tufts and efferent arterioles. Immunofluorescent stains revealed subintimal deposits of IgG and complement in the small and medium sized vessels. Autoantibodies to smooth muscle were also subsequently demonstrated. Two plasma exchanges were done using the Haemonetics Model-30 Blood Processor. A total of 25 units of fresh frozen plasma was used for volume replacement. The patient's platelet count returned to normal (192,000/pl) within 24 hours of the last procedure and there was no recurrence of her thrombocytopenia within the following two months. However, there has been no improvement in her renal function and the patient is dependent on hemodialysis. The use of exchange transfusions in treating patients with TTP has greatly increased the survival rate of patients with this syndrome.* Some investigators propose massive plasma transfusion is successful in the therapeutic regimen of these patients.' The case outlined above illustrates an example of automated plasma exchange technique in obtaining remission of TTP in a patient with irreversible systemic lesions that made massive transfusion practices unrealistic. --N. 15. Tayior, M.D. I Medical Director, North Jersey Blood Center, East Orange, N.J. and Kamill Gal, M.D. Director of Labordtories, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, New Jersey.


BACKGROUND
The rise in LDL with egg feeding in lean insulin-sensitive (LIS) participants is 2- and 3-fold greater than in lean insulin-resistant (LIR) and obese insulin-resistant (OIR) participants, respectively.

OBJECTIVE
We determined whether differences in cholesterol absorption, synthesis, or both could be responsible for these differences by measuring plasma sterols as indexes of cholesterol absorption and endogenous synthesis.

DESIGN
Plasma sterols were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in a random subset of 34 LIS, 37 LIR, and 37 OIR participants defined by the insulin sensitivity index (S(I)) and by BMI criteria selected from a parent group of 197 participants. Cholestanol and plant sterols provide a measure of cholesterol absorption, and lathosterol provides a measure of cholesterol synthesis.

RESULTS
The mean (±SD) ratio of plasma total absorption biomarker sterols to cholesterol was 4.48 ± 1.74 in LIS, 3.25 ± 1.06 in LIR, and 2.82 ± 1.08 in OIR participants. After adjustment for age and sex, the relations of the absorption sterol-cholesterol ratios were as follows: LIS > OIR (P < 0.001), LIS > LIR (P < 0.001), and LIR > OIR (P = 0.11). Lathosterol-cholesterol ratios were 0.71 ± 0.32 in the LIS participants, 0.95 ± 0.47 in the LIR participants, and 1.29 ± 0.55 in the OIR participants. After adjustment for age and sex, the relations of lathosterol-cholesterol ratios were as follows: LIS < OIR (P < 0.001), LIS < LIR (P = 0.03), and LIR < OIR (P = 0.002). Total sterol concentrations were positively associated with S(I) and negatively associated with obesity, whereas lathosterol correlations were the opposite.

CONCLUSIONS
Cholesterol absorption was highest in the LIS participants, whereas cholesterol synthesis was highest in the LIR and OIR participants. Therapeutic diets for hyperlipidemia should emphasize low-cholesterol diets in LIS persons and weight loss to improve S(I) and to decrease cholesterol overproduction in LIR and OIR persons.


The acute toxicity to third-instar Aedes aegypti (L.) of two 1-h exposures to each of five insecticides (technical permethrin, microencapsulated permethrin, fenitrothion, carbaryl, and carbofuran) was determined with static toxicity tests. The toxicity of two 1-h exposures to these test compounds, separated by a 6-h insecticide-free period, was compared to that of continuous 2-h exposures. Acute toxicity was expressed as LC50 values based on survival to the adult stage. The LC50 for two 1-h exposures to microencapsulated permethrin (180 μg/L) was significantly lower than that for a continuous 2-h exposure (250 μg/L). There was no significant difference between LC50 values for two 1-h and continuous 2-h exposures for each of technical permethrin (2.03–2.32 μg/L), fenitrothion (49.4–48.8 μg/L), carbaryl (3,040–3,470 μg/L, and carbofuran (1,590–2,130 μg/L).

Increasing time between two 1-h exposures to carbaryl from 6 to 24 h did not significantly affect acute toxicity (LC50 values were 3.0 mg/L and 3.8 mg/L, respectively). The LC50 for four 1-h exposures to carbaryl each separated by a 12-h period in clean water (LC50 = 1.7 mg/L) was not significantly different from that of a continuous 4-h exposure (LC50 = 1.4 mg/L). These results suggest that there was no recovery from the effect of insecticide poisoning during the insecticide-free period between exposures.


Due to the overwhelming international evidence that stock prices drop by less than the dividend paid on ex-dividend days, the ex-dividend day anomaly is considered a stylized fact. Two main approaches have emerged to explain this empirical regularity: the tax-clientele hypothesis and the microstructure of financial markets. Although the most widely accepted explanation for this fact relies on taxes, the ex-dividend day anomaly has been reported even in countries where neither dividends nor capital gains are taxed. The 2006 tax reform in Spain established the same tax rate for dividends and capital gains. This paper investigates stock returns on ex-dividend days in the Spanish stock market after the 2006 tax reform using a random coefficient model. Contrary to previous research, we do not observe an ex-dividend day anomaly. Unlike previous investigations, which are mostly concerned with suggesting explanations as to why this anomaly has occurred, we are in the somewhat strange position of discussing why this anomaly has not occurred. Our findings are robust across companies and stock dividend yields, thus supporting a tax-based explanation for the ex-dividend day anomaly.


According to enforcing the law on IAQ Management(Indoor Air Quality) for Multiple buildings, It is necessary to maintain fresh air in indoor. Recently, The natural ventilators have been developed to keep ventilating. It is simple to install and inexpensive to manufacture so that construction cost and time would be saved by compared with mechanical ventilators. But, As inflow of low-temperature outdoor air through ventilating opening, the indoor temperature would fall and surface condensation would be generated around window frame, glass and wall. This study was done in order to analysis surface condensation by using CFD simulation. First of all, By comparing Experimental results which was carried out in an artificial climate chamber with CFD simulation results, propriety of simulation results was certificated that it is right and then this paper confirmed that surface condensation was occurred around the ventilating opening with being ventilated.


The shape and configuration of branched networks influence ecological patterns and processes. Recent investigations of network influences in riverine ecology stress the need to quantify spatial structure not only in a two-dimensional plane, but also in networks. An initial step in understanding data from stream networks is discerning non-random patterns along the network. On the other hand, data collected in the network may be spatially autocorrelated and thus not suitable for traditional statistical analyses. Here we provide a method that uses commercially available software to construct an empirical variogram to describe spatial pattern in the relative abundance of coastal cutthroat trout in headwater stream networks. We describe the mathematical and practical considerations involved in calculating a variogram using a non-Euclidean distance metric to incorporate the network pathway structure in the analysis of spatial variability, and use a non-parametric technique to ascertain if the pattern in the emp...


Abstract. We present the optical design and system characterization of an imaging microscope prototype at 121.6 nm. System engineering processes are demonstrated through the construction of a Schwarzschild microscope objective, including tolerance analysis, fabrication, alignment, and testing. Further improvements on the as-built system with a correction phase plate are proposed and analyzed. Finally, the microscope assembly and the imaging properties of the prototype are demonstrated.


American industry has never fully realized the possible economies that can be achieved by using the light alloys, particularly the aluminum alloys, as structural metal. There were many reasons for this, most of which are no longer valid. The end of the war will find fabricating capacity that can deliver metal in quantity, sizes, and high-strength alloys to meet the most ambitious program to use the metal in all types of transportation, architectural, structural, or other fields that can be foreseen. It is the purpose of the authors to make clear the many procedures that have become established for making joints in these alloys. The discussion will include the common practices of riveting, welding, brazing, soldering, and a promising new possibility, resin-bonding. These methods will be considered as specifically as space permits to provide a comprehensive picture of the subject. Additional and more detailed information and training will be required to put the methods into practice, and further inquiry on any of the methods will be welcomed.


Kim Kyu-heung tried to set up a military school in Shanghai to help to recover the national rights of Korea, going forward with the plan of establishing a military school in 1905 and 1906. He had an audience with King Gojong by the agency of Yeon Il-jeong, the wife of Lee Gyeong-jik, and Jo Min-hee, Min Gyeong-ho, and Kang Hong-dae in July, 1907, receiving a clandestine order and a good amount of funding from him. Kim Kyu-heung was exiled to China in March 1908. He joined the Chinese revolutionary party even before Xinhai Revolution, helping with the activities of Zou lu and Chen Qimei. As a result, Luo shiyang and others surveyed the wasteland of Manchuria to assist the independence movement of Korea, and Kim Kyu-heung was able to join Chamui and Gomunwon. On December 20, 1913, he created the magazine Hyanggang Magazine with Park Eun-shik. They probed an "opportunity for Korea to revive" by publishing the magazine. Kim actively facilitated the production of a Tuntian system independence army by working in the society Beijing Gunsa Tong-il Hoi(1922) and the bank Heunghwa Industrial Bank(1922) along with Park Yong-man. He took the position of secretary for Beijing Gunsa Tong-il Hoi under the name of Kim Bok. This was comprised of President Park Yong-man, Vice President Lee Gwang, Manager Kim Wong-bong, and Chief Secretary Jo Nam-cheon. He also set up Heunghwa Industrial Bank along with his Korean colleagues Park Yong-man and Kim Tae-seok and some Chinese investors in early 1922, before which the former Heungguk Industrial Bank was established on November 15, 1919 based on the participation of Kim Gyu-heung and others from Korea and Chen Jiongming and others from China and on the support of influential figures from Korea and China including Sun Wen. They also moved forward with the plan of managing Mt. Seokgyeong Farm between 1922 and 1923. Kim Gyu-heung, Park Yong-man, and Kim Tae-seok attempted to rent a piece of land belonging to a Buddhist temple at Mt. Seokgyeong in Beijing and run a paddy field farm. Those activities were intended to help to raise a unified independence army across Korea, China, and Russia and help the soldiers scattered all over the places return to the farm and run the Tuntian system through the purchase of land in Beijing and Manchuria.


Balance among the complex interactions of the gut microbial community is important for intestinal health. Probiotic bacteria can improve bacterial balance and have been used to treat gastrointestinal diseases. Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a life-threatening inflammatory bowel disorder primarily affecting premature infants. NEC is associated with extensive inflammatory NF-κB signaling activation as well as intestinal barrier disruption. Clinical studies have shown that probiotic administration may protect against NEC, however there are safety concerns associated with the ingestion of large bacterial loads in preterm infants. Bacteria-free conditioned media (CM) from certain probiotic organisms have been shown to retain bioactivity including anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective properties without the risks of live organisms. We hypothesized that the CM from Lactobacillus acidophilus (La), Bifidobacterium infantis (Bi), and Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp), used separately or together would protect against NEC. A rodent model with intestinal injury similar to NEC was used to study the effect of CM from Lp, La/Bi, and La/Bi/Lp on the pathophysiology of NEC. All the CM suppressed NF-κB activation via preserved IκBα expression and this protected IκBα was associated with decreased liver activity of the proteasome, which is the degrading machinery for IκBα. These CM effects also caused decreases in intestinal production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α, a downstream target of the NF-κB pathway. Combined La/Bi and La/Bi/Lp CM in addition protected intestinal barrier function by maintaining tight junction protein ZO-1 levels and localization at the tight junction. Double combined La/Bi CM significantly reduced intestinal injury incidence from 43% to 28% and triple combined La/Bi/Lp CM further reduced intestinal injury incidence to 20%. Thus, this study demonstrates different protective mechanisms and synergistic bioactivity of the CM from different organisms in ameliorating NEC-like intestinal injury in an animal model.


In this article, we examine how Black youth in rural South Africa construct role models and connect them to their own life aspirations. We pay particular attention to individual and group identity development in shaping these perceptions. Based on analysis of qualitative data from 99 Black male and female youth aged 14 to 22, we find that (a) the choice of role models reflects a balancing strategy to reconcile individual and group identity development; (b) while the reasons they give for choosing role models are aligned with dominant models of upward mobility in the new South Africa (and globally), our respondents are also attuned to the difficulty of attaining such success; and (c) the choices underscore the continued importance of close and extended kin amidst an increasingly ego-focused life strategy aimed at individual status attainment. These findings can contribute to improving the effectiveness of intervention programs aimed at strengthening the role of positive influences in the lives of Black youth in South Africa.


Abstract This paper develops a simple framework for describing fiscal policy where policymakers attempt to minimise deviations in output and budget balance from target values. Optimal policy is given by minimising a quadratic loss function subject to a linear structure of the economy. This policy can be viewed as weighted average of two polar cases - the case where the budget deficit adjusts to eliminate any deviations from potential output (hyperstabilisation), and the case where taxes and spending are determined exclusively by some budgetary goal (hooverism). We find some evidence of stabilisation for Poland, Latvia and Estonia. There is no evidence for the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, suggesting that fiscal policy was being used for other objectives. The best fit is for Estonia, suggesting that a strict fiscal policy environment may not be incompatible with stabilising fiscal policy.


Intellectually disabled people tend to have poor nutritional status due to malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies. The present study was aimed to assess the nutritional status, junk food consumption among intellectually disabled adolescents (14-19 years). The data of 100 intellectually disabled adolescents was collected from the special institutes for Intellectually Disabled situated in Hyderabad, using questionnaires that included general information, anthropometric measurements, questions about frequency of junk food consumed, factors affecting the choice and meals replaced by junk foods were included. The study revealed that a significant percentage of studied population was malnourished (59%). Obesity being highest (30%), followed by underweight (16%) and overweight (13%). Consumption of junk foods was found to be more frequently among malnourished adolescents specifically among obese (60%), followed by overweight (46%) and underweight (25%). The factors that affected choice of junk foods among the obese subjects were mood (43%), taste (37%), time (10%), and social media (10%), and 67% replaced one meal with junk food. Among overweight subjects factors were mood (69%), taste (23%), social media (3%) and 62% replaced one meal with junk food. Among underweight subjects, factors were taste (50%), mood (40%) and social media (10%) and 45% replaced one meal with junk food. Therefore, the present study concluded that among intellectual disabled adolescents malnutrition and unhealthy eating habits are more prevalent.


Introduction Should we introduce fitness trackers to our company's health program? Should we, moreover, start giving positive or negative incentives for individual fitness performances (e.g. bonuses)? Since companies have felt profoundly convinced by the correlation between occupational health activities and economic success, occupational health management (OHM) becomes popular. With the rise of OHM multiple ethical problems, new to the business context, appeared. How are and how should these ethical problems be communicated inside and outside a company? One possible answer to this is corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR already has the potential to communicate and discuss ethical corporate health issues. Only a proper framework is still missing. Methods Qualitative interviews were completed with small, medium and large German and Swiss companies, their stakeholders, customers and industry representatives. They all were asked questions regarding ethical communication strategies inside and outside companies and in particular questions about structural intersections between OHM and CSR. Result The study shows that, if it comes to occupational health, most companies do not use the existing CSR-tools to communicate ethical heath issues. Usually the few existing intersections between OHM and CSR are not meant to point out or discuss ethical problems within OHM, but to promote the company's image. Not surprisingly, the stakeholders as well as the industry representatives emphasise the companies' voluntary assumption of responsibility. Discussion Most CSR strategies already contain ways to address and communicate ethical problems (e.g. whistle-blower hotline, companies' suggestion systems). Whatsoever, these strategies usually are not applied to OHM. The social and ethical arguments considered in CSR as well as its strong attachment to the company's strategy could pave the way for an ethical OHM. In reverse, an ethical OHM will arguably have a positive reinforcement on CSR activities.


The aim of this study was to determine the effects of exercise at different intensities on 24-h energy expenditure (EE) and substrate oxidation. Sixteen adults (8 men and 8 women) were studied on three occasions [sedentary day (Con), a low-intensity exercise day (LI; 400 kcal at 40% of maximal oxygen consumption) and a high-intensity exercise day (HI; 400 kcal at 70% of maximal oxygen consumption)] by using whole room indirect calorimetry. Both 24-h EE and carbohydrate oxidation were significantly elevated on the exercise days (Con < LI = HI), but 24-h fat oxidation was not different across conditions. Muscle enzymatic profile was not consistently related to 24-h fat or carbohydrate oxidation. With further analysis, it was found that, compared with men, women sustained slightly higher rates of 24-h fat oxidation (mg x kg FFM(-1) x min(-1)) and had a muscle enzymatic profile favoring fat oxidation. It is concluded that exercise intensity has no effect on 24-h EE or nutrient oxidation. Additionally, it appears that women may sustain slightly greater 24-h fat oxidation rates during waking and active periods of the day.


Health care has become a complex and pressured enterprise. Clinicians depend on information from many sources to incorporate into the delivery of safe, appropriate patient care. The skills and functions of clinical librarians have the potential to assist patient care teams to address their information and evidential needs. Clinical librarianship has been established for many years and much of the knowledge on the role is drawn from international literature. There is little known about the way in which clinical librarianship is being practised in Australia.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of the clinical librarian in Australia. In examining the roles and function of the clinical librarian attention was focused on the skills required and the activities undertaken in Australian healthcare settings. A pragmatic mixed methods approach was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, with a sequential explanatory design. The first phase of the study was an online survey distributed to a health librarian e-list, and the second phase was semi-structured interviews with librarians in hospital settings. Integration of the results occurred in the discussion phase.

This study is the first to provide baseline data about clinical librarians in Australia. Results showed that clinical librarians in Australia perform many of the same activities as clinical librarians elsewhere. Literature searching, information skills training and information delivery are core activities. Communication skills were universally rated as essential. The role is library based and fits the model of a tailored reference outreach service. Participation in ward rounds was not common but journal clubs, grand rounds and clinical meetings were attended in order to interact with clinicians. The clinical librarians in this study had a strong belief in the advanced nature of their knowledge and skills, and this was more pronounced than in other international studies.

The clinical librarian role lacks consensus within the library profession as to the defining function and features. This makes it hard to distinguish the position from other health librarian roles and to develop appropriate measures for skills and knowledge. Further areas for research include benchmarks and accreditation for expert searching and critical appraisal; scope of practice and avenues of collaboration of clinical librarians with other health information professionals such as informaticians; and partnerships with health consumers.


Pit latrine contents can have varying consistencies that make the pits challenging to empty. It has been assumed that solids sink to the bottom of the pit with a more liquid layer above this and a scum on the top. This implies that it would be possible to remove the uppermost layers with a pump. However, recent studies have found alternative sludge profiles, including a thick crust on the top. This paper presents penetrometer data from a large number (109) of pit latrines in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya. The penetrometer consists of a weight, dropped onto an anvil that drives a cone into the pit. The depth of penetration following each impact was measured. This was converted into plots of depth in the pits against penetration. Each pit was analysed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and categorised into positive or negative correlation, significant or non-significant. Significant, negative correlation was assumed to correspond to pits where the solids had sunk to the bottom. 38% of pits were classified in this way, which suggested that while it is common that the number of impacts required to penetrate the sludge increases with depth in the pit, this is not always the case. Pit emptiers should be prepared to deal with pits with a variety of sludge profiles, including those with a solids layer at the top.


In the conventional spot welding process, the heat generation in welds makes use of resistance heating of workpieces and the workpieses are jointed by nugget formed at the interface of them. However, in this process, the indentation of workpiese increases with the size of nugget. The problem described above is improved by means of using the pulsed high current density with very short duration, because the contact resistance at the interface is used efficiently to form nugget and the thermal loss is obstructed. In this welding process, tensile shear strength and peel strength of welding joint are sufficiently large, and fusion layer is very thinner than one of the conventional spot welding, and its indentation is very small. It seems that the joining of workpieses is occured mainly due to joule's heating at the interface by contact resistance.


Organizations and industries use spreadsheet programs, such as MS Excel, for various tasks, such as accounting, financial calculations, and reporting. However, the number of spreadsheets that contain errors is very high. One primary reason is that different end-users develop spreadsheets without programming or software development training. Thus, researchers have proposed a variety of automated tools and techniques to support the end-users in finding and fixing errors in spreadsheets. The main objective of this paper is to study different automated tools in spreadsheet testing and classify them according to two criteria: how they work and the ability to find spreadsheet faults. For this purpose, we discuss various spreadsheet testing automated tools, techniques, and strategies. In addition, we highlight their performance and where they can be used so that they can be beneficial to both end-users and researchers. We then set out key directions for potential future works.


Introduction of a double-lumen Swan-Ganz balloon catheter into the parent artery facilitated precise identification of the proximal neck in two giant paraclinoidal aneurysms. Reduction of the flow rate as low as possible and positioning of the patient's head were the most important factors in this procedure.


The paper presents an analysis of the importance of some of thedeterminants of youth electoral absenteeism, which are in the focusof the predominant explanatory models of electoral participation –socio-demographic, party identification and cognitive model. Therelevance of numerous socio-demographic characteristics, partyidentification, political cynicism, political interest, and political knowledgeas predictors of youth electoral absenteeism were analyzed. Thisresearch was conducted on a sample of 788 fourth grade secondaryschool students attending 25 secondary schools in Belgrade. Theresults indicated that party identification, political interest, organizationalmembership and mother's level of education were significant predictorsof electoral absenteeism. For young persons without party identificationthe odds of non-voting were 3.6 times higher than the non-voting oddsof their counterparts but with party identification. The odds of electoralabsenteeism increased with the decreasing level of political interestor organizational membership as well as with the increasing level ofmother's level of education. The obtained results were discussed in thecontext of the proposed explanatory model of electoral participation aswell as some previous research findings.


The current explosion of video traffic compels service providers to deploy caches at edge networks. Nowadays, most caching systems store data with a high programming voltage corresponding to the largest possible 'expiry date', typically on the order of years, which maximizes the cache damage. However, popular videos rarely exhibit lifecycles longer than a couple of months. Consequently, the programming voltage can instead be adapted to fit the lifecycle and mitigate the cache damage accordingly. In this paper, we propose LiA-cache, a Lifecycle-Aware caching policy for online videos. LiA-cache finds both near-optimal caching retention times and cache eviction policies by optimizing traffic delivery cost and cache damage cost conjointly. We first investigate temporal patterns of video access from a real-world dataset covering 10 million online videos collected by one of the largest mobile network operators in the world. We next cluster the videos based on their access lifecycles and integrate the clustering into a general model of the caching system. Specifically, LiA-cache analyzes videos and caches them depending on their cluster label. Compared to other popular policies in real-world scenarios, LiA-cache can reduce cache damage up to 90 perce, while keeping a cache hit ratio close to a policy purely relying on video popularity.


The problem of an infinite cable carrying an oscillating current parallel to a conducting cylinder is solved. The homogeneous electrical properties of the media inside and outside the cylinder can be arbitrary. The special case is considered in detail where the exterior medium is a relatively poor conducting medium. The application to geophysical prospecting for massive sulphide ore zones is discussed.


The massively parallel hardware approach to computer vision is a relatively new area. The traditional approach uses a parallel general-purpose computer that runs software to take advantage of the parallel processors. The number of parallel processors has varied from two up to a processor per pixel, at least in theory. The proposed approach is ideologically different. This research advocates the processing to be accomplished in layers that are totally parallel, especially at the lower levels. This approach uses dedicated hardware architectures, as opposed to the general-purpose processor, which are customer-oriented and application specific in nature. The system is composed of a new image layer, local communicator layer, processing element layer, and a main control unit. The PE design is facilitated by the development of a CAD designer tool. The goals of this research are to reduce PE complexity, reduce communication bottlenecks, provide for higher speed and throughput, and provide accessibility to portability requirements. The issues that require consideration includes: speed, throughput, system flexibility, system tolerance, and portability. This is why it is critical to determine at what stage of the VLSI design the designer should start to consider these effects. This research proposes to solve the aforementioned problems, in addition to presenting the advantages of the application-specific massively parallel hardware architecture for image recognition systems. This paper presents the background and developments, the technical summary, recommended areas of application, and conclusion.


Detecting the camera model used to shoot a picture enables to solve a wide series of forensic problems, from copyright infringement to ownership attribution. For this reason, the forensic community has developed a set of camera model identification algorithms that exploit characteristic traces left on acquired images by the processing pipelines specific of each camera model. In this letter, we investigate a novel approach to solve camera model identification problem. Specifically, we propose a data-driven algorithm based on convolutional neural networks, which learns features characterizing each camera model directly from the acquired pictures. Results on a well-known dataset of 18 camera models show that: 1) the proposed method outperforms up-to-date state-of-the-art algorithms on classification of 64 × 64 color image patches; 2) features learned by the proposed network generalize to camera models never used for training.


The transition of C. albicans from unicellular yeast form to filamentous form i.e., pseudohyphae and hyphae is referred to as morphogenesis. C. albicans has the ability to respond to environmental conditions and accordingly changing its cell morphology. Three main morphological forms of C. albicans are unicellular yeast, pseudohyphae and hyphae. The effect of different growth media (Horse serum medium, RPMI-1640, MSGB), incubation temperatures (34°C, 37°C, 40°C) and pH values (5.4, 6.4, 7.4) on germ tube production by C. albicans was evaluated. Horse serum medium noticeably promotes filamentation while RPMI-1640 medium shows moderate filamentation and MSGB media shows moderately low filamentation. The germ tube of C. albicans developed early in 1.5 hr at high temperature i.e., 40°C. Incubation temperature of 37°C was associated with highest germ tube formation while 34°C shows low filamentation. A pH of 5.4 also induces low filamentation, pH 6.4 gives moderately lower than pH 7.4. A pH of 7.4 was best suited for germ tube induction. The peak of mycelium production appears between 1.5 and 6 hr after inoculation of C. albicans culture. These results suggested that environmental factors are important in selectively favoring yeast or hyphal form, most important being the growth medium, incubation temperature and external pH value.


Children (4 to 6 years of age) were taught to associate printed 3- or 4-letter abbreviations, or cues, with spoken words (e.g., bfr for beaver). All but 1 of the letters in the cue corresponded to phonemes in the spoken target word. Two types of cues were constructed: phonetic cues, in which the medial letter was phonetically similar to the target word, and control cues, in which the central phoneme was phonetically dissimilar. In Experiment 1, children learned the phonetic cues better than the control cues, and learning correlated with measures of phonological skill and knowledge of the meanings of the words taught. In Experiment 2, the target words differed on a semantic variable-imageability-and learning was influenced by both the phonetic properties of the cue and the imageability of the words used.


Hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury (HALI) is characterized by an influx of inflammatory cells, increased pulmonary permeability, endothelial and epithelial cell death. Reactive oxygen species have been postulated to have a significant role in HALI, in part, by inducing cell death responses regulated by shared common mediators of apoptotic and necrotic pathways. Significant differences exist in the response of the mature and developing lung to HALI.


The article presents questions and features of the indicators system development to assess the level of competitiveness of industrial enterprises in an integrated structure. This problem has not been studied  and, therefore cloesn't have any, developed tools to solve the objectives. The specifics of this issue is primarily determined by the peculiarities of the functioning of corporate structures and relationships between companies within these associations, which significantly affect the system of indicators to measure competitiveness, requires changes and improvements of existing techniques, as well as developing new ones. According to the results of  the holding and integrated enterprises strategic directions comparative analysis of the, taking into account the trends in the development of MMC Ukraine, we propose to consider the strategy as the main component in the development of indicators system. The choice of a hierarchical model of data is chavacterized  by the use of multi-criteria analysis method of hierarchies as a tool for assessing the competitiveness of integrated enterprises. The use of multi-criteria methods solves the problem of latency (concealment) index of competitiveness, in the problem of inaccurate measurement of competitiveness through any single indicator, which will depict its properties in the proper way. Consequenty  the assessment of the competitiveness level is a multi-factorial (multicriteria) problem. The presented hierarchical model of indicators allows to estimate the competitiveness of the integrated enterprise, considering the important aspects of its business,  and to identify trends in the formation of competitive advantage.


Not long after the present pandemic of plague reached the shores of America in 1900, where it was recognized in the Chinese colony of San Francisco, it was found to be present among the ground squirrels in Contra Costa County. At that time the close association of rodent and human plague was not so clear as it is at present. In 1900, when my plague experience began, the work of the English and the German plague commissions in India was only fairly begun and the idea of flea transmission was new and not generally known. In the early days of any revolutionary discovery there is a period when those who accept it have their thinking partially clouded by the holdover of ideas from the past, and we who took part in the early history of plague in America 1 were in that transitional stage. We knew that the rat was


This paper investigates the performance of relative rate marking (RRM) switch algorithms for rate-based available bit rate (ABR) service in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. An RRM switch can be implemented differently according to the congestion detection and notification methods used. The performance of an RRM switch strongly depends on the choice of the control parameters and the congestion detection scheme used. We introduce two implementation schemes for an RRM switch, and then analyze the maximum and minimum queue lengths for each scheme in steady state. Furthermore, we derive the closed form equations of link utilization and cell loss probability. The analytical results presented can be used to estimate the buffer requirement and to determine appropriate values for the various control parameters.


There is an extensive literature regarding nonadherence with both therapeutic regimens and medication. This literature includes reviews of empirical research regarding the factors associated with nonadherence. Health care system, provider, and patient factors as well as the nature of the illness and therapeutic regimen all effect adherence rates. Different behavioral models for adherence counseling such as the Health Belief Model, the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Medication Interest Model, and Motivational Interviewing have also been reported in the research literature. This article will discuss the development of a brief model for patient counseling with specific techniques illustrated for pharmacists based on empirical findings that have demonstrated effectiveness in the adherence research literature. In addition, the article will address the measurement of the economic impact of medication nonadherence and propose a framework for assessing the cost-effectiveness of pharmacist counseling to increase adherence. The problem of nonadherence has significant effects upon health care expenditures through increase in physician's visits, emergency department incidents, rehospitalizations, and nursing home readmissions. Thus, the overall goal is to assist the pharmacist in developing a brief adherence counseling program in community pharmacy and evaluating the economic feasibility of the intervention demonstrating the value-added proposition of pharmacist intervention.


Assessing when credit is excessive is important to understand macro-financial vulnerabilities and guide macroprudential policy. The Basel Credit Gap (BCG) – the deviation of the credit-to-GDP ratio from its long-term trend estimated with a one-sided Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter—is the indicator preferred by the Basel Committee because of its good performance as an early warning of banking crises. However, for a number of European countries this indicator implausibly suggests that credit should go back to its level at the peak of the boom after the credit cycle turns, resulting in large negative gaps that might delay the activation of macroprudential policies. We explore two different approaches—a multivariate filter based on economic theory and a fundamentals-based panel regression. Each approach has pros and cons, but they both provide a useful complement to the BCG in assessing macro-financial vulnerabilities in Europe.


Fine-grained sediments contaminated with complex mixtures of organic and inorganic chemical contaminants can be toxic in laboratory tests and/or cause adverse impacts to resident benthic communities. Effects-based, sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) have been developed over the past 20 years to aid in the interpretation of the relationships between chemical contamination and measures of adverse biological effects. Mean sediment quality guideline quotients (mSQGQ) can be calculated by dividing the concentrations of chemicals in sediments by their respective SQGs and calculating the mean of the quotients for the individual chemicals. The resulting index provides a method of accounting for both the presence and the concentrations of multiple chemicals in sediments relative to their effects-based guidelines. Analyses of considerable amounts of data demonstrated that both the incidence and magnitude of toxicity in laboratory tests and the incidence of impairment to benthic communities increases incrementally with increasing mSQGQs. Such concentration/response relationships provide a basis for estimating toxicological risks to sediment-dwelling organisms associated with exposure to contaminated sediments with a known degree of accuracy. This sediment quality assessment tool has been used in numerous surveys and studies since 1994. Nevertheless, mean SQGQs have some important limitations and underlying assumptions that should be understood by sediment quality assessors. This paper provides an overview of the derivation methods and some of the principal advantages, assumptions, and limitations in the use of this sediment assessmenttool. Ideally, mean SQGQs should be included with other measures including results of toxicity tests and benthic community surveys to provide a weight of evidence when assessing the relative quality of contaminated sediments.


For networks containing resistors, independent-sources, gyrators, ideal transformers, diodes and other saturating monotone piecewise linear resistors, a new condition is proposed to guarantee uniqueness of solutions. This is both necessary and sufficient and is easy to test. It requires that the characteristics should satisfy a condition with the null vectors of the matrix of the linear part of the network whenever it is singular. Diodes with infinite reverse resistance are also allowed in the formulation.


On October 10, 1979, Michel Foucault revised his thesis on confession. On that day, some three years after the publication of his magisterial treatment of confession in the fi rst volume of Th e History of Sexuality , Foucault argued that the Pythagoreans, Stoics, and Epicureans had, before the advent of Christianity, their own practices of confession. Yet these practices, unlike their Christian variants, were not complicit with practices of domination (OS 310, 312). In the context of Foucault's thought theretofore, in which the confession consistently fi gured as an essential component in the exercise of modern power, this is a radical shift. In lectures given at both Berkeley and Dartmouth in the fall of 1980, Foucault made similar arguments. On these occasions he argued that Seneca's De ira constituted a "stoic confession," the object of which was to enable the subject to "live diff erently, better, more happily, than other people" (AB 210, 205). Judith Butler captures the gravity of the shift: "In the last years of his life, Foucault returned to the question of confession, reversing his earlier critique in the fi rst volume of the History of Sexuality , where he indicts confession as a forcible extraction of sexual truth, a practice in the service of a regulatory power" (2005, 112). Th is reversal was short lived. Although Foucault would celebrate ancient Greek techniques of the self for the rest of his life, he would not


This thesis was initiated in collaboration with Husqvarna Rider and Semcon AB. The thesis developed concepts for automated attachment of gardening tools to the front of the ride-on mowers developed by Husqvarna Rider. These concepts aim to improve the users experience when shifting between the cutting deck and other available tools, while avoiding direct interaction with the vehicles's belt drive. The project also researched documented information and theory regarding the construction to establish a foundation for future development of the product detail.The work has been carried out through pilot study, study of literature and concept study. The concept study has consisted of preparatory work, concept generation, concept evaluation and concept selection. Examples of methods used in this study are 6-3-5 brainwriting, contradiction charts, morphology and decision matrices using robust decision methodology. The study worked with a total of over 100 ideas and concepts which were reduced down to two solutions. One of these can be applied with minimal investment while the other possesses a good potential for broader future application.The first solution was chosen as it had the potential to improve the existing product with relatively minor modifications of the construction. The second solution was chosen as it provided a very efficient tool switch with fewer failure modes than other concepts. The second solution also had the potential of application in other products and allows remote interaction with the belt drive, resulting in improved user safety.


Reactive ion etching (RIE) of synthetic Ib diamond and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond films in O2 and CF4 has been investigated. The large etch rate of up to 2.8 µ m/h and etch rate ratios of 15–20 for diamond (100)/Al were obtained at CF4/O2=10–20%. Numerous columnar structures of approximately 300 nm length and 10 nm width have been made by etching CVD polycrystalline diamond films in O2 plasma. The structures made the diamond film "porous". A comparative study of field emission characteristics has been made for as-grown diamond films and porous diamond films. The average turn-on field was in the range of 2–3 V/µ m for porous diamond films and 6–8 V/µ m for as-grown diamond films.


A heme-binding protein has been isolated and characterized from both the hemolymph and oocytes of the blood-sucking insect, Rhodnius prolixus. The protein from both sources is identical in most aspects studied. The Rhodnius heme-binding protein (RHBP) is composed of a single 15-kDa polypeptide chain coiled in a highly α-helical structure which binds non-covalently one heme/polypeptide chain. This RHBP is not produced by limited degradation of hemoglobin from the vertebrate host, since specific polyclonal antibodies against it do not cross-react with rabbit hemoglobin, and since it differs from hemoglobin in having a distinct amino-acid composition and NH2-terminal sequence. The spectrum of the dithionite-reduced protein has peaks at 426, 530, and 559 nm and resembles that of a b-type cytochrome. RHBP from hemolymph is not saturated with heme and promptly binds heme added to the solution. The oocyte protein, on the other hand, is fully saturated and is not capable of binding additional heme.


To assess an enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) for determination of gentamicin, comparison was done with a microbiological bioassay. Twenty-nine samples from 5 patients and 1 volunteer were assayed by both EMIT and bioassay methods. Concentrations of gentamicin obtained with EMIT were compared with those with bioassay. Statistical calculation resulted in a regression line with a correlation coefficient of 0.9496, a slope of 0.735 and an ordinate intercept of 0.878. To test the specificity of EMIT, serum controls which contain a constant quantity of gentamicin and a variable quantity of ampicillin concomitantly were assayed for gentamicin concentrations by both EMIT and bioassay. This test demonstrated that EMIT is free from interference of ampicillin while bioassay is vulnerable to interference. To conclude, EMIT proved to be a practical alternative to current bioassays for determination of serum gentamicin concentrations.


A one-dimensional analytic thermal model for the flexible electronic devices integrated with human skin under a constant and pulsed power is developed. The Fourier heat conduction equation is adopted for the flexible electronics devices while the Pennes bio-heat transfer equation is adopted for the skin tissue. Finite element analysis is performed to validate the analytic model through the comparison of temperature distributions in the system. The influences of geometric and loading parameters on the temperature increase under a pulsed power are investigated. It is shown that a small duty cycle can reduce the temperature increase of the system effectively. A thin substrate can reduce the device temperature but increase the skin surface temperature. The results presented may be helpful to optimize the design of flexible electronic devices to reduce the adverse thermal influences in bio-integrated applications.


The article is devoted to the trends and transformations of philological education in the context of modern technologies development. The purpose of the research is to study the preparation specifics of philology students and to develop a new approach to their training, based on an effective educational methodology of literary and linguistic analysis of the text. To achieve this goal, exercises and methods are defined. Such methods were used as: comparison, contextual-interpretative, comparative-historical method and other general scientific methods. The study found that in a globalized world it is necessary to form new core competencies in students-philologists, namely the capacity for independent learning throughout life and motivation. It is possible to achieve this through rethinking pedagogical methods. The authors proved that the text is an important means of modern communication which is dynamically transformed which determines the need for its deep philological research. For this, the authors improved the method of preparing students of philology which is based on the introduction of modern information technologies into the system of literary and linguistic analysis of the text. Software products such as Compleat Lexical Tutor and ABBYY Compreno, in particular Compleat Lexical Tutor, make the process of text analysis easy.


Abstract How do politicians in post-war societies talk about the past war? How do they discursively represent vulnerable social groups created by the conflict? Does the nature of this representation depend on the politicians' ideology or their record of combat service? We answer these questions by pairing natural language processing tools and a large corpus of parliamentary debates with an extensive data set of biographical information including detailed records of war service for all members of parliament during two recent terms in Croatia. We demonstrate not only that veteran politicians talk about war differently from their non-veteran counterparts, but also that the sentiment of war-related political discourse is highly dependent on the speaker's exposure to combat and ideological orientation. These results improve our understanding of the representational role played by combat veterans, as well as of the link between descriptive and substantive representation of vulnerable groups in post-war societies.


We introduce S2VS, a video similarity learning approach with self-supervision. Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) is typically used to train deep models on a proxy task so as to have strong transferability on target tasks after fine-tuning. Here, in contrast to prior work, SSL is used to perform video similarity learning and address multiple retrieval and detection tasks at once with no use of labeled data. This is achieved by learning via instance-discrimination with task-tailored augmentations and the widely used InfoNCE loss together with an additional loss operating jointly on self-similarity and hard-negative similarity. We benchmark our method on tasks where video relevance is defined with varying granularity, ranging from video copies to videos depicting the same incident or event. We learn a single universal model that achieves state-of-the-art performance on all tasks, surpassing previously proposed methods that use labeled data. The code and pretrained models are publicly available at: https://github.com/gkordo/s2vs


Monitoring wastewater samples at building-level resolution screens large populations for SARS-CoV-2, prioritizing testing and isolation efforts. Here we perform untargeted metatranscriptomics on virally-enriched wastewater samples from 10 locations on the UC San Diego campus, demonstrating that resulting bacterial taxonomic and functional profiles discriminate SARS-CoV-2 status even without direct detection of viral transcripts. Our proof-of-principle reveals emergent threats through changes in the human microbiome, suggesting new approaches for untargeted wastewater-based epidemiology.


A scheme for active phase stabilization and absolute positioning in Fourier-transform two-dimensional (2D) IR spectroscopy is presented. The position accuracy is better than 20 nm(rms) corresponding to lambda/250 at 5 microm, which significantly improves the quality of Fourier-transform 2D IR spectra. Phase stabilization is added to a standard photon echo setup in a way that does not impair the flexibility of the experiment and the control over IR pulse parameters.


Metachronal motion is a unique swimming strategy widely adopted by many small animals on the scale of microns up to several centimeters (e.g., ctenophores, copepods, krill, and shrimp). During propulsion, each evenly spaced appendage performs a propulsive stroke sequentially with a constant phaselag from its neighbor, forming a metachronal wave. To produce net thrust in the low-to-intermediate Reynolds number regime, where viscous forces are dominant, the beat cycle of a metachronal appendage must present significant spatial asymmetry between the power and recovery stroke. As the Reynolds number increases, the beat cycle is observed to change from high spatial asymmetry to lower spatial asymmetry. However, it is still unclear how the magnitude of spatial asymmetry can modify the shear layers near the tip of appendages and thus affect its associated hydrodynamic performance. In this study, ctenophores are used to investigate the hydrodynamics of multiple appendages performing a metachronal wave. Ctenophores swim using paddle-like ciliary structures (i.e., ctenes), which beat metachronally in rows circumscribing an ovoid body. Based on high-speed video recordings, we reconstruct the metachronal wave of ctenes for both a lower spatial asymmetry case and a higher spatial asymmetry case. An in-house immersed-boundary-method-based computational fluid dynamics solver is used to simulate the flow field and associated hydrodynamic performance. Our simulation results aim to provide fundamental fluid dynamic principles for guiding the design of bio-inspired miniaturized flexible robots swimming in the low-to-intermediate Reynolds number regime.


A notation is developed which specifies a dual velocity without ambiguity. The point of interest, the moving body, the reference body, and the system of unit vectors in which a dual velocity is expressed are all clearly indicated. The equivalence between the equation of transformation and the coordinate-transformation matrix formulation is shown. Equations are developed to enable calculation of the dual velocity at a point in a body given the dual velocity at any other point, to change the system of unit vectors in which a dual velocity is expressed, and to calculate relative velocities. Use of these equations is demonstrated in an example using the spatial four-bar mechanism which is specialized to the Cardan joint and the wobble-plate mechanism, and the effect of some tolerance errors on output velocity is shown.


Self‐assemblies of bioactively natural compounds into supramolecular hydrogels without structural modifications are of interest to improve their sustained releases and bioavailabilities in vivo. However, it is still a formidable challenge to dig out such a naturally small molecule with a meticulous structure which can be self‐assembled to form a hydrogel for biomedical applications. Here, a new hydrogel consisting only of gallic acid (GA) via π–π stacking and hydrogen bond interactions, whereas none of GA analogues can form the similar supramolecular hydrogels, is reported. This interesting phenomenon is intriguing to further investigate the potential applications of GA hydrogels in wound healing. Notably, this GA hydrogel has rod‐like structures with lengths varying from 10 to 100 µm. The biocompatibility and antibacterial tests prove that this well‐assembled GA hydrogel has no cytotoxicity and excellent antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, the GA hydrogel can significantly accelerate the process of wound healing with or without bacterial infections by mediation of inflammation signaling pathways. It is believed that the current study may shed a new light on the design of a supramolecular hydrogel based on self‐assemblies of naturally small molecules to improve their bioavailabilities and diversify their uses in biomedical applications.


IN A previous report from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, de Takats, Heyer and Keeton 1 presented the classification, the preoperative study, the selection of cases and the surgical procedures employed, together with the results of follow-up studies of hypertensive patients. Of the methods for splanchnic nerve section, the transdiaphragmatic method of Smithwick 2 gave by far the best results. The selection of patients with early hypertension and the use of this improved technic seemed to us the two important factors in the obtaining of good results. An attempt was also made to analyze the mechanism of relief in hypertensive patients after splanchnic section. Aside from the actual lowering of blood pressure, a slow, gradual improvement of cardiac and renal function, a postural hypotension with consecutive decrease in effective circulating blood volume and a decrease in reflex nervous irritability due to adrenal denervation were mentioned as contributing to


We present a structural characterization of all tournaments T = (V,A) such that, for any nonnegative integral weight function defined on V , the maximum size of a feedback vertex set packing is equal to the minimum weight of a triangle in T . We also answer a question of Frank by showing that it is NP -complete to decide whether the vertex set of a given tournament can be partitioned into two feedback vertex sets. In addition, we give exact and approximation algorithms for the feedback vertex set packing problem on tournaments.


For pt.I see ibid., vol.46, no.7, p.1032-41 (1998). A new leaky-wave antenna was presented and discussed in Part I that possesses many desirable performance features. The antenna structure is also simple in form, consisting of a rectangular waveguide with an offcenter stub on its top wall. Part I presented the principle of operation and the basic theory in which the stub guide was idealized to be infinitely long (or high) in order to stress the essential features. In practice, however, the stub guide has a finite length (or height) and it may be terminated by a flange or a ground plane or simply remain in the form of a pair of baffles. The modifications in the theory and the associated performance considerations under these practical circumstances are treated in this paper.


Heavy ions experiments are carried out on commercial 90 nm and 65 nm SRAMs. The contribution of single and multiple cell upsets are discussed as a function of the LET for different memory cell areas and for triple well usage. Once again, well engineering plays a key role on MCU and SEE response of SRAM. Full 3D TCAD simulations investigate the occurrence of parasitic bipolar effect.


It has been shown previously that starvation of a mid-logarithmic-phase culture of Escherichia coli B/r for an essential nutrient results in the methylation of a membrane-associated protein (P-43) (C. C. Young and R. W. Bernlohr, J. Bacteriol. 172:5147-5153, 1990). In this communication, the purification of P-43 and sequence analysis of cyanogen bromide-generated peptide fragments identified P-43 as elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu). This was confirmed by the ability of anti-EF-Tu antibody to precipitate P-43. We propose that the nutrient-dependent methylation of EF-Tu may be involved in the regulation of growth, possibly as a principal component of an unidentified signal transduction pathway in bacteria.


Background

CP12 is a small chloroplast protein that is widespread in various photosynthetic organisms and is often involved in the redox metabolic on/off switch of the Calvin Benson Bassham (CBB) cycle. The gene encoding this protein is conserved in many diatoms, but the protein has been overlooked in these organisms, despite their ecological predominance and their complex and still enigmatic evolutionary background.
Methods

A combination of biochemical, bioinformatics and biophysical methods including electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, circular dichroism, nuclear magnetic resonance and small X ray scattering spectroscopy, was used to characterize a diatom CP12.
Results

Here, we demonstrate that CP12 is expressed in the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana constitutively in dark-treated and in continuous light-treated cells as well as in all growth phases. This CP12 behaves abnormally under gel electrophoresis, is heat resistant and lacks a structural core, all features of intrinsically disorder family similarly to its homologues in other species. By contrast, unlike other known CP12 proteins that are monomers, this protein is a dimer as shown by native electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry and small angle X-ray scattering. In addition, small angle X-ray scattering showed that this CP12 is an elongated cylinder with kinks. Circular dichroism spectra indicated that CP12, though it has features of disordered proteins, has a high content of α-helices. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that these helices are unstable and dynamic within a millisecond timescale. Together with in silico predictions, these results suggest that T. pseudonana CP12 has both coiled-coil and disordered regions.
Conclusions

These findings bring new insights into the large family of intrinsically disordered proteins increasing the diversity of known CP12 proteins. This raises questions about the role of this protein in addition to the well-established regulation of the CBB cycle.