INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Baseline serum testosterone's (s-T) prognostic value in hormone naive advanced prostatic cancer (aPCa) patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was examined by pooled analysis. METHODS: aPCa patients who received continuous luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonist or agonist ADT with 1 year planned treatment and follow-up, were selected for post-hoc analysis from two large prospective, randomized, parallel-arm, phase 3 trials (NCT00295750 – global; NCT00928434 - USA). Kaplan Maier (K-M) survival estimates and Cox proportional hazards regression models and adjusted multivariate analysis were used to evaluate time to PSA rise, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), comparing low (<250ng/dL) vs. normal (>250ng/dL) s-T level groups, and lowest vs. higher s-T quartiles. RESULTS: On intention to treat analysis, 138 (16.5%) of 838 eligible men had baseline s-T <250ng/dL. Lower s-T quartile (n=206) was <282ng/dL vs. >503ng/dL for highest quartile (n=210). Key baseline demographic characteristics between low and normal s-T groups respectively were comparable; Gleason grade 7-10 (55 vs. 58%), stage, and PSA >20ng/ml categories (38% each). All survival end-points were significantly worse (p<0.05) for low baseline s-T level patients (time to PSA progression, PFS and OS hazard ratios 1.77, 1.88 and 2.23 respectively) as shown in Table 1. CONCLUSIONS: Biochemically hypogonadal hormone naive aPCa patients had significantly worse 1-year time to PSA progression, PFS and OS, after LHRH-based medical castration. International guidelines should prompt practice change by incorporating baseline s-T measurement in hormone naïve aPCa patients, to identify and better inform those with hypogonadal s-T levels for potential inclusion into future new treatment trials versus ADT. Table. No title available. Source of Funding: Ferring Provided Grant for Independent Statistical Data Aanalysis


Background: In Jordan, practices in maternity wards are not based on the best evidence. Women are still largely confined to bed during the first stage of labor. Objective: This study examined the effect of ambulation during the first stage of labor on maternal and neonatal outcomes. Methods: A blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted in a labor ward of one large hospital in Southern Jordan. Primiparous women (n = 290) were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 140) and a control group (n = 150). The intervention group was encouraged to ambulate, and the control group received the usual care. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and analysis of variance were used for data analysis. Results: Compared to the control group, women in the intervention group experienced a shorter duration of the first stage of labor (P < 0.001), reported less intensity of labor pain (P < 0.001), and used less analgesics (P < 0.001). They experienced less augmentation of labor (P = 0.030), were more likely to give birth by normal vaginal birth (P = 0.015) and were more satisfied with the birth experience (P = 0.001). No statistically significant differences were found between groups concerning perineal status, postpartum complications, and neonatal outcomes. Conclusion: Although the intervention has had a positive impact on maternal outcomes, no negative effects on neonatal outcomes were found. Encouraging women to ambulate and assume the upright position during the first stage of labor, is likely to produce better physical, social and economic outcomes in maternity services.


Two of the instruments on Ariel 5 are designed to study the weak high galactic latitude X-ray sources, a number of which have been identified with extragalactic objects. The survey experiment of the University of Leicester has detected sources with strengths down to 2-3 Uhuru counts. Several high latitude sources catalogued by Uhuru have apparently dropped in intensity below this level and improved positions have been obtained for other high latitude sources which support the tentative identification with optical counterparts. The pointed instrument from M. S. S. L. has a programme of spectral measurements of identified extragalactic and other weak sources at high galactic latitudes. The field of view of the M. S. S. L. experiment makes the instrument well suited to the study of the diffuse X-ray background. Results are presented from both experiments on a number of the extragalactic sources and, in particular, discussed in relation to their potential contribution to the diffuse X-ray background. Preliminary measurements of the diffuse X-ray background by the M. S. S. L. instruments are presented.


Recent experimental results from the HL-1M tokamak and progress in the HL-2A project are presented in this paper. In HL-1M, strong fishbone instability was observed during off-axis electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH). This is the first observation of fishbone instability purely driven by energetic electrons produced by ECRH. The molecular beam injection (MBI) was first proposed and demonstrated in HL-1M. Recently, new results of the MBI experiment were obtained by increasing the pressure of the gas. A stair-shaped density increment was obtained with high-pressure multi-pulse MBI just like the density evolution behaviour during multi-pellet injection. It is shown that injected particles penetrated into the core region of the plasma. HL-2A is a divertor tokamak constructed at SWIP based on the original ASDEX main components. The mission of the HL-2A project is to explore the physics issues involved in an advanced tokamak. For the first phase, divertor (edge plasma) and confinement research will be emphasized. The major parameters of HL-2A are R = 1.65 m, a = 0.4 m, Bt = 2.8 T, IP = 0.48 MA. The main parameters and characteristics of the subsystems such as power supply, pumping, diagnostics and auxiliary heating are presented in this paper. The first plasma of HL-2A was obtained at the end of 2002.


The novel is a product of the bourgeoisie's interest in the empirical mastery of reality. From the start, writing on reality took a forking path. On one side, it became journalism; on the other, it took the form of the novel. But whereas journalism intervenes in the reality that it mediates, the novel focuses on the characters' subjectivity. Journalism seeks to capture facts in their evanescence, while the novel lingers on the details of the milieu and the psychological folds of the action. Such attention to the temporality of events privileges urban space. As is the case in other literatures, the convergence of novel, journalism, and city is amply represented in Catalan novels, where Barcelona is the ostensible subject and the action a pretext for the author's interest in minuting the broad facts of urban life. A significant number of contemporary novels about Barcelona use places and scenes that were previously mythologized. Their authors show fondness for a narrow strip of history covering about a century and a half. Locked within these temporal limits, the Catalan novel evinces little capacity to generate new myths. Neither the chronotope of the mythologized Barcelona of the 1980s nor those of the Rose of Fire or of the city under the dictatorship are of any use for the Barcelona that is now recovering from the deep economic crisis of the 2010s and leading the greatest political crisis of the post-Franco state. Entangled in historicism and in the cult of modernity, the novel is still seeking the narrative paradigm of the present time.


The principle of the rule of law and the principle of the legality of crime and punishment are considered to be among the fundamental principles of law and are of great importance in public law. The problem is, given the existence of the following holy verse, "no rulership except by Allah alone", and principles such as the rule of law and the legality of crime and punishment, how can the obligation of certain Muslim precepts be assessed both jurisprudentially and legally before the law is legislated? This paper explicitly states that the Sharia laws taken into account in this study are ones that jurisprudents unanimously agree on and so are not subject to the ruling of the jurist's fatwa and there is no need to compare the applicability of the rulings (unconditional judgments). In this research, we analyzed the aforementioned problem from a jurisprudential and legal perspective. The obligation to carry out these types of sentences prior to their legislation or compilation based on the jurisprudential point of view, the constitutional principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the practices of the Guardian Council, some ordinary laws, and the views of the Assembly of Experts is what this paper proves.


The age and significance of sequence boundaries on Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifted continental margins in three ocean basins have been documented. The margins are the Santos basin in the South Atlantic, the Grand Banks in the North Atlantic, and the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean. Large industry data bases were used for the interpretation of each area. Megasequence boundaries separate the major phases of basin evolution, for example syn-rift and post-rift. Boundaries developed with an average periodicity of 49 m.y. Sequence boundaries define the component parts of each megasequence and developed with a modal periodicity of 10-15 m.y. Out of 27 total boundary ages, most (16) are developed on just one margin. Only two possible age ranges overlap on all three margins. ighty percent of the megasequence boundaries and 50% of the sequence boundaries show a direct causal connection with coeval faulting and/or folding. The rest of the boundaries appear as unstructured surfaces separating transgressive and/or regressive sedimentary wedges and are interpreted to result from changes in the rate of basin subsidence, sediment input, and long-term eustatic sea level. These data do not support theories advocating synchronous worldwide boundary development resulting from periodic, short-term falls in global eustatic sea level. Only in like basins of the same age, with identical subsidence and sediment input rates, are boundaries likely to develop synchronously. Hence, the concept of global synchroneity of sequence boundary development may well be an illusion creat d by the similarity in age of the majority of basins studied. As a result of this study, it seems wise discard the global approach to basin analysis.


A 87-year-old woman was hospitalised because of a third-degree atrioventricular block. After the insertion of a temporary pacemaker lead through the left subclavian vein, she developed an ipsilateral pneumothorax. Although there were clinical and echocardiographic signs of cardiac tamponade after chest tube placement for pneumothorax, a second echocardiogram performed after transportation for surgical drainage failed to demonstrate the presence of any pericardial fluid, while the patient showed an unexpected clinical improvement. A new X-ray showed a collection of left pleural fluid. Over the following days a limited amount of blood was drained through the tube with disappearance of the pleural effusion and no further signs of major bleeding. A permanent DDD pacemaker was subsequently implanted and the patient was discharged in a good condition.


The gains measured at the centres of vibrational — rotational lines of the main bands of the CO2 molecule were used to determine, by the least-squares method, the populations of the laser-active levels and the vibrational temperatures of the active medium of a cw electric-discharge CO2 laser.


Transformerless inverters have change the way to connect a photovoltaic (PV) system to the electrical grid, due to their excellent performance in the energy conversion process. Nowadays, there are many different topologies for this kind of systems, that most have three main characteristics; high efficiency, constant common mode voltage and small size. Moreover, the control implementation must be simple and the cost should be low. Due to the wide variety of topologies, in this paper, a comparative analysis of efficiency in the case of three main single-phase topologies for transformerless grid connection is performed. The analysis is focus in the common mode currents and in the efficiency. The efficiency analysis includes an analysis of power losses distribution in the semiconductors which provide information to perform a good thermal design of the converter.


Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is a rare form of breast cancer characterized by histological presence of two or more cellular types, typically epithelial and mesenchymal components. MBC represents 0.2 to 5% of all breast cancers. Most MBC typically displays a triple-negative breast cancer phenotype in which they lack expression of ER, PR, and HER2 and they also exhibit basal-like or claudin-like molecular subtypes. The current treatment guidelines for MBC have yet to be established due to limited knowledge of its pathogenesis. Prior studies have shown that MBC harbor a subtype mutation in RPL39, which is correlated with higher levels of iNOS, and aberrations in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Considering that aberrations in both of these pathways may play a role in disease pathogenesis, our goal is to further elucidate whether there is a synergistic relationship between the iNOS and PI3K/Akt pathways in MBC. Our hypothesis is that isoform-specific PIK3CA inhibitor Alpelisib, will interact synergistically with pan-NOS inhibitor L-NMMA, to act as an improved therapeutic combination against MBC. We used MBC cell lines Hs578t and BT549 and MBC PDX models RPL39-positive BCM 4664 and RPL39-negative BCM 3807 in our preliminary studies. Using flow cytometry to detect Annexin V+/DAPI+ cells, we found increased levels of cell death in MBC cell lines treated with LNMMA+Alpelisib combination treatment in comparison to single agent treatment. Western blot analysis of samples from single (LNMMA or Alpelisib) or combination treated cell lines and PDXs showed increased PARP degradation and cleaved caspase 3/9 with combination treatment. Pathway-focused RT-PCR analysis was performed using RNA collected from Hs578t cells treated for 48 hrs. with LNMMA, Alpelisib, or combination treatment. RT-PCR data were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA; Qiagen) software which showed that insulin signaling and PI3K/AKT pathways were the most enriched pathways with single and combination treatment. In vivo data using PDX BCM 4664 showed that combination treatment of LNMMA+Alpelisib was most effective at reducing tumor volume in comparison to single treatment. Our preliminary results suggest that LNMMA and Alpelisib combination treatment have therapeutic potential in the treatment of MBC. Our results indicated that simultaneous inhibition of the NOS and PI3K/AKT pathways may represent a clinically relevant therapeutic concept against hard-to-treat MBC, and warrants further studies. Citation Format: Tejaswini Parlapalle Reddy, Roberto Rosato, Liliana Guzman, Wei Qian, Jianying Zhou, Anthony J Kozielski, Jenny C Chang. Elucidating the synergistic relationship between the iNOS and PI3K/Akt pathways for treatment of metaplastic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-03-05.


The advent of the ultrafast laser pulse provides the powerful and efficient tool for probing the ultrafast electron dynamics in atoms and molecules. The various nonlinear process induced by the laser-matter interaction allows one to obtain the electron motion information on the sub-femtosecond time scale. A series of the ultrafast spectroscopic technique, such as attosecond streak camera, attosecond transient absorption spectrum, and etc., have been successfully applied to the probe of electron dynamics in atoms, molecules, and solids. Using two-color field is one of the significant methods to achieve the coherent control and exploring of the electron motion. This paper summarizes recent research activities in the field of the atomic and molecular ultrafast process investigated in State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, including the detection of the electron dynamics of the multi-bound states, measurement of the carrier envelope phase (CEP) and the phase of the attosecond pulse, and the ultrafast electron control with the THz/UV and MIR/IR field. To measure the dynamics of the multi-bound states, a broadband attosecond pulse can be used to ionize the electrons after it is excited by the pump laser. By changing the delay between the pump laser and the attosecond pulse, the measured electrons ionized by the broadband xuv attosecond pulse can present the multi-bound states dynamics simultaneously. The XUV/IR scheme is popularly used in attosecond dynamics measurement. But usually, the IR field is not very strong. We find that, if the IR field is strong enough to induce the above threshold ionization (ATI), the interference between the ATI electron and the electron from XUV pulse can be used to measure the CEP of the attosecond XUV pulse. Besides, if the electron ionized by attosecond pulse can be pushed back to the nuclei, the emission from the recombination can be used to determine the spectral phase of the attosecond pulse, which is an all-optical measurement. We also investigate the two color scheme of THz/UV and MIR/IR fields. With THz/UV two color scheme, very high electron localization can be achieved duration molecular dissociation when we use the UV pulse to excite the electron and the THz pulse to control the following electron movement. When we use the MIR/IR field to control the electron motion during the high harmonic generation, the recollision can be greatly decreased and the single attosecond pulse can be produced with multi-cycle MIR laser field.


The relations between oxygen abundance and disk surface brightness (OH–SB relation) in the infrared W 1 ?> band are examined for nearby late-type galaxies. The oxygen abundances were presented in Paper I. The photometric characteristics of the disks are inferred here using photometric maps from the literature through bulge-disk decomposition. We find evidence that the OH–SB relation is not unique but depends on the galactocentric distance r (taken as a fraction of the optical radius R25) and on the properties of a galaxy: the disk scale length h and the morphological T-type. We suggest a general, four-dimensional OH–SB relation with the values r, h, and T as parameters. The parametric OH–SB relation reproduces the observed data better than a simple, one-parameter relation; the deviations resulting when using our parametric relation are smaller by a factor of ∼1.4 than that of the simple relation. The influence of the parameters on the OH–SB relation varies with galactocentric distance. The influence of the T-type on the OH–SB relation is negligible at the centers of galaxies and increases with galactocentric distance. In contrast, the influence of the disk scale length on the OH–SB relation is at a maximum at the centers of galaxies and decreases with galactocentric distance, disappearing at the optical edges of galaxies. Two-dimensional relations can be used to reproduce the observed data at the optical edges of the disks and at the centers of the disks. The disk scale length should be used as a second parameter in the OH–SB relation at the center of the disk while the morphological T-type should be used as a second parameter in the relation at optical edge of the disk. The relations between oxygen abundance and disk surface brightness in the optical B and infrared K bands at the center of the disk and at optical edge of the disk are also considered. The general properties of the abundance–surface brightness relations are similar for the three considered bands B, K, and W 1 ?> .


Twenty-four patients with metastatic breast cancer, all but 1 pretreated with one or more chemotherapeutic regimens, were entered in a pilot study to assess toxicity and efficacy of the combination mitoxantrone and vinblastine. Dominant sites of metastases were viscera in 9 patients, bone in 10 and soft tissues in 5. All patients received mitoxantrone 10 mg/m2 i.v. on day 1 and vinblastine 1.7 mg/m2 by 4 hour infusion on days 3, 4 and 5, every 3-4 weeks. Objective responses (1 CR, 7 PR) were observed in 8 (38%) of the 21 evaluable patients. Median duration of response was 10.5 months. Of 12 patients pretreated with an anthracycline containing regimen, 4 responded (1 CR and 3 PR). Major toxicity was myelosuppression, grade 4 in 2 cases and grade 3 in 2 others. No evident alopecia was observed and only 1 case of grade 1 cardiac toxicity. In conclusion, mitoxantrone followed by vinblastine is an effective regimen in metastatic breast cancer also in pretreated patients, and previous anthracycline administration does not seem to reduce the percentage of response. Moreover, toxicity is generally mild.


The use of a low energy, high peak intensity (>100 TW/cm2) femtosecond laser pulse is investigated for guiding and control of a sub-microsecond high voltage discharge. Study of the laser induced plasma channel and measurements of the field required for breakdown in air and nitrogen at atmospheric pressure are presented. Direct imaging of the dynamics of the discharge breakdown shows effective laser guiding. The effectiveness of laser guiding is shown to be critically dependent on the laser focusing geometry, timing, and location relative to the electrodes.


Situated sketching and enactment aim at grounding designs in the spatial, social and cultural practices of a particular place. This is particularly relevant when designing for public places in which human activities are open-ended, multi-faceted, and difficult to anticipate, such as libraries, train stations, or commercial areas. In order to investigate situated sketching and enactment, we developed Ébauche. It enables designers to collaboratively sketch interfaces, distribute them across multiple displays and enact use cases. We present the lessons learned from six situated sketching and enactment workshops on public displays with Ébauche. And we present the results of a controlled study with 8 pairs of designers who used paper and Ébauche. We present the various ways in which participants leveraged the place, and how paper or Ébauche influenced the integration of their designs in the place. Looking at the design outcomes, our results suggest that paper leads to broader exploration of ideas and deeper physical integration in the environment. Whereas Ébauche leads to more refined sketches and more animated enactments.


Most of Melbourne's drinking water comes from forested catchments which are largely closed to the public to minimise water quality risks. Potential disruptions to maintaining high quality and low cost drinking water include a growing population and a changing and variable climate. The expected introduction of Health Based Targets (HBTs) in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines provides an important driver to deliver public health outcomes and provides a consistent framework to show best practice is being used to manage microbial risks at the source. Melbourne's most important and protected water catchments feed into Silvan Reservoir. This study investigated the benefits and costs of integrated catchment management as a treatment process for drinking water supplied by the Silvan system. A facilitated participatory approach combined with benefit cost analysis (BCA) using the Investment Framework for Environmental Resources (INFFER) was used. This included an innovative approach to quantifying the risk of bushfire to Melbourne's water supply within a BCA framework. Benefits and costs were assessed for nine options, two focussing on managing microbial risk to meet HBTs and seven to address bushfire risks. Protecting the Silvan Reservoir had the highest adjusted benefit cost ratio (BCR = 2.14) over 30 years. Protecting the whole system (including Upper Yarra and Thomson catchments) was marginally uneconomic (adjusted BCR = 0.93), but would be economically viable with some minor efforts to reduce project-based risks. Enhanced catchment management to protect against bushfire impacts was also close to being economically viable (BCR = 0.96). Innovative measures to reduce debris flow impacts was also promising (BCR = 1.30) whereas investment in filtration plants was poor (BCRs range 0.06 to 0.45).


Three new species of the genus Cyphon Paykull (Coleoptera: Helodidae) are described, viz. C. perses n. sp. from Iran, C. ponticus n.sp. from north-east Turkey, and C. iberus n.sp. from Spain. They all belong to the coarctatus group s. 1. In addition, descriptions are given of the male C. macedonicus Nyholm and the female C. scurrula Nyholm, the former described by Klausnitzer (1976) under the name of Cyphon graecus, which name consequently has to be sunk as a synonym, the latter previously unknown. Attention is drawn to the characteristics afforded by the bristles covering the parameres in Cyphon. The multiformity of these bristles will be dealt with in more detail in a separate paper.


The objective of this study was to predict absolute bioavailability in humans from animal data using interspecies scaling as well as indirect approaches. Five different methods were used to predict absolute bioavailability in humans: (i) absolute bioavailability vs body weight (allometric approach); (ii) F = CL(IV)/CL(oral); (iii) F = 1-[CL(IV)/Q]; (iv) F = 1-[CL(oral)/Q]; and (v) F = Q/[Q + CL(oral)]. Methods II-V are indirect approaches, where predicted i.v. or oral clearance and hepatic blood flow (Q) (1500 ml/min) were used to predict absolute bioavailability in humans. Fifteen drugs were tested and the results of this study indicate that all five approaches predict absolute bioavailability with different degrees of accuracy, and are therefore unreliable for the accurate prediction of absolute bioavailability in humans from animal data. In conclusion, although the above-mentioned approaches do not accurately predict absolute bioavailability, a rough estimate of absolute bioavailability is possible using these approaches.


Nerve compression syndromes involve peripheral-nerve dysfunction that is due to localized interference of microvascular function and structural changes in the nerve or adjacent tissues. Although a well known example is compression of the median nerve at the wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome), other nerves, such as the ulnar nerve at the wrist or the elbow and the spinal nerve roots at the vertebral foramen, are vulnerable. This paper focuses on studies in which the physiological, pathophysiological, biochemical, and histological effects of biomechanical loading on the peripheral nerves were evaluated in humans and animals.

When tissues are subjected to load or pressure, they deform and pressure gradients are formed, redistributing the compressed tissue toward areas of lower pressure. Nerve compression syndromes usually occur at sites where the nerve passes through a tight tunnel formed by stiff tissue boundaries. The resultant confined space limits movement of tissue and can lead to sustained tissue pressure gradients. Space-occupying structures or lesions (for example, lumbrical muscles, tumors, and cysts) can cause nerve compression injury, as can conditions associated with accumulation of fluid (for example, pregnancy, congestive heart failure, and muscle compartment syndromes) or accumulation of extracellular matrix (for example, acromegaly, myxedema hypothyroidism, and mucopolysaccharidosis)76. Although nerve injuries related to vibration occur near the region of exposure, the symptoms may be manifest at another site, where the nerve may be constricted. Other conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, may increase the likelihood that a compressed nerve will undergo a pathological response. In addition, there may be an inflammatory reaction that may impair the normal gliding of the nerve. Basic knowledge of the microanatomy of peripheral nerves and neurons and of their complex reactions to compression is essential to understanding, preventing, and treating nerve compression injuries.

### Microanatomy

The neuron consists of the nerve cell body, located in the …


The paper is devoted to the study of the Drazin inverse of some structured matrices that appear in applications. We focus mainly on deriving formulas for the Drazin inverse of an anti-triangular block matrix M in terms of its blocks. New representations for the Drazin inverse of M are given under some conditions, that extend recent results in the literature. Additionally, these results are applied to investigate the Drazin inverse of certain structured matrices, in particular the group inverse for Hermitian matrices, and to study additive properties of the Drazin inverse.


Immunotherapy has made great strides in improving clinical outcomes in cancer treatment. However, few patients exhibit adequate response rates for key outcome measures and desired long-term responses, and they often suffer systemic side effects due to the dynamic nature of the immune system. This has motivated a search for alternative strategies to improve unsatisfactory immunotherapeutic outcomes. In recent years, biomaterial-assisted immunotherapy has shown promise in cancer treatment with improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced side effects. These biomaterials have illuminated fundamental mechanisms underlying the immunoediting process, while greatly improving the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, cancer vaccine therapy, and immune checkpoint blockade therapy. This minireview discusses recent advances in engineered biomaterials that address limitations associated with conventional cancer immunotherapies.


Extracts from HeLa cells treated with excess diphtheria toxin for several hours, until all protein synthesis has been arrested, are still able to stimulate the poly U-directed incorporation of phenylalanine into polypeptides at a moderate rate. Activity may be restored to normal levels or above by addition of a soluble enzyme fraction containing transferase II. Our results are in agreement with those of Collier who has recently shown that toxin inactivates transferase II in extracts from rabbit reticulocytes. We have further demonstrated that amino acid incorporation in extracts from intoxicated HeLa cells is limited by their transferase II content whereas, in extracts from normal cells, it is the ribosomes and to a lesser extent sRNA that are limiting. We have found that only soluble transferase II is inactivated by toxin; the ribosome-bound enzyme is resistant.


Cancer is a dread disease, and cancer prevention a high priority for governments and non-governmental organizations. The most common cancer prevention activities aim to modify "behavioral risk factors" in populations and to screen for early-stage cancer or pre-cancer to enable early treatment. Cancer incidence, service utilization, and outcomes are associated with social, cultural, and economic disadvantage, leading to a desire to increase cancer screening service utilization in disadvantaged communities. However the epidemiology of cancer screening increasingly suggests that some forms of screening do more harm than good, contradicting public enthusiasm for this service. Paradoxically, this means that disadvantaged people may be better off, on average, if they do not participate in some forms of cancer screening. The large and convincing literature on the social determinants of health suggests the importance of improving living conditions and access to resources for disadvantaged people as a strategy for cancer prevention.

Keywords:

cancer;
public health;
inequality;
social causation


Organ trafficking is a transnational issue that calls for a response from the international medical community. Despite consistent condemnation, organ trafficking persists due to the worldwide shortage of organs for transplantation. This paper discusses the human rights abuses perpetuated by organ trafficking and suggests some approaches to reducing organ trafficking and transplant tourism. The paper concludes that combating organ trafficking requires a cohesive response from the international community of states, comprising of mutually reinforcing legal reform at international and domestic levels. In particular, states should seek to lighten the burden on the worldwide shortage of organs by increasing local supply. This paper considers presumed consent to be the most effective system of organ procurement. As such the paper suggests a framework for implementing presumed consent in New Zealand, in order to increase organ donation rates.


Background: Craniotomy is a terrifying ordeal for patients and their families. The postoperative period is a patient's weakest and most vulnerable time. Despite teaching moments about postoperative directions, patients' concerns about daily living activities prior to and after discharge are the most common. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of an interventional program on patient's performance about self-care after craniotomy surgery. To find out the association between the effectiveness an interventional program on patient's performance about self-care after craniotomy surgery and demographic data of patients. Subjects and methods: A pre-experimental design (one group pre-test/ post-test design) is applied has been done to obtain the study goals. Forty-four patients had craniotomy surgery selecting by non-probability sample (convenience) sampling. Their age ranged from (20-60 and more) years old, fully conscious after operation. One group that gives interventional program. Using a valid and reliable questionnaire, data was collected. Results: the study shows there is a statistical significance deference between pre and post-test for study at p <0.05 which mean effectiveness of interventional programو this indicates to good improvement in total knowledge and practices of the patients about self-care performance after application of interventional program. Conclusion: At the post test, there was a high significant improvement in patients` knowledge and practices about self-care performance after application of the interventional program, this demonstrates the smoothness of the program that was designed for this purpose, as well as the ease with which it was accepted by all of the patients who took part. There is a statistical significant difference between demographics variables (age, gender, marital status, educational qualification and occupation) and effectiveness of interventional program among the two period (pre and post-test) for patient's knowledge and practices. Recommendation: Conducting specialized courses for medical and health staff concerned with the implementation of self-care programs after neurosurgery in neurosurgery wards. Keywords: Interventional Program, Self-Care Performance, Craniotomy Surgery.


The University of New Mexico (UNM) klystron test stand can generate microwave pulses up to 2-ms long with a frequency of 850 MHz and a peak power of 1.26 MW. For these experiments, the klystron output was used to simulate field breakdown near or on the surface of RF vacuum windows. RF-driven discharges were initiated in vacuum waveguide sections between copper electrodes. Data were gathered for discharges in the gap between the electrodes and for discharges between the electrodes and across the surface of the ceramic alumina. The generated optical signals were captured through three different windows (sapphire, crystal quartz, and NaCl) using different photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs). Issues addressed include a partial analysis of the spectra from metal/metal and metal/ceramic arcs and an investigation of arc precursor emission. The results of these preliminary tests will be used to optimize selection of optical components in an arc detection systems.


This study investigated 15 postgraduate students` conception toward the nature of science and the changes of those conceptions through the course called `Philosophy of Science and Science Education`. And another 8 postgraduate students who took the cause called `Mathematical Physics` were also investigated for comparison. A survey questionnaire involving 9 items was developed and administered before and after the course to both groups. Individual interviews with students taking `Philosophy of Science and Science Education` were carried out in a small scale for obtaining additional information about their background knowledge. The results of this study showed that the student` traditional views of philosophy of science including the objective observation and the inductive method were reduced after the course, `Philosophy of Science and Science Education`. On the otter hand, views of modem philosophy of science including the theory-laden observation, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge and science as human activities became more popular. It was also found that their conceptions towards science were different according to their previous knowledges on the philosophy of science and their majors.


T-cadherin (T-Cad), a unique member of the cadherin family of proteins, plays an important role in cell adhesion and cell signaling. Recently, we demonstrated that T-Cad is transcriptionally repressed by DNA methyltransferase 3b during nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells. Here, we show that T-Cad expression is also regulated at the post-translational level by the proteasomal pathway in these cells, which is facilitated upon NGF treatment. Pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that NGF treatment significantly reduced the half-life of T-Cad. Degradation of T-Cad was blocked upon treatment of PC12 cells with the proteasomal inhibitor ZLLL or lactacystin. Ectopic expression of Cdh1 (CDC20 homolog 1), one of the substrate recognition components of anaphase promoting complex (E3 ligase), stimulated T-Cad degradation. Deletion of CD1, one of the five extracellular cadherin domains (CD), promoted degradation of T-Cad, especially in the presence of NGF. On the contrary, deletion of CD2 stabilized this protein maximally. Ubiquitination of different deletion mutants indicates that T-Cad harbors multiple ubiquitination signals. Furthermore, genistein, a protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, impeded T-Cad degradation in PC12 cells, implicating requirement of tyrosine phosphorylation in this process. Mutation at tyrosine 327 (Y327F) markedly increased the half-life of T-Cad, suggesting that phosphorylation of this tyrosine residue located within CD2 is critical for this process. These results show that T-cadherin is subject to dual regulation during NGF-induced differentiation of PC12 cells, namely transcriptional repression mediated by Dnmt3b and post-translational degradation through the proteasomal pathway. These data, together with the inhibitory role of T-Cad in neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells upon NGF treatment, underscore the significance of its stringent regulation during this differentiation process.


Author(s): Ma, Stephanie Akemi | Advisor(s): D'Antonio, Carla M | Abstract: Wildfire return intervals are expected to decrease in shrubland communities across southern California due to increasing anthropogenic fire ignitions and climate change. These shortened fire intervals may initiate a positive feedback, placing native chaparral species at risk of replacement by alien annual grasses. This shift is predicted because many chaparral species require multiple years to recover from a wildfire disturbance (i.e., to replenish the seedbank or to replenish underground carbohydrate reserves) and if a second wildfire occurs in quick succession, these species may experience a severe population decline or even extirpation as new seedlings or young resprouts are killed. After generating a wildfire occurrence map, I selected twelve polygons that experienced two wildfires within five years to evaluate vegetation change following a short-interval fire. All polygons were located in Ventura or Los Angeles County, California and spanned a temporal range from 1956 to 2003. These polygons were then compared to adjacent polygons that experienced only one wildfire within the same five-year period. In order to capture prefire vegetation conditions, historical aerial photographs (HAPs) were selected as-close-to before the first wildfire as possible. In order to capture the maximum postfire growth, HAPs were chosen to be no less than six years following the second wildfire. Prefire and postfire images were georectified and used to calculate ground cover using five community types: chaparral, alien annual grass, sage scrub, tree or bare ground/exposed rock. To determine the role of regional moisture gradients and environmental conditions in predicting vegetation change I investigated aspect, location in relation to the Santa Ana wind corridors, distance from the coast, time since fire, and prefire cover values as potential predictors of the strength and direction of vegetation responses. Results showed no significant differences in vegetation cover from short interval wildfires compared to adjacent single wildfires. Prefire vegetation cover was highly correlated with postfire cover. Chaparral and sage scrub cover showed strong trends in relation to the time since fire, especially following a single wildfire: positive vegetation change for chaparral and negative vegetation change for sage scrub. Location in relation to the Santa Ana wind corridors and distance from the coast were not found to be significant factors of vegetation change. By contrast, 'aspect' correlated with significant differences in vegetation cover, regardless of wildfire history, for chaparral and sage scrub communities: chaparral cover declined and sage scrub cover increased after wildfire on north, but not south, aspects. This study did not find evidence of chaparral loss strictly as a result of a single short interval wildfire. I propose that additional factors, such as aspect and initial community cover (extent), may be equally or more important than a single short interval fire when predicting vegetation changes following wildfire in southern California.


Simple Summary Thick-lipped grey mullet (Chelon labrosus) feeds on the lowest trophic levels during adult stages, for which it is considered a viable candidate for an economically and environmentally sustainable aquaculture. Similar to most of marine fish species, C. labrosus produce a large number of eggs, leading to morphologically and anatomically larvae that are not completely mature and have to pass through substantial differentiation and development in their functional systems to acquire adult features. Therefore, the study of the development of digestive tract and of the growth regulation can provide useful information to adapt the feeding protocols and rearing conditions to the physiological requirements at each stage. This work aimed to evaluate the early ontogeny of key digestive enzymes and somatotropic factors at biochemical and/or transcriptional levels. Our results evidenced that maturation of the digestive system and acquisition of the adult mode of digestion occurs around 60 to 70 days post hatch (dph), when starch or other low-cost carbohydrate-based compounds could be used in formulated diets at increasing levels. Furthermore, our results implied an independent expression of the studied somatotropic genes during the first 40 dph and establishment of a functional growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1 axis from 50 dph onward. Abstract Thick-lipped grey mullet (Chelon labrosus) is a candidate for sustainable aquaculture due to its omnivorous/detritivorous feeding habit. This work aimed to evaluate its digestive and growth potentials from larval to early juvenile stages. To attain these objectives the activity of key digestive enzymes was measured from three until 90 days post hatch (dph). Expression of genes involved in digestion of proteins (try2, ctr, pga2, and atp4a), carbohydrates (amy2a), and lipids (cel and pla2g1b), together with two somatotropic factors (gh and igf1) were also quantified. No chymotrypsin or pepsin activities were detected. While specific activity of trypsin and lipase were high during the first 30 dph and declined afterward, amylase activity was low until 57 dph and increased significantly beyond that point. Expression of try2, ctr, amy2a, and cel increased continuously along development, and showed a peak at the end of metamorphosis. Expression of pla2g1b, pga2 and atp4a increased until the middle of metamorphosis and decreased afterwars. Most of these trends contrast the usual patterns in carnivorous species and highlight the transition from larvae, with high protein requirements, to post-larvae/juvenile stages, with omnivorous/detritivorous feeding preferences. Somatotropic genes, gh and igf1, showed approximately inverse expression patterns, suggesting the establishment of the Gh/Igf1 axis from 50 dph.


Few topics have intrigued biologists as much as the evolution of sex. Understanding why sex persists despite its costs requires not just rigorous theoretical study, but also empirical data on related fundamental issues, including the nature of genetic variance for fitness, patterns of genetic interactions, and the dynamics of adaptation. The increasing feasibility of examining genomes in an experimental context is now shedding new light on these problems. Using this approach, McDonald et al. recently demonstrated that sex uncouples beneficial and deleterious mutations, allowing selection to proceed more effectively with sex than without. Here we discuss the insights provided by this study, along with other recent empirical work, in the context of the major theoretical models for the evolution of sex.


Sarah Phillips Casteel. Second ArrivaU: Landscape and Behnging in Contemporary Writing of the Americas. Charlottesville: U of Virginia P, 2007. ? + 256 pp. $59.00/$22.50.In Philip Roth's American Pastoral (1997), when Seymour "The Swede" Levov moves from the Weequahic section of Newark to Old Rimrock (a town as close to the countryside as is possible in Northern New Jersey), he is met immediately with resolute resistance from his father: "I come from the city [...] You know what? You're dreaming. I wonder if you even know where this is. Let's be candid with each other about this - this is a narrow, bigoted area" (309). In the mind of the Swede's father, the city is privileged as the place of Jewish American belonging, identity, and, not to be glossed over, cultural tolerance. Therefore, the city and the countryside can only exist in binary opposition. Here, the Swede's drive to assimilate is thrown in direct opposition to his Jewish identity. There is a void here: that of the Jewish American tradition of the city in conflict with the American tradition of a desire for space.Similarly, in Second Arrivals, Sarah Philips Casteel finds a void in the field of diaspora studies: "The two poles of contemporary diasporic discourse - movement and sedentarism, or the global and the local - find their special counterparts in the customary opposition between the city and the country" (4). Further, much like the sentiment of the Swede's father, Casteel argues that "[t]he city has been widely perceived as the space of diversity and movement, while the country is negatively associated with homogeneity and containment [...] repressive nationalisms and fascist movements, as well as racisms such as that of the U.S. rural South" (4). Such city-centric bias, she claims, have permeated studies of the diaspora, so that "the city becomes the focus of intense scrutiny, while landscape depictions of nature seldom figure into such discussions" (4).Accordingly, Second Arrivals is designed not to fill diat void, but to open up the conversation about diasporic ideas (e.g., ideas of belonging, displacement, emplacement, and space) with regard to writing and visual art concerning landscape and the pastoral, and perhaps to introduce a sub-field of diaspora studies - pastoral and landscape diasporism. In doing so, Casteel examines everything from the contemporary Jewish American writer's idea of displacement when thrust into the pastoral (with special attention paid to Philip Roth's American Pastoral and The Counterlife [1987], and Bernard Malamud's A New Life [1961]) to the diasporic tensions evident in the landscape photography of Jin-me Yoon. Thus, Second Arrivals might be viewed as an attempt to reconcile the accepted norms of pastoral and diasporic art - two concepts she sees in binary opposition in the current critical conversation.Despite the critical bias towards the city, Jewish American writers have not shied away from the pastoral while dealing with diasporic narratives of identity and belonging. Rather, Casteel argues, "The pastoral mode has considerable appeal for diasporic writers in the Americas because of its unique capacity to register simultaneously the attachment to place and the anguish of dispossession" (109). In chapter two, "The Myth of the West in Bernard Malamud and Philip Roth," Casteel focuses largely on the understudied "second arrival" of immigrant groups, specifically Jewish American protagonists moving from the city (the first arrival) to the country, where a new settlement occurs, and the pastoral myth of the American West is examined.Casteel's main claim in this chapter deals with a drive toward assimilation, both for the Jewish American protagonists and the authors themselves: "This attraction to the pastoral works on two levels: on the one hand it bespeaks a desire to gain access to the 'true' America, which is envisioned as pastoral in keeping with leading national myths, and on the other it signals the Jewish American author's ambition to claim a space in the U. …


SUMMARY
Changes in Vp/Vs (Poisson's ratio) around a fault are related to changes in the fluid transport properties of rocks, which play a significant role in seismogenic processes. Here we report a notable relationship between Vp/Vs and the permeability of porous fault-related rocks (Chelungpu fault, Taiwan) by direct and simultaneous measurement of elastic wave velocities (Vp and Vs) and permeability under increasing effective confining pressure (Peff) up to 25 MPa. Vp and Vs for all samples increased with Peff in the range up to 20 MPa, then were nearly constant as Peff increased to 25 MPa. Most silty sandstones with large proportions of fine-grained material showed positive correlations between Vp/Vs and permeability with rising pressure. On the other hand, well-sorted sandstones showed only slight changes in permeability with respect to Vp/Vs with rising pressure. We infer that grain size distributions, in particular the amount of silt- and clay-size grains, are responsible for the change in permeability with pressure as small particles clog pore networks with increasing Peff, causing the decrease in permeability. These findings may be useful to explain changes in permeability and pore pressure in the deep crust.


The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of polishing with different solutions on the surface roughness and hardness of two different polymethylmethacrylate temporary restoration materials. In the study, two different temporary crown materials prepared in the CAD / CAM system and prepared by the traditional method were used to test a total of 224 pieces of 10 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness. After the surface roughness and micro hardness values were measured, samples were randomly divided into seven groups among themselves; After waiting 24 h, 1 and 3 weeks, values were measured again. Data were evaluated using 3-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey HSD test. The temporary restorative materials surface hardness and roughnesses are important to be able to stay in oral cavity without any changes. And it is also important to determine which of the materials (prepared by temporary conventional materiels or by the CAD/CAM) are less effected by the liquids in oral cavity.

https://revmaterialeplastice.ro/pdf/21 NURAN 4 21.pdf


To investigate the behavior of components and piping systems subjected to seismic loadings, the maximum restoring forces and maximum deformations of inelastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems due to harmonic excitations and seismic floor motions are calculated and presented as diagrams. These systems have restoring forces characterized by a bilinear skeleton curve of a kinematic hardening rule. The diagrams show two types of characteristics, based upon which sinusoidal loadings can be categorized into force- and displacement-controlled loadings, and seismic loadings can be categorized into force- and displacement-dominant loadings, which are newly proposed herein. The characteristics of force- and displacement-dominant loadings are almost equal to those of force- and displacement-controlled loadings, respectively.


High dimensional expanders is a vibrant emerging field of study. Nevertheless, the only known construction of bounded degree high dimensional expanders is based on Ramanujan complexes, whereas one dimensional bounded degree expanders are abundant. In this work we construct new families of bounded degree high dimensional expanders obeying the local spectral expansion property. A property that implies, geometric overlapping, fast mixing of high dimensional random walks, agreement testing and agreement expansion. The construction also yields new families of expander graphs. The construction is quite elementary and it is presented in a self contained manner; This is in contrary to the highly involved construction of the Ramanujan complexes. The construction is also strongly symmetric; The symmetry of the construction could be used, for example, to obtain good symmetric LDPC codes that were previously based on Ramanujan graphs.


The present paper reports the occurrence of Microlynchia pusilla in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN) on Leptotila verreauxi approximans from a deciduous forest fragment located in the municipality of Macaíba. A specimen of L. v. approximans was collected in June 2012, wrapped in paper towels and kept under refrigeration in a plastic bag for later analysis of parasite fauna, taxidermy, and eventual storage in the Ornithological Collection of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). During the search for ectoparasites, a specimen of M. pusilla was found among feathers of the ventral region; it was collected and stored in the Entomological Collection 'Adalberto Antônio Varela-Freire' of the same university. This report extends the knowledge about geographical distribution and confirms the association of M. pusilla with hosts Columbiformes, contributing to the knowledge of the family Hippoboscidae in the country.


This paper examines monetary policy transmission in Armenia in light of the authorities' intention to shift to an inflation-targeting regime over the medium term. We find that the capability of monetary policy to influence economic activity and inflation is still limited, as important channels of monetary transmission are not fully functional. In particular, the interest rate channel remains weak, even though there is some evidence of transmission to prices of changes in the repo rate, the central bank's new operating target for inflation. As in other emerging and transition economies with a high degree of dollarization, the exchange rate channel has a strong impact on the inflation rate. Moreover, we find that inflation does respond to broad money shocks, once foreign currency deposits are included.


The present paper will discuss three points: (a) the question on if the fundamental mistakes that led Hegel's system to collapse can be understood and formulated in the horizon that is given to us by the tradition from Plato to Schelling; (b) if it is posible to outline the project of a system in the tradition of Plato and Hegel in a way that the mistakes mentioned before can be avoided; (c) in being posible such a project, what role would play in it contemporary scientifi c theories, as the Theory of Evolution by Darwin, The theory of systems by Bertalanffy, the Theories about Deterministic Chaos, the Theory of Prigogine about Dynamic Systems and the Fractals Theory? In answer to this question the paper will defend the proposal of a project of universal philosophical system, in which these theories must be considered as its integer parts, such as mechanisms that, at least in part, determine the passage from the One to the Multiple.


In a broad sense, "China law" ought to be comprised of four components: (1) the laws of the People's Republic of China (PRC); (2) the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), a former British colony handed back to the PRC in 1997, which still employs the common law system; (3) the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR), a former Portuguese colony which was returned to China in 1999, but has kept the original legal system; and (4) the laws of Taiwan which, as the remaining part of the former Republic of China, has developed a distinct legal system different from that of the mainland after the Nationalists lost the civil war to the Communists in 1949. However, "China law" is commonly referred as the laws of the PRC, which was constituted in 1949 when the new government was founded. This article will mainly review the legal resources of the laws of the PRC in electronic formats, including databases, websites, CD-ROM products, and other non-print materials, but not traditional print resources. The legal resources of the laws of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan will be discussed in future articles.


ABSTRACT The idealisation of the home and its centrality to women and children's roles was central to British culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As much historical scholarship has noted, a powerful vision of home as a place of refuge, privacy and cosy family life shaped how the British state, the press, and popular culture conceptualised domesticity, dictating the dominant representations of home life across the twentieth century. However, the introduction highlights the limitations to the existing research and, for instance, historians know relatively little about how the home functioned as a site of conflict, poverty, and fear. It explains how this Special Issue complicates concepts of domesticity in modern British historical scholarship by exploring the ways in which groups and individuals manipulated or subverted meanings of 'home,' using domestic space for activities that subverted the very concept of home life. Part of an AHRC funded Network, Challenging Domesticity in Britain, 1890-1990 (Ref AH/S010289/1), this collection of original research brings together new ways of thinking about domestic space historically. It shows that historians need to take the issues associated with home and domesticity more seriously, not just as a place of shelter but as a site of action and agency.


In recent years separate bodies of literature on vacancy notification and employee mobility have evolved for Migration and Human Resource Management specialisms. Whilst the foci of these investigations have had much in common, examination of the literature suggests that many authors appear to have limited knowledge of the work undertaken outside their specialism. Concentrates on those two aspects of the recruitment process where integration of the literature is likely to be of most benefit: vacancy notification and subsequent employee mobility. Compares and contrasts the specialisms′ approaches to examining the recruitment process and highlights a series of issues where knowledge and understanding of how these aspects of the labour market operate is limited. These include the use of information channels, the impact of labour market factors on employee mobility and the ability of incentives to overcome employee inertia.


A canonical decentralized optimal control problem with quadratic cost criteria can be cast as an LQR problem in which the stabilizing controller is restricted to lie in a constraint set. We characterize a wide class of systems and constraint sets for which the canonical problem is tractable. We employ the notion of operator algebras to study the structural properties of the canonical problem. Examples of some widely used operator algebras in the context of distributed control include the subspace of infinite and finite dimensional spatially decaying operators, lower (or upper) triangular matrices, and circulant matrices. For a given operator algebra, we prove that if the trajectory of the solution of an operator differential equation starts inside the operator algebra, it will remain inside for all times. Using this result, we show that if the constraint set is an operator algebra, the canonical problem is solvable and equivalent to the standard LQR problem without the information constraint.


We have recently reported that insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) can significantly increase ceramide-induced apoptosis in an Hs578T breast carcinoma cell line in an IGF-independent manner. It was observed in that study that IGFBP-3 added to the cultures was proteolytically modified, generating a specific pattern of fragmentation. We have also previously reported that almost all of the IGFBP-3 outside the circulation in extravascular fluids is in a fragmented form, apparently due to the activity of a cation-dependent serine protease. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of proteolysis in the IGFBP-3 enhancement of C2-induced apoptosis. In this study we confirmed that preincubation of Hs578T cells with IGFBP-3 enhances the apoptotic effect of the ceramide analog C2. The presence of IGF-I completely inhibited the enhancement effect, apparently by inhibiting cell surface association and proteolytic modification. The presence of a serine protease inhibitor [4-(2-aminoethyl)benesulfonyl fluoride] completely inhibited the enhancement effect of IGFBP-3, and Western immunoblotting of conditioned medium and cell surface-associated IGFBP-3 revealed that proteolytic fragmentation of the IGFBP-3 was reduced. In addition, fragments from the incubation of IGFBP-3 with plasmin were able to enhance the susceptibility of Hs578T cells to C2. The effect of these fragments could, however, also be reduced by 4-(2-aminoethyl)benesulfonyl fluoride despite the fact that IGFBP-3 was already fragmented. This suggests additional roles for serine proteases in the IGFBP-3 effect on C2-induced apoptosis in addition to the cleavage of the binding protein.


Double ionization of Ne by 25 fs, 1.0 PW cm−2 laser pulses has been explored in a kinematically complete experiment using a 'reaction microscope'. Electrons are found to be emitted into a narrow cone along the laser polarization (ε), much more confined than for single ionization, with a broad maximum in their energy distribution along ε. Correlated momentum spectra show both electrons being ejected into the same hemisphere, in sharp contrast to predictions based on field-free (e, 2e) recollision dynamics, but in overall agreement with recent semiclassical calculations for He.


Cadmium can damage kidney and liver cells. Thunbergia laurifolia Lindl. is a herb used as an antidote for several poisonous agents in Thai traditional medicine. This study tested the effectiveness of the herb to prevent renal and hepatic injuries induced by cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 ). Male Wistar rats were fed 125 mg/kg of the leaf extract before and after administration of 1.2 mg/kg of CdCl 2 solution subcutaneously for 5 days/week for 4 weeks. Blood and urinary samples were collected for quantification of cadmium concentrations using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer. The kidneys and livers were removed and examined for histopathological changes. The results showed that the leaf extract given to rats orally did not prevent mortality in rats exposed to cadmium. However, abnormal appearance and behaviour was less in rats fed the leaf extract prior to cadmium exposure than in those fed leaf extract after cadmium exposure. The constituents of the extract were identified as aromatic, hexyl and glucoside compounds by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The T. laurifolia leaf extract may reduce some effects of cadmium toxicity, but this conclusion is uncertain due to the high mortality rate of the rats in these experiments. Future trials will use a lower cadmium dosage and alternative routes of treating the animals with the leaf extract.


In "The Missouri Supreme Court, " distinguished legal historian Gerald T. Dunne captures the people and personalities, conflicts and controversies of Missouri's rich legal history. Using a lively anecdotal approach to examine the key cases and political disputes, as well as the strong-minded incumbents who have served on the court's bench, he places Missouri's judicial system in the context of the overall political and legal developments in the United States as a whole. Dunne sets the scene by presenting Missouri before it became a state, tracing the evolution of Indian, Spanish, and French legal influences until the final adoption of a legal system based on the English common law. Then, through a compelling narrative, he recounts not only the factual background of major cases but also interesting biographical information about the disputants. Dunne reveals the fascinating history of the Missouri Supreme Court from the basic violation of human rights in the Dred Scott case up through the ethical questions addressed in the case of Nancy Cruzan's right to die. These are only two of the important decisions of the United States Supreme Court that had their origins in Missouri and are discussed here. These cases are landmarks not only because of what the higher courts said about them, but because of their intrinsic historical interest.Dunne concludes with portraits of key judges who served on the supreme court. He tells how diminutive Abiel Leonard killed a man in a duel on his way to the Missouri Supreme Court bench. And we learn of "The Sage of Sedalia," Henry Lamm, if not the greatest, certainly the most quotable member of the court who left behind a sparkling sequence of aphorisms. By incorporating such colorful details and enlivening his subject with gusto, charm, and humor, Dunne personalizes the Missouri Supreme Court beyond its institutional function."The Missouri Supreme Court" is an enduring work that reflects the human condition, in both the law and the society it serves, in all its weakness and strength, error and achievement, and occasional glory.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * CPAs can provide essential services to clients facing bankruptcy by advising them and their bankruptcy attorney on tax debts and their disposition in a bankruptcy estate. CPAs should therefore be familiar with bankruptcy law and procedure as they relate to tax debts, along with administrative methods of resolving them. * How tax debts may be discharged in bankruptcy depends on the type of proceeding. Chapter 7 ("straight bankruptcy") liquidates the debtors' nonexempt assets and apportions the proceeds among unsecured creditors, including the IRS. Chapter 13 and 11 cases establish a payment plan of up to five years, after which certain remaining tax debts can be discharged. * Generally, tax debts that may be discharged in bankruptcy are income tax debts that are not recent-from returns due more than three years before the bankruptcy filing, or, for filed returns, those more than two years old. Assessments from audit adjustments or amended returns must be at least 940 days old. Payroll tax withholding and related trust fund liabilities, along with state sales taxes and certain excise taxes, are not dischargeable. * CPAs should explore strategies for managing fax debts to best advantage when clients are considering bankruptcy. Such strategies can include timing considerations and use of administrative resolution methods such as installment payments, collection due process proceedings and offers in compromise. ********** [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the downturn in the economy and massive job losses, personal bankruptcy filings have exploded. According to the National Bankruptcy Research Center (tinyud.com/2ac4xpr), approximately 1.4 million bankruptcies were filed in 2009, a 32% increase over 2008. They included Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings, which increased 42%, and Chapter 13 filings, which increased 12%. Bankruptcies in 2010 may be fewer than last year. However, in early January, The Wall Street, Journal reported (tinyurl.com/yefapru) that bankruptcy attorneys had not yet experienced a slowdown in their workload. CPA clients may be among those needing bankruptcy protection. Many of these clients may benefit from including federal tax debts in their petition. CPAs can play a key role by assisting clients and their attorneys in determining if and when bankruptcy is a viable alternative for resolving federal tax liabilities, by determining the composition of tax amounts owed and which tax liabilities might be dischargeable, and by exploring the many bankruptcy alternatives for dealing with tax debts. Besides being aware of the tax resolution options of bankruptcy described in this article, CPAs should be familiar with administrative tax resolution methods, which the client should pursue first. These include innocent spouse relief, a request for abatement of penalties, an installment agreement or an offer in compromise (OIC). If those options are insufficient, bankruptcy may be the best way for your clients either to secure a reasonable payment plan (Chapter 11 or Chapter 13) or to liquidate their assets to pay off all or a portion of their tax debt (Chapter 7). Using administrative tax resolution methods instead of bankruptcy may help clients avoid having a "black mark" on their credit history. However, a federal tax lien listed on the debtor's credit report may damage his or her credit rating as much as a bankruptcy notation. Clients who may benefit from bankruptcy protection should be promptly referred to an attorney who specializes in bankruptcy law. NOT ALL TAX DEBTS DISCHARGEABLE To be dischargeable, individual income tax liabilities must meet the following "mechanical" rules of 11 USC [section][section] 523(a)(1) and 507(a)(8): * More than three years must have elapsed since the tax return generating the liability was due, including extensions. Various acts such as prior bankruptcies, collection due process (CDP) hearings, innocent spouse relief and tax assistance orders can extend the three-year time frame. …


Protein conformational disorders are associated with the appearance, persistence, accumulation, and misprocessing of aberrant proteins in the cell. The etiology of renal tubular dysgenesis (RTD) is linked to mutations in the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Here, we report the identification of a novel ACE mutation (Q1069R) in an RTD patient. ACE Q1069R is found sequestered in the endoplasmic reticulum and is also subject to increased proteasomal degradation, preventing its transport to the cell surface and extracellular fluids. Modulation of cellular proteostasis by temperature shift causes an extension in the processing time and trafficking of ACE Q1069R resulting in partial rescue of the protein processing defect and an increase in plasma membrane levels. In addition, we found that temperature shifting causes the ACE Q1069R protein to be secreted in an active state, suggesting that the mutation does not affect the enzyme's catalytic properties.


Yolk sac tumors (YST) are rare in extragonadal location. Cytologic diagnosis of YST in such instances may be a challenge to the pathologist. We studied Fine needle Aspiration (FNA) material from a sacrococcygeal mass in a 18-month-old female child presenting with a progressively increasing sacrococcygeal mass. Cytologic features include large pleomorphic balls of tumor cells with high nuclear to cytoplasmic ratios, papillary or micro-glandular pattern of growth, cytoplasmic and intra-nuclear vacuoles, and prominent nucleoli. Per Iodic Acid Schiff (PAS) positive intra-cytoplasmic as well as extracellular hyaline globules were also seen. The subsequent biopsy was consistent with the FNA diagnosis, and immuno-histochemically, the tumor cells were positive for Alpha Feto Protein (AFP) supporting the diagnosis.


The management of multi-level caching hierarchy is a critical and challenging task. Although there exist many hardware and OS-based schemes, they are difficult to be adopted in practice since they incur non-trivial overheads and high complexity. In order to efficiently deal with this challenge, we propose MERCURY, a cost-effective and lightweight hardware support to coordinate with OS-based cache management schemes. Its basic idea is to leverage data similarity to reduce data migration costs and deliver high performance. Moreover, in order to accurately and efficiently capture the data similarity, we propose to use low-complexity Locality-Sensitive Hashing (LSH). In our design, in addition to the problem of space inefficiency, we identify that a conventional LSH scheme also suffers from the problem of homogeneous data placement. To address these two problems, we design a novel Multi-Core-enabled LSH (MC-LSH) that accurately captures the differentiated similarity across data. The similarity-aware MERCURY hence efficiently partitions data into L1 cache, L2 cache and main memory based on their distinct localities, which help optimize cache utilization and minimize the pollution in the last level cache. Experiments through real-world benchmarks further corroborate the efficacy and efficiency of MERCURY.


A chronic patient's environment becomes an important part of his life, and can actively be used in his treatment. This article describes ways of involving the patient's surroundings in a total management plan.


BACKGROUND
There is many civilians and soldiers who exposed to explosions in Iraq each month and they need an otolaryngological and audiological assessment.

OBJECTIVE
To recognize the possible auditory insults and the recovery period of the acquired damages that may resulted from explosion and help for planning of optimal management strategies of otological manifestations and prevent undesirable consequences.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A prospective, descriptive study included forty-seven patients who were exposed to blast injuries within two weeks came to otolaryngology unit in Basrah Teaching Hospital complaining from otological symptoms from July 2017 tell January 2019. Three periodic assessments were done for each patient. An initial evaluation was done in the 1st visit included a detailed history and examination to evaluate the symptoms and assess the associated non-otological injury. An otological examination were done for all patients in the three visits, included microscopic ear examination, photos for the perforated tympanic membrane were taken to grade the perforations depending on their surface area, Pure tone audiometry and tympanometry. Thirty-eight patients were available to follow up in the 2nd and 3rd visits.

RESULTS
All of the 47 patients were young and middle age male, hearing loss and tinnitus were the most presenting symptoms, which improved with time. Hearing impairment mostly in the high frequencies however there was improvement in the subsequent visits. The majority of patients (93.6%) presented with tympanic membrane perforation mostly grade I which usually healed spontaneously. There was a statistically significant associations between the degree of tympanic membrane perforation and associated nonotological injuries and with the explosions if occurred in closed space.

CONCLUSION
Blast related otological injury constitute the main cause of morbidity as the ear is the most sensitive organ to explosive blast injury. Hearing loss was the dominant symptoms at presentation mainly in high frequencies, but fortunately most of patients improved with time. Tympanic membrane perforation constituted the mostly seen sign, however spontaneous healing can be expected in the majority of cases.


The equation of coupled thickness-shear and thickness-twist vibrations is applied in the analysis of unelectroded rectangular and circular AT-cut quartz plates with free-edges. In the case of the rectangular plate the appropriate edge conditions are found and the solutions are obtained. In the case of the circular plate the two coefficients appearing in the planar differential operator are written as a sum of an isotropic part plus a deviation. The eigensolutions for the nearby isotropic case are found and the resonant frequencies for the actual anisotropic case are obtained from the equation for the first perturbation of the eigenfrequency from the isotropic solution. For the circular plate the results have been compared with measurements of the fundamental, and the third harmonic overtones and the agreement is quite good.


In Phase I control charts, control limits are calculated using estimates of unknown parameters of the distribution of the attribute of interest, arising from historical reference samples. In Phase II control charts, statistical functions of new samples are compared with the control chart limits to draw a conclusion around whether the manufacturing process operates in a stable condition or not. The majority of studies conducted on the performance of control charts in Phase II based on the assumption that statistical control parameters of the distribution of the characteristic of interest are known and equal to the estimated parameter values obtained in Phase I. However, when the estimated parameters are used in place of actual parameter values, the performance of control chart will be different from that of the corresponding control charts with known parameters due to the variability of estimated parameters. The main purpose of the dissertation is to study the effect of parameter estimation on the properties of control charts of Phase II, for monitoring the mean of a manufacturing process.


Abstract Fisheries, as part of the human food chain, have an environment that affects fisheries resources. The view of slowing the number of fish catches in the sea due to factors that drive such as economic growth, population and effort effectiveness will decrease the power of fish in the sea. This study carried out the circumstance of fisheries in sea Indonesia and analyzed empirically the relationship between economic factors, population, and effort effectiveness on the catch volume. We apply the random effect (RE) estimator method which is reviewed for 33 provinces for the period 2000-2015. We use catch as a proxy for marine ecosystems. Our results confirmed that the growth of fish catchment in the sea Indonesia experienced a positive trend and the relationship between economic factors, population and effort effectiveness positive and significant on the volume of catch thus we conclude that catch fisheries in Indonesia is sustainable


We investigate the various physical mechanisms that underlie the
dynamical instability of a quantized vortex array at the interface
between two counter-propagating superflows in a two-dimensional
Bose–Einstein condensate. Instabilities of markedly different nature are
found to dominate in different flow velocity regimes. For moderate
velocities where the two flows are subsonic, the vortex lattice displays
a quantized version of the hydrodynamic Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
(KHI), with the vortices rolling up and co-rotating. For supersonic flow
velocities, the oscillation involved in the KHI can resonantly couple to
acoustic excitations propagating away in the bulk fluid on both sides.
This makes the KHI rate to be effectively suppressed and other
mechanisms to dominate: For finite and relatively small systems along
the transverse direction, the instability involves a repeated
superradiant scattering of sound waves off the vortex lattice; for
transversally unbound systems, a radiative instability dominates,
leading to the simultaneous growth of a localized wave along the vortex
lattice and of acoustic excitations propagating away in the bulk.
Finally, for slow velocities, where the KHI rate is intrinsically slow,
another instability associated to the rigid lateral displacement of the
vortex lattice due to the vicinity of the system's boundary is found to
dominate.


In the development and maintenance of male reproductive function and fertility,
steroidogenesis plays a key role.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the betel leaf stalk extract on 17β-
hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase activity levels.

The observed elevation in testicular cholesterol levels may be due to decreased androgen
production, which resulted in impaired spermatogenesis. The decreased steroidogenic enzyme 17β-
HSD activity represents decreased androgen production by the extract administration. Reduction in
enzyme active site density and Km value revealed that there was a reduction in enzyme-substrate affinities
and rate of E-S complex breakdown in the administered rat testes.

The administration of betel leaf stalk extract resulted in decreased enzyme
content probably through impaired synthesis.


The respiratory function of individual abdominal muscles in humans is not well known. Some workers have reported that abdominal muscles act as a single unit during breathing, whereas others have reported differential activation. In the present study, fine wire electrodes were inserted into the rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), internal oblique (IO), and transversus abdominis (TA) muscles in six healthy awake subjects under direct vision provided by high-resolution ultrasonography. Electromyographic (EMG) signals were then recorded in the supine and standing positions during resting ventilation without nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP), then on nCPAP at 5, 10, 15, and 20 cmH2O. Peak values of integrated EMG during expiration were measured. For each abdominal muscle, the number of subjects showing expiratory EMG activity increased with increasing nCPAP or with a change in posture from supine to standing or both. The number of subjects showing expiratory abdominal muscle activity under any condition followed the order: RA < or = EO < or = IO < or = TA. Peak expiratory EMG activity increased significantly with increasing nCPAP in the standing position for EO (p < 0.05), and in both positions for IO and TA (both p < 0.01). These results suggest that: 1) both the standing position and nCPAP imposed an expiratory load, 2) TA and IO are most sensitive to expiratory loading, and are the primary expiratory muscles, and 3) RA is least sensitive to expiratory loading, and is a secondary expiratory muscle. We conclude that individual abdominal muscles respond differently to expiratory loading.


Increased industrialization over the last years in Egypt has resulted in an increased and uncontrolled generation of industrial hazardous waste. The current lack of management of the solid waste in Egypt has created a situation where large parts of the land (especially industrial areas) are covered by un-planned dumps of industrial wastes. Consequently, in the present work, industrial magnesite waste produced in large quantities after production process of magnesium sulfate in Zinc Misr factory, Egypt, was tried to be recycled. Firstly, this material has been characterized applying different analytical techniques such as infrared spectroscopy (IR), surface analyzer (BET), particle size distribution (PSD), elemental analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The magnesite material has been used as a source of producing aluminum, chromium, and magnesium oxides that has better chemical stability than conventional metal oxides. Secondly, utilization of magnesite material for removal of certain radionuclides was applied. Different factors affecting the removal capability such as pH, contacting time, metal concentration, particle size were systematically investigated. The overall objective was aimed at determining feasible and economic solution to the environmental problems related to re-use of the industrial solid waste for radioactive waste management. (authors)


Although rare, death from amanitin exposure poses a significant health risk and a diagnostic challenge to the clinician due to its rarity. This is one of the few conditions to be voluntarily reported by healthcare professionals. No antidote exists for this poisoning and, perhaps due to its rarity or lack of attention, the United States has lagged behind Europe for almost three decades in treatment, diagnostics and experimentation. This regrettable fact warrants the formation of a centralized agency for education, the advancement of research and the collection of data, to provide better treatment for the population.


We examined the specifications and design of the inspiratory pressure regulating valve of 8 continuous flow, pressure-limited infant ventilators. Two pressure regulating designs are currently available; one placing the primary pressure regulating valve on the inspiratory limb, the other placing it on the expiratory limb. Seven ventilators incorporate the latter design to limit inspiratory pressure and must have a safety pressure-relief valve located on the inspiratory limb to vent pressure in case of circuit occlusion. These pressure-relief valves are generally set by the manufacturer far in excess of pressures normally used for infant ventilation. Alarm systems are often absent or inadequate to warn of high pressure conditions during circuit obstruction. A case report detailing the fatal complication of prolonged excessive airway pressure during circuit occlusion is presented. Improvements in the pressure-relief valve designs currently available are possible, and may be necessary to provide adequate protection from barotrauma. The majority of infant ventilators currently available expose the patient to unnecessary excessive airway pressures in the case of expiratory limb occlusion, and the lack of alarm systems may leave the operator unaware of malfunction.


This article explores how on-the-ground Extension educators interface with higher education service-learning. Most service-learning in Extension has focused on precollege youth and 4-H. When we look at higher education service-learning and Extension in Wisconsin, we see that there is not as much connection as might be expected. County-based Extension educators in Wisconsin are not well connected to higher education service-learning and, when they are connected, they are not getting the benefit of best practices in the field. The article considers four models for better integrating service-learning with Extension: the direct service support model, the Extension as client model, the Extension as broker model, and the community development service-learning model.


Recent studies of anion adsorption on Pt have shown that trifluormethane sulfonic acid (TFMSA) is a non-adsorbing electrolyte. Previous comparisons of the kinetics of oxygen reduction on Pt in TFMSA to the kinetics inH 3PO4 show qualitatively that better kinetics were obtained in TFMSA electrolyte, but these studies were not done in a manner in which the effect of specific adsorption by H 2 PO4 anion was apparent. The effect is shown directly in this study by adding small aliquots of H 3PO4 to 0.1 M TFMSA while determining the oxygen reduction kinetics with a Pt rotating disc electrode. The range of H P0 concentrations varied nearly four orders of magnitude, from 2.9 x M to 7.3 x 1O M. The H2 PO4 had a dramatically negative effect on the kinetics. Based on H 2PO4 coverage data reported in the literature, the decrease in rate observed was greater than expected from just a site blocking effect. A small (<1 kcal/mol) increase in activation energy occurs in addition to the steric effect. Finite rates are observed even at saturation coverage due to either of two possible factors: i) a close-packed overlayer of very large ions leaves "holes ° large enough for oxygen molecule penetration; ii) coulombic repulsion of like-ions prohibits the formation of a closepacked overlayer. The kinetic effect due to poisoning of the surface by specifically adsorbed H2 PO4 anion at saturation coverage is about a factor of 15 relative to the rate in a non-adsorbing electrolyte.


ABSTRACT Mutational analysis revealed that members of the Clp system, specifically the ClpL chaperone and the ClpXP proteolytic complex, modulate the expression of important virulence attributes of Streptococcus mutans. Compared to its parent, the ΔclpL strain displayed an enhanced capacity to form biofilms in the presence of sucrose, had reduced viability, and was more sensitive to acid killing. The ΔclpP and ΔclpX strains displayed several phenotypes in common: slow growth, tendency to aggregate in culture, reduced autolysis, and reduced ability to grow under stress, including acidic pH. Unexpectedly, the ΔclpP and ΔclpX mutants were more resistant to acid killing and demonstrated enhanced viability in long-term survival assays. Biofilm formation by the ΔclpP and ΔclpX strains was impaired when grown in glucose but enhanced in sucrose. In an animal study, the average number of S. mutans colonies recovered from the teeth of rats infected with the ΔclpP or ΔclpX strain was slightly lower than that of the parent strain. In Bacillus subtilis, the accumulation of the Spx global regulator, a substrate of ClpXP, has accounted for the ΔclpXP phenotypes. Searching the S. mutans genome, we identified two putative spx genes, designated spxA and spxB. The inactivation of either of these genes bypassed phenotypes of the clpP and clpX mutants. Western blotting demonstrated that Spx accumulates in the ΔclpP and ΔclpX strains. Our results reveal that the proteolysis of ClpL and ClpXP plays a role in the expression of key virulence traits of S. mutans and indicates that the underlying mechanisms by which ClpXP affect virulence traits are associated with the accumulation of two Spx orthologues.


We discuss the general classification of secular evolution in galaxies into terms of stellar dynamics. We present two-dimensional N -body simulations of a disk galaxy in which a central mass concentration is imposed after the formation of a strong bar. We show that the bar dissolves almost completely if the central mass concentration exceeds approximately 5% of the combined disk and bulge mass. This behavior can be understood in terms of previous work on single particle orbits (Hasan & Norman 1990, Hasan et al. 1993); the sustaining orbits aligned with the bar become stochastic as the Inner Lindblad resonance moves out past the minor axis of the bar. We present arguments that bar formation and subsequent thickening and dissolution will create a bulge-like stellar distribution from the central part of the disk. We discuss the predictions of such a model including the point that barred Scs with sufficient central mass concentrations should be building bulges now. We emphasize that bulges can come from a number of different mechanisms and we discuss the current evidence at both high and low redshift.


This paper presents a Chinese approach to ventilation and air conditioning, which are important measures needed to improve the indoor air environment of a build ing. They are important because improper design of a system may degrade the indoor air environment rather than enhance it. This is a situation that might be called sick air conditioning. Also, in circumstances where the outside air is heavily polluted air treatment is necessary to avoid worsening the indoor environment. This paper seeks to highlight the way in which improperly designed ventilation and air conditioning systems may be im proved by use of purified air produced by filtration and other means and through avoidance of the build-up of microbial flora.


AIM
The role of adalimumab in medically refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) in children remains to be defined. The aim of this study was to describe 11 cases of paediatric patients who received adalimumab as a second-line anti-TNF-α treatment for paediatric UC.

METHODS
A retrospective review of all patients with UC who received adalimumab between April 2008 and October 2013 at our hospital was conducted. Clinical efficacy and safety were assessed.

RESULTS
Eleven patients (three boys, eight girls) with a median age of 13.8 years (5.7-16.6 years) were included. All patients had been previously treated with infliximab. Six patients achieved and maintained clinical remission, with a median duration of treatment of 25 months. One patient was successfully weaned off adalimumab after 26 months of therapy. Treatment was unsuccessful in four out of 11 patients (36%) who underwent colectomy 4-13 months (median 7 months) from the first adalimumab dose. The remaining patient developed extensive rash and was switched to alternative therapy.

CONCLUSION
In this case series, our experience shows that there is a role for adalimumab as a combination therapy in a subgroup of children with refractory UC.


This is the first part of a two-part paper focusing on the flow instabilities of low-specific pump turbines. In this part, results of the CFD simulations and experiments of the research carried out on a low specific speed model pump-turbine at HSLU (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences) Switzerland are presented.
 The requirements of a stable and reliable pump-turbine operation under continuously expanding operating ranges, challenges the hydraulic design and requires new developments. Previous research at the HSLU [1] analyzed the instabilities of a medium specific speed (i.e. nq = 45) pump turbine. This paper presents the results of experimental (model pump-turbine at the test rig) and numerical (CFD) investigations of the pump-turbine instabilities of a low specific speed (nq = 25) pump-turbine in the turbine operating mode in the region of S-shaped characteristics (that is where the pump-turbine is synchronized and oscillations may occur during load rejection). The four-quadrant characteristics of a low specific speed model pump-turbine with two similar runners differentiating in the size (diameter) are measured. Testing of both runners with the same guide vane system provided information about the effects of the increased vaneless space (the distance between the guide vanes and runner) on the pump-turbine performance and stability both in turbine- and pump operating modes.
 A CFD methodology by using different numerical approaches and applying several turbulence models is developed in order to accurately predicting the characteristics of the reversible pump-turbines in the S-shaped region (speed no load conditions) as well as analyzing the flow features especially at off-design conditions. This CFD model is validated against the experimental data at 6° and 18° guide vane openings in turbine operating mode.
 With the measured data of the unsteady pressure measurements and detailed investigation of unstable ranges on the pump-turbine characteristics, flow instabilities in the low-specific speed model pump-turbine are analyzed. Relevant frequencies such as rotating stall, steady and unsteady vortex formations are determined. Based on the analysis of the experimental data and CFD results focusing especially on the flow features in the vaneless space and at the runner inlet, the onset and development of the flow instabilities are explored.


We consider two challenging ecological problems and show how they are naturally investigated using spatial survival models with time varying covariates. The first problem involves explanation of the occurrence of wild fires. This process is of interest because over half of the world's terrestrial ecosystems depend on fire to maintain ecological structure and function and the ecological role of fire regimes can be strongly influenced by weather and climate. To undertake this analysis, we developed an extensive database of observed fires with high-resolution meteorological data to explore fire regimes in the Mediterranean ecosystem in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa during the period 1980-2000. We need to consider the influence of seasonally (quarterly) anomalous weather on fire probability. In addition to these local-scale influences, the Antarctic Ocean Oscillation (AAO) is a potentially important large scale influence with regard to global circulation patterns. The second involves explaining first flowering times. The objective here is to learn about changes in the length and onset of the growing season. This process has to be examined at individual tree/plant level and in response to weather, in particular daily temperature, rather than aggregating to climate. We are broadly interested in comparison of first flowering time (or bud burst) across species but here we focus on explaining spatial variation in first flowering time. We consider first flowering dates for trees of a single species in Japan at 45 locations over 52 years, collected through 2009. The challenge with this process is to provide suitable functions of the weather heating and chilling functions to employ in the explanation. The difficulty is that these functions are not explicitly defined since they require measurement beginning from unknown starting dates as well as unknown thresholds. We have uncertainty in the specification of the functional covariates. We present both analyses and our findings along with some future challenges.