How does the prefrontal cortex (PFC) regulate motivated behavior? Our experiments characterize the circuits of the PFC regulating motivation, reinforcement and dopamine activity, revealing a novel cortico-thalamic loop. The stimulation of medial PFC (mPFC) neurons activated many downstream regions, as shown by functional MRI. Axonal terminal stimulation of mPFC neurons in downstream regions, including the anteromedial thalamic nucleus (AM), reinforced behavior and activated midbrain dopaminergic neurons. The stimulation of AM neurons projecting to the mPFC also reinforced behavior and activated dopamine neurons, and mPFC and AM showed a positive-feedback loop organization. Reciprocal excitatory functional connectivity, as well as co-activation of the two regions, was found in human participants who watched reinforcing videos. Our results suggest that this cortico-thalamic loop regulates motivation, reinforcement and dopaminergic neuron activity.


The low result of students' learning on data structure subject at Computer Science Faculty Sriwijaya University in the academic year 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 happens because of many factors, one of them is the lack of teaching tools usage. Too many materials and lack of time of classroom process cause teaching and learning process running ineffectively. The purpose of this research is to develop web based teaching tools on data structure at computer science faculty Sriwijaya University. With this teaching tool, it is hoped that the teaching and learning process will be more effective and interesting and with the accessible subjects and more attractive look do as well. Teaching tool development can be conducted by using development research method with system model approach. Teaching tool development resulted is divided into five parts, they are materials (containing list linier material), contact (containing question items related to material), questionnaire and link. The usage of teaching tool has successfully proven to improve students' learning result, especially in mid semester score. Kata kunci: perangkat ajar, struktur data, Internet


Organizational Strategies and Consultation as Situated Practice of Knowledge Social Making - The aim of this paper is to present the main results of a consultation understood like a situated practice dealing with the social process by which professional identity, organizational knowledge and cultures take form. The work underlines how organizational strategies grow up from the social texture of workplace exchanges, in which the practical and daily experience of each professional becomes the main and more relevant field for a making sense process: the interactions and conversations between internal and external stakeholders and social actors shape the incarnate production of ordinary social facts. The paper underlines the qualitative approach and the methodological devices used to achieve the production of situated knowledge concerned the context of a social firm, located in Valle d'Aosta, dealing with the challenge of brand positioning and innovation. By means of accounts and thick descriptions the paper aims to show how making organizational strategies can be analyzed as a situated social process, as a practice which acquires progressive stability from provisional and changing patterns. Keywords: Strategy process, practice, situated knowledge, qualitative methodological approach.


This article presents the results of the environmental benchmarking activity performed within the A.D.A. project "positive actions for the diffusion of good environmental routines in Albania", financed within the E.C. program INTERREG IIIA Italy-Albania. After an initial analysis of the state of the art in Albania on environmental politics and strategies, the planning and implementation of the environmental benchmarking analysis is described within a selected sample. A new benchmarking model was adapted to this aim for the diffusion of good environmental practices in Albania. The model use was supported by the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), for prioritizing the perceptions of stakeholders on their relative severity of environmental routines.


Illuminated by the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology in classical control engineering, we propose the PWM approximation which transforms continuous and bang-bang control into each other. This method works by squeezing the approximation error into high-frequency components above a prescribed cutoff frequency $\Omega$, which can be tailored by modulating the switch time of the bang-bang control. Because the quantum dynamics under bang-bang control can be efficiently calculated, PWM allows us to speed up quantum control design particularly in large dimensional systems with small number of control variables. Moreover, PWM paves the way to implement various bang-bang control protocols in the literature with an arbitrary waveform, which is more desirable in laboratory.


Abstract Salivary RNA-based biomarkers are not available for any physiological condition in farm animals. Hence, an objective of this study was to perform salivary transcript analysis in buffaloes. Saliva, after removal of the cells and particulate matter, was directly used for RT-PCR without RNA isolation. Direct saliva transcript analysis (DSTA) showed a suggestively significant higher expression of the Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) at oestrus than the diestrous period in buffaloes by a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. Therefore, DSTA without RNA isolation is an easy method to identify salivary RNA markers for oestrus detection in buffaloes.


The influence of intravenously injected atropine sulfate on sweating was measured in three men by continuous recording of body weight. Most of the skin surface was kept dry by air movement at 1.5 m/sec. The sequence of events was: completion of injection in 1.1 min; cardiac acceleration in 1.3 min; and inhibition of sweating in 3.5 min. The minimum rate of weight loss occurred at a dose of 0.5 mg; larger doses prolonged the inhibition without intensifying it. Heat storage was equal to an average of 92% of the deficit in evaporative heat loss. Although sweating returned to the initial rate within an hour, the normal increase in sweating at elevated body temperatures was prevented for the next hour. Sweating responds to atropine almost as rapidly as the cardiac rate. The degree of inhibition is independent of the initial rate of sweating.

heart rate; skin temperature; rectal temperature; heat exposure; heat loss by evaporation; man continuous recording of body weight; exercise

Submitted on June 24, 1964


The CO2 storage atlas of the Barents Sea has been prepared by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate at the request of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (Halland et al. 2013). The main objectives have been to identify the safe and effective areas for long-term storage of CO2 and to avoid possible negative interference with ongoing and future petroleum activity. We have built on the knowledge we have from the petroleum industry and from the two CO2 storage projects, Sleipner and Snohvit, on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Detailed work has been carried out on all relevant geological formations and hydrocarbon fields. The work is based on several studies as well as data from more than 40 years of petroleum activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Evaluated storage possibilities are saline aquifers, defined structures, abandoned oil and gas fields, and use of CO2 in producing fields to enhance recovery. The storage mechanisms considered are both structural and stratigraphic trapping. A number of geological formations have been individually evaluated, and grouped into saline aquifers. The aquifers were evaluated with regard to reservoir quality and presence of relevant sealing formations. Those aquifers that may have a relevant storage potential in terms of depth, capacity and injectivity have been considered. Structural maps and thickness maps of the geological formations are presented in the atlas, and were used to calculate pore volumes. A simulation model of the Bjarmeland structure within Sto Formation equivalent (Middle Jurassic) is situated on the southern end of the Bjarmeland Platform towards the Nyslepp Fault Complex (Fig.1). The model was built for the purpose of assessing its CO2 storage potential. The Sto Formation is thickest in southwestern wells, thinning generally eastwards (Fig.2). The sands in the Sto Fm were deposited in prograding coastal regimes, and a variety of linear clastic coastal lithofacies are represented. Marked shale/siltstone intervals represent regional transgressive pulses in the late Toarcian and late Aalenian.


Neural surface reconstruction is sensitive to the camera pose noise, even if state-of-the-art pose estimators like COLMAP or ARKit are used. More importantly, existing Pose-NeRF joint optimisation methods have struggled to improve pose accuracy in challenging real-world scenarios. To overcome the challenges, we introduce the pose residual field (\textbf{PoRF}), a novel implicit representation that uses an MLP for regressing pose updates. This is more robust than the conventional pose parameter optimisation due to parameter sharing that leverages global information over the entire sequence. Furthermore, we propose an epipolar geometry loss to enhance the supervision that leverages the correspondences exported from COLMAP results without the extra computational overhead. Our method yields promising results. On the DTU dataset, we reduce the rotation error by 78\% for COLMAP poses, leading to the decreased reconstruction Chamfer distance from 3.48mm to 0.85mm. On the MobileBrick dataset that contains casually captured unbounded 360-degree videos, our method refines ARKit poses and improves the reconstruction F1 score from 69.18 to 75.67, outperforming that with the dataset provided ground-truth pose (75.14). These achievements demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in refining camera poses and improving the accuracy of neural surface reconstruction in real-world scenarios.


Acute liver injury is a common cause of intensive care unit visits. In these studies, we used a murine model of acetaminophen poisoning to examine the role of stem cell factor (SCF) on liver damage. In the initial studies, we identified that the liver produces relatively high constitutive levels of SCF. Upon administration of acetaminophen, the levels of SCF fell dramatically, correlating to damage within the liver. When the liver was allowed to regenerate, the levels of SCF again correlated with the liver regeneration. We next treated mice with anti-SCF before sublethal doses of acetaminophen and significantly increased lethality in anti-SCF–treated animals. When exogenous SCF was given to mice, the lethality was significantly reduced compared with the control acetaminophen-treated animals and the damage within the liver tissue was attenuated. The administration of rSCF reduced the level of steady-state mRNA for cytochrome P450 cyp2E1 enzyme both in vitro and in vivo. These data suggest that SCF functions as an important factor that protects livers from acute damage.


In this paper, we assess the feasibility of detecting human pancreatic cancer cells using a field effect transistor (FET)-based biosensor with an extended Au gate for medical application. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal cancers, and is very difficult to diagnose in its early stages. Gemcitabine is an anticancer drug, and when used in chemotherapy it induces cell death. During apoptosis, the surface potential of the pancreatic cancer cells is changed by gemcitabine. In the present study, this change was detected using an FET-based biosensor. This biosensor was fabricated with an extended Au gate, whose surface is a sensing area for cancer cells. A null-balancing circuit was used in the measurement system, and the LabVIEW software platform allowed the immune-reaction at the Au gate to be detected as an output voltage. The cancer cells were incubated for one day; during this time, the cancer cells adhered to the Au extended gate surface. As gemcitabine was introduced to the cancer cells in vitro, changes in the output of the biosensor were monitored. Pancreatic cancer cells with a resistance to gemcitabine were used to verify that the change in the output of the biosensor was due only to the interaction between the cancer cells and the gemcitabine. We also investigated the relationship between the starting time of the reaction and the concentration of the anticancer drug.


This paper proposes an approach to compute an EOH (edge-oriented histogram) descriptor with main orientation. EOH has a better matching ability than SIFT (scale-invariant feature transform) on multispectral images, but does not assign a main orientation to keypoints. Alternatively, it tends to assign the same main orientation to every keypoint, e.g., zero degrees. This limits EOH to matching keypoints between images of translation misalignment only. Observing this limitation, we propose assigning to keypoints the main orientation that is computed with PIIFD (partial intensity invariant feature descriptor). In the proposed method, SIFT keypoints are detected from images as the extrema of difference of Gaussians, and every keypoint is assigned to the main orientation computed with PIIFD. Then, EOH is computed for every keypoint with respect to its main orientation. In addition, an implementation variant is proposed for fast computation of the EOH descriptor. Experimental results show that the proposed approach performs more robustly than the original EOH on image pairs that have a rotation misalignment.


Thin disk lasers as well as fiber lasers are distinguished by their strong focusability and high efficiency. With the availability of such laser sources in a high power region, keyhole welding with very small focus diameters down to 50 µm became possible. Typical focus diameter regimes of such laser sources can now be compared with regard to their effect on welding depth and process efficiency. Based on results of thin disk laser experiments it has been shown in earlier publications that the influence of the divergence angle on the achievable welding depth increases dramatically for lower spot diameters. This effect stands in contrast to the behavior at higher spot diameters, but was now confirmed by additional experiments with a fiber laser which made available smaller divergence values. No influence of focus diameter and divergence angle on the reachable cross sectional area for both laser systems has been observed, on the other hand. That means that in the investigated parameter range the process efficiency of keyhole welding is in fact independent of the focusability of the laser source.Thin disk lasers as well as fiber lasers are distinguished by their strong focusability and high efficiency. With the availability of such laser sources in a high power region, keyhole welding with very small focus diameters down to 50 µm became possible. Typical focus diameter regimes of such laser sources can now be compared with regard to their effect on welding depth and process efficiency. Based on results of thin disk laser experiments it has been shown in earlier publications that the influence of the divergence angle on the achievable welding depth increases dramatically for lower spot diameters. This effect stands in contrast to the behavior at higher spot diameters, but was now confirmed by additional experiments with a fiber laser which made available smaller divergence values. No influence of focus diameter and divergence angle on the reachable cross sectional area for both laser systems has been observed, on the other hand. That means that in the investigated parameter range the process effic...


This paper develops a critical review of the hyperspectral splitting of the solar reflected radiation acquired by hyperspectral imaging sensors. The bandwidth used in the range from 2.0-2.5 /spl mu/m by many hyperspectral sensors sometimes is too narrow for land cover classification. In fact, hyperspectral imagers often suffer from low signal-to-noise (SNR) in the shortwave infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, resulting in noisy image collection. This paper presents a new methodological approach to the splitting of the solar reflected radiation, called the "superspectral approach." It is based on the principle of increasing the channel bandwidth by increasing the number of wavelengths, to build synthetic spectral bands with higher SNR. The methodology has been applied to the Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectrometer (MIVIS) sensor, an airborne hyperspectral scanner used for environmental remote sensing applications in Italy. Interesting results have been achieved in crop classification, processing the Cordenons survey carried out in August 2001 in the northeastern part of Italy. The Spectral Angle Mapper algorithm was used for classification because it is insensitive to shadows. For accuracy assessment, the overall accuracy (OA) and kappa coefficient (k) were calculated and used in the comparison. Using the superspectral approach, an increment in the overall accuracy of about 42% and an increment in the kappa coefficient of about 51% were obtained in comparison to the classification accuracy of unprocessed original MIVIS data (OA=41.21, k=0.35). A second case study is presented using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's experimental hyperspectral imager HYPERION. Data acquired over the lake of Garda (Italy) in October 2002 was processed with the superspectral approach. Comparing the simulated HYPERION superspectral bands with the original data, SNR improvements are achieved in the shortwave infrared region (from 0.7-54.2 for 2.012-/spl mu/m wavelength and from 0.7-64.5 for the 2.365-/spl mu/m wavelength). The methodology proposed is sensor independent and can be applied to any of the hyperspectral sensors currently available.


The article is a review of Russian and foreign publications on the use of social networking technologies in medicine. The analysis of social networks involves a special methodology that permits communications between the participants of social networks to be studied in a formalized way. The article presents the main terminology and history of the problem, as well as the interpretation of its key definitions (homogeneity, multiplicity, reciprocity/mutuality, bridge, density, distance, clustering coefficient, centrality). It is noted that the methods of social networking analysis are rarely used in the Russian healthcare system, compared to other countries. At the same time, existing social networks have an important impact on health-related behaviour, particularly in terms of contraception, the risk of contracting HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, obesity, physical activity and psychoactive drug consumption. It is important that social networks can be used to accelerate behavioural change, reduce undesirable consequences arising from the spread of negative behaviour, improve social changes and promote innovations. This technology referred to as network interventions, along with its methodology, is described in the present article. In addition, the results of studies into the application of this technology abroad are presented.Conclusion.The use of networking analysis in the domestic healthcare system, focused on Internet communities, can significantly improve the effectiveness of state programs aimed at improving population health.Conflict of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest.


We consider the problem of spoken language understanding (SLU) of extracting natural language intents and associated slot arguments or named entities from speech that is primarily directed at voice assistants. Such a system subsumes both automatic speech recognition (ASR) as well as natural language understanding (NLU). An end-to-end joint SLU model can be built to a required specification opening up the opportunity to deploy on hardware constrained scenarios like devices enabling voice assistants to work offline, in a privacy preserving manner, whilst also reducing server costs.
We first present models that extract utterance intent directly from speech without intermediate text output. We then present a compositional model, which generates the transcript using the Listen Attend Spell ASR system and then extracts interpretation using a neural NLU model. Finally, we contrast these methods to a jointly trained end-to-end joint SLU model, consisting of ASR and NLU subsystems which are connected by a neural network based interface instead of text, that produces transcripts as well as NLU interpretation. We show that the jointly trained model shows improvements to ASR incorporating semantic information from NLU and also improves NLU by exposing it to ASR confusion encoded in the hidden layer.


Kinesin is a microtubule-activated, mechanochemical ATPase capable of moving particles along microtubules and making microtubules glide along a solid substrate. In this study we used limited proteolysis to study the structure of bovine brain kinesin, a heterotetramer composed of two heavy (120-kDa) and two light (62-kDa) chains. alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin, and subtilisin all produced a protease-resistant 45-kDa fragment from the kinesin heavy chain. As isolated by gel-filtration chromatography, this fragment contains both the microtubule-binding site and the ATP catalytic site of the molecule. Proteolytic cleavage stimulated microtubule-dependent Mg2+-ATPase activity 4- to 5-fold up to 75-120 mumol ATP/min/mg. Cleavage also increased the affinity of the fragment for microtubules at least 10-fold. Since the purified fragment does not support the gliding of flagellar axonemes, we propose that cleavage of the heavy chain uncouples ATPase activity from its translocator activity, which may require other parts of the molecule.


Human Adenovirus species C (HAdV-C) is the most common etiologic agent of respiratory disease. In the present study, we characterized the nearly full-length genome of one potential new HAdV-C recombinant strain constituted by Penton and Fiber proteins belonging to type 89 and a chimeric Hexon protein of types 1 and 89. By using viral metagenomics techniques, we screened out, in the states of Tocantins and Pará, Northern and North regions of Brazil, from 2010 to 2016, 251 fecal samples of children between 0.5 to 2.5 years old. These children were presenting acute diarrhea not associated with common pathogens (i.e., rotavirus, norovirus). We identified two HAdV-C strains in two distinct patients. Phylogenetic analysis performed using all complete genomes available at GenBank database indicated that one strain (HAdV-C BR-245) belonged to type 1. The phylogenetic analysis also indicated that the second strain (HAdV-C BR-211) was located at the base of the clade formed by the newly HAdV-C strains type 89. Recombination analysis revealed that strain HAdV-C BR-211 is a chimera in which the variable regions of Hexon gene combined HAdV-C1 and HAdV-C89 sequences. Therefore, HAdV-C BR-211 strain possesses a genomic backbone of type HAdV-C89 and a unique insertion of HAdV-C1 in the Hexon sequence. Recombination may play an important driving force in HAdV-C diversity and evolution. Studies employing complete genomic sequencing on circulating HAdV-C strains in Brazil are needed to understand the clinical significance of the presented data.


Over the years, production test of digital ICs has reached a significant degree of maturity. This progress has been enabled by several techniques, such as fault simulation, test-pattern generation and the built-in-self-test (BiST). Unlike this, much less success has been achieved in the analog/RF and mixed-signal ICs domain, where functional testing has been widely used and the major advances have been in the capabilities of expensive automatic test equipment (ATE). At present, the advancing complexity and performance of mixed-signal and RF ICs are pushing functional test methods and the ATE to the edge of their limits. In this context, alternative approaches based on analog fault modeling, design for testability (DfT), and BiST, so far not appreciated by industry, can largely alleviate the problem and cut the test costs.In this tutorial the essentials of the on-chip test for IC RF transceivers will be presented. The available on chip baseband DSP can serve as a tester while the RF front-end is reconfigured for test. The basic test setup is a loopback, enabled by a test attenuator and in some cases by an offset mixer, too. Different variants of this setup adopt the bypassing technique to boost testability. Also the observability blocks (RF detectors) can be incorporated. The existing limitations and tradeoffs in terms of test feasibility, controllability and observability versus the chip performance will be discussed. The fault-oriented approach and the sensitization techniques will be emphasized. Implementation examples in CMOS technology will be included as well.


The maximum entropy methodology is applied to the Schelling model of urban segregation in order to obtain a reliable prediction of the stable configuration of the system without resorting to numerical simulations. We show that this approach also provides an implicit equation describing the distribution of agents over a city which allows for directly assessing the effect of model parameters on the solution. Finally, we discuss the information theoretic motivation for applying this methodology to the Schelling model, and show that it effectively rests on the presence of a potential function, suggesting a broader applicability of the methodology.


The changes in the EEG were put in relation to the clinical course and liver function tests in 3 cases of acute poisoning by Amanita phalloides. Within discrete disturbances of liver function, distinct paroxysmal changes and increased interspersion of epsilon waves in the EEG are already found on the second day after taking the fungi. The liver dystrophy developing in the later course, recognisable by Quick values below 2%, at first only produces a small increase in the EEG changes. On the 5th or 6th day, severe general changes in the EEG appear along with symptoms of confusion to delirium. At this time, no further deterioration of the laboratory findings were demonstrable, but on the contrary we already even found a distinct improvement in the liver function. With further continuous increase in the clotting factors, the EEG becomes increasing slower in the next 4 days and after surviving this stage, improves very quickly thereafter. Our findings show that in poisoning with Amanita phalloides, EEG changes may become manifest even before the appearance of psycho-pathological changes and do not correlate directly with the tangible technical liver function tests of the laboratory.


Worldwide, urban areas are expanding both in size and number, which results in a decline in habitats suitable for urban flora and fauna. The construction of urban green features, such as green roofs, may provide suitable habitat patches for many species in urban areas. On green roofs, two approaches have been used to select plants—i.e., matching similar habitat to green roofs (habitat template approach) or identifying plants with suitable traits (plant trait approach). While both approaches may result in suitable habitats for arthropods, how arthropods respond to different combinations of plants is an open question. The aim of this study was to investigate how the structural complexity of different plant forms can affect the abundance and richness of arthropods on green roofs. The experimental design crossed the presence and absence of annuals with three Sedum sediforme (Jacq.) Pau (common name: stonecrops) treatments—i.e., uniformly disrupted Sedum, clumped disrupted Sedum, and no Sedum. We hypothesized that an increased structural diversity due to the coexistence of different life forms of plants on roofs is positively related to the abundance and richness of arthropods. We found that arthropod abundance and richness were positively associated with the percent of vegetation cover and negatively associated with substrate temperature. Neither arthropod abundance nor richness was influenced by the relative moisture of substrate. We also found that arthropod abundance and richness varied by green roof setups (treatments) and by seasonality. Arthropod abundance on green roofs was the highest in treatments with annuals only, while species richness was slightly similar between treatments containing annuals but varied between sampling periods. This study suggests that adding annuals to traditional Sedum roofs has positive effects on arthropods. This finding can support the development of biodiverse cities because most extensive green roofs are inaccessible to the public and can provide undisturbed habitat for several plant and arthropod species.


Drying is known as one of the oldest preservation methods and can be applicable to many fruits. Sun drying of apple has been known from ancient times. However, this technique is weather-dependent and has contamination problems such as dust, soil, sand particles and insects. Hot air drying of apples has low energy efficiency and requires longer drying period. The desire to eliminate these problems, prevent quality loss, and achieve fast and effective thermal processing has resulted in an increase of researches on other techniques. In recent years, drying technology is being developed and designed to reduce the nutrient loss as much as eliminating the possible any pre-treatment residues. Also, these new methods ensure food safety, increase the quality of dried apples and reduce drying time, risk factors and product losses. In this way, during drying facilities undesirable chemical reactions, microbial growth and mycotoxin formation are eliminated by the new drying technologies. Microwave, osmotic and infrared dehydration, calcium pre-treatment application before irradiation and combined drying methods are the new drying techniques studied in recent years. The aim of this work is to explicate the latest apple drying technologies with their advantages and disadvantages.


Abstract Clozapine is an atypical anti-psychotic medication that has proved useful in the management of both psychotic and mood disorders and that has been shown to decrease aggression and the risk of suicide, which suggests that clozapine may be useful in the management of severe borderline personality disorder. Here we present the case of a 36 year old female with severe borderline personality disorder with symptoms of psychosis, aggression and violence. We discuss how treatment with clozapine resulted in a marked clinical improvement in this patient.


There is an increasing number of paediatric and adolescent patients being diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) 1. Being diagnosed at an early age can have a detrimental effect on a child's development, so the need for support is vital. Adult experiences of living with IBD are known 2 , but very little is known about paediatric experiences. This literature review aimed to identify the paediatric and adolescent experiences of living with IBD and explore how IBD impacts their life.

 A search was performed on following databases: Medline, CINAHL, and British Nursing Index. The inclusion criteria were: IBD, age under 18 years old, English language, primary qualitative research, and a publication date between 2016-2021. Out of the 43 papers identified, only three were selected as they met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. A qualitative synthesis of evidence was conducted, and the data was reinterpreted 3.

 Among the three papers, there was a dominant theme about the 'Fear of not being accepted'. This overarching theme revolved around peer acceptance, and included two main themes: 'Fear of disclosure' and 'How do I fit in?', as patients did not want to disclose their condition and expressed their desire to be viewed as normal. Throughout their experiences, children and adolescents expressed embarrassment as the primary feeling since living with IBD. Having IBD as a child or adolescent could adversely affect their psycho-social development, especially during their sexual development, affecting their romantic relationships and interactions with other people. The fear of not being accepted led participants to feel unattractive and apprehensive when forming new relationships.

 It is imperative for children and adolescents to feel accepted, to feel comfortable disclosing their illness, and to feel equal to their peers. Children and adolescents face a variety of psycho- socio- emotional challenges living with IBD. Due to the limited number of studies that have explored the challenges that paediatrics and adolescents encounter, the need for more evidence is crucial. More evidence on children experiences of living with IBD would help healthcare professionals understand the impact of illness, and develop strategies to support children and adolescents living with IBD to minimise the fear of social stigma and rejection.
 1. Kaplan GG. The global burden of IBD: from 2015 to 2025. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;12(12).
 2. Fourie S, Jackson D, Aveyard H. Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A review of qualitative research studies. Int J Nurs Stud. 2018;87:149-156.
 3. Thomas J ;Harden A. Methods for the Thematic Synthesis of Qualitativeresearch in Sistematic Reviews.; 2007.


Regular expression matching is a crucial task in several networking applications. Current implementations are based on one of two types of finite state machines. Non-deterministic finite automata (NFAs) have minimal storage demand but have high memory bandwidth requirements. Deterministic finite automata (DFAs) exhibit low and deterministic memory bandwidth requirements at the cost of increased memory space. It has already been shown how the presence of wildcards and repetitions of large character classes can render DFAs and NFAs impractical. Additionally, recent security-oriented rule-sets include patterns with advanced features, namely back-references, which add to the expressive power of traditional regular expressions and cannot therefore be supported through classical finite automata.
 In this work, we propose and evaluate an extended finite automaton designed to address these shortcomings. First, the automaton provides an alternative approach to handle character repetitions that limits memory space and bandwidth requirements. Second, it supports back-references without the need for back-tracking in the input string. In our discussion of this proposal, we address practical implementation issues and evaluate the automaton on real-world rule-sets. To our knowledge, this is the first high-speed automaton that can accommodate all the Perl-compatible regular expressions present in the Snort network intrusion and detection system.


Researches gradually suggest the importance of religious engagement as a developmental resource that guide youth to become responsible, caring, and civic-minded adults as well as enhances the youth's prosocial behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between religiosity and prosocial behavior in Thai youths. Data were obtained from the 2008 Survey on Conditions of Society, Culture, and Mental Health conducted by The National Statistical Office. This study selected only Thai youth aged 15 to 24 and being Buddhists as a sample. Findings support the theoretical notion that religiosity of youth influence prosocial behavior. Maintaining the five precepts and Applying doctrine to daily life increased the level of prosocial behaviors among Thai youth. The authors discuss implications for stakeholders to launch efficiently and effectively religious education program by encouraging youth to take part in religious activities to ensure that they aware of the importance of religious and prosocial behavior.


Background: Genomic instability is frequently associated with cancer and can be indicative of a poor prognosis for breast cancer. While the significant role of BRCA1 in regulating DNA damage repair and checkpoint activation is well defined, little is known about the biological properties of the BRCA1 pseudogene (BRCA1P1) in neoplastic processes. The BRCA1P1 pseudogene was created by a recent evolutionary event, in which a partial duplication of the BRCA1 gene was followed by an insertion of a processed pseudogene of RPLP1P4. Methods: To functionally annotate BRCA1P1, we conducted DNA-FISH, RNA-FISH, a luciferase reporter gene assay, bisulfite sequencing, microarray analysis, radiation-induced foci by immunofluorescence, I-SceI-induced double strand break repair assay, Caspase 3/7 assay, flow cytometry, qRT-PCR, and Western blot analysis. Depletion of BRCA1P1-lncRNA was achieved using LNA-antisense oligonucleotides (ASO), while overexpression of BRCA1P1 was attained using the CRISPR-On activation system. Results: BRCA1P1 pseudogene is transcribed as a ∼1.6 kb unspliced and nucleus-retained long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) using a bidirectional promoter between BRCA1P1 and the neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1). In contrast to the BRCA1 promoter, which is sensitive to hypoxia and subject to CpG island methylation, the pseudogene promoter did not respond to hypoxia nor did it undergo epigenetic modification. Expression of the BRCA1P1 pseudogene varies among 16 breast cell lines with higher expression in some lines, due in part to chromosome 17 polysomy. Interference of BRCA1P1-lncRNA expression with ASO increased genomic instability and spontaneous DNA damage as indicated by an increased spontaneous 53BP1 and RAD51 foci. Breast cancer cells with BRCA1P1 depletion exhibited a defect in DNA damage repair and increased apoptosis in response to irradiation and DNA damaging drugs, respectively. I-SceI-based assays confirmed a decrease in homologous recombination (HR) repair in cells with BRCA1P1 silencing. Interestingly, inhibition of BRCA1P1-lncRNA increased mRNA and protein expression of BRCA1, perhaps to compensate for the HR defect in the cells. The effects of BRCA1P1 overexpression on regulating DNA repair processes are currently under investigation in cells with BRCA1 mutations. Conclusion: These findings suggest a novel role for the BRCA1P1 pseudogene in regulation of DNA damage repair in human breast cancer cells. It9s potential role as a therapeutic target remains to be explored. Citation Format: Y. Jane Han, Jing Zhang, Jennifer M. Mason, Aleix Prat, Toshio Yoshimatsu, Charles M. Perou, John Kwon, Prasanth Kannanganattu, Olufunmilayo I. Olopade. Long noncoding RNAs generated from the BRCA1 pseudogene regulate genomic instability and homologous recombination repair. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 994.


In this work, theoretical study by using the DFT method on 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) phenyl isothiocyanate is reported. The FTIR and FT-Raman spectra of title compound were noted in the regions 4000–400cm–1; The HOMO, LUMO and Gap energy of these compounds have been calculated and reported in this paper. The theoretical study of such compound has not been reported. Thus, our aim to explain the spectroscopic properties on the basis of the DFT quantum chemical calculations and we are interested to explain the nonlinear optical analysis. The study of structural, vibrational spectroscopic studies and nonlinear optical properties for these compound could help to design more efficient functional photovoltaic organic compounds.


Early intervention and early education have a special place in educating the children with Impaired Hearing (IH). The advancements in information and communication technologies have led to adopting the view that such technologies could be applied in the educational process of the children with IH. Besides, the positive results acquired in the studies conducted in the light of this review have brought up the fact that proper technology-based educational environments should be provided and popularized for the young children with IH. In this study, educational software has been developed for the purpose of teaching emotions and opposite concepts to young children with IH. With this software, videos with topic descriptions, games reinforcing funny and topic-based learning, questions and audio-visual feedbacks have been used. The effectiveness of this software in concept education along with its usability by children has been examined; and in addition, the subjective viewpoints of the teachers of students with IH on this software have been consulted as well.


This volume challenges conventional thinking about "managing" change, the obsession with fads such as "re-engineering", "TQM" and "vision and values" and the flood of change initiatives that engulf many organizations. Drawing on their work with over 100 international companies and public organizations, the authors show how many managers are unwittingly stopping change happening. The harder they try, the less their organizations change - causing exhaustion and frustration. The book examines how, in the authors' experience, organizations really change, how they learn to adapt to changing circumstances and what lessons managers can draw from this. They show how to release the natural energy for change which exists in people's hopes and ambitions, and in the well-known, but often unspoken, issues which frustrate and de-motivate staff and customers. They explore how to take account of the systemic nature of organizations, where actions do not have simple causes and effects, but can have unpredictable, wide-reaching consquences. They aim to show how, by allowing people to use the wisdom they have accumulated through life, managers can enable their organizations to flourish. The book was shortlisted for the MCA and Financial Times/Booz-Allen & Hamilton Prizes.


Mutations in the endosomal Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE6) cause Christianson syndrome (CS), an X-linked neurological disorder. Previous studies have shown that NHE6 functions in regulation of endosome acidification and maturation in neurons. Using yeast two-hybrid screening with the NHE6 carboxyl-terminus as bait, we identify Golgi-associated, Gamma adaptin ear containing, ARF binding protein 1 (GGA1) as an interacting partner for NHE6. We corroborated the NHE6-GGA1 interaction using co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP): using over-expressed constructs in mammalian cells; and co-IP of endogenously-expressed GGA1 and NHE6 from neuroblastoma cells, as well as from mouse brain. We demonstrate that GGA1 interacts with organellar NHEs (NHE6, NHE7 and NHE9) but not with cell-surface localized NHEs (NHE1 and NHE5). By constructing hybrid NHE1/NHE6 exchangers, we demonstrate that the cytoplasmic tail of NHE6 is necessary and sufficient for interactions with GGA1. We demonstrate the co-localization of NHE6 and GGA1 in cultured, primary hippocampal neurons, using super-resolution microscopy. We test the hypothesis that the interaction of NHE6 and GGA1 functions in the localization of NHE6 to the endosome compartment. Using subcellular fractionation experiments, we show that NHE6 is mis-localized in GGA1 knockout cells wherein we find less NHE6 in endosomes but more NHE6 transport to lysosomes, and more Golgi retention of NHE6 with increased exocytosis to the surface plasma membrane. Consistent with NHE6 mis-localization, and Golgi retention, we find the intra-luminal pH in Golgi to be alkalinized. Our study demonstrates a new interaction between NHE6 and GGA1 which functions in the localization of this intra-cellular NHE to the endosome compartment.


Abstract Background This study aimed to develop and test the feasibility of a primary care worker-led psychological intervention as the main feature of a collaborative stepped care for depression that is effective, affordable, culturally acceptable, tailored to patients' clinical condition and easily integrate-able into the primary care schedule in Nigeria. Methods Using the Medical Research Council framework, in the first stage (modelling/theoretical development), experts reviewed and distilled evidence from literature to form the intervention components. In the second (formative) stage, local stakeholders were consulted on the practical application and feasibility of the proposed intervention. The third (piloting) stage involved testing for the clinical efficacy and acceptability of the components of the draft intervention Results The final intervention components included a 2-stage screening (red-flagging and further evaluation), psychoeducation, low-intensity psychological therapy (problem-solving therapy for primary care), antidepressant prescription, proactive mobile telephony adherence support and referral to the mental health specialist if needed. At 3 months, 71.6% of depressed patients on the intervention improved. The intervention was perceived to be acceptable and useful by over 70% of health workers and clients and had high ratings (>70% score) by expert panels on intervention simplicity, facilitation strategies, and quality of delivery. Conclusions The development and feasibility testing of our integrated intervention encompassed review of current literature, expert opinions and consultation with local stakeholders and end users. Our intervention package was largely deemed acceptable, relevant, useful, and feasible. Important lessons learnt with this process will help in future intervention developments.


A short overview of the LEAR facility (Low Energy Antiproton Ring) and of the experiments performed as it is given. Some of the latest results on pp scattering and the search for exotic resonances are presented.


A decentralized adaptive backstepping control design using minimal function approximators is proposed for nonlinear large-scale systems with unknown unmatched time-varying delayed interactions and unknown backlash-like hysteresis nonlinearities. Compared with existing decentralized backstepping methods, the contribution of this paper is to design a simple local control law for each subsystem, consisting of an actual control with one adaptive function approximator, without requiring the use of multiple function approximators and regardless of the order of each subsystem. The virtual controllers for each subsystem are used as intermediate signals for designing a local actual control at the last step. For each subsystem, a lumped unknown function including the unknown nonlinear terms and the hysteresis nonlinearities is derived at the last step and is estimated by one function approximator. Thus, the proposed approach only uses one function approximator to implement each local controller, while existing decentralized backstepping control methods require the number of function approximators equal to the order of each subsystem and a calculation of virtual controllers to implement each local actual controller. The stability of the total controlled closed-loop system is analyzed using the Lyapunov stability theorem.


In many European countries, family physicians are the first specialist in contact with Alzheimer's disease patients and their family or caregivers. They have the main role in detecting dementia, being able to recognize people with high risk and also to establish an early diagnosis of cognitive deficits. This is mainly due to close relationships (even privileged) between family physicians and their patients whom they have long care, and family/caregivers also. That's why they are the first who can notify early behavioral and  personality changes that occur in Alzheimer's disease, because only knowing well a man one can realize these subtle changes! Nevertheless, family physicians face many difficulties: most of the tools for screening are not validated; detecting and making an assessment in an early stage is a difficult medical act; it is also difficult to send people with symptoms and an uncertain diagnosis to another specialist; management, monitoring and treatment of these people are complicated, especially in the difficult conditions of the current system of health insurance. Medical problems are often exceeded by the psychosocial issues that may arise in finding a implacable diagnosis, accepting the situation and the treatment. Caregivers who most often are faced with the bureaucratic system that generates unnecessary roads to authorities, disturbing situations and resentments should be supported and understood also. Most often, the family physician is the only one who can do this! Conclusion. Together with patients, family/caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patient  form an important yet understated patient group who present unique challenges for family physician in Romania.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a serious global health problem despite the availability of a highly effective vaccine. Approximately 5% of HBV‐infected adults develop chronic hepatitis B, which may result in liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Variants of interleukin‐10 (IL10) have been previously associated with chronic hepatitis B infection and progression to hepatocellular carcinoma. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP; n = 42) from the IL10, IL19 and IL20 gene regions were examined for an association with HBV infection outcome, either chronic or recovered, in a nested case–control study of African Americans and European Americans. Among African Americans, three nominally statistically significant SNP associations in IL10, two in IL20, and one haplotype association were observed with different HBV infection outcomes (P = 0.005–0.04). A SNP (rs1518108) in IL20 deviated significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in African Americans, with a large excess of heterozygotes in chronic HBV‐infected cases (P = 0.0006), which suggests a strong genetic effect. Among European Americans, a nominally statistically significant SNP association in IL20 and an IL20 haplotype were associated with HBV recovery (P = 0.01–0.04). These results suggest that IL10 and IL20 gene variants influence HBV infection outcome and encourage the pursuit of further studies of these cytokines in HBV pathogenesis.


Inbred strains of laboratory mice exhibit marked differences in survival time following infection with Trypanosoma congolense, the principal cause of trypanosomiasis in African livestock. The difference in survival time between the relatively resistant C57BL/6 J and more susceptible BALB/c inbred strains has been attributed to three quantitative trait loci (QTLs), Tir1, Tir2 and Tir3. In order to determine whether there was a parent‐of‐origin effect on this trait, four backcross populations derived from the C57BL/6 J and BALB/c parental strains were bred and inoculated with T. congolense. The two populations with F1 fathers and BALB/c mothers had a significantly greater overall survival rate than the two populations with BALB/c fathers and F1 mothers. This pattern of inheritance suggested the involvement of imprinted genes. Genotyping with markers at the three QTLs controlling susceptibility revealed that the difference in survival time was consistent with genomic imprinting of the QTL of largest effect, Tir1.


A new approach to the GNSS network is presented. Here, this approach is restricted to the case where the user handles the network data for his own objectives: the satellite-clock biases are not estimated. To deal with the general case where some data are missing, the corresponding theoretical framework appeals to some elementary notions of algebraic graph theory. As clarified in the paper, the notion of closure delay (CD) then generalizes that of double difference (DD). The body of the paper is devoted to the implications of this apporach in GNSS data processing. One is then led to define local variables, which depend on the successive epochs of the time series, and a global variable which remains the same all over these epochs, with however possible state transitions from time to time. In the period defined by two successive transitions, the problem to be solved in the least-square sense is governed by a linear equation in which the key matrix has an angular block structure. This structure is well suited to recursive QR factorization. The state transitions included by the variations of the GNSS graph are then handled in an optimal manner. Solving the integer-ambiguity problem via LLL decorrelation techniques is also made easier. At last but not the least, is centralized mode, this approach particularly well suited to quality control.


The COVID-19 pandemic has reformed the teaching-learning processes in engineering education across the globe. Virtual classrooms substituted physical classrooms with the widespread use of online meeting platforms. The proliferation of virtual classrooms not only paved the way for accelerated digital transformation but also brought back some elementary issues in engineering education. Many engineering students face difficulties in comprehending the fundamental concepts in their courses during virtual learning. As real-world engineering solutions depend on conceptual clarity, misconceptions of basic engineering principles need to be taken seriously. If not identified, analysed and corrected with constructive feedback, misconceptions on various engineering topics can create challenging obstacles in learning. Against this backdrop, this research study introduces a novel solution titled Classification of Students Misconceptions in Individualised Learning Environment (C-SMILE). The primary objective of the C-SMILE system is to examine the usefulness of personalised automated feedback to students to enhance their conceptual understanding by pinpointing their misconceptions. Besides, we propose a method by which students' misconceptions can be effectively classified for every instructional objective in every engineering course using machine learning techniques. Our pilot-study results show that the proposed C-SMILE system can precisely classify students' misconceptions in engineering education settings.


Background This study retrospectively examined the association between elevated trans-pulmonary gradient (TPG), which reflects pre-capillary contribution to pulmonary hypertension (PH), and postoperative pulmonary hemodynamics and outcomes following restrictive mitral annuloplasty (RMA) in patients with pre-existing PH. Methods Pre- and postoperative (1 month) cardiac catheterization was performed in 64 patients with severely impaired left ventricular function (i.e., ejection fraction ≤40%) and pre-existing PH (mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) ≥25 mmHg) who underwent RMA. Patients were segregated into two groups: low TPG (≤12 mmHg) and elevated TPG (>12 mmHg). The mean follow-up period was 54±27 months. The primary outcome seen was a change in pulmonary hemodynamics after RMA; secondary outcomes were composite adverse events, including all-cause mortality and readmission for heart failure. Results Compared to the low TPG group, patients in the elevated TPG group were more likely to show a postoperative mean PAP of ≥25 mmHg (84% vs. 38%), TPG of >12 mmHg (79% vs. 11%), and pulmonary vascular resistance of ≥240 dynes/sec/cm−5 (84% vs. 6.7%) (all P<0.001), although both groups showed comparable degrees of mitral regurgitation improvement. Serial echocardiography demonstrated that Doppler-derived systolic PAP, which once decreased in both groups, remained stable in the low group while steadily increasing in the elevated group (group effect P<0.001). Patients with elevated TPG had lower freedom from composite adverse events (5-year, 20% vs. 70%, P=0.003). After adjusting for baseline covariates, the elevated TPG was independently associated with increased risk of adverse events (adjusted hazard ratio 2.9, 95% CI: 1.2–6.9, P=0.017). Conclusions Elevated TPG negatively affects postoperative pulmonary hemodynamics and late outcomes in patients with advanced cardiomyopathy and pre-existing PH who have undergone RMA. These findings suggest that the assessment of TPG should be included in post-RMA risk stratification.


Objectives: This study was performed to investigate acupoints and muscles used for cosmetic acupuncture. We want most clinicians practicing cosmetic acupuncture to understand theoretical background well and to treat cosmetic diseases more diversely by this paper. Methods: We collected useful informations from some books and websites about cosmetic acupuncture and thus could select major acupoints and muscles. Conculsions: The most frequently used acupoints for cosmetic acupoints are as follows ; LI20, ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST5, ST6, ST7, ST8, SI18, SI19, BL1, BL2, BL3, BL4, TE17, TE18, TE19, TE20, TE21, TE22, TE23, GB1, GB2, GB3, GB4, GB5, GB6, GB7, GB8, GB13, GB14, GV20, GV21, GV22, GV23, GV24, GV25, GV26 and CV24. And head and neck muscles including SCM muscle, plastyma, frontalis, corrugator supercilii, orbicularis oculi, auricularis, temporalis, masseter, pterygoid, zygomaticus and risorius can be used for cosmetic acupuncture. Most acupoints and muscles are located in face and head, which seemed to be concerned with formation of face wrinkles.


Blind signatures have been widely applied when privacy preserving is required, and the delegation of blind signature rights and a proxy blind signature (Proxy-BS) become necessary when the signer cannot sign. Existing Proxy-BS schemes are based on traditional cryptographically hard problems, and they cannot resist quantum attacks. Moreover, most current Proxy-BS schemes depend on public key infrastructure (PKI), which leads to high certificate storage and management overhead. To simplify key management and resist quantum attacks, we propose a post-quantum secure identity-based proxy blind signature (ID-Proxy-BS) scheme on a lattice using a matrix cascade technique and lattice cryptosystem. Under the random oracle model (ROM), the security of the proposed scheme is proved. Security shows that the proposed scheme assures security against quantum attacks and satisfies the correctness, blindness, and unforgeability. In addition, we apply the ID-Proxy-BS scheme on a lattice to e-voting and propose a quantum-resistant proxy e-voting system, which is resistant to quantum attacks and achieves the efficiency of e-voting.


To determine whether spermatozoa must be structurally intact before microsurgical injection into oocytes for normal fertilization, intact spermatozoa, as well as sperm heads separated from tails by sonication, were individually injected into oocytes. When whole spermatozoa were injected immediately after their immobilization, the majority of the oocytes were fertilized and developed normally. Sonication in the presence or absence of Triton X-100 decapitated more than 95% of spermatozoa. Although all decapitated spermatozoa were diagnosed as "dead" by live/dead sperm staining, separated sperm heads (nuclei) could participate in normal embryo development when injected into the oocytes. The ability of isolated sperm heads (nuclei) to participate in normal embryo development was maintained under cryopreservation conditions that were not suitable for the survival of plasma membrane-intact spermatozoa. These results indicate that 1) spermatozoa do not need to be structurally intact for intracytoplasmic injection, 2) the plasma and acrosomal membranes and all tail components are not essential for normal embryo development, at least in the mouse, and 3) the cryopreservation conditions required for maintenance of the genetic integrity of sperm nuclei are less stringent than those necessary for keeping plasma membrane-intact spermatozoa alive.


The goal of this study was to gain in-depth understanding about nonnative English-speaking students' lived experiences with massive open online courses (MOOCs) in a regular college classroom. Phenomenological methodology was used to examine those experiences in 24 Korean college students. Individual interviews, an open-ended online survey, observation notes, online weekly journal entries, and social media constituted the data sources. Findings show that students' lived experiences included (a) wonder and interest, (b) novel learning and teaching practices, (c) preference for video style, (d) learning strategies, (e) motivation to learn, and (f) need for face-to-face interaction. Implications for integrating a MOOC into a regular college course are also presented.


Estimating and understanding the current scene is an inevitable capability of automated vehicles. Usually, maps are used as prior for interpreting sensor measurements in order to drive safely and comfortably. Only few approaches take into account that maps might be outdated and lead to wrong assumptions on the environment. This work estimates a lane-level intersection topology without any map prior by observing the trajectories of other traffic participants.We are able to deliver both a coarse lane-level topology as well as the lane course inside and outside of the intersection using Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. The model is neither limited to a number of lanes or arms nor to the topology of the intersection.We present our results on an evaluation set of 1000 simulated intersections and achieve 99.9% accuracy on the topology estimation that takes only 36ms, when utilizing tracked object detections. The precise lane course on these intersections is estimated with an error of 15cm on average after 140ms. Our approach shows a similar level of precision on 14 real-world intersections with 18cm average deviation on simple intersections and 27cm for more complex scenarios. Here the estimation takes only 113ms in total.


Introduction As in previous years, advances in knowledge of infections accrued, especially about viruses, the diseases they cause and protection against them, and in reactions of immunity in general. Hepatitis and herpes viruses claimed much attention, respiratory tract infections less than usual. The relation of EB and other viruses to cancer still is obscure. Venereal diseases continued to increase in incidence. New and expensive antimicrobial drugs were widely used, but few exceeded the value of older ones. Antimicrobialresistance increased apace. Many reports dealt with the dangers of iatrogenic and nosocomial infections.


This article reflects on the queer dimensions of conducting ethnographic research with/in "ones own community" and on the possibility of queering ethnographic writing. Focusing femme-on-femme research and modes of representation, I argue that collaboration with research subjects queers research conventions and contributes to a reconsideration of what counts as theory, particularly with regards to femininity and its place within queer feminism. Here I first discuss two queer feminist ethnographic models for conducting research within sub-cultural communities to which one belongs. I then address ideas about home/community and how ideas of distance continue to structure ethnographic knowledge production. The central discussion centres on a retrospective reflection on the joys and dilemmas of collaborative work drawing on research for the book Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities (Volcano & Dahl 2008). In particular, I scrutinize the dichotomy between the theorizing academic and her "informants" arguing that femme-inist ethnography highlights citation, collaboration and co-production of ideas.


In Pakistan, the tanning industry is very important for exporting leather as main item. In Kasur tanning industries are within and around residential areas because there is no proper industrial area. The discharge of tanneries effluents pollute air, soil, subsoil, surface water and underground water because of the presence of toxic organic and inorganic compounds especially chromium which is used in tanning processes. By analysis of industrial effluents and drinking water samples collected from different areas of Kasur, it was observed that the level of salts as well other toxic metal present was alarmingly high. The level of chromium in waste water was found to be 147 ppm, also the level of chromium was high in drinking water i.e. above 2.0 ppm. WHO suggested permissible value of chromium in drinking water is 0.05 ppm. The pretreatment of industrial wastes is therefore necessary to control environmental pollution and save our priceless ecosystem and prevent spread of diseases in people residing in vicinity of tanneries.


Abstract This Article examines the individualized education program (IEP) requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and presents a method for improving the education of students with disabilities in urban settings by appropriately developing IEPs. Part I considers the unique problems facing special education in urban school districts. Part II presents an overview of the IDEA and its requirement that school districts provide students with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Part III examines the components of an IEP and the process for developing students' IEPs--the key vehicle for providing a FAPE. Part IV outlines a process for developing educationally meaningful and legally sound IEPs for students with disabilities. Finally, Part V discusses the important issues in professional development for ensuring that urban school district personnel understand their responsibilities in crafting IEPs. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction I. Special Education in Urban Settings II. The IDEA and FAPE III. Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) A. IEP Requirements 1. Parental Involvement 2. Participants in IEP Development 3. IEP Content a. Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance b. Measurable Annual Goals c. Special Education Services, Related Services, and Supplementary Aids and Services d. Extent to Which a Student Will Not Participate in General Education e. State- and District-Wide Assessments f. Behavior Interventions g. Transition Plans B. Implementing and Revising IEPs IV. Placement and Students with Disabilities V. Developing Educational, Meaningful, and Legally Sound IEPs A. Question One: What Are the Student's Unique Educational Needs that Must Be Considered in Developing the Student's Instructional Program? B. Question Two: What Measurable Goals Will Enable the Student to Achieve Meaningful Educational Benefit? C. Question Three: What Services Will Be Provided to the Student to Address Each of His or Her Needs? D. Question Four: How Will the Team Monitor the Student's Progress to Determine if the Instructional Program is Effective? E. Professional Development Activities 1. Provide Professional Development Activities Based on Evidence-Based Procedures 2. Ensure that Principals and Assistant Principals Understand Their Roles and Responsibilities Under the IDEA 3. Ensure that Administrators, Teachers, and Parents Understand the Importance of Parental Involvement in the Special Education Process and Use Methods to Ensure that Meaningful School- Home Collaboration Occurs in the IEP Process 4. Ensure that General Education and Special Education Teachers Understand Their Responsibilities Under the IDEA Conclusion INTRODUCTION Individualized education programs (IEPs) are at the heart of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the purpose of which is to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available to every student in special education. (1) An IEP is: (a) the written document that records the essential components of an eligible student's special education program, and (b) a collaborative process between a child's parents and school personnel to design this program. (2) During the IEP planning process, the student's needs, annual goals, special education and related services, evaluation and measurement criteria, and his or her educational placement are determined and implemented. (3) The purpose of this Article is to examine the IEP requirement of the IDEA and to present a method for improving the education of students with disabilities in urban settings by developing IEPs that are educationally appropriate and legally sound. …


Author(s): Smith, David Joseph | Advisor(s): Shell, Michael S | Abstract: In this thesis, we outline the development of a multiscale physics-based platform for exploring and ultimately predicting the design-specific interaction of ~1-10 nm particles with model cellular membranes. Nanoparticles (NP) are ever-present in foods and beverages, cosmetics, packaging, cooking products, fertilizers, pesticides, and novel pharmaceuticals, and pose significant challenges related to their increased consumer, occupational, and environmental exposure and their unique bioactivity relative to small molecules and large colloids. Thanks to rapidly advancing fabrication and characterization techniques, NPs are highly tunable in physicochemical properties such as size, surface chemistry, shape, elasticity, roughness, and crystallinity. Currently, however, the influence of these NP design parameters is highly underdeveloped, and difficult to reproducibly demonstrate in in vivo, in vitro, and even model experiments. Specifically, NP interactions with and passive transport across cellular membranes play a significant role in pharmacological and consumer product performance (biodistribution) as well as adverse outcome pathways in toxicology. We thus focus on the fundamental problem of design-specific interactions between NPs and cellular membranes, modeled to a first approximation as lipid bilayers.To provide accurate, efficient, and robust predictions for a range of NP designs, we construct a first-of-its kind, multiscale physics-based platform linking detailed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, continuum mechanical theory, and multi-compartment modeling. Using this platform, we examine the two most influential design parameters--size and surface chemistry--and through two main case studies: (1) the membrane permeability of sub-nanometer particles and (2) the thermodynamic stability of larger-scale, ~1-10 nm particle-membrane interactions. Within (1), we first simulate the NP-membrane interactions and transport in full detail to test the validity of Overton's Rule, a longstanding structure-property relationship, and the inhomogeneous solubility-diffusion (ISD) model, a microscopic mechanistic continuum model for transport. We show that Overton's Rule is overly simplified for describing transport across a fluctuating lipid bilayer membrane, yet that ISD model holds for small enough particles. Within this range of particles where the solubility-diffusion mechanism holds, we directly link the impact of particle chemistry in the MD simulations to transient (time-dependent) transport outcomes in the macroscopic multi-compartmental models. This allows us to both compare with and evaluate models used in experimental permeability assays and close the orders of magnitude gap between simulation-predicted and experimentally-calculated permeabilities. We also leverage our platform to construct improved structure-property relationships for the steady-state membrane permeability and structure-kinetic relationships, accounting for a wider range of particle chemistries and highlighting the imperative of time in dictating the design rules for membrane permeation.Within case study (2), we probe larger NP-membrane interactions that implicate macroscopic membrane deformations and restructuring. Using the molecular simulations, we map out in particle size and chemistry space the putative NP-membrane interaction configurations, some of which resemble and agree with small-scale solubility-diffusion theory or large-scale membrane elastic theory (e.g. for lipid bilayer or monolayer wrapping of the NP) in stability limits and free energies and some of which require closer examination in the simulation to explain the thermodynamics. We also discover an entirely novel mechanism of interaction for ~4 nm, rough crystalline hydrophobic particles that we call "asymmetric leaflet hopping," wherein the particle preferentially inserts in one bilayer leaflet, forming a pre-pore in the membrane and inducing large-scale membrane curvature, and flips to the other leaflet over extended time scales.We conclude with preliminary phenomenologies to outline the phase behavior of ~1-10 nm particles of varying chemistry, as well as other areas where our platform shows great promise. By accounting for a vast range of NP designs, natural lipid diversity (lipidomics), and variable compartmental size, boundary layer, and transient conditions, this platform has the potential to more intuitively and effectively inform systems-level physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models for NP biodistribution predictions, as well as structure-activity relationships for direct predictions of product efficacy and toxicity. The end result of this multiscale platform is that we can directly link a NP's microscopic physicochemical properties to its macroscopic outcomes in a dynamic biodistribution setting.


As shown recently [O.B. Isaeva et al., Phys. Rev. E 64, 055201 (2001)], the phenomena intrinsic to dynamics of complex analytic maps under appropriate conditions may occur in physical systems. We study scaling regularities associated with the effect of additive noise upon the period-tripling bifurcation cascade generalizing the renormalization group approach of Crutchfield et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 933 (1981)] and Shraiman et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 935 (1981)], originally developed for the period doubling transition to chaos in the presence of noise. The universal constant determining the rescaling rule for the intensity of the noise in period tripling is found to be gamma=12.206 640 9 em leader. Numerical evidence of the expected scaling is demonstrated.


Purpose To assess the outcome of cataract surgery with hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in children with congenital and developmental cataracts. Method A retrospective review of medical records of children with congenital or developmental cataracts who underwent cataract surgery with hydrophilic IOL implantation, from January 2011 to December 2014 in a tertiary eye hospital in Nepal. Primary posterior capsulotomy, anterior vitrectomy, and IOL implantation was done in children 8 years or younger, while older children underwent only lens aspiration and IOL implantation. Results A total of 178 eyes of 120 children underwent cataract surgery with primary IOL implantation. Mean age at the time of surgery was 6.9 years (range: 3 months to 15 years). Average follow-up time was 13.7 (±5.9) months. Associated ocular anomalies were present in 84 (47.1%) eyes. Postoperative complications were found in 33 eyes (18.13%) with inflammatory membrane being the most common (10.1%). Two eyes (1.1%) developed endophthalmitis. Second intervention was needed in 12 (6.5%) eyes. Preoperative vision of less than 6/60 was present in 105 eyes (57.69%). Final best corrected visual acuity of 6/12 or better was found in 81 (44.5%) eyes. Conclusion Our study shows that hydrophilic IOL is suitable for use in children. Results of this study are comparable with other studies on pediatric cataract surgeries using hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses. Low cost hydrophilic lens implantation is an effective approach in managing pediatric cataract surgery in developing countries like Nepal.


At South Scarle, a point about halfway between Newark and Lincoln, au unsuccessful boring for coal some short time ago disclosed a most interesting, but, so far as its lower portion was concerned, somewhat puzzling geological section. The object of this communication is to identify, ff possible, the lower rocks passed through in these borings. The following generalized section is quoted from a paper "On a deep Boring for Coal at Scarle, Lincolnshire," by Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S., F.G.S. (see Prec. Inst. Civil Engineers, eel. xlix. part iii.) :— Down to 26 feet in the Lower Magnesian Limestone the above classification of the Scarle cores appears to be approximately correct. Below that depth, however (1827 feet), there came up from 50 to 60 feet of a very hard dark grey to black rock, generally oolitic, though apparently untbssiliferous, the analysis of which showed it to be an argillaceous dolomite. This was succeeded by 16 feet of sandy (?) sediment too loose for cores ; then came 118 feet of grey earthy limestones or calcareous shales, with a foot or so of greenish grit or breccia at the base. Last of all (at 2020 feet), compact red or purplish-red clays with nodules of hæmatite were penetrated to a depth of 10 feet. On seeing the first specimens of the "grey earthy limestones," Professors Ramsay and Hull both came to the conclusion, founded on lithological grounds, that these rocks were to be referred to the Lower Yoredale series. The succession below, however,


Variations in regional development are basically carried forward by technological development together with spatial concentrations of production and finance. The main argument behind this paper is that innovation and regional development variables have temporal variations in a spatial context. Analysis was conducted using principal component indices from the years 1995–2007 to provide a temporal trend perspective of the most successful locations in innovation activity and regional development. Availability of an extensive workforce, income and higher education have steadily been the most "distinct" variables corresponding to regional development in Finland, whereas innovation occupies a stable middling position among explanative variables. Regional development and innovation activity is still concentrated in the core urban regions, but this tendency has lost at least some of its importance.


a b s t r a c t In China, the non-Coelodonta dicerorhines are too diverse to be placed entirely in the genus Dicerorhinus. Most of the Pleistocene species should be transferred to the European genus Stephanorhinus because they differ from the Dicerorhinus species. Those differences include a much larger body size, a dolicocephalic skull, the absence of incisors, a partially ossified nasal septum, a closed subaural channel, a more anteriorly positioned infraorbital foramen, and a robust postglenoid process combined with a less developed paroccipital process. However, the cranium once referred to Rhinoceros sinensis from the Yunxian Man Site should be transferred to Dicerorhinus because of the presence of smaller incisors, an open subaural channel, a high and nearly vertical occipital face, and the more anterior position of the anterior root of the zygomatic arch. In China, the interspecific differences among the Stephanorhinus species are more striking than among those of Europe. The evolution of the non-Coelodonta dicerorhines in China was punctuated around the Plio/Pleistocene transition, and it seems difficult to link the diverse Pleistocene dicerorhines with the indigenous Neogene ones. The generic attributions of the Neogene dicerorhines require further study. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of l'Academie des sciences.


We propose a wave-encoded model-based deep learning (wave-MoDL) method for joint multi-contrast image reconstruction with volumetric encoding using an interleaved look-locker acquisition sequence with T2 preparation pulse (3D-QALAS). Wave-MoDL enables a 2-minute acquisition at R=4x3-fold acceleration using a 32-channel array to provide T1, T2, and proton density maps at 1 mm isotropic resolution, from which standard contrast-weighted images can also be synthesized.


Since the pioneering work of Glickman on embedding an input-output (IO) module into an econometric framework, 1 there has been a plethora of studies on combining an IO analysis with an econometric model in the literature. The popularity of the combined framework is due to its superior performance in economic forecasting and higher accuracy in impact analysis. There are a number of approaches through which an IO model is combined with an econometric model. This paper examines three approaches to combine IO analysis with econometric modelling, namely embedded, coupled, and linked. All three approaches are applied to the Illawarra economy in a series of ex-post forecasting experiments. Each approach is applied to a hypothetical scenario of sectoral reallocation of government expenditure, to investigate certain key sectors that provide more jobs per dollar of expenditure relative to the other sectors. The comparative forecasting performance and impact analysis accuracy of each approach is examined.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a quantitative severity stratification within the framework of a Physiologic State Classification (PSSC) system that can be applied to critically ill post-trauma patients with "sepsis/SIRS" and to relate PSSC to the nature of the plasma cytokine response.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
At each study time period, a patient was classified into one of seven physiologic States previously derived from clustering 17 cardiopulmonary and metabolic variables from 338 critically ill patients: R = reference, A = normal stress response, B = metabolic insufficiency, C1 (early) and C2 (late) = respiratory insufficiency, D = cardiogenic insufficiency, H = nonshock hypovolemia.

MAIN RESULTS
The PSSC used State data from a developmental set of 159 trauma patients in a logistic model (L2PDEATH) to provide a quantitative index of severity. This severity index was tested on 80 new trauma patients (mean injury Severity Score (ISS) = 27.6, 64% survivors). Using PSSC State distributions for evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measured cytokines interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) showed the multicytokine score to be greatest in those C2- and B-State regions associated with a higher severity as measured by L2PDEATH. Compared with ARDEATH of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring system, L2PDEATH provided a better indicator of severity of sepsis/systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) for posttrauma patients.

CONCLUSIONS
PSSC allows classification of the physiologic and cytokine mediator response to trauma and permits stratification of severity in posttrauma critical illness.


Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) reinforced 7075 aluminum (Al) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized using the powder metallurgy method. A novel method for optimizing interfacial bonding by coating titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) on the surface of GNPs was proposed in this manuscript. The effects of GNPs on mechanical properties and microstructure of the aluminum matrix nanocomposites, both with and without TiO 2 coating layers, have been investigated. Experimental results showed that the corresponding mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were further improved when the GNPs have TiO 2 coating layers, compared with the addition of pure GNPs. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and microhardness of the nanocomposites reinforced with TiO 2 -coated GNPs increased by 22.9%, 25.9%, and 20.1%, respectively, in comparison to those of the matrix. The further improvement of the mechanical properties could be attributed to the existence of the coating layer, which optimizes the interface bonding between the reinforcement and the matrix, thereby improving the effectiveness of load transfer.


In this paper, an observer-based robust reliable control scheme is proposed for a near space hypersonic vehicle (NSHV) dynamical system with both parameter uncertainty and actuator faults. The parameter uncertainty is assumed to be norm-bounded, and the possible fault of each actuator is described by a variable varying within a given interval. Our aim is to design an observer-based robust reliable controller such that, for the admissible parameter uncertainty and possible actuator faults, the resulting closed-loop system is asymptotically stable with a given disturbance attenuation level γ. The unknown gain matrices are characterized in terms of the solutions to some linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which can be readily solved using standard software packages. The robust reliable control scheme presented in this study is finally demonstrated via simulation on a linearized NSHV dynamical system to illustrate the effectiveness.


Partitioning of complex networks, esp. of social networks, has been a hotly debated topic in academic circles in recent years. Since actual networks usually contain some boundary nodes that are difficult to assign to a certain community, soft partitioning is under great demand in practical applications. However, at present network partitioning is done mainly by hard partition, soft partition methods are not common. In this context, a soft partition method is proposed hereby based on topological potential and specific algorithms are also provided. This method not only considers the spread of the uncertainty of community-identity of the boundary nodes in the network, but also realizes a quantified representation of the communityidentity of the boundary nodes. Experiments show that this method yields results that are consistent with those by classic methods and is more reasonable. Keywords-Social network; complex network; soft partitioning; topological potential


A new species of the taeniolabidid multituberculate Catopsalis is described from the Simpson Quarry fauna of the Puercan age Bear Formation of the Crazy Mountains Basin, south-central Montana. The molars retain a conservative cusp formula, yet are distinct from those of other early members of the genus in their extremely large size, which is approximately the same as that of C. calgariensis from the late Torrejonian to early Tiffanian. The combination of apomorphic and plesiomorphic features in the new species indicates a greater degree of complexity in the evolution of the genus than previously recognized.


Abstract A mission statement has a significant meaning as the initial and essential step in a company's strategic planning process. Previous studies have pointed out the necessity of monitoring and longitudinal study of corporate mission statements as they should be continuously revised against changes in companies' strategies and business environment. This study aims to shed light on what types of strategies and values are currently highlighted in companies' mission statements in comparison with the findings of a well-known previous study. Therefore, this study conducted a content analysis of 491 Fortune 500 companies' mission statements. As a result, we found that "philosophy" is mostly highlighted and "profitability" is not emphasized in contemporary companies' mission statements. Compared to the past study, these findings imply that there have been dramatic changes in the content of corporate mission statements. Besides, this study divided 491 Fortune 500 companies into two groups, high performers and low performers, according to their Fortune ranking and investigated significant differences between high and low performers using t-tests. The high performers were found to more often highlight "selfconcept" and "public image" than low performers. However, the difference in mean scores between high and low performers has become smaller than in the past finding. In particular, there is no statistical difference in mission statement component numbers between high and low performers. These findings can provide futher understanding about changes of companies' strategic emphasis and the nature of corporate mission statements. This study provides a comparative insight for practitioners making company mission statements.


Hospitals today face a huge number of challenges, including new patterns of disease, rapidly evolving medical technologies, ageing populations and continuing budget constraints. This book is written by clinicians for clinicians and hospital managers, and those who design and operate hospitals. It sets out why hospitals need to change as the patients they treat and the technology to treat them changes. In a series of chapters by leading authorities in their field, it challenges existing models, reviews best practice from many countries and presents clear policy recommendations for policymakers and hospital administrators. It covers the main patient groups and conditions as well as those departments that make modern effective care possible, in imaging and laboratory medicine. Each chapter looks at patient pathways, aspects of workforce, required levels of specialisation and technology, and the opportunities and challenges for optimising the delivery of services in the hospital of the future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.


In a cattle production the quality and quantity of grassland has a big impact in the economy of the farm. The quality and quantity is always changing and there is always new results in this subject.
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the economy in the results of researchseries L6-560. I have compared how the farmeconomy in roughageproduction effects growing one year high yield grassland, compared to traditional three year grassland.
My issue: is there any economy in growing one year high yield grassland compared to traditional three year grassland?
The field research series includes two researchseries. One research on Uddetorp and one on Radde. The research was founded in year 2001 where they compared one year grassfarming with three year grassfarming. To reach a so fair economic result as possible of the two growing systems, I have used AgroVast feeding application to value the chemical analyse and function in the feedingplan. The figures are averages in the two research results. Each average yield in the two research have to be optimised in to the given conditions, in the application basic functions.
The calculation on growing system, shows that the one year growing system gives a
growingnetto on 8850 SEK during the three year. The three year grassland gives a growingnetto on 14500 SEK witch is 5650 SEK better than the one year during the there year grassland.
The work shows that the one year grassland has a higher growing cost than the three year grassland. The establishment is a big cost, even the higher yield doesn't cover up the higher establish costs. Because of the low hardy has the first harvest of the one year grassland been lower. The research series continues where the one year grassland is harvest every year, maybe the economic results hade been different if I choice those results.


Many outer membrane proteins (OMPs) in Gram-negative bacteria possess known beta-barrel three-dimensional (3D) structures. These proteins, including channel-forming transmembrane porins, are diverse in sequence but exhibit common structural features. We here report computational analyses of six outer membrane proteins of known 3D structures with respect to (1) secondary structure, (2) hydropathy, and (3) amphipathicity. Using these characteristics, as well as the presence of an N-terminal targeting sequence, a program was developed allowing prediction of integral membrane beta-barrel proteins encoded within any completely sequenced prokaryotic genome. This program, termed the beta-barrel finder (BBF) program, was used to analyze the proteins encoded within the Escherichia coli genome. Out of 4290 sequences examined, 118 (2.8%) were retrieved. Of these, almost all known outer membrane proteins with established beta-barrel structures as well as many probable outer membrane proteins were identified. This program should be useful for predicting the occurrence of outer membrane proteins in bacteria with completely sequenced genomes.


The effect of comorbid reading or arithmetic learning disabilities (LDs) on neuropsychological function in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was studied. Participants were young males diagnosed with ADHD, with and without LD, and non-ADHD, non-LD male controls of similar age. LD was defined by combined regression-based and low-achievement classifications. Analyses adjusted for the effect of psychiatric comorbidity, age, and socioeconomic status on neuropsychological function. Children who had both ADHD and LD were significantly more impaired on both executive and nonexecutive functions than ADHD children without LD. Neuropsychological performance was most impaired in ADHD with combined arithmetic and reading disability. These data indicate that comorbid LD, especially arithmetic disability, significantly increases the severity of executive function impairment in ADHD.


In this paper, we address the problem of designing wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical interconnects with reduced hardware complexity. We propose a new WDM optical interconnect design that reduces both the number of space switches and the cost of wavelength conversion. Wavelength conversion in the proposed design occurs between two pre-defined wavelengths, eliminating the need for expensive wide-range wavelength converters used in most existing designs. In addition, the proposed design follows the recursive structure of the Benes network, and hence, scalability occurs in an orderly fashion. A systematic method for developing interconnects with arbitrary number of wavelengths and fibers is given, and the main properties of the new design are analyzed and compared with existing designs. We show that, the new design requires the minimum number of switching stages and space switches compared to any existing WDM Benes interconnect. Moreover, our design has minimum wavelength conversion cost compared to most existing designs.


This study uses a high purity cell culture system to extend previous observations of factors controlling the end of the Sertoli cell proliferative phase. Thyroid hormone, retinoic acid, and testosterone were assessed for their ability to halt the proliferative phase and regulate the expression of markers associated with maturation of the Sertoli cell. We show that these hormones share similar suppressive effects on the rate of Sertoli cell division without any apparent additive effects. We demonstrate that these hormones induce the progressive accumulation of cell cycle inhibitors p27Kip1 and p21Cip1 in Sertoli cells, a likely regulatory mechanism controlling the suppression of proliferation. We used real-time RT-PCR to examine the effects of these factors on the expression of mRNA encoding the Id proteins, demonstrating an increase in Id2 and Id3 expression in Sertoli cells treated with thyroid hormone, retinoic acid, or testosterone. Finally, we examined the expression of a number of genes that have been implicated in the Sertoli cell differentiation process. Our results suggest that these hormones can induce aspects of Sertoli cell differentiation in vitro, providing a valuable in vitro model for studying Sertoli cell function. (Endocrinology 144: 3722–3731, 2003)


We introduce a ring resonator, which employs a one-dimensional phononic crystal on its inner surface, and investigate its performance as a gas sensor both numerically and experimentally. Having periodic equilateral trapezoidal protrusions, the ring resonator with 207 periods is optimized through band structure calculations via the finite-element method. A surface band linear around 58 kHz is observed. The resonator exhibits sharp transmission peaks with a broad free-spectral range of 0.54 kHz. Accordingly, a peak at 58.49 kHz with a high-quality factor of 8196 appears. Application in detection of the carbon dioxide level in air with high sensitivity is demonstrated. The 58.49 kHz peak red shifts linearly at 17.3 mHz/ppm and 17.8 mHz/ppm rates, as obtained from numerical calculations and experiments, respectively. Besides, the peak shape and maximum intensity are preserved. Due to the linear shift of the resonance peak with respect to the carbon dioxide concentration, acoustic intensity at initial peak frequency can be utilized as an auxiliary means for concentrations up to 1000 ppm. The proposed ring resonator can be adapted to a variety of acoustic devices such as liquid concentration sensors based on phononic crystals, surface acoustic wave sensors, and micromechanical resonators.We introduce a ring resonator, which employs a one-dimensional phononic crystal on its inner surface, and investigate its performance as a gas sensor both numerically and experimentally. Having periodic equilateral trapezoidal protrusions, the ring resonator with 207 periods is optimized through band structure calculations via the finite-element method. A surface band linear around 58 kHz is observed. The resonator exhibits sharp transmission peaks with a broad free-spectral range of 0.54 kHz. Accordingly, a peak at 58.49 kHz with a high-quality factor of 8196 appears. Application in detection of the carbon dioxide level in air with high sensitivity is demonstrated. The 58.49 kHz peak red shifts linearly at 17.3 mHz/ppm and 17.8 mHz/ppm rates, as obtained from numerical calculations and experiments, respectively. Besides, the peak shape and maximum intensity are preserved. Due to the linear shift of the resonance peak with respect to the carbon dioxide concentration, acoustic intensity at initial peak fre...


Among the mineral nutrients that are required for plant metabolism, iron (Fe) and sulphur (S) play a central role as both elements are needed for the activity of several proteins involved in essential cellular processes. A combination of physiological, biochemical and molecular approaches was employed to investigate how S availability influences plant response to Fe deficiency, using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We first observed that chlorosis symptom induced by Fe deficiency was less pronounced when S availability was scarce. We thus found that S deficiency inhibited the Fe deficiency induced expression of several genes associated with the maintenance of Fe homeostasis. This includes structural genes involved in Fe uptake (i.e. IRT1, FRO2, PDR9, NRAMP1) and transport (i.e. FRD3, NAS4) as well as a subset of their upstream regulators, namely BTS, PYE and the four clade Ib bHLH. Last, we found that the over accumulation of manganese (Mn) in response to Fe shortage was reduced under combined Fe and S deficiencies. These data suggest that S deficiency inhibits the Fe deficiency dependent induction of the Fe uptake machinery. This in turn limits the transport into the root and the plant body of potentially toxic divalent cations such as Mn and Zn, thus limiting the deleterious effect of Fe deprivation.