Figure-ground theory,linkage theory and place theory of Roger Trancik were applied,field investigation,photo-taking and inductive analysis combined to analyze spatial configuration of urban historic blocks,physical environment,wills of people and also interaction between human behavior and environment in Wenshufang,Chengdu City of Sichuan Province.The results showed that on the basis of a clear bidimensional virtual-real structure,"linear parameters" and "dynamic structures" of spatial connection were established for Wenshufang,environment elements and humanistic needs of the place were respected,connection vitality of lane and yard spaces maintained.In this way,Wenshufang successfully inherited Buddhist cultures and folk cultures,which could provide a useful reference for the protection and research on historic blocks in other cities.


The propagation of acoustic nonlinear excitations in an electron-positron-ion (e-p-i) plasma composed of warm electrons and positrons, as well as hot ions, has been investigated by adopting a two-dimensional cylindrical geometry. The electrons and positrons are modeled by hydrodynamic fluid equations, while the ions are assumed to follow a temperature-parametrized Boltzmann distribution (the fixed ion model is recovered in the appropriate limit). This situation applies in the accretion disk near a black hole in active galactic nuclei, where the ion temperature may be as high as 3 to 300 times that of the electrons. Using a reductive perturbation technique, a cylindrical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation is derived and its exact soliton solutions are presented. Furthermore, real situations in which the strength of the nonlinearity may be weak are considered, so that higher-order nonlinearity plays an important role. Accordingly, an extended cylindrical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation is derived, which admits both soliton and double-layer solutions. The characteristics of the nonlinear excitations obtained are investigated in detail.


Mucoadhesive microspheres play an imperative job in the drug delivery system due to their small size and other effective properties. It is utilized as a carrier for medication. Mucoadhesive microspheres delayed the residence time at the site of utilization or absorption and facilitate an intimate contact with the underlying absorption surface and in this way enhanced therapeutic performance of medications. It can also enhanced bioavailability and efficient absorption of the medications because of a high surface to volume proportion, a considerably more intimate contact with the mucus layer, controlled and sustained release of medicamentfrom dosage form and specific targetingmedications to the retention site. These can be created for oral, buccal, nasal, ocular, rectal and vaginal for either systemic or local effects.


Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate daily practice among a population of surgeons. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to randomly selected general surgeons, gynecologists, urologists, and thoracic surgeons from the following 12 cities: Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Manisa, Mersin, and Samsun. Results: Surgeons administer deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis in 65% of their patients. Laparoscopic surgery is the most frequently performed procedure for cholelithiasis and antireflux treatment. The dominant factor in the selection of new surgical device is cost-effectiveness. There is an increasing preference for single-port laparoscopy. The impact of surgeons on purchase of new surgical device is at most 50%. Conclusion: This is the first survey performed in Turkey that evaluated preferences and practices of surgeons among a population that reflects practices countrywide.


Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia is a growing modality within the pediatric emergency department. Here we present a case where a posterior tibial nerve block was used for anesthesia during foreign body removal from the plantar foot. We further review the technique and literature regarding this straightforward and highly effective procedure.


Trust and privacy are hot and open concerns in Open Environment (OE). The Conventional Computing Platform (CCP) is deficient of platform trust that raises security concerns such as 'phishing' attacks. The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) took an initiative to tackle security and trust anxieties in OE via Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and Remote Attestation (RA). However, the current RA technique has its own limitation i.e. missing of Mutual Attestation (MA) and platform privacy fears in OE. The Federated Single Sign-on (FSSO) scheme such as Shibboleth allows its users to access a resource across domains in a privacy preserving manner but what is still missing; it is the mutual platform trust establishment among client and Identity Provider (IdP) platforms in OE. In this paper, we embrace MA technique and integrated in Shibboleth with UserName (UN) to guarantee user is a legitimate owner of UN but also his/her and home domain IdP platform mutually authenticated. Hence, we achieves (a) strong security with two factor authentication i.e. UN and mutual attestation, (b) mutual platform trust establishment between the client and IdP machines, and (c) resource access in privacy protecting manner. We practicality demonstrate unified STP Framework notion for FSSO environment by Testbed prototype implementation that confirms productivity and scalability of our approach.


The present invention relates to a traffic accident occurrence notification system using LED display lamps, comprising: an emergency message generating unit provided in a mobile means so as to generate a wireless signal in an emergency situation; a plurality of LED display lamps provided together with street lamps provided on a road so as to receive the wireless signal from the emergency message generating unit and display a turned-on or flickering state from a position at which the wireless signal is received to a position at which a distance is set at a rear; and a street lamp control server for controlling the street lamps and the LED display lamps and determining the position at which the wireless signal is received so as to transmit information thereof to a rescue server. The present invention provides the emergency message generating unit in a vehicle so as to detect an accident or enable a driver to recognize an emergency situation and select propagation of the emergency situation, and enables a nearby street lamp to receive the wireless signal when the emergency message generating unit transmits the wireless signal so as to turn on or flicker the LED display lamps such that the LED display lamps located at the rear of a distance set at a corresponding position are turned on or flicker so as to make a driver in a following vehicle recognize the occurrence of the emergency situation ahead, thereby preventing the occurrence of a secondary collision accident.


Radiology reports are the main form of communication between radiologists and other clinicians, and contain important information for patient care [1] [2]. However in order to use this information for research it is necessary to convert the raw text into structured data suitable for analysis. Domain specific contextual word embeddings have been shown to achieve impressive accuracy at such natural language processing tasks in medicine [3] [4]. In this work we pre-trained a contextual embedding BERT [5] model using breast radiology reports and developed a classifier that incorporated the embedding with auxiliary global textual features in order to perform a section tokenization task. This model achieved a 98% accuracy at segregating free text reports into sections of information outlined in the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon [2], a significant improvement over the Classic BERT model without auxiliary information. We then evaluated whether using section tokenization improved the downstream extraction of the following fields: modality/procedure, previous cancer, menopausal status, purpose of exam, breast density and background parenchymal enhancement. Using the BERT model pre-trained on breast radiology reports combined with section tokenization resulted in an overall accuracy of 95.9% in field extraction. This is a 17% improvement compared to an overall accuracy of 78.9% for field extraction for models without section tokenization and with Classic BERT embeddings. Our work shows the strength of using BERT in radiology report analysis and the advantages of section tokenization in identifying key features of patient factors recorded in breast radiology reports.


Programs currently available for gene prediction from within genomic DNA are far from being powerful enough to elucidate the gene structure completely. We develop a hidden Markov model (HMM) to represent the degeneracy features of splicing junction donor sites in eucaryotic genes. The HMM system is fully trained using an expectation maximization algorithm and the system performance is evaluated using the 10-way cross-validation method. Experimental results show that our HMM system can correctly classify more than 95% of the candidate sequences into the right categories. More than 91% of the true donor sites and 97% of the false donor sites in the test data are classified correctly. These results are very promising, considering that only the local information in DNA is used. This model will be a very important component of effective and accurate gene structure detection system currently being developed in our lab.


PURPOSE
To describe the appearance of various endothelial diseases with in vivo confocal microscopy and anterior chamber optical coherence tomography (AC OCT).

METHODS
In this study, ten patients with five different corneal endothelial pathologies were evaluated. Three patients had cornea guttata, three had corneal endothelial precipitates, two had irido-corneo-endothelial (ICE) syndrome, one had endothelial folds, and one had breaks in the Descemet membrane. All patients had bilateral ophthalmologic examinations, in vivo confocal microscopy, and AC OCT analysis.

RESULTS
In cases of cornea guttata, AC OCT showed a finely embossed line corresponding to the empty intercellular cavities found with in vivo confocal microscopy. Corneal endothelium precipitates had the aspect of round formations suspended with the endothelium. Iris atrophy and irido-corneal synechiae resulting from ICE syndrome were precisely visualized with the AC OCT.

CONCLUSION
High-resolution images of the anterior segment could be obtained using the AC OCT. Associated with in vivo confocal microscopy, these two new imaging techniques provide a precise evaluation of endothelial pathologies.


Serial histological changes in heterotopic canine cardiac allografts are reported using a percutaneous needle biopsy technique. This procedure can be performed without general anaesthesia or major complications and gives a high success rate (over 98%) with representative sampling of the organ. A pattern of acute rejection is described and compares well with the findings in other orthotopic and heterotopic studies. Histological differences between a group of untreated dogs and a group receiving azathioprine and hydrocortisone, in amounts that would permit subacute rejection in treated human transplants, suggest that immunotherapy causes greater reduction in local cellular immunological activity than in graft necrosis. It is concluded that although major graft damage in acute and subacute rejection appears to be cell mediated other factors may also be concerned in the pathogenesis of graft necrosis.


The cation-exchange capacities for the alkaline earth metals Ba, Mg, and Ca, and their immobilization in the interlayers of a novel swelling fluorine mica (Na-3-mica) with a high-layer-charge density were studied. The mica was fully exchanged or saturated with Ba, Mg, and Ca ions and the cation-exchange capacities were determined to be 246, 338, and 322 meq (100 g)−1, respectively, on anhydrous basis of mica. The chemical analyses of the saturated micas indicated that about three exchangeable interlayer sodium ions per unit cell existed in the mica as a result of the total negative layer charge due to both Mg vacancies in octahedral sheets and Al substitution in tetrahedral Si sheets of the silicate. The Ba, Mg, and Ca leachabilities of the saturated micas were investigated in 0.5 M NaCl background solutions at room temperature and these were compared to the Sr leachability of the Sr-saturated mica. The degree of the cation immobilization in the interlayers increased in the order of Ca


Peripheral plasma levels of oxytocin were determined in women during pregnancy and labour. There was a significant increase in maternal plasma oxytocin with advancing gestation but no significant change in levels at any stage of labour. Oxytocin concentrations in umbilical cord plasma were measured after spontaneous vaginal delivery and at elective caesarean section. A significant arteriovenous difference, with higher arterial levels, was found in both groups and the values after labour were significantly higher than at elective caesarean section. These findings suggest that the fetus is able to produce oxytocin which may play a role in human parturition.


Malassezia spp. are members of the normal cutaneous flora, but are also associated with several cutaneous diseases. Recent studies of the interaction of Malassezia spp. with melanocytes, fibroblasts, keratinocytes and dendritic cells have highlighted their potential to modulate the immune response directed against them. In normal skin they may downregulate the inflammatory response, allowing them to live as commensals. In contrast, in atopic/eczema dermatitis syndrome and psoriasis, they may elicit an inflammatory response that contributes to the maintenance of lesions. Future research may define ways to influence this inflammatory cycle and hence to control or prevent exacerbations of these diseases.


It is numerically shown that incorporation of a distributed Bragg reflector at the facets of an etched diffraction grating (EDG) can be used to tailor the output spectral response of the device. This technique is used to optimize the overall insertion loss envelope of a distributed etched diffraction grating (DEDG) demultiplexer to improve the output channel uniformity. Numerical results are presented for the transverse electric (TE) polarization, where a channel uniformity of 0.45 dB over 43-nm bandwidth is achieved. A finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method in combination with perfectly matched layers (PMLs) and periodic boundary condition (PBC) is used to calculate the insertion loss envelope of device.


Previously we proposed an aggregate data study design for estimation of exposure effects from population-based disease rates and covariate data from risk factor surveys in each population group. A basic relative rate model specified for individuals is aggregated to produce a random effects relative rate model for the disease rates. Relative rate parameter estimates from aggregate data studies target the same parameters as individual-level studies but use between-group information in the data. We distinguish aggregate data studies from ecologic studies. Considerations in the design of aggregate studies are motivated by the need to gain clearer understanding of the role of diet in cancer aetiology. Simulation studies show that increasing the number of populations included in an aggregate data study from about 20 to 30-40 gives greater improvement in power than corresponding increases in the size of the survey sample in each population over an initial size of 100 individuals.


Females of several acoustic insects and anurans have recently been shown to orient preferentially to the leading of two identical male calls presented in close succession. We studied this phenomenon via two-choice phonotaxis trials in the neotropical katydid Neoconocephalus spiza and found that females avoided male calls occurring during an interval beginning immediately after the onset of a leading call. This avoidance occurred whether or not the following call was overlapped by the leader, indicating that the mechanism of preference for leading calls may represent a psychoacoustic precedence effect rather than simple call masking. We also found that females preferred leading calls as long as the amplitude of the following call was not more than 2 dB higher than the leader. Under certain circumstances, preferences for leading calls remained when females were presented with a sequence of four calls. Thus, preferences for leading calls probably influence a male's attractiveness and mating success in complex natural choruses: females are expected to orient towards males producing leading calls regardless of call length (and the probability of overlapping a following call), when the leading call is up to 1.5 times as distant as a follower, and when succeeded by multiple followers. We suggest that female preferences for leading male calls represent sensory biases that originated in contexts unrelated to sexual selection. None the less they currently play an important role in sexual selection and influence individual male signalling behaviour, and thus chorus structure. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.


The changes occurring in the dimensions of the cell wall of jute fibres on treatment with 18% sodium hydroxide solution have been examined by light microscopy. As a result of the treatment, the fibres shrink longitudinally and the cell wall thickness increases, the increase being inversely related to the original thickness. These observations are indicative of the movement of the cell wall fibrils more towards the lumen than towards the surface.


Large amplitude Alfvén waves are frequently found in magnetized space and laboratory plasmas. Our objective here is to discuss the linear and nonlinear properties of dispersive Alfvén waves (DAWs) in a uniform magnetoplasma. We first consider finite frequency (ω/ωci) and ion gyroradius effects on inertial and kinetic Alfvén waves, where ωci is the ion gyrofrequency. Next, we focus on nonlinear effects caused by DAWs. Such effects include plasma density enhancement and depression by the Alfvén wave ponderomotive force, electron Joule heating by the thermal Alfvén wave force, the generation of zonal flows due to the shear Alfvén wave mode couplings as well as the formation of localized Alfvénic structures and Alfvénic vortices. The relevance of our investigation to the appearance of nonlinear Alfvén waves in the Earth's auroral acceleration region, in the solar corona and in the large plasma device at UCLA is discussed.


Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Therefore, the ability to monitor electrocardiogram (ECG) in the long term could save patients' lives by allowing early diagnosis and intervention. Dry electrodes are the best option to accomplish this task. 3D printing is one of the popular techniques currently used to construct dry electrodes. This project designs, builds, tests, and compares 3D printed ECG electrodes using four commercially available electrically conductive polylactic acid-based fuzed deposition modeling filaments. Also, this project uses these printed electrodes to acquire ECG raw signals. Then it compares these signals by calculating their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and their ability to measure heart rate using the Pan–Tompkins algorithm. Also, the resistance of these printed electrodes is measured. In conclusion, all printed electrodes in this experiment show acceptable efficiency with SNR values equal to or larger than 18.89 dB, and these electrodes prove their ability to measure heart rate using the Pan–Tompkins algorithm. However, according to the results of this experiment, one commercially available brand (Proto-Pasta) is more favorable to use. Proto-Pasta has the highest SNR value (20.71 dB), the second lower resistance values (∼ from 600 Ω to 2 kΩ), the lowest 60 Hz powerline and low-frequency noise, the most accurate printed electrodes (the printed electrodes have less shape deformity compared to other brands), and no any noticeable physical malfunction (no knops break from the electrodes during the test process).


BACKGROUND
Triglycerides are a major source of energy, while high plasma triglycerides are a risk factor for various diseases and premature death. Severely elevated plasma triglycerides are a well-established cause of acute pancreatitis with high mortality, likely due to the presence of elevated levels of chylomicrons and large very low-density lipoproteins in plasma. As markedly elevated levels of these very large lipoproteins are not generally found in mild to moderate hypertriglyceridemia, this was previously not regarded as a cause or marker of increased risk of acute pancreatitis. However, mild to moderate hypertriglyceridemia may identify individuals who at a later timepoint develop severe hypertriglyceridemia and acute pancreatitis.

CONTENT
We describe measurement of plasma triglycerides and studies on plasma triglycerides and risk of acute pancreatitis. Further, we summarize current European and American guidelines for the prevention of acute pancreatitis and, finally, the potential for future prevention of acute pancreatitis through lowering of plasma triglycerides.

SUMMARY
Recent observational and genetic studies indicate that mild to moderate hypertriglyceridemia is causally related to increased risk of acute pancreatitis, most likely as a marker of future severe hypertriglyceridemia. Current guidelines do not mention individuals with mild to moderate hypertriglyceridemia, even though newer evidence suggests an unmet medical need. Treatment could include plasma triglyceride-lowering therapy targeting the pathway for lipoprotein lipase as the main triglyceride degrading enzyme in plasma. Angiopoietin-like 3 and apolipoproteinC-III are inhibitors of lipoprotein lipase, and blocking of these 2 inhibitors is showing promising results in relation to marked triglyceride-lowering and could perhaps be used to prevent acute pancreatitis in the future.


A nutrient-sensing protein is important for the health of hematopoietic stem cells during aging [Also see Report by Mohrin et al.] Aging is a complex process. Progressive molecular changes lead to a decline in the ability of living beings to maintain homeostasis and overcome cellular stress, protein damage, and disease (1). At the organismal level, stem cells play a fundamental role in maintaining tissue integrity, and their functional and proliferative exhaustion is a major cause of aging (2). Hematopoietic stem cells, which reside in the bone marrow and give rise to all blood cell types, are a favored model for studying stem cell aging. However, the exact molecular mechanisms underlying their aging remain unknown. Sirtuins, a family of nutrient-sensing proteins (SIRT1 to SIRT7) that regulate gene expression and protein function in mammalian cells, orchestrate multiple pathways that are associated with age-related processes and longevity. On page 1374 of this issue, Mohrin et al. (3) connect SIRT7 to a metabolic checkpoint that controls aging in hematopoietic stem cells.


Low-frequency flicker noise is usually associated with material defects or imperfection of fabrication procedure. Up to now, there is only very limited knowledge about flicker noise of the topological insulator, whose topologically protected conducting surface is theoretically immune to back scattering. To suppress the bulk conductivity we synthesize antimony doped Bi2Se3 nanowires and conduct transport measurements at cryogenic temperatures. The low-frequency current noise measurement shows that the noise amplitude at the high-drain current regime can be described by Hooge's empirical relationship, while the noise level is significantly lower than that predicted by Hooge's model near the Dirac point. Furthermore, different frequency responses of noise power spectrum density for specific drain currents at the low drain current regime indicate the complex origin of noise sources of topological insulator.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Background The analysis of gene expression profile of a total of 688 primary colorectal (CRC) cancers revealed PTPRO to have an intriguing bimodal distribution. When looking for variables associated to it, such as clinical variables, mutation status, gene copy number variation and methylation pattern, a significant association was found with the BRAF mutated (BRAF mut) tumors and a not perfect association with the CIMP high methylation subtype. Based on these findings, we postulated that the Ras/Raf mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and the methylation could concomitantly or independently be involved in the downregulation of the gene. Material and methods Basal PTPRO mRNA was evaluated in a total of 13 CRC cell lines (7 wild type for BRAF and KRAS, 2 BRAF mut and 4 KRAS mut) by RT-qPCR. PTPRO promoter region (366bp, 15475534 - 15475900 - Human Genome browser gateway NCBI36/hg18) was studied by sequencing analysis after bisulfite conversion of DNA extracted from these cells. Treatments with 10 microM of 5-azacytidine (5-AZA), 1 microM of Mek inhibitor (AS703026) and the combination of 10 microM of 5-AZA with 1 microM of Meki were performed in SW480 and Lim1215. After 72 hrs of treatment samples were profiled for gene expression and methylation. Results 10 out of 13 cell lines showed low PTPRO expression at mRNA level independently from the methylation status. The expression of the gene was induced after treatment with 5-AZA in SW480 and Lim1215. PTPRO expression was also induced after Mek inhibition of 5,6 fold and 44 fold in SW480 and Lim1215, respectively, without any modifications of the methylation pattern. Moreover, Mek inhibitor could further increase the expression of the gene in cells treated with 5-AZA Conclusion Our clinical and preclinical data confirm the MAPK pathway to be involved in PTPRO silencing independently from its methylation status. PTPRO loss might play a role in mediating the oncogenic function of the MAPK activation in CRC cells either by deregulating receptor type kinanses (RTKs) or by directly modulating Erk activity. On going experiments will answer to this question

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4162. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4162


ABSTRACT The current study investigated the effects of trait worry, a subcomponent of trait anxiety, on the process of updating information in working memory (WM). A leading theory on anxiety and executive functions, attentional control theory (ACT), states that anxiety is not related to WM updating in emotionally neutral situations. Previous research, however, has focused almost exclusively on WM span tasks that primarily emphasised storage, rather than the updating of WM representations. Moreover, few studies have directly examined the effects of trait worry. In this study, 116 subjects performed a WM updating task that required the memorisation of short lists of words and the within-trial removal of some of these items from WM. Results indicated that levels of trait worry were not related to word-span performance, but were related to performance on trials that required subjects to effectively update WM. Moreover, these effects were observed only for trait worry, not for levels of anxious arousal or comorbid levels of dysphoria. These results support the hypothesis that trait worry is related to WM updating performance and thereby extend ACT in new directions.


When I was a medical student 42 years ago my neurological textbooks were replete with diagrams of the motor, sensory, visual, and speech areas of the cerebral cortex. It occurred to me then that perhaps the viscera might also have cortical representation and therefore why not try to find out if this were so? Sad to say I was dissuaded from investigative attempts on the grounds that time in medical school should be spent only on learning. (In this respect, I would urge that any of you with promising investigative ideas should put them to the test and not be persuaded to forget them. For sad experience has shown that if you don't do the job, someone else will!).  Since my early days, much has been learned about the visceral representation in the cortex of the brain, to part of which I eventually contributed. It is now known, for example, that the vagus nerve nucleus has a representation in the subfrontal cortex, bladder and bowels in the juxtamotor cortex, cardiac and respiratory control in the cingulate and medial temporal cortex, and sex organs also in the latter. Pupillary changes may be elicited by stimulating the anterior cingulate gyri, intussception by stimulating posterior cingulate gyri, while blood pressure alterations may be induced on stimulation of numerous parts of the cerebral cortex. All this adds up to the now well-known fact that in addition to a motor and sensory cortex, there is also what might be termed a " visceral brain" in man and beast(9).


We derive a class of non–static inhomogeneous dust solutions in f(R) gravity described by the Lemâıtre–Tolman–Bondi (LTB) metric. The field equations are fully integrated for all parameter subcases and compared with analogous subcases of LTB dust solutions of GR. Since the solutions do not admit regular symmetry centres, we have two possibilities: (i) a spherical dust cloud with angle deficit acting as the source of a vacuum Schwarzschild–like solution associated with a global monopole, or (ii) fully regular dust wormholes without angle deficit, whose rest frames are homeomorphic to the Schwarzschild–Kruskal manifold or to a 3d torus. The compatibility between the LTB metric and generic f(R) ansatzes furnishes an "inverse procedure" to generate LTB solutions whose sources are found from the f(R) geometry. While the resulting fluids may have an elusive physical interpretation, they can be used as exact non–perturbative toy models in theoretical and cosmological applications of f(R) theories. PACS numbers: 98.80.-k, 04.20.-q, 95.36.+x, 95.35.+d Lemâıtre–Tolman–Bondi dust solutions in f(R) gravity. 2


A series of novel indene derivatives designed by a scaffold selection gave access to several examples of (Z)-arylmethylideneindenes and indenylsulfonamides that acted as serotonin 5-HT(6) receptor ligands. Different synthetic multistep routes could be applied to these target compounds, each with their own complexity and limitations. A reasonable route involved the (3-indenyl)acetic acids as the key intermediates, and two alternatives were also examined. The first protocol used was a two-step sequence employing a modified Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, but better results were obtained with a procedure based on the condensation of indanones with the lithium salt of ethyl acetate, followed immediately by dehydration with acid and hydrolysis/isomerization under basic catalysis. (3-Indenyl)acetic acids were transformed to the corresponding acetamides, which were effectively reduced to indenylsulfonamides using an optimized procedure with AlH(3)-NMe(2)Et. The binding at the 5-HT(6) receptor was with moderate affinity (K(i) = 216.5 nM) for the (Z)-benzylideneindenylsulfonamide and enhanced affinity for the simple indenylsulfonamide counterpart (K(i) = 50.6 nM). Selected indenylsulfonamides were then tested, showing K(i) values as low as 20.2 nM.


Abstract Agricultural commodity 'dumping' is the practice of exporting commodities at prices below the cost of production. Dumping cheats farmers of a fair return for their work. It cheats both the farmers in the USA who are paid below cost, and the farmers abroad whose crops compete with US exports in markets distorted by dumping. And dumping shortchanges the ecosystems upon which humanity depends for its survival. Neo-classical economics holds that when prices are low, suppliers will produce less. The persistence of dumping in the US agricultural commodity sector defies that assumption. In trade circles, where the problem is acknowledged to an extent, dumping is explained as a result of government subsidies. The authors argue that the dumping numbers provided by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy suggest this explanation is at best partial. They look at definitions of dumping, and explanations for how it arises and why it persists, in defiance of expectations that markets are self-correcting.


Twelve male dogs were divided in four experimental groups (G), which were selected according to the time of 0.9% saline fluid therapy: G1 (without saline therapy), G2 (an hour of saline therapy before receiving cisplatin), G3 (an hour of saline therapy before receiving cisplatin and one hour after) and G4 (two hours of saline therapy before receiving cisplatin and one hour after). All the animals received 70mg/m 2 cisplatin, via intravenous, and the chemotherapy cycles were accomplished in intervals of three weeks, in a total of three cycles. Ondansetron (0.4mg/kg) was administered via intravenous, every 8 hours, on the day of the chemotherapy and, from that, every 12 hours for two days. Methimazole (40mg/kg) was orally administered 30 minutes before the cisplatin injection and four hours after. The hematological, biochemical and urinary parameters and dosages of tiroxin and triiodotironine were evaluated every seven days until the end of the experiment. This protocol was effective and safe in the animals that stayed for a period of two or three hours receiving saline therapy, because they did not present clinical and laboratory alterations of the use of chemotherapy. The animals that did not receive saline therapy and those that received infusion of physiologic solution via IV only during one hour presented alterations that made unfeasible the use of this protocol.


Nature of relationship between hypertension and coronary artery disease: Epidemiological data indicate a strong and consistent link between hypertension and coronary artery disease. This does not mean that hypertension is the cause of coronary artery disease. Less than a quarter of the risk of developing coronary artery disease can be attributed to raised blood pressure. Furthermore, in individuals, hypertension is only weakly predictive and hence blood pressure cannot be relied upon to identify those with a particularly high risk. Effect of a reduction in blood pressure on coronary artery disease: The results of outcome trials, largely in men with mild to moderate uncomplicated hypertension, demonstrate that a modest short-term reduction in blood pressure confers a reduction in coronary artery disease events of about 16%, against the expectation from observational studies of about 22.5%. Explanations for the apparent shortfall include the putative theory that metabolic effects of the drugs used in the trials (mainly thiazides and β-blockers) offset the beneficial effect of the blood pressure reduction. However, from consideration of epidemiological findings, it is clear that a large proportion (over 75%) of events in hypertensive patients is unlikely to be preventable by managing the elevated blood pressure alone. Treatment considerations: Since arterial pressure interacts in a more than additive manner with coincident coronary risk factors, treatment should be initiated on the basis of overall risk and directed by predictors of myocardial infarction. In addition to a sustained level of blood pressure, these predictors include established coronary artery disease, older age and cigarette smoking. Beyond blood pressure reduction: Whether metabolically neutral antihypertensive drugs can reduce the shortfall between expected and observed benefit remains uncertain. However, some newer agents (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and calcium antagonists) appear to have an effect on vascular structure and function that is independent of blood pressure reduction. If these advantages are confirmed in clinical trials, these drugs offer the prospect of a much greater impact on coronary artery disease than currently obtained.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to clarify the pathway of electron transfer between the inner membrane components and the periplasmic chlorate reductase. Several soluble c-type cytochromes were found in the periplasm. The optical difference spectrum of dithionite-reduced periplasmic extract shows that at least one of these components is capable of acting as an electron donor to the enzyme chlorate reductase. The cytochromes were partially separated, and the fractions were analyzed by UV/visible spectroscopy to determine the ability of donating electrons to chlorate reductase. Our results show that one of the c cytochromes (6 kDa) is able to donate electrons, both to chlorate reductase and to the membrane-bound cytochrome c oxidase, whereas the roles of the remaining c cytochromes still remain to be elucidated. Peptide extracts of the c cytochromes were obtained by tryptic in-gel digestion for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry analysis. Peptide sequences obtained indicate that the 6-kDa cytochrome c protein is similar to c cytochromes from the chlorate-reducing bacterium Dechloromonas aromatica.


The cross sections for fine-structure transition (FST) of Rb(72D) atoms induced by collision with molecules of H2 and CO have been experimentally determined by the method of selective stepwise excitation of Rb atoms and observation of the resulting fluorescence. The cross sections (in units of 10-14 cm2) for Rb(72D)-H2 are σfs*(72D5/2 → 7 2D3/2) = 0.16 ± 0.03, σfs*'(7 2D3/2 → 7 2D5/2) = 0.24 ± 0.05, for Rb(72D)-CO: σfs* = 0.10 ± 0.06 and σfs*' = 0.15 ± 0.09. The cross sections σtr* for transfer out of the 7 2D doublet were also determined.


In this article, we deal with the problem of general matching of two images taken by a camera. To find the correspondence between two images, we use the multi resolution wavelet analysis of the image functions. The wavelet analysis is good at scale adaptivity and, therefore, very effective in general image matching. We test various wavelet functions, and evaluate their reliability.


Thanks are due to the twenty scholars who commented on my essay. Each commentary merits a more detailed response than limitations on space permit. Out of necessity, I will restrict my remarks here to what I take to be the most urgent matters raised by the commentators; a more comprehensive response is available at my web site. I will begin by focusing on questions relating to the particular type of processor that I envision, and then turn to issues involving scope and language acquisition. I conclude with a general remark about the relationship between grammar and processing.


We describe a new surgical technique for treating traumatic aniridia with aphakia and its results in a small consecutive case series. We attached a 3-piece acrylic intraocular lens through the haptics to a customized silicone iris prosthesis. The combined implant was inserted through a 5-mm incision and fixated with a transscleral suture in the ciliary sulcus using a knotless technique (Z suture). In all patients, the combined implant stayed firmly fixed within the sulcus and showed a stable and centered position without any tilt or torque during follow-up. Thus, managing posttraumatic aniridia with aphakia by means of haptic fixation of a foldable intraocular lens on a custom-tailored iris prosthesis is a promising approach for visual rehabilitation and cosmetic improvement.


BackgroundNo specific medication has been proven effective for the treatment of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we tested whether high-dose vitamin C infusion was effective for severe COVID-19.MethodsThis randomized, controlled clinical trial was performed at 3 hospitals in Hubei, China. Patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the ICU were randomly assigned in as 1:1 ratio to either the high-dose intravenous vitamin C (HDIVC) or the placebo. HDIVC group received 12 g of vitamin C/50 ml every 12 hours for 7 days at a rate of 12 ml/hour, and the placebo group received bacteriostatic water for injection in the same way. The primary outcome was invasive mechanical ventilation-free days in 28 days(IMVFD28). Secondary outcomes were 28-day mortality, organ failure, and inflammation progression.ResultsFifty-four critical COVID-19 patients were ultimately recruited. There was no difference in IMVFD28 between two groups. During the 7-day treatment period, patients in the HDIVC group had a steady rise in the PaO2/FiO2 (day 7: 229 vs. 151 mmHg, 95% CI 33 to 122, P = 0.01). Patients with SOFA scores ≥ 3 in the HDIVC group exhibited a significant reduction in 28-day mortality (P = 0.05) in univariate survival analysis. IL-6 in the VC group was lower than that in the placebo group (19.42 vs. 158.00; 95% CI -301.72 to -29.79; P = 0.04) on day 7.ConclusionThe addition of HDIVC may provide a protective clinical effect without any adverse events in critically ill patients with COVID-19.Clinicaltrial.gov identifer: NCT04264533


The genus Agrotera Schrank, 1802 is revised for Australia and the generic definition is refined based on the male genitalia. The genera Leucinodella Strand, 1918 stat. rev. with L. leucostola (Hampson, 1896) comb. nov., Nistra Walker, 1859 stat. rev. with N. coelatalis Walker, 1859 comb. rev., Sagariphora Meyrick, 1894 stat. rev. with S. magnificalis (Hampson, 1893) comb. nov., and Tetracona Meyrick, 1884 stat. rev. with T. amathealis (Walker, 1859) comb. rev. and T. pictalis Warren, 1896 comb. rev. are removed from synonymy with Agrotera, as they lack the synapomorphies of Agrotera. Two new species, Agrotera genuflexa sp. nov. from Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, and A. longitabulata sp. nov. from Queensland, are described. The taxonomic status of the Australian species of Agrotera is discussed, and a key to all species, based on males, is provided. The adults and genitalia of the new species and some related species are figured.


The Saltstone Facility at Savannah River Site (SRS) mixes low-level radiological liquid waste with grout for permanent disposal as cement in vault cells. The grout mixture is poured into each cell in approximately 17 batches (8 to 10 hours duration). The grout mixture contains ten flammable gases of concern that are released from the mixture into the cell. Prior to operations, simple parametric transient calculations were performed to develop batch parameters (including schedule of batch pours) to support operational efficiency while ensuring that a flammable gas mixture does not develop in the cell vapor space. The analysis demonstrated that a nonflammable vapor space environment can be achieved, with workable operational constraints, without crediting the ventilation flow as a safety system control. Isopar L was identified as the primary flammable gas of concern. The transient calculations balanced inflows of the flammable gases into the vapor space with credited outflows of diurnal breathing through vent holes and displacement from new grout pours and gases generated. Other important features of the analyses included identifying conditions that inhibited a well-mixed vapor space, the expected frequency and duration of such conditions, and the estimated level of stratification that could develop.


The term halal refers to what ispermitted by Islamic law. It is a basic need for Muslims and encompasses all materials used in everyday life including cosmetics.Muslims want to be assured that the ingredients,handling, processing, distribution, transportation and types of cosmetic used are halal compliant. The halal aspects of cosmetic and personal care products cover ingredients, all the processes involved in production right up to delivery to consumers, safety and product efficacy evaluations. In order to verify halal compliance of cosmetic products, a method of detecting halal and non-halal ingredients is very important and critically needed. Halal cosmetic standards, halal certification and the halal logo can be used as benchmarks for halal compliance. In view of the importance of cosmetic and personal care products from the halal perspective, this review will cover the halal principles, halal cosmetic and personal care products, ingredients, standard and certification as well as safety. The development of the process of detecting non-halal ingredients and authenticating halal ingredients for potential cosmetic applications in recent years are included in this paper.


Background The interest in the use of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical practice and in clinical trials is increasing. The EULAR/ACR collaborative recommendations 2008 for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) included patient global assessment (PaGl), pain and fatigue (FTG) as key patient-reported outcome measures (ref.). For the clinician, it is essential to know whether an observed change in any disease measure reflects natural variation or "real change". Natural variation may also be characterized as measurement error. Natural variation is assessed in individuals who are considered to be in "steady state". Objectives To examine natural variation of PaGl, pain and FTG in patients with stable RA during treatment with biological agents. Methods 233 RA patients treated with a biological agent and with stable disease were identified in the Danish rheumatology registry (DANBIO). According to EULAR response criteria, stable disease was defined as a change in DAS28-CRP ≤0.6 between two consecutive visits. Paired data from a single set of such two consecutive visits were extracted for each patient. Data comprised PaGl, pain, FTG and physician global assessment scored on 0-100 VAS scales and DAS28-CRP, tender and swollen joint count, CRP and HAQ-DI. Variation of PaGl, pain and FTG, respectively, was assessed using the Bland-Altman method with calculations of lower and upper 95% limits of agreement (LLoA;ULoA) between two consecutive assessments and the corresponding bias (mean of individual differences). Associations between intra-individual inter-visit differences (Δ) in PaGl, pain and FTG and in other disease activity measures were evaluated by Pearson's linear correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses. Results Mean age was 60±15 years, mean inter-visit time duration 22±21 weeks, mean DAS28-CRP 3.1±1.2, mean PaGl 37±27 and mean ΔDAS28-CRP 0.0±0.3 (NS). LLoA;ULoA [bias] was -30;28 [-0.8] for PaGl, -35;36 [0.5] for pain and -36;38 [0.9] for FTG. No significant correlation was found between the absolute Δvalue of PaGl, pain or FTG and the inter-visit time duration (r =0.0 to -0.1, NS). ΔPaGl, ΔPain and ΔFTG were only weakly inter-correlated (r =0.33 to 0.39, p<0.01) and were not significantly correlated with change in any other single measure of disease activity. In a multiple regression analysis including Δ of all single disease activity measures and DAS28-CRP as independent variables, ΔPaGl was best predicted by Δpain (rpartial =0.45, p<0.0001), Δpain by ΔPaGl (rpartial =0.45, p<0.0001), and ΔFTG by ΔPaGl (rpartial =0.23, p<0.001). No statistically significant difference in ΔPaGl, Δpain and ΔFTG was found between males and females. Conclusions Independently of time duration, PaGl, pain and FTG fluctuated substantially in RA patients who were in steady state according to the EULAR response criteria. In the daily clinic, a change in these patient-reported outcome measures of at least 30 on a 0-100 VAS scale may be considered as natural variation or "measurement error" with no relation to the disease activity. References Aletaha D et al. Arthritis Rheum 2008; 59: 1371-7. Disclosure of Interest None declared


On Thursday, March 29, 2007 the European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, will host a one-day Conference on Fiscal Fraud – Tackling VAT Fraud: Possible Ways Forward. The conference is based on the Communication of May 31, 2006 explaining the need to develop a coordinated strategy to improve the fight against fiscal fraud. This paper indicates that the EU examination of carousel fraud points the way forward for advocates of a US VAT as well. About 40% of EU VAT fraud appears to be 'missing trader intra-community' (MTIC) or carousel fraud. The best estimates of EU losses to carousel fraud are put at 23 billion euros annually. UK studies put domestic losses from carousel fraud at 2.98 to 4.47 billion euros.Fraud concerns understandably resonate deeply among American advocates of a federal level VAT in the US. It needs to be taken into consideration that inserting a national credit-invoice VAT into the US fiscal fabric would be to set out the welcome mat for an American carousel fraud, as well as the more traditional VAT frauds. The vulnerability of a US VAT to carousel fraud is a direct result of the American tendency for national, state and local tax systems to 'piggy backing' on one another is taken into account.


The avian pineal gland, apart from the hypothalamic master clock (suprachiasmatic nuclei, SCN) and retina, functions as an independent circadian oscillator, receiving external photic cues that it translates into the rhythmical synthesis of melatonin, a biochemical signal of darkness. Functional similarity to the mammalian SCN makes the avian pineal gland a convenient model for studies on biological clock mechanisms in general. Pineal melatonin is produced not only in a light-dependent manner but also remains under the control of the endogenous oscillator, while the possible involvement of melatonin in maintaining cyclic expression of the avian clock genes remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to characterize the diurnal profiles of main clock genes transcription in the pineal glands of chickens exposed to continuous light (LL) and supplemented with exogenous melatonin. We hypothesized that rearing chickens from the day of hatch under LL conditions would evoke a functional pinealectomy, influencing, in turn, pineal clock function. To verify this hypothesis, we examined the diurnal transcriptional profiles of selected clock genes as well as the essential parameters of pineal gland function: transcription of the genes encoding arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (Aanat), a key enzyme in melatonin biosynthesis, and the melatonin receptor (Mel1c), along with the blood melatonin level. Chickens hatched in summer or winter were maintained under LD 16:8 and 8:16, corresponding to the respective photoperiods, as the seasonal control groups. Another set of chickens was kept in parallel under LL conditions and some were supplemented with melatonin to check the ability of exogenous hormone to antagonize the effects evoked by continuous light. Twelve-day-old chickens were sacrificed every 3 h over a 24-h period and the mRNAs of selected clock genes, Bmal1, Cry1, Per3, E4bp4, together with those of Aanat and Mel1c, were quantified in the isolated pineal glands. Our results indicate that the profiles of clock gene transcription are not dependent on the duration of the light phase, while LL conditions decrease the amplitude of diurnal changes, but do not abolish them entirely. Melatonin supplied in drinking water to the birds kept in LL seems to desynchronize transcription of the majority of clock genes in the summer, while in the winter, it restores the pattern, but not the diurnal rhythmicity. Rhythmic expression of Bmal1 appears to provide a direct link between the circadian clock and the melatonin output pathway, while the availability of cyclic melatonin is clearly involved in the canonical transcription pattern of Per3 in the chicken pineal gland. Regardless of the experimental conditions, a negative correlation was identified between the transcription of genes involved in melatonin biosynthesis (Aanat) and melatonin signal perception (Mel1c receptor).


Juxtafacet cysts are an uncommon cause of radiculopathy. They occur most frequently in the lumbar region, and their distribution across the spine correlates with mobility. Haemorrhagic complications are rare and may occur in the absence of any provocation, although there is some association with anticoagulation and trauma. We present a case of acute radiculopathy due to an L5/S1 juxtafacet cyst with unprovoked haemorrhage which was found to extend into ligamentum flavum. The patient underwent uncomplicated microscope assisted decompression with excellent results. The demographics, presentation, aetiology, and management of juxtafacet cysts are discussed.


The clinical trial has to be rigidly followed because it identifies a uniform clinical behaviour, which has to be adopted by the different physicians carrying out the test. The life cycle of the clinical trial is therefore based on a planning and definition phase, a next experimental phase connected with its diffusion to the involved centres and finally an evaluation phase of the results. An information system, which supports the users in the different phases of the clinical trial life cycle, has to take into account the different characteristics of each phase. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the role of WF technology as a component of an information system which supports the life cycle of a clinical trial also on the basis of the experience of the Italian Group for Haematological Disease of Adults (GIMEMA).


The correct approach to the management of the asymptomatic carrier with a recognized inherited thrombophilic disorder is uncertain because reliable in formation of the risk of spontaneous (unprovoked) throm bosis in these disorders is not available. To determine the best available estimate of the annual incidence of spon taneous thrombosis in asymptomatic carriers of disorders that have been linked to familial thrombophilia, we per formed a literature review. Using Medline search from 1965 to 1992, supplemented by manual searches, we re trieved all articles that presented data on antithrombin III, protein C, protein S, dysfibrinogenemia, plasmino gen, histidine-rich glycoprotein, heparin cofactor II, and fibrinolysis in relation to thrombosis. Publications were included in the analysis if they (1) reported one or more probands with thrombotic disease and a heterozygous biochemical abnormality of the hemostatic system, (2) assessed the presence of this abnormality in family mem bers independent of the presence or absence of a history of thrombotic disease, and (3) assessed the presence of a history of thrombotic disease in all available family mem bers. The biochemical status and clinical details of all family members reported were extracted from each eligi ble article. For each abnormality the odds ratio for throm bosis was compared in family members with and without the biochemical abnormality. If applicable, thrombosis- free survival and age-specific incidences of thrombosis were calculated. The thrombotic episodes were classified as spontaneous or secondary to a recognized risk factor, and the proportion of spontaneous episodes was calcu lated. The influence of diagnostic suspicion bias in symp tomatic patients with a family history of thrombosis was reduced by recalculating the absolute incidence of throm bosis from the odds ratio after adjusting the incidence of venous thrombosis in nonaffected family members to that observed in the general population. Statistically signifi cant associations between the presence of a biochemical abnormality and a history of venous thrombosis were found for antithrombin III deficiency types 1 and 2a and 2b, protein C deficiency type 1, and protein S deficiency type I. Dysfibronogenemia was statistically significantly associated with venous as well as arterial thrombosis. Thirty-five to 67% of the events were classified as being provoked, as they occurred following exposure to a rec ognized risk factor for thrombosis. The recalculated an nual incidence of spontaneous thrombosis was 0.6 to 1.6%/year. It is concluded that this relatively low inci dence does not warrant life-long continuous use of anti coagulant prophylaxis since the reported risk of major and fatal bleeding associated with the use of oral antico agulants is 2-3 and 0.4%/year, respectively.


The success of the IEEE 802.11 standard has pushed the research community to put a not negligible effort in the design, analysis, and development of new wireless solutions during the last decade. More recently, the apparition of the wireless mesh technology incited a number of wireless testbeds to be deployed in several countries, in both academic and industrial environments. The LIP6 laboratory of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie is a main actor in the context of wireless mesh networking and has deployed its own testbed. Custom wireless routers built up from off-the-shelf hardware and open source software form this testbed, which is called MeshDVNet. On this platform the LIP6 has designed and implemented the MeshDV demon, an integrated approach for routing and mobility management, which hides to end-users all the complexity of wireless mesh networks. MeshDV allows end-users to easily access the network without the constrain of embedding any kind of additional software (e.g. routing demon, protocol stack extensions)


Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. He passed away on March 21, 2013 at the age of 82.


There is a growing interest in developing Rotorcraft Unmanned Aerial Systems (RUAS) with advanced onboard autonomous capabilities. RUAS is a very versatile vehicle and its unique flying characteristics enable it to carry loads, hanging in wires underneath it. This suspended load alters the flight characteristics of the vehicle. In this paper, an anti-swing manoeuvre controller for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial system with an attached suspended load (slung-load) is proposed. The presented architecture is powered by Echo State Networks (ESN) that enables simple modeling of the controller and outperforms linear techniques in terms of robustness to unmodelled dynamics and disturbances. The external load behaves like a pendulum; this can change the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the low frequency modes of the RUAS. The technique chosen to solve the problem is to achieve both robust performance and computational efficiency. Reservoir Computing (RC) is an alternative to gradient descent methods for training Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), which represent a very powerful generic tool, integrating both large dynamical memory and highly adaptable computational capabilities. ESN is a type of reservoir computing; the advantage lies in the ability to overcome the difficulties in RNN training, it is conceptually simple and computationally inexpensive. It has been demonstrated that a model and controller design using ESN may be developed. ESN performs well to control unknown nonlinear systems.


Photochemical ribonucleotide reductases (photoRNRs) are developed for the generation and transport of amino acid radicals by proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) in this enzyme. The β2 subunit has been replaced with the [Re]-3,5-F2Y-R2C19 peptide, which substitutes 3,5-F2Y for Y at "position 356" and contains the Re(bpy)(CO)3CN ([Re]) photochemical radical generator. Excitation of this peptide with 355 nm light produces the [Re]0-3,5-F2Y· charge-separated state within the nanosecond laser pulse, as characterized by transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. Excitation of the bound peptide:α2 complex results in 29% turnover after 10 min of photolysis, while the corresponding [Re]-Phe-R2C19:α2 system is inactive. The 3,5-F2Y· radical on the peptide bound to the Y731F-α2 variant has been observed by TA spectroscopy. These data allow us to observe, for the first time, a peptide-derived, protein-bound radical that is competent for initiating RNR turnover.


Accumulation of cobalt, manganese and zinc by the algae Chlorella emersonii, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Scenedesmus obliquus has been characterized under photoautotrophic, photoheterotrophic and chemoheterotrophic nutritional regimes. All three species accumulated smaller amounts of Co2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+ under chemoheterotrophic and photoheterotrophic conditions than under photoautotrophic conditions except in the case of cobalt accumulation by C. reinhardtii where there was little difference in the amount of cobalt accumulated under any of the nutritional regimes. Decreased accumulation of the three metals by C. emersonii and C. reinhardtii largely resulted from a decrease in the initial biosorptive phase of uptake whereas the decrease in Mn2+ and Zn2+ accumulation by C. reinhardtii under chemoheterotrophic and photoheterotrophic conditions was due to a decrease in the slow energy-dependent phase of uptake.


Our policymakers face a dilemma: should we have adequate food and nutrition for all or should we have world-class airport terminals? In an ideal world, one could possibly have them both. But if there are limited resources and there is a question of setting priorities, then surely it should be possible to hold the view that the former should get precedence. Well-trained neoclassical economists can often employ much abstract modelling to prove the opposite.


Localised pin-hole type corrosion defects affecting the structural stability of pipes is a serious challenge faced by the oil and gas industry. The problem is even more severe at support locations where the pipe is held. To mitigate the corrosion wall loss a sacrificial plate is welded between the pipe and support. This critical region now becomes inaccessible for future ultrasonic inspection using conventional methods. An alternate NDE method for live monitoring of hidden regions using Higher Order Mode Cluster (HOMC) is proposed. This high frequency and high resolution HOMC technique combined with a portable semi-automated scanning system is developed and tested to ensure high speeds of inspection in line with industry standards


This research paper deals with the identification of the best location of the Power System Stabilizers (PSS) and also the tuning of PSS parameters in order to improve the overall dynamic stability of multi machine power systems. The location of PSS is determined by identifying the critical modes and their corresponding first and second order eigenvalue sensitivities. In this formulation, sensitivity analysis of a particular mode can be performed with only its eigenvalues and their left and right eigenvectors. The simplicity and efficiency of this approach sharply contrast to the complexity of the traditional approach, where all eigenvalues and eigenvectors are required at the same time. The effectiveness of this method in selecting the optimum location for placement of PSSs is compared with the participation factor method. The proposed sensitivity theory used to identify the best PSS location in a five machine, eight bus El-Metwally and Malik System to increase the damping of both local and inter area modes for various operating conditions.


In this paper, we discuss the criteria that should be satisfied by a descriptor for nonrigid shapes with a single closed contour. We then propose a shape representation method that fulfills these criteria. In the proposed approach, contour convexities and concavities at different scale levels are represented using a two-dimensional (2-D) matrix. The representation can be visualized as a 2-D surface, where "hills" and "valleys" represent contour convexities and concavities, respectively. The optimal matching of two shape representations is achieved using dynamic programming and a dissimilarity measure is defined based on this matching. The proposed algorithm is very efficient and invariant to several kinds of transformations including some articulations and modest occlusions. The retrieval performance of the approach is illustrated using the MPEG-7 shape database, which is one of the most complete shape databases currently available. Our experiments indicate that the proposed representation is well suited for object indexing and retrieval in large databases. Furthermore, the representation can be used as a starting point to obtain more compact descriptors.


Introduction. The severity of the labor process is one of the leading harmful factors of working conditions in greenhouse vegetable growing. Nevertheless, its influence on the formation of health disorders of vegetable growers has not been sufficiently studied. Material and methods. Physiological, hygienic and epidemiological studies were carried out, which included an assessment of the severity of work in the annual cycle, also the functional state of the cardiorespiratory system and the neuromuscular system in the dynamics of the work shift, the general morbidity of vegetable growers according to registration forms No. 025/y. Results. During the labor activity, vegetable growers were established to be exposed to physical overloads caused by the severity of the labor process (classes 3.2, 3.3) in combination with a heating microclimate (classes 3.1-3.3). By the end of the work shift, there was an increase relative to the initial levels of heart rate (p<0.05), a decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, a reduction of maximum muscle strength (by 3.76-5.28%), and endurance of the muscles of the hands (by 18.5-33.15%). This indicated a decrease in working capacity and an increase in fatigue. A reduction in the Skibinski index (by 21.7%) and an increase in the index of resistance to hypoxia (by 38.9%) indicated a decrease in the body's reserves of oxygen. Increased working levels of the index of functional changes testify about the tension of adaptation mechanisms and insufficient restoration of the body's resources by the beginning of the shift. A decrease in the body's physical condition and adaptive capabilities with an increase in professional experience was revealed (p<0.05). There were established statistically significant direct correlations between the prevalence of diseases of the circulatory system (r=0.6), musculoskeletal system, and connective tissue (r=0.35) with work experience in the profession (p<0.05). Conclusion. The revealed violations of the functional state and health of female vegetable growers result from the influence of physical overload in a heating microclimate. The priority measures for the prevention of health disorders of vegetable growers are to reduce physical overload and thermal effects of the working environment.


With the use of a computer-controlled microscope system to assist in the positioning and rapid relocation of large numbers of cultured cells, we were able to identify those protoplasts with the capacity to divide within a highly recalcitrant culture in which only a tiny fraction of the total population proceeds to produce viable microcalli. In the cultures used, comprising Beta vulgaris L. (sugar beet) leaf protoplasts, it was confirmed that these cells can be recognized solely on the basis of morphological characters. Therefore, a direct link exists between competence for cell division in vitro and cell type. Divergent callus morphologies and totipotent potential could also be ascribed to distinct protoplast types and hence to cells with a specific origin. The progenitors of the totipotent protoplasts in these cultures have been confirmed as being stomatal guard cells. Consequently, in plants even the most highly adapted living cells clearly retain and can reactivate all of the functional genetic information necessary to recreate the whole organism; an extreme degree of cytodifferentiation is, therefore, no hindrance to expressing totipotent potential. In addition to the considerable practical value of these findings, their implications concerning our understanding of both the control of gene expression and plant cell differentiation and its reversibility are of fundamental significance.


The main objective ofthis project is to help improve Japanese students' proficiency in English by analyzing problems prevalent in Japanese English education and by introducing teaching units that can compensate forthe problems. Because ofthe implementationofthe grammar-translation method,English teachers in Japan mainly focus on reading and grammar skills. College entrance examinations play a big role in sustaining the current English teaching method in Japan. Since the college entrance examsfocus on multiple choice questions aboutgrammarthat require direct translation into Japanese,it is necessary forJapanese students to study grammarto passthe college entrance test. Due to this type ofexamination,by the time they graduate from high school,Japanese students'listening and speaking skills are relatively pooreven after six years ofstudying English. The main focusin the teaching units is to feature social ftmctions oflanguage,present authentic contexts and materials, encourage cooperative language learning methods,and facilitate affective education. By introducing these new methodsinto the current English teaching practices in Japan, English classrooms can become more vital,leading students to feel motivated,and to involve themselves more vigorously in classroom activities. The classroom climate will becomeapositive onefor students,and they canimprove their overall English


A cholesterol biosensors fabricated by immobilization of cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) in a layer of silicic sol-gel matrix on the top of a Prussian Blue-modified glassy carbon electrode was prepared. It is based on the detection of hydrogen peroxide produced by ChOx at −0.05 V. The half-lifetime of the biosensor is about 35 days. Cholesterol can be determined in the concentration range of 1×10−6−8×10−5 mol/L with a detection limit of 1.2×10−7 mol/L. Normal interfering compounds, such as ascorbic acid and uric acid do not affect the determination. The high sensitivity and outstanding selectivity are attributed to the Prussian Blue film modified on the sensor.


The success of DNNs has driven the extensive applications of person re-identification (ReID) into a new era. However, whether ReID inherits the vulnerability of DNNs remains unexplored. To examine the robustness of ReID systems is rather important because the insecurity of ReID systems may cause severe losses, e.g., the criminals may use the adversarial perturbations to cheat the CCTV systems. In this work, we examine the insecurity of current best-performing ReID models by proposing a learning-to-mis-rank formulation to perturb the ranking of the system output. As the cross-dataset transferability is crucial in the ReID domain, we also perform a back-box attack by developing a novel multi-stage network architecture that pyramids the features of different levels to extract general and transferable features for the adversarial perturbations. Our method can control the number of malicious pixels by using differentiable multi-shot sampling. To guarantee the inconspicuousness of the attack, we also propose a new perception loss to achieve better visual quality. Extensive experiments on four of the largest ReID benchmarks (i.e., Market1501, CUHK03, DukeMTMC, and MSMT17) not only show the effectiveness of our method, but also provides directions of the future improvement in the robustness of ReID systems. For example, the accuracy of one of the best-performing ReID systems drops sharply from 91.8% to 1.4% after being attacked by our method. Some attack results are shown in Fig. 1. The code is available at: https://github.com/whj363636/Adversarial-attack-on-Person-ReID-With-Deep-Mis-Ranking.


This paper presents a new method for developing computer-aided design (CAD) models, using spectral domain (SD) formulation. Using the artificial neural network (ANN) technique, a combination of continuous function and delta functions constitutes the spectral domain Green's functions. We obtain closed-form formulas for integration involving these equations. Another neural network relates different antenna parameters. Utilizing the reverse modeling for patch dimension determination, it becomes useful as a CAD model for patch antenna design. Designs, of simple rectangular patch antennas, serve as illustration of this method.


Carbon monoxide, a gas originating from incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels, is an important cause of human deaths. In this paper, we describe an unusual carbon monoxide poisoning in a dwelling without obvious sources of combustion gases, for which two adults had to be treated in a hyperbaric chamber. Carbon monoxide readings were taken in the house and in the neighboring homes. Methane gas and nitrogen oxide levels were also monitored in the house air. Soil samples were collected around the house and tested for hydrocarbon residues. The investigation revealed the presence of a pocket of carbon monoxide under the foundation of the house. The first readings revealed carbon monoxide levels of 500 ppm in the basement. The contamination lasted for a week. The investigation indicated that the probable source of contamination was the use of explosives at a nearby rain sewer construction site. The use of explosives in a residential area can constitute a major source of carbon monoxide for the neighboring populations. This must be investigated, and public health authorities, primary-care physicians, governmental authorities, and users and manufacturers of explosives must be made aware of this problem. ImagesFigure 1Figure 2


To investigate the regularity of prescription and clinical syndromes by analyzing the diagnosis and treatment protocols of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) for coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), so as to provide references for syndrome differentiation and relevant researches. The diagnosis and treatment protocols of COVID-19 published by national and regional health authorities were searched, and information was extracted in regard to disease stages, type of syndromes, and prescriptions, etc. Frequency statistics and relative analysis were used to analyze the rule of syndrome differentiation and prescription with TCM, and further discussion on the pathogenesis and progress of the disease. A total of 26 diagnosis and treatment protocols of TCM for COVID-19 were retrieved after screening(including 1 national scheme and 25 regional ones), among which 16 contained aspects of both prevention and treatment, 7 only involved treatment contents and 3 were prevention schemes. The courses of COVID-19 can be divided into early stage, middle stage, severe stage and recovery stage. The pathogeny of COVID-19 in TCM is damp-toxin, with the core pathogenesis of damp-toxin retention in lung and Qi repression. Its pathological features can be summarized as "damp, toxin, obstruction, deficiency". The location of the disease is lung, always involving spleen and stomach, and may further affect heart and kidney in severe cases. The major treatments for each course are Fanghua Shizuo, Xuanfei Touxie(early stage); Qingre Jiedu, Xuanxie Feire(middle stage); Kaibi Gutuo, Huiyang Jiuni(severe stage); Qingjie Yure, Yiqi Yangyin(recovery stage). There were many diagnosis and treatment protocols for COVID-19 have been published, which generally followed the national edition, through with certain personalities in different regional protocols. There were common features with respect to the disease stage, syndrome differentiation, therapeutic principles and methods, as well as prescriptions; the treatment were generally carried out against the core pathogenesis and progress of the disease. Along with the deepening recognition of COVID-19, the diagnosis and treatment protocols are still need further concretization and standardization. We hope researchers and decision-makers can pay more attention to the treatment of Huayu Tongluo in severe and recovery period.


Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coatings are thin protective surface coatings used to reduce friction and minimise wear in a wide range of applications. The focus of this work is the use of DLC coatings within Rolls-Royce's pressurised water reactors. A strong understanding of material behaviour in this environment is compulsory due to the stringent safety requirements of the nuclear industry. Wear testing of a range of commercial DLC coatings against steel in water, and the dependence of the tribology on normal load, sliding distance, and environmental species, was examined. Wear depth was observed to increase with normal load, and increase non-linearly with sliding distance. Uniquely, it was suggested that the tribology of a DLC coating in water was controlled by the velocity accommodation mode (VAM) of the transfer layer. When interfacial sliding was the dominant VAM, the carbonaceous transfer layer was present at all times, and a low specific wear rate was observed. When shear and recirculation of debris was the dominant VAM, the carbonaceous transfer layer initially present was replaced by iron oxide species, and a high specific wear rate was observed as a result of a three-body mechanism involving hematite. Two individual wear models were developed to predict the wear depth of a DLC coating sliding against steel in water. Each model represents a novel extension to the current literature regarding the modelling of wear. Firstly, an analytical differential equation was derived to predict the wear depth of a ball and a flat surface, in relation to any phenomenological law for wear volume. Secondly, a unique formulation of an incremental wear model for an arbitrary geometry was developed for a DLC coating which included the growth of a transfer layer. An efficient methodology was presented to allow fast integration of the equations whilst damping numerical instabilities. A comparison between the analytic and computational wear models showed a strong agreement in the model predictions, with a comparative error of less than 5%.


Electronic documents are a type of document that exists only in digital form. These electronic documents are the information product of the latest electronic information technologies such as Internet technologies, WWW technologies, multimedia. Electronic document circulation is known as a system of electronic document management, the relations between the participants of which are regulated by national law and other regulatory legal acts. On the basis of international legislation and legislation of foreign countries, the analysis of the essence and content of electronic document circulation is carried out, the legal relations that make up this concept are defined, the concepts and use of electronic documents and electronic signatures are studied. The unification of rules on electronic documents and their use in contractual relations are the cause of economic and legal issues. The article examines and conducts a comparative analysis of the features and effectiveness of the laws of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the directives of the European Union and the Convention laws in the emergence of electronic document management.


Background:Kiwifruit is a common and popular fruit around the world. However, white peach scale (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona) [Targioni-Tozzetti], a scale insect with a wide range of hosts, seriously affects the yield and quality of kiwifruit. To investigate the differences in resistance of different kiwifruit cultivars to Pseudaulacaspis pentagona, cellular structure and gene expression assays were used to explain the mechanism. Results:In this study, based on the stability of the rate of injury fruit, we selected four cultivars from fifty kiwifruits for in-depth study, including "LC-04285", "CF-3", "DA-7B" and "Hayward". By analyzing the differences in the anatomical structure of the canes of these cultivars, we found that the resistant cultivar "LC-04285" had thicker cuticle, denser epidermis and cortex. The real-time quantitative PCR data indicated that the expression levels of genes related to cuticle synthesis and formation of epidermis and cortex are also higher in "LC-04285". Jasmonic acid (JA) is an important hormone involved in plant defense against many insect pests. In this study, we found that the expression levels of JA receptor COI1 were higher in "LC-04285". However, the expression levels of AcJAZs, which played negative role in JA signaling, were higher in susceptible cultivar "Hayward". Besides, the expression levels of AcICS, AcPAL4, AcPAL5, and AcNPRs, which were involved in salicylic acid (SA) synthesis and SA response, were also higher in "LC-04285". Conclusions:Our results revealed the mechanism of kiwifruit resistance to P. pentagona at the molecular and cellular levels. This study provided useful guidance for breeding insect-resistant kiwifruit in future.


The demand for directly compressible co-processed excipients has increased mainly due to the availability of high-speed tableting machines, timesaving in filing abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA), simplified validation and stability of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The cost of new excipient development is very high as it demands toxicity study also. Hence, industry has focused on co-processing of approved materials. The main aim of co-processing is to obtain a product with added value related to the ratio of its functionality/price. The risk to product quality is reduced, and productivity is improved due to the use of multifunctional co-processed excipients. In the present era, the Quality by Design (QbD) concept is useful for the development of multifunctional co-processed excipients. Co-processing is not restricted to diluents. It can be extended to other ingredients such as binders and disintegrants of tablets and capsules. There is also scope for obtaining patents by working upon newer avenues of developing multifunctional co-processed excipient for lozenges (e. g. iso-melt of sugar) or for herbal excipients. The present review focuses on formulation and evaluation techniques of multifunctional co-processed excipients. The characteristics of currently available multifunctional co-processed materials are enlisted in the review to facilitate further research by research scholars and R & D scientists.


Decompilation is reconstruction of a program in a high-level language from a program in a low-level language. This paper presents a method for automatic reconstruction of composite types (structures, arrays and combinations of them)in a high-level program during decompilation. Assembly code is obtained by disassembling a binary code or traces collected by a simulator. The proposed method is based on expressing memory access operations as pairs base offset, then building equivalence classes for the bases used in the program and accumulating offsets for each equivalence class. For Strictly conforming C programs our approach is substantiated by the C language semantics as defined in the international standard. However, experimental results have revealed that it is applicable for real-world programs also. Experimental results are obtained for a number of open-source programs as well as for traces collected from them. The method is an essential part of the tool for program decompilation TyDec being developed by the authors. Decompiler TyDec can be used as a standalone tool or as a plug-in for Interactive Trace Explorer TrEx being developed in Institute for System Programming, Russian Academy of Sciences.


Blood transfusions are contributing to a higher rate of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Pakistan. Half of all blood transfusions in Pakistan are not screened for hepatitis C, hepatitis B or HIV. Family members donate blood that is likely not tested due to social stigma attached to HCV. Paid donations are also quite common in the country, especially by people who inject drugs (PWID), which increases the population's exposure to HCV. Most of the population utilizes the private sector for their health needs; this sector has lax regulation due to the lack of oversight by the government or any other regulatory body. In addition, groups who are at most need for blood transfusions, such as hemophiliacs and those with thalassemia, have a higher rate of hepatitis C. This fact reinforces the need for blood transfusion reform in Pakistan, which includes improving oversight, upgrading infrastructure and promoting health literacy through cultural norms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. The lessons learned in Pakistan can be adapted to countries facing similar issues.


A method has been developed for the simultaneous extraction of chlorothalonil and three of its degradates (4-hydroxy-2,5,6-trichloroisophthalonitrile, 1-carbamoyl-3-cyano-4-hydroxy-2,5,6-trichlorobenzene, and 1,3-dicarbamoyl-2,4,5,6-tetrachlorobenzene) from soils and sediments; the compounds were extracted using sonication with acetone and isolation of the parent compound and matrix interferences from the degradates by solid phase extraction (SPE). The chlorothalonil fraction underwent further coextracted matrix interference removal with Florisil. The degradates were derivatized with N, O-bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) and chlorotrimethylsilane (TMCS). All compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Recoveries on a spiked (20 and 200 microg kg (-1)) sediment ranged from 80% to 91% with calculated limits of detection of 1-5 microg kg (-1) dry weight sediment. An additional 20 sediment samples were collected in watersheds from the Southeastern United States where chlorothalonil is used widely on peanuts and other crops. None of the target compounds were detected. Laboratory fortified recoveries of chlorothalonil and its degradates in these environmental sediment samples ranged from 75% to 89%.


This study aims to compare models of linear relationship (regression (RL) and structural equation modeling (SEM)) and models based on comparative qualitative analysis (QCA) on the analysis of the possible influence of Service Quality, Perceived Value and General satisfaction on Future Intentions of spectators. The research is particularly interesting as it combines RL, SEM and QCA. The sample of this study consisted of 2030 spectators attending a regional games of international nature, aged 18 and 72. SEM models and QCA allow quantification of the model fit, but not in RL. In RL only VP and SG seem to predict FI, in the case of SEM models all variables predict IF, although CS, has a negligible contribution. In QCA the interaction between SG and VP predict and IF. In SEM models VP results more predictive than in RL. The QCA models are more explanatory of FI than linear models. Future research should combine SEM and QCA models


T hat homosexuality is still a criminal offence under section 377 of India's penal code is a sad reality. Perhaps what is even more sad is that many if not most Indian medical educators, including practising doctors, are homophobic and believe that homosexuality is a mental deviation that needs treatment.

In my sophomore year much teaching focused on the effect of HIV and AIDS on the health of Indians. I was shocked when my professor declared, "In Western countries, it primarily spreads among homosexuals. Of course, in our country, we don't have any homosexuals." I protested, declaring that homosexuality is very much prevalent in our country. He was indifferent, and my colleagues were annoyed.

> Sexuality in general is a big taboo in India

Later I approached the professor and asked him what he thought of homosexual people. He declared his belief that there is no such thing as homosexuality and that it was a US invention. To see if this was echoed by others I tried …


Existing objective speech-intelligibility measures are suitable for several types of degradation, however, it turns out that they are less appropriate for methods where noisy speech is processed by a time-frequency (TF) weighting, e.g., noise reduction and speech separation. In this paper, we present an objective intelligibility measure, which shows high correlation (rho=0.95) with the intelligibility of both noisy, and TF-weighted noisy speech. The proposed method shows significantly better performance than three other, more sophisticated, objective measures. Furthermore, it is based on an intermediate intelligibility measure for short-time (approximately 400 ms) TF-regions, and uses a simple DFT-based TF-decomposition. In addition, a free Matlab implementation is provided.


This paper tries to give a general overview of the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and antitrust compliance for the fashion companies using both a theoretical and a pragmatic approach. Although the great differences between CSR and antitrust – mainly those related to their objectives and to their legal value –, it will be argued that these two areas of law have something in common, especially from the point of view of enterprises that de facto use the same implementing tools for CSR and antitrust compliance. In conclusion, it will be underlined that a principle of antitrust law could be adopted in the field of CSR in order to ensure a more effective human rights protection.


The survival pattern of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was observed in laboratory microcosm with different sources of surface and drinking water using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a genetic marker. The water quality was monitored on the basis of bacteriological and physico?chemical parameters. The untreated and filtered water were inoculated with the genetically transformed E. coli O157:H7. The survival pattern was determined by drop plate method observing the green fluorescence of the E. coli O157:H7 colonies under UV light. The survival of E. coli O157:H7 decreased in most of the untreated saline and waste water and higher survival was observed in pond and tap water. The E. coli O157:H7 survived more than 23 days in tap and pond water and less than 20 days in sea, estuarine and waste water. The fluorescent microscopic findings revealed the VBNC state of E. coli O157:H7. The study conclusively proved that the better survival of E. coli O157: H7 depends on the quality of water. Key words: E. coli O157:H7; Aquatic system; Survival study DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujbs.v19i2.8964 DUJBS 2010; 19(2): 195-201


The surface of processed wafers during the plasma etching process is exposed to a shower of relatively high energy particles, and the surface reaction that evaporates the upper surface layer is induced by the collision. The surface profile evolution during plasma etching needs to be known in order to control the fine details of features of semiconductor devices. The process is a complex combination of factors such as incident particle kinetic energy, incident angle and substrate conditions. In this study, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of Ar/sup +/ ions bombarding a SiO/sub 2/ substrate and observed the sputtering yield as the incident angle and energy changes. The primary goal is to verify the process as a reliable source of microscopic sputtering yield data. We inserted 10 ps of relaxation right after each bombardment to allow the concentrated heat to diffuse into the bulk region, which gave us similar results to a previous study (Abrams and Graves, J. Vac. Sci. Tech. A vol. 16, pp. 3006-3019, 1998), and we observed the surface evolution during the process. These efforts predicted a different sputtering yield from the previous study, but the overall patterns of reaction product trajectories were similar.


Background: Sarcopenia is defined as a progressive loss of muscle mass and muscle strength associated to increased adverse events, such as falls and hip fractures. The aim of this systematic review is to analyse diagnosis methods of sarcopenia in patients with hip fracture and evaluate prevention and treatment strategies described in literature. Methods: Three independent authors performed a systematic review of two electronic medical databases using the following inclusion criteria: Sarcopenia, hip fractures, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention with a minimum average of 6-months follow-up. Any evidence-level studies reporting clinical data and dealing with sarcopenia diagnosis, or the treatment and prevention in hip fracture-affected patients, were considered. Results: A total of 32 articles were found. After the first screening, we selected 19 articles eligible for full-text reading. Ultimately, following full-text reading, and checking of the reference list, seven articles were included. Conclusions: Sarcopenia diagnosis is challenging, as no standardized diagnostic and therapeutic protocols are present. The development of medical management programs is mandatory for good prevention. To ensure adequate resource provision, care models should be reviewed, and new welfare policies should be adopted in the future.


We analyze the performance of ad-hoc routing as defined in MANet IETF working group in the random graph model. In particular we analyze the performance of a reactive protocol DSR and of a pro-active protocol OLSR. The random graph model is defined by the number of nodes n, and link probabili- ty p. We give the asymptotic evaluation of the flooding distance which is used in DSR and the multi-point relay flooding used in OLSR.


We describe a numerical method for computing the linearized normal behaviour of an invariant curve of a diffeomorphism of ℝn, n⩾2. In the reducible case, the method computes not only the normal eigenvalues - either elliptic or hyperbolic - but also the corresponding eigendirections, that are the first-order approximation to the invariant manifolds (stable, unstable and central) around the curve. Moreover, the method seems to be able to detect the non-reducibility - if this is the case - of the linearized system. The input of the method is the invariant curve - including its rotation number - as well as a numerical procedure for computing the map and its differential. Hence, this method can be easily used on Poincaré sections of ordinary differential equations. Due to the spectral character of the approximations used, the convergence of the process is very fast for sufficiently smooth cases. We note that the method is also valid for computing the normal behaviour of tori of higher dimensions. Finally, as examples, we study the stability of the invariant curves that appear in some concrete problems. In particular, we compute the unstable manifold for a given invariant curve of a six-dimensional symplectic map.


The lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates innate immunity through the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/MD-2 complex on host cells. Variation in lipid A has significant consequences for TLR4 activation and thus may be a means by which pathogenic bacteria modulate host immunity. We have previously seen that strain BP338 of Bordetella pertussis modifies its lipid A by the addition of glucosamine moieties which promote TLR4 activation in human macrophages. In the absence of glucosamine modification, TLR4 activation is attenuated. This effect is host-specific: glucosamine modification does not affect mouse TLR4 activation. We hypothesized that the species-specific effect is due to differences in TLR4, and used inter-species chimeric receptors to test this hypothesis. We found that the middle 330 amino acids of TLR4 were sufficient to generate species-specific responses to B. pertussis lipid A, dependent on co-expression of the matching species of MD-2. Based on the published crystal structure of TLR4/MD-2 in complex with E. coli LPS, we narrowed our search to the interface where TLR4/MD-2 complexes dimerize for activation, and used site-directed mutagenesis to identify specific amino acid residues in TLR4 and MD-2 that promote activation in response to B. pertussis lipid A. Taken together, we have demonstrated that charged amino acids in TLR4 and MD-2 contribute to host-specific immune responses to lipid A variants from B. pertussis.


BACKGROUND
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), the common symptom is loss of memory. Learning and memory are associated with amoeboid movements of synaptic endings. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a major lipid constituent of synaptic end sites. Minor changes in the fluidity of phospholipidic membranes have a dramatic impact on the function of synapses, where membrane fluidity may influence the neurotransmitter receptor activity.

METHOD
Studies pertaining to the role of DHA as a neuroprotective agent was reviewed.

RESULTS
Here we will show a conceptual framework for the role of DHA in the prevention of AD. The DHA content has been shown to be decreased in the brain and plasma of patients affected by AD. Aspirin triggers the generation of DHA-derived mediators that are themselves neuroprotective.

CONCLUSION
Adequate dietary intakes of the neuroprotective DHA (and aspirin?) may slow down the progression of AD. An essential reserve of synapses from early development is needed.


In this paper we present the results on simulation of the photovoltaic properties of the conventional one junction GaAs solar cell modified with a transparent transport layer. The use of the transport layer allows reduction of the top layer lateral resistance leading to rise of the cell efficiency. In the modeling, we considered three different materials of the transport layer namely, ITO, AZO and carbon nanotubes. The optimum values of the transport layer thickness and distance between the metallic grid bars corresponding to the highest theoretical efficiency are obtained. With light concentration, 17.3%, 10.5 % and 15.1% efficiency was reached for SC with CNT, ITO and AZO transport layers respectively.


This article reports a case study that examined dynamic patterns of interaction that two small groups (Group A and Group B) of ESL students exemplified when they performed two writing tasks: a research proposal (Task 1) and an annotated bibliography (Task 2) in a wiki site. Group A demonstrated a collective pattern in Task 1, but switched to an active–withdrawn pattern in Task 2. In contrast, Group B exhibited a dominant–defensive pattern in Task 1, but switched to a collaborative pattern in Task 2. These patterns were substantiated by group members' ongoing task approaches in terms of equality and mutuality, reflected via the analyses of language functions, writing change functions, and scaffolding occurrences over the course of joint wiki writing. The dynamic interactions within small groups were explained from a sociocultural theory perspective. Participants' emic perspectives from interviews and reflection papers supplemented with wiki discourse revealed that three sociocultural factors help account for the variations of interaction patterns: dynamic goals, flexible agency, and socially constructed emotion. This study reinforced the role of sociocultural theory in exploring and explaining peer interactions in the online writing task environment. Implications of the study for research and pedagogy are also discussed.