Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 virus in Europe have caused severe damage to animal health, wildlife conservation and livestock economic sustainability. While epidemiological and phylogenetic studies have generated important clues about the virus spread in Europe, they remained opaque to the specific role of poultry farms and wild birds. Using a phylodynamic framework, we inferred the H5N8 virus transmission dynamics among poultry farms and wild birds in four severely affected countries and investigated drivers of spread between farms across borders during the 2016-17 epidemic. Based on existing genetic data, we showed that the virus was likely introduced into poultry farms during the autumn, in line with the timing of arrival of migratory wild birds. Then, transmission was mainly driven by farm-to-farm transmission in Germany, Hungary and Poland, suggesting that better understanding of how infected farms are connected in those countries would greatly help control efforts. In contrast, the epidemic was dominated by wild bird-to-farm transmission in Czech Republic, meaning that more sustainable prevention strategies should be developed to reduce virus exposure from wild birds. We inferred effective reproduction number Re estimates among poultry farms and wild birds. We expect those estimates being useful to parameterize predictive models of virus spread aiming at optimising control strategies. None of the investigated predictors related to live poultry trade, poultry census and geographic proximity were identified as supportive predictors of the viral spread between farms across borders, suggesting that other drivers should be considered in future studies. Significance statement In winter 2016-17, Europe was severely hit by an unprecedented epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 virus, causing significant impact on animal health, wildlife conservation and livestock economic sustainability. By applying phylodynamic tools to H5N8 sequence data collected from poultry farms and wild birds during the epidemic, we quantified how effectively the first infections were detected, how fast the virus spread, how many infections were missed and how many transmission events occurred at the wildlife-domestic interface. Also, we investigated predictors of the virus spread between farms across borders. These results are crucial to better understand the virus transmission dynamics, with the view to inform policy decision-making and reduce the impact of future epidemics of HPAI viruses.


A new family of codes, called polar codes, has recently been proposed by Arikan. Polar codes are of theoretical importance because they are provably capacity achieving with low-complexity encoding and decoding. We first discuss basic properties of a certain stochastic dynamical system, on the basis of which properties of channel polarization and polar codes are reviewed, with emphasis on our recent results.


This thesis focuses on the unprecedented exodus of Zimbabweans from the country of their birth to South Africa and the UK and their subsequent experiences of life in the diaspora. Since the late 1990's, Zimbabwe has lost a significant percentage of her population. This loss accelerated towards the dawn of and into the new millennium in a series of migration episodes that were spawned by both economic and political catastrophes.

These migration episodes to South Africa and the UK comprised of mixed flows i.e. both skilled and unskilled migrants; economic and political refugees etc. Leeds and Limpopo were chosen as the main loci of this study because of the contrasting stock of migrants found there. Given that this thesis explores the differences in human and social capital and migration strategies between the two countries, these two areas were selected because of their contrasting population of migrants. These differences are evident in terms of educational and professional qualifications, levels of financial capital and histories of transnational circulation.

This thesis uses a mixed method approach consisting of both quantitative and qualitative methods. This was informed by the dearth of credible statistical data on the Zimbabwean diaspora resident in Leeds and Limpopo. The thesis therefore, draws on a questionnaire survey, semi structured interviews and ethnographic data that was gathered in Leeds and Limpopo with members of the Zimbabwean diaspora.

Data gathered from the survey enabled a detailed profile of migrants to be constructed which disentangled the different constituents of this nascent diaspora. Migrants' transnational activities were investigated given the public interest currently surrounding diasporic activities such as remittances. Migrants' diasporic experiences are shaped by complex and intertwined factors e.g. immigration status. These factors have a bearing on migrants' ability to meet their transnational obligations. Furthermore, migrants' transnational linkages and transactions have an impact on their return intentions.


In this work, a theorem is proved stating that in various types of waveguides with mirror reflection symmetries, the electromagnetic duality correspondence between eigenmodes of complementary structures induces counterpropagating spin-polarized states. The mirror reflection symmetries may be preserved around one or more arbitrary planes. Pseudospin-polarized waveguides supporting one-way states manifest robustness. This is similar to topologically non-trivial direction-dependent states guided by photonic topological insulators. Nevertheless, a remarkable aspect of our structures is that they can be implemented in extremely broad bandwidth by simply using complementary structures. Based on our theory, the concept of the pseudospin polarized waveguide can be realized using dual impedance surfaces ranging from microwave to optical regime. Consequently, there is no need to employ bulk electromagnetic materials to suppress backscattering in waveguiding structures. This also includes pseudospin-polarized waveguides with perfect electric conductor-perfect magnetic conductor boundaries where the boundary conditions limit the bandwidth of waveguides. We design and develop various unidirectional systems and the spin-filtered feature in the microwave regime is further investigated.


Introduction: In December 2020, the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) in collaboration with the Italian Regional Centers of Pharmacovigilance evaluated four individual case safety reports (ICSRs) reporting obinutuzumab and non-overt disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) as a new possible signal. In this study, we described the process of signal management for obinutuzumab-associated non-overt DIC.Methods: In accordance with the Guideline on Good Pharmacovigilance Practices Module IX, we described the process of the Italian and European Union signal management process in five steps: signal detection, signal validation, signal confirmation, signal analysis, and prioritization and signal assessment.Results: In the signal detection phase, four cases of obinutuzumab-associated non-overt DIC met the criteria for signal definition (ROR 213.6 and IC025 77). In the signal validation phase, both the Italian and European databases of spontaneously reported adverse drug reactions were investigated with supporting evidence from medical literature. Four patients (two men and two women aged 67–77) were in treatment with obinutuzumab for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and they developed a subclinical DIC within 24 h from the administration of the drug. The DIC spontaneously resolved in all cases. Three more ICSRs were reported in the EudraVigilance database. The medical literature provided poor evidence of the possible association between obinutuzumab and DIC. The signal was subsequently validated, first by AIFA and then by EMA. The signal was confirmed by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) Rapporteur in the "signal confirmation" phase, and it entered "signal analysis and prioritization" and "signal assessment". In these phases, the PRAC assessed and confirmed DIC as a possible adverse reaction to obinutuzumab. Finally, the Summary of Product characteristics was updated with this new risk.Conclusion: Despite the intrinsic difficulties linked to the nature of the event itself, the process of signal detection and the issuing of the risk minimization measures by the Italian Medicines Agency as part of the EU procedures have proven to be efficient.


We show that the radiation pressure exerted by a beam of ultrasound can be used for contrast enhancement in high-resolution x-ray imaging of tissue and soft materials. Interfacial features of objects are highlighted as a result of both the displacement introduced by the ultrasound and the inherent sensitivity of x-ray phase contrast imaging to density variations. The potential of the method is demonstrated by imaging microscopic tumor phantoms embedded into tissue with a thickness typically presented in mammography. The detection limit of micrometer size masses exceeds the resolution of currently available mammography imaging systems. The directionality of the acoustic radiation force and its localization in space permits the imaging of ultrasound-selected tissue volumes. The results presented here suggest that the method may permit the detection of tumors in soft tissue in their early stage of development.


Tropospheric mixing ratios of methane, C2–C10 hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide were measured over the Amazon tropical forest near Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, in July and August 1985. The measurements, consisting mostly of altitude profiles of these gases, were all made within the atmospheric boundary layer up to an altitude of 1000 m above ground level. Data characterize the diurnal hydrocarbon composition of the boundary layer in this tropical forest area. Biogenic emissions of isoprene control hydroxyl radical concentrations over the forest. Biogenic emission fluxes of isoprene and terpenes are estimated to be 25,000 μg m−2 d−1 and 5600 μm m−2 d−1, respectively. This isoprene emission is equivalent to 2% of the net primary productivity of the tropical forest. Atmospheric oxidation of biogenic isoprene and terpenes emissions from the Amazon forest may account for daily increases of 8–13 ppb for carbon monoxide in the planetary boundary layer.


ABSTRACT We report a rare case of eye complication following botulinum toxin type A (BTA) injection. A 36-year-old healthy woman received BTA injections on the glabella, forehead, and periocular area to improve her wrinkles. Four days after BTA injection, diplopia and esotropia developed on her right eye.


HARVARD DISAPPEARANCEThe body of Harvard biochemist Don Wiley was found last month, 5 weeks after he disappeared while attending a professional meeting in Memphis, Tennessee. The corpse was discovered floating in a Mississippi River tributary in Louisiana, more than 300 miles south of the bridge where Wiley's abandoned car was discovered at 4 a.m. on 16 November. Dental records confirmed the identity of the Lasker Prize winner.


The hypothalamus is a major source of afferents to the parabrachial nucleus (PB), but the neurotransmitters in this pathway are largely unknown. In this study, we examine the neuropeptide immunoreactivities of neurons in the hypothalamus that project to the PB by using the combined retrograde fluorescence‐immunofluorescence method. After injections of the fluorescent tracer fast blue into the PB, retrogradely labeled neurons were observed in the paraventricular, dorsomedial, ventromedial, median preoptic, and anteroventral periventricular hypothalamic nuclei; in the dorsal, retrochiasmatic, and lateral hypothalamic areas; and in the medial and lateral preoptic areas. Our results show that at least five distinct neuropeptideimmunoreactive cell populations in the hypothalamus project to the PB. In the perifornical lateral hypothalamus, many neurotensin (NT)‐, corticotropin‐releasing factor‐, dynorphin (DYN)‐, angiotensin II (AII)‐, and galanin‐like immunoreactive (‐ir) neurons were retrogradely labeled. A cluster of retrogradely labeled neurons in the juxtacapsular lateral hypothalamus stained with an antiserum against α‐melanocyte stimulating hormone (αMSH). Over 50% of the retrogradely labeled cells in the arcuate nucleus were adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)‐or αMSH‐ir. Many αMSH‐ and ACTH‐ir, and a few DYN‐, NT‐ and AII‐ir neurons in the retrochiasmatic area were retrogradely labeled. Only small numbers of double‐labeled neurons were found in the paraventricular nucleus, and, of these, enkephalin‐ir and dynorphin‐ir neurons were the most common. Somatostatin‐ir cells in the hypothalamus were rarely double‐labeled. The chemical coding of these hypothalamic projections to the PB may provide important clues to the functional organization of these descending pathways.


An 11 year old female with a first episode of absence status is described. Clinical manifestations, ictal and post-ictal EEGs were generalized. An IV loading dose of phenytoin resulted in an abrupt cessation of both clinical and EEG ictal phenomena, and later was found to be effective in suppressing inter-ictal bursts of 3 per second spike and slow wave discharges. This response is unusual since phenytoin is considered ineffective in controlling petit mal epilepsy.


Synopsis Sandy beach and nearshore zones extend from the limits of wave action on the beach backshore offshore to the limit of the movement of sand on the bed by waves. These are the most dynamic of coastal systems and there is a continuous exchange of sediment between the two, driven by alternations between storm and fairweather conditions. Because even quite small waves are capable of moving sand, the continued presence of beaches reflects a dynamic equilibrium between processes that act to move sediments offshore and those that tend to move them onshore. On sandy coasts the profile normal to the coast tends towards an equilibrium form with slope decreasing exponentially offshore. The actual steepness of the profile is controlled primarily by grain size, with the slope decreasing with decreasing grain size. Repeated measurements over a period of years shows that the elevation of the bed can fluctuate over one or two metres or more close to shore, but that the amount of fluctuation or reworking by waves decreases into deeper water. This is a response to decreasing wave orbital motion with water depth and the decreasing frequency of storm events with waves large enough to move sediment in deeper water. The beach and nearshore profile may be smooth, or more often it is characterised by the presence of sand bars and associated troughs landward of them.


Drug shortages create significant challenges for patients and health care providers. Pharmacists play important roles in managing medication therapy during drug shortages. The management of drug shortages by the community pharmacist is an expanding role. Adverse drug reactions and delayed treatments are highlighted in the literature as some of the consequences of outpatient drug shortages; it is likely these harms are underreported. This commentary reviews examples and opportunities for the management of outpatient drug shortages.


Objective:The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Indicator (PSI) 10, "Postoperative Physiologic and Metabolic Derangement" (PPMD), uses administrative data to detect postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring dialysis and diabetes-related complications. We sought to evaluate the indicator's criterion validity. Research Design:We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of hospitalization records flagged positive and negative by PSI 10 from a diverse set of 35 hospitals between February 1, 2006 and June 30, 2009. Trained nurse abstractors reviewed medical records. We determined the indicator's sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. Results:Of 94 records flagged by PSI 10 (87 for AKI, 7 for diabetic complications, 1 for both), 69 (73%) involved an accurately coded event; 60 (64%; 95% CI, 46%–79%) represented true PPMD from a clinical perspective. Two of 8 records flagged for diabetic complications were true events. Nineteen false positives involved preoperative renal failure. Three of 230 records flagged negative (enriched with questionably negative records) represented true PPMD. The indicator's sensitivity was 66% (20%–94%), specificity 99.9% (99.5%–100%), and negative predictive value 99.9% (99.4%–100%). Considering dialysis access procedures tantamount to dialysis and excluding records with lower urinary tract obstruction might increase the sensitivity and positive predictive value to 98% (87%–100%) and 72% (50%–87%), respectively. Conclusions:PSI 10 mostly concerns AKI and currently has moderate criterion validity, which might improve with increased use of "present on admission" coding, abandonment of the diabetes criteria, and adjustments to the indicator specifications regarding dialysis access and urinary tract obstruction.


Background Post Transplant Diabetes Mellitus (PTDM) is a common complication following heart transplantation and is associated with increased long-term morbidity and mortality. PTDM is becoming an increasingly large problem, as 37% of transplant recipients are diagnosed with PTDM within 5 years post transplantation. Empagliflozin was the first anti-hyperglycaemic drug to show a significant reduction in major cardiovascular events, hospitalisations for heart failure and all-cause mortality in the patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. However the safety and efficacy of empagliflozin use for the management of PTDM is yet to be established. Methods A retrospective observational study of patients attending a heart transplant clinic. Diabetic patients treated with empagliflozin were compared to a control group receiving alternative diabetes treatment and clinical outcomes were examined. Results Among 101 patients with PTDM, a total of 22 patients were treated with empagliflozin (total cumulative treatment 319 months). Overall the drug was well tolerated with only 3 minor adverse events were recorded and there were no instances of genitourinary infections. There was a significant reduction in weight (4.4 ±5.5 kg [p = 0.008])BMI (1.5 ±1.9 kg/m2 [p=0.007]) and frusemide dose (68 ± 109 mg [p=0.031]) after 12 months of treatment in the empagliflozin group that was not seen in the control group. Trends of reduced HbA1c (0.41%) and blood pressure (Systolic 4.3 mmHg and diastolic 1.1 mmHg) were also seen. Whilst these results not significant due to the study being underpowered, the absolute values exceeded those seen in the EMPA-REG study. There were no significant changes in serum urea, or creatinine levels, eGFR or haemoglobin associated with empagliflozin treatment. Conclusions Empagliflozin appears to be safe for use in the long-term management of PTDM following heart transplantation. There may also be a range of metabolic benefits, additional to glucose control, associated with this treatment. As SGLT-2 inhibitors such as empagliflozin have been shown to decrease mortality in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, the use of SGLT-2 inhibitors in the management of PTDM warrants further investigation, given the theoretical potential benefits arising with use in this population.


Abstract
Purpose
In this essay, two purposes are of importance. One is to frame anti consumption as a social marketing issue on micro and macro levels. The second is to set forth dance as a persuasive element in anti consumption social marketing strategy, which heretofore has been under utilized and under theorized.

Methodology/approach
This essay draws from relevant existing literature in social marketing and builds and extends dance theory in television ads to conceptualize dance as a viable consumer culture aesthetic in anti consumption social marketing campaigns.

Findings
Effectively employing dance images in anti consumption social marketing campaigns may contribute to redesigning of the self-image and identity of consumers. Moreover, through linkages of positive behaviors to dance celebrations and rituals, aligned with an overall social marketing campaign, dance may facilitate reduction of negative consumption behaviors.

Social implications
Social marketers' strategic success in high involvement behavior change depends in part on the target audience's favorable response to message processing. The social marketing field encompasses a variety of such behaviors that if changed, improves both society as a whole, and the lives of individuals.

Originality/value of chapter
There are three aspects of value and originality in this contribution. They include forwarding anti consumption as a social marketing issue in consumer culture; theorizing dance as a somato-visceral and kinesthetic approach to anti consumption social marketing behavior change; and demonstrating dance as a positive persuasive element that can reside within the boundaries of social marketing ethics.


The excitation temperature of the plasma column in a spray torch can be determined using the atomic Boltzmann method. The spatially integrated intensities of emission lines resulting from Ar-I transitions in the wavelength region 400 - 451 nm have been measured. The central axis temperature of an inhomogeneous, axisymmetric, plasma column has been determined using a modified atomic Boltzmann technique without using the Abel inversion technique. The spectral measurements were made up to a distance of 20 mm from the nozzle exit point. The plasma torch was operated at power levels of 5 and 10 kW and the flow of argon was kept at 25 l/min. The average temperature of the plasma jet at the nozzle exit point was estimated using an energy balance technique. The temperatures estimated using heat loss data and the centre line temperature differ significantly. A simple analytical expression was used to relate the average temperature and centre line temperature at the nozzle exit point. The temperature profile parameter n has also been calculated.


Hearing thresholds were measured and audiograms were obtained in seven belugas, two males and five females, provisionally 2 to 8 years old. The measurements were performed using a transducer located 1 m in front of the head. The stimuli were tone pip trains of carrier frequencies ranging from 11.2 to 128 kHz with a pip rate of 1 kHz. Auditory evoked potentials (the rate following responses) were recorded from the head vertex. In majority of the subjects, audiograms were similar to the typical odontocete audiograms with the lowest thresholds (53.4±2.3 dB re 1 μPa) at mid-frequency range (from 32 to 76 kHz) and a threshold increase (up to 73.8±4.9 dB re 1 μPa) at high frequencies (90-128 kHz). One beluga (female, 6-7 years old) featured an asymmetric hearing loss within a frequency range from 22.5 to 54 kHz. The reason for the loss is the subject for not defined. The evoked potential audiograms should be included into base screening of odontocete subjects involved in any kind of hearing research.


"Upbringing" refers to the purposive activity of the older generation toward the young in order to further their growth into adulthood. These activities unfold in the intersection of instinct and culture and of individual and society and are, thus, a specifically human activity. They comprise the growth of the body of the children, their introduction into the world of symbols and the world of experience.
 One of the basic traits of upbringing is pointing out objects, naming them, and thus creating a shared world of things. Among the symbolic activities in upbringing there is the interplay of asking and explaining, of showing and imitating, dialogue, negotiation, discourse, storytelling, and play. The symbolic activities constitute and simultaneously are the basis of experience. Thus, speaking in general terms, upbringing means the arrangement and shaping of the environment to afford valuable experiences to the children and thus further their growth.


In Hedonic Adaptation and the Settlement of Civil Lawsuits, John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco, and Jonathan Masur offer an interesting application of the nascent research on hedonic psychology to a mature economic model of litigation. Informed by empirical research on individual happiness and hedonic adaptation, the authors argue that delays in civil trials create greater economic opportunities for settlement of civil lawsuits. In short, they argue that where a plaintiff suffers an adaptable injury - i.e., an injury that does not permanently affect the happiness of an individual-settlement is easier for two reasons: (1) over time, "the degree to which a plaintiff believes she has been 'wronged' will dissipate," and therefore, (2) the plaintiff will accept a lower settlement offer because she will believe that less money is required to make her whole. I believe that the authors have overestimated the strength, ubiquity, and importance of hedonic adaptation and happiness in civil settlements and have underestimated the impact of the litigation process on individual happiness. I offer first a number of positive critiques about the data on hedonic adaptation and on the authors' arguments about how the litigation process affects individual adaptation. Then I consider the normative question of whether the judicial system ought to foster post-adaptation settlements.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on human sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction (AR).

METHODS
Different concentrations of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were added to the sperm suspension from 48 healthy fertile men, and the suspension was incubated in 1 x Earle at 37 degrees C for 1 hour. Progesterone was used to induce AR for 15, 30, 45 and 60 min, and then acid phosphatase (ACP) activity in the suspension before and after capacitation and at different time of AR was measured by p-nitrophenyl sodium phosphate assay. In the meantime, sperm motile parameters were assayed by CASA to observe sperm capacitation and AR.

RESULTS
ACP activity and sperm motile parameters increased in the 50 approximately 100 nmol/L NO concentration group, showed no significant variation in the 150 approximately 200 nmol/L group, and decreased in the 250 approximately 300 nmol/L group.

CONCLUSION
NO can facilitate sperm capacitation, AR and sperm motile parameters in low concentration and suppress them in high concentration. ACP activity assay of sperm is an objective and reliable method to evaluate sperm capacitation and AR in whole sperm population.


Abstrac: Federated cloud computing is the advancement in the area of the general cloud computing paradigm. In a federated cloud environment, multiple cloud service providers share their computing assets, servers, and various facilities to fulfill customer demands. Federated cloud computing terminology consists of the aggregation of services considered by interoperability characteristics and creates the integration of several cloud service providers regardless of any geographical location. It improves the performance, utilization of facilities, minimizes response time and pricing model by partial subcontracting various computing resources and facilities from the nearby cost-efficient province. Customers also get profited from service level agreements signed between the cloud service providers through intermediator cloud brokers. This work aims to survey the federated cloud environment, its various architectural types, advantages associated with the federation, challenges associated with a federated cloud environment, and future research directions in the federated cloud computing research area.


In this article, following an assumption that individualism and collectivism are separate factors, we have further established that three central components of individualism can be distinguished. In the first part of the article we examined whether the three proposed components of individualism—autonomy, mature self‐responsibility, and uniqueness—can be distinguished from each other in one cultural context, Estonia. A new scale was developed to measure the three aspects of individualism which demonstrated both the reasonable internal‐consistency reliability as well as convergent and divergent validity with several other measures of individualism and collectivism and related constructs. In the second part of the article we studied whether individualism generalizes across specific contexts or domains of social relationships, namely, across relations with family and close others; friends and peers; state and nation. The results of the three‐mode principal component analysis showed that the individualistic tendencies of the respondents did not differ much while measured toward the three types of social relation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The "referential transparency" of applicative language expressions demands that all occurrences of an expression in a given context yield the same value. In principle, that value therefore needs to be computed only once. However, in recursive programming, a context usually unfolds dynamically, precluding textual recognition of multiple occurrences, so that such occurrences are recomputed. To remedy the lack, in applicative languages, of an ability to store and retrieve a computed value under programmer control, "caching functionals" are proposed which allow the programmer to selectively avoid recomputation without overt use of assignment. The uses and implementation of such mechanisms are discussed, including reasons and techniques for purging the underlying cache. Our approach is an extension of the early notion of "memo function", enabling improved space utilization and a "building-block" approach.


Research in eye evolution has mostly focused on eyes residing in the head. In contrast, noncephalic light sensors are far less understood and rather regarded as evolutionary innovations. We established stable transgenesis in the annelid Platynereis, a reference species for evolutionary and developmental comparisons. EGFP controlled by cis-regulatory elements of r-opsin, a characteristic marker for rhabdomeric photoreceptors, faithfully recapitulates known r-opsin expression in the adult eyes, and marks a pair of pigment-associated frontolateral eyelets in the brain. Unexpectedly, transgenic animals revealed an additional series of photoreceptors in the ventral nerve cord as well as photoreceptors that are located in each pair of the segmental dorsal appendages (notopodia) and project into the ventral nerve cord. Consistent with a photosensory function of these noncephalic cells, decapitated animals display a clear photoavoidance response. Molecular analysis of the receptors suggests that they differentiate independent of pax6, a gene involved in early eye development of many metazoans, and that the ventral cells may share origins with the Hesse organs in the amphioxus neural tube. Finally, expression analysis of opn4×-2 and opn4m-2, two zebrafish orthologs of Platynereis r-opsin, reveals that these genes share expression in the neuromasts, known mechanoreceptors of the lateral line peripheral nervous system. Together, this establishes that noncephalic photoreceptors are more widespread than assumed, and may even reflect more ancient aspects of sensory systems. Our study marks significant advance for the understanding of photoreceptor cell (PRC) evolution and development and for Platynereis as a functional lophotrochozoan model system.


Rhabdomyolysis is a well-known clinical syndrome of muscle injury. Rhabdomyolysis following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination has recently been reported. The patients' weakness gradually subsided and did not recur. Rhabdomyolysis associated with COVID-19 vaccination has not been assessed by repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within a short time. We report a rare case of an older woman who developed recurring weakness with rhabdomyolysis after COVID-19 vaccination. A 76-year-old woman presented with myalgia 2 days after receiving a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. A physical examination showed weakness of the bilateral iliopsoas muscles. Her creatine kinase concentration was 9816 U/L. MRI showed hyperintensity of multiple limb muscles. She was treated with intravenous normal saline. Her symptoms disappeared within 3 days. However, MRI on day 4 of hospitalization showed exacerbation of the hyperintensity in the left upper limb muscles. On day 5 of hospitalization, weakness of the left supraspinatus and deltoid muscles appeared. MRI on day 8 of hospitalization showed attenuation of the hyperintensity in all muscles. Her weakness and elevated creatine kinase concentration disappeared by day 10. Repeated MRI over a short time may be useful to predict potential weakness and monitor the course of COVID-19 vaccine-induced rhabdomyolysis.


The crystal structures and magnetic properties of complex oxides of the LiMO2 series (M = Sc–Ni) and of solid solutions they form are described. Although the structures of the oxides are all derived from the NaCl structure, their magnetic properties are fairly diverse and depend on the type of cationic ordering. Primary attention is given to the oxides with layered structures in which the degree of ordering is a variable. The bibliography includes 225 references.


In this article, starting with a reflection on change of contemporary China concerning its market and consumption, I discuss the Diaspora role in the rediscovering of "traditional" values, especially related to harmony, hard work and saving notions which are based on religious and philosophic Confucian heritage. If, on one hand, today we can observe a deep consumerism among the young generations who live in China, on the other hand, the denying of conspicuous consumption appears as a distinctive feature among Chinese immigrants who live in Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and work as importers and distributors of made in China goods. Due to these characteristics, I outline a comparison with the Calvinist Ethic, analyzed by Max Weber, drawing approaches and differences between Protestantism and Confucianism regarding conspicuous spending, work ethic and wealth accumulation.


Matthew M. Taylor, a North Americanpolitical scientist who teaches at the University of Sao Paulo, seeks toexplain why it is that particular political actors have used the federal courtsto challenge Brazilian presidents and Congress on matters of policy reform. Inrecent years Brazilian courts have often served as effective weapons for thosewho want to delay the implementation of policies, whether the privatization ofstate-owned companies or the reform of pension programs. In some cases, thishas created an opportunity for the policies themselves to be changed. Taylorbuilds his argument in a core chapter on a relatively small number of casestudies from the 1990s when Fernando Henrique Cardoso was president.


The endocannabinoid system has been involved in the regulation of anxiety, and proposed as an inhibitory modulator of neuronal, behavioral and adrenocortical responses to stressful stimuli. Brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus and cortex, which are directly involved in the regulation of emotional behavior, contain high densities of cannabinoid CB1 receptors. Mutant mice lacking CB1 receptors show anxiogenic and depressive-like behaviors as well as an altered hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis activity, whereas enhancement of endocannabinoid signaling produces anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects. Genetic and pharmacological approaches also support an involvement of endocannabinoids in extinction of aversive memories. Thus, the endocannabinoid system appears to play a pivotal role in the regulation of emotional states. Endocannabinoids have emerged as mediators of short- and long-term synaptic plasticity in diverse brain structures. Despite the fact that most of the studies on this field have been performed using in vitro models, endocannabinoid-mediated plasticity might be considered as a plausible candidate underlying some of the diverse physiological functions of the endogenous cannabinoid system, including developmental, affective and cognitive processes. In this paper, we will focus on the functional relevance of endocannabinoid-mediated plasticity within the framework of emotional responses. Alterations of the endocannabinoid system may constitute an important factor in the aetiology of certain neuropsychiatric disorders, and, in turn, enhancers of endocannabinoid signaling could represent a potential therapeutical tool in the treatment of both anxiety and depressive symptoms.


In carbonate rocks, pore diameters range in size over at least nine orders of magnitude, from submicrometer-scale voids to km-scale caves. This study is focused on micropores, which are defined as pore bodies with diameter ≤ 10 micrometers. Corresponding pore throats are generally ≤ 1 micrometer in diameter. To visualize and quantify microporosity, geologists commonly use pore casts, transmitted-light petrography, and scanning electron microscopy. Shortfalls exist in all of these techniques. Laser scanning confocal microscopy, a relatively new approach, provides a step change in our ability to image and quantify microporosity in carbonate rocks.
 Laser scanning confocal microscopy provides high-resolution (0.2-micrometers/pixel) images of micropores. Such pores are generally obscure or invisible using conventional petrography. In practice, confocal microscopy is applied to polished rock chips or thin sections that have been vacuum-pressure impregnated with epoxy. The laser light source interacts with fluorescent dye within the epoxy. Emitted fluorescent light, recorded using point-by-point illumination, indicates the physical location of pores. A pinhole, placed in front of the detector, eliminates out-of-focus light. Because each measurement is a single point, confocal microscopes scan along grids of parallel lines to provide optical images of planes at specified depths within the sample.
 Confocal microscopy is used to generate 2D and 3D images of pore bodies and throats. Results can be compared to laboratory-measured petrophysical properties, such as pore-throat diameters from mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) data. Now, for the first time, we can compute pore-body to pore-throat size ratios without pore casts. These ratios are important, because they can be related to mercury recovery factors from imbibition MICP experiments.


This paper focuses on the clustering dynamics based on/supported by R&D offshoring trends as exemplified by the biopharmaceutical sector in China. It suggests two baselines of the institutional arrangements appropriate to initiate innovation-based clusters: (1) emphasis on the linkages and expansion in global innovation networking, and (2) focus on breeding regional innovation networks and enterprise's embeddedness. Above, especially in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, these two-dimension baselines are closely intertwined and develop by means of R&D offshoring and clustering dynamics, as it is demonstrated by the case-study of interaction and co-evolution between Chinese and multinational pharmaceutical companies (MPCs). JEL Codes: F23, L24, L65, O32


Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students' discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning.


Purpose: To conduct a symptoms-based evaluation of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in university and colleges students of Bahawalpur- Pakistan and correlate the data with their eating habits. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was accomplished using a questionnaire for the assessment of IDA among 500 students enrolled in the Islamia University of Bahawalpur and two affiliated colleges in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Symptoms-based evaluation was carried out to obtain the results. Results: The results showed that 41.2 % (206 students) of the 500 students were anemic. The proportion of anemic females and males was 65.53 % (135) and 34.46 % (71), respectively. Of the 206 students, 96.11 % (198) were below the age of 25 years, 83.96 % (173) in official hostels, 52.42 % (108) belonged to families of average socioeconomic status, 77.18 % (159) suffer from short-term memory, and 47.08 % (97) were unaware of IDA. The most commonly observed symptoms were flattened brittle nails, dizziness, and fatigue after physical activity, 88.83 % (183); presence or absence of glosittis 87.37% (180); ringing in the ears, 84.46 % (174); headache, 62.62 % (129); frequent minor infections, 46.60 % (96); shortness of breath, 40.29 % (83); taste disturbance, 35.92 % (74); ice cravings, 22.33 % (46); and angular stomatitis 18.97 % (39). Conclusion: An unexpectedly large number of female students exhibit symptoms of IDA due to poor nourishment. Findings from this survey can be used in awareness programs to increase academic performance in young adults and to eliminate IDA.


Bitmap to in-line defect overlay analysis was performed on a 4 Mbit SRAM memory array, which uses copper interconnect. This analysis provides an effective method of identifying killer copper defects, which inhibit product yield. It has been shown that bitmap overlay (BMOL) analysis is a very effective way of identifying killer defects for any technology at any process step. This can be proven to be a very powerful tool to relate physical defectivity to significant yield loss mechanisms. It has been shown that BMOL can be used to assign a root cause mechanism or a defect to an actual electrical fail without incurring tedious hours of destructive failure analysis. Failure analysis was, however, used to initially verify and confirm root cause of the electrical failures identified by BMOL analysis.


This thesis developed from infrequent experiences of intense connection with clients during psychotherapy; eventually realised as Empathic Resonance. These profound experiences cultivated the intrigue to understand their occurrences and the implications for clinical practice. The literature did not directly address how empathic resonance occurred, nor its place as evidence of highly skilled and advanced counselling/psychotherapy work. The main aim of the thesis was to address the question of how these experiences happened and develop a model of practice. Clear objectives were advanced to meet the thesis aims. A comprehensive literature review was conducted, representing an original conceptual framework. This required testing via comparison with fieldwork experiences. The data collected had to be anonymised and required a container to contextualise the experiences, therefore, an appropriate methodology was selected. The montage form of autoethnography enabled the fragmented clinical experiences to be set into whole fictionalised clinical stories, representing standalone accounts. A thematic analysis of the stories developed the conceptual framework into a model of practice. The model is an integrative representation of the literature review and fieldwork, it answers the main aim of the thesis, which sought to understand how these experiences occurred. The findings of the thesis clarify the phenomenon of empathic resonance, specifically, how the concepts work together from within a dialogical relationship and facilitate empathic resonance. Empathy and resonance are relational attunement concepts which lead to deepening alignment, communicating to the client knowing awareness of the client's feeling state. Empathic resonance (alignment) essentially rediscovers dissociated aspects of the self, which become available for emotional processing, linking empathic resonance with the transpersonal literature. The implications of the thesis support a strong argument for the use empathy and resonance when working with trauma, specifically dissociated traumas which can be glimpsed via mindfulness when empathically resonating. The phenomenon aids emotional processing, the alleviation of distressing trauma symptomology, resilience, and emotional regulation as part of the reparative/developmentally needed relationship.


Since its inception about two decades ago,[1] optical coherence tomography (OCT) has evolved into an increasingly effective and promising imaging tool, particularly in biol ogical and biomedical applications.[2] The depth resolution of OCT is proportional to the spectral bandwidth of the light source as long as optical dispersion of the medium can be neglected. However, for increasingly broadband sources em ployed to achieve ultrahigh axial resolution[3] dispersio n becomes relevant, broadening the coherence length of the measured signal and thus leading to the loss of resolution. Generally, two strategies have been developed to combat dispersion effects in OCT. The first one consists in matching experimentally the amount of dispersion in both the arms of the interferometer either with a simple introduction of an a ppropriate compensation plate in the reference arm,[4] or by a skilful design of the scanning arrangement for the referenc e beam.[5, 6] The second strategy is to postprocess numerically complete fringe-resolved interferograms to compens ate for the dispersion-induced loss of resolution.[7, 8, 9] The numerical approach requires usually a priori knowledge of the dispersive properties of the medium which enter as the param eters of the compensation algorithm. In this paper we propose a numerical method for reconstructing dispersion-compensated depth profiles that does n t involve knowledge of the exact dispersive characteristics of the medium. This method utilizes the phase information contained in complete complex interferograms to remove delete rious effects of dispersion. As we discuss later, it is equiv alent to the recently demonstrated quantum OCT[10, 11] which uses dispersion-cancellation effect in two-photon i nterference. Our method offers all the advantages of quantum OCT, but avoids the need for non-classical light sources. Th e dispersion compensation is performed by postprocessing da ta collected in a standard OCT setup with a low-coherence light using a simple and straightforward in implementation numer ical algorithm. Before passing on to the detailed discussion of the method, we will present its principle of operation using a simple exa mple. The input for our method is the complex envelope Γ(τ) of the full analytical mutual coherence function,[7, 8, 9] par ameterized with the delay of the reference beam. The dispersio ncompensated depth profile is obtained by calculating the gen eralized autoconvolution of Γ(τ), defined as:


French rowing federation reduced the competition distance to 1,500 and 1,000 m in rowers under 16- (U16) and 14-year-old (U14) respectively, to prepare them progressively to the Olympic 2,000 m distance in under 18-year-old (U18). This study aimed to check the hypothesis that relative aerobic (%EAe) and anaerobic (%EAn) energy contributions would be comparable between the competition distances since the more oxidative profile of younger age categories could offset the greater anaerobic contribution induced by shorter rowing races. Thirty-one 12- to 17-year-old competitive rowers performed a race of 2,000, 1,500, or 1,000 m on a rowing ergometer according to their age category. %EAe and %EAn were estimated from oxygen consumption, changes in blood lactate concentration and their energy equivalents. %EAe was lower in U16 than U18 (84.7 vs. 87.0%, p < 0.01), and in U14 than U16 (80.6 vs. 84.7%, p < 0.001). %EAn was higher in U16 than U18 (15.3 vs. 13.0%, p < 0.01), and in U14 than U16 (19.4 vs. 15.3%, p < 0.01). The results did not confirm our initial hypothesis since %EAe and %EAn were significantly different between the race distances, and thus age categories. However, %EAn in U18, U16 and U14 were found to be in the range of values previously found in adult rowers over the 2,000 m Olympic distance (12–30%). Therefore, on a practical level, the strategy implemented by the French rowing federation to reduce the competition distance in the younger age categories could be relevant to progressively prepare them to the physiological requirements encountered over the Olympic distance.


Currently, no vaccine or established therapeutic agents are available for coronavirus disease 2019. The sharp increase in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) necessitates an improvement in the protective efficacy of PPE. We evaluated the potential antimicrobial and antiviral effects of a surface-coating disinfectant (3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyldimethyl octadecyl ammonium chloride, Si-QAC) when applied onto PPE. Si-QAC-pre-coated PPE was artificially contaminated with either influenza virus or Salmonella. The results showed significantly reduced influenza and Salmonella titers in Si-QAC-coated PPE; these antimicrobial effects lasted 7 days. This suggests that this surface-coating disinfectant effectively reduces pathogen contamination of PPE, enabling their safe and long-term use.


Purpose. Contact lens–related corneal infection and inflammation have been associated with microbial contamination of the contact lens or contact lens storage case. Antimicrobial performance of contact lens disinfection systems is an important factor in reducing contamination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of a new multipurpose disinfecting solution (MPDS), preserved with 0.001% polyquaternium-1 and 0.0005% myristamidopropyl dimethylamine, against a range of bacteria and fungi. Methods. The MPDS was challenged with a broad range of clinical and environmental isolates, including 10 gram-positive and eight gram-negative bacterial strains and three strains of fungi. The panel of reference microorganisms recommended by the International Organization for Standardization standards was also included. Samples were removed for analysis after 4 hours, 6 hours, or 24 hours of exposure to the MPDS. The number of survivors was determined by plate counts. Results. The new MPDS showed antimicrobial activity against the five reference microorganisms in excess of that recommended by International Organization for Standardization standards. The solution showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity, showing more than a 3 log reduction (mean, 4.2 ± 1.4) in 8 of 10 gram-positive bacteria and more than a 4 log reduction (mean, 5.3 ± 0.5) in all eight gram-negative bacteria at the 6-hour disinfection time. The efficacy of the solution was increased with longer exposure times (P<0.01). Some differences in activity between clinical and the reference bacterial strains were observed. The solution exceeded the 1 log unit reduction for all fungal species tested. Conclusions. The new MPDS produced a significant reduction in the growth of various clinical and environmental bacteria and fungi.


Hydroxyapatite (HA) has been widely used in fields of materials science, tissue engineering, biomedicine, energy and environmental science, and analytical science due to its simple preparation, low-cost, and high biocompatibility. To overcome the weak mechanical properties of pure HA, various reinforcing materials were incorporated with HA to form high-performance composite materials. Due to the unique structural, biological, electrical, mechanical, thermal, and optical properties, graphene has exhibited great potentials for supporting the biomimetic synthesis of HA. In this review, we present recent advance in the biomimetic synthesis of HA on graphene supports for biomedical applications. More focuses on the biomimetic synthesis methods of HA and HA on graphene supports, as well as the biomedical applications of biomimetic graphene-HA nanohybrids in drug delivery, cell growth, bone regeneration, biosensors, and antibacterial test are performed. We believe that this review is state-of-the-art, and it will be valuable for readers to understand the biomimetic synthesis mechanisms of HA and other bioactive minerals, at the same time it can inspire the design and synthesis of graphene-based novel nanomaterials for advanced applications.


Objective: To assess the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer in palliative therapy and in palliative care. Materials and Methods: Quantitative, observational, cross-sectional, and analytic study conducted in a teaching hospital in Parana, Brazil, from January to June 2018, with 126 patients: 107 in palliative therapy; 19 in exclusive palliative care. The questionnaires for data collec-tion were: Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 15-Palliative, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative Care 14, and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System. The Spearman non-parametric coefficient test was used for the analysis. Results: The overall quality of life in palliative therapy and in palliative care was, respectively, 71.54/59.65; when correlating the total score of quality of life of the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 15-Palliative with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative Care 14 (p = 0.001), and the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (p = 0.001), significant difference of better quality of life was observed in the palliative therapy. Conclusion: Patients in palliative therapy have good overall quality of life, while the palliative care group reports regular quality of life. The symptoms were milder in the palliative therapy and more intense and with greater significance in palliative care; hence, knowing the compromise of quality of life will help professionals in planning interventions with transdisciplinary approach for patients and for their families.


Abstract 3036 Poster Board II-1012 The potential role of allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells for therapy of refractory lymphoma is supported by the curative potential of allogeneic transplantation for lymphoid malignancies. Haploidentical donor derived NK cells may overcome Class I MHC Ag mediated inhibition and deliver an NK versus lymphoma effect. In a Phase II study we evaluated allogeneic NK cell infusions with Rituximab and IL-2 in a non-transplant setting to determine the expansion of NK cells in vivo and the clinical response in patients with refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Six patients with advanced NHL received conditioning with Rituximab 375mg/m2 days -8,-1,+6,+15; Cyclophosphamide 60 mg/kg IV day -5; Fludarabine 25 mg/m2 IV days -6 through -2 as immunosupression to permit homeostatic expansion of allogeneic donor NK cells. Peripheral blood cells were obtained by lymphapheresis from unmobilized, HLA-haploidentical donors and selected for "killer immunoglobulin receptor" (KIR) ligand mismatch when available (3 out of 6 patients). Donor peripheral blood cells were enriched for NK cells with the Miltenyi CliniMACS device by depletion of T (CD3 + ) cells. The donor NK cells were then activated by overnight incubation with IL-2 (1,000 U/mL) and infused at a median nucleated cell dose of 2.27 ±0.4 × 10 7 /kg. Subcutaneous IL-2 10×10 6 units (qod x 6 doses) was given to facilitate NK cell survival and expansion. All patients were evaluable for toxicity and efficacy. Patients tolerated the NK infusion well with only transient grade 1-2 toxicity and 5 received all 6 scheduled doses of IL-2. IL-2 activated donor NK cell products showed > 55% cytotoxicity against K562 targets. After IL-2 therapy, we observed a median absolute lymphocyte count of 980 ±440/μL. All cells were of recipient origin with no detectable donor NK cells. Importantly, in all patients the median number of host regulatory T cells (T regs phenotype CD4 + Foxp3 + CD127 − ) post treatment was significantly increased compared to pre-treatment (day 14 T regs: 134 ±141 cells/μL versus pre-treatment T regs: 24 ±12 cells/μL; P =0.06). To investigate the possibility of NK trafficking to affected lymph nodes, we performed fine needle aspiration of palpable tumor in 1 patient and demonstrated a low level of donor DNA by RFLP testing (2.5% donor chimerism). Simultaneous absence of NK cells in peripheral blood in the same patient suggested NK cell tissue homing to lymphoma-bearing nodes. Three patients achieved a partial remission (PR), one of whom proceeded to non-myeloablative cord blood allograft 2 month after NK cell infusion; two remain in partial remission after 1 and 4 months of follow-up. The trial failed to achieve prospective statistical parameters established to detect circulating NK cell expansion rate and will be modified. Conclusions This "proof of principle" study demonstrated lack of in vivo expansion of haploidentical NK cells in peripheral blood of patients with lymphoma. However, we identified host factors that interfered with NK cell expansion, including T reg proliferation and possibly inadequate immunosupression, and additionally, the finding of donor DNA in sites of tumor suggested donor NK cell localization to extravascular or tumor sites. Novel approaches to adoptive NK cell therapy trials should incorporate strategies to eliminate or prevent T reg expansion using alternate lymphodepleting regimens. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


In machine learning, nonconvex optimization problems with multiple local optimums are often encountered. Graduated Optimization Algorithm (GOA) is a popular heuristic method to obtain global optimums of nonconvex problems through progressively minimizing a series of convex approximations to the nonconvex problems more and more accurate. Recently, such an algorithm GradOpt based on GOA is proposed with amazing theoretical and experimental results, but it mainly studies the problem which consists of one nonconvex part. This paper aims to find the global solution of a nonconvex objective with a convex part plus a nonconvex part based on GOA. By graduating approximating non-convex part of the problem and minimizing them with the Stochastic Variance Reduced Gradient (SVRG) or proximal SVRG, two new algorithms, SVRG-GOA and PSVRG-GOA, are proposed. We prove that the new algorithms have lower iteration complexity ($O(1/\varepsilon)$) than GradOpt ($O(1/\varepsilon^2)$). Some tricks, such as enlarging shrink factor, using project step, stochastic gradient, and mini-batch skills, are also given to accelerate the convergence speed of the proposed algorithms. Experimental results illustrate that the new algorithms with the similar performance can converge to 'global' optimums of the nonconvex problems, and they converge faster than the GradOpt and the nonconvex proximal SVRG.


Abstract Starting from a natural example, several hybrid materials based on silicified collagen were synthesised under ambient conditions. The biomimetic approach and further steps allowed the production of porous as well as dense constructs whose structural assembly was similar to that observed microscopically in the natural glass fibres made by sponges. Chemical analyses showed the collagen used serving as an organic template that binds silicic acid whose condensation results in local silicification and strengthening of the hybrid. This effect was emphasised by mechanical testing. Compressive strength of the porous scaffolds has been increased by about four times and splitting tensile strength of the xerogels by up to six times due to hybridisation. As the hybrid materials additionally show proper biocompatibility, they seem to be suitable for medical applications, especially as a base material for load-bearing implants.


Increasingly, web document collections such as PubMed and DBPedia, but also social bookmarking systems, are annotated with semantic meta data. Given that the number of semantically annotated document collections is expected to increase in the near future, it is of interest to analyze if topic models might be able to play a larger role. Since most of the time, annotations are noisy and even human experts annotate inconsistently, a probabilistic view, as provided by topic models, is appropriate. Besides a number of interesting knowledge discovery tasks, representing topics by meta data has an additional advantage: if the concepts refer to real-world objects, the readability of the topics is greatly improved. In this paper, we present several suitable strategies to model this type of data and show experiments on two large semantically annotated document collections.


Digital research objects are packets of information that scientists can use to organize and store their data. There are currently many different methods in use for optimizing digital objects for research purposes. These methods have been applied to many scientific disciplines but differ in architecture and approach. The goals of this joint digital research object (DRO) conference were to discuss the challenge of characterizing DROs at scale in volume and over time and possible organizing principles that might connect current DRO architectures. One of the primary challenges concerns convincing scientists that these tools and practices will actually make the research process easier and more fruitful. This conference included work from CENDI, the National Federal STI Managers Group, the National Federation of Advanced Information Services (NFAIS), the Research Data Alliance (RDA), and the National Academy of Science (NAS).


Contributors from fourteen countries and five continents talk about living with AIDS. All the women are HIV positive, yet their stories are very different, representing a breadth of experience that reflects the diversity of women's lives. They are teachers, scientists, poets, artists, writers and students. Some work in the home, others have lived on the street, Their contributions include journal entries, narratives, poetry, graphic and photographic images. This is a book about women who shatter myths, take control and find their own power in the challenge of living with AIDS. This is an insightful and emotionally moving book with informs and inspires.


This paper discusses the modelling of natural convection in air cavities using four eddy viscosity turbulence models. Two 2D closed cavities with deferentially heated walls
opposite each other and one 3D open ended tall cavity with one side is heated and adiabatic for all the others were investigated. The CFD simulation results for the two 2D cases were compared with their corresponding experimental measurements and it was found that the k-omega turbulence model offered the best solution among the turbulence models tested. Close agreement was also achieved between the k-omega model and the experiments in the prediction of temperature and velocity fields for the 3D case with Monte Carlo radiation model. The work has demonstrated the ability of the eddy viscosity turbulence models for modelling natural convection and radiation in different types of cavities.


This paper reports an exploration into critical success factors for the sustainability of the partnership between the University of Southern Queensland and the Stanthorpe community during the GraniteNet Phoenix Project - the first phase of a three-phase participatory action research project conducted during 2007-2008. The concepts of learning community, social capital, university-community engagement and partnerships, and co-generative learning through participatory action research and evaluation are brought together to provide a framework for evaluating the sustainability and efficacy of the university-community relationship in the context of the GraniteNet project. Implications of the findings for the ongoing sustainability of the partnership are discussed, as well as for the relevance and utility of identified critical success factors. The paper also discusses implications of the findings for university-community engagement partnerships that utilise participatory action research and evaluation processes to build capacity through co-generative learning.


This article presents the GPU parallelization of new algorithms SD and DPD types for molecular dynamics systems developed by the Molecular Dynamics Group, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. One should note that molecular dynamics simulations are time-consuming simulations of systems, running time ranging from days to weeks and months. Therefore parallelization is a key issue for the well-running and use of MD software. The paper presents the main ingredients of GPU parallelization of the new algorithms and simulation results. It can be concluded that the parallelization through the use of graphical cards improves the performances of the runs as compared to the serial version of the code. Keywords-molecular dynamic systems, graphic cards systems, CUDA programing


We report on the measurement of the 7.5-14.7 μm spectrum for the transiting extrasolar giant planet HD 189733b using the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Although the observations comprise only 12 hr of telescope time, the continuum is well measured and has a flux ranging from 0.6 to 1.8 mJy over the wavelength range, or 0.49% ± 0.02% of the flux of the parent star. The variation in the measured fractional flux is very nearly flat over the entire wavelength range and shows no indication of significant absorption by water or methane, in contrast with the predictions of most atmospheric models. Models with strong day/night differences appear to be disfavored by the data, suggesting that heat redistribution to the night side of the planet is highly efficient.


The application of quantum computation and information in robotics has caught the attention of researchers off late. The field of robotics has always put its effort on the minimization of the space occupied by the robot, and on making the robot `smarter. `The smartness of a robot is its sensitivity to its surroundings and the user input and its ability to react upon them desirably. Quantum phenomena in robotics make sure that the robots occupy less space and the ability of quantum computation to process the huge amount of information effectively, consequently making the robot smarter. Braitenberg vehicle is a simple circuited robot that moves according to the input that its sensors receive. Building upon that, we propose a quantum robot vehicle that is `smart' enough to understand the complex situations more than that of a simple Braitenberg vehicle and navigate itself as per the obstacles present. It can detect an obstacle-free path and can navigate itself accordingly. It also takes input from the user when there is more than one free path available. When left with no option on the ground, it can airlift itself off the ground. As these vehicles sort of `react to the surrounding conditions, this idea can be used to build artificial life and genetic algorithms, space exploration and deep-earth exploration probes, and a handy tool in defense and intelligence services.


A study was conducted to estimate heritability of selected traits, and determine direct and indirect effects of selected plant traits on cane yield and sucrose content in sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.). Sixteen clones were evaluated in a replicated field experiment under irrigated conditions at Sugarcane Research Program, Jitpur, Nepal in 1999-2000. Eight morphological and three juice quality characters were studied. The 16 clone differed significantly for all the characters except juice purity. Broad sense heritability ( h b 2 ) estimates were high for stalk weight, stalk length, internode length, cane yield millable cane number, germination, and stalk diameter. Juice quality characters showed lower h b 2 estimates. Cane yield showed significant positive correlations with stalk length, stalk weight, and internode number and length. Internode length was significantly positively correlated with brix and sucrose content in juice. The percent germination at 45 days after planting, and millable cane number were also important due to their positive direct effect on cane yield. Path coefficient analysis showed that stalk weight and length were the most important components of cane yield. The results suggest that stalk weight and length could be successfully used as indirect selection criteria to improve cane yield.

 Keywords: Correlation, cane yield, heritability, path coefficient, Saccharum officinarum , surgacane.

J. Inst. Agric. Anim. Sci. 2003 24:13-19.


World Health Partners (WHP), a New Delhi based non-governmental organization, began establishing telemedicine provision centers (TPCs) in rural areas of three districts in northwestern Uttar Pradesh, India. Communities in rural Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India with nearly 200 million people, lack access to qualified medical physicians and have a large unmet need for family planning. Through a live streaming audio/video Internet connection, rural communities were able to consult with qualified physicians located elsewhere in India. This large pilot project of 116 TPCs provided health services to 1293 villages with an estimated population in excess of 6 million. TPCs were specifically marketed to reproductive age women with the goal of increasing their access to healthcare and family planning. The TPCs were also established as social franchises. These telemedicine franchises generated revenue for their entrepreneurs in the form of consultation fees and drug sales, and in return, they had to provide family planning products and services in their rural communities.From April 2009-December 2010, 28,970 telemedicine consultations occurred with a mean of 19.7 (s.d.=20.3) per 30 days of TPC operation. The telemedicine consultations, however, rapidly decreased after the start dates of the TPCs either due to the actions of the rural entrepreneur or decreased patient demand for telemedicine services. Despite the decrease in consultations, TPC entrepreneurs still fulfilled their family planning obligations. Overall, from the family planning services and products sold, the couple years of protection (CYP) was 288,119 (MSI/DKT calculations) which corresponded to a cost per CYP at USD$5.84. Spatial analyses demonstrate that the 90% catchment area for TPCs for reproductive age women was approximately 4.9 kms. Location-allocation models in Bijnor district comparing an optimal configuration of TPCs to their actual resulted in a locational efficiency of 0.84. Twenty additional TPCs would be needed to achieve a population weighted mean distance equal to the catchment distance for women. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with reproductive age women indicated that while acceptable, telemedicine was being tested by women, and it provoked feelings of fear of how to communicate through the computer as well as how to interact with the doctors. Ultimately, it was judged by its ability to provide relief since these women needed to be healthy to fulfill their household and family responsibilities.


Abstract This paper examines the mediating effect of ecologies of innovation on the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda. The study design was a cross-sectional survey, data were analysed using SPSS and Analysis of Moment Structure on a sample of 228 SMEs. The mediated model provides support for the hypothesis that ecologies of innovation partially mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation. This confirms that the presence of ecologies of innovation significantly acts as a conduit in the association between entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation. The practical implications are that opportunity exploitation can be understood and predicted through ecologies of innovation, entrepreneurial networking can also predict opportunity exploitation directly. Business owners and managers need to fully understand and utilise the ecologies of innovation to exploit opportunities effectively. Social implications, a deeper understanding of how entrepreneurial networking and ecologies of innovation affect employee relations will not be fully realised until employers create a platform for rational thinking, creativity and learning about this interaction. This study utilises social network theory to extend the existing research on opportunity exploitation.


Characteristic symptoms of Pierce's disease (PD) in grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) were observed in 2002 in the major grape production fields of central Taiwan. Disease severity in vineyards varied, and all investigated grape cultivars were affected. Diseased tissues were collected from fields for subsequent isolation and characterization of the causal agent of the disease (Xylella fastidiosa). Koch's postulates were fulfilled by artificially inoculating two purified PD bacteria to grape cultivars Kyoho, Honey Red and Golden Muscat. The inoculated plants developed typical leafscorching symptoms, and similar disease severity developed in the three cultivars from which the bacterium was readily re-isolated, proving that the leaf scorch of grapevines in Taiwan is caused by the fastidious X. fastidiosa. This confirmed PD of grapevines is also the first report from the Asian Continent. Phylogenetic analyses were performed by comparing the 16S rRNA gene and 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer region (16S-23S ITS) of 12 PD strains from Taiwan with the sequences of 13 X. fastidiosa strains from different hosts and different geographical areas. Results showed that the PD strains of Taiwan were closely related to the American X. fastidiosa grape strains but not to the pear strains of Taiwan, suggesting that the X. fastidiosa grape and pear strains of Taiwan may have evolved independently from each other.


In smartphone data analysis, both energy consumption modeling and user behavior mining have been explored extensively, but the relationship between energy consumption and user behavior has been rarely studied. Such a relationship is explored over large-scale users in this article. Based on energy consumption data, where each users' feature vector is represented by energy breakdown on hardware components of different apps, User Behavior Models (UBM) are established to capture user behavior patterns (i.e., app preference, usage time). The challenge lies in the high diversity of user behaviors (i.e., massive apps and usage ways), which leads to high dimension and dispersion of data. To overcome the challenge, three mechanisms are designed. First, to reduce the dimension, apps are ranked with the top ones identified as typical apps to represent all. Second, the dispersion is reduced by scaling each users' feature vector with typical apps to unit ℓ1 norm. The scaled vector becomes Usage Pattern, while the ℓ1 norm of vector before scaling is treated as Usage Intensity. Third, the usage pattern is analyzed with a two-layer clustering approach to further reduce data dispersion. In the upper layer, each typical app is studied across its users with respect to hardware components to identify Typical Hardware Usage Patterns (THUP). In the lower layer, users are studied with respect to these THUPs to identify Typical App Usage Patterns (TAUP). The analytical results of these two layers are consolidated into Usage Pattern Models (UPM), and UBMs are finally established by a union of UPMs and Usage Intensity Distributions (UID). By carrying out experiments on energy consumption data from 18,308 distinct users over 10 days, 33 UBMs are extracted from training data. With the test data, it is proven that these UBMs cover 94% user behaviors and achieve up to 20% improvement in accuracy of energy representation, as compared with the baseline method, PCA. Besides, potential applications and implications of these UBMs are illustrated for smartphone manufacturers, app developers, network providers, and so on.


SUMOs (Small Ubiquitin-like modifiers) belong to a superfamily of ubiquitin like proteins (Ubls) that are covalently conjugated to their substrates via enzymatic cascade reactions. The heterodimeric activating complex (SAE1/SAE2, E1) and conjugating enzyme (Ubc9, E2) required for the SUMO conjugation pathway are distinct from those involved in other Ubl pathways, and the presence of ligases (E3) stimulates the conjugation reaction. SUMO is implicated in a variety of physiological as well as pathological processes such as cell division, signal transduction, DNA damage and repair, and cancer development. This review focuses on the fundamental features of SUMO conjugation and its potential implication in cardiovascular development.


There is a growing interest in formulating vision problems in terms of Bayesian inference and, in particular, the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator. In this paper, we consider the special case of detecting roads from aerial images and demonstrate that analysis of this ensemble enables us to determine fundamental bounds on the performance of the MAP estimate. We demonstrate that there is a phase transition at a critical value of the order parameter; below this phase transition, it is impossible to detect the road by any algorithm. We derive closely related order parameters which determine the time and memory complexity of search and the accuracy of the solution using the n* search strategy. Our approach can be applied to other vision problems, and we briefly summarize the results when the model uses the "wrong prior". We comment on how our work relates to studies of the complexity of visual search and the critical behaviour in the computational cost of solving NP-complete problems.


We describe a new electrophoretic method for the characterization of human serum and tissue alkaline phosphatases on cellulose acetate plates. Enzymes are localized fluorometrically with the substrate a-naphthol AS-MX phosphate or colorimetrically by coupling the reaction product with Fast Blue RR. Both localization techniques are sensitive enough to demonstrate isoenzyme patterns in micro-scale samples of normal sera. Our electrophoretic studies indicate that sera of children and adults normally contain isoenzymes originating from both liverand bone. The high sensitivity of the method allows the use of normal sera as markers rather than tissue extracts, and isoenzyme patterns may be visually assessed after heat inactivation and chemical inhibition. The method issuitable forthe electrophoretic fractionation of alkalIne phosphatase in large numbers of sera, with equipment and technique familiar to many laboratories.


We report a preliminary measurement of the branching fraction for the decay $B^0 \to K^0_sK^0_sK^0_s ,$ where the $K^0_s$ mesons are reconstructed through the decay $K^0_s\to\pi^+ \pi^- .$ The measurement was performed on a sample of $211\times 10^6$ $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected by the BABAR detector running on the $\Upsilon (4S)$ resonance at the PEP-II storage ring. The branching fraction is measured to be $${\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_sK^0_sK^0_s)= (6.5\pm 0.8\pm 0.8) \times 10^{-6},$$ where the errors are statistical and systematic, respectively.


Thalassemia is the most common form of hereditary anemia from the hemoglobinopathy group. The genetic disorder underlying thalassemia leads to impaired erythrocyte maturation, hemolysis, and the development of ineffective erythropoiesis with erythroid gland hyperplasia in the bone marrow and extramedullary. Regular blood transfusions and chelator therapy are standard therapy for patients with b-thalassemia. This method increases life expectancy, but does not improve its quality and does not cure the disease. Currently, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains the only radical treatment for thalassemia. The paper discusses the historical aspects of the development of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the context of transfusion-dependent form of b-thalassemia treatment.


Introducing water into spray combustion systems, by either water-in-oil emulsification or supplementary water injection, is one of the major techniques for combustion improvement and NOx reduction. Plentiful researches are available on combustion of water-in-oil emulsion fuel drops. The emulsified liquid is a heterogeneous mixture of immiscible liquids. One component forms the continuous phase and the other component forms the discrete phase. The discrete phase consists of globules of the one fluid that are suspended in the continuous phase fluid. Water-in-oil emulsions are commonly considered for combustion applications because emulsions can result in micro-explosion, thereby reducing the average drop diameter to enhance liquid vaporization, and suppressing the formation of soot and NOx. However, the water addition generally does not exceed about 20% for smooth engine operations[!, 21. The combustion characteristics and micro-explosion of emulsion drop were studied by many researchers. The micro-explosion of water in fuel emulsion drops was caused by very fast growth of superheated water vapor bubbles, its superheat limits must be lower than the boiling point temperature of the fuel. These bubbles were primarily governed by the pressure difference between the superheated vapor and the liquid, and by the inertia imparted to the liquid by the motion of the bubble surface[3 6 In this study, we used a coaxial nozzle to generation the multi-component drop. The different type of water-in-oil fuel drops called the compound drops. Unlike an emulsion drop, a compound drop consists of a water core and a fuel shell, which can originate from the phase separation of emulsion[7, 81 or a water drop colliding with a fuel drop[9, 101 Burning and micro-explosion of compound drops have been found to be distinct from those of emulsion drops[9-111 Wang et al.[9 , 101 studied the combustion characteristics of collision merged alkane-water drops. The merged drops appeared in adhesive and inserted manners. The drop ignition delay time increased with increasing water content. The average burning rate of alkane-water drops decreased with increasing water content. In the burning process, hexadecane-water drops exhibited flash vaporization or flame extinction. Heterogeneous explosion was occasionally observed in drops with trapped air bubbles. The air bubbles were assumed to be the nucleation points of the heterogeneous explosions. Chen and Lin[11 studied the characteristics of water-in-dodecane compound drop with different water content, diameter of drop and environmental oxygen concentration. The vaporization rate increased with increasing environmental oxygen concentration. The compound drops micro-exploded during the burning process in a random way. The number of micro-explosions was majorly influenced by drop diameter, followed by environmental oxygen concentration. Water content had a weaker effect on micro-explosion. As available literature and research results of compound drop burning are scarce, their combustion and micro-explosion behaviors are still poorly understood. In this regard, we changed the drop nature as compound drops to study their combustion characteristics and micro-explosion phenomena.


147 patients with polytrauma, complicated by acute large-volume intraabdominal bleeding, were included in the study. Anesthetic regimens and blood loss compensation were retrospectively analyzed. Thus, all patints were divided inti 3 groups: 1st group received only intraoperative blood reinfusion, 2nd group - got auto- and donor blood reinfusion, 3rd group had only donor blood transfusions. Intraoperative autoblood reinfusion allowed an adequate blood loss compensation. The method should be considered a method of choice by acute blood loss treatment during emergency operations in patients with polytrauma.


Estimation of the solar radiation potential in an area is one of the most basic foundations in the development of research for applying solar energy in any region. In this study, the necessary information was taken from 9 out of 21 solar radiation stations in the country within a period of 5 to 11 years. After refining the information for some incorrect lays, then it was used for intended model or mode. In order to estimate the daily average of monthly radiation on the horizon level, the existing models were closely studies and among them, 3 mathematical models, namely "angstrom pries cut", "the most probable model" , and "Hybrid model" were used. The related coefficients of each model for Iran were calculated through statistical relationship by using processed data from the above mentioned stations. These mathematical models were statistically tested for Iran and from these three, the hybrids model was chosen as the best alternative. The final result of this research is 12 drawings concerning the daily solar radiation in each month, 4 drawings related to the total radiation received by the horizontal area for each season, and one drawing in relation to the total radiation received by the horizontal area during a year.


Introduction The management of the chronic pilonidal disease is variable and the principles of treatment are aimed to eradicate the sinus tract, promote wound healing, prevent disease recurrence, and improve the quality of life of the patient. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of excision and primary closure, and Bascom's technique in the management of pilonidal sinus disease. Methods The study was performed at a tertiary hospital from April to October 2011. All patients with chronic pilonidal sinus were included in the study (n=60) and randomly allocated into Group A - undergoing excision and primary closure (n=30) and Group B - undergoing Bascom's repair. Comparative outcomes of interest were duration of hospital admission, post-operative pain, wound infection, wound-healing and disease recurrence. Results The mean age of presentation was 24.18±5.6 years. A higher number of patients in Group A were discharged within 24 hours compared to Group B (p = 0.001). Group B had significantly less post-operative pain by the first postoperative week (p = 0.049). Group B had lower infection rates with clean wounds observed in 28 (93.3%) patients compared to 23 (76.7%) in Group A by the first postoperative week (p = 0.07). Recurrence rate during 12-week follow-up was observed in one (3.3%) patient in Group B, and five (16.7%) in Group A (p= 0.085). Conclusions Patients who underwent Bascom's operation had less postoperative pain, lower infection rates and disease recurrence, and better wound healing. Therefore, in our patient cohort, we conclude Bascom's repair appears to be superior to primary excision and repair in reducing patient morbidity.


The evolution of prevention methods represents a positive development of significant value. Managing the behavioral components of prevention is crucial to create buy-in by staff and patients. Numerous recommendations for successful implementation of CAMBRA are cited. It is important for dentists to establish which option works best with each employee, and for the dental care team to do the same with each patient in the practice.


Recent advances in dynamo theory have been made by examining the competition between small and large-scale dynamos at high magnetic Reynolds number Rm. Small-scale dynamos rely on the presence of chaotic stretching whilst the generation of large-scale fields occurs in flows lacking reflectional symmetry via a systematic electromotive force (emf). In this paper we discuss how the statistics of the emf (at high Rm) depend on the properties of the multi-scale velocity that is generating it. In particular, we determine that different scales of flow have different contributions to the statistics of the emf, with smaller-scales contributing to the mean without increasing the variance. Moreover we determine when scales in such a flow act independently in their contribution to the emf. We further examine the role of large-scale shear in modifying the emf. We conjecture that the distribution of the emf, and not simply the mean, largely determines the dominant scale of the magnetic field generated by the flow.


The purpose of this article is to inquire what should belong in an encyclopedia article entitled "Estonian philosophy," should one ever endeavour to write it. The question "What is Estonian philosophy?" has two parts. First we have to know what we mean by the concept philosophy and after that how we would specify Estonian philosophy? Relying on a Wittgensteinian approach, I will argue that philosophy is an open concept. Although all philosophical works have some resemblances to other philosophical works, it is impossible to find criteria characteristic of all the varieties of schools and traditions in which philosophizing is carried out. Philosophy should be understood as a certain social practice. There can, however, be a large number of different practices. I will show that if by Estonian philosophy we have in mind a philosophy that is originally and purely Estonian, then at this point such does not exist. If by Estonian philosophy we mean philosophy created in Estonia, regardless of the practitioners' ethnicity and the language in which they wrote, the history of our philosophy is very rich and diverse. People of many different ethnicities have created philosophy in Estonia, articulating their philosophical ideas in Estonian, English, German, Latin, Russian, and Swedish. And if we broaden our concept of Estonian philosophy to also include the work of philosophers of Estonian extraction living abroad, then one could write quite a respectable article on the topic.


Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1, von Recklinghausen's disease) is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous‐skeletal syndrome in which low bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis are common. Low BMD is, however, not the sole component of fracture risk. In the current study, 460 Finnish patients with NF1 were identified from the hospital medical records and their fracture risk was evaluated. The control population included 3988 appendectomy patients whose age and gender distribution was similar to that of the NF1 patients. Medical records of NF1 and control cohorts were screened for fractures according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD‐10) between January 2000 and October 2011. The results show that patients with NF1 had increased age‐dependent fracture risk compared to controls. Specifically, patients with NF1 aged 41 years and older had a risk ratio of ×5.2 for fractures compared to controls, and children with NF1 had a ×3.4 risk ratio for fractures compared to children without NF1. In contrast, the fracture risk was not increased in NF1 patients aged 17 to 40 years. When fractures not traditionally related to osteoporosis such as fractures of fingers, toes, and skull were excluded, the results were essentially the same. No gender related differences were observed. In conclusion, patients with NF1 have increased fracture risk depending on age. We recommend considering prophylactic measures, such as lifestyle advice, to prevent fractures from occurring. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


A HCl:H/sub 2/O:H/sub 2/O (40:4:1) solution shows highly isotropic features on GaAs etching. The etch rate of this mixture varies strongly with the age and temperature of the solution. For optimized etching, it was shown that these factors do not significantly affect the shape of the emitters but strongly influence the emission capabilities of the arrays.


Chromosome segregation requires coordinated separation of sister chromatids following biorientation of all chromosomes on the mitotic spindle. Chromatid separation at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition is accomplished by cleavage of the cohesin complex that holds chromatids together. Here we show using live-cell imaging that extending the metaphase bioriented state using five independent perturbations (expression of non-degradable Cyclin B, expression of a Spindly point mutant that prevents spindle checkpoint silencing, depletion of the anaphase inducer Cdc20, treatment with a proteasome inhibitor, or treatment with an inhibitor of the mitotic kinesin CENP-E) leads to eventual scattering of chromosomes on the spindle. This scattering phenotype is characterized by uncoordinated loss of cohesion between some, but not all sister chromatids and subsequent spindle defects that include centriole separation. Cells with scattered chromosomes persist long-term in a mitotic state and eventually die or exit. Partial cohesion loss-associated scattering is observed in both transformed cells and in karyotypically normal human cells, albeit at lower penetrance. Suppressing microtubule dynamics reduces scattering, suggesting that cohesion at centromeres is unable to resist dynamic microtubule-dependent pulling forces on the kinetochores. Consistent with this view, strengthening cohesion by inhibiting the two pathways responsible for its removal significantly inhibits scattering. These results establish that chromosome scattering due to uncoordinated partial loss of chromatid cohesion is a common outcome following extended arrest with bioriented chromosomes in human cells. These findings have important implications for analysis of mitotic phenotypes in human cells and for development of anti-mitotic chemotherapeutic approaches in the treatment of cancer.


The recent global pandemic has sped up architectural research in residential design aimed at rethinking housing layouts, services, and construction methods to accommodate the changing needs of the rapidly evolving contemporary society. New typological and technological design approaches are required to address, on the one hand, the adaptability of the plan as a result of higher flexibility and temporariness in familiar and working patterns, together with a downsizing of the layouts to ensure affordability and quality of life. On the other hand, the issues of sustainability and circular economy require specific attention to interpret the resilience of the building and the reuse/recycle of the fit-out systems. The paper aims at interpreting the notion of integration between fixtures and furnishing in housing design, based on a comprehensive literature review enriched with a case study analysis that shows design concepts and approaches rooted in theories and experiences of 20th-century architecture. Principles, potentials, and barriers to the development of integrated systems are highlighted and the possible implementation of industrialised production components, the potential for modularity, flexibility, and assembly are discussed.


Copper, manganese and tin are commonly used as pearlite promoter elements in cast irons. A number of studies have been aimed at quantitatively evaluate the effect of each of these elements, individually or at given levels of the others. As a matter of fact, while tin may be necessary for achieving a fully pearlitic matrix, it is known that when in excess it is detrimental for mechanical properties. As the pearlite promoting effect of each of those elements is totally different, it is of real interest to know the optimum combination of them for a given cooling rate. The present report is a first part of a work dedicated at characterizing the best alloying levels in terms of room temperature mechanical properties of as-cast pearlitic materials.


The Internet of Things (IoT) networks are finding massive applications in mission-critical contexts. A group key is needed to encrypt and authenticate broadcast/multicast messages commonly seen in large-scale wireless networks. In this paper, we propose DroneKey, a novel drone-aided PHY-based Group-Key Generation (GKG) scheme for large-scale IoT networks. In DroneKey, a drone is dispatched to fly along random 3D trajectories and keep broadcasting standard wireless signals to refresh the group keys in the whole network. Every IoT device receives the broadcast signals from which to extract the Channel State Information (CSI) stream which captures the dynamic variations of the individual wireless channel between the IoT device and the drone. DroneKey explores a deep-learning approach to extract the hidden correlation among the CSI streams to establish a common group key. We thoroughly evaluate DroneKey with a prototype in both indoor and outdoor environments. We show that DroneKey can achieve a high key-generation rate of 89.5 bit/sec for 10 devices in contrast to 40 bit/sec in the state-of-art prior work. In addition, DroneKey is much more scalable and can support 100 devices in contrast to 10 nodes in the state-of-art prior work with comparable key-generate rates.


The increasing usage of antibiotics has selected for resistant bacteria. Spread of such bacteria may follow mathematical models of infectious diseases, taking into consideration the number of infectious individuals, the number of susceptible individuals, and the effective contact rate between individuals from these two groups. According to calculations of the theoretical epidemic curves, the highest incidence of individuals infected with a resistant bacterial strain is present when the prevalence of patients and carriers is approximately 20-80%. Moreover, the rapidity of the spread of an epidemic increases drastically if the total number of individuals in the exposed group increases and also if the contact rate increases. This means that precautions to stop an epidemic spread of a resistant bacterial strain in a given group of individuals should be undertaken early when the prevalence is below 20%. Efficient precautions consist of cohort isolation, decrease of the number of individuals in exposed groups by subdivision into several smaller groups, and decrease of contact rates by hygienic precautions. Examples are given where such precautions have proven efficient.