Introduction: We previously reported that FF-10832, a liposomal gemcitabine, exerted anti-tumor activity superior to that of gemcitabine with high stability, long plasma half-life, and preferential tumor accumulation in preclinical tumor models. Beneficial gemcitabine immune-modulating effects in tumor microenvironments have also been reported. We investigated the immune-modulating effects of FF-10832 by evaluating its anti-tumor activities combined with immune checkpoint blockade. Methods: Murine syngeneic tumor models were created by subcutaneous implantation of MBT-2 (bladder) or EMT6 (breast) tumor cells and tumor volume evaluated during and after treatments. Treatments included 2 or 4 mg/kg of FF-10832 or 240 mg/kg of gemcitabine intravenously once a week, and 10 mg/kg of an immune checkpoint inhibitor intraperitoneally twice a week for 3 weeks. Results: In the MBT-2 tumor model, although tumor growth was slightly inhibited by anti-PD-L1 mAb (clone: 10F.9G2) alone, only one out of nine mice showed complete response. Although FF-10832 decreased tumor growth during treatment (3 weeks), remission was incomplete, and tumor growth continued after treatment was discontinued. In contrast, in combination, tumor growth was inhibited even after treatment withdrawal; three out of nine mice achieved complete remission, and median survival improved (vehicle control and anti-PD-L1 mAb: 25 days; FF-10832: 28 days; combination: >49 days). This combination effect was comparable to that of gemcitabine combination. Previously, FF-10832 has also shown anti-tumor effects in a gemcitabine-insensitive BxPC-3 xenograft tumor model, so the potential benefit in combination with checkpoint inhibitors was evaluated in a gemcitabine-insensitive EMT6 tumor model. FF-10832 significantly inhibited tumor growth relative to that of gemcitabine in this model, but all mice showed tumor re-growth after treatment withdrawal. Anti-CTLA-4 mAb (clone: 9H10) alone showed complete response in only one out of eight mice. Strikingly, FF-10832 in combination with anti-CTLA-4 mAb exerted superior anti-tumor activity compared to that with gemcitabine, as shown by tumor regression in all mice and complete regression in seven out of eight mice. Further analysis to clarify the mode of action underlying the combination effect is ongoing now. These results indicate that the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors is enhanced by FF-10832 regardless of tumor sensitivity to gemcitabine. Conclusion: Although immune checkpoint blockade is thought to be a breakthrough for cancer treatment, only a limited patient population has achieved favorable outcomes. Our results suggested that FF-10832 enhances the anti-tumor activity of immune checkpoint blockade, which could significantly improve treatment outcomes. Citation Format: Tadaaki Ioroi, Takashi Komori, Takeshi Matsumoto, Susumu Shimoyama, Takayuki Kobayashi, Hidetoshi Murao, Shinichi Watanabe, Shinji Hagiwara, Takefumi Hara. FF-10832 combined with immune checkpoint blockade shows favorable anti-tumor activity [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3953.


CD86 engagement on a CD40L/IL-4-primed murine B cell activates signaling intermediates that lead to an increase in Oct-2 and mature IgG1 mRNA and protein expression, without affecting class switch recombination. The most proximal signaling intermediates identified thus far are Lyn and phospholipase Cγ2α/β, which are usually activated after recruitment and binding to phospho-tyrosine residues on receptors, but the cytoplasmic domain of CD86 lacks tyrosines. Using a proteomics-based identification approach, we show that the tyrosine-containing transmembrane adaptor proteins, prohibitin-1 (Phb1) and Phb2, bind to CD86. The basal association is low in resting cells, but increased after priming with CD40L/IL-4. The level of total Phb1/2 expression increased primarily via a CD40-dependent mechanism. Phb1 protein expression and binding to CD86 were consistently greater than that for Phb2 in CD40L/IL-4-primed B cells. The CD86-induced increase in Oct-2 and IgG1 was reduced when either Phb1/2 expression was silenced by shRNA or when the cytoplasmic domain of CD86 was truncated or mutated at the serine/threonine protein kinase C-phosphorylation sites. Truncation of the CD86 cytoplasmic domain did not affect the binding of Phb1/2 to CD86, or the level of T cell activation and class switch recombination. These findings suggested that Phb1/2 and the CD86 cytoplasmic domain are each necessary to mediate the CD86-induced signaling in B cells.


The study of attenuation coefficients of various materials is an important part of research in radiation physics, chemistry, human health, and agriculture. In addition, the linear and mass absorption coefficients have a major role in the estimation of absorbed dose use in the medical and radiation dosimetry. In this paper, the liner and mass absorption coefficients, half-value layer, tenth value layer, and mean free path have been determined by performing the experiment of gamma irradiation on soil samples for gamma energy 0.360 MeV using NaI(Tl) detector. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of the investigated soil samples were measured using standard methods to assess soil quality. Samples of soil were collected from different sites of AurangabadIndia and prepared using standard techniques. The mass attenuation coefficient decreases exponentially with increasing density and confirms the interaction of gamma-ray with different soil samples of various components. The mass absorption coefficient depends on sample density, gamma energy, the chemical composition of the soil, and its physical properties. The experimentally measured values are in good agreement which validates the gamma absorption law. Generally, the absorption coefficients of gamma-ray measured in this study can be used for the determination of gamma-ray interaction with any soil samples. The study has practical importance to know the nature of the soil to be used in agriculture and construction purposes.


A case selection algorithm selects representative cases from a large data set for future case-based reasoning tasks. This paper proposes the SRS algorithm, based on similarity-based rough set theory, which selects a reasonable number of the representative cases while maintaining satisfactory classification accuracy. It also can handle noise and inconsistent data. Experimental results have confirmed the algorithm feasibility and the validity.


In this article, we aim to investigate the gate oxide degradation of power MOSFETs through oxide capacitance. We focus on modeling the oxide capacitance variation as a function of several stress levels and time intervals. The experimental procedure is carried out by means of commercial n-channel vertical double-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (VDMOSFETs) that have maximum voltage and current ratings as 200 V and 5.2A, respectively. We calculate the oxide capacitance using measurable reverse capacitance that is equal to gate–drain capacitance. The turn-around point is determined at each stress level. We observe that the oxide capacitance shows a nonlinear variation due to the stress time and level. The variation is divided into two regions for the model. The modeling procedure starts with the mathematical fitting. The equations are obtained by using curve fitting methods. The circuit model is designed via SPICE Simulation by using these equations. We also consider the turn-around points for the circuit design. The simulation and experimental results have good compatibility. We achieve 92.3% and 90.8% similarity on average for first and second region of the variation, respectively.


Pressures on pupil achievement, alongside a rigorous inspection regime in English schools has arguably led to an increased interest in demonstrating the impact of beginning teachers on pupil attainment. Routes into teaching have come under intense scrutiny, not least the Teach First route (TF), which is seen as an expensive training model. Several impact studies have attempted to evaluate TF and its' teachers, with mixed results (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Reynolds, Hopkins, Potter, & Chapman, 2001). This research builds on these findings and investigates the impact by TF beginning teachers using the Kyriakides, Creemers, and Antoniou (2009) dynamic model of educational effectiveness as a framework for analysis. Findings indicate that these teacher level factors are interrelated and not isolated characteristics. Participants move between these levels as the year progresses, and may do so in a non-linear, and non-sequential way. This study has added to an existing body of knowledge and indicates that further exploration of teacher impact is necessary, especially in terms of enabling teachers to assess their own impact on pupils, and to understand what it is they are doing that is making a difference.


A 40-60 microm amobarbital molecularly imprinted microsphere, used as a solid-phase selective sorbent for extracting phenobarbital from human urine and medicines, was prepared by a suspension polymerization method. A series of binding studies was performed in order to find optimal loading, washing and eluting conditions for solid-phase extraction. Under optimal conditions, good recoveries of phenobarbital in samples were obtained. Normally, molecularly imprinted polymers, prepared in bulk, require laborious work. Significant losses occur during the procedure of grinding and washing. In this work all molecularly imprinted polymers made into microsphere could be utilized, and the cost of the template was reduced too (the price of phenobarbital is twice that of amobarbital). As the phenobarbital to be extracted was different from the template molecule amobarbital, the interference caused by template leaking could be avoided in the assay.


To induce potato variants with enhanced resistance to common scab disease that retain the desirable agronomic traits of the original cultivars, we used a cell culture technique that employs thaxtomin A, the primary phytotoxin that induces scab symptoms. We induced 24 variants from the potato cultivar 'Saya-akane', developed in Japan, and selected two with enhanced resistance to the disease by growing them in planters with bacteriainoculated soil and in a field infested with the disease. We also examined toxin tolerance in micro-tubers of variants that showed a lower degree or percentage of infection in the glasshouse screening, and found no significant difference relative to the original cultivar. To clarify the effect of using thaxtomin A, we examined the efficiency of induction of the potential enhanced resistance by comparing the degree of infection among variants grown in planters with inoculated soil. We observed no significant difference between variants induced on culture medium with and without the toxin. These results suggest that the effect of using the toxin as a positive selection agent is restrictive and that most resistance-enhancing mutations are induced by the cell culture procedure itself.


No statistic would seem as important to know as the price of the Internet. You might reasonably respond, How can the Internet have a price attached to it? As it turns out, there are many such prices. A particularly interesting one is the consumer price index (CPI) for Internet access, which focuses on the retail price of a household connection. This price index does not get enough attention because observers confuse future opportunity with recent history. One other thing motivates an examination of this index. There is a big debate in the US about whether the broadband market has been organized intelligently. Economic statistics can inform policy debates, that is, if they get interpreted the right way. However, and this is my point in this column, the index is easy to misinterpret. It is worth a close look.


This draft documents preliminary results of measuring the power
consumption of using IPv6 vs using IPv4 on typical applications on a
smartphone. The smartphone is connected on a 4G cellular network with
either an IPv6 connection, or with an IPv4 connection, but not both
simultaneously. The preliminary results expose a roughly 5% increase
in power consumption on IPv6. More experiments are planned as future
work that may confirm or infirm these figures.


We present the performance characteristics of a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer designed for 157 nm laser postionization of sputtered neutrals for high sensitivity elemental and isotopic analyses. The instrument was built with the aim of analyzing rare element abundances in micron to submicron samples such as interstellar grains and cometary dust. Relative sensitivity factors have been determined for secondary ion mass spectrometry which show an exponential dependency against the first ionization potential. This allows elemental abundances to be measured with errors below 25% for most major elements. The accuracy for isotope ratios, where isotopes can be resolved from isobaric interferences, is usually limited only by counting statistics. In laser secondary neutral mass spectrometry, the spatial and temporal overlaps between the laser and sputtered neutral atoms are modeled and predictions of total detection efficiency and isotopic and elemental fractionation are compared with experimental data. Relative sensitivity factors for laser-ionized secondary neutrals from a stainless steel standard are found to vary less than 3% above saturation laser pulse energy enabling more accurate quantification.


We present a systematic construction of the Penrose coordinates and plane wave limits of spacetimes for which both the null Hamilton–Jacobi and geodesic equations separate. The method is applied to Kerr-NUT-(A)dS four-dimensional black holes. The plane wave limits of the near horizon geometry of the extreme Kerr black hole are also explored. All near horizon geometries of extreme black holes with a regular Killing horizon admit Minkowski spacetime as a plane wave limit.


Salt stress leads to an alteration in protein profile and induction of stress-specific proteins. The SDS – PAGE analysis of total soluble proteins of Anabaena sp. BHUAR002 (Accession no. bankit1353506 HM235817) exposed to 500 mM NaCl for 24 h revealed inhibition of host proteins, induction of selected proteins and appearance of some new proteins. In view of the appreciable alteration in total soluble protein profile after 500 mM salt treatment for 24 h, this dose was selected for further physiological, biochemical and proteomic analysis of the response of Anabaena sp. BHUAR002 to salinity and to examine the relationship between these responses. Further, 2DE of the total soluble protein of Anabaena sp. BHUAR002 showed 73 spots present only in control, 43 spots present only in stress and 15 differentially expressed spots present in both control and stress but show different levels of expression. This may be due to disturbance of cellular homeostasis by salt stress. Out of fifteen, Six spots were identified after MALDI-TOF MS analysis were identified as Manganese and iron Superoxide dismutase [Anabaenavariabilis ATCC 29413], Cytidine deaminase [Porphyromonas venonis 60-3], Phycobilisome Protein [Nodularia Spumigena CCY9414], DNA replication and repair protein recF [Yersinia aldovae ATCC35236], IS1112 transposase [Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae PXO99A] and TP901 family phage tail tape measure protein [Xanthobacter autotrophicus Py2].


Information technology has the power to increase the quality of work creating accurate and update data, but gives the organization the capacity reduce cost of coordination, communications, and information processing. In this poster we identify a number of intangible outputs that can be important to measure in medical informatics area. Three categories of outputs, namely technical, individual and organizational, are suggested to specially give attention to and to consider when discussing the intangible effects of the implementation and use of IS.


This paper investigates the factors affecting the mechanical behavior of the articular cartilage matrix with special emphasis on the effect of compressive strain-rate on the short and long term responses of the fluid and the solid components. The relationships expressed in the general theory of one-dimensional consolidation are generalized to account for strain-rate in the deformation process with the result that the stiffness due to the fluid and the solid components, and a parameter representing the degree of drag, can be calculated explicitly.


: A nearly complete, but isolated, femur of a small hadrosaurid from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana is tentatively referred to Edmontosaurus annectens . At 28 cm long, the element can be classified as likely that from an 'early juvenile' individual, approximately 24% of the maximum known femur length for this species. Specimens from this size range and age class have not been described previously for E. annectens . Notable trends with increasing body size include increasingly distinct separation of the femoral head and greater trochanter, relative increase in the size of the cranial trochanter, a slight reduction in the relative breadth of the fourth trochanter, and a relative increase in the prominence of the cranial intercondylar groove. The gross profile of the femoral shaft is fairly consistent between the smallest and largest individuals. Although an ontogenetic change from relatively symmetrical to an asymmetrical shape in the fourth trochanter has been suggested previously, the new juvenile specimen shows an asymmetric fourth trochanter. Thus, there may not be a consistent ontogenetic pattern in trochanteric morphology. An isometric relationship between femoral circumference and femoral length is confirmed for Edmontosaurus . Overall ontogenetic trends in the femur of Edmontosaurus are concordant with patterns seen in other Hadrosauridae, supporting a fairly conserved pattern of development for this element within the clade.


Planting of alien tree species has been and continues to be promoted, with the aim of addressing social and environmental problems in Eastern Africa. These species are promoted for agroforestry purposes, to re-green degraded landscapes or to alleviate fuelwood shortages. Some of the promoted trees have spread widely and now cause serious environmental problems that impact human wellbeing, including losses of grazing land, reduced water availability and increased land management costs. We give recommendations to support decision making about funding for projects that aim to introduce new, or promote established alien woody plant species.


Watch your favorite athlete take a shot for the goal, or your favorite actor lean in for a kiss, and chances are that some of the same neurons that would be active if you were performing that action are firing as well. These mirror neurons – neurons in premotor and parietal cortex that fire both when an animal performs a goal-directed action and when observing such actions – provide a link between representations of the other and selfrepresentations (di Pellegrino et al., 1992). Along with their proximity to Broca's area, this has led to the suggestion that the mirror system is fundamental for the development of language and complex social-cognitive constructs including empathy and theory of mind (Iacoboni & Dapretto, 2006). But how does the mirror system acquire its reflective properties? Are the patterns it shows in response to observing a particular movement pre-set by evolution, or the product of experience? In this issue, Catmur et al. address this question by using fMRI to assess activation patterns within the mirror system after sensorimotor training. They first trained participants to either flex their hand when they saw a picture of a flexed hand and flex their foot in response to the picture of a flexed foot (Compatible condition), or to reverse their responses (Incompatible condition; flex hand in response to foot picture and vice versa). Following training, participants were scanned while simply observing pictures of flexed hands or feet, while themselves remaining stationary. The results show that the mirror system can be trained: Areas that showed greater activity to hand-action displays for the Compatible group showed greater reactivity to foot-action displays in the Incompatible group. Both groups showed stronger activations for the stimuli that predicted performance of the hand action, suggesting some pre-existing bias towards the representation of such actions. However, the critical finding is that the mirror system's mapping to which stimuli predicted such movements was flexible, showing a complete reversal after only 3 days of training. It appears that the representations linking others' actions and our own within the mirror system are not hardwired, but instead are easily changed. Is the mirroring system truly unique, or more properly seen as a special case of experience-based associations? Is the urge to make a kick while watching a player do so during a televised game that different from 'feeling it in your bones' when you visit the soccer field you frequented in your youth? The results of Catmur et al. suggest that it may not be: In both cases mirror neurons may be responding to the experienced relationship between those cues and the motor programs you have used during a game. The links between the mirror system and more traditional learning and memory principles have important implications. As described above, the mirror system is thought to be fundamental to empathy and social cognition, and disruptions in it may be related to autism, schizophrenia, and other disorders. The possibility of a trainable mirror system opens the door to treatments that 'iron out' such distortions.


We have developed a method to determine the photoelastic retardation between the two orthogonal components of the electric field of the probe light used in nondestructive optical testing of optical fiber blanks, laser rods, gradient-optic elements, crystals, etc. We used a quarter-wave phase plate as a compensator. We express the retardation in terms of global characteristics of the intensity of the probe light (i.e., Fourier amplitudes) measured at two wavelengths and formulate a criterion for choosing these wavelengths. We compare the accuracy of this method for determining the retardation, which is based on global characteristics of the field intensity, with methods based on local characteristics and use it to design an automated system for determining the distribution of stress over the cross section of a nonuniform cylindrical object.


Background Unhealthy lifestyles have been linked to increased cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases. University students have been reported to adopt unhealthy lifestyles and undesirable eating choices. Objectives The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of healthy eating habits; determine the prevalence of physical activity habits; to estimate the smoking habits among male health sciences college students at Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia. Methods The present questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study (convenient sample) was carried out among undergraduate male students enrolled in the health sciences colleges at Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia, from 1st May to 31st May, 2019. Around 500 students were recruited and were requested to answer a self-administered questionnaire about eating habits, physical activity, and tobacco smoking habits. Descriptive results were summarized in percentage and frequency. Cross tabulation using chi-square test was performed to measure the impact of demographic variable on eating pattern, physical activity and smoking behavior. Pearson's correlation was done using two tailed tests to determine the type of relationship between different variables. The SPSS (version 26) was used to perform statistical analysis. Results A total of 454 complete responses from the male students from Najran University were obtained. The majority (74%) were aged 21 years and above, unmarried (94.9%), had healthy BMI (47.4%), and suffered mild (41.4%) to moderate (32.4%) levels of stress during the previous month. The study findings showed a low daily frequency of consumption of vegetables and fruits. There was a low prevalence of daily consumption of vegetables (16%) and fruits (9%). More than 10% of all students reported no consumption of fruits and vegetables. Students who felt severely stressed during the previous month were significantly not eating any vegetables (p = 0.022) and fruits (p < 0.001), and had high salt intake (p = 0.045). Married participants had a significantly (p = 0.03) higher servings of vegetables per day. Furthermore, 32.15% of participants were not practicing 30 min of physical activity 5 days per week. The study showed a low prevalence (47.57%) of physical activity among the participants. However, none of the participants' variables were significantly associated with routine physical activity. In addition, the study showed a relatively high prevalence of smoking (25.77%) among Najran university male students. The participants' age (p 0.01), overall health (p = 0.02) and level of stress (p = 0.001) experienced during the last month were significantly associated with the length of exposure to secondhand smoke. Whereas, smoking any kind of tobacco daily (25.77%) was significantly (p = 0.005) related to the age of participants. A high number of participants aged 21 years and above (52.72%) were significantly (p = 0.019) exposed to secondhand smoke. Conclusion To conclude, the study findings showed a low daily frequency of consumption of vegetables and fruits, a relatively high prevalence of smoking and a low level of awareness regarding the health risks of smoking; and a large number of participants were physically inactive among male university students. Intervention programs in university students should concentrate on improving nutrition attitudes and knowledge toward good diet, tobacco-smoking cessation strategies, and structured intervention programs to encourage physical activity. However, these interventions should be pilot-tested for feasibility and acceptability before implementation.


To study the influence of endurance training on glucose conversion into fat cell triglycerides, 24 (13 women, 11 men) inactive subjects (25.0 +/- 3.8 yr of age) took part in a 20-wk ergocycle training program 4 days and increasing to 5 days/wk, 40-45 min/day, starting at 60% and increasing to 85% of the heart rate reserve. Several body fatness indicators were measured before and after the training program: seven skinfold thicknesses, percent fat, and mean fat cell weight. Fat cell basal and maximal insulin-stimulated glucose conversion into triglycerides were also determined using [14C]glucose. Body fatness indicators decreased significantly after training only in male subjects (P less than 0.05). Basal and maximal insulin-stimulated glucose conversion into triglycerides increased significantly with training (P less than 0.05): pretest values (nanomoles glucose per hour per 10(6) cells) being 24.9 +/- 2.1 and 28.7 +/- 2.5, while post-test values were 30.1 +/- 3.2 and 33.0 +/- 3.4 for basal and insulin-stimulated values, respectively. However, this lipogenic increase was only observed in male subjects (P less than 0.01). Changes in body fatness indicators induced by training were negatively correlated with changes induced in fat cell glucose conversion into triglycerides (-0.24 less than or equal to r less than or equal to -0.45). These results demonstrate that endurance training increases fat cell glucose conversion into triglycerides and suggest that adipose tissue metabolism is part of the adaptive response to training. Moreover, it appears that adipose tissue response to aerobic training is more efficient in males than in females.


Abstract. Background: As extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) lithography has progressed toward feature dimensions smaller than the wavelength, electromagnetic field (EMF) solvers have become indispensable for EUV simulations. Although numerous approximations such as the Kirchhoff method and compact mask models exist, computationally heavy EMF simulations have been largely the sole viable method of accurately representing the process variations dictated by mask topography effects in EUV lithography. Aim: Accurately modeling EUV lithographic imaging using deep learning while taking into account 3D mask effects and EUV process variations, to surpass the computational bottleneck posed by EMF simulations. Approach: Train an efficient generative network model on 2D and 3D model aerial images of a variety of mask layouts in a manner that highlights the discrepancies and non-linearities caused by the mask topography. Results: The trained model is capable of predicting 3D mask model aerial images from a given 2D model aerial image for varied mask layout patterns. Moreover, the model accurately predicts the EUV process variations as dictated by the mask topography effects. Conclusions: The utilization of such deep learning frameworks to supplement or ultimately substitute rigorous EMF simulations unlocks possibilities of more efficient process optimizations and advancements in EUV lithography.


Introductory computer science education is entrenched in an outdated computational model. Although it corresponds neither to our computing environments nor our work, we teach our students a single-thread-of-control static problem-solving view of the role of the computer program: computation as calculation. In this model, the job of a computer program is to start with a problem, calculate its answer, return that answer, and stop. This program-as-an-island bears little resemblance to most of today's software. We can dramatically improve this situation--and, as a corollary, all of undergraduate computer science--by teaching our students from the very beginning to conceptualize computation with a model of computer programs as simultaneous ongoing entities embedded in and interacting with a dynamic environment: computation as interaction; computation as it occurs in spreadsheets and video games, web applications and robots.


Abstract Although the incidence is lower in men than women, osteoporosis remains a significant health issue in men as it may give rise to severe complications if not managed appropriately. As men and women show different biological and social backgrounds, we retrospectively evaluated the differences in the bone metabolism between men and women using bone biomarkers. Bone mineral density (BMD) was determined in all patients using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and analyzing various bone biomarkers such as carboxyl-terminal collagen crosslinks (CTX), osteocalcin (OCT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The CTX/OCT ratio was used to estimate the association between bone absorption and formation. OCT, CTX, and ALP levels were elevated in patients with osteoporosis. Women displayed a higher incidence of osteoporosis and greater reduction in BMD than men. The mean OCT level in men was lower than that in women. Moreover, men showed significantly lower OCT levels than women of aged 65 and under 80 years old. Among patients with osteoporosis, men had a higher ratio of bone markers than women. Levels of biomarkers of bone formation and absorption were increased in the osteoporosis group. However, men showed lower increases in bone formation biomarkers than did women, indicating that the rate of bone formation relative to bone absorption did not increase in men compared with that in women. Therefore, we suggest that men and women have different bone metabolism in old age.


BACKGROUND
Total extirpation of the colon with pelvic pouch formation, and the avoidance of a permanent stoma, continues to pose a challenge for better results, both technically and functionally. The aims of this study were to investigate the first 100 pelvic ileal-pouch procedures, assessing changes in surgical technique, their relationship to morbidity and long-term outcome, and compare this to the few large international series.

METHODS
Between 1984 and 1997, 100 patients had a pelvic J-shaped ileal-pouch formed, 58 two-stage and 42 three-stage procedures. Fifty had a hand-sewn pouch-anal anastomosis and 50 a double-stapled anastomosis. Seventy-three were for ulcerative colitis, five for indeterminate colitis, 20 for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), one for multiple primary colorectal cancers, and one for constipation.

RESULTS
After a median follow-up of 68 months, 97% of patients still have a functioning pouch. There were two postoperative deaths (one after-pouch formation and one after-stoma closure). Morbidity occurred in 52 patients, including three patients with pouch leaks and three pouch-anal anastomosis leaks (6% leak rate), 27% with a small bowel obstruction (2% early, 20% late, 5% both), a 19% anal stricture rate, and a 9% pouchitis rate. Three pouches have been removed (all for Crohn's disease). Median number of bowel movements per day was six, with 85% of patients reporting a good quality of life. Patients following a double-stapled procedure have less anal seepage and improved continence over those with a hand-sewn ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite high morbidity rates, pelvic pouch formation provides satisfactory long-term results for patients requiring total proctocolectomy, with functional results and morbidity rates comparable to larger overseas series.


Ampicillin and amoxicillin (α-amino-p-hydroxybenzyl penicillin) were administered orally in 500-mg doses to eight fasting volunteers in a comparative study in which pharmacokinetic techniques were used. The absorption of amoxicillin was significantly better, as demonstrated by a higher mean peak serum concentration of 7.6 μg/ml as compared to 3.2 μg/ml for ampicillin, an average "area under the curve" that was approximately double that of ampicillin, and an 8-hr urinary recovery for amoxicillin of 60% as compared to 34% for ampicillin. Serum half-lives were the same for the two antibiotics, with values of 60.3 (±3.3) min for ampicillin and 61.3 (±5.6) min for amoxicillin. The latter drug gave measurable concentrations in the blood at 8 hr in all of eight volunteers, as compared to only three of eight with ampicillin.


Due to financial crisis, and especially because of prudence in lending (retail, micro, and corporate), banks are looking for new sources of income, and bancasurance is clearly a potential source of revenue. Thus, in the financial market, the interests of two major components of it are met: banks maximize commission income, and insurers make access to the large customer base of banks. Bancassurance is a distribution channel of insurance products through bank branches, bringing important advantages for banks, insurance companies and customers. The main advantage for the bank is that earns fee amount from the insurance company, the insurance company increases customers data base and market share, the client satisfy his financial needs and requests in the same institution. Considering that in Romania, banks and insurers do not provide information on the number of insurances sold via the bancassurance distribution channel, as well as commissions obtained by banks for the insurance sale, to determine the development of bancassurance in Romania, we used the statistical data provided by the National Bank of Romania, on credit growth and data provided by The Financial Supervision Association, on the evolution of gross written premiums. Bancassurance is one of the most important insurance distribution channels, accounting for approximately 36% of the global insurance market, in 2016, Europe's insurers generated total premium income of €1 189bn and had €10 112bn invested in the economy. Regarding to the risks of bancassurance business for banks and insurers, they mainly concern distinct capital requirements for the banking and insurance systems, which will be covered by the Basel III and Solvency II directives. This paper aims to analyze the influence of credit on the bancassurance activity in the last 5 years in Romania, the economic, political and legal factors that have a negative impact on the development of bancassurance, and also the calculating the correlation coefficient r (Pearson's coefficient) and his result.


The commercially available sensor nodes are battery-driven devices. A number of nodes together constitute a network. As days proceed, the batteries used in the nodes lose their charge and subsequently get isolated from the network. Many energy harvesting schemes have been proposed to alleviate this problem. In this paper, a solar energy based energy harvesting scheme is proposed. This scheme works on the principle of photo-voltaic effect. A recharging circuitry is also designed, that recharges the batteries of the nodes when the charge drops below a threshold level. This leads to strengthening the lifetime of the nodes as well as the network. Compatibility and low power design are the two major salient features of the designed circuitry. The performance of the circuit is also tested with the MICAz hardware.


lgenome reconstruction has attracted in creasing interests from both biologists and computer scientists. It has been conducted using various evolutionary models ever since comparative genomics moved from sequence data to gene order data. We propose a Flexible Ancestral Reconstruction Model, FARM, based on the maximum likelihood and weighted maximum matching algorithms, to infer ancestral gene orders. This will accommodate various evolutionary scenarios, including not only genomic rearrangements, but also insertion/deleti ons (indels), segment duplications, and whole genome duplications. We evaluate this work by using various simulated evolution experiments while comparing FARM to existing methods, like InferCarsPro, GASTS and PMAG++. FARM shows significant improvement in running time and the final assembling process and, therefore, can be used in large-scale real biological data ancestral inference.


A theoretical analysis to calculate the steady-state temperature distribution within a cylindrical heat sink configuration, where the thermal conductivity is dependent on the temperature, is outlined. The analysis applies to any heat sink arrangement that can be treated as one or more homogeneous solid cylinders mounted on a semi-infinite heat sink, where the heat flux incident on both faces of each cylinder is uniform over a given centralized circular region. The model is used to analyse the temperature distribution within the heat sink configurations used commonly to package two-terminal semiconductor devices that are operated as sources of electromagnetic radiation in microwave oscillators. Results are presented that show how the maximum temperature rise within commercially available heat sink packages, depends on the input heat flux and the dimensions and thermal conductivity of the materials. Furthermore, results that show how the temperature rise varies across the interfaces of given heat sink configurations, similar to those used commercially, are given also.


The paper reports on background and realisation of a test set-up for a long-term full-scale test with wood-based sandwich wall elements. In detail, the investigation is intended to study the time dependant superimposed effects of highly eccentric axial loading and building practise relevant differential climate conditions at the inner and outer surface of exterior walls. The pronounced systematic eccentricity of the vertical load stems from the use of hangers for the fixation of floor beams.


While Tuberculosis (TB) infection remains a serious challenge worldwide, big data and "omic" approaches have greatly contributed to the understanding of the disease. Transcriptomics have been used to tackle a wide variety of queries including diagnosis, treatment evolution, latency and reactivation, novel target discovery, vaccine response or biomarkers of protection. Although a powerful tool, the elevated cost and difficulties in data interpretation may hinder transcriptomics complete potential. Technology evolution and collaborative efforts among multidisciplinary groups might be key in its exploitation. Here, we discuss the main fields explored in TB using transcriptomics, and identify the challenges that need to be addressed for a real implementation in TB diagnosis, prevention and therapy.


It is urgent to explore new ways to protect endangered wild animals and develop sustainable animal husbandry on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau due to its fragile ecological environment. Ruminants, raised in captivity and free-range, have important niches in the Plateau and are the best models to analyze the effects of different feeding modes on their health. In this study, two ruminants, yaks and goats in free-range and captive modes, respectively, were selected to study the relationship between gut microbes and ruminant health. The results showed that the gut microbial diversity of free-range ruminants was higher than those of captive ruminants. Principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA) showed that there were significant differences in the gut microbial communities in different breeding modes. Both the captive ruminants enriched the Succinivibrionaceae family, which had a strong potential to synthesize lipopolysaccharide, and the low exercise amount of the captive animals was significantly related to this function. Meanwhile, free-range ruminants enriched Oscillospiraceae, which had the potential to degrade benzoic acid, and this potential had a significant positive correlation with resistance to parasitic infections. We offer other possibilities, such as adding benzoic acid to feed or increasing the exercise time of captive ruminants to make them healthier.


Under many environmental conditions, plants are exposed to levels of sunlight in excess of those required for photosynthesis. Then, a regulated increase in the rate of nonradiative dissipation of excess excitation energy in the thylakoid membrane correlates with the conversion of the carotenoid violaxanthin into zeaxanthin and provides protection from the damaging effects of excessive irradiation. The hypothesis that these carotenoids specifically control the oligomerization of the light harvesting complexes of photosystem II was tested by investigating the effects of violaxanthin and zeaxanthin on the behavior of the major complex, LHCIIb, on sucrose gradients; it was found that zeaxanthin stimulated the formation of LHCIIb aggregates with reduced chlorophyll fluorescence yield whereas violaxanthin caused the inhibition of such aggregation and an elevation of fluorescence. Measurements of 77 K fluorescence indicated that zeaxanthin was not exerting an additional direct quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence. These effects can explain the physiological control of the light harvesting system by the xanthophyll cycle.


In this paper, based on the coupled-mode and carrier rate equations, we have derived a dynamic model for a linearly chirped distributed feedback semiconductor optical amplifier (DFB-SOA) all-optical flip-flop (DFB-SOA-FF) and analyzed it numerically. We have investigated the effects of assist light and cross-phase modulation (XPM) on the dynamic response and rise and fall times of the DFB-SOA-FF, for the first time. We have also shown that injection of an assist light, within the transparency spectrum, into a DFB-SOA with a linearly chirped grating can improve the device speed limitation, significantly. Values of the ON and OFF switching times for such an optical flip-flop, in an optimized condition, are found to be 190 and 195 ps, respectively. These show reductions of more than three times in the ON and seven times in the OFF switching times with respect to those of the uniform grating DFB-SOA-FF. Finite-difference time-domain method is used for numerical simulations.


Angiogenesis has an important function in the proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) under a hypoxic tumor microenvironment. Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) infiltrate the stroma of liver tumors and potently increase angiogenesis through tumor-stromal interactions, however, the exact mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the paracrine effects of HCC-derived platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) on HSCs under hypoxic conditions. It was demonstrated that PDGF-BB expression was markedly increased in HepG2 cells exposed to hypoxia. Conditioned medium (CM) from HepG2 cells stimulated LX-2 cell proliferation, migration and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) expression. It was then determined that blocking PDGF-BB expression in HepG2-CM abolished these effects on LX-2 cells. The ectopic expression of PDGF-BB in HepG2 cells strongly affected LX-2 cell proliferation, migration and VEGF-A expression. In conclusion, the present study suggests that hypoxia-induced PDGF-BB secretion by HCC cells stimulates HSCs to accumulate and proliferate in the tumor stroma and the enhanced VEGF-A expression in HSCs may promote HCC angiogenesis.


Abstract Anastomotic leak is associated with increased morbidity and mortality after colorectal surgery. Although surgical techniques have improved over time, anastomotic leak is still a reality in colorectal surgery with rates ranging from as low as 1% for low-risk anastomoses, such as enteroenteric or ileocolic, to 19% for high-risk coloanal anastomoses. There are many varied risk factors for anastomotic leak. However, many of the risk factors have not been definitively proven in high-quality studies. Presumably, risk factors are cumulative and every effort should be made to optimize modifiable risk factors in the perioperative period. Treatment of anastomotic leak should start with the determination of patient stability followed by resuscitation and diagnostic imaging or operative exploration. Operative findings will dictate surgical approach with the goal of controlling sepsis and stabilizing the patient. If nonoperative treatment is undertaken, close patient monitoring is necessary to ensure control of sepsis and that intervention is undertaken if the clinical picture changes. Early intervention at each stage is key to decreasing the morbidity of anastomotic leak.


Cocaine has anaesthetic, vasoconstrictive and CNS stimulatory effects. Presently, it is used clinically as a local anaesthetic and abused as a recreational drug. It has been implicated in both acute and chronic renal failure and has been reported to affect every aspect of the nephron. This article will review the spectrum of cocaine-induced kidney disease and attempt to give insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms involved.


Calciphylaxis usually refers to a disease characterized by reticulated violet lesions painful to touch which progress to necrosis and predominate in lower extremities in patients diagnosed with renal failure and who are being managed with hemodialysis. This disease has a high mortality rate that in some studies reaches up to 80%. There is an increase in cardiovascular events in these patients. We present the case of a patient who is diagnosed with calciphylaxis secondary to chronic renal failure, in which we highlight the elevated rate of mortality secondary to this disease.


In order to determine the actual prevalence of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in wild birds in Germany, extensive surveillance studies were carried out between March 2003 and January 2005. More than 3.000 samples of 79 different species of wild birds (migratory and resident birds) were taken and 1.151 established pools investigated. Samples came from 80 different regions of Germany. Forty AIV isolates representing 14 combinations of eight different hemagglutinin and eight neuraminidase subtypes, among them H5 and H7, were identified. All H5 and H7 isolates were found to be of low pathogenicity. The overall incidence of the investigated pools based on virus isolation was 3,5 % for AIV, with considerable variability noted among species, season and location. All AIV were isolated from birds sampled in autumn. Most of the AIV isolates came from the resting or wintering areas of mallards breeding far north. This study adds to the understanding of the ecology of influenza viruses in wild birds and empahsizes the constant need for surveillance in times of an ongoing and expanding epidemic of highly pathogenic AI.


Fair division is the problem of dividing one or several goods amongst two or more agents in a way that satisfies a suitable fairness criterion. These Notes provide a succinct introduction to the field. We cover three main topics. First, we need to define what is to be understood by a "fair" allocation of goods to individuals. We present an overview of the most important fairness criteria (as well as the closely related criteria for economic efficiency) developed in the literature, together with a short discussion of their axiomatic foundations. Second, we give an introduction to cake-cutting procedures as an example of methods for fairly dividing a single divisible resource amongst a group of individuals. Third, we discuss the combinatorial optimisation problem of fairly allocating a set of indivisible goods to a group of agents, covering both centralised algorithms (similar to auctions) and a distributed approach based on negotiation.
While the classical literature on fair division has largely developed within Economics, these Notes are specifically written for readers with a background in Computer Science or similar, and who may be (or may wish to be) engaged in research in Artificial Intelligence, Multiagent Systems, or Computational Social Choice. References for further reading, as well as a small number of exercises, are included.
Notes prepared for a tutorial at the 11th European Agent Systems Summer School (EASSS-2009), Torino, Italy, 31 August and 1 September 2009. Updated for a tutorial at the COST-ADT Doctoral School on Computational Social Choice, Estoril, Portugal, 9--14 April 2010.


Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) can be considered the man-made result of interrupted, erratic or inadequate TB therapy. As reported in WHO data, resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains continue to constitute a public health crisis. Mtb is naturally able to survive host defence mechanisms and to resist most antibiotics currently available. Prolonged treatment regimens using the available first-line drugs give rise to poor patient compliance and a rapid evolution of strains resistant to rifampicin only or to both rifampicin and isoniazid (multi drug-resistant, MDR-TB). The accumulation of mutations may give rise to extensively drug-resistant strains (XDR-TB), i.e. strains with resistance also to fluoroquinolones and to the injectable aminoglycoside which represent the second-line drugs. Direct lung delivery of anti-tubercular drugs, as an adjunct to conventional routes, provides high concentrations within the lungs, which are the intended target site of drug delivery, representing an interesting strategy to prevent or reduce the development of drug-resistant strains. The purpose of this paper is to describe and critically analyse the most recent and advanced results in the formulation development of WHO second-line drug inhalation products, with particular focus on dry powder formulation. Although some of these formulations have been developed for other lung infectious diseases (pseudomonas aeruginosa, nontuberculous mycobacteria), they could be valuable to treat MDR-TB and XDR-TB.


In this work Fe–N–C catalysts were prepared by the oxalate-supported pyrolysis of FeTMPPCl or H2TMPP either in the presence or absence of sulfur. The well-known enhancing effect of sulfur-addition on the oxygen reduction activity was confirmed for these porphyrin precursors. The pyrolysis process was monitored in situ by high-temperature X-ray diffraction under synchrotron radiation (HT-XRD) and thermogravimetry coupled with mass-spectroscopy (TG-MS). It was found that the beneficial effect of sulfur could be attributed to the prevention of iron-carbide formation during the heat-treatment process. In the case of pyrolysis of the sulfur-free precursors an excessive iron-carbide formation leads to disintegration of FeN4-centers, hence limiting the number of ORR active sites on the final catalyst. Physical characterization of the catalysts by bulk elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and 57Fe Mosbauer spectroscopy confirmed the outcome from HT-XRD and TG-MS. It could be shown that the avoidance of carbide formation during pyrolysis represents a promising way to enhance the density of ORR active sites on those catalysts. This can be done either by sulfur-addition or the performance of an intermediate acid leaching. As iron carbide is often found as a by-product in the preparation of Fe–N–C catalysts this work gives some general strategies for enhancing the density of active sites enabling higher current densities.


Definitions for a local pressure in an inhomogeneous fluid are considered for both equilibrium and local equilibrium states. Thermodynamic and mechanical (hydrodynamic) contexts are reconciled. Remaining problems and uncertainties are discussed.


Battery switching EVs are considered to be a promising alternative to overcome long charging time problems in the EV adoption. The purpose of this research is to develop integrated model for battery inventory and battery switching waiting times. Due to complexity of exact analysis, a practical approximation method is developed, which provides close results to exact values. Numerical experiments show that there exist trade-offs between the battery inventory level and the number of switching stations. The proposed model can be applied to evaluate and select the minimum cost alternative in implementing the battery switching stations.


Background Ficolin-2 coded by FCN2 gene is a soluble serum protein that plays an important role in innate immunity. In this study, we analyzed five functional polymorphisms of the FCN2 gene for their possible association with cutaneous leishmaniasis. Methods Initially we screened 40 Syrian Arabs for the entire FCN2 gene. We investigated the contribution of FCN2 functional variants in 226 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis and 286 healthy controls from Syria. Polymorphisms in the promoter regions (−986G/A, −602G/A, −4A/G) of the FCN2 gene were assessed by TaqMan real time PCR, whereas polymorphisms in exon8 (+6359C/T and +6424G/T) were assessed by DNA sequencing. We also measured serum ficolin-2 levels in 70 control Syrian Arabs and correlated the serum concentrations to FCN2 genotypes and haplotypes respectively. Results Nine new FCN2 variants including two with non synonymous substitutions in exon6 and exon8 were observed. The homozygous genotypes +6424T/T were distributed more in controls and none in patients (P = 0.04). The AGACG haplotype were observed more in patients than in controls (OR = 2.0, 95%CI 1.2–3.4, P = 0.006). The serum ficolin-2 levels were significantly distributed among the reconstructed ficolin-2 haplotypes (P<0.008) and the haplotype AGACG was observed with higher ficolin-2 levels in 70 control individuals. Conclusion Our results demonstrate a significant association of FCN2 AGACG haplotype with cutaneous leishmaniasis in a Syrian Arab population. These first results provide a basis for a future study that could confirm or disprove possible relationships between FCN2 gene polymorphisms with cutaneous leishmaniasis.


BACKGROUND
The plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA (EBV-DNA) level has been found to be an indicator for staging and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The EBV-DNA level in plasma, peripheral blood cells (PBC) and neoplastic tissues was quantitatively analyzed and potential associations with clinical parameters of NPC were investigated.

RESULTS
The plasma EBV-DNA detecting rate and level in NPC (92%, 82,500 copies/ml) was significantly higher than that in NPC after treatment (19%, 0 copy/ml) and in controls (12%, 0 copy/ml) (p < 0.001); while there was no significance of the PBC EBV-DNA detecting rate and EBV-DNA load in NPC before (24%, 0 copy/actin) and after treatment (14%, 0 copy/actin), and in controls (16%, 0 copy/actin). The plasma EBV-DNA level was not correlated to the PBC EBV-DNA load in NPC before (p = 0.92) and after treatment (p = 0.267), and in controls (p = 0.735). The EBV-DNA level in NPC tumor (27.8 copies/actin) was significantly higher than that in nasopharyngitis and was positively correlated to the ratio of EBER1-positive cells on the NPC section (p = 0.001). The plasma EBV-DNA level was significantly increased in TNM stages I, II, III and IV NPC, whereas there was no significant difference of PBC EBV-DNA load in different stage NPC.

CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that plasma EBV-DNA is a more sensitive and reliable biomarker than PBC EBV-DNA for diagnosis, staging and therapeutic effect evaluation at a molecular level in NPC clinical practice. Plasma EBV-DNA may derive from the cancer cells and PBC EBV-DNA from circulating mononuclear cells in NPC patients.


This study have been reviewed Korea`s railway system and railway cultural heritage status and suggested several solutions as a recognition of the importance of cultural property and development of the railway train had developed. Through the analysis of Japan`s excellent conditions of a conservation and management of cultural heritage railway system, we would like to offer a direction of Korea`s future heritage railway system. There were many changes during the time of a government owned railroad and the time after privatization in Japan by starting from administrating a systematic cultural railway at an institution that directly operates and constructs the railway train, which would be the point Korea need to approach considerately. Therefore, in this study, we would like to compare and analyse cultural heritage railway system between Japan and Korea and propose advanced solution for Korea`s preservation of the Railway Heritage in the future.


The interdependence of labor market conditions and the demand for health care has been addressed by several theoretical and empirical analyses. We contribute to the debate by empirically examining the effect of a decrease in self-perceived job security on health care utilization. That is, employees at risk of losing their job might postpone or even try not to use non-acute rehab measures in order to reduce their individual risk of being laid off by avoiding absenteeism and signaling good health. We use individual-level data from the German Socioeconomic Panel for the years 2003, 2004, and 2006. The identification strategy rests on an instrumental variable approach where the county unemployment rate and its relative change compared to the previous year serve as instruments for the employees' self-assessed risk of losing their jobs. Contrary to the hypothesis, we have evidence for job insecurity increasing the demand for medical rehab. This finding is robust to various model variants.


As more institutions of higher education engage in the practice of leadership education, the effective assessment of these efforts lags behind due to a variety of factors. Without an intentional assessment plan, leadership educators are liable to make one or more of several common errors in assessing their programs and activities. This article reviews some of the most common errors in assessing leadership programs, including failing to consider what the authors describe as the Honeymoon, Horizon, Hollywood, Halo, and Hallmark effects (otherwise known as recency, response-shift, socially desirable, and respondent biases). Suggestions for minimizing these potential issues in assessment are also included along with suggestions for practitioners and areas for future related research.


This introduction presents the symposium on Sam Knafo and Benno Teschke's article in Historical Materialism, 'Political Marxism and the Rules of Reproduction of Capitalism: A Historicist Critique' (2021). It briefly summarises the foundations of Political Marxism, discusses the broader implications of the debate raised by Knafo and Teschke for questions of collective knowledge-production and methods in Marxist historiography, and outlines the seven contributions of the symposium. The introduction concludes by tracing, through the evolution of debates in Political Marxism and the contributions of its protagonists, some of the lineages of Marxist historiography as well as of the history of this journal.

https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/ee767549-15f6-4634-a3d9-2ef18fe8720d/1/Radical historicism or rules of reproduction - 2021 - Pal.pdf


Interdisciplinary collaboration between nursing and medicine is a valued goal, but one which is difficult to achieve. Two nurses who are faculty members in medical schools reflect on their unique roles and how these encompass interdisciplinary research, teaching, and practice.


This paper gives an overview on the framework of production rules that are required for the acquisition of ade- quate stereo content. It is well known that if stereo is not pro- duced properly, consequences for the human 3-D perception might be eye strain and visual fatigue. Therefore, to avoid dis- comfort, stereographers use a production grammar that re- flects extensive knowledge and experience in the fields of 3-D perception, stereo geometry, video technology, and content creation. Some of these rules are of heuristic nature, and others are motivated by perceptual, geometric, or technical aspects. The application of these rules at the set usually results in time- consuming manual work for rigging and adjusting stereo came- ras before shooting. Against this background the paper reviews relevant aspects of 3-D perception, the fundamentals of stereo geometry, and the main rules of stereo production. Finally, it describes the functionality of camera assistance systems that have recently been proposed for stereo acquisition and pro- duction in order to ease the work of stereographers at the set and, with it, to save time and to make stereo productions more efficient.


Objective—Glucose flux through the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) has been implicated in the development of diabetic vascular complications. O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification on protein is the major mechanism mediating the actions of the HBP. Impaired angiogenesis is well-recognized in diabetes; however, the mechanisms are not completely defined. Here, we investigated the role of protein O-GlcNAc modification in angiogenesis. Methods and Results—In a mouse aortic ring assay, elevated O-GlcNAc levels induced by high-fat diet, streptozotocin-induced diabetes, or in vitro glucosamine treatment were associated with impaired angiogenesis. In cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells and EA.hy926 endothelial cells, glucosamine increased protein O-GlcNAc modification and inhibited cell migration and capillary-like structure formation. Conversely, removal of O-GlcNAc by adenoviral-mediated overexpression of O-GlcNAcase improved these steps of angiogenesis. Also, high concentrations of glucose reduced capillary-like structure formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Akt was recognized by an O-GlcNAc specific lectin, and glucosamine increased the amounts of Akt protein in these lectin precipitates. Increased glycosylation paralleled reduced Akt activity in endothelial cells. Conclusion—These results suggest that elevated protein O-GlcNAc modification through the HBP impairs angiogenesis in endothelial cells, possibly by inhibiting Akt signaling.


This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) in a formula for low-birth-weight (LBW) infants on gastrointestinal tolerance, fat absorption, plasma ketone levels, and urinary dicarboxylic acid (DCA) excretion. At the start of enteral feedings, 64 LBW infants (≤1500 g) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental formulas. The formulas contained either 0, 17, 34, or 50% of the total fat as MCT oil. The nonfat constituents of all four formulas were the same and identical to Similac Special Care 24 (SCF), Infants were studied from the start of enteral feeding until approximately 7 days after reaching full feeds. Growth and tolerance were assessed in all infants over the entire feeding period. A 48-h balance study was conducted after enteral intake exceeded 100 kcal/kg/day for 3 days. Stool fat, plasma D-(—)-3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and carnitine, serum glucose, and urinary DCA levels were determined. Groups did not differ in growth, formula intake, fat absorption (76–84%), serum glucose, or plasma carnitine levels. Gastrointestinal tolerance was excellent and did not differ among groups. Plasma 3HB was significantly different (p < 0.05) only between the 0 and 50% MCT groups, 50 ± 10 versus 120 ± 20 μM, respectively. The excretion of urinary DCAs increased with increasing amounts of MCT in the formula. In conclusion, fat absorption and gastrointestinal tolerance were not affected by different MCT levels (0 to 50% of the total fat), but higher levels of plasma 3HB and urinary DCAs were associated with higher levels of MCT in the LBW formulas studied.


Results of a theoretical study on non-Markov response for femtosecond laser-driven coherent ring currents in chiral aromatic molecules embedded in a condensed phase are presented. Coherent ring currents are generated by coherent excitation of a pair of quasi-degenerated π-electronic excited states. The coherent electronic dynamical behaviors are strongly influenced by interactions between the electronic system and phonon bath in a condensed phase. Here, the bath correlation time is not instantaneous but should be taken to be a finite time in ultrashort time-resolved experiments. In such a case, Markov approximation breaks down. A hierarchical master equation approach for an improved semiclassical Drude dissipation model was adopted to examine the non-Markov effects on ultrafast coherent electronic ring currents of (P)-2,2'-biphenol in a condensed phase. Time evolution of the coherent ring current derived in the hierarchical master equation approach was calculated and compared with those in the Drude model in the Markov approximation and in the static limit. The results show how non-Markovian behaviors in quantum beat signals of ring currents depend on the Drude bath damping constant. Effects of temperatures on ultrafast coherent electronic ring currents are also clarified.


Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a fatal viral disease of goats causes high mortality and large economic losses, and is considered as one of the major constrains of goat farming worldwide.This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence, alteration of vital signs and effective therapeutics of PPR affected goats inBeraupzilla ofPabna district, Bangladeshduring the period of November 2014 to April 2015. A total number of 465 diseased goats were clinically examined of which 253 (54.41%) were found to be affected with PPR. The highest prevalence (72.27%) was found in Black Bengal goats whereas 35.04% and 27.78% prevalence were found in Jamunapari and Cross breed goats respectively. In case of Black Bengal goats51.78% affected goats were aged between 0-7months. In case ofJamunapari 51% affected goats aged between 8-14 months. Female goats were more susceptible (65%) as compared to males. About 60%Black Bengal goats had a body temperature range of 104-105.9 ? F. Over half of the study populations were in normal range of respiration rate.65%cross breed's heart rate was recorded in 91-110/minute range group that was higher in comparison to other breeds.The response totreatment following parenteral (I/M) administration of Sulphadimidine was higher (58%) than parenteral (I/M) OxytetracyclineHCl (50%) and Gentamycin Sulphate (46%) administration. All these findings revealed that, the prevalence of PPR depends on specific breed and age groupsand Sulphadimidine is the most effective drug choice in PPR treatment. Progressive Agriculture 28 (2): 114-119, 2017


This paper describes existing designs and future design trends of in-vehicle vision processors for driver assistance systems. First, requirements of vision processors for driver assistance systems are summarized. Next, the characteristics of vision tasks for safety are described. Then several in-vehicle vision processor LSI implementations are reviewed, and the design approach of one of them, the IMAPCAR highly parallel processor, is further described in detail. Finally, future trends of in-vehicle vision processors focusing on their architectures and application coverage expansion such as integration of vision for safety, Digital TV codec, and 3D graphics functions of future car navigation, are discussed.


Govt. of India has accorded high priority on research and development to cope with climate change in agricultural sector. The Prime Minister's National Action Plan has identified agriculture as one of eight national missions. The project so far has benefitted several stakeholders across the nation. National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is a network project of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) aimed at enhancing resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change.


We present a method for describing and characterizing the state of $N$ particles that may be distinguishable in principle but not in practice due to experimental limitations. The technique relies upon a careful treatment of the exchange symmetry of the state among experimentally accessible and experimentally inaccessible degrees of freedom. The approach we present allows a formalization of the notion of indistinguishability and can be implemented easily using currently available experimental techniques. Our work is of direct relevance to current experiments in quantum optics, for which we provide a specific implementation.


Occupationally exposed monocrotophos pesticide sprayers revealed various health complications like hyper tension, chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular problems, headache, eye irritation, cold, sinus problems, asthma, backache, fatigue, skin allergy, joint pains and acidity. There was a significant decrease in antioxidant enzyme activity in exposed group when compared to control group. Significant increase was seen in the activity of Glutathione-S- transferase in long term exposure to monocrotophos pesticide sprayers. Present study is an attempt to explore the status of usage of monocrotophos in Ramayanpet Village of Medak district in Andhra Pradesh State of India.


Epitaxial clusters of chromium and chromium–vanadium oxides are studied by tunnel magneto-resistivity measurements, x-ray absorption spectrometry and circular magnetic circular dichroism. They turn out to carry a small magnetic moment that follows a super-paramagnetic behavior. The chromium ion contribution to this magnetization is mainly due to an original magnetic Cr2O3-like phase, whereas usual Cr2O3 is known to be anti-ferromagnetic in the bulk. For mixed clusters, vanadium ions also contribute to the total magnetization and they are coupled to the chromium ion spins. By measuring the dichroic signal at different temperatures, we get insight into the possible spin configurations of vanadium and chromium ions: we propose that the magnetic dipoles observed in the clusters assembly could be related to ionic spins that couple at a very short range, as for instance in short one-dimensional spins chains.


Abstract The primary goal of this paper is to demonstrate the dependence of Arctic Ocean sea-ice transport pathways on climate variations. We build our analysis on the results of Proshutinsky and Johnson (1997), Johnson and others (1999), Polyakov and others (1999) and Proshutinsky and others (1999), where we have shown that wind-driven ice motion and upper ocean circulation alternate between anticyclonic and cyclonic states. Shifts between regimes occur at 5−7 year intervals, resulting in a 10−15 year period. The anticyclonic circulation regime has been observed in our model results for 1946−52,1958−62,1972−79,1984−88 and 1998−present. The cyclonic circulation regime prevailed during 1953−57,1963−71,1980−83 and 1989−97. The regime shifts are fundamentally important to understanding the Arctic's general circulation and particularly useful for estimating pollution transport by sea ice and surface waters. It is important to pollution studies to understand which circulation regime prevails. Initially, we simulate trajectories of a non-reactive, conservative soluble tracer. Results from this research demonstrate realistic potential flow pathlines and we describe how those pathlines change in response to climate forcing. These results can be used to aid current and future scenario risk assessments and may provide management agencies with the tools to determine where risks from contaminants might exist.


Aims To investigate the effect of HIF-1a on MSC under hypoxia condition. Materials and methods We transfected HIF-1a into MSC of P3 generation through liposome 2000, and observed the expression of green fluorescence protein in order to assess transfecting efficiency. G418 was used to screen stable transfected cells, and limited dilution method used for monoclone culture of screened cells. We identified the stable HIF-1a transfected MSC through the cell surface antigen testing. We compared the growth state among stable transfected MSC with HIF-1a, vacant plasmid transfected MSC and untransfected MSC under hypoxia condition, and the expression of HIF-1a mRNA, VEGF mRNA, HIF-1a protein and VEGF protein was tested. Results pcDNA3.0-HIF-1a-eGFP can be successfully transfected into MSC mediated by liposome 2000, with efficiency of 21%. Stable monoclone of transfected MSC can be obtained by G418 screening and limited dilution method. Stable transfected MSCs still reserve the ability of differentiating to chondrocyte and lipocyte. MSCs transfected with pcDNA3.0-HIF-1a-eGFP had lower apoptosis (p<0.05), greater proliferation (p<0.05), and more expression of HIF-1a mRNA, VEGF mRNA, HIF-1a protein, VEGF protein than MSCs transfected with vacant plasmid pcDNA3.0- eGFP and untransfected ones under hypoxia condition. Conclusions Stable transfected MSC with HIF-1a has a significant high expression of HIF-1a protein, HIF-1a mRNA, VEGF protein and VEGF mRNA under hypoxia condition. HIF-1a could reduce MSC apoptosis and enhance its proliferation under hypoxia condition.


With the rapid rate of population growth and economic development, cities face enormous challenges that require both optimal and integrated solutions to meet the needs of growth and to protect the environment and sustainable development. These urban dynamics, which change over time, extend not only horizontally and upward, but also downward. Thus, underground space has been utilized increasingly to relieve the urban surface and to ensure the exploitation of underground resources. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the possibilities of using this space in Casablanca as part of urban land-use planning and, consequently, to suggest an integrated model of exploitation of this space that is adapted to the specificities of the study area. Thus, an analysis of the use of underground spaces in a set of European cities has been performed. The study of the characteristics of this space in Casablanca has been realized according to the levels of geology and hydrogeology and two underground infrastructure projects. This work has led to the implementation of a prototype model named "Sub-Urban Information Modeling". The model's objective is to gather all the data and knowledge related to the relevant underground space in an integrated platform that can be shared and updated in order to facilitate the understanding of this environment and its interaction with the surface and to ensure the rational and efficient use of its resources.


In endeavouring to ensure the compatibility of its laws in the area of the environment with European Community laws, Poland is aiming at a moving target. This is apparent in the sector of water quality. In an exercise in "subsidiarity" the European Commission has proposed three framework Directives - on the quality of water intended for human consumption; the quality of bathing water and the ecological quality of surface water - intended to replace existing water quality laws. This paper discusses the significance for Poland of the deregulation of water quality standards within the European Union should the essence of these proposals be enacted into law.


Intrastromal keratoplasty with allograft implantation can stop the progression of keratoconus (KC) and improve visual acuity (VA). Although optimization of keratometric parameters and an increase in VA improve the quality of vision (QoV), there are other indicators that affect the QoV and the quality of life (QoL) of patients and require further study.

PURPOSE
Analysis of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of vision in patients with stage II and III keratoconus who underwent intrastromal allokeratoplasty.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study included 15 patients (15 eyes) with stage II-III KC (Amsler-Krumeich classification) aged 17 to 38 years old (28.8±6.2). All patients underwent intrastromal keratoplasty with implantation of an allograft in the form of a wide incomplete ring. The following parameters were assessed before and 6 months after surgery: distance VA with and without correction, near VA with and without correction, VA with glare effect, high-order aberrations (HOA), thickness of the tear film lipid layer, spatial contrast sensitivity (SCS) under photopic and mesopic conditions with light filters, reading speed.

RESULTS
VA without correction increased from 0.15 to 0.7; with correction from 0.35 to 0.7. The glare effect with varying degrees of illumination did not affect VA either before or after surgery. Statistically significant changes were observed when comparing the aberrations «coma», «spherical», «trefoil» before and after the intervention, they became inverted. The thickness of the tear film lipid layer did not change significantly when comparing pre- and postoperative data. The use of light filters (orange, yellow) did not lead to significant changes in the VA and SCS under photopic and mesopic conditions.

CONCLUSION
The use of a wide intrastromal allograft to correct deformity and stabilize the cornea in keratoconus improves the patients' quality of vision and visual performance.


A large and growing number of digital signal processor (DSP) applications are initially prototyped in Matlab, a high-level language that provides concise, intuitive statement of mathematical computations. Work in this elegant language stops at the prototyping stage due to the absence of an effective automatic path to implementation. This articles overviews a set of techniques for automating an implementation path from Matlab to DSPs and provides preliminary results on the effectiveness of such techniques.


The relative importance of genetic factors in increasing the risk of extinction has been hotly debated in the past and has tended to be downplayed by ecologists researching the correlates of extinction of island endemics. More recently, Frankham has argued that there is now sufficient evidence to regard the past controversies over the contribution of genetic factors to extinction risk as mostly resolved. For example, evidence indicates that the majority of threatened species including island endemics have a lower genetic diversity than taxonomically related nonthreatened species, implying that genetic factors such as inbreeding can increase the probability of extinction before extinction events occur. Yet, recent ecological research on the correlates of extinction for over 220 species of island birds found compelling evidence that exotic mammalian predators were the sole drivers of extinctions, and neglected to even mention any role of genetic factors. This paper discusses how two research groups working towards identifying and understanding the correlates of extinction for island endemics can reach such distinct conclusions. Part of the reason for the different perspectives is that ecological research has tended to focus on the correlates of historical extinctions of island endemics while conservation geneticists have concentrated on genetic correlates of currently threatened extant species. Identifying whether the population growth rate is positive or negative is crucial to this debate because even the geneticists agree that inbreeding will have little time to impact populations that are declining rapidly due to high predation rates. Inbreeding depression is likely to have a greater impact on extinction probability in species suffering from gradual habitat loss and range contraction, which typify the deterministic causes of population decline in continental species, rather than the intense predation pressure commonly associated with declines and extinctions of oceanic island endemics.


Glass has been a means to express feelings, thoughts and values in every society and in the course of time has become a symbolic product that can give an idea about the cultural values of the society it belongs to. We do not have exact records and historical documents to give us a detailed information about the development of the Turkish art of glass-making by years. However, we know about the recent works of glass which can partly be documented. When we think about the traditional Turkish glass-making, we can see that there is a limited numbers of works and these works reflect the characteristics of the period they were produced in as a symbol of Ottoman culture and art. Traditional Turkish art of glass-making is addressed as the periods of Seljukian and Ottoman in general. Some glass works are known to exist that have reached the present day from the time Seljukians migrated to Anatolia from the east. Anatolian Seljukians used culturally rich and meaningful figurative technics in art and handicraft. Ottoman art of glass-making developed under the influence 830 Tarık YAZAR – Tamer ASLAN of Seljukians. Although the origins of Ottoman glass-making come from Seljukians, in the course of time it became unique. With their stylistic characteristics in glass products, Ottomans developed their own style and created figurative works. Some miniatures from Ottoman period reflect the importance Ottomans placed on glass and give us information about the development of Turkish art of glass-making. When Beykoz 'Çeşm-i Bülbül' which carries the most important marks of Turkish glass-making history is analyzed in terms of style, form and figures, it can be seen that it is made in accordance with traditional Ottoman style. These water marked glasses which are called 'Çeşm-i Bülbül' can be considered as figurative examples which show the Ottoman taste and sense of art. 19th century is a period during which radical changes took place in glass industry throughout the world. The most important characteristic of this period is the fast industrialization of traditional glass-making. Following the declaration of Republic, Turkish glass-making was regulated. The first factory of glass was established to the area in front of a steep slope in Paşabahçe, İstanbul in 1934 upon the decision of the assembly of the members of the parliament. This research reviews the general history of glass and addresses the historical development of traditional Turkish art of glass-making and makes some evaluations about the traditional Turkish art of glass-making through examining some Ottoman miniatures.


Teacher socioemotional health has always been an important area of study, but the global COVID-19 pandemic made it a priority. The emotional well-being of teachers is so important because it directly impacts on their teaching abilities and as a result on students' well-being and learning. This article documents how a university-based professional development center addressed these SEL needs of teachers during the year of the pandemic, how teachers felt about this support and its implications on their teaching practices. We show how immediately after schools closed and teachers had to teach online, their priority was to learn about the technology and how to teach online. We also show as the year progressed, how the basics of technology had been covered, how teachers sought professional development to care about their own mental health, and detailed how the intersection of SEL made the teaching practice more meaningful. The lessons learned this year and data gathered from other organizations that offered free of charge professional development suggest a possible shift in how schools may perceive the need to offer professional development to teachers, and therefore embrace a teacher training program that incorporates holistic self-care strategies and mental health related training.


Inflammation plays a pivotal role in atherosclerosis; being present in all steps of the pathology, from initiation to the progression of the lesions to the development of vulnerable plaques and clinical destabilisation. Therefore, systemic markers of inflammation have emerged to predict future cardiovascular events in patients initially admitted for unstable syndromes, but also in healthy subjects. These markers can identify high risk patients and they are used to adapt ideal treatment to the patient's profile. The implication of the inflammation process in the treatment strategies is described in the last part of the article.


Sciurus niger niger (Southern Fox Squirrel, hereafter, SFS) are habitat specialists within the Pinus palustris (Longleaf Pine) ecosystem of the southeastern US whose populations are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Sciurus carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel, hereafter, EGS) are generalists found throughout the eastern US that have historically avoided competition with SFSs through habitat-partitioning. Spring Island, SC, once reported the densest population of SFSs in the southeast, but residents of the island community recently reported decreasing SFS populations and increasing EGS populations. We used baited game-cameras at stratified random points to estimate SFS density, observe patterns of SFS and EGS diurnal activity, and examine the influence of habitat structure and management techniques (e.g., prescribed fire) on SFS and EGS occurrence on Spring Island. Our estimate of SFS density on Spring Island (0.28–0.97 SFSs/ha) was similar to the high density previously reported (0.758 SFSs/ha). SFSs and EGSs had similar diurnal patterns, but SFSs were most active around midday while EGSs were most active in early morning and evening hours. EGS occupancy was negatively associated with fire frequency. EGS detection probability was negatively associated with maximum daily temperature. These data suggest that habitat management via prescribed fire has allowed stable populations of both SFSs and EGSs to persist despite anthropogenic land changes.


The biology of four important species of coccinellid predators, viz. , Hyperaspis maindroni , Cryptolaemus montrouzieri , Nephus regularis and Scymnus coccivora associated with solenopsis mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis , infesting cotton and other crops of economic importance was studied in the laboratory @ 27±2°C and 65±5% RH. The overall developmental time (including adult longevity) of C. montrouzieri was found significantly longer (97.80±1.32 days) than the rest of the species which ranged between 58.60±2.38 and 72.40±2.11 days. Females generally had longer developmental durations than males, irrespective of the species. The females of C. montrouzieri laid an average of 510.00±9.73 eggs in their oviposition period of 62.20±3.14 and this was longer than the others. In all the species, female started egg laying in the 2 nd week of their adult life and reached the peak between 3 rd and 6 th weeks.


Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming anaerobe belonging to the family Clostridium, with the bacteria being found in low numbers in approximately 5% of the healthy adult population. Together with meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, it is a major healthcare-associated infection and is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality. Antibiotics administered to patients can alter normal gut flora, allowing the proliferation of C. difficile and causing antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and colitis. Such diarrhoea, if severe, can lead to dangerous dehydration and even hypovolaemia, especially in the elderly. To limit the physiological impact of diarrhoea, it is sometimes necessary to administer intravenous therapy. Although good clinical practice demands that infection control should be considered in all clinical situations, specific infection control procedures need to be adhered to when administering intravenous therapy to patients with C. difficile.


When suitably labeled bulk tRNAs are transfected into cells they give rise to FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) signals via binding to ribosomes that provide a measure of total protein synthesis. Application of this approach to monitoring rates of specific protein synthesis requires achieving a very high signal-to-noise ratio. Such high ratios may be attainable using LRET (luminescence resonance energy transfer) in place of FRET. Lanthanide complexes containing an antenna chromophore are excellent LRET donors. Here we describe the synthesis of a Phe-tRNA(Phe) labeled with a Tb(3+) complex, denoted Tb(3+)-Phe-tRNA(Phe) that, notwithstanding the bulkiness of the Tb(3+) complex, is active in protein synthesis.


New techniques were developed to model pond, reservoir and irrigation effects on the statistical parameters of annual runoff time series and the state of water resources. Due to the shortage of available runoff series, statistical testing was applied to investigate the manner and extent of human influence on water resources. The resultant method enabled for the allowance of (separately and jointly) the effects of artificial basins and of irrigation on the normal runoff and the coefficients of variations and asymmetry. The method developed was applied to the assessment of water resources of the Republic of Moldavia and the south of the Ukraine.


The accumulation of persistent organic pollutants by three passive sampling media--semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs), polyurethane foam (PUF) disks, and an organic-rich soil--was investigated. The media were exposed to contaminated indoor air over a period of 450 days, and concentrations in the air and in the media were monitored for individual polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and polychlorinated naphthalene homologue groups. Uptake was initially linear and governed by the surface area of the sampler and the boundary layer airside mass transfer coefficient (MTC). Mean values of the MTC were 0.13, 0.11, and 0.26 cm s-1 for SPMD, PUF, and soil, respectively. As the study progressed, equilibrium was established between ambient air and the passive sampling media for the lower molecular weight PCB congeners. This information was used to calculate passive sampler-air partition coefficients, KPSM-A. These were correlated to the octanol-air partition coefficient, and the resulting regressions were used to predict KPSM-A for the full suite of PCBs. Information on MTC, KPSM-A, surface area, and effective thickness of each sampler was used to estimate times to equilibrium for each medium. These ranged from tens of days for the lower molecular weight congeners to tens of years for the higher molecular weight PCBs. Expressions were also developed to relate the amount of chemical accumulated by the passive sampling media to average ambient air concentrations over the integration period of the sample.


A theoretical framework for representing spatial, thematic, and temporal dimensions of geographic features has been developed. This framework relies on the unifying concept of a geographic feature as a single, unique entity in the real world with multiple object representations such as raster and vector geometries, multiple resolutions and source scales, and multiple temporal sequences. The same geographic feature can be represented in the framework at one resolution as a point and at a higher resolution as an area. Similarly, linear features such as streams can be represented as single lines at a coarse resolution and as double lines and areas at higher resolutions. Changes in spatial configuration and thematic attribution through time are also supported in the framework. Although an earlier implementation of this framework used relational database technology, implementation now focuses on object-oriented approaches. The implementation logically follows the organization of category theory, with the feature forming the basic level of categorization. An implementation for a watershed modeling application is built to test the theory. The application requires multiple feature types, such as the linear structure of the stream network embedded within the areal structure of the watershed. The multiple representations required for the watershed application include points for rain gage and stream sampling stations, which are used with digital elevation data to define polygons representing subwatersheds, vector geometry for the streams, network topology for the interstream connections and flow models, and raster geometry for the elevation surface, land cover, and soils. These requirements provide a test of the basic theoretical structure for geographic features.


The community being researched on in this study are children of urban refugee dwellers attending primary level education in Klang Valley, Malaysia. As education for refugees in Malaysia is outside the ambit of the national education system, refugee children do not have access to national primary level education institutions. This research seeks to specifically describe community-based schools located in the Klang Valley, and the respondents of these schools. On top of that, the research will also determine the levels of student engagement (comprising of behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement), the types of participation (voluntary and involuntary), the levels of participation (student attendance), the levels of perception and the levels of community capacity in English literacy skill and knowledge (student achievement) of the respondents at the community-based school. Subsequently the research examines the relationship between student engagement, level of participation and the level of perception with level of community capacity. The research also compares the difference between the types of participation with level of community capacity and examines the relationship between the student"s age and the number of years in school (duration of participation) with level of community capacity. Finally the research seeks to determine the unique predictors of community capacity among urban refugee children living in Klang Valley. The study design was approached quantitatively using survey questionnaires with a small descriptive portion of the study utilising qualitative approaches of informal interviews and participant observation. The study was carried out at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee ("UNHCR") recognised schools of El Shaddai Refugee Learning Centre ("ERLC"), and the Chin"s Children Education Centre ("CCEC"), both being community-based schools located at Klang Town and Sungei Besi respectively. The sample size of the respondents from both these community-based schools is 241, out of a combined population of 499 refugee students. The findings of this study indicated that student engagement and students" level of participation had a positive correlation to community capacity. Upon analysing the differences between the types of participation (involuntary and voluntary) in relation to community capacity, the results show that there is no significant difference to report in this comparison. Further analysis also shows that there is no significant relationship between the respondents" level of perception in learning English, their age as well the number of years they have been in ERLC and CCEC with their community capacity. When the correlated predictors were regressed against community capacity, both level of participation and emotional engagement were the most significant predictor variables.Therefore this study shows that refugee students who are attending community-based schools, and who are emotionally engaged, have a higher tendency to develop community capacity, as seen in their achievement of better grades in their English Language Literacy assessment.


A non-invasive cum robust voice pathology detection and classification architecture is proposed in the current manuscript. In place of the conventional feature-based machine learning techniques, a new architecture is proposed herein which initially performs deep learning-based filtering of the input voice signal, followed by a decision-level fusion of deep learning and a non-parametric learner. The efficacy of the proposed technique is verified by performing a comparative study with very recent work on the same dataset but based on different training algorithms.The proposed architecture has five different stages.The results are recorded in terms of nine (9) different classification score indices which are – mean average Precision, sensitivity, specificity, F1 score, accuracy, error, false-positive rate, Matthews Correlation Coefficient, and the Cohen's Kappa index. The experimental results have shown that the use of machine learning classifier can get at most 96.12% accuracy, while the proposed technique achieved the highest accuracy of 99.14% in comparison to other techniques.


We study axial (or odd-parity) perturbations about static and spherically symmetric hairy black hole (BH) solutions in shift-symmetric DHOST (Degenerate Higher-Order Scalar-Tensor) theories. We first extend to the family of DHOST theories the first-order formulation that we recently developed for Horndeski theories. Remarkably, we find that the dynamics of DHOST axial perturbations is equivalent to that of axial perturbations in general relativity (GR) evolving in a, distinct, effective metric. In the particular case of quadratic DHOST theories, this effective metric is derived from the background BH metric via a disformal transformation. We illustrate our general study with three examples of BH solutions. In some so-called stealth solutions, the effective metric is Schwarzschild with a shifted horizon. We also give an example of BH solution for which the effective metric is associated with a naked singularity.