Constructing service cooperation-based VOs (Virtual Organizations) has become one of mainstream approaches for developing application software systems in Internet computing environments. This paper proposes the mechanism ACMFS to achieve the service cooperation-oriented self-maintenance of VOs which are created dynamically and on requirement. By developing technologies of abnormal circumstance-driven VO maintenance, 3-phase control cycle for transacting abnormal circumstances, and flexible scheduling of local business processes, ACMFS can maintain effectively the capability for a VO to achieve its assigned objectives in two stages: self-adaptation and self-evolution.


Aims When implementing interventions for adolescents, specific adolescent friendly adaptation from adult interventions is vital. The Friendship Bench is a lay counselor community therapy model that has been shown to have high efficacy in adult populations with adult lay counselors in Zimbabwe and other communities. Our objective was to understand the overall mental health needs and necessary adaptations for lay counselor based work for adolescents in Botswana. Methods We used theory of change activities during stakeholder meetings to discuss necessary elements of the Friendship Bench for use with adolescents. We held four groups sessions with stakeholders who were youth, parents, members of youth serving non-governmental organizations, members of government, and HIV clinic clinicians, and social workers. The meetings addressed root causes of poor mental health in youth in Botswana, overall structure of mental health services, ultimate outcomes we would hope to achieve with a youth mental health intervention, and action steps and assumptions necessary to implement a lay counselor intervention. Results Root causes of mental health in youth included lack of knowledge about these issues, family problems like abuse/neglect, and poor communication, low self-esteem, rapid growth of technology, and biology/genetics. Structurally barriers included: the stigma against mental illness, lack of psychosocial support, poor follow-up for mental health services, cultural beliefs about mental illness, and fragmented mental health services available. The stakeholders seek a program that empowers adolescents and youth counselors to address mental health concerns in order to create a healthier community. The group identified several major elements of an effective lay counselor intervention including age appropriate (youth) lay counselors, broad education and screening of youth at risk, creative and fun ways of engaging and maintaining them into the intervention, flexibility with schedules, and strong lay counselors with adequate training and personalities that support thoughtful interpersonal engagement. Lay counselor pre-training qualifications were defined and included a preference for youth with similar diagnoses, a minimum of secondary school training, age of 18 to 35 and agreement to attend mandatory counseling. Conclusion Stakeholders from multiple segments of the community can illustrate key elements of interventions being expanded to new populations and environments.


The loss of biodiversity in Nigeria is intensifying distressingly, which happened to be more prominent in some states across northwestern as well as north eastern geopolitical regions of Nigeria and was threatened by the confrontational effect of desertification. The Sahel region and some part of the savannah region bordered which faced the menace of drought and desertification which lead to so many factors like soil erosion, distraction of the ecosystem entirely. Moreover, the plants destroyed were mostly aromatic plants which served as medicines in curing many ailments and diseases contributed to the economic status of the communities found in the Sahel. The plants species became threatened to the human practices by noticing their effects for their well-being. Consequently, among the species that were threatened include: Neocarea macrophylla Prance ex F.White (Gawasa), Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich) Hochst. (Danya), Detarium microcarpum Harms. (Taura), Prosopis africana, (Kirya), Acacia africana, Acacia nilotica and Azadirachta indica. Hence, the major concern of this chapter is to assess some of the threatened species found in the Sahel region, Nigeria and to highlight the valuable medicinal plants at risk of extinction according to the guidelines of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).


OBJECTIVES
Currently, a classification of resin cements that includes relatively recently formulated ("universal") cements is lacking. Furthermore, the terminology used to define different resin cements in the scientific reports is inconsistent. Accordingly, this work aims to: (i) propose a novel classification of resin composite cements; (ii) disambiguate the term "universal cements" and (iii) present an overview of the properties of these cements.

METHODS
An analysis of peer-reviewed literature (PubMed search), as well as market research on definitive resin composite cements were performed.

RESULTS
A tendency toward simplified and versatile luting materials was observed both in the scientific literature and on the dental market with the advent of self-adhesive/one-step resin cements. However, additional priming procedures were necessary to improve their bonding performance in certain clinical situations. Hence, several cements that can be applied both in adhesive and self-adhesive mode were introduced. These cements are associated with a universal adhesive resin, that can be used as a tooth and/or restorative material primer, without the need for other priming systems, regardless of the substrate. These systems should be considered truly universal. Therefore, we hereby suggested a new classification of resin-based cements: (1) adhesive/multi-step; (2) self-adhesive/one-step; (3) universal cements (one- or multi-step). Despite promising in vitro results, clinical trials and long-track laboratory studies are necessary to confirm the reliability of the universal cements.

CONCLUSIONS
This review presented the current advances in the field of resin-based cements, which are reflected in the proposed classification. The term "universal cement" was disambiguated, which will help standardize the terminology used in published research.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The classification of resin-based cements and a better understanding of the proper terminology will help standardize the terminology in published research, as well as improve the understanding of the clinical practitioners of the different indications and possible modalities of use of the available cements.


About ten years ago, after nearly a decade of practice as an interior designer, I returned to school to work on a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary humanities. In my first semester, I was, perhaps, a bit over zealous and enrolled in a philosophy course whose subject was Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche. I was intellectually rusty after being away from school for so long, and this class was very difficult. New jargon and concepts had sprung up since my last academic experience, and I found that I was hanging on the professor's every word just so I could understand. But I studied hard, read diligently, and I was doing well. I was required to do a presentation in class, so I met with the professor just to be sure I was on the right track. In that meeting, we quickly got into an extremely stimulating discussion of Nietzsche's critique of metaphysics, which was my topic. It was one of those animated discussions that every grad student and professor long for. I was elated that I was able to hold my own in the discussion, and perhaps because I could, the instructor paused in our conversation to ask about my background. In my description of myself, I mentioned that I was an interior designer and from that moment everything changed. My professor abruptly ended our previous conversation, and started asking for my advice about decorating her living room. Although I tried to get the conversation back on its previous track, I could not. Somewhat discouraged, I decided to leave and our interview ended, not with closing remarks on Nietzsche or my presentation, but with my professor commenting: "I have always admired you girls like my mother and sister who have the knack for picking colors." 1 Considering my instructor was both a woman and a feminist, I was incredulous that this conversation had taken such a turn. I had encountered many people in the past with preconceived ideas about me because of my identity as an interior designer, but I had never seen it shift so remarkably right in front of my eyes. The ability of the label "interior designer" to do that indicated to me that something very powerful was in play. The fact that my professor, who seemingly was sensitive to issues of sexism, could not recognize the same embedded in her own statement made me realize just how strong and obscured this power was. As a graduate student and later as a professor teaching interior design, I have long attempted to understand this phenomenon. From an investigation that is situated in both my personal experience 1 It is important to note here that the same stereotypes assigned to women as interior designers are equally inscribed in stereotypes of gay men. The elision of the feminine, decoration, the interior, and the inferior was put firmly in place in the early modern movement not only by the anti-decorative invectives of Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier, but by a large societal discussion and concern about the issue referred to as "degeneration." At the turn of the century, legitimate scholars as well as pseudo-scientists from all fields theorized that the new conditions of modernity indicated that society was devolving or degenerating. The reason for this degeneration generally was recognized as the "feminization" of culture. In degeneration theory, the feminine represented the primitive, base, and erotic urges of society that had to be suppressed in order for society to evolve and progress rationally. All indications of the feminine, therefore, were perceived as inferior. The perception that gay men are "feminized" men links them automatically with the same inferiority assigned to both women and decoration. Like stereotypes of women and decoration, the stereotype of the gay man as decorator still is strongly inscribed in the public's perception and equally as undeconstructed. Since this article speaks mainly from my personal viewpoint and experiences as a woman, it will not deal specifically with issues of this stereotype, although it is equally important and relevant to this discussion. (See my article "Decoration as Modernism's Other: (Re)Reading the Texts of Early Modern Architecture and Design" in Cultural and Artistic Upheavals in Modern Europe: 1848–1945 (Cummer Studies, Vol. 1, 1996) for a more complete discussion of the origins of these stereotypes).


GEOLOGYOn page [631][1], scientists describe a kind of atomic birth certificate that can peg where emeralds were grubbed from the ground. The technique might help dealers authenticate top-quality stones, and it could clear up the mysterious origins of Old World emeralds, including some famous gems. Indeed, the approach is already providing information on ancient trade routes, and it might someday offer tantalizing hints of long-lost mines.

 [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/287/5453/631


Fish populations are subject to natural growth, environmental pressures, and natural mortality. In addition, they may experience pressure from anthropic fishing mortality. Management of fish stocks requires the collection of suitable data from which population models can be built. State-space models (SSMs) are one modelling approach, and this project investigates their application to data-moderate stocks. We define data-moderate stocks as those for which there are no survey data, no information on age composition, and fisheries-dependent data are the only available source of information. We find that many existing state-space models are either too simple (e.g., state-space surplus production models) or too complex (e.g., state-space age-structured models) for these stocks, although many fisheries around the world face data-moderate situations.
A state-space model is becoming a favoured choice in modelling fish population dynamics, as it allows one to incorporate both measurement and process errors. However, several studies have found that separation of the two sources of variability can result in estimability problems even in simple state-space models. Using a state-space surplus production model as an example, we found that such estimability problems can occur even in a simple stock assessment model, especially when measurement error is large relative to process error. This problem even exists when constraints are imposed on most of the model parameters. Such findings suggest the limitations of SSMs and the importance of model diagnostics.
Using data collected from South Korean fish stocks as application examples, we developed two stock assessment models in state-space form. The first model is a state-space two-life stage-structured production model which can be applied to stocks where juvenile and adult fish have been separately exploited by different fisheries. The key feature of the model is that in the absence of any composition data (e.g., age and size), demographic relationships between juvenile and adult populations are incorporated using abundance indices collected from different fisheries, each of which selectively targets the two different life stages of fish. The second model is a state-space length-based age-structured model. This integrated model is developed to utilise length composition data to inform the age structure of a population. Such data are often available in many data-moderate stocks, instead of a direct measure of age composition, such as catch-at-age data. Separating age groups based on length compositions is not a new concept, but most existing models do not allow process error. Thus, the development of such a model in state-space form could provide a more reliable assessment tool for many data-moderate stocks.
This thesis research contributes to the better understanding of potential estimability issues in SSMs for fish stock assessments, as well as development of the two new state-space models for data-moderate fisheries. We also identified several issues associated with our findings which could be useful for future research.


According to the exactly formulated concepts of quantum integrability and nonintegrability,an initial coherent state evolving under the action of an integrable Hamiltonian having the same dynamical symmetry is expressed as an analytical function of and . The expectation values of various dynamical variables should be expressed as correlated analytical functions of and . Thus, the general characters of initial coherent state would be maintained during the spatio-temporal evolution under the action of such a system even if the wavepacket is slightly distorted. In contrast, when the integrability condition is destroyed, these features will be lost during the evolution. This theoretical prediction is illustrated with numerical results computed for the two-level Lipkin model with a dou ble-well potential and dynamical explanations are given. And the Eherenfest time is verified with this model.


An eco-evolutionary feedback loop is defined as the reciprocal impacts of ecology on evolutionary dynamics and evolution on ecological dynamics on contemporary timescales. We experimentally tested for an eco-evolutionary feedback loop in the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, by manipulating initial densities and evolution. We found strong evidence that initial aphid density alters the rate and direction of evolution, as measured by changes in genotype frequencies through time. We also found that evolution of aphids within only 16 days, or approximately three generations, alters the rate of population growth and predicts density compared to nonevolving controls. The impact of evolution on population dynamics also depended on density. In one evolution treatment, evolution accelerated population growth by up to 10.3% at high initial density or reduced it by up to 6.4% at low initial density. The impact of evolution on population growth was as strong as or stronger than that caused by a threefold change in intraspecific density. We found that, taken together, ecological condition, here intraspecific density, alters evolutionary dynamics, which in turn alter concurrent population growth rate (ecological dynamics) in an eco-evolutionary feedback loop. Our results suggest that ignoring evolution in studies predicting population dynamics might lead us to over- or underestimate population density and that we cannot predict the evolutionary outcome within aphid populations without considering population size.


Equilibrium binding assays are one of the mainstays of current drug discovery efforts to evaluate the interaction of drugs with receptors in membranes and intact cells. However, in recent years there has been increased focus on the kinetics of the drug-receptor interaction to gain insight into the lifetime of drug-receptor complexes and the rate of association of a ligand with its receptor. Furthermore, drugs that act on topically distinct sites (allosteric) from those occupied by the endogenous ligand (orthosteric site) can induce conformational changes in the orthosteric binding site leading to changes in the association and/or dissociation rate constants of orthosteric ligands. Conformational changes in the orthosteric ligand binding site can also be induced through interaction with neighbouring accessory proteins and receptor homo- and hetero-dimerization. In this review, we provide an overview of the use of fluorescent ligand technologies to interrogate ligand-receptor kinetics in living cells and the novel insights that they can provide into the conformational changes induced by drugs acting on a variety of cell surface receptors including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and cytokine receptors.


Transformations involving only local operations assisted with classical communication are investigated for multipartite entangled pure states having tensor rank 2. All necessary and sufficient conditions for the possibility of deterministically converting truly multipartite, rank-2 states into each other are given. Furthermore, a chain of local operations that successfully achieves the transformation has been identified for all allowed transformations. The identified chains have two nice features: (1) each party needs to carry out at most one local operation and (2) all of these local operations are also deterministic transformations by themselves. Finally, it is found that there are disjoint classes of states, all of which can be identified by a single real parameter, which remain invariant under deterministic transformations.


Introduction: Hypercoagulability leading to thromboembolic complications is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, however the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Elevated levels of extracellular vesicles (EV), both microparticles (> 100 nm) and exosomes ( Methods: Human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29) were cultured at a density of 1.0×107 cells per T75 flask in EV-free media containing 2% FBS, and after removal of floating cells and cell debris, microparticles were collected by centrifugation at 20,000 x G for 15 minutes; each flask contained approximately 4.0 x 106 annexin V+ microparticles. Exosomes were collected by additional centrifugation of the supernatant at 100,000 x G for 90 minutes. Microparticles and exosomes, at different dilutions, were separately co-cultured with confluent endothelial cell monolayers in 6 or 96-well plates, for 6 hours, using TNF-α (4 ng/ml) as a positive control. Endothelial cell activation was assessed by measuring expression of E-selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), Il-1β and tissue factor by quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) and immunoblotting. We also analyzed the effects of microparticles and exosomes on endothelial cell procoagulant activity by layering plasma over confluent endothelial cell monolayers. Briefly, after incubating endothelial cell monolayers with microparticles or exosomes (or 4 ng/ml TNFα as a positive control) for 6 hours, monolayers were washed three times with 20mM HEPES buffer (pH 7.4) containing 5mM calcium chloride and then overlaid with 100 µl per well of pooled normal human plasma. Plasma was re-calcified by the addition of 11 ul 200 mM calcium chloride, and plates were then placed in a kinetic microtiter-plate reader (Synergy HT) maintained at 37°C, and fibrin formation measured as an increase in the optical density at 405 nm. Results: Microparticles and exosomes constitutively released by HT-29 cells induced activation of endothelial cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Significant increases in the expression of E-selectin, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, tissue factor and IL-1β mRNA and protein were observed (Figure 1). In general, microparticles were more potent in inducing endothelial cell activation than exosomes when the EV were derived from the same number of HT-29 cells, though quantification of small exosomes is imprecise. Interestingly, while the response of endothelial cells to microparticles and exosomes was generally similar to that of 4 ng/ml TNFα, both types of EV appeared more potent in the induction of endothelial cell tissue factor, particularly at the mRNA level. HT-29 cell-derived EV, both microparticles and exosomes, also significantly shortened the clotting time of recalcified plasma added to endothelial cell monolayers (Figure 2). Conclusions: EV constitutively released from HT-29 cells, both microparticles and exosomes, directly activate cultured endothelial cells leading to increased expression of cell adhesion molecules, elaboration of IL-1β, and expression of tissue factor. The change in endothelial phenotype is not due to simple transfer of biomolecules since EV stimulated changes at the mRNA and protein level. While responses to microparticles and exosomes were similar, some differences were observed, suggesting that different underlying mechanisms may contribute. Endothelial cell activation in response to EV leads to accelerated clotting of plasma on the endothelial cell monolayer. These findings suggest a novel effect of cancer cell-derived EV that may contribute to the hypercoagulability present in patients with malignancy. Disclosures Khorana:Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Boehringer-Ingelheim: Consultancy, Honoraria; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Leo Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria. McCrae:Momenta: Consultancy; Halozyme: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Syntimmune: Consultancy.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with increased IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 but decreased IFN-gamma production. This cytokine profile may account for the atopic features of this illness, including IgE upregulation. Recent studies have demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-beta is produced by Th1-like cells, but the cytokine modulation by TNF-beta and the clinical significance of this cytokine in AD is not known. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the potential role of TNF-beta in AD. In this study, we cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with AD and normal subjects with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies and investigated the production of TNF-beta by ELISA. The mean +/- SEM of TNF-beta production in AD was significantly lower than normal subjects (p = 0.03). The effect of TNF-beta on cytokine production was investigated by culturing peripheral blood mononuclear cells with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies in the presence or absence of TNF-beta. Compared with medium control, TNF-beta significantly decreased IL-5 (p = 0.0004) and IL-13 (p = 0.008) but increased IFN-gamma (p = 0.001) production. The effect of TNF-beta on IgE production was determined by culturing peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the IL-4- and anti-CD40-induced IgE production system. Interestingly, TNF-beta significantly decreased IgE (p = 0.02), but not IgG production compared with medium control. Our study demonstrates that TNF-beta production is downregulated in AD. This cytokine increases IFN-gamma production but decreases IL-5, IL-13, as well as IgE production. These findings suggest a potential role for TNF-beta in the pathogenesis of AD.


Significance Habitat fragmentation is a significant contributor to the worldwide decline of freshwater ecosystem health, the most pervasive cause of which is culverts. Culverts act as a barrier to fish movement, impacting feeding, predator avoidance, spawning, and community structures. Here we show that a common remediation strategy that involves baffles, is detrimental to the successful passage of small bodied and juvenile fish at high velocities. To remedy this widespread problem, we present a novel remediation design that benefits a range of small-bodied species and juvenile fish at the same high velocities, regardless of morphology or ecological niche. The application of this remediation design may be expanded to any smooth surfaced anthropogenic structure, to improve fish passage and restore ecosystem functionality. Abstract Culverts are a major cause of habitat fragmentation in freshwater ecosystems, are a barrier to fish movement, and are regarded as a significant contributor in the decline of freshwater fish populations globally. To try to address this, various culvert remediation designs have been implemented, including the installation of vertical baffles and the provision of naturalistic (rock) substrates. While remediation strategies generally aim to reduce the velocity of water flowing through the structure, there is often resistance to their use because the resultant reduction in culvert discharge can negatively impact upstream flooding while also resulting in debris clogging and increased culvert maintenance costs. In addition, baffles markedly increase water turbulence that may be detrimental to passage by some fish species or size classes. Here we present some novel remediation designs that exploit the reduced water velocity in boundary layers along the culvert wall to enhance fish passage without significantly compromising discharge capacity. These longitudinal designs produce an expanded reduced velocity zone along the culvert margins that generate minimal turbulence. We show that these novel designs are significantly advantageous to the swimming endurance and traversability for six small-bodied Australian fish species. We also provide data on how and why some culvert baffle designs may impede small-bodied fish passage. This data scales with increasing water velocity, encompassing inter-specific differences in swimming capacity. These results have broad implications for fish community structure and the requirement of juvenile cohort of large-bodied commercially important species where baffles have been implemented to facilitate fish passage.


Since 2005s, agricultural land in northern Laos has become to be dominated by maize mono-cropping. The rapid expansion of this commercial crop has the resulted of policy implementations and demand of maize from the neighboring countries. The purpose of this study was aim to analyze the impact of commercial agricultural policy and socio-economic factors influencing on maize production in Houyxai Distirct, Bokeo Province of Laos. A survey of 98 maize farmers by face to face interviews was conducted in September 2010. Ordinary Least Square regression model was applied in order to explain how these policies and socio-economic factors effect to farmers and contribute to maize production. The results revealed that 94% of the variation in maize production (ton) is explained by the selected explanatory variables. Seven variables have a positive significant and one variable has a negative effect on maize production volume. The results also demonstrated that the most important effect to maize production is a "policy push" mainly variables of farmland, farmer organization, support market and credit access and a "market pull" by private sectors with providing input factors namely seeds, land preparation and techniques. Therefore, the government should look at the way of credit providing system that may effect in high production cost, at the same time the expansion of farm size is needed to take into account.


BACKGROUND
It is well established that the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is increased among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals, but the temporal relationships between these infections are unclear.

METHODS
During a South African cervical cancer screening trial, 5595 women 35-65 years of age were followed up for 36 months; 577 women were HIV positive at enrollment, HIV seroconversion occurred in 123 women, and 4895 women remained HIV negative throughout. Tests for high-risk HPV DNA and cytology were performed on cervical samples, and a colposcopy/biopsy was performed at each visit. The effects of early HIV infection on the risk of HPV infection and HPV-related disease were evaluated.

RESULTS
Among seroconverters, HPV infection prevalence was 20.3% before seroconversion, 23.6% at seroconversion (P = .4), and 49.1% after seroconversion (P = .01). Seroconverters had significantly lower HPV infection prevalence than women with prevalent HIV infection before and at seroconversion (41.8% and 45.9%, respectively) but had similar HPV infection prevalence to women with prevalent HIV infection after seroconversion (49.4%). HIV seroconversion was associated with newly detected HPV infection (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 4.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.26-7.13) and increased risk of low-grade cytological abnormalities (AHR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.16-5.51) compared with HIV-negative women.

CONCLUSION
Detection of HPV infection increases rapidly within the first years after HIV seroconversion, suggesting that mucosal immune dysfunction occurring at an early stage of HIV infection may influence HPV-related diseases.


Purpose This study attempts to evaluate Ray Tracing (RT) and Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms for CyberKnife treatments of spine lesions and determine whether the MC algorithm is necessary for all spine treatment and compare the RT algorithm and MC algorithm at various spine lesion sites. Methods The CyberKnife is used for stereotactic body radiotherapy for lesions in the cervical spine (30), thoracic spine (50), lumbar spine (30), and sacral spine (15). Dose was calculated using RT and MC algorithms for patients planned with the same beam angles and monitor units. Dose-volume histograms of the target and selected critical structures are evaluated. Results The average target coverage of prescribed dose with MC algorithms was 94.80%, 88.47%, 92.52%, and 93.41%, respectively, in cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine. For the thoracic spine, the RT algorithm significantly overestimates the percentage volume of the target covered by the prescribed dose, as well as overestimates doses to organs at risk in most cases, including lung, spinal cord, and esophagus. For cervical, lumbar, and sacral spine, the differences of the target coverage of prescription dose were generally less than 3% between the RT and MC algorithms. The differences of doses to organs at risk varied with lesion sites and surrounding organs. Conclusions In the thoracic spine lesions with beams through air cavities, RT algorithm should be limited and verified with MC algorithm, but the RT algorithm is adequate for treatment of cervical, lumbar, and sacral spine lesions without or with a small amount of beams passing through the lungs.


With Chisel or Pick HammerHow were Runes carved? In 1980, Vitus Nielsen and Erik Moltke published the essay "Pikhammeren – kan man også skrive med den?« (The Pick Hammer – can it be used for writing as well?). Nielsen summed up the historical background of the pick hammer, while Moltke postulated that in the Viking Age this tool was used for carving runes and ornaments on rune stones (Fig. 1). This essay postulates the opposite: that runes were carved with a chisel and a hammer/mallet. Moltke's hypothesis has been briefly questioned before, but has not been thoroughly discussed. This essay is primarily based on the professional experience gathered by Erik Sandquist, the stonemason, from the carving of modern rune stones.Moltke's most important argument is the existence of small conical marks made by a pointed tool in a number of rune grooves. This phenomenon can be observed on e.g. rune stone no. 5 from Århus (c.1000 AD) and the Swedish rune stones from Himmelstadlund in Östergötland (400-550 AD) (Fig. 2).Erik Sandquist has been carving rune stones since 1995. His stone no. 44 was erected in the summer of 2004 next to the museum in Jelling (Figs. 3-4). From this work, Sandquist has gained exhaustive experience using a broad chisel and a pick chisel in combination with a hammer or mallet, whereas most modern stonemasons prefer to use pneumatic tools and sandblasting. It is important to note that Sandquist does not consider his work to be experimental archaeology; his results are not systematically documented. Nevertheless, this craftsman's experience might provide the basis for a few conclusions that would contribute to the archaeological discussion. Sandquist uses the following method for carving a rune stone: when an appropriate stone has been selected and transported to its future location, he sketches a design of runes and ornaments directly onto the stone surface, first using a soaked cloth (so that possible mistakes will easily disappear), then coal (which can be erased easily), and finally, for the ultimate design, chalk. Then he carves the lines using a chisel and a hammer or mallet. The grooves are often painted with a mixture of buttermilk, pigment (e.g. iron oxide), and powdered ammonia. Ideally, the stone should be carved and painted while resting in a horizontal position and not erected until completed. To prevent future confusion among archaeologists and philologists, Sandquist's rune stones are recorded by the National Museum.Erik Moltke postulated that a pick hammer was more convenient than a chisel for carving runes and ornaments. He argued that if the rune carver was using a chisel and a hammer, his hand would be covering the area he was working on, whereas a pick hammer would allow him to see the work in progress at any time. However, the fact is that a pick hammer is far less precise when it comes to carving lines than the chisel and hammer: by holding the chisel near the stone surface, the rune carver can easily work precisely and furthermore adjust the power of the strokes. The pick hammer, on the other hand, is chisel and hammer all in one, and the direct percussion technique that it requires forces the stone mason to keep a distance from the stone surface, which causes imprecision as to percussion power and direction. The pick hammer is far more suitable for work on large surfaces, e.g. on ashlars, where the power of the hammer stroke is more important than precision.Just one pick hammer is known from Viking Age Scandinavia. It was found in the ring fortress of Trelleborg (Fig. 5). In addition, a pick hammer of uncertain date is known from Lund in Sweden (Fig. 6). In a European perspective, the Romans used this tool around the beginning of the Christian era. Several pick hammers are known, for instance, from the quarries in Felzberg near Odenwald, south of Mainz. In medieval art, pick hammers are often depicted as a tool for cutting ashlars (Figs. 7-8), and they were used until the Second World War.A number of chisels are known from Viking Age Scandinavia (Fig. 9), but the shape of the individual chisels does not reveal whether it was made for iron or stone working. However, the chisels may have a different degree of hardness, since ideally a chisel for stone carving would be less hard than one designed for iron working. The reason is that if the steel in the stonemason's chisel is too hard, the chisel will crack easily, and if on the other hand the steel is too soft, the chisel will need sharpening too often. This is why modern standard chisels are very poor for rune carving. Oxidation and recycling has probably been the fate of many prehistoric chisels. Wooden mallets, which may have been used for stone carving, are known from Viking Age Sigtuna. In pictures from the Middle Ages, chisels and mallets are depicted as tools for carving inscriptions (Fig. 10).The weathering of the rune stones has made it very difficult to find traces from the rune carvers' tools. Still, faint chisel marks can be observed on a few Swedish rune stones and on the large Jelling stone (Fig. 11). Erik Moltke interpreted small conical depressions which he observed in a number of rune grooves as marks from a pick hammer. The same phenomenon can be observed on the Vester Tørslev stone (Fig. 12). However, these marks only prove that a pointed tool was used – and that may well have been a pointed chisel.Ole Thirup Kastholm HansenInstitut for Arkæologi og EtnologiKøbenhavns UniversitetErik SandquistFøvling


Aim: This study evaluated the mechanical behavior of implant-supported crowns obtained by different fabrication technique after thermomechanical cycling. Methods: Thirtytwo external hexagon dental implants were divided into four groups (n=10): CC – conventional casting with torch; EI – electromagnetic induction casting; PL – plasma casting; and CAD-CAM – milling through computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. Vickers microhardness of the specimens were made before and after the thermomechanical cycling, and then subjected to fracture load. Fracture pattern was evaluated. Results: No significant difference was observed comparing the microhardness before and after thermomechanical cycling. CAD-CAM group presented significant lower microhardness than the other groups. No significant statistical difference was showed on fracture load between the groups. The CAD-CAM and PL presented lower number of failure by plastic deformation. Conclusion: The manufacturing techniques affected the mechanical behavior and the failure pattern of implant-supported crowns tested.


Fluorescent agents play an important role in the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence system. However, the effect of different frameworks on chemiluminescence (CL) has not been explored. Herein two pyrene-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), [Pb2L]n·2nDMA·2nH2O (1) and [(Ca2L)·(DMF)3]n·2.5nDMF·6nH2O (2) (H4L = 5,5'-(-pyrene-1,6-diyl)-diisophthalic acid; DMA = N,N'-dimethylacetamide; DMF = N,N'-dimethylformamide), have been successfully synthesized and are applied to CL. They both exhibit strong and lasting emission that is visible to the naked eye and is significantly stronger than that of the ligand. More importantly, compared with 2, 1 has notably better CL performance. We infer that the reason may be that 1 has higher stability and larger open channels, which can avoid the aggregation of organic ligands as well as provide an effective pathway for the active substance to diffuse into the channels.


Thiol-reactive reagents designed for the chemical modification of proteins cannot, in general, be used directly for the modification of intracellular targets because the presence of millimolar concentrations of glutathione inside cells effectively outcompetes reaction with target thiols. Here we report an equilibrium, entropic strategy for achieving target selectivity using a cyanoacrylate-based thiol-reactive cross-linker (BCNA) with two reactive sites. This compound exhibits ≳200-fold selectivity for reaction with target peptides and proteins containing appropriately spaced pairs of thiols, versus reaction with mono-thiols. Photo-isomerization of the azobenzene moiety of the cross-linker can be used to affect the conformation of the target peptide or protein. This approach suggests a general strategy for the chemical modification of intracellular peptide and protein targets.


ABSTRACT. Complete sample registration systems are almost inexistent in sub-Saharan Africa. The Countrywide Mortality Surveillance in Action (COMSA) project in Mozambique, a national mortality and cause of death surveillance system, was launched in January 2017, began data collection in March 2018, and covers over 800,000 population. The objectives of this analysis are to quantify the costs of establishing and maintaining the project between 2017 and 2020 and to assess the cost per output of the surveillance system using data from financial reports produced by the National Institute of Health in Mozambique. The program cost analysis consists of start-up (fixed) costs and average annual operating costs covering the period of maximum implementation in 700 clusters. The cost per output analysis quantifies the annual operating cost of surveillance outputs during the same period. Approximately two million dollars were spent on setting up the system, with infrastructure, technological investments, and training making up over 80% of these start-up costs. The average annual operating costs of maintaining COMSA was $984,771 per year, of which 66% were spent on wages and data collection incentives. The cost per output analysis indicates costs of $37–$42 per vital event captured in the surveillance system (deaths, pregnancies, pregnancy outcomes), $303–$340 per verbal and social autopsy conducted on a reported death, and a per capita cost of $1–$1.3. In conclusion, establishing COMSA required large costs associated with infrastructure and technological investments. However, the system offers long-term benefits for real-time data generation and informing government decision-making for health.


Apache Hadoop is one of the most prominent and early technologies for handling big data. Different scheduling algorithms within the framework of Apache Hadoop were developed in the last decade. In this paper, we attempt to provide a comprehensive overview over the different paradigms for scheduling in Apache Hadoop. The surveyed approaches fall under different categories, namely, Deadline prioritization, Resource prioritization, Job size prioritization, Hybrid approaches and recent trends for improvements upon default schedulers.


ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Sharol Schmidt is first author on ' Identification and characterization of the land-plant-specific microtubule nucleation factor MACET4', published in JCS. Sharol is a PhD candidate in the lab of Andrei Smertenko, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, WA, investigating the evolution of plant cell division and the mechanisms behind plant cell shaping.


While most studies of children's family changes and instability have focused on changes in mothers' marital and cohabiting relationships, other adults and children entering or leaving households also contribute to changes in who children live with. PRC faculty research associates Kelly Raley and Shannon Cavanagh, PRC staff member Robert Reynolds, and PRC graduate student trainee Inbar Weiss use data from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation to expand the description of children's household composition and stability to include sibling and other household member transitions as well as residential instability. They find that children's experience of household instability is much more frequent than previously documented, with black and Hispanic children experiencing more household instability than white and Asian children.


This paper describes a data-driven injury cost model (ICM) developed to estimate the costs associated with non-fatal consumer product injuries. The modeling effort combines information by diagnosis from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) and 17 other large data sets. The ICM contains four aggregated cost components: (1) medical costs, (2) work losses, (3) quality of life and pain and suffering costs, and (4) product liability insurance administration and litigation costs. The ICM estimates societal costs, which are broader than costs to any individual group, such as victims, insurers, or product manufacturers. Costs associated with consumer product injuries are estimated to be approximately $500 billion in 1996, accounting for nearly one-third of the total annual injury costs. We examine injury costs in several ways, including by major product category, by sex and age of victims, by body part injured, by injury diagnosis, and by highest level of medical treatment received. We also rank the 10 leading consumer products that account for injury costs overall and within different age groups. Products such as stairs and floors are among the top 10 for all age groups. Other products, however, are more closely tied to injuries at particular stages of life (e.g., infant/toddler, child, young adult, elderly). These cost estimates are useful in assessing which products and types of injuries impose the greatest costs on society and for identifying areas for focused injury prevention efforts.


Type D personality, or distressed personality, refers to the joint tendency to experience negative emotions and to inhibit self-expression in social interactions. The overall aims of this thesis were to examine the impact of Type D personality on adolescents' self-perceived health, to examine the factorial and temporal stability of the Type D personality construct DS14, and to clarify whether type D personality is an independent risk factor for recurrent myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality among patients with myocardial infarction.The prevalence of Type D personality in the adolescent population was 10.4% for boys and 14.6% for girls. Boys and girls with Type D personality were approximately twice as likely to report musculoskeletal pain and five times as likely to report psychosomatic symptoms.Adolescents with Type D personality were four times more likely to have sleep disturbances and to sleep fewer hours, especially on school nights.Among patients with myocardial infarction, the Swedish DS14 had stable structural validity. Our measurements confirmed the two-factor model of the DS14. However, the DS14 exhibited low temporal stability, especially when comparing the measurement obtained during hospitalization with the 1- and 12-month follow-up measurements.Among patients with myocardial infarction, the Framingham risk score had a strong predictive value for recurrent myocardial infarction, and a somewhat weaker predictive value for all-cause mortality. However, none of the previously proposed methods for the analysis of the DS14 Type D personality measurement predicted recurrent myocardial infarction or all-cause mortality, either in univariable analyses or in addition to the Framingham risk score.In conclusion, the present thesis found significant associations between the DS14 and psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents. However, the measurement exhibited a low stability over time and no predictive value for recurrent myocardial infarction and mortality among patients with myocardial infarction. Taken together, these results raise the question of whether the Swedish DS14 really is a measure of personality. An alternative explanation for the strong cross-sectional associations observed between the DS14 and psychosomatic symptoms might be that the DS14 functions as a pseudo-measure of ill health, or co-varies with depressive or psychosomatic characteristics.


This paper describes architectures and design of a linear array processor chip called a SliM-II Image Processor. The chip has a linear array of 64 processing elements (PEs). In contrast to existing array processors, each PE has a multiplier that is quite effective for convolution, template matching, etc. The instruction set can execute an ALU, a data I/O, and an inter-PE communication operations simultaneously in an instruction cycle. In addition, during the ALU/multiplier operation, SliM-II provides parallel data load/store between the register file and on-chip memory as in DSP chips. The SliM-II contains about 1.5 million transistors in a 13.2/spl times/13.0 mm/sup 2/ core size and the package type is 208 pin PQ2. The performance estimation shows a significant improvement for algorithms requiring multiplications compared with existing array processors.


The seven essays in this volume address different issues related to green and innovation procurement as well as more general challenges in public procurement. These studies address both general, abstract problems of optimal public procurement and concrete cases of national or even local public procurement systems. The evidence that they present covers a broad spectrum of countries including Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and several African countries. Reflecting the different expertise of the authors, the studies draw from the Economics, Engineering, Law and Organization approaches to public procurement and use both theoretical and empirical methods. We divided these studies into three groups on the basis of their main topic area: green procurement, innovation procurement and challenges in public procurement.


The lack of oral anticoagulant guidelines specific to paediatric practice has led to the adoption of adult regimens, often without scientific evidence of efficacy or safety. A two year prospective study of anticoagulant control was carried out in 45 children aged 9 months to 18 years, the majority of whom were receiving primary prophylactic anticoagulation. The main indication was congenital heart disease, either with (n = 8) or without (n = 34) mechanical valve prosthesis. During a follow up period of 602 patient months the average interval between visits was three weeks. Target international normalised ratios (INRs) were achieved on 62% and 39% of visits for children with low target INR (2.0-3.0) and high target INR (3.0-4.0) respectively. However warfarin dose was altered on only 22% of visits. Warfarin doses required to achieve a stable INR of 2.0-3.0 in 33 children were strongly correlated with weight [dose (mg/d) = 0.07 x weight (kg) + 0.54] but independently influenced by age. No thrombotic complications were recorded, and haemorrhagic events were infrequent (2.1% of visits) and, with one exception, minor. Safe outpatient oral anticoagulation is feasible in children, whose warfarin requirements appear moderately predictable and whose control is no more erratic than that of adults.


Our study aims to compare the level of redistribution, and expenditure structure of the Visegrad countries in the period between 1995–2010. For the purpose of comparability, the new methodology presented in the study filters out those components of total expenditures, which are exogenous in the short term from the perspective of economic policy makers. Of these, the most significant are the interest payments determined by the level of indebtedness and interest rates, tax payments within the general government, and EU subsidies running through the budget. Beyond this we defined a structural indicator for medium term expenditure developments, which filters cyclical effects from the corrected data, and also spreads the government's capital expenditures out within the electoral cycle. The disaggregated figures highlight that compared to the other countries of the region, the excessive level of expenditure was increased by the growth of social expenditures in the period between 2002–2006 in Hungary. Afterwards, cuts were made to the additional expenditure by reducing public health care and general public services expenditure. The total adjusted Hungarian expenditure level fell short of the regional average in 2010. At the same time, Hungary had the highest level of social expenditures and the lowest level of healthcare expenditures in the region.


Liver diseases specific of pregnancy, the most common hepatic complications of pregnancy, are always associated with a sometimes asymptomatic increase in serum aminotransferase activity. The most frequent of the liver diseases specific of pregnancy in normotensive pregnant women is cholestasis of pregnancy, the cause of generalised pruritus, and, in those with pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia which requires short-term cessation of pregnancy. Similar treatment is required by acute fatty liver of pregnancy the diagnosis of which must be done in the third trimester when recent polydipsia, nausea or vomiting occurs. Moreover, pregnancy increases the incidence and/or the severity of herpes simplex hepatitis (for which acyclovir therapy is urgently required) and hepatitis type E. Pregnancy may also unmask untreated cases of autoimmune hepatitis, Wilson's disease or Budd-Chiari syndrome.


The top 23 countries with energy consumption accounting for 80% of the worldwide total in 2020 were selected as the research objects for this study. The energy consumption structure of these countries has been compared and studied from the proportion of clean energy in primary energy, the clean utilization rate of fossil energy, and the proportion of electric energy in terminal energy consumption, and the characteristics of energy consumption intensity were also analyzed based on the energy consumption per unit GDP, capital, and unit land area. The energy consumption patterns of various countries in social-economic operation, production, and life were also discussed, combined with the characteristics of industrial structure and subsector energy consumption. The concept of natural carbon sink load ratio of energy consumption was put forward, and the advantages and challenges of energy consumption mode transformation under carbon peak and carbon neutralization goals in China were identified and analyzed. The results showed that:the proportion of clean energy in primary energy, the proportion of energy consumption for power generation, the clean utilization rate of fossil energy, and the proportion of electric energy in terminal energy consumption in China were 15.90%, 53.48%, 37.51%, and 26.54%,respectively,all of which were in the forefront among the major energy-consuming countries in the world. China has built a favorable structural foundation for energy-intensive and clean utilization and formed a green and low-carbon energy consumption model; the proportion of non-industrial and agricultural energy consumption, especially that of transportation energy consumption, were both the lowest among major energy-consuming countries, and there is still much room for improvement in overall energy productivity based on the optimization of industrial structure. However, the relatively short carbon peak and neutralization target period poses a great challenge to the development speed and scale of clean energy to China, and the international situation under the constraint of carbon emission also increases the difficulty for China to achieve the carbon reduction goal by optimizing and adjusting the industrial structure.


In a world strapped for resources, sustainable consumption (SC) involves a set of practices aimed at well-being for all. Spiritual practices such as yoga can both drive and inform SC in terms of making links to one's own everyday consumption. Such practices have already made a difference in the health and medical fields. However, they have far more benefits than the maintenance of physical health. Many spiritual methods have well established frameworks and methods to help individuals develop both their inner selves as well as their relationships with others. Authentic practice of yoga is one such method. In this paper, the authors of the study, who are long time practitioners in the yogic and Buddhists traditions, develop a model based on holistic yoga teachings and show how it can be used to make more mindful decisions and thus drive sustainable consumption behaviors. They also provide additional triangulation perspectives on the practices of spirituality and sustainability through their own personal introspective reflections and suggest future research directions in this area.


Objective: The study purpose was to compare ambulatory function in men with and without HIV infection, and test the association with aerobic exercise capacity.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 45 HIV-infected men and 37 age and race-matched HIVuninfected men at the Baltimore VA Medical Center. Participants performed cardiorespiratory exercise testing, sixminute walk (6-MW) and the 400-meter long distance corridor walk (LDCW) as part of a study of veterans without history of CVD.
Results: The mean (SD) age was 55 (6) years. Among the 82 male participants, 98% were African American race. The 6-MW distance correlated with aerobic exercise capacity (VO2peak) in both HIV-infected subjects (r=0.50, p 0.1). Between HIV groups, there was a significant difference in LDCW (p=0.01) but not in 6-MW (p=0.3).
Conclusions: In HIV-infected men without known CVD the 6-MW and LDCW, provide similar estimates of aerobic exercise capacity. The findings are comparable to uninfected men with similar demographic and clinical characteristics, and support endurance walk tests to estimate aerobic exercise capacity in HIV-infected patients.


ABSTRACT Background Older adults with lower levels of activity can be at risk of poor health outcomes. Wearable technology has improved the acceptability and objectivity of measuring activity for older adults in high-income countries. Nevertheless, the technology is under-utilized in low-to-middle income countries. The aim was to explore feasibility, acceptability and utility of wearable technology to measure walking activity in rural-dwelling, older Tanzanians. Methods A total of 65 participants (73.9 ± 11.2 years), 36 non-frail and 29 frail, were assessed. Free-living data were recorded for 7 days with an accelerometer on the lower back. Data were analyzed via an automatic cloud-based pipeline: volume, pattern and variability of walking were extracted. Acceptability questionnaires were completed. T-tests were used for comparison between the groups. Results 59/65 datasets were analyzed. Questionnaires indicated that 15/65 (23.0%) experienced some therapeutic benefit from the accelerometer, 15/65 (23.0%) expected diagnostic benefit; 16/65 (24.6%) experienced symptoms while wearing the accelerometer (e.g. itching). Frail adults walked significantly less, had less variable walking patterns, and had a greater proportion of shorter walking bouts compared to the non-frail. Conclusion This study suggests that important contextual and practical limitations withstanding wearable technology may be feasible for measuring walking activity in older rural-dwelling adults in low-income settings, identifying those with frailty.


The wide scale deployment of Internet combined with several advancements in hardware and software technologies created opportunities for several Internet based applications such as Voice Over IP (VoIP) that involves the delivery of voice, video and data to the end user. SIP, the Session Initiation Protocol, is a signaling protocol for Internet conferencing, telephony, presence, events notification and instant messaging. The SIP Proxy Server is a call control software package that enables service providers to build scalable, reliable Voice over IP networks today and it provides a full array of call routing capabilities to maximize network performance in both small and large packet voice networks. The SIP Proxy Server can perform a digest authentication of SIP Register, invite requests, and can encrypt SIP requests and responses using Transport Layer Security (TLS). For secure communication, user authentication, confidentiality and integrity of signaling message and SIP session establishment are essential. TLS is used for the secured SIP signaling and Secure Real Time Protocol (SRTP) for secured SIP session establishment. This paper is focused on evaluating the performance impacts of SIP proxy servers when secured (TLS) over non-secured transport protocols (TCP/UDP) are used to transport SIP messages. Several experiments were conducted in a lab environment to evaluate key performance parameters such as Call setup time, Mean number of calls, Memory utilization, CPU utilization and queue size.


ABSTRACT Safe and effective vaccines are still urgently needed to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, we developed a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (V-01) containing fusion protein (IFN-PADRE-RBD-Fc dimer) as antigen verified to induce protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 challenge in pre-clinical study, which supported progression to Phase I clinical trials in humans. A Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase I clinical trial was initiated at the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Gaozhou, China) in February 2021. Healthy adults aged between 18 and 59 years and over 60 years were sequentially enrolled and randomly allocated into three subgroups (1:1:1) either to receive the vaccine (10, 25, and 50 μg) or placebo (V-01: Placebo = 4:1) intramuscularly with a 21-day interval by a sentinel and dose escalation design. The data showed a promising safety profile with approximately 25% vaccine-related overall adverse events (AEs) within 30 days and no grade 3 or worse AEs. Besides, V-01 provoked rapid and strong immune responses, elicited substantially high-titre neutralizing antibodies and anti-RBD IgG peaked at day 35 or 49 after first dose, presented with encouraging immunogenicity at low dose (10 μg) subgroup and elderly participants, which showed great promise to be used as all-aged (18 and above) vaccine against COVID-19. Taken together, our preliminary findings indicate that V-01 is safe and well tolerated, capable of inducing rapid and strong immune responses, and warrants further testing in Phase II/III clinical trials.


This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of hardware accelerators for neural networks in both the digital and time domains, where the latter includes spatially unrolled (SU) and recursive (REC) architectures. All accelerators are implemented and synthesized in a 65nm CMOS technology. An identical neural network model is implemented in the digital and time domain for comparative purposes in terms of throughput, power consumption, area, and energy efficiency. Post-synthesis results show that SU achieves the highest energy efficiency of 145 TOp/s/W with a throughput of 4 GOp/s. The digital core is the fastest among other cores, whereas REC is the slowest but is the most area-efficient, occupying 0.114 mm2. SU is more suited for applications with stringent power constraints and average performance, while REC is better suited for applications where the area is the most important requirement and the throughput is less significant. In contrast, the digital core is preferable for large neural networks and critical applications that require high performance.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Introduction: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is not curable and novel therapeutic agents and their rational combinations are needed. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is an attractive target for antitumor therapy, as its persistent activity is associated with tumor formation, growth, metastasis, and drug resistance in many cancer types, including B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 20S proteasome activity is regulated by the catalytic subunits β1, β2, and β5 or in the case of the immunoproteasome (i20S) by the inducible catalytic subunits LMP2 (β1i), MECL-1(β2i), and LMP7 (β5i). Carfilzomib (CFZ), a proteasome inhibitor, inhibits the proteasome by binding specifically and irreversibly to the catalytic subunit β5/β5i.

Materials and Methods: CFZ was supplied by Onyx Pharmaceuticals (South San Francisco, CA). The Btk inhibitor ibrutinib (PCI-32765) was provided by Pharmacyclics (Sunnyvale, CA). Human MCL cell lines (Mino, Jeko-1, Z138, and Rec-1) were either created by our laboratory or obtained from American Type Culture Collection. Primary cells were obtained from newly diagnosed MCL patients with informed consent. Cell viability was assessed by an MTT assay, apoptosis by Annexin V binding assays, and proteasome expression by Western blotting.

Results: We found that MCL cells had different responses to CFZ. For the CFZ-sensitive MCL cell lines Mino and Z138 and freshly isolated MCL cells from 6 patients, CFZ significantly induced the growth inhibition and apoptosis at a low dose (IC50 2-6 nM). In contrast, for the CFZ-resistant MCL cell line (Rec-1) and fresh primary MCL cells from patients with clinical resistance, CFZ did not induce cell death (IC50 not reached at 100 nM). Next, Western blot analysis showed that the CFZ-resistant cells lacked expression of the i20S subunits LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1. By contrast, the CFZ-sensitive cells showed high levels of LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1. These results suggest that an intact immunoproteasome is necessary for CFZ-induced anti-MCL activity. In an attempt to overcome the CFZ resistance, we studied the effect of ibrutinib in CFZ-resistant MCL cells. Ibrutinib alone was toxic to both CFZ-sensitive and CFZ-resistant MCL cells with IC50 values ranging from 3 to 12.5 μM. Furthermore, we found that ibrutinib synergized with CFZ in CFZ-sensitive cell lines, and primary MCL cells. The Chou-Talay combination index was < 1, indicating synergism between the two drugs. Most importantly, the CFZ-resistant MCL cells Rec-1 were sensitive to ibrutinib, with an IC50 of 6 uM.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1 may serve as potential biomarkers for patients who are likely to be sensitive to CFZ. Our data also suggest that ibrutinib may be useful in patients with CFZ-resistant MCL. Our preclinical data provide a strong rationale for testing the ibrutinib-CFZ combination clinically.

Citation Format: Zhishuo Ou, Liang Zhang, Kate Newberry, Luhong Sun, Kirk J. Christopher, Alex Rollo, Archito Tamayo, John Lee, Richard J. Ford, Michael Wang, Lan V. Pham. The bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib synergized with the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib and overcame immunoproteasome-mediated carfilzomib resistance in mantle cell lymphoma . [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2432. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2432


Using electron holography in a transmission electron microscope, we obtained direct evidence for the reduction of negative charge at grain boundary dislocations in Ca-doped YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) when compared to undoped YBCO. Because of the finite width of the valence band in the superconducting CuO2 planes, the negative grain boundary charge can lead to a depletion of electron holes available for superconductivity. A significant reduction in the size of the perturbed region in the Ca-doped samples appears to be the principal mechanism for the improved interfacial superconductivity.


State intervention in population and family planning has been gradually increasing on the assumption that unregulated population growth poses serious national problems requiring public action. Among 152 developing nations in areas surveyed with respect to population and family planning policies in 1980, 52 supported family planning primarily from a demographic rationale and 65 from a health or human rights rationale, while only 35 provide no support. There appear to be 4 major underlying sociophilosophical perspectives on the role of the state in population planning: 1) the deontic/utilitarian whose prime concern is with the rights and obligations of present generations to future generations; this view provides a very vague basis for a general policy of population planning, 2) the environmentalist, which with varying degrees of pessimism in different formulations argue the need to limit population and economic growth because of the limited nature of the world's resources; this view ignores a considerable body of evidence that more than just overpopulation is involved in environmental problems, 3) the family planning perspective, advocated and supported by various international organizations and conferences, holds that decisions about birth control should be made by prospective parents. The assumption is that making birth control methods and education readily accessible to everyone will eventually result in birth rates which are desirable for the society as a whole. In practice, it is difficult to establish whether such voluntaristic measures are enough to control population, 4) the developmental distributionist position sees low birth rates as resulting from modernization, including such factors as more equitable distribution of income and increased educational and social services. Pakistan's family planning program has undergone 3 major bureaucratic reorganizations and shifts in strategy consequent on changes in national leadership since services were 1st offered in 1965. Singapore's leadership has supported family planning actively and consistently since 1966, and the country's socioeconomic development has contributed to its remarkable fertility decline. A 1975 survey of 864 persons in Singapore and a 1981 survey of 584 persons in Pakistan included questions on opinions of the appropriate role of the state in population planning. In Singapore and Pakistan respectively, 31 and 17% felt that the government should have a strict role in controlling family size, 32 and 10% felt that the government should primarily provide advice and pass laws, 18 and 18% felt the government should provide advice only, 17 and 37% felt it should be left to the married couple, and 2 and 18% didn't know. The empirical evidence suggests that the political legitimacy of the state and public policies to promote distributive justice, are both more developed in Singapore than Pakistan, have significant influence on the degree of public acceptance of state intervention in family planning.


Background: Tumor-associated macrophages can account for more than 50% of the cells in the tumor immune microenvironment of breast cancer patients. A high TAM density is related to a poor clinical prognosis. Targeting TAMs is a promising therapeutic strategy since TAMs promote tumor growth, development and metastasis. Results: We found that CDDO-ME significantly inhibited the tumor invasion-promoting ability of TAMs in the coculture system and further showed that CDDO-ME functioned by reducing ROS production in TAMs. The orthotopic 4T1 cell inoculation model and spontaneous MMTV-PyMT tumor model were used to evaluate the antitumor effect of CDDO-ME. The results showed that CDDO-ME significantly inhibited tumor metastasis and increased T cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. Mechanistically, NRF2 activation was necessary for CDDO-ME to exert its function. Conclusions: Overall, CDDO-ME can play a role in breast cancer as an anticancer drug targeting TAMs.


The KIR2DL4 gene is characterized by alleles with either 9 or 10 consecutive adenines in exon 7, which encodes the transmembrane domain. The 9A variant produces either a protein with a truncated cytoplasmic tail or one lacking the transmembrane region. This causes a lack of KIR2DL4 expression. In contrast, 10A alleles encode receptors that may be expressed at the cell surface. We tested 438 healthy individuals for polymorphism of the KIR2DL4 gene. KIR2DL4 9A/10A alleles were distinguished by the high resolution melting (HRM) method, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used for genotyping of three other single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning the near vicinity of the poly-adenine fragment. We found a weak difference between males and females in 9769 C/A genotypes and alleles. In addition, we observed complete linkage disequilibrium (LD) between 9A insertion/deletion in the 9620 position and the 9571T/C position of the gene (r(2)  = 1) both in females and males and almost complete LD with the 9797G/A position (r(2)  = 0.963 for females and r(2)  = 0.892 for males). Most importantly, we detected, in a group of fertile women, a high frequency (30.2%) of homozygosity for the defective 9A variant, which suggests that KIR2DL4 as a functional cell surface receptor is not absolutely necessary for reproduction. On the other hand, lower representation of 10A/10A homozygotes and high frequency of 10A/9A heterozygotes indicates a need for both cell membrane-anchored and soluble KIR2DL4 molecules. Finally, cost-reducing RFLP instead of HRM is proposed for typing 9A and 10A variants.


An extensive larval mosquito survey was conducted in Craighead County in northeastern Arkansas in 1990-91. Nineteen species representing 8 genera were collected. Culex restuans was the most cosmopolitan species in relation to habitat utilization, being collected in 5 or 7 habitat types sampled. A major range extension of Aedes taeniorhynchus in Arkansas was documented as well as the first known collection of Aedes albopictus in the northeastern part of the state.


Background: Korea's primary care clinics are seeking increase in consultation fees by expanding supply within the frame of the health insurance system, but inequality of physician income between regions and individuals is exacerbating. The purpose of this study lies in analyzing the distribution of patients of primary care clinics, their specialized field, and the degree of inequality between medical fee income according to region. Data was acquired from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on charged bills made by clinic-size medical institutions from 2008 to 2011.Methods: By comparing the outpatient number per clinic according to the clinic's specialized field, results showed that ophthalmol-ogy, otolaryngology, dermatology, orthopedics, and internal medicine showed high numbers whereas plastic surgery, neuropsychia-try, cardiothoracic surgery had fewer outpatients. The number of outpatients for clinic according to region showed Chuncheonnam-do, Jeju-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Ulsan to have higher numbers of outpatients. For those four years, clinics in the Seoul area had a rather lower number.Results: As a result of comparing the decile hierarchy distribution ratio between specialized fields according to primary care clinics income from National Health Insurance, the inequality degree showed that obstetrics and gynecology and general medicine were each 0.130, 0.280 for the decile distribution ratio, which was the highest degree of inequality within the specialized field. Their Gini coefficient were also relatively high at 0.691, 0.528 respectively. On the other hand, the decile distribution ratio for otolaryngology and orthopedics were 0.510, 0.468, respectively, while their Gini coefficient each at 0.318, 0.314 makes their inequality degree rela-tively lower than other fields.Conclusion: This study is limited in that the data used was the health insurance charges submitted by clinics, which does not provide total information of the doctors' income. However, because most clinics are largely dependant on their income to come from health insurance reimbursements. Therefore, the results of this study can be used effectively. In the future, research that includes data on non-covered service income should be conducted to closely examine policy plans with a new medical fee policy which can resolve the medical fee income inequality issue between clinics as well as revitalize primary medical care.Keywords: Primary care clinics; Income; Decile distribution ratio; Gini coefficient


We study monopolistic design of a menu of non-linear tariffs when consumers have biased prior beliefs regarding their future preferences. In our model, consumers are "optimistic'' if their prior belief assigns too much weight to states of nature characterized by large gains from trade. A consumer's degree of optimism is his private information, and the monopolist employs the menu of non-linear tariffs to screen it. We characterize the optimal menu and show that the existence of non-common priors has significant qualitative implications for price discrimination and ex-post inefficiency. Finally, the characterization enables us to interpret aspects of real-life menus of non-linear tariffs.


Introduction The construction industry experiences severe injuries. When an employee is injured, the goal is to minimise long-term disability and efficiently return the employee to work. The Union Construction Workers Compensation Program (UCWCP) of Minnesota provides an alternative, collectively-bargained system administered by workers' compensation insurance providers. The program includes exclusive provider network for medical care and access to alternative dispute resolution process. The goal of this study is to determine injury outcome differences for UCWCP members. Methods Workers' compensation claims were examined over a ten year period. UCWCP membership and date of enrollment were determined. Claims were stratified by medical or lost-time status. Multiple measures of severity and outcome were examined, including claim rate and duration, time to return-to-work, and permanent partial disability status. We calculated rates and comparative risk based on UCWCP. A logistic model will estimate rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) as a function of claim rate. Time-to-event models will assess differences in duration of disability based on UCWCP. Proportional hazards regression estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CI. Results UCWCP employers had a lower rate of lost-time claims. Compared to non-UCWCP employers, UCWCP-membership was associated with a 9% increased likelihood of claim closure for both medical and lost-time claims (HR=1.09, CI=1.05–1.13; HR=1.09, CI=1.02–1.17). Most differences occurred in the first 90 days. Return-to-work likelihood and reduced permanent disability appeared to be related to UCWCP. Conclusions Alternative workers' compensation arrangements may include elements that collectively protect workers' interests, reduce injury severity, and are cost-effective for insurers.


The ability to accurately capture and express emotions is a critical aspect of creating believable characters in video games and other forms of entertainment. Traditionally, this animation has been achieved with artistic effort or performance capture, both requiring costs in time and labor. More recently, audio-driven models have seen success, however, these often lack expressiveness in areas not correlated to the audio signal. In this paper, we present a novel approach to facial animation by taking existing animations and allowing for the modification of style characteristics. Specifically, we explore the use of a StarGAN to enable the conversion of 3D facial animations into different emotions and person-specific styles. We are able to maintain the lip-sync of the animations with this method thanks to the use of a novel viseme-preserving loss.


The ion-ion recombination rate in laboratory air at atmospheric pressure and room temperature has been re-investigated experimentally. Both pulsed and continuous irradiation methods were used. The pulsed source enabled the recombination coefficient to be measured as a function of ion age between ½ msec and ½ sec. It has been shown that the very high initial recombination rates at low ion ages can be satisfactorily explained by the existence of microscopic regions in which the ion density is much higher than the average density over the ionized volume. Decreases in the recombination coefficient which were observed in a few cases at about 50 msec ion age have been attributed to changes in the type of ions involved. Day-to-day variations in the recombination coefficient were ascribed to variations in the minor constituents of the air used. The results of pulsed and continuous methods for recombination coefficient are in quantitative agreement yielding a value of 14×10−6 cm3 sec−1 for untreated laboratory air. Although the air used was not necessarily representative of other laboratory environments, this value shows that for much practical work a recombination coefficient considerably lower than that reported in the literature for carefully dried air should be used.


We demonstrate a passive microfluidic system for simple and efficient metering, handling and control of parallel nanoliter samples on-chip. The system consist of two chips; one for sample loading, splitting and metering (based on capillary forces only), and another for sample plug movement in parallel reaction channels. The latter is based on a set of capillary valves and one single external pressure source only. The strength of the capillary valves determines the logic movement of the parallel sample droplets on-chip, permitting robust system control. In general, the presented system is applicable to a variety of multi-step reaction protocols with a large number of parallel channels.


ABSTRACT In order to compare the prophylactic effect provided by a poly(d,l-lactide) sustained-release device (SRD) containing isometamidium (ISMM) with that provided by the classical intramuscular injection of the drug, a field trial was carried out at the Madina Diassa Ranch in Mali. One- to 3-year-old N'Dama cattle were randomly divided into three groups. The first group (n = 42) was treated with ISMM at a dose of 1 mg/kg of body weight, the second group (n = 44) received the same dose of the drug via an SRD, which was subcutaneously implanted in the shoulder region, and the third group (n = 36) was kept as an untreated control group. All animals were treated with diminazene aceturate (7 mg/kg of body weight) 2 weeks before the start of the experiment and were tested monthly by the buffy coat technique for a period of 8 months. Glossina morsitans submorsitanswas the most important tsetse species, with apparent densities (number of catches/trap/day) varying between 11.9 and 38.7 over the experimental period. Eight months after treatment the cumulative infection rates were 27.7, 58.5, and 77.4% in the group with the SRD implant, the group receiving the intramuscular injection, and the control group, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that the incidence of trypanosomiasis was significantly lower (P = 0.006) in the group which received ISMM via the SRD than in the one which was treated with ISMM intramuscularly.


The research consists of two steps with the goal to investigate the relationship between meat species (mutton, goat, beef and rabbit) in prerigor and postrigor stages in respect to emulsification capacity (EC), water-holding capacity (WHC) and cooking loss (CL) parameters and the effect of rigor state of species on these parameters. For this purpose, immediately after slaughter and deboning, meat parts were assigned to both pre- and postrigor analyses. Tissue was ground, and then mixed to obtain homogeneous meat batches. Prerigor analyses were conducted in less than 90 min following slaughtering and deboning processes. Postrigor analyses were conducted after remaining meat parts were held for 24 h at 2C. The results showed that mutton and goat meats have higher EC and WHC values in both the pre- and postrigor stages. The rigor state of meat species affected significantly (P < 0.05) the pH, EC and WHC values. The prerigor stage of mutton and goat meat had the most desirable characteristics for emulsion-type meat products.


Blind image deblurring aims to recover sharp image from a blurred one while the blur kernel is unknown. To solve this ill-posed problem, a great amount of image priors have been explored and employed in this area. In this paper, we present a blind deblurring method based on Local Maximum Gradient (LMG) prior. Our work is inspired by the simple and intuitive observation that the maximum value of a local patch gradient will diminish after the blur process, which is proved to be true both mathematically and empirically. This inherent property of blur process helps us to establish a new energy function. By introducing an liner operator to compute the Local Maximum Gradient, together with an effective optimization scheme, our method can handle various specific scenarios. Extensive experimental results illustrate that our method is able to achieve favorable performance against state-of-the-art algorithms on both synthetic and real-world images.


This work develops an instrument for evaluating projects – a range of numerical measurement in degrees – which includes a set of attributes of complexity and uncertainty variables in projects. Through theoretical foundations, we identified a set of variables that represent the attributes complexity and uncertainty. This set of variables was evaluated by 32 project managers who, through a questionnaire, validated two groups of 14 variables, one for each attribute, which were analyzed through multivariate statistical techniques – the Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster Analysis. The analysis results showed that 10 variables have greater adhesion to each one of the attributes, therefore they became part of the range measurement. This analysis also allowed establishing a criterion for calculating the scores to form that scale, resulting in the production of a matrix that converges to the classification of attributes into a single point in relation to the complexity and uncertainty of projects.


Objective: To identify the needs of Obstetrician-Gynaecologists (OB-GYNs) in British Columbia, Canada, for the medical and surgical care of women with endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP). Methods: Online survey. Results: Forty-four OB-GYNs responded to the survey (24%; 44/180). Most stated that CPP patients required more visits (82%; 36/44), and most felt their time was poorly compensated (77%; 28/36). Only five percent (2/41) were able to make a diagnosis of the cause(s) of CPP in >70% of their patients, with the endometriosis the most common diagnosis (47%). There was a high rate of the use of laparoscopy for the evaluation of CPP (67%; 28/42). A quarter (8/35) felt comfortable with pain management. Many have accessed CPP practice guidelines (63%; 22/35), but only one-third (12/35) were clear about the guidelines. Respondents were favourable towards online resources, phone support, and the tertiary referral centre, though distance from the centre was identified as a limitation. Conclusions: Identified needs gaps for the care of women with endometriosis and CPP were time constraints, remuneration, achieving a diagnosis, pain management, clinical guidelines, online resources, phone support, and distance from a tertiary referral centre.


Abstract In the past ten years, a great deal of geological study has been reported on the magmatic rocks exposed in the central and western region of the Kuluketage Block, while similar research in the eastern region has rarely been reported. In this paper, we report zircon U–Pb geochronological, zircon Lu–Hf isotopic, whole-rock elemental and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic data for the Dapingliang intermediate-acid intrusive rocks in the eastern Kuluketage Block, in order to evaluate its petrogenesis and tectonic significance. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) zircon U–Pb dating provided a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 735 ± 3 Ma for the albitophyre (D1), 717 ± 2 Ma for the granite porphyry (D2) and 721 ± 1 Ma for the diorite porphyrite (D3). Geochemical analyses reveal that D1 and D2 belong to Na-rich alkaline A-type granites, and D3 shows the features of high-K calc-alkaline I-type granite. D1 and D2 are characterized by light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment and relative depletion of high field strength element (HFSE), with relatively flat heavy rare earth element (HREE) patterns and obviously negative Eu anomalies. D3 is characterized by the enrichment of LREE and depletion of HFSE, with negative slope HREE patterns and slightly negative Eu anomalies. In tectonic discrimination diagrams, D1 and D2 fall in the within-plate granite (WPG) field, indicating a rift setting. Although D3 falls within the volcanic arc granite (VAG) field, it most likely formed in a rift setting, as inferred from its petrology, Sr–Nd–Hf isotopes and regional tectonic evolution. Based on pronounced εNd(t), εHf(t), Pb isotopic data, TDM2 and high (87Sr/86Sr)i and elemental compositions, D1 was derived from the partial melting of basement amphibolites of the old lower crust. D2 originated from a mixture of the old lower crust and depleted mantle-derived magmas and was dominated by partial melting of the basement amphibolites of the lower crust. D3 could have been formed by partial melting of K-rich hornblende in the lower crust. Combining previous studies, we think that the c. 745–710 Ma magmatic rocks were formed in a continental rift setting. A partial melting scheme, triggered by underplating of mantle plume-derived magmas, is proposed to interpret the formation of c. 745–710 Ma A-type and I-type granitoids, mantle-derived mafic dykes, bimodal intrusive rocks, adakitic granites and volcanic rocks. These magmatic activities were probably a reflection of the break-up of the Rodinia supercontinent. Highlights (1) Circa 720 Ma magmatism in the eastern Kuluketage Block.(2) Na-rich granite was derived from partial melting of basement amphibolites.(3) The c. 745–710 Ma magmatic rocks were formed in a continental rift setting.(4) The underplating of mantle plume-derived magmas is proposed.


The effects of an acute toxic dose of cocaine (COC) (60 mg/kg, i.p.) as a stressor were examined in rats both neuroendocrinally and behaviorally. The time course (5 min, 5, 12, and 24 h) of the alterations in the immunoreactivity of POMC (preopiomelanocortin)-derived neuropeptides [ACTH (adrenocorticotropin), beta-endorphin, and alpha-MSH (melanocyte stimulating hormone)] and immediate-early gene-derived proteins (c-fos and egr-1 proteins) was examined in the hypothalamus, including the regions reported to be neuroendocrinally sensitive to stressor effects, along with the accompanying alterations in the spontaneous behaviors in the cage and the forced swimming behaviors. Similar to the observations in rats treated with a 30 min immobilization stress (IM), an increase in the number of immunoreactive nerve cells for each neuroendocrinal product and a delayed depression in the swimming behaviors as compared to the alterations in the spontaneous activity, which seemed to be correlated with some intermediate steps, were characteristically caused by a toxic dose of COC. However, the early enhancement (at 5 h) of the swimming behaviors and the brain ACTH level might also be the characteristic acute COC effects, which could be differentiated from the effects of other non-psychostimulant stressors.


At the present time, the up-to-date education under conditions of implementing Federal State Educational Standards of elementary general education (FGOS NOO) urgently requires the comprehensive information training of the primary school teacher. It is known that the content of any training includes not only the content of educational material, but also the nature of classroom activities, technology, methods and forms of education, because the personal qualities, as well as content of education and development depend largely not only on what is learned, but also on how it is learned. Organization of the process of training for the primary school teachers to teach informatics is possible through the use of methods, aids and forms of education adequate to content. The article presents the concrete proposals relating to organization of the process of training for the future primary school teachers to teach a propaedeutical course of informatics based on the training experience of the proper specialists in the Nizhnevartovsk State University. There have been systematized methods, aids and organization forms of educative process of the future elementary school teachers to teach a propaedeutical course of informatics. The research results extend the knowledge of educational specialists in matters of theory, methods and technology of teaching propaedeutical course of informatics..


The effects of captivity on the behaviour of wild and domestic animals have been relatively well studied, but little has been published on morphological changes in wild animals in captivity. We review the evidence for changes in a wide variety of mammalian taxa, with non- mammalian examples where relevant. 2. We consider the morphological effects of the process of domestication, and compare changes in both hard and soft tissues in captive and domestic animals with those in their wild counterparts. These include skull shape differences, brain size reduction, postcranial adaptations and digestive tract changes. 3. We also summarize studies that have looked at morphological change in feral animals in comparison with their wild and domestic ancestors, and consider their use as an analogue for morphological change in captive-bred animals that have been released into the wild. 4. We then discuss the importance of this work for the wider aims of conservation of endangered species and captive breeding over many generations, and emphasize the impor- tance of studying these changes now, while for many species, the process is just beginning rather than many generations down the line, or immediately prior to release, where survival of captive-bred animals may be severely compromised.


Vermicomposting is a biological process for the management of solid wastes and animal excreta. The present study was undertaken to produce vermicompost from biogas plant slurry (BPS) mixing with cow dung using Eudrilus eugeniae. The quality of prepared compost was compared with control and its yield potential was evaluated in the field experiments of Vigna radiata. The results revealed that germination of seeds, root length, shoot length, number of root hairs, numbers of leaves were well enhanced with the application of compost from biogas plant slurry and cow dung mixture. It is concluded that the vermicompost from BPS and Cow dung mixture was superior in promoting the plant growth


We often did not realize that around us, we always see many kinds of waste materials which are only ignore without any action and tend to think that waste materials are not useful. It considered as unusable materials that can not be use anymore and brings problem. Not all waste is unusable. This waste, if we are smart to manner and use it, it can be useful in our daily live. So far, timber waste (the small timbers) is not counted, in fact, only used for the lowest value product as houses fuel or just throw away. Instead, if the waste mannered and developed, it will produce high valuable product and can be accomplished as home industry. One of its uses can be accomplished as basic materials to make artificial board or often called particle board or hard board. These small timbers then destroyed into powder. These powders that will be making into particle board by press it using hydraulic system. To make it easier, the writer tried to design a tool that is ?Design Hot Press Machine Particle Board Using Hydraulic System?. Keyword : serbuk kayu; particle board; hidrolik; hotpress Link Terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/318/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2009-yudhawidya-15883-PENDAHUL-N.pdf


Problem statement: Agriculture has been proved to be a significant impetus for development in Malaysia. Agriculture offers a number of profitable activities, contract farming is one of it and it is still in infancy stage. Besides being a developed sector in Malaysia, it still has a number of problems to be solved. Gender issue is one of it. Gender issue in agriculture has become more crucial these days. To sustain the agriculture sector especially contract farming, an equal level of acceptance, attitude and knowledge towards contract farming should be gained between male and female. Approach: This study investigated whether male and female have any difference on acceptance, attitude and knowledge towards contract farming. Data was gained through a survey questionnaire on 400 male and female youth who are currently studying in various tertiary institutions throughout Malaysia. For the purpose of analyses, PASW software was used where descriptive and inferential analyses were employed. Results: Male and female youth were found to have a good and positive level on acceptance, attitude and knowledge towards contract farming. Based on the independent t-test done, male and female youth possessed equal level of acceptance, attitude and knowledge towards contract farming. Conclusion/Recommendations: Results gained bring us to the conclusion that contract farming has a huge potential to attract youth to be part of agriculture community. To transform this potential agricultural method to a reality, more promotion, exposure and information on contract farming should be given to the youth. It was recommended that related agriculture agencies, Department of Women Development and agriculture related universities to take the responsibilities of exposing contract farming activities to the youth in Malaysia.


Electricity industries throughout the world have been using load profiles for many years. Previously, in a regulated environment, load profiles have been employed to provide information for forecasting, system planning and demand side planning. However, in the deregulated environment, load profiles have become more significant. The determination of customer load profile may provide utility companies with better marketing strategies and improved efficiency in operating the current facilities. This paper presents a two-stage clustering technique to determine consumers load profiles on the basis of their electricity behaviour. Fuzzy c-means (FCM) is utilised in this work. The load data used in this work are from actual measurements from different feeders derived from a distribution network. Cluster validity indices will be used to determine the best cluster number.