We use incoherent scatter radar observations at Millstone Hill (MHO) and Arecibo (AO) and topside ionosphere in situ Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) observations during the great geomagnetic storm on 17–18 March 2015 to conduct a focused study on ion‐neutral coupling and storm time ionosphere and thermosphere dynamics. Some of these observations were made around the time of large ionospheric drifts within a subauroral polarization stream (SAPS). During the storm main phase, we identify multiple disturbance characteristics in the North American late afternoon and dusk sector. (1) Strong subauroral westward drifts occurred between 20 and 24 UT near MHO, accompanied by a storm enhanced density plume passage over MHO in the afternoon with a poleward/upward ion drift. The strongly westward flow reached 2000 m/s speed near the poleward plume edge. (2) Prompt penetration electric field signatures, appearing as poleward/upward ion drifts on the dayside over both MHO and AO, were consistent with DMSP vertical drift data and contributed to plume development. (3) Meridional wind equatorward surges occurred during daytime hours at MHO, followed by 2–3 h period oscillations at both MHO and AO. The zonal electric field at AO was strongly correlated with the wind oscillation. (4) Large ion temperature enhancements as well as 50+ m/s upward ion drifts throughout the E and F regions were observed during the SAPS period. These were presumably caused by strong frictional heating due to large plasma drifts. The heating effects appeared to drive significant atmospheric upwelling, and corresponding ion upflow was also observed briefly. This study highlights some of the important effects of fast plasma transport as well as other disturbance dynamics on ion‐neutral coupling during a single intensification period within a great geomagnetic storm.


Based on photoionisation mass spectrometry two types of experiments were carried out. (i) In a fast flow reactor coupled to a low pressure flame as a particle source, rate coefficients for the coagulation of primary nanoparticles were measured through variation of the reactor residence time. The results are k c (350K) = 3.5x10 -10 cm 3 /s and k c (573K) = 1.1x10 -9 cm 3 /s, i.e. very high rate coefficients. It was also shown that coagulated nanoparticles can have masses beyond 50ku, corresponding to equivalent diameters between 4 to 5nm. These particles are easily fragmented during photoionisation. (ii) Using a second and mobile photoionisation mass spectrometer equipped with a fast flow inlet system, measurements were carried out behind three different vehicle engines, a two-stroke scooter engine, a four-stroke motorbike engine and a DI (direct injection) gasoline research engine. In all cases ion signals around 1000u were found that are clearly dependent on engine conditions. In the case of the DI engine, they correlate with the smoke number. These signals cannot be explained by PAHs due to their low volatility at the respective masses. Major contributions of soot or droplet fragmentation were ruled out through additional experiments using a heated inlet line and a filter. Consequently, these signals are interpreted as fragments of coagulated nanoparticles.


The bioproduction of materials and energy from renewable sources (industrial biotechnology) is
getting more and more interest in order to improve environmental sustainability of chemical
industrial processes and to decrease their dependence from oil. Anaerobic digestion of organic
waste matrices (agricultural and industrial wastes, organic fraction of municipal wastes, sewage
sludges etc.) may play an important role in the implementation of industrial biotechnology being a
well developed strategy in the valorization of complex matrices, as it can mineralize them while
producing bioenergy in the form of a biogas rich in methane.
In this research the potential of anaerobic digestion in the treatment of polluted sewage sludge was
studied by developing three set of anaerobic microcosms with sludges differently contaminated by
xenobiotic compounds. The effect of different incubating temperatures and of exogenous carbon
and vitamine sources was investigated along with the role of the occurring microbial populations in
the pollutant degradation activity. So, while confirming the potential of anaerobic digestion for the
biomethanization of sewage sludges, this work proved the effectiveness of this technology in the
removal of pollutants too.
Moreover, since the degradation of lignocellulose appears to be a limiting step in the anaerobic
treatment of a wide range of biomass, the possibility of optimizing anaerobic digestion of
lignocellulosic substrates was also studied. To this aim a research was carried out at the BOKUUniversity
of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Department for Agrobiotechnology,
IFA - Tulln, where mixed cellulolytic cultures were isolated from biogas plants while assessing the
metabolic pathway leading to cellulose degradation and verifying their capability to grow on
lignocellulose too, proving that on the long term such bacterial cultures could be used as inoculum
in order to improve the hydrolysis of lignocellulose in anaerobic digestion plants.


The Burrows-Wheeler-Transform (BWT) is an invertible permutation of a text known to be highly compressible but also useful for sequence analysis, what makes the BWT highly attractive for lossless data compression. In this paper, we present a new technique to reduce the size of a BWT using its combinatorial properties, while keeping it invertible. The technique can be applied to any BWT-based compressor, and, as experiments show, is able to reduce the encoding size by 8-16 % on average and up to 33-57 % in the best cases (depending on the BWT-compressor used), making BWT-based compressors competitive or even superior to today's best lossless compressors.


We show that a self-consistent and coupled treatment of the weak decoupling, big bang nucleosynthesis, and photon decoupling epochs can be used to provide new insights and constraints on neutrino sector physics from high-precision measurements of light element abundances and Cosmic Microwave Background observables. Implications of beyond-standard-model physics in cosmology, especially within the neutrino sector, are assessed by comparing predictions against five observables: the baryon energy density, helium abundance, deuterium abundance, effective number of neutrinos, and sum of the light neutrino mass eigenstates. We give examples for constraints on dark radiation, neutrino rest mass, lepton numbers, and scenarios for light and heavy sterile neutrinos.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA

3621

High levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an inducible enzyme involved in prostaglandin biosynthesis, have been shown to correlate with a worse prognosis in patients with several types of tumors including breast cancer (BC). Moreover, epidemiological, experimental and clinical studies have collectively identified COX-2 as a relevant target for the prevention and treatment of a variety of epithelial malignancies overexpressing this enzyme. Purpose of our study is to evaluate the prognostic value of COX-2 in the context of chemoresponsiveness in BC patients submitted to anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy. We further analyzed the potential differences in treatment effect due to COX-2 expression within the BC molecular subtypes, namely luminal A, basal-like, HER2, normal-like, as defined by immunohistochemistry. To this end, 186 stage I-IIA-B BC patients enrolled in a prospective clinical trial using epirubicin plus cyclophosphamide in the adjuvant setting were investigated using immunohistochemical methods. COX-2 overexpression was significantly associated to nodal status (p=0.01) and proliferation index (Ki67) (p=0.009). We evidenced a lower percentage of COX-2 positive tumors in the basal-like subtype than in the other three groups. This difference was statistically significant (p=0.022). Multivariate analysis (COX model) indicated that COX-2 was an independent prognostic variable influencing disease free survival (DFS) (HR=3.82, CI=1.54-9.50, p=0.004), but not overall survival (OS). We also estimated the DFS and OS within the four BC subtypes according to COX-2 overexpression demonstrating that a significant higher probability of relapsing, but not of dying was observed in COX-2 positive luminal A (p=0.03) and basal-like (p=0.05) BC. In contrast, the outcomes of HER2 (p=0.11) and normal-like (p=0.66) subtypes were not affected by COX-2 overexpression. The current data suggest that, in our series, COX-2 up-regulation may be strongly informative in predicting response to adiuvant anthracycline therapy mainly in two subtypes, luminal A and basal-like, usually characterized by significant differences in prognosis and response to therapy. In this context, treatment with selective inhibitors of COX-2 may be an additional therapeutic option. Supported by AIRC, Lega Italiana per la Lotta contro i Tumori, Ministero della Salute.


Jackfruit filum polysaccharide (JFPS) was extracted and confirmed to contain neutral and acidic polysaccharides, largely composed of acidic polysaccharides. Biodegradable JFPS–titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocomposite films were fabricated using the solvent casting method combined with photocatalysis. The result of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows a uniform distribution of TiO2 nanoparticles into the gelatin matrix. Incorporation of TiO2 into the JFPS matrix significantly decreased the transparency, moisture content and total soluble matter. Surface hydrophobicity also decreased, the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the JFPS films improved. The JFPS/TiO2 nanocomposite films exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The films incorporated with 3% (w/w) TiO2 showed the best mechanical properties and thermal stability, as well as excellent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (78.9%) and Staphylococcus aureus (60.57%). The data of Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate that photocatalysis might contribute to the formation of the strong interfacial interaction between the JFPS matrix and TiO2 nanoparticles. Finally, these results demonstrated the feasibility of introducing photocatalysis to prepare nanocomposite films, and it is of significance in utilizing the JFPS and TiO2 to produce biodegradable nanocomposite films as packaging material in food and non-food industries.


Construction and evaluation of an external configuration trap-and-release membrane introduction system for mass spectrometry is described. This novel interface allows independent control of the temperature of the membrane and eliminates the dependence of membrane heating efficiency on its position in the ion source. The external trap-and-release MIMS configuration is successfully applied to detection of inorganic chloramines and chlorobenzenes. The method is shown to give temporal resolution of volatile vs. semi-volatile compounds, which increases its sensitivity for semi-volatiles in the presence of volatiles and provides an additional selectivity parameter. Further selectivity is provided by tandem mass spectrometry.


We study the large-time behaviour of solutions of a semilinear 2mth-order parabolic equation 1,\end{equation*}
\] SRC=http://ej.iop.org/images/0951-7715/17/3/017/non172874ude001.gif/> with bounded integrable initial data u0 decaying exponentially at infinity. For the semilinear heat equation (m = 1), the asymptotic behaviour was established in detail in the 1980s. Our main goal is to justify that, for any m ≥ 1 in the subcritical range 1 < p < p0 = 1 + (2m/N), there exists a finite number, M ~ N(p0 − p)/2(p − 1) → ∞ as p → 1+, of different very singular self-similar solutions of the form where each V is a radial, exponentially decaying solution of the elliptic equation By a perturbation technique, we establish the existence of radially symmetric very singular solution profiles Vl for p close to critical bifurcation exponents pl = 1 + (2m/(l + N)), l = 0, 2, ..., where the first one, V0, is shown to be stable. Discrete and countable subsets of other self-similar and approximately self-similar patterns are introduced.


Bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling, the gold standard assay in diagnosing pituitary secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone in Cushing disease, is highly accurate and safe when performed by experienced interventionalists. We review the anatomic and technical considerations essential for safe and reliable practice.


Biological productivity in the ocean directly influences the partitioning of carbon between the atmosphere and ocean interior. Through this carbon cycle feedback, changing ocean productivity has long been hypothesized as a key pathway for modulating past atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and hence global climate. Because phytoplankton preferentially assimilate the light isotopes of carbon and the major nutrients nitrate and silicic acid, stable isotopes of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and silicon (Si) in seawater and marine sediments can inform on ocean carbon and nutrient cycling, and by extension the relationship with biological productivity and global climate. Here, we compile water column C, N, and Si stable isotopes from GEOTRACES‐era data in four key ocean regions to review geochemical proxies of oceanic carbon and nutrient cycling based on the C, N, and Si isotopic composition of marine sediments. External sources and sinks as well as internal cycling (including assimilation, particulate matter export, and regeneration) are discussed as likely drivers of observed C, N, and Si isotope distributions in the ocean. The potential for C, N, and Si isotope measurements in sedimentary archives to record aspects of past ocean C and nutrient cycling is evaluated, along with key uncertainties and limitations associated with each proxy. Constraints on ocean C and nutrient cycling during late Quaternary glacial‐interglacial cycles and over the Cenozoic are examined. This review highlights opportunities for future research using multielement stable isotope proxy applications and emphasizes the importance of such applications to reconstructing past changes in the oceans and climate system.


This article discusses the benefits of project-based and self-directed learning to develop competency in utilizing a second language and working collaboratively. The background premise of these modes of learning is provided, demonstrating that they work well for differentiated levels and language skills and improve student competence. Some of the areas examined are intercultural and scientific, ones that require the use of specific language in context. In addition, the concept of creating projects that increase student investment and motivation to make learning more relevant is juxtaposed with a student's competency in an area after having participated in traditional approaches to learning. The overall benefit of the use of project-based and self-directed learning is that it allows the student to develop a higher skill set and greater engagement with the subject matter, producing better language and content outcomes. Keywords: Project-based learning; self-directed learning; intercultural communication; STEM; third space.


A technique for easy and bloodless dissection of fat laden intestinal mesentery, both small and large, has been described. This technique can also facilitate Roux-en-Y reconstruction in the obese patient.


Abstract Background Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a rare life-threatening form of necrotizing fasciitis. The risk factors for septic shock in patients with FG are unclear. This study aimed to identify potential risk factors and develop a prediction model for septic shock in patients with FG. Methods This retrospective cohort study included patients who were treated for FG between May 2013 and May 2020 at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China). The patients were divided into a septic shock group and a non-septic shock group. An L1-penalized logistic regression model was used to detect the main effect of important factors and a penalized Quadratic Discriminant Analysis method was used to identify possible interaction effects between different factors. The selected main factors and interactions were used to obtain a logistic regression model based on the Bayesian information criterion. Results A total of 113 patients with FG were enrolled and allocated to the septic shock group (n = 24) or non-septic shock group (n = 89). The best model selected identified by backward logistic regression based on Bayesian information criterion selected temperature, platelets, total bilirubin (TBIL) level, and pneumatosis on pelvic computed tomography/magnetic resonance images as the main linear effect and Na+ × TBIL as the interaction effect. The area under the ROC curve of the probability of FG with septic shock by our model was 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.78–0.95). The Harrell's concordance index for the nomogram was 0.864 (95% confidence interval, 0.78–0.95). Conclusion We have developed a prediction model for evaluation of the risk of septic shock in patients with FG that could assist clinicians in identifying critically ill patients with FG and prevent them from reaching a crisis state.


We examined the effects of management on coarse woody debris, both standing and downed, in thinned and unthinned northern hardwood forests in upper Michigan. The unthinned conditions included old growth and second growth, while the thinned conditions included both even- and uneven-aged management. The structural features analyzed were stem diameter, density, basal area, and height of snags and live trees, as well as volume, diameter, and decay state of downed woody debris (DWD). As measured by these features, the relative structural complexity among the forest conditions was generally old growth > uneven-aged > second growth ~ even-aged. Although snag density was highest in second-growth forests, old growth had the highest snag basal area. Old growth also had the largest volume of DWD, second growth and even-aged had the least, and uneven-aged had an intermediate value. Unlike old growth, other treatments lacked large diameter (> 40 cm) snags and DWD. If prescriptions are changed to allow for the creation of larger snags and DWD, particularly those > 60 cm in diameter, stands can be managed to more closely resemble these structural aspects of old-growth forests.


: The authors have developed a technique of abdominal cryomassage and tried it in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The massage improved the disease course, diastolic function, being most effective in hypertrophic left ventricular myocardial affection; produced lipotropic action important for early secondary prevention. Thus, abdominal cryomassage as a nonpharmaceutical method can serve an efficient adjuvant modality in combined treatment and rehabilitation of CHD patients.


The objective of this research is to find out the functions, meanings, and categories of interjections, and the translation technique practiced by the Indonesian translator to translate English interjection found in the novel Looking for Alaska or Mencari Alaska in Indonesian . This research is adopting a descriptive qualitative, with the novel of Looking for Alaska and Mencari Alaska as the primary source of the data. Since the data collection of interjections is found in the book, it can be classified as content analysis. The researchers found out that there are six translation techniques used by the translators to translate interjections, six kinds of interjections in terms of functions and meanings, and three kinds of interjections in terms of categories found in the novel. Those six translation techniques are 164 interjections (41,21%) for literal translation technique, 49 interjections (12,31%) for translation by using an interjection with similar meaning and form technique, 61 interjection (15,33%) for translation by using an interjection with different forms, but the same meaning, 11 interjections (2,76%) for partly deleted omission technique, 9 interjections (2,26%) for total deleted omission technique, 8 interjections (2,01%) for addition technique, 58 interjections (10,80%) for pure borrowing technique, and 53 interjections (13,32%) for naturalized borrowing technique. From the research finding of the interjection regarding functions and meanings, there is a total of 419 types of English interjections where the researchers divided into six classes. Those types of function are: 5 (1,19%) data of interjection are used to greet, 35 (8,35%) data of interjection are used to express joy, 57 (13,37%) data of interjection are used to get attention, 169 (40,33) data of interjection are used to express approval, 120 (28,64%) data of interjection are used to express a surprise, and 34 (8,11) data of interjection used to express sorrow. Then from the research finding of interjection regarding category, there is a total of 419 data of English interjections where the researchers divided into three classes, those classes are 72 (17,18%) data of primary interjection, 336 (80,19%) data of secondary, and 11 (2,63%) data of onomatopoeic interjection. The findings of this study show that the translation techniques mostly used by the translators to translate an English interjection is translation by literal translation and translation by borrowing technique. In contrast, the least used translation technique is the addition technique that the translators rarely used it to translate the interjection. Keywords: Interjection , Interjection Translation, Looking for Alaska, Mencari Alaska, Translation Technique.


This research is aimed  to analyze the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on professional football clubs, identify the problems they face and propose strategic anti-crisis measures. The work is based on the analysis of the mapping study on measuring the economic impact of COVID-19 on the sport sector in the EU, provided by European Commission; analytical reports from Deloitte and KPMG containing empirical data on European football, academic research by foreign scientists examining the impact of the pandemic on the football industry. The study resulted in the author's strategic measures to improve the efficiency of football clubs in the face of restrictions caused by the spread of coronavirus, and a system of performance indicators (KPI), concerning the business developments during a pandemic. These results can be used in the strategic management of football clubs, as well as in the development strategies of federations, leagues and individual clubs, and can lead to an increase in the overall efficiency of their activities and the achievement of economic and social results. For the first time, the work carried out a comprehensive study of the consequences of the pandemic for the development of the football industry and offered the author's view of solving current problems and finding new ways to develop the football business.


Abstract Four preparations of crude polysaccharides were obtained from Cedrela sinensis using four methods of extraction, and finally precipitation with ethanol. Hot-water and processes assisted by ultrasound and enzymes (Shearzyme or Viscozyme) were carried out. The yield of polysaccharide fraction extracted with the enzyme-assisted method using Shearzyme (P-EAS) was the highest at 10.53%. All crude saccharides were composed of six monosaccharides including arabinose, galactose, glucose, mannose, rhamnose, and xylose. Crude polysaccharide fraction extracted by hot water showed the highest DPPH• and ABTS•+ scavenging activities as well as α-amylase inhibitory activity. All fractions showed higher retardation effects on glucose and bile acid absorption using the in vitro dialysis system compared to the control (without polysaccharide fraction); specifically, the glucose retardation index of P-EAS was similar to that of carboxymethylcellulose. Overall, crude polysaccharide fractions obtained from C. sinensis can be used as functional ingredients owing to their excellent functional properties.


Innovative dielectric materials with high-temperature resistance and outstanding dielectric properties have attracted tremendous attention in advanced electronical fields. Polyimide is considered a promising candidate for the modern electronic industry due to its excellent dielectric properties and comprehensive properties. However, the limited-adjustable range of dielectric constant and the difficulty to obtain a high dielectric constant restrict the application of polyimide as high dielectric materials. Herein, a novel diamine monomer (2,2'-bis((methylsulfonyl)methyl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4,4'-diamine (BSBPA)) containing a rigid biphenyl structure and high dipolar sulfonyl pendant groups is designed for high dielectric polyimides. The rigid biphenyl and polar sulfonyl pendant groups can reasonably optimize the molecular structure and orientational polarization of polyimides to improve their dielectric properties and thermal properties. Moreover, the effect of different bridge linkages on the dielectric properties is studied by using the different dianhydrides. Thus, the PI-BSBPA films especially the DSDA-BSBPA film achieve great thermal properties (T5%d of 377 °C and Tg of 358 °C) and excellent dielectric properties (6.95 at 1 kHz) along with high discharged energy density of 5.25 J cm-3 and charge-discharge efficiency of 90%. The collaborative control of main-chain and side-chain engineering is effective to endow the polyimides with high-temperature tolerance and high dielectric performance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) plays an important role for any organisation to effectively manage its human assets. In military domain, HRIS is particularly crucial as the organisation comprises a huge number of personnel who not only possess various skill sets but also are physically scattered at remote locations. Military operations in essence require the selection of right personnel for right tasks during troop deployment in the battlefield. Right selection is very critical as in war there is no second prize for the runner up. As the selection is normally based on the information in HRIS, the system must incorporate the necessary elements of military operations in order to suit the needs and goals of the organisation. This paper discusses the factors that contribute to the success of HRIS implementation for military domain. The factors form a HRIS framework that integrates three important elements in military, namely people, process, product. The framework was proposed based on literature review as well as field study that used interviews and observations techniques as the instruments. The sampling frame consisted of fifteen members of HRIS users from military domain. The data were analysed by using qualitative method. The framework can guide future military HRIS implementation that support armed forces' work processes and needs.


In this paper we present our Visual Studio C++ (VSC) programming environment (PE) used for SONAR signal processing and acoustic imaging. Proposed PE is implemented in combination with fast C and flexible MATLAB programming tools. SONAR imaging techniques are executed in a fast manner, by implementing them in C. With MATLAB's External Interfaces we achieve the flexibility through access to a large set of MATLAB functions and the Filter Design Toolbox that creates the filtering coefficients. The Fastest Fourier Transform in the West (FFTW) library is used in the VSC for the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and the fast convolution technique. Efficient verification is done by comparing the MATLAB results with the implemented VSC results. The verification is done by storing the results from MATLAB to MAT-files, and calling the scripts for comparison. In research institutes with available MATLAB licenses (Universities) where one is developing a product, one can benefit from the presented programming environment. In our case, we are simulating a SONAR system for surface reconstruction. The proposed PE significantly reduces the execution time of simulations and it reduces the implementation and verification time.


Point cloud registration is the process of aligning a pair of point sets via searching for a geometric transformation. Recent works leverage the power of deep learning for registering a pair of point sets. However, unfortunately, deep learning models often require a large number of ground truth labels for training. Moreover, for a pair of source and target point sets, existing deep learning mechanisms require explicitly designed encoders to extract both deep spatial features from unstructured point clouds and their spatial correlation representation, which is further fed to a decoder to regress the desired geometric transformation for point set alignment. To further enhance deep learning models for point set registration, this paper proposes Deep-3DAligner, a novel unsupervised registration framework based on a newly introduced deep Spatial Correlation Representation (SCR) feature. The SCR feature describes the geometric essence of the spatial correlation between source and target point sets in an encoding-free manner. More specifically, our method starts with optimizing a randomly initialized latent SCR feature, which is then decoded to a geometric transformation (i.e., rotation and translation) to align source and target point sets. Our Deep-3DAligner jointly updates the SCR feature and weights of the transformation decoder towards the minimization of an unsupervised alignment loss. We conducted experiments on the ModelNet40 datasets to validate the performance of our unsupervised Deep-3DAligner for point set registration. The results demonstrated that, even without ground truth and any assumption of a direct correspondence between source and target point sets for training, our proposed approach achieved comparative performance compared to most recent supervised state-of-the-art approaches.


A synthetic route to amphiphilic conetwork (APCN) gels was developed and involved (1) a ring-opening polymerization (ROP) synthesis of the macromonomer HEMA-PLLA/PDLA, and (2) a radical polymerization of a stereocomplex of the synthesized macromonomers with P(MEO2MA-co-OEGMA) to form the APCN gels. The structure of the gel was successfully verified using X-ray diffraction. Thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry data showed that the thermal behaviors of the gels were greatly improved compared with that of polylactic acid (PLA). The mechanical properties of the gels were measured by using a dynamic viscometer, and the results indicated a greater mechanical strength before swelling than afterwards, and an increasing strength of the gels with increasing amount of PLA stereocomplex. Gels placed in different aqueous phases at different temperatures showed different swelling ratio (SR) values. Specifically, the SR gradually decreased as the temperature was increased, indicating a temperature sensitivity of the gels. In addition, the gels placed in the aqueous and organic phases presented as hydrogels and hydrophobic gels, respectively, and their SR values were relatively low. These results indicated the amphiphilic nature of the gel, and indicated great application prospects for the gel in biomedicine.


The physical mechanisms for the size effects on the flow and heat transfer have been divided into two classifications: (a) variations of the predominant factors influence the relative importance of various phenomena in the flow and heat transfer as the characteristic length decrease, even if the continuum assumption is still valid; (b) the continuum assumption breaks down as the characteristic length of the flow becomes comparable to the mean free path of the molecules. The departure of most flow and thermal phenomena in the MEMS from conventional ones is due to the variation of predominant factors in the flow and heat transfer problems, rather than that Navier-Stokes equation and Fourier heat conduction equation etc are no longer valid. Due to the larger surface to volume ratio for microchannels and microdevices, factors related to surface effects have more impact to microscale flow and heat transfer. For example, surface friction induced flow compressibility makes the fluid velocity profiles flatter and leads to higher friction factors and Nusselt numbers; surface roughness is likely responsible for the increased friction factor, the early transition from laminar to turbulent flow and Nusselt number; and other effects, such as the axial heat conduction in the channel wall, the channel surface geometry, surface electrostatic charges, and measurement errors, could lead to different flow and heat transfer behaviors from that at conventional scales. The condensation/evaporation across the liquid-vapor interface and the liquid-vapor nucleation are processes at nanometer scale. In these cases the macroscopic approach is hard to reveal the details at nanometer scales, while the molecular dynamic simulation is a powerful tool to describe such microscopic processes, and has been applied to investigate the density and temperature profiles across the liquid-vapor interface. The condensation coefficient on the liquid-vapor interface under thermodynamic equilibrium condition has been well predicted based on the characteristic time method, which can distinguish the condensed particles from the reflected particles. Molecular dynamics simulations show that liquid-vapor nucleation undergoes three stages, namely, cavity growth, cavity coalescence and bubble formation.© 2003 ASME


Generally, the target of road corridor construction is to provide a quality pedestrian, give comfort to pedestrian as user of road corridor. In create a good regulation of pedestrian path, it is necessary full of rules and requirements as to improve comfort for user of road. The factors influence to physical comfort of pedestrian path are circulation, smell, bench, security and beauty.  The location of this research is Jamin Ginting street between Monument Pahlawan with Monument Kol, Berastagi which it is often pass by tourist. However, the condition on pedestrian path at this region, there have not some requirements to create a good pedestrian path.  The objective of research is to plan regulation of pedestrian path on JaminGintingstreetBerastagi, according to requirement to Iswanto and the Rule of Minister PU No. 03/PRT/M/2014 on pedestrian path. The method of research is descriptive research, and then it compares with requirements and rules after that the conclusion is Comfortable is included circulation, smell, bench, security and beauty on pedestrian path at Jamin Ginting street Berastagi do not have qualified according to Iswanto and rules Minister PU No.  03/PRT/M/2014 on a good pedestrian path. This research proposed a recommendation of design pedestrian path according to Iswanto and Rule Minister No 03/PRT/M/2014 on pedestrian path at Jamin Ginting street Berastagi.


Fission yeast Klp5 and Klp6 belong to the microtubule‐destabilizing Kin I family. In klp5 mutants, spindle checkpoint proteins Mad2 and Bub1 are recruited to mitotic kinetochores for a prolonged duration, indicating that these kinetochores are unattached. Further analysis shows that there are kinetochores to which only Bub1, but not Mad2, localizes. These kinetochores are likely to have been captured, yet lack tension. Thus Klp5 and Klp6 play a role in a spindle–kinetochore interaction at dual steps, capture and generation of tension. The TOG/XMAP215 family, Alp14 and Dis1 are known to stabilize microtubules and be required for the bivalent attachment of the kinetochore to the spindle. Despite apparent opposing activities towards microtubule stability, Klp5/Klp6 and Alp14/Dis1 share an essential function, as either dis1klp or alp14klp mutants are synthetically lethal, like alp14dis1. Defective phenotypes are similar to each other, characteristic of attachment defects and chromosome mis‐segregation. Furthermore Alp14 is of significance for kinetochore localization of Klp5. We propose that Klp5/Klp6 and Alp14/Dis1 play a collaborative role in bipolar spindle formation during prometaphase through producing spindle dynamism.


Background/Aims: Darbepoetin alfa is an erythropoiesis-stimulating protein that works via the same mechanism and has a threefold longer serum half-life than recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO). The objective of this study was to evaluate extending the dosing interval of darbepoetin alfa to once every other week administration for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not requiring dialysis who were naive to rHuEPO therapy. Methods: This was a multi-center, open-label study. Seventy-six rHuEPO-naive patients were enrolled to receive darbepoetin alfa (0.75 µg/kg) once every other week for up to 24 weeks. Doses were titrated to achieve and maintain a hemoglobin target of 11.0 to 13.0 g/dl. Results: Ninety-seven percent (95% CI: 0.92, 1.00) of patients completing 24 weeks of treatment achieved a hemoglobin response. The median time to response was 5 weeks (range 1–25 weeks). The median darbepoetin alfa dose at the time of response was 60 µg (range 30–130 µg). Darbepoetin alfa was safe and well tolerated, and no antibodies to darbepoetin alfa were detected. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the utility of darbepoetin alfa administered once every other week in rHuEPO-naive CKD patients. This new treatment paradigm may allow for more widespread management of anemia in patients with CKD.


Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the study of singular and perturbed systems. In this paper design fast feed forward neural network to present a method to solve two dimensions singularly perturbed integrodifferential and integral equations. Using a multi-layer having one hidden layer with 7 hidden units (neurons) and one linear output unit the sigmoid activation of each unit is radial basis function and Levenberg – Marquardt (trainlm) training algorithm. Finally the results of numerical experiments are compared with the exact solution in illustrative examples to confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the presented scheme..


Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Guide For Patients And Their Families. 2nd edition. Edited by Stein SH, Rood RP. (Pp 256; illustrated; $22.00/£13.75, Int. $25.00/£15.63.) Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 1998. ISBN 0-397-51771-8.

This is without question an excellent book. It attempts with considerable success to provide a "textbook" for the patient with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As with most textbooks, it is not an easy read but sets out to give an exhaustive account of the cause, symptoms, investigation, and management of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. As a result it does …


We introduce an access-control technique that we refer to as attribute-based encryption (ABE). An extension of the cryptographic technique of identity-based encryption (IBE), our proposed ABE scheme can serve as the basis of an access-control architecture in which entities require no interaction with a trusted authority in order to gain access to sensitive data.We show how to construct any access-control policy for ABE that is expressible as monotone boolean formulae on variables describing the possession of attributes by a requesting entity. This encompasses a broad range of the policy formulations of common interest. Our system is practical: Indeed, its most attractive feature is architec-


Neural networks are useful for developing fast and accurate parametric model of electromagnetic (EM) structures. However, existing neural-network techniques are not suitable for developing models that have many input variables because data generation and model training become too expensive. In this paper, we propose an efficient neural-network method for EM behavior modeling of microwave filters that have many input variables. The decomposition approach is used to simplify the overall high-dimensional neural-network modeling problem into a set of low-dimensional sub-neural-network problems. By incorporating the knowledge of filter decomposition with neural-network decomposition, we formulate a set of neural-network submodels to learn filter subproblems. A new method to combine the submodels with a filter empirical/equivalent model is developed. An additional neural-network mapping model is formulated with the neural-network submodels and empirical/equivalent model to produce the final overall filter model. An H -plane waveguide filter model and a side-coupled circular waveguide dual-mode filter model are developed using the proposed method. The result shows that with a limited amount of data, the proposed method can produce a much more accurate high-dimensional model compared to the conventional neural-network method and the resulting model is much faster than an EM model.


We present a new BDD minimization algorithm based on a genetic tabu hybrid strategy which combines the global space search of genetic algorithm with the local neighborhood search and the gradual global optimizing of tabu search. The variables swap and the uniform distribution are utilized to generate neighborhood solutions in the search space. Experiment results are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the presented approach. A comparison to other minimization algorithms is reported. The future work will be focused on how to improve the convergence speed of the new algorithm


The consequences of subsea crude pipeline failure drastically affect the continuity of oil supply and the ability of operating companies to meet market demand. Moreover, it reduces clients' confidence and reliance on operating companies. There are mainly two types of failures that severely affect the integrity and operability of a pipeline. These are the leakage caused by gradual thinning of the pipeline due to corrosion and the leakage caused by a rupture pressure. The first form of failure results in a constant slow leakage that go over time without being noticed. While the second form of failure takes place without warning which makes the restoration effort extremely difficult and time consuming. Both forms of failure result in delayed production, environmental damage, legal claims as well as financial losses that operating companies could incur. Moreover, leaked oil products adversely impact other industries which bring these industries into a halt. Such industries may include fishery, maritime transportation, and tourism industries. This paper presents a method for predicting the financial losses that a company could incur in the event a corroded pipeline undergoes the abovementioned failures. Basically, this method can be used as a standard estimating tool for predicting the financial losses if such events occur.


This article utilizes internal colonial analyses to explore and understand the difficult educational conditions students from peasantry background experience in Zimbabwe's universities. The article proposes that the subordinate position and related educational experiences of peasantry students since the year 2000 are exploitative and to the advantage of the elite to such an extent that peasants are an internal colony. The analysis is informed by critical anti-colonial perspectives that observe the hegemonic tendencies of global and local capital in collusion with dictatorial elite nationalists. By use of a critical interpretive case study of purposefully sampled students and other relevant members of the university community from one public university, disturbing student experiences were excavated. Student narratives and experiences were analyzed using the constant comparative method and led to the conclusion that there is internal colonialism in Zimbabwe where an alliance of the state and the local and global corporate world are colluding to maintain their economic and political dominance. The article challenges those in education and academics that there is need for the decolonization of education by first identifying contemporary hegemonic forces and recognizing students from the peasantry as victims of the emerging kleptocratic capitalism.


This collaborative project with the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust was commissioned by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust and managed by the Real Ideas Organisation.


The Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative guidelines for peritoneal dialysis (PD) emphasize the need for quality improvement interventions to improve outcomes in PD. Here, we report 17 years experience of initiatives focused on lowering peritonitis rates in a single PD program. This institutional review board-approved retrospective analysis used a PD registry containing prospectively collected data on patient demographics, initial Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), peritonitis, and clinical outcomes, including reasons for transfer to hemodialysis. Periods were analyzed based on quality initiatives: 1990 - 1991, baseline; 1992 - 1995, randomized controlled trial of exit-site infection prophylaxis comparing mupirocin cream applied daily to the exit site with oral cyclical (every 12 weeks) rifampin; 1996 - 1999, compact assist device introduced for spiking on the cycler; 2000 - 2004, randomized controlled trial comparing daily gentamicin cream with mupirocin as exit-site prophylaxis; and 2005 - 2007, gentamicin prophylaxis implemented as routine care (2005) and retraining of all patients (2006). Infection rates and technique failure rates in each period were compared with baseline rates using incident rate ratio analysis. A total of 382 PD patients were evaluated [median age: 50 years (range: 18 - 90 years); 54% women; 19% African American; 36% with diabetes; median CCI: 5 (range: 2 - 14)]. The peritonitis rate declined from 0.5 episodes per year at risk in 1990 - 1991 to 0.25 episodes per year at risk in 2005 - 2007 (p < 0.004). The exit-site infection rate declined from 0.72 episodes per year at risk to 0.1 episodes per year at risk over the same period (p < 0.0001). The percentage of patients transferring to hemodialysis did not change significantly over time (overall 14%, varying from 12% to 17% annually), nor did the mortality rate, which varied from 115 per 1000 years to 171 per 1000 years. We conclude that quality improvement initiatives can reduce infection rates in PD patients.


Head-shot of Commanding General in the US Army James K. Woolnough. The general is in uniform and is sitting against a light-colored background. On the back of the photograph are typewritten information about the photo (such as the photo's subject, photographer, etc.), a stamp giving the Boyce-Ditto Public Library's address, and handwritten notes.


This research aims at investigating learners' capacity to aurally and visually recognize and properly pronounce the fricative sounds. A descriptive study was conducted with 156 participants. Since research about pronunciation which has incidentally been assumed and framed to be extremely outdated in the research context, various tests and research tool for both qualitative and quantitative data were utilized for better triangulation of the evidence. The two listening tests focused on the learners' ability of sound recognition for fricative sounds. Then, interviews were utilized to collect both teachers and learners' strategies for learning pronunciation. Regarding the two tests, a minimal pair is designed for each question using a native speaker's voice. In each pair of words in test #1, learners choose one that they can distinguish. Similarly, in test #2 one word of each pair would be pronounced incorrectly (e.g. most of pairs) and learners listen and determine the right or wrong sound(s). Afterwards, four teachers and eleven learners were interviewed about this matter. Finally, this study reveals several surprising findings. Learners cannot identify and recognize these sounds /f/-/v/, /f/-/θ/, /s/-/z/, /s//ʒ/, /s/-/ʃ/, /ʃ/-/θ/, /z/-/ʒ/, and /ʒ/-/ʃ/. The reasons for such dominated problems in identifying these fricative sounds include their mis-matched cognitive knowledge about different sounds and their psychology in uttering the sounds. From this study, several implications are drawn out to raise a proper awareness to learners' practice of pronunciation with recommended methods so that teachers can help learners develop their abilities in distinguishing the sounds to pronounce accurately and improve their communicative efficiency.


We present a search for metal absorption line systems at the highest redshifts to date using a deep (30 h) Very Large Telescope/X-Shooter spectrum of the z = 7.084 quasi-stellar object (QSO) ULAS J1120+0641. We detect seven intervening systems at z > 5.5, with the highest redshift system being a C IV absorber at z = 6.51. We find tentative evidence that the mass density of C IV remains flat or declines with redshift at z < 6, while the number density of C II systems remains relatively flat over 5 < z < 7. These trends are broadly consistent with models of chemical enrichment by star formation-driven winds that include a softening of the ultraviolet background towards higher redshifts. We find a larger number of weak (Wrest < 0.3 A) Mg II systems over 5.9 < z < 7.0 than predicted by a power-law fit to the number density of stronger systems. This is consistent with trends in the number density of weak Mg II systems at z ≲ 2.5, and suggests that the mechanisms that create these absorbers are already in place at z ∼ 7. Finally, we investigate the associated narrow Si IV, C IV and N V absorbers located near the QSO redshift, and find that at least one component shows evidence of partial covering of the continuum source.


Glyburide, a second‐generation hypoglycemic sulfonylurea, is 200 times as potent as tolbutamide. This increase is due to greater intrinsic hypoglycemic potency of the molecule rather than to a prolonged biologic half‐life. Glyburide is inactivated by the liver to 4‐trans‐hydroxyglyburide and 3‐cis‐hydroxyglyburide; 50% of these compounds is excreted in the urine and 50% in the bile. Although the serum concentration of glyburide can be measured by radioimmunoassay and high‐performance liquid chromatography, the importance of its serum concentration in the reduction of hyperglycemia is not yet established. Glyburide has a therapeutic effectiveness comparable to that of the first‐generation sulfonylurea chlorpropamide; however, it has a lower frequency of adverse effects. To date it has a low frequency of clinically significant interactions with other drugs. Glyburide should not be prescribed for patients with liver disease or significant renal disease. Because glyburide is a potent hypoglycemic agent, it should be prescribed in small initial doses, particularly for elderly patients with diabetes. At the present time there is no definite evidence that it modifies the increased risk of cardiovascular disease of diabetic patients. Although glyburide is a potent stimulator of pancreatic insulin secretion after short‐term administration, an additional mechanism of action during long‐term administration is to decrease the resistance of muscle and liver to the action of insulin. It is a useful medication for patients with type II diabetes whose hyperglycemia is not adequately reduced by dietary management and exercise. It can be used as the initial drug in these patients or as the replacement drug for those with primary or secondary failure during therapy with first‐generation sulfonylureas.


Although the terminology is mildly controversial, late incisor crowding (tertiary crowding, late secondary crowding, post-adolescent crowding) is widely regarded as a normal maturation event which is likely to affect most individuals to some extent. Disagreement arises when attempts are made to quantify the change and to predict the timing of the crowding. Most young adults experience some degree of loss of incisor alignment, usually near the anticipated emergence time for the third molars, and almost characteristically it is the lower anterior teeth which best demonstrate the phenomenon. Unfortunately, the physiological crowding changes are frequently confused with orthodontic treatment relapse. Greater controversy surrounds the aetiology of the undesirable crowding changes and despite many attempts we are still not in the enlightened position of explaining, predicting or preventing the problem (except by permanent retention). It is illogical to assume a single cause as the beguilingly simple observation of crowding belies the complexity of possible interacting factors. Perhaps it is a capricious combination of: tooth size and arch form; facial growth pattern (differential soft tissue and skeletal maturation); continuing late growth rotations; cumulative effects of resting, functional and parafunctional soft tissue pressures; lack of compensating attrition; and an ill-defined, mesially acting force emanating from the back of the dental arch. Many theories have attempted to resolve the mystery of the mesially acting force, including: pressure from erupting third molars; an inherent mesial migration; continuing mesial and occlusal dental drifting; maturation and contraction of periodontal soft tissues (particularly the transseptal fibres); the anterior component of occlusal forces; and the lower anterior arch contracting influence of the incisor overbite.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


OBJECTIVES
Hyperprolactinaemia has been associated with the active phase of human systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. In the present study, we investigated the role of prolactin (PRL) in relation to the number of typical symptoms and serum markers of systemic inflammation in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR).

METHODS
One hundred and two PMR patients presented with typical symptoms such as adynamia, bilateral muscular pain in shoulders, upper arms or neck, bilateral muscular pain in the pelvic girdle, headache, morning stiffness, arthralgia, symptoms of depression, fever, initial weight loss (>4 kg/month), and transient visual symptoms. If one of the mentioned symptoms was present, the corresponding item was scored with one point (maximum unweighted item points=10). PRL, interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), tumour necrosis factor (TNF), soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R), and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in patients and 31 age-matched healthy controls.

RESULTS
Fifteen PMR patients with elevated PRL had a higher number of symptoms as compared with patients with normal levels (P=0.003). PRL was correlated with the number of symptoms (all PMR patients: r(rank)=+0.380, P<0.001) and duration of morning stiffness (all PMR patients: r(rank)=+0.335, P=0.002) irrespective of prior corticosteroid treatment. However, PRL did not correlate with markers of systemic inflammation such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, serum IL-1ra, IL-2, sIL-2R, IL-6, TNF, and sVCAM.

CONCLUSION
The number of symptoms in PMR patients was positively correlated with PRL, but PRL was not correlated with serum markers of inflammation. This indicates that PRL is not a pro-inflammatory stimulus in patients with PMR. The inter-relationship between PRL and symptoms or duration of morning stiffness may be more a sign of central nervous system involvement, as it can be observed in people with depressed mood or under psychological stress.


In order to improve the quality of healthcare services, large-scale medical information systems should be integrated with adaptability in response to the changing medical environment. In this paper, we propose a requirement-driven architecture for healthcare information systems that will be able to respond to new requirements. The system operates through the mapping mechanism between these layers and thus can organize functions dynamically adapting to user's requirement. Furthermore, we introduce the organizational semiotics methods to capture and analyze user's requirement through ontology chart and norms. Based on these results, the structure of user's requirement pattern (URP) is established as the driving factor of our system. Finally, we propose an integration framework for data sharing amongst different hospital organizations and also present the HL7 based virtual database to realize the data integration. Our research makes a contribution to the design and implementation of the architecture of healthcare systems which can adapt to the changing medical environment.


Over 5 million people in the United States suffer from the complications of heart failure (HF), which is a rapidly expanding health complication. Disorders that contribute to HF include ischemic cardiac disease, cardiomyopathies, and hypertension. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear receptor family. There are three PPAR isoforms: PPARα, PPARγ, and PPARδ. They can be activated by endogenous ligands, such as fatty acids, as well as by pharmacologic agents. Activators of PPARs are used for treating several metabolic complications, such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia that are directly or indirectly associated with HF. However, some of these drugs have adverse effects that compromise cardiac function. This review article aims to summarize the current basic and clinical research findings of the beneficial or detrimental effects of PPAR biology on myocardial function.


The paper presents economic justification for applicability of near-surface geothermal installations in Luga region, based on results of techno-economic calculations as well as integrated technical and economic comparison of different prediction scenarios of heat supply, both conventional and using geothermal heat pumps (GHP). Construction costs of a near-surface geothermal system can exceed the costs of central heating by 50-100 %. However, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of heat production for geothermal systems are 50-70 % lower than for conventional sources of heating. Currently this technology is very important, it is applied in various countries (USA, Germany, Japan, China etc.), and depending on the region both near-surface and deep boreholes are being used. World practice of near-surface geothermal systems application is reviewed in the paper.


Fondazione Bruno Kessler is developing a mobile app prototype for empowering citizens to improve their health conditions through different lifestyle interventions that will be incorporated into a mobile application for lifestyle promotion of the Province of Trento in the context of the Trentino Salute 4.0 Competence Center. The envisioned interventions are based on promoting behaviour change in various domains such as physical activity, mental health and nutrition. In particular, the nutrition component is a self-monitoring module that collects dietary habits to analyse them and recommend healthier eating behaviours. Dietary assessment is completed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire on the Mediterranean diet that is presented to the user as a grid of images. The questionnaire returns feedback on 11 aspects of nutrition. Although the questionnaire used in the application only consists of 24 questions, it still could be a bit overwhelming and a bit crowded when shown on the screen. In this paper, we tried to find a machine-learning-based solution to reduce the number of questions in the questionnaire. We proposed a method that uses the user's previous answers as additional information to find the goals that need more attention. We compared this method with a case where the subset of questions is randomly selected and with a case where the subset is chosen using feature selection. We also explored how large the subset should be to obtain good predictions. All the experiments are conducted as a multi-target regression problem, which means several goals are predicted simultaneously. The proposed method adjusts well to the user in question and has the slightest error when predicting the goals.


Objective: Paresthesias can result from metabolic disorders, nerve entrapment following repetitive motions, hyperventilation pursuant to anxiety, or exposure to neurotoxins. We analyzed data from community members exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster of September 11, 2001, to evaluate whether exposure to the disaster was associated with paresthesias. Methods: Analysis of data from 3141 patients of the WTC Environmental Health Center. Results: Fifty-six percent of patients reported paresthesias at enrollment 7 to 15 years following the WTC disaster. After controlling for potential confounders, paresthesias were associated with severity of exposure to the WTC dust cloud and working in a job requiring cleaning of WTC dust. Conclusions: This study suggests that paresthesias were commonly associated with WTC-related exposures or post-WTC cleaning work. Further studies should objectively characterize these paresthesias and seek to identify relevant neurotoxins or paresthesia-inducing activities.


Across the world, transboundary water pollution interferes with man9s use of water, degrades aquatic ecosystems, causes human health impacts, and increases tensions between nations. While developing nations are just beginning to assess the extent of transboundary water quality degradation, developed countries have learned over the years that pollution prevention, not cleanup actions or end-of-pipe treatment is the most cost-effective approach to fighting water pollution. The extent of transboundary water pollution across the world is reviewed in the paper, and key elements are outlined for addressing pollution prevention needs through joint institutions as part of international commissions. The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River basin in North America is used as an example of where multimedia pollution prevention initiatives are being implemented to resolve transboundary pollution problems. The joint institutions for the Great Lakes cleanup utilized under the auspices of the International Joint Commission (U.S. and Canada) are described. Lessons learned from this experience include: (1) significance of multimedia pollution prevention measures to address toxic substances, (2) use of ecosystem-based, watershed approaches targeted to high priority catchments, and (3) political advantages of employing joint institutions to facilitate progress, undertake oversight and verification functions, foster public participation, and establish credibility and trust among the parties through joint fact-finding.


Parallel and idiosyncratic fish adaptation Fish populations respond rapidly to fishing pressure. Within a handful of generations, marked phenotypic change can occur—often to smaller body sizes, because it is the big fish that are usually extracted. Therkildsen et al. examined wild ancestor fish lineages and found that polygenic mechanisms underpin this rapid evolutionary capacity (see the Perspective by Jørgensen and Enberg). Phenotypic change happened in two ways: first, by multiple small parallel changes in hundreds of unlinked genes associated with growth variation in the wild, and second, by shifts in large blocks of linked genes, causing large allele frequency changes at some loci. Science, this issue p. 487; see also p. 443 Fish harvest drives rapid evolution of faster growth rates by different polygenic mechanisms. Humans cause widespread evolutionary change in nature, but we still know little about the genomic basis of rapid adaptation in the Anthropocene. We tracked genomic changes across all protein-coding genes in experimental fish populations that evolved pronounced shifts in growth rates due to size-selective harvest over only four generations. Comparisons of replicate lines show parallel allele frequency shifts that recapitulate responses to size-selection gradients in the wild across hundreds of unlinked variants concentrated in growth-related genes. However, a supercluster of genes also rose rapidly in frequency and dominated the evolutionary dynamic in one replicate line but not in others. Parallel phenotypic changes thus masked highly divergent genomic responses to selection, illustrating how contingent rapid adaptation can be in the face of strong human-induced selection.


Deep neural networks often suffer from poor generalization due to complex and non-convex loss landscapes. Sharpness-Aware Minimization (SAM) is a popular solution that smooths the loss landscape by minimizing the maximized change of training loss when adding a perturbation to the weight. However, indiscriminate perturbation of SAM on all parameters is suboptimal and results in excessive computation, double the overhead of common optimizers like Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). In this paper, we propose Sparse SAM (SSAM), an efficient and effective training scheme that achieves sparse perturbation by a binary mask. To obtain the sparse mask, we provide two solutions based on Fisher information and dynamic sparse training, respectively. We investigate the impact of different masks, including unstructured, structured, and $N$:$M$ structured patterns, as well as explicit and implicit forms of implementing sparse perturbation. We theoretically prove that SSAM can converge at the same rate as SAM, i.e., $O(\log T/\sqrt{T})$. Sparse SAM has the potential to accelerate training and smooth the loss landscape effectively. Extensive experimental results on CIFAR and ImageNet-1K confirm that our method is superior to SAM in terms of efficiency, and the performance is preserved or even improved with a perturbation of merely 50\% sparsity. Code is available at https://github.com/Mi-Peng/Systematic-Investigation-of-Sparse-Perturbed-Sharpness-Aware-Minimization-Optimizer.


Previous researchers in logic testing focused on shorts in MOS gate oxides that have zero-resistance. However, most shorts are resistive and may cause delay faults. In this paper, we propose a simple and realistic delay fault model for gate oxide shorts. A reasonably accurate method is proposed to compute delay change due to resistive shorts. We also enumerate all possible fault behaviors and present the relationship between input patterns and output behaviors, which is useful in ATPG.


In this paper we introduces the ideal on supra  topological space and we shall discuss the properties of this space. In this space we introduces  two operators ( )  and   . A generalized set has also been introduced in this space ( )  and  . A generalized set has also been introduced in this space  with the help of  operator


The stages in the development of the chemistry of piperidines with a sterically hindered nitrogen atom and the practical importance of compounds of this class are examined. The methods of synthesis of 2,2,6,6-tetra-alkylpiperidines published in the literature, and their chemical properties and reactions are surveyed: processes occurring without the growth of a carbon skeleton, condensations with the formation of new C–C bonds, and reactions involving a change in the heterocyclic skeleton of the molecules. The characteristics of the stereochemistry and in particular of the conformations of 2,2,6,6-tetrasubstituted piperidines are analysed. The bibliography includes 174 references.


Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a disease of poverty. Following the near eradication of rheumatic fever and RHD in the developed world and the emergence of competing large global epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, research and investment for the control of rheumatic fever and RHD worldwide declined.1 However, over the past decade, RHD has reemerged as a priority in global health. The World Health Organization and the World Heart Federation have called for a 25% reduction in mortality because of cardiovascular causes, including RHD, by 2025.2 Contemporary studies have begun to shed light on the enormous burden of RHD that persists in countries with emerging and developing economies. The highest prevalence of RHD has been reported in India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—accounting for 73% of global cases. Within 20 countries where RHD remains endemic, the age-standardized prevalence is estimated at >1% and greatest in women of childbearing age.2 The economic impact of RHD in these regions is equally as unsettling. Disability-adjusted life years because of RHD is estimated at >10 million, accounting for 0.43% of any-cause disability-adjusted life years worldwide.2 In 2015, the first prospective global registry of RHD, from 12 African countries, India, and Yemen, provided a contemporary description of the presentation, complications, and treatment of RHD.2 The lower a country's income category, the younger the median age and more advanced the disease at presentation.3 This epidemiological pattern has clear and direct implications for the maternal health of a country's population.


The audit report of annual accounts must follow the specific format and terminology contained in the Technical Standards on Auditing to fulfill its purpose, which involves the expression of professional opinion on the content of annual accounts by the auditor. This work analyzes the errors contained in the audit reports of a representative sample of Galician companies, from 2004 to 2007. The observation has allowed us to conclude that the reports do not contain an unqualified opinion are those with more errors. These errors are mainly in the comparability paragraph, in the qualified paragraphs and in the opinion paragraph of the report. In addition, we found that the auditors are individual practitioners who make more errors, an issue that we believe of interest to users of the reports to the Institute of Accounting and Auditing (ICAC), principal in charge of quality control.


The fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectra and mass-selected ion kinetic energy spectra [MIKES] of sodium adduct ions [M + Na]+ of six phenylpropanoid glycosides have been studied. An intense sodium adduct appeared in their FAB mass spectra, which was more abundant than the corresponding protonated molecular ion [M + H]+ and may give more definite information about molecular weight of the sample. The MIKES of these [M + Na]+ ions provided a convenient way for sugar sequence analysis of such glycosides.


We propose two multivariate extensions of the Bayesian group lasso for variable selection and estimation for data with high dimensional predictors and multi-dimensional response variables. The methods utilize spike and slab priors to yield solutions which are sparse at either a group level or both a group and individual feature level. The incorporation of group structure in a predictor matrix is a key factor in obtaining better estimators and identifying associations between multiple responses and predictors. The approach is suited to many biological studies where the response is multivariate and each predictor is embedded in some biological grouping structure such as gene pathways. Our Bayesian models are connected with penalized regression, and we prove both oracle and asymptotic distribution properties under an orthogonal design. We derive efficient Gibbs sampling algorithms for our models and provide the implementation in a comprehensive R package called MBSGS available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). The performance of the proposed approaches is compared to state-of-the-art variable selection strategies on simulated data sets. The proposed methodology is illustrated on a genetic dataset in order to identify markers grouping across chromosomes that explain the joint variability of gene expression in multiple tissues.


There is considerable need for research into the application potential of adaptive fiber-reinforced plastics based on shape memory alloys, in particular with regard to industry-specific solutions. Hence, this paper presents the activation time- and voltage amplitude-dependent deformation behavior of adaptive fiber-reinforced plastics incorporating shape memory alloy. In order to attain this goal, shape memory alloy was textile-technically converted into shape memory alloy hybrid yarn using the friction spinning technology. Subsequently, the manufactured hybrid yarn was integrated into the reinforcing fabric in the warp direction using weaving technology. To increase the deformation potential of the adaptive fiber-reinforced plastic, a hinged woven fabric was developed by floating of the warp yarn. The functionalized preform was infused by the Seemann Corporation Resin Infusion Molding Process. Later, an extensive electro-mechanical characterization of the adaptive fiber-reinforced plastic by varying electrical power resulting from the varying voltage amplitude and activation time was completed. The maximum deformation of adaptive fiber-reinforced plastics was achieved at an electrical power of 95 W (50 V/1.9 A) and 60 s of thermal induced activation.


Polar metals, which possess ferroelectriclike polar structure and conductivity simultaneously, have attracted wide interest since the first solid example, $\mathrm{LiOs}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ (below 140 K), was discovered. However, the lack of room-temperature polar metals hinders further research and applications. Thus abundant properties of polar metals are unexplored. Here, with first-principles calculations, we report that the polar metal phase can be stabilized in the strain-engineered $\mathrm{BaTi}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ with electron doping. The mechanism relates to the competition between the shifting of the ${t}_{2g}$ energy levels and the narrowing of their bandwidth. Surprisingly, it is predicted that the ferroelectric-to-paraelectric transition temperature can be increased by electron doping when the strain is large enough, which holds potential for room-temperature polar metals. Our results indicate that strain engineering is a promising way to achieve $\mathrm{BaTi}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$-based polar metals, and they should have practical significance for obtaining easily accessible, ecofriendly, and potential room-temperature polar metals.


The adsorption of tartrazine dye on active carbon of mahagony (Swietenia mahagoni Jacq) rind has been done. Through acquired active carbon carbonations process, where was that rind at entry into furnace on temperature 500oC for 1 hour, afterwards is cooled and sieved to 50 mesh. Activation process was done through charcoal soaking in 4 M HCl solution for 15 hours and be dried on ovens at 110o C for 1 hour. After that, by the calcinations process in furnace at 450o C was streamed to gas N2 for 2 hours then analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to charcoal before activation, after activation and after calcinations. Adsorption process to tartrazina dye utilize UV-Vis spectrophotometer was been done. Result of research are gotten optimum condition of active carbon which is on adsorben's weight 1.0 g, contact time 40 minutes, pH = 3 and concentration of tartrazine dye on 30 ppm. Adsorption of tartrazine dye on the active carbon fits Freundlich's isotherm at the value correlation coefficient (r 2 ), value K F , and value n which is 98%; 0.015 and 1.186 respectively.


A new type of electron spectrometer is under construction at Mainz University that allows a measurement of the β-spectrum of tritium with high resolution and transmission in order to determine the neutrino rest mass. It consists of a source that contains atomic tritium, trapped in a high magnetic field, and a solenoid retarding spectrometer.


Digital buying behavior is now the most used method by Indian consumer for shopping. Indian consumer who was reluctant and skeptical of online purchases until half a decade ago has taken a major leap towards digital buying. India, being second most populous country in the world is definitely a huge market even if ninety percent of us may not buy products online. This ten percent digital consumers are enough to give big business to companies selling their products online and the selling platforms. Since this explosive digital buying behavior is very recent for India as a digital market, there is urgent need to understand the digital consumer behavior of Indian customer. In this context the present study was conducted to see how consumer with different types of personality and demographic differences differ on their frequency of online purchase, types of products purchased, type of websites preferred to purchase online, preferred mode of payment, attraction of online offers, and reasons to prefer online purchase over traditional go market behavior. The study was conducted on a sample of 160 respondents from various regions of India. The results of this research reveals that digital consumer behavior in India is affected by demographic factors like Gender, Age, Marital Status and Personality factors like Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Open to Change. The paper discuss the implications of these differences with respect to Indian digital market.


In recent years many models have been proposed for measuring soil water content (θ) based on the permittivity (ε) value. Permittivity is one of the properties used to determine θ in measurements using the electromagnetic method. This method is widely used due to quite substantial differences in values of ε for air, soil, and water, as it allows the θ value to be measured accurately. The performance of six proposed models with one parameter (i.e., permittivity) and five proposed models with two or more parameters (i.e., permittivity, porosity, and dry bulk density of soil) is discussed and evaluated. Secondary data obtained from previous studies are used for comparison to calibrate and evaluate the models. The results show that the models with one parameter proposed by Roth et al. (1992) and Topp et al. (1980) have the greatest R 2 data errors, while for the model with two parameters, the model proposed by Malicki et al. (1996) agrees very well with the data compared with other models.


This paper introduces a novel graph-based filter method for automatic feature selection (abbreviated as GB-AFS) for multi-class classification tasks. The method determines the minimum combination of features required to sustain prediction performance while maintaining complementary discriminating abilities between different classes. It does not require any user-defined parameters such as the number of features to select. The methodology employs the Jeffries-Matusita (JM) distance in conjunction with t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) to generate a low-dimensional space reflecting how effectively each feature can differentiate between each pair of classes. The minimum number of features is selected using our newly developed Mean Simplified Silhouette (abbreviated as MSS) index, designed to evaluate the clustering results for the feature selection task. Experimental results on public data sets demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed GB-AFS over other filter-based techniques and automatic feature selection approaches. Moreover, the proposed algorithm maintained the accuracy achieved when utilizing all features, while using only $7\%$ to $30\%$ of the features. Consequently, this resulted in a reduction of the time needed for classifications, from $15\%$ to $70\%$.


Porcine interleukin-18 mature protein gene was amplified from porcine spleen cells by RT-PCR. PCR product was cloned into the T vector pGEM-T for sequencing. The nucleotide sequence of this gene was 474 bp. Then, it was subcloned into the prokaryotic expressing plasmid vector pGEX6P-1 and transformed into host E. coli strain BL21 for expression. The expression of pIL-18 mature protein gene was identified by SDS-PAGE .The expression product was fusion protein with molecular weight of 45 kD and the percentage of expression protein in E. coil protein was 28%. The protein was purified by washing of inclusion bodies and the activity was measured by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT).


. We show that the supermassive celestial body at the centre of the Milky Way and the two supermassive celestial bodies at the centre of the distant galaxy NGC 6240 cannot be black holes.


Invariably, a high percentage of the population of South Africa depends on public transport. In order to continue to satisfy commuters in terms of comfort, travel time, reliability of service and traffic congestion, there is a need to improve the efficiency of moving passengers to reduce travel time, delay time and number of stops. In the quest for advancement and improvement in public transport, many countries now embark on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems based on the successful implementation of the system by cities like Curitiba (Brazil) and Bogota (Columbia). Government departments/transport authorities are often faced with the challenge of selecting the most suitable BRT system relative to the unique features of its transport demands and urban layout. Hence, this study proposes the determination of the most appropriate BRT system for the eThekwini Municipal Area (EMA). An in-depth literature review was conducted in order to determine the most adoptable BRT system amongst median, kerb side and segregated BRT systems, taking into consideration cost implications, safety of the passengers, pedestrian crossing, physically challenged commuters, vehicle option and manoeuvres. Physical assessment and critical review of the current operating BRT systems in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth in South Africa was employed in this study as well as a critical comparison among these systems. The pros and cons of the three functional BRT systems in South Africa were stated and a way forward for EMA was recommended. Lastly, an assessment of the proposed BRT system in EMA was conducted on the existing Phase 1 and the remaining three phases. The review conducted was based on route inspection, access to property, factors considered in the selection of a BRT system, demand analyses of the routes and the evaluation of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth BRT systems. Guidelines were also provided for the remaining proposed BRT routes which could be adopted by the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) in order to enhance a better performance in EMA over the three functional BRT systems in South Africa using the aforementioned criteria.


Under this project, the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA) conducted wind feasibility studies for Adak, False Pass, Nikolski, Sand Point and St. George. The DOE funds were also be used to continue APIA's role as project coordinator, to expand the communication network quality between all participants and with other wind interest groups in the state and to provide continued education and training opportunities for regional participants. This DOE project began 09/01/2005. We completed the economic and technical feasibility studies for Adak. These were funded by the Alaska Energy Authority. Both wind and hydro appear to be viable renewable energy options for Adak. In False Pass the wind resource is generally good but the site has high turbulence. This would require special care with turbine selection and operations. False Pass may be more suitable for a tidal project. APIA is funded to complete a False Pass tidal feasibility study in 2012. Nikolski has superb potential for wind power development with Class 7 wind power density, moderate wind shear, bi-directional winds and low turbulence. APIA secured nearly $1M from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service Assistance to Rural Communities with Extremely High Energy Costs to install a 65kW wind turbine. The measured average power density and wind speed at Sand Point measured at 20m (66ft), are 424 W/m2 and 6.7 m/s (14.9 mph) respectively. Two 500kW Vestas turbines were installed and when fully integrated in 2012 are expected to provide a cost effective and clean source of electricity, reduce overall diesel fuel consumption estimated at 130,000 gallons/year and decrease air emissions associated with the consumption of diesel fuel. St. George Island has a Class 7 wind resource, which is superior for wind power development. The current strategy, led by Alaska Energy Authority, is to upgrade the St. George electrical distribution system and power plant. Avian studies in Nikolski and Sand Point have allowed for proper wind turbine siting without killing birds, especially endangered species and bald eagles. APIA continues coordinating and looking for funding opportunities for regional renewable energy projects. An important goal for APIA has been, and will continue to be, to involve community members with renewable energy projects and energy conservation efforts.


There are currently no effective biomarkers for prognosis and optimal treatment selection to improve non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survival outcomes. This study further validated a seven-gene panel for diagnosis and prognosis of NSCLC using RNA sequencing and proteomic profiles of patient tumors. Within the seven-gene panel, ZNF71 expression combined with dendritic cell activities defined NSCLC patient subgroups (n = 966) with distinct survival outcomes (p = 0.04, Kaplan–Meier analysis). ZNF71 expression was significantly associated with the activities of natural killer cells (p = 0.014) and natural killer T cells (p = 0.003) in NSCLC patient tumors (n = 1016) using Chi-squared tests. Overexpression of ZNF71 resulted in decreased expression of multiple components of the intracellular intrinsic and innate immune systems, including dsRNA and dsDNA sensors. Multi-omics networks of ZNF71 and the intracellular intrinsic and innate immune systems were computed as relevant to NSCLC tumorigenesis, proliferation, and survival using patient clinical information and in-vitro CRISPR-Cas9/RNAi screening data. From these networks, pan-sensitive and pan-resistant genes to 21 NCCN-recommended drugs for treating NSCLC were selected. Based on the gene associations with patient survival and in-vitro CRISPR-Cas9, RNAi, and drug screening data, MEK1/2 inhibitors PD-198306 and U-0126, VEGFR inhibitor ZM-306416, and IGF-1R inhibitor PQ-401 were discovered as potential targeted therapy that may also induce an immune response for treating NSCLC.


SARL is a general-purpose agent-oriented programming language. This language aims at providing the fundamental abstractions for dealing with concurrency, distribution, interaction, decentralisation, reactivity, autonomy and dynamic reconfiguration that are usually considered essential for implementing agent-based applications. Every programming language specifies an execution model. In the case of SARL, this execution model is defined based on the object-oriented paradigm, i.e., the run-time environment is written in Java. Accordingly, and by default, the SARL programs are transformed into their equivalent object-oriented programs written in Java. The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to explain the mapping between the agent-oriented paradigm and the object-oriented paradigm. Secondly, to define transformations from the SARL constructs to the Java constructs. We advocate that these goals enable the SARL developers to understand the SARL statements, and the mapping to the equivalent executable entities.


When a newborn has suspected or confirmed hypoxemia, clinical measures for evaluation and treatment are started without delay, which is appropriate. Oxygen is among the most widely used drugs in neonatal care, but the adverse effects of excess oxygen administration, hyperoxemia, and hyperoxia are not addressed in a similar way. This review describes issues of clinical significance related to oxygenation and saturation targets with the main objective of decreasing morbidities associated with excess oxygen use.


Limited flight range is a common problem for multicopters. To alleviate this problem, we propose a method for finding the optimal speed and heading of a multicopter when flying a given path to achieve the longest flight range. Based on a novel multivariable extremum seeking controller with adaptive step size, the method (a) does not require any power consumption model of the vehicle, (b) can adapt to unknown disturbances, (c) can be executed online, and (d) converges faster than the standard extremum seeking controller with constant step size. We conducted indoor experiments to validate the effectiveness of this method under different payloads and initial conditions, and showed that it is able to converge more than 30% faster than the standard extremum seeking controller. This method is especially useful for applications such as package delivery, where the size and weight of the payload differ for different deliveries and the power consumption of the vehicle is hard to model.


Abstract— Cancer as a disease has taken the form of an epidemic for human beings. This work processes radiograph CT and MRI images to perform detection of brain tumour using a hybrid algorithm based on image processing and segmentation. The database taken is from Google open source brain scans and the system has been developed on MATLAB v2019 for Windows. Section I reviews image processing for medical imaging and Section II reviews associated state-of-art literature. Section III details the proposed system. An engineering analysis is detailed in Section IV; a sensitivity of 100%, similarity of 89.66% and accuracy of 87.50% is achieved for the algorithm. This work proposes to develop a cost-effective system accessible to medical practitioners on everyday computers.


As the world was consumed by the spread of COVID-19, the population plunged with it. The world witnessed a great change in lifestyle. This includes spending pattern. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the factors that facilitate e-commerce demand during COVID-19 by focusing on the two popular platforms among Malaysian; Shopee and Lazada. This research attempts to observe and study whether factors such as product, price, time-saving, payment, security, administrative and psychological are related to the demand on e-commerce. The announcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) by the Malaysian government saw the closing of physical premises. Malaysian has turned to online to source for necessities. A total of 200 samples were collected through an online survey questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using IBM's SPSS software. The result implied that product, price, time-saving, payment, security and administrative factors have a significant relationship on e-commerce demand.


Introduction The extent to which individuals in healthcare use near misses as learning opportunities remains poorly understood. Thus, an exploratory study was conducted to gain insight into the nature of, and contributing factors to, organisational learning from near misses in clinical practice. Methods A constructivist grounded theory approach was employed which included semi-structured interviews with 24 participants (16 clinicians and 8 administrators) from a large teaching hospital in Canada. Results This study revealed three scenarios for the responses to near misses, the most common involved 'doing a quick fix' where clinicians recognised and corrected an error with no further action. The second scenario consisted of reporting near misses but not hearing back from management, which some participants characterised as 'going into a black hole'. The third scenario was 'closing off the Swiss-cheese holes', in which a reported near miss generated corrective action at an organisational level. Explanations for 'doing a quick fix' included the pervasiveness of near misses that cause no harm and fear associated with reporting the near miss. 'Going into a black hole' reflected managers' focus on operational duties and events that harmed patients. 'Closing off the Swiss-cheese holes' occurred when managers perceived substantial potential for harm and preventability. Where learning was perceived to occur, leaders played a pivotal role in encouraging near-miss reporting. Conclusion To optimise learning, organisations will need to determine which near misses are appropriate to be responded to as 'quick fixes' and which ones require further action at the unit and corporate levels.


Bipolar arthroplasty of the hip was introduced by the first author in 1974. From that time until 1988, this type of arthroplasty has been carried out in 1213 hips at the authors' institution. Included is a group of 760 osteoarthritic hips on which follow-up studies have been done at six months, five years, ten years, and 15 years. Studies of the acetabulum show healthy bone preservation as long as 15 years after surgery. A process of floor reinforcement in certain states has also been identified. The relatively simple operative technique has resulted in few postoperative complications. Clinical results as long as 15 years postsurgery compare favorably with two-piece replacement techniques.


The recent technology of image processing forms the basic principles of research entitled "A Novel Approach for Face Recognition and Age estimation using Local Binary Pattern, Discriminative approach using Two layered Back Propagation Network" has been developed to overcome the inconveniences faced by the organizations in recognizing the exact person. The proposed system sustains a high recognition rate in a wide range of resolution levels and it breaks the other alternative methods. Skin patches are also one of the features of our proposed work. We propose a face detection algorithm for different lighting conditions. Human Skin patches is also one of the parameter in the algorithm. The new methods using Local Binary Pattern, Discriminative approach, facial algorithm and two layered back propagation algorithm for identifying the face and as well as age estimation. The Texture features and Global features are extracted from the image in different scales. The Gradient Orientation Pyramid can be formed for calculating the Age Progression and Age Estimation. The proposed method having high calculation speed compared with the existing method using Back propagation network with single layer. The dataset are taken from FG-NET and Morph Dataset. The performance comparison has been done using different datasets.


Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection occasionally leads to a critical condition in patients with or without chronic liver diseases. Acute-on-chronic liver disease includes acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) and non-ACLF. In this review, we searched the literature concerning the association between HAV infection and chronic liver diseases in PubMed. Chronic liver diseases, such as metabolic associated fatty liver disease and alcoholic liver disease, coinfection with other viruses, and host genetic factors may be associated with severe hepatitis A. It is important to understand these conditions and mechanisms. There may be no etiological correlation between liver failure and HAV infection, but there is an association between the level of chronic liver damage and the severity of acute-on-chronic liver disease. While the application of an HAV vaccination is important for preventing HAV infection, the development of antivirals against HAV may be important for preventing the development of ACLF with HAV infection as an acute insult. The latter is all the more urgent given that the lives of patients with HAV infection and a chronic liver disease of another etiology may be at immediate risk.


The aim of this paper was to describe the association between assertiveness, resistance to group pressure and level of alcohol consumption in university students of both genders, ages between 16 and 33, who attended two educational institutions. The Rathus Assertiveness Scale, the Resistance to Group Pressure Questionnaire and the Audit Test for alcohol consumption were administered. In addition, some more specifi c data about consumption were also included. Results show a signifi cant association between variables such as level of alcohol consumption, assertiveness and resistance to group pressure. The fi ndings about alcohol consumption, based on social conditions and development of the youth are discussed. Keys words: Assertiveness, group pressure, alcohol consumption, university students. ASSERTIVIDADE, RESISTENCIA A PRESSAO DO GRUPO E CONSUMO DE ALCOOL


"Geography education is indispensable to the development of responsible and active citizens in the present and future world" is one of the main statements in the International Charter on Geographical Education. This charter was edited in 1992 by Haubrich, chair of the Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union (IGU). Twenty years later this statement is still true. Geography educators all over the world are looking for ways to talk with young people about their image of their world and to help them to develop their knowledge, skills and ideas about the complex world we live in. However, different ideas exist about what geography we should learn and teach and how. The Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union tries to help to improve the quality and position of geography education worldwide, promoting the dissemination of good practices and research results in the field of geography education.


We contributed to the field of non-benzenoid aromatic compounds by creating the cyclopropenyl cation and various of its derivatives, including cyclopropenone; it was the first aromatic system with other than six pi electrons in a single ring, and the simplest aromatic system. The pioneering work of Tetsuo Nozoe in tropolone chemistry was celebrated with the founding of ISNA, the International Symposium on Non-Benzenoid Aromatic Compounds, where I described our work in the field. It fit the prediction that aromaticity would be found in systems with 4n + 2 pi electrons, where n is an integer. I was also concerned with the properties of monocyclic systems with 4n cyclically conjugated pi electrons. They were expected not to be aromatic, but the interesting question was whether they were actually antiaromatic, especially destabilized by the cyclic conjugation in such 4n species as the cyclopropenyl anion, cyclobutadiene, and cyclopentadienyl cation. The evidence supports antiaromaticity in these cases. We also examined compounds where 4n cyclic pi systems were fused with aromatic systems, and most interestingly systems in which two 4n pi systems were fused. In these cases the periphery of the molecules had 4n + 2 pi electrons, for aromaticity, but the components were antiaromatic. Recently we have studied electrical conductivities in aromatic molecules such as thiophene and saw that aromaticity added resistance to the systems, so non-aromatic compounds are better conductors and antiaromatic compounds are predicted to be the best of all.