The Bacillus subtilis genome contains two tandem genes, ebrA and ebrB, which encode two homologues of the SMR family of multidrug efflux transporters. The sequences of EbrA and EbrB are highly similar to each other and to that of EmrE, the prototypical SMR transporter of Escherichia coli. Drug resistance profiling and drug binding experiments showed that the presence of both EbrA and EbrB is required for proper transport function. EbrA and EbrB directly interact and combine to form a functional transporter. They likely form a heterodimer in analogy to the EmrE homodimer. Mutagenesis experiments indicate that the conserved membrane-embedded glutamates in the first transmembrane helices of both EbrA and EbrB are required for multidrug efflux activity. However, the two glutamates are nonequivalent since EbrA E15 is required for substrate binding while EbrB E14 is not. Our studies support a model in which functional residues in EbrAB are relegated to at least two sets that participate in distinct steps of the active drug transport process.


The business sector has always encountered some challenges in predicting exact daily prices for stock market index and therefore more research methodologies have been proposed this far to address this problem. In every nation, there are several factors such as the state of politics, economic situations and trade expectations that have great impact on the stock market index. In this paper, we compare two types of input variables useful in the prediction of stock market path for daily markets index. Our main contribution presented through this study is the ability to predict the path flow for the next day's price in Botswana stock market index through the use of optimized Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model. To enhance efficiency in the prediction accuracy on future stock market trends, we employ Genetic Algorithms (GA) to optimize the ANN model. We further reveal and substantiate the predictability of stock price flow by employing the hybrid GA-ANN model and compare its performance to pre-existing methods. Practical results indicate that proper selection of input variables enhances efficiency in the optimized ANN model performance.


The ability to continuously monitor fluctuating concentrations of specific molecules in the body can drastically improve precision medicine by allowing the real-time correlation of dynamic molecular processes with health and disease. While this ability has been pursued from multiple directions, electrochemical strategies have been successful and commercializable platforms. For example, continuous glucose monitors have dramatically improved the therapeutic management and quality of life for Type 1 diabetics. Unfortunately, the enzymatic sensing used in glucose monitors is not applicable to a large number of clinically relevant biomarkers. This limitation significantly reduces the scope of dynamic biochemical processes we can probe to study healthy human physiology and disease. In response, my laboratory is developing in vivo electrochemical aptamer-based sensors, a platform that is generalizable to the highly specific sensing of arbitrary molecular targets and supports continuous molecular monitoring in the body. In this presentation I will discuss the current state-of-the-art of these sensors, and the challenges we are addressing to enable preclinical and clinical applications.

 Figure 1


In this paper, we present initial design of dual-band dipole antenna which able to perform when shifting high frequency band by inserting of inductive element between high-, and low-frequency dipole arms. Responses of high frequency and bandwidth at –10 dB level on the inductivity are presented in the paper. The maximum value of inductivity to be inserted is about hundreds of nH, hence, it can be implemented by microstrip lines. It is also possible to use lumped elements. Approximations of such responses with polynomials power two and lower are presented in the paper. It is shown, that the bandwidth of the S11 below –10 dB high frequency response has approximately linear behavior, so that can be used when carrying out experimental verifying of the numerical simulations. When simulating radiation characteristics the Russian standard FAF‑4D substrate was used, which can operate at frequencies up to 8–10 GHz.


Renewable energy systems have developed wide interest to supply electricity in remote areas as well as for distributed power generation particularly during peak loads. Fuel-cell-based power generation is also gaining popularity in residential applications as well as distributed power generation due to its cleanliness, portability, and suitability for electricity and heat generation. Development of a suitable power electronic interface to make the technology viable is still a challenge. This paper presents modeling, simulation, and experimental study of a fuel cell (FC) power plant (FCPP) suitable for stand-alone application as well as for microgrid/grid interface. A single-stage pulsewidth modulation inverter is selected as power electronic interface between FC and grid. A mathematical model is developed in per unit system to define the power limits in terms of FC, converter, and power system parameters. The simulation model is developed in MATLAB environment with control scheme implementation in qd reference frame for investigation. A prototype of single-stage FCPP is developed in the laboratory to validate the results.


Objective:Reports of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome have generally been restricted to mechanically ventilated intensive care unit patients, creating an incomplete picture of the epidemiologies of the syndromes. We sought to determine the incidence and outcomes of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndromes throughout an entire hospital population. Design:Retrospective cohort study. Setting:A Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. Patients:All patients satisfying criteria for acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome during a 2-yr period. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:There were 11,465 acute medical and surgical admissions during the study period; 156 patients had acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Only 74 (47%) were invasively ventilated in an intensive care unit for acute lung injury. Another 15 (10%) patients were ventilated for other reasons, 41 (26%) were admitted to an intensive care unit at approximately the time of acute lung injury onset but were not invasively ventilated, and 26 (17%) were managed with neither invasive ventilation nor admission to an intensive care unit. Four-week mortality differed by group (p = .023), ranging from 22% among those managed in an intensive care unit without invasive ventilation to 50% among those ventilated for acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome. By 2 yrs, differences in survival between groups were no longer significant. Notably, only 53 (34%) patients would have been eligible for widely cited acute lung injury intervention trials. Ten patients had a second episode of acute lung injury during the study period, equating to a 16%-per-year risk of recurrence. Conclusions:Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome studies restricted to patients mechanically ventilated in intensive care units substantially underestimate the incidence of the syndromes. Nonventilated patients and those cared for outside of intensive care units may still be at substantial risk for death. Further characterization of previously overlooked acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome patients may suggest new therapeutic opportunities.


We present a programming environment called WeScheme that runs in the Web browser and supports interactive development. WeScheme programmers can save programs directly on the Web, making them accessible from everywhere. As a result, sharing of programs is a central focus that WeScheme supports seamlessly. The environment also leverages the existing presentation media and program run-time support found in Web browsers, thus making these easily accessible to students and leveraging their rapid engineering improvements. WeScheme is being used successfully by students, and is especially valuable in schools that have prohibitions on installing new software or lack the computational demands of more intensive programming environments.


This paper deals with the sliding mode estimation for microgrid with time delays. Delay has a great impact on large power grids' management for microgrid, which terribly reduces the stability and quality of microgrid. Random delay caused by load dependent congestion, constant transmission delay and constant delay in microgrid are considered in this paper. To eliminate the adverse effects of delays, a novel sliding mode estimation-based controller is designed to predict time delays and microgrid states, and to reject the disturbance of estimation errors. The mathematical inverter model containing electrical characteristics is regarded as the model of practical microgrid system. Delay estimation with learning parameter and state estimation are derived according to the inverter model. By regarding estimation errors as disturbance of sliding mode control (SMC), the control signal of SMC is adaptively changed in the sliding mode estimation-based control loop to ensure the stability of system and accuracy of estimation. Exponential reaching law (ERL) is implemented to improve the chattering issues and reaching performance of SMC. Lyapunov approach is exploited to analyze the stability of sliding motion. Finally, the proposed SMC strategy is validated by simulation experiments of a microgrid with time delays.


Dielectric polymer nanocomposites with a high breakdown field and high dielectric constant have drawn significant attention in modern electrical and electronic industries due to their potential applications in dielectric and energy storage systems. The interfaces of the nanomaterials play a significant role in improving the dielectric performance of polymer nanocomposites. In this work, polydopamine (dopa)-functionalized TiO2-BaTiO3-TiO2 (TiO2-BT-TiO2@dopa) core@double-shell nanoparticles have been developed as novel nanofillers for high-energy-density capacitor applications. The hierarchically designed nanofillers help in tailoring the interfaces surrounding the polymer matrix as well as act as individual capacitors in which the core and outer TiO2 shell function as a capacitor plate because of their high electrical conductivity while the middle BT layer functions as a dielectric medium due to high dielectric constant. Detailed electrical characterizations have revealed that TiO2-BT-TiO2@dopa/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) possesses a higher relative dielectric permittivity (εr), breakdown strength ( Eb), and energy density as compared to those of PVDF, TiO2/PVDF, TiO2@dopa/PVDF, and TiO2-BT@dopa/PVDF polymer nanocomposites. The εr and energy density of TiO2-BT-TiO2@dopa/PVDF were 12.6 at 1 kHz and 4.4 J cm-3 at 3128 kV cm-1, respectively, which were comparatively much higher than those of commercially available biaxially oriented polypropylene having εr of 2.2 and the energy density of 1.2 J cm-3 at a much higher electric field of 6400 kV cm-1. It is expected that these results will further open new avenues for the design of novel architecture for high-performance polymer nanocomposite-based capacitors having core@multishell nanofillers with tailored interfaces.


The buckling of axially compressed cylinders remains an interesting problem in the engineering mechanics literature. Here we revisit the problem by considering fully localized buck-ling modes in the form of a single dimple. By applying a combination of nonlinear finite element methods and numerical continuation algorithms, we study the evolution of a single dimple into a ring of circumferential diamond-shaped waves and further into the Yoshimura post-buckling pattern. This post-buckling sequence is established by cellular buckling (homoclinic snaking) as the axial compression is increased; i.e. a sequence of de-and restabilizations causes the single dimple to multiply circumferentially. The initial single-dimple seed corresponds to a saddle in the energy landscape, and the energy barrier provided by the single-dimple saddle around the stable pre-buckled path is quantified. The low magnitude of this energy barrier suggests that the pre-buckling equilibrium is metastable once the single dimple exists as a post-buckling equilibrium. We parameterize the onset of metastability with respect to geometric parameters and assess the suitability of this onset as a lower-bound design load. As NASA's well-known lower-bound curve is overly conservative for shells manufactured using modern, tightly-toleranced manufacturing techniques, the onset of metastability could provide a viable and less conservative lower-bound design load.


Block copolymers are recognised as a valuable platform for creating nanostructured materials with unique properties. Morphologies formed by block copolymer self-assembly can be transferred into a wide range of inorganic materials, enabling applications including energy storage and metamaterials. However, imaging of the underlying, often complex, nanostructures in large volumes has remained a challenge, limiting progress in materials development. Taking advantage of recent advances in X-ray nanotomography, we non-invasively imaged exceptionally large volumes of nanostructured soft materials at high resolution, revealing a single diamond morphology in a triblock terpolymer composite network. This morphology, which is ubiquitous in nature, has so far remained elusive in block copolymers, despite its potential to create materials with large photonic bandgaps. The discovery was made possible by the precise analysis of distortions in a large volume of the self-assembled diamond network, which are difficult to unambiguously assess using traditional characterisation tools. We anticipate that high-resolution X-ray nanotomography, which allows imaging of much larger sample volumes than electron-based tomography, will become a powerful tool for the quantitative analysis of complex nanostructures and that structures such as the triblock terpolymer-directed single diamond will enable the generation of advanced multicomponent composites with hitherto unknown property profiles.


teachinghospital. Am J Hasp Pharm 1982;39:98-100. 2. Avorn J, SoumeraiSB. Improving drug-therapy decisionsthrough educationaloutreach:a randomized controlledtrialof academically based"detailing". N Engl J Med 1983;308: 1457-1463. 3. SchaffnerW, Ray WA, Federspiel CF, MillerWOo Improvingantibiotic prescribing in officepractice: a controlled trial of three educational methods. JAMA 1983;250: 1728-1732. 4. Lohr KN, Brook RH. Quality of care in episodes of respiratory illness among Medicaid patients in New Mexico. Ann Intern Med 1980; 92: 99·106.


Due to the advancement of Internet technology, online learning is widely used in higher education institutions. Online learning offers several means of communication, including online forum. Through online forum, students and instructors are able to discuss and share their knowledge and expertise without having a need to attend the face-to-face, ordinary classroom session. The purposes of this study are to analyze the students' levels of participation and critical thinking, types of action and factors influencing their participation in online forum. A total of 41 postgraduate students undertaking a course in educational technology from a public university in Malaysia were involved in this study. In this course, the students participated in a weekly online forum as part of the course requirement. Based on the log data file extracted from the online forum, the students' type of actions (view, add, update, delete posts) and their levels of participation (passive, moderate or active) were identified. In addition, the messages posted in the forum were analyzed to gauge their level of critical thinking. Meanwhile, the factors that might influence their online forum participation were measured using a 24-items questionnaire. Based on the log data, a total of 105 posts were sent by the participants. In addition, the findings show that (i) majority of the students are moderate participants, with an average of two to three posts per person, (ii) viewing posts are the most frequent type of action (85.1%), and followed by adding post (9.7%). Furthermore, based on the posts they made, the most frequent type of critical thinking observed was justification (50 input or 19.0%), followed by linking ideas and interpretation (47 input or 18%), and novelty (38 input or 14.4%). The findings indicate that online forum allows for social interaction and can be used to measure the students' critical thinking skills. In order to achieve this, monitoring students' activities in the online forum is recommended. Keywords—Critical thinking, learning management system, level of online participation, online forum.


An LCL-type Isolated dc-dc converter operating for constant output voltage is analyzed, including the effect of a high frequency transformer using ac complex circuit approximation. Its solution is derived and is used to obtain the characteristics of the proposed converter. The analyses show through converter modeling, phasor diagram and gain comparison that inclusion of a high frequency transformer results in introduction of magnetizing inductance and leakage inductances at conventional LCL dc-dc converter with ideal transformer. The theoretical and simulation results are presented in case of the wide variations in input voltage and load current in detail. Analysis and simulation results observed that introduction of a transformer in the dc-dc converter had considerable effect on the performance, especially in the case of low output voltage and large load.


Major population crashes due to natural or human-induced environmental changes may be followed by recoveries. There is a growing interest in the factors governing recovery, in hopes that they might guide population conservation and management, as well as population recovery following a re-introduction program. The emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri population in Terre Adelie, Antarctica, declined by 50% during a regime shift in the mid-1970s, when abrupt changes in climate and ocean environment regimes affected the entire Southern Ocean ecosystem. Since then the population has remained stable and has not recovered. To determine the factors limiting recovery, we examined the consequences of changes in survival and breeding success after the regime shift. Adult survival recovered to its pre-regime shift level, but the mean breeding success declined and the variance in breeding success increased after the regime shift. Using stochastic matrix population models, we found that if the distribution of breeding success observed prior to the regime shift had been retained, the emperor penguin population would have recovered, with a median time to recovery of 36 years. The observed distribution of breeding success after the regime shift makes recovery very unlikely. This indicates that the pattern of breeding success is sufficient to have prevented emperor penguin population recovery. The population trajectory predicted on the basis of breeding success agrees with the observed trajectory. This suggests that the net effect of any facors other than breeding success must be small. We found that the probability of recovery and the time to recovery depend on both the mean and variance of breeding success. Increased variance in breeding success increases the probability of recovery when mean success is low, but has the opposite effect when the mean is high. This study shows the important role of breeding success in determining population recovery for a long-lived species and demonstrates that demographic mechanisms causing population crash can be different from those preventing population recovery.


Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is one of the serious complications of diabetes, especially type 1. It is defined by the triad of hyperglycemia (>250 mg/dL [>13.9 mmol/L]), high anion-gap metabolic acidosis, and increased plasma ketones. Euglycemic ketoacidosis is characterized by DKA without hyperglycemia. We present a rare case of a 28-year-old type 1 diabetic male, presenting with abdominal pain, fatigue, and dizziness after one week of starting a keto diet. He was diagnosed with euglycemic DKA, managed with DKA protocol and given detailed dietary counselling to avoid the keto diet in future.


BACKGROUND
Acute lung injury (ALI) and its more severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), are devastating disorders of overwhelming pulmonary inflammation and hypoxemia, resulting in high morbidity and mortality.

AIM
To provide the clinician with a summary of the literature on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and an evidence-base for management of ALI/ARDS in children.

DATA SELECTION
PubMed search for clinical trials, selected literature review of other relevant studies on epidemiology and diagnosis. DATA SYNTHESIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Lower mortality combined with a relatively lower frequency of ALI/ARDS in children makes performance of clinical trials challenging. Based on expert opinion, the following are recommended: 1) avoid tidal volumes > or =10 mL/kg body weight; 2) keep plateau pressure < or =30 cm H2O, arterial pH at 7.30 to 7.45, and Pao2 60 to 80 torr (8 to 10.7 kPa) (Spo2 > or =90%); 3) provide sedation, analgesia, and stress ulcer prophylaxis; and 4) use a 10 g/dL hemoglobin threshold for packed red blood cell transfusion in unstable patients (shock or profound hypoxia). Evidence supports dropping the hemoglobin transfusion threshold to 7 g/dL once profound hypoxia and shock have resolved. Promising therapies for pediatric ALI/ARDS based on pediatric studies include endotracheal surfactant, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, noninvasive ventilation, and use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a rescue therapy. Promising therapies based on adult trials include use of corticosteroids for lung inflammation and fibrosis, use of 4 to 6 mL/kg tidal volumes and restrictive fluid management. Prone positioning, bronchodilators, inhaled nitric oxide, tight glucose control, and high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen are therapies that require further study before they can be recommended for children with ALI/ARDS.


Nickel disulfide-graphene nanosheets (NiS2-GNS) composites were successfully synthesized via a simple and mild hydrothermal method. It was revealed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images that the spherical NiS2 nanoparticles with a diameter of 200-300 nm were uniformly dispersed on graphene nanosheets. Na(+) electrochemical storage properties including cycling performance and high-rate capability of NiS2-GNS composites were investigated, demonstrating a superior reversible capacity of 407 mAh g(-1) with the capacity retention of 77% over 200 cycles at a current density of 0.1 C. Furthermore, even at a large current density of 2 C, a high capacity of 168 mAh g(-1) can still remain, which is much higher than that of pristine NiS2 materials. The enhancement in electrochemical properties might be attributed to the synergetic effect endowed by high conductivity of graphene and novel structure of the electrode material. Combined with the advantages of low cost and environmental benignity, NiS2-GNS composite would be a potential anode material for sodium ion batteries.


The carboreduction of uranium UO 3 into uranium dioxide UO 2 has been studied using two distinct mixtures of uranium trioxide and carbon powders, containing an excess of carbon (C/U=3 mole ratio). The specific surface area and the porous distribution of these mixtures were characterized by nitrogen adsorption, and thermogravimetry experiments were performed under flowing helium, up to 900°C, in order to characterize the reactivity of the mixtures. The course of the carbothermal reduction depends on the texture and the physical mixture of uranium trioxide and carbon: optimal reduction was obtained after a slight manual grinding of the initial mixture (UO 3 + 3C), which improved the contact between uranium trioxide and carbon.


Safening activities of optically active -methylbenzylphenylureas on crop injury of rice (Oryza sativa L., cv. Tsukinohikari, japonica) caused by bensulfuron-methyl (methyl 2-[[[[[(4,6-dimethoxy-2-pyrimidinyl)amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]methyl]benzoate) and pyribenzoxim (benzophenone o-[2,6-bis[(4,6-dimethoxy-2-pyrimidinyl)oxy]benzoyl]oxime) were investigated. Some derivatives of the optically active compounds exhibited strong safening activity against growth inhibition of rice by bensulfuron-methyl. Out of the derivatives tested, (S)-2,3-diCl and (S)-2-F-4-Me derivatives showed greater relieving activity than that of dymuron. In addition, the stress relieving activity was also obtained when they were applied at 4 days after bensulfuron-methyl treatment. On the other hand, crop injury caused by pyribenzoxim was relieved by about 95% with (S)-2-F-4-Me derivative in shoots and roots of rice seedlings.


Evidence of education fever in China can be found from the 7th century through today. Both historical and contemporary education fever have been created, promoted and maintained by state-orchestrated systems of high-stakes and extremely competitive exams. This comparative study examines the educational and social consequences of both the historical Civil Service (Keju) exam system and the current National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) system in China. Although the two systems focus on different content domains and serve different explicit purposes – employment versus college entrance – both have led to profound effects on society. Similarities and differences in design features between the two systems were compared. A number of common positive and negative social consequences were identified. It was observed that exam-driven education fever in China has been gained at the expense of many unintended and often serious negative consequences. Education fever and these consequences are all manifestations of the much deeper driving force of the exams. Attempts to regulate education fever needs to focus first on controlling the stakes and reward system that goes with the exams.


Abstract Callmander, M.W., R. Razakamalala, I. Luino, R.L. Andriamarisoa & S. BUERKI (2020). Novelties from the Northern Mountains Complex of Madagascar V: A new threatened Pandanus (Pandanaceae) from the Kalobinono massif. Candollea 75: 99–105. In English, English and French abstracts. A new species of Pandanus Parkinson (Pandanaceae) endemic to Madagascar is described as Pandanus kalobinonensis Callm., Razakamal. & Luino and illustrations are provided. The new species is restricted to the north-western lowland moist evergreen forests of the Kalobinono massif. Pandanus kalobinonensis can easily be morphologically distinguished from other members of the genus by its small solitary globose syncarp borne on a short peduncle, monocarpellate drupes, and single spiniform stigma with an adaxial stigmatic groove. Despite the occurrence of both collections within limits of the newly designated Galoko-Kalobonino Protected Area, the new species is preliminary assessed as "Endangered" [EN] using the IUCN Red List Criteria.


Information and communication technologies (ICTs), including mobile technologies, have significant implications for the management of work-life balance (WLB) (e.g. Perrons, 2003) and thus for sustainable work practices within organizations and society at large. Boundary theory (Clark, 2000) argues that individuals maintain boundaries between role identities (e.g. parent, worker) within different social domains (e.g. family, work), and that they regularly have to transition between these domains. WLB may reflect the effectiveness of this transitioning. ICTs have significant implications for the management of these boundaries, particularly as they open up new areas for interaction through mobility and through the potential provision of a variety of easily available connections. In this paper, we report on the findings of 15 social entrepreneurs' video and interview data. In particular, we explore and advance understanding of the individual experience of switching between roles and domains in relation to ICT use and connectivity.


Software project monitoring and control is crucial to detect deviation considering the project plan and to take appropriate actions, when needed. However, to determine which action should be taken is not an easy task, since project managers have to analyze the context of the deviation event and search for actions that were successfully taken on previous similar contexts, trying to repeat the effectiveness of these actions. To do so, usually managers use previous projects data or their own experience, and frequently there is no measure or similarity criteria formally established. Thus, in this paper we present the results of a survey that aimed to identify characteristics that can determine the similarity among software projects and also a measure to indicate the level of similarity among them. A recommendation system to support the execution of corrective actions based on previous projects is also described. We believe these results can support the improvement of software project monitoring process, providing important knowledge to project managers in order to improve monitoring and control activities on the projects.


The portfolio selection process for projects involving the exploration and production of oil is a complex task, passing through different steps until and optimum solution is achieved, revealing the best portfolio. This paper presents a methodology for portfolio selection considering semi-standard deviation as a measure of risk. The methodology is applied to a set of six oil production projects located in the Campos Basin, where the risk minimization is subject to a certain return. Genetic algorithms are used as the optimization tool.. The portfolio selection was performed by maximization of the certainty equivalent, for different values of risk aversion coefficients. The results show that the semi-standard deviation presents better sensitivity in portfolio selection with projects that have a large magnitude of risk and return.


The concept of smart city has recently gained popularity both among policy makers and academic researchers. Despite the importance of smart city, there is still confusion regarding its meaning as many terms associated with it is often used interchangeably. Many countries around the globe have developed various smart city initiatives to help solve the problems associated with traffic congestion. This paper explores smart city initiatives that are currently being implemented in Muscat. The paper provides the need for the development of smart city initiative in Muscat.  Muscat city has been experiencing heavy traffic congestion especially during the morning and evening hours when people are travelling to and from their workplaces.  The increase in traffic congestion in Muscat is occasioned by an increase in population in the city and poor traffic management to cope with increase in population and number of vehicles in the town. The study provides analysis of the current situation of public transport in the Sultanate, particularly in Muscat. There is a need to find suitable mechanisms for solving the city's traffic problems. Every problem has various solutions, and enhancing public transport will be explored as part of a comprehensive solution for Muscat city traffic problem.  Thus, the study presents the solutions for growing traffic congestions in a smart city and public transportation perspectives. While addressing the traffic problems and extent of public transportation in Oman, the researchers used primary data collected form 80 respondents to know their perception of traffic issues and user acceptability of public transportation initiatives in Oman. The study, while exploring available smart city initiatives in Oman provides further recommendations that can be implemented in order to solve the problems related to traffic congestion, and further recommendations are placed for enhancing the public transportation systems in Oman.


Objective: to analyze the effect on the knowledge of therapeutic communication by Nursing students through the use of applications. Method: a randomized and controlled clinical trial conducted with 60 nursing students. In the topic Groups and therapeutic communication techniques, the intervention-IG group (n=30) used the application and the control-CG group (n=30) was submitted to the traditional class. The pre- (Zero Test -0) and post-test knowledge (immediate-Test 1 and after 30 day-Test 2) of those involved were evaluated. Results: Test 1, performed immediately after the intervention, showed a mean of 11 hits in the control group and 13 in the intervention, with statistical significance (p=0.036). Test 2 showed a decrease in hits in both groups (IG=10.87 and CG=9.3), but maintained the difference between IG and CG in the post-test (p<0.01). Conclusion: the use of the application on therapeutic communication favored the knowledge of the students, when compared to the traditional teaching method. REBEC RBR-4TF6MR Registration.


The title compound, C20H17N3O2S2, was synthesized by the reaction of 2-(1,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yloxy)acetic acid and thiazolidine-2-thione. The C-linked benzene ring, N-linked benzene ring and thiazolidine-2-thione ring are twisted 31.33 (2), 62.87 (1) and 82.71 (2)°, respectively, from the plane of the bridging 1H-pyrazole ring. The phenyl rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 72.16 (2)°.


Intractable cancers such as osteosarcoma (OS) and oral cancer (OC) are highly refractory, recurrent, and metastatic once developed, and their prognosis is still disappointing. Tumor-targeted therapy, which eliminates cancers effectively and safely, is the current clinical choice. Since aggressive tumors are substantially resistant to multidisciplinary therapies that target apoptosis, tumor-specific activation of another cell death modality is a promising avenue for meeting this goal. Here, we report that a cold atmospheric air plasma-activated medium (APAM) can kill OS and OC by causing a unique mitochondrial clustering. This event was named monopolar perinuclear mitochondrial clustering (MPMC) based on its characteristic unipolar mitochondrial perinuclear accumulation. The APAM caused apoptotic and nonapoptotic cell death. The APAM increased mitochondrial ROS (mROS) and cell death, and the antioxidants such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) prevented them. MPMC occurred following mitochondrial fragmentation, which coincided with nuclear damages. MPMC was accompanied by mitochondrial lipid peroxide (mLPO) accumulation and prevented by NAC, Ferrostatin-1, and Nocodazole. In contrast, the APAM induced minimal cell death, mROS generation, mLPO accumulation, and MPMC in fibroblasts. These results suggest that MPMC occurs in a tumor-specific manner via mitochondrial oxidative stress and microtubule-driven mitochondrial motility. MPMC induction might serve as a promising target for exerting tumor-specific cytotoxicity.


A finite difference numerical method, based on the VOF approach for tracking interface distortions, is presented. It is capable of accurately simulating the fluid flow of multiple immiscible fluids for metallurgical applications. This volume tracking method is based on piecewise linear reconstructions of interfaces, density distributions based on a shifted grid approach, and a fully kernel-based CSF method for surface force modelling. Second order temporal and spatial accuracy are achieved using improved Euler time-stepping enhancement of a two-step projection algorithm, supported by a multigrid-preconditioned GMRES solver that enabled large density ratios (1 : 30 000) between the fluids and fine scale flow phenomena to be resolved. The code was used to simulate the rise of an air bubble in water and in liquid pig iron and was able to capture the time dependent oscillation of the bubble. The bubble velocity varied with the instantaneous shape of the bubble. The averaged terminal velocity of the gas bubble in water was in good agreement with published experimental data. Splash formation from a top submerged gas injection lance was simulated to illustrate the capability of the code in resolving the break up and fragmentation of liquid drops for possible use in the study of bath smelting processes.


A microgrid (MG) is a small power grid composed of localized medium or low level power generation, storage systems, and loads. In this paper, the effects of a MG on power systems voltage stability are shown. The MG model, designed to demonstrate the effects of the MG, was applied to the IEEE 14 bus power system which is widely used in power system stability studies. Eigenvalue and modal analysis methods were used in simulation studies. In the study results, it is seen that MGs affect system voltage stability positively by increasing system voltage instability limit value for buses of a power system in which MG are placed. Keywords—Eigenvalue analysis, microgrid, modal analysis, voltage stability.


Momordica charantia L. has long been regarded as a food and medicinal plant. Although it is not a native plant in Turkey, it is frequently used in folk medicine, especially in west and southwest parts of Anatolia. In the present study, unripe/ripe seed and fruit ethanol extracts of M. charantia from Turkey were screened for their potential antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The antimicrobial activities of the extract were determined against four gram positive bacteria, seven gram negative bacteria, and one yeast with disc diffusion and microdilution broth methods. The extracts were also tested in vitro against four different fish pathogens. The unripe fruit extract was the most active against the tested microorganisms in the study with higher inhibition zones and lower minimal bactericidal or fungicidal activities (MBC or MFC) than the other extracts. Antioxidant capacity of the extracts was investigated by different assay, namely, total antioxidant activity, free radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay), iron (III) and cupric ion reduction assay. The total phenolic content was only determined from ripe fruit and seed extracts as 23.45 and 9.36 mg GAE/g, respectively. The results show that the ripe fruit extract has the strongest antioxidant capacity compared with other extracts. The findings indicate the potential use of unripe fruit and ripe fruit extracts as biopreservatives as they demonstrated high antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, respectively. Keywords : Fruit, seed, ethanol extract, food borne and clinical pathogens, fish pathogens African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol. 12(13), pp. 1548-1558


Mobile Ad hoc NETwork (MANET) is a collection of independent mobile nodes that communicate with each other through wireless links without any centralized infrastructure. Nodes in MANET can act as hosts or routers to forward data packets to other mobile nodes in the wireless network. Nodes perform single hop network to forward data packets, if transmission range is within the limit. Nodes perform multihop network for data packets forward via intermediate nodes, if transmission range is beyond the limit. The Open medium and wide distribution of MANET make it vulnerable to various malicious attackers to degrade network performance. The Existing Intrusion Detection System (IDS) detect malicious nodes, but their routing overhead is high due to use of both acknowledgement packets and digital signatures. This paper gives solution to avoid high routing overhead by adopting a Hybrid key management scheme.


The Twin Block appliance (TBA) has evolved over the decades to remain a very effective treatment for growing Class II patients. This article introduces how two new versions of the TBA may be produced through an entirely digital workflow, from intra-oral scanning to thermoplastic appliance fabrication, using a novel computer-aided design process.


Phytate (inositol hexaphosphate; InsP6) was determined in rat tissues fed on diets with different phytate contents, using a GC–mass detection methodology that permitted the evaluation of the total amount of this substance present in such tissues. The highest InsP6 concentrations were found in brain (5·89×10-2 (SE 5·7×10-3) MG/G DM), WHEREAS THE CONCENTRATIONS DETECTED IN KIDNEYS, LIVER AND BONE WERE SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER (1·96×10-3 (se 0·20×10-3), 3·11×10-3 (se 0·24×10-3), 1·77×10-3 (se 0·17×10-3) mg/g DM respectively) and 10-fold less than those detected in brain. When rats were fed on a purified diet in which InsP6 was undetectable, the InsP6 levels of the organs mentioned earlier decreased dramatically (9·0×10-4, 3·8×10-5, 1·4×10-5 mg/g DM in brain, kidneys and liver respectively) and in some cases became undetectable (bone). The addition of InsP6 to this purified diet led to the increase of InsP6 levels in these tissues. This clearly demonstrated that the majority of the InsP6 found in organs and tissues has a dietary origin and is not a consequence of endogenous synthesis. Consequently, considering that InsP6 could be involved in some important biological roles, the value of any diet on supplying this substance is noteworthy.


We provide a characterization and analysis of the effects of dissipation on oscillator assisted (qubus) quantum gates. The effects can be understood and minimized by looking at the dynamics of the signal coherence and its entanglement with the continuous variable probe. Adding loss in between successive interactions we obtain the effective quantum operations, providing a novel approach to loss analysis in such hybrid settings. We find that in the presence of moderate dissipation the gate can operate with a high fidelity. We also show how a simple iteration scheme leads to independent single qubit dephasing, while retaining the conditional phase operation regardless of the amount of loss incurred by the probe.


ABSTRACT Sediment cores, seismic profiles, radiocarbon dates, and faunal assemblages were used to interpret the depositional setting and geological evolution of the southeastern Texas coast during the last glacio-eustatic cycle. Discrete lithofacies and biofacies zones in the ebb-dominated Sabine Lake estuary and adjacent chenier plain record alternating periods of rapid marine flooding and gradual shoaling related to linked climatic/eustatic fluctuations. Monospecific zones of the mollusks Rangia cuneata and Crassostrea virginica, respectively, indicate high fresh water outflow followed by invasion of marine water, whereas intervening organic-rich zones record bayhead delta deposition. High-frequency parasequence stacking patterns within the valley fill and across the adjacent interfluve reflect an initial rapid rise in sea level about 9 ka that flooded abandoned alluvial terraces and caused onlap of Holocene marsh in the incised valley. The rapid rise was followed by slowly rising and oscillating sea level that filled the deepest portions of the incised valleys with fluvially dominated estuarine deposits, and then a maximum highstand (+1 m msl) about 5 ka that flooded the former subaerial coastal plain between the incised valleys and constructed the highest beach ridges. Between 3.5 and 1.5 ka, sea level oscillated and gradually fell, causing a forced regression and rapid progradation of both the chenier plain and accretionary barrier islands. The only significant sands in the valley fill are (1) falling-stage and lowstand-fluvial sediments between the basal sequence boundary and transgressive surface unconformity, and (2) highstand beach-ridge sediments of the chenier plain.


Purpose: The combination of low-dose radiotherapy with PARP inhibition has been shown to enhance antitumor efficacy through potentiating DNA damage. We combined low-dose fractionated whole abdominal radiation (LDFWAR) with escalating doses of veliparib (ABT-888), a small-molecule PARP inhibitor, in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from advanced solid tumor malignancies. Experimental Design: Patients were treated with veliparib (80–320 mg daily) for a total of 3 cycles. LDFWAR consisted of 21.6 Gy in 36 fractions, 0.6 Gy twice daily on days 1 and 5 for weeks 1–3 of each cycle. Circulating tumor cells (CTC) were collected and evaluated for γ-H2AX. Quality of life (QoL) was assessed using the EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Results: Twenty-two patients were treated. Treatment-related grade 3 and 4 toxicities included lymphopenia (68%), anemia (9%), thrombocytopenia (14%), neutropenia (4%), leukopenia (9%), ascites (4%), vomiting (4%), and dyspnea (4%). No objective responses were observed. Disease stabilization (≥24 weeks) was observed in 7 patients (33%). Median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 4.47 months and median overall survival (mOS) was 13.04 months. In the subset of 8 ovarian and fallopian cancers, mPFS was 6.77 months and mOS was 17.54 months compared with mPFS 2.71 months and mOS 13.01 months in others. Patients with ovarian and fallopian cancers had better QoL over time than those with other cancers. An increased percentage of γ-H2AX–positive CTCs was observed in a subset of patients (3/6 with >2 CTCs at baseline). Conclusions: Combined veliparib and LDFWAR is a well-tolerated regimen that resulted in prolonged disease stability for some patients with advanced solid tumors and carcinomatosis, particularly in the ovarian and fallopian cancer subpopulation. Clin Cancer Res; 21(1); 68–76. ©2014 AACR.


Background: Transvenous embolization through the inferior petrosal sinus (IPS) is the most common treatment procedure for cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistula (CSDAVF). When the IPS is inaccessible or the CSDAVF cannot be treated with transvenous embolization through the IPS, the superficial temporal vein (STV) is used as an alternative access route. However, the approach through the STV is often challenging because of its tortuous and abruptly angulated course. We report a case of recurrent CSDAVF which was successfully treated using a chronic total occlusion (CTO)-dedicated guidewire and by straightening the STV. Case Description: A 63-year-old woman was diagnosed with CSDAVF on examination for oculomotor and abducens nerve palsy. She was initially treated with transvenous embolization through the IPS. However, CSDAVF recurred, and transvenous embolization was performed through the STV. A microcatheter could not be navigated because of the highly meandering access route through the STV. By inserting a CTO-dedicated guidewire into the microcatheter, the STV was straightened and the microcatheter could be navigated into a shunted pouch of the CS. Finally, complete occlusion of the CSDAVF was achieved. Conclusion: If an access route is highly meandering, the approach can be facilitated by straightening the access route with a CTO-dedicated guidewire.


We employed Monte Carlo simulations and short-time dynamic scaling to determine the static and dynamic critical exponents for the generalized two-dimensional Blume-Capel model of spin-3/2. We showed that the critical behavior at the second-order phase-transition line between the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases is in the same universality class of the two-dimensional Ising model. However, at the double critical end point, which is present in the phase diagram of the model, the critical exponent beta , associated to the order parameter, is different from that of the Ising model.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) had transfigured different sectors in society, where the pharmaceutical sector is not an exceptional case. Pharmaceutical sectors have reached new heights with the emergence of these sophisticated technologies. The evolution of artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical industry is in a growth phase opening the possibilities of discovering many new drugs. The diseases affecting humans are increasing tremendously whereas the drugs which are available to treat or cure are very much minimal. But this kind of scenario will not be present in the future because of the combination of artificial intelligence and the pharmaceutical industry which results in faster discovery of drugs with increased clinical outcomes. There was a shift in the paradigm of various stages in drug discovery because of the utilization of artificial intelligence. Each stage of drug discovery involves a certain timeline that can be cut down with the help of artificial intelligence. Many pharma companies are engaged with AI-based drug discovery approaches for treating various diseases like Parkinson's disease diabetes, Alzheimer's, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, etc., AI is also being employed in product development for the fabrication of nanomedicines and nanorobots. Few AI-based drugs are already in the phase of clinical trials which indicates the growth of AI-driven drug discovery. In this review, we have highlighted the application of AI in drug discovery and product development of pharmaceuticals. ABSTRACT Mr. Ravi Ram Narayanan is a M. Pharmacy (Pharmaceutics) final semester student at Chennai His field of interest is NDDS and herbal research. He has presented posters in 2 national and 2 international conferences.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of laparoscopy in the management of the non palpable testis is to provide information regarding testicular presence and location to facilitate overall surgical management.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We report our experience with laparoscopic orchiopexy to treat 39 nonpalpable testes in 32 patients, patient age ranged from 2.3 years to 14 years (average 4.18 years). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients for a 5-year period.

RESULTS
At laparoscopy 11 testes were at the internal inguinal ring, these patients underwent one-stage laparoscopic orchiopexy without division of the spermatic vessels. 18 high intra-abdominal testes underwent two-stage Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy. One Patient underwent laparoscopically assisted orchiectomy for atrophy, 9 testes were absent. At follow-up 6, 12 and 24 months after 26 of 29 (89%) testes are without atrophy, and in acceptable scrotal position.

CONCLUSIONS
The low incidence of complications and 89% success rate underscore the feasibility of laparoscopic orchiopexy. It is our procedure of choice for the management and treatment of nonpalpable testis.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Acute myocarditis (AM) is a well-known cause of sudden death and heart failure, often caused by prevalent viruses. We previously showed that some pediatric AM correlates with putatively damaging variants in genes related to cardiomyocyte structure and function. We sought to evaluate whether deleterious cardiomyopathic variants were enriched among fatal pediatric AM cases in New York City compared with ancestry-matched controls. Methods: Twenty-four children (aged 3 weeks to 20 years) with death due to AM were identified through autopsy records; histologies were reviewed to confirm that all cases met Dallas criteria for AM and targeted panel sequencing of 57 cardiomyopathic genes was performed. Controls without cardiovascular disease were identified from a pediatric database and matched by genetic ancestry to cases using principal components from exome sequencing. Rates of putative deleterious variations (DV) were compared between cases and controls. Where available, AM tissues underwent viral analysis by polymerase chain reaction. Results: DV were identified in 4 of 24 AM cases (16.7%), compared with 2 of 96 age and ancestry-matched controls (2.1%, P=0.014). Viral causes were proven for 6 of 8 AM cases (75%), including the one DV+ case where tissue was available for testing. DV+ cases were more likely to be female, have no evidence of chronic inflammation, and associate with sudden cardiac death than DV− cases. Conclusions: Deleterious variants in genes related to cardiomyocyte integrity are more common in children with fatal AM than controls, likely conferring susceptibility. Additionally, genetically mediated AM may progress more rapidly and be more severe.


In this work we present a set of computer codes based either on the finite element method or on the expansion of the Hamiltonian in a defined basis intended to help the design and the analysis of infrared photo-detectors based on semiconductor quantum wells and quantum dots. Our codes are capable of handling both arbitrary potential and effective mass profiles and they take into account the strain induced by lattice mismatch between different materials. In the present version, the computer codes allow the computation of eigenvalues, eigenvectors and oscillator strain for optical transitions. The results are presented in a graphic interface and some examples are included.


Self-adaptive systems (SAS) must frequently continue to deliver acceptable behavior at run time even in the face of uncertainty. Particularly, SAS applications can self-reconfigure in response to changing or unexpected environmental conditions and must therefore ensure that the system performs as expected. Assurance can be addressed at both design time and run time, where environmental uncertainty poses research challenges for both settings. This paper presents empirical results from a case study in which search-based software engineering techniques have been systematically applied at different levels of abstraction, including requirements analysis, code implementation, and run-time validation, to a remote data mirroring application that must efficiently diffuse data while experiencing adverse operating conditions. Experimental results suggest that our techniques perform better in terms of providing assurance than alternative software engineering techniques at each level of abstraction.


Endothelin (ET)-1 increases in plasma during congestive heart failure (CHF). Some ET antagonists improve hemodynamics, suggesting its potential benefits in the treatment of CHF. We examined the acute and chronic effects of a new ET receptor antagonist, T-0201 (Tanabe Seiyaku Co. Ltd., Japan), in CHF. To confirm the in vivo effects of T-0201, we observed the inhibitory effects of T-0201 (1-100 micrograms/kg) on the response of blood pressure to exogenously administered ET-1 (0.75 nmol/kg) in conscious normal dogs. Pretreatment with T-0201 significantly inhibited the ET-1-induced initial hypotension that is mediated by ETB receptors, and attenuated the subsequent hypertension, which is primarily mediated by ETA receptors. Thus, T-0201 at a dose of 100 micrograms/kg not only works as a potent ETA antagonist but also shows antagonist activity for ETB receptors in dogs. To evaluate the chronic therapeutic effects of T-0201, we administered T-0201 (0.3 mg/kg/day; n = 5) orally to dogs with CHF induced by rapid right ventricular pacing (22 days, 270 beats/min) for 15 days, beginning 8 days after pacing. T-0201 significantly prevented the deterioration of cardiorenal function during the development of CHF, expressed as a decrease in cardiac pressure and an increase in cardiac and urine output. These results suggest that chronic antagonism of both ET receptors prevents the progressive exacerbation of CHF.


Context. The level of porosity of interstellar ices - largely comprised of amorphous solid water (ASW) - contains clues on the trapping capacity of other volatile species and determines the surface accessibility that is needed for solid state reactions to take place. Aims. Our goal is to simulate the growth of amorphous water ice at low temperature (10 K) and to characterize the evolution of the porosity (and the specific surface area) as a function of temperature (from 10 to 120 K). Methods. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are used to mimic the formation and the thermal evolution of pores in amorphous water ice. We follow the accretion of gas-phase water molecules as well as their migration on surfaces with different grid sizes, both at the top growing layer and within the bulk. Results. We show that the porosity characteristics change substantially in water ice as the temperature increases. The total surface of the pores decreases strongly while the total volume decreases only slightly for higher temperatures. This will decrease the overall reaction efficiency, but in parallel, small pores connect and merge, allowing trapped molecules to meet and react within the pores network, providing a pathway to increase the reaction efficiency. We introduce pore coalescence as a new solid state process that may boost the solid state formation of new molecules in space and has not been considered so far.


This paper describes an effective way to support productivity improvement activities by shared databases and customer and problem oriented software applications. The new software tooling and the supporting database allow management, engineers and operators easy and efficient access to all relevant production data and focus all parties to identical productivity goals. For a fast and common solution for several different frontend sites two competence teams were founded to design and implement tooling and data warehouse. Consisting of users, IT-specialists and productivity consultants they achieved accelerated design and implementation cycles and reduced cost.


Ambrosia artemisiifolia is an aggressive North American annual weed, found particularly in sunflower and corn fields. Besides its economic impact on crop yield, it represents a major health problem because of its strongly allergenic pollen. Ragweed was imported inadvertently to Europe in the 18th century and has become invasive in several countries, notably in the Rhône Valley of France. It has recently expanded in both the Provence‐Alpes‐Côte‐d'Azur and Bourgogne regions. As first steps towards understanding the causes and mechanisms of ragweed invasion, genetic variability of French and North American populations was analysed using microsatellites. Overall genetic variability was similar in North America and in the Rhône‐Alpes region, but within‐population levels of genetic variability were surprisingly lower in native than in invasive French populations. French populations also exhibited lower among‐population differentiation. A significant pattern of isolation by distance was detected among North American populations but not among French populations. Assignment tests and distribution of rare alleles did not point to a single origin for all French populations, nor for all individuals within populations and private alleles from different North American populations were found in the same French populations. Indeed, within all French populations, individual plants were roughly equally assigned to the different North American populations. Altogether, these results suggest that the French invasive populations include plants from a mixture of sources. Reduced diversity in populations distant from the original area of introduction indicated that ragweed range expansion probably occurred through sequential bottlenecks from the original populations, and not from subsequent new introductions.


Porous concrete which became one of the solutions in pavement construction and is a product that can be said to be successful in meeting the expectations as environmentally friendly construction. Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic polymer group, is formed by applying heat. This type of plastic is used widely in the chemical industry today. Plastic has many advantages, namely thermal resistance compared with other types of plastic, resistant to impact, and very clear. Research "Design of Porous Slab Concrete with Polycarbonate" as a solution in the construction of permeable pavement or impervious to the reservoir and is a product that can be expected as environmentally friendly construction. Examples of permeable pavement is existing streets in residential areas, sidewalks, parking lots, and park area. In this study will be made slab with thickness of 5 cm, width 40 cm length 40 cm of porous concrete which is used in making sheets of polycarbonate  pores and porous concrete slab is expected to have a compressive strength and flexural high enough and friendly environment. As an outcome of this study is expected porous slab is used for road pavement, parking lot, residential or rural road vehicle load is not heavy intensity. The results of the study with a polycarbonate porous concrete slab can be summarized as follows: Plates are ideal for porous plate is polycarbonate plate with a distance of 8 cm, which is similar to the strong bending without polycarbonate slab and permeability is also good.


Empathy is ubiquitous in the design process of advancing technology, which is aimed for the benefit of humanity. Proximately, empathy of engineers arises after perceiving and then understanding the context of their users. Empathy is necessary during prototyping, the user feedback generating process, as empathy affects communication quality between the two parties. On the ultimate base, the usability of empathic design shapes the better user experience. Many studies have indicated the importance of empathy, especially and mostly in the beginning of designing a product for divergent thinking. In our study, we argue that empathy should be practiced in every step of the creative design thinking process, the Double Diamond Model, for different purposes. As a result, we propose the Guideline L.O.V.E. for empathy for engineers to follow up while they are engaging in the design thinking process. Four letters, L.O.V.E., respectively stand for listening, observing, valuing and engaging. In every phase of the Double Diamond Model, the four keys can be examined and there is no conflict. We believe that only when engineers increase and practice empathy do their products empathically benefit their users.


Thymidine kinase (TK) is a cellular enzyme which is involved in a 'salvage pathway' of DNA synthesis. It is activated in the G1/S phase of the cell cycle, and its activity has been shown to correlate with the proliferative activity of tumor cells.... Clinical studies have reported high serum TK concentrations in a variety of neoplasias. The majority of these studies concerned hematological malignancies. TK seems to be a useful marker in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, where it correlates with clinical staging and provides marked prognostic information on (progression-free) survival.


In this article we make a comparative analysis of the voice of Deianeira in Ovid's Heroides IX and its main intertext, Sophocles' Trachiniae. From this analysis it can be inferred that the two voices differ according to the character attributed to Deianeira in each work. Sophocles' Deianeira represses the jealousy and rage she feels at Iole's arrival at her house in order to be considered as a good wife. Ovid's Deianeira, nevertheless, does not repress them, and irony, fruit of her fury over being on the verge of losing her social condition of wife, invades her voice. We also see how a tone of lament and self- pity predominates in Sophocles' Deianeira, whereas her voice in Ovid undergoes changes in tone depending on the topic addressed: invective when she talks about Iole and a tone of ironic lament when she speaks of herself and her marriage. Palabras clave: Heroidas, Deyanira, Traquinias, voces, intertextualidad.


The significance of enterotoxin production and proliferative ability of Escherichia coli in the intestinal tract as related to porcine enteric colibacillosis was studied in 68 gnotobiotic pigs. The animals were monocontaminated at seven to ten days of age with eight selected strains of E. coli. The strains were two naturally occurring porcine enteropathogens - P155 (0149:K91;K88a,c:H10) and P307 (08:K87;K88a,b:H19), two nonenteropathogenic strains - P104 (0139:K82:H1) and F11 (018-ab:K?:H14), and four enterotoxigenic derivatives of the above strains - P104(P155), P104(P307), F11(P155) and F11(P307). The response of the animals was evaluated on the basis of clinical observations and necropsy lesions 22 hours after exposure to the organisms. E.coli counts were determined at seven different levels of the intestinal tract. Cell free extracts of the intestinal contents were examined for enterotoxic activity by the ligated pig intestine loop test. All of the strains possessing the enterotoxin plasmid produced enterotoxin in the pig's intestine and were capable of causing diarrhea. The nonenteropathogenic E. coli failed to do so. The strains possessing the P155 enterotoxin plasmid were more virulent than the corresponding derivatives with the P307 enterotoxin plasmid. Strains P155, P307 and P104(P155) proliferated in the upper small intestine at a greater rate and were more virulent than the other strains. The numbers attained in the upper small intestine by the other enterotoxigenic derivatives were comparable to those of their nonenteropathogenic parent strains. It was considered that enterotoxin produced by E. coli was the essential factor for causing a diarrheic response in gnotobiotic pigs. The virulence of each of the tested strains appeared to be governed by the degree of enterotoxicity associated with a particular enterotoxin plasmid, the numbers attained by these organisms in the upper small intestine, (but not in the lower small intestine or in the colon), and by other undetermined factors.


ABSTRACT Ship activity has become more and more frequent with the development of maritime transportation. Therefore, the rapid and accurate positioning performance of marine vessels is becoming more and more important. Because SAR images have the characteristics of all-weather detection, the analysis of SAR images becomes a marine ship. An important method of detection, but the existing ship detection methods have the disadvantages of low precision and slow speed. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a method based on deep learning to realize the fast and accurate automatic detection of marine ships through RadarSat -2 data is simulated. The results show that the proposed method effectively describes the ship's target characteristics and the accuracy is greatly improved. Deng, H.; Pi, D.-C., and Zhao, Y., 2019. Ship target detection based on CFAR and deep learning SAR image. In: Gong, D.; Zhu, H., and Liu, R. (eds.), Selected Topics in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 94, pp. 161–164. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.


The morphofunctional state of apudocytes in the gastrointestinal tract and immunocompetent organs (spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes) of mice immunized with chemical bivalent cholera vaccine was studied. The study revealed that the APUD system of the intestine and the argyrophil elements of the immunocompetent organs of white mice gave a response to the oral administration of commercial cholera vaccine. The reaction of the APUD system of the gastrointestinal tract was manifested by a significant increase in the number of apudocytes and their greater synthesizing activity in the immunized animals during the period of maximum immunological transformation of the macroorganism. The immunization of mice with Vibrio cholerae facilitated the maintenance of homeostasis in the macroorganism and prevented appearance of morphological disturbances in its organs and system after subsequent challenge with V. cholerae.


The injection of 25 mg/kg i.p. cyclosporin (CsA) for 3 wk caused marked functional and morphological deteriorations of pancreatic islet cells in Wistar rats that were prevented by the combined administration of p-aminobenzoic acid-N-D-mannoside sodium salt (K-MAP). In this article, the toxic effect of CsA on pancreatic islet cells and the preventive effect of K-MAP on CsA-associated islet cell toxicity were investigated. Prolonged hyperglycemia and depressed insulin secretion after the glucose challenge observed in CsA-treated rats could be prevented by the combined administration of 300 and 900 mg/kg K-MAP. Cytoplasmic vacuolizations and a decrease in the number of mitochondria, intact endoplasmic reticula, secretory granules, and insulin-positive cells, as revealed by peroxidase-antiperoxidase staining, could also be prevented by the administration of 900 mg/kg K-MAP. This preventive effect of K-MAP on CsA-associated islet cell toxicity may suggest the combined use of K-MAP with CsA in pancreas transplantation and treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes.


We address the challenge of designing optimal adversarial noise algorithms for settings where a learner has access to multiple classifiers. We demonstrate how this problem can be framed as finding strategies at equilibrium in a two-player, zero-sum game between a learner and an adversary. In doing so, we illustrate the need for randomization in adversarial attacks. In order to compute Nash equilibrium, our main technical focus is on the design of best response oracles that can then be implemented within a Multiplicative Weights Update framework to boost deterministic perturbations against a set of models into optimal mixed strategies. We demonstrate the practical effectiveness of our approach on a series of image classification tasks using both linear classifiers and deep neural networks.


In a recent paper, we examined the unwanted phase jitter that occurs in digital phase-locked loops due to frequency quantization in a number-controlled oscillator. In the treatment of the second-order loop that made up the bulk of that work, we con- centrated on the case of a sinusoidal input whose frequency, nor- malized to the quantization increment, is rational with a low de- nominator, but not an integer. In this paper we extend that analysis to handle all input frequencies. We will study in two-dimensional state space the dynamics of the map modeling the second order loop, and examine the location and nature of the steady-state be- havior of the system. The analysis adds to the insights into digital phase-locked loops produced by our previous work, and also re- veals properties of interest to students of nonlinear dynamics. We will see in particular that the jitter width significantly increases close to the low-denominator rational frequencies.


We discuss a general model for effective quantum field theories (QFTs), which for example comprises quantum chromodynamics and quantum electrodynamics. We assume in the model a perturbative expansion of the Lagrangian with respect to a cut-off-energy parameter. For each order in the expansion we rigorously derive a representation, which is unitarily equivalent to the representation of the effective QFT in the non-interaction approximation. We interpret the various representations as different particle pictures with respect to which the effective QFT can be described. We further derive a rigorous scattering theory, which exactly reproduces results of formal scattering theory in quantum field theory.


Abstract The cross-sectional study has been based on the implementation of the Obstetric Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (OAEP) in seven hospitals to determine inappropriate hospital admissions and days of stay. The outcomes were: inappropriateness of admission and "percentage of inappropriateness" for one hospitalization. A total number of 2196 clinical records were reviewed. The mean percentage of inappropriateness for hospitalization was 22%. The percentage of inappropriateness for the first 10 d of hospitalization peaked in correspondence of the fourth (42%). The logistic regression model on inappropriated admission reported that emergency admission was a protective factor (OR = 0.4) and to be hospitalized in wards with ≥30 beds risk factor (OR = 5.12). The second linear model on "percentage of inappropriateness" showed that inappropriated admission and wards with ≥30 beds increased the percentage (p < 0.001); whereas the admission in Teaching Hospitals was inversely associated (p < 0.001). The present study suggests that the percentage of inappropriate admission depends especially on the inappropriate admission and the large number of beds in obstetric wards. This probably indicates that management of big hospitals, which is very complex, needs improving the processes of support and coordination of health professionals. The OAEP tool seems to be an useful instrument for the decision-makers to monitor and manage the obstetric wards.


Optical implementations of quantum communication protocols typically involve laser fields. However, the standard description of the quantum state of a laser field is surprisingly insufficient to understand the quantum nature of such implementations. In this paper, we give a quantum information-theoretic description of a propagating continuous-wave laser field and reinterpret various quantum-optical experiments in light of this. A timely example is found in a recent controversy about the quantum teleportation of continuous variables. We show that contrary to the claims of T. Rudolph and B. C. Sanders [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 077903 (2001)], a conventional laser can be used for quantum teleportation with continuous variables and for generating continuous-variable quantum entanglement. Furthermore, we show that optical coherent states do play a privileged role in the description of propagating laser fields even though they cannot be ascribed such a role for the intracavity field.


Objectives In recent years, news of medical malignant injury events has become common in China. However, it is unclear how exposure to this news affects medical staff. Methods The present study collected data from a sample of 311 medical staff in China. It explored the effect of exposure to such news on medical staff's communication and willingness to let their children be doctors, which was an attitude that reflects their professional identity well. In addition, this study also examined the mediating roles of outgroup attribution and anxiety, and the moderating role of social support. Results The results showed that exposure to news of medical injury could positively and directly predict the quality of doctor-patient communication, but negatively and indirectly predict medical staff's willingness to let their children become doctors. These effects existed through the mediating role of anxiety and the chain mediating role of both outgroup attribution and anxiety. In addition, social support could mitigate the negative correlation between news exposure and outgroup attribution. Conclusions These results suggest that news of medical malignant injury events may incentivize medical staff to improve the quality of communication in the short term, but it is not conducive to medical staff's long-term mental health. That is, exposure to news of medical injury is likely to lead to a negative influence on their professional identity, although social support can alleviate this negative influence.


Purpose: To compare the effects of L-carnitine with clomiphene citrate in idiopathic infertile men. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two men with idiopathic infertility were recruited in this randomized controlled trial. They were randomly assigned into 2 treatment groups, group 1 (n = 20) and group 2 (n = 32), who received L-carnitine 25 mg/day and clomiphene citrate 2 gr/day, respectively, for a period of 3 months. Results: Comparing the effect of L-carnitine and clomiphene on sperm parameters before and after the treatment, both medications had influence on sperm count and motility (P = .01). L-carnitine significantly increased the semen volume (P = .001), while clomiphene citrate was significantly associated with the motility percentage and normal morphology (P = .008). Conclusion: It seems that the use of clomiphene citrate and L-carnitine, either individually or in combination, as the first step of idiopathic male infertility treatment is reasonable, safe, and effective.


In this study, based on previous studies, the thrust generated by using flapping tandem wings is examined. We studied on the relationship between the parameters for characterizing oscillatory tandem wings (namely, the Strouhal number and Reynolds number) for thrust generation in micro flow regime. At each Reynolds number, Strouhal number, heaving amplitude, distance between tandem wings, and phase difference are varied and the flapping motions of tandem mode are calculated to find the optimum conditions for generating thrust. As a result, comparing with a single flapping mode, we found that the minimum Strouhal number for generating thrust is shifted down up to approximately 25% when the tandem flapping mode is applied.


Louis I. Kahn is unarguably one of the most eminent and influential figures of 20th-century architecture. He is known as the poet and philosopher among the great modern architects. On 12 February 1969, Kahn gave a lecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), entitled 'Silence and Light'. This fundamental text reveals Kahn's spiritual understanding of architecture and his creative thinking. Kahn's idea of architecture goes far beyond the mere building. He understands architecture as a concept comprising the entire environment of mankind. With this he anticipated more than forty years ago what is branded 'sustainability in architecture' today. 'Louis I. Kahn - Silence and Light' makes this text available again in its original version, for the first time ever also in Kahn's own voice on audio-CD. The book includes a full-length transcript of the Zurich lecture in original English and translations into French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Kahn's sketches drawn while speaking and number of previously unpublished images of the architect lecturing complement the text. Text in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.


Female Long-Evans rats of breeding age were acclimated to one of four experimental diets differing in their vitamin E (E) and selenium (Se) contents. These animals were bred and the offspring produced were nursed by their respective dams from birth through 21 days postpartum. Rat pups were killed at postpartum intervals of 4, 9, 14 and 21 days and heart, lung and liver tissue used for isolation of microsomes. Microsomes were used for quantitation of E content as well as for assays of lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive products formation) using an ascorbate/ADP nonenzymatic assay system. Microsomal E content was lower in heart and lung tissues of rat pups at each postpartum interval compared with maternal levels. Liver microsomal E was higher in rat pups at day 4 postpartum compared with maternal levels. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in microsomal E content of rat pup tissues were associated with maternal vitamin E status during the perinatal period and not to differences in dietary Se. In vitro lipid peroxidation was highest in rat pups nursing dams of low E status, the magnitude of which was greatest in heart and liver microsomes. Lung microsomes, in contrast, peroxidized at very low rates compared with heart and liver microsomes. These effects were independent of maternal Se status. Microsomal lipid peroxidation in tissues of rat pups was lowest at the earliest postpartum interval studied (4 days) and, in general, increased with postpartum age. Reduced glutathione did not inhibit lipid peroxidation in heart or lung microsomes but was effective in this respect in liver microsomes of rat pups as early as 4 days postpartum.


In this study, 5%, 10% and 15% of dehulled and defatted soy flour (DDSF) was used to supplement biscuits to increase their protein content. Proximate analysis was determined for the DDSF which contained 7.4 ± 0.14% moisture, 6.7 ± 0.16% ash, 60.6 ± 0.64% protein and 25.3 ± 0.3% carbohydrate. The control wheat flour (WF) biscuit and the supplemented biscuits were evaluated for some of their chemical components, in-vitro protein digestibility as well as their sensory characteristics. The supplemen-tation resulted in an increase in protein, moisture, ash, crude fibre, total sugar and reducing sugar contents. The levels of these components increased with increased amounts of DDSF. The supplementation also resulted in a concomitant increase in the in-vitro protein digestibility. The sensory evaluation of the different biscuit samples revealed non- significant differences (P>0.01) between the supplemented biscuits and the control. However, panelists gave the highest scores to the 5% DDSF-containing biscuit. The results indicated the possibility of adding DDSF at a level of up to 15% for biscuit production with acceptable quality.


Stress and impulsivity contribute to alcohol use, and stress may also act via impulsivity to increase drinking behavior. Impulsivity represents a multi-faceted construct and self-report and behavioral assessments may effectively capture distinct clinically relevant factors. The present research investigated whether aspects of impulsivity mediate the effect of stress on alcohol use. A community-based sample of 192 men and women was assessed on measures of cumulative stress, alcohol use, self-reported impulsivity, and behavioral choice and response impulsivity. Data were analyzed using regression and bootstrapping techniques to estimate indirect effects of stress on drinking via impulsivity. Cumulative adversity exhibited both direct effects and indirect effects (via self-reported impulsivity) on drinking behavior. Additional models examining specific types of stress indicated direct and indirect effects of trauma and recent life events, and indirect effects of major life events and chronic stressors on drinking behavior. Overall, cumulative stress was associated with increased drinking behavior, and this effect was partially mediated by self-reported impulsivity. Self-reported impulsivity also mediated the effects of different types of stress on drinking behavior. These findings highlight the value of mediation models to examine the pathways through which different types of stress increase drinking behavior. Treatment and prevention strategies should focus on enhancing stress management and self-control.


In this paper, we discuss a robust training method for a fuzzy classifier with ellipsoidal regions. First, we define a fuzzy rule for each class. Next, we determine the weight for each training datum Dy the two-stage method in order to suppress the effect of outliers. Then, using these weights, we calculate the center and covariance matrix of the ellipsoidal region for each class and tune the Fuzzy rules. After tuning, to further improve generalization ability, we tune fuzzy rules between two classes using the training data in the class boundary. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method using four benchmark data sets.


Art and Photography is the first book of its kind to survey the major presence of photography at the centre of artistic practice from the 1960s onwards. On its invention, the photograph was considered a purely mechanical, an artless object that could not be included in the fine arts. Despite its increasing use by the twentieth century's most significant artists, only since the late 1960s have art museums gradually begun to exhibit and acquire the photograph as an artwork. Today photography is the pre-eminent artistic medium for contemporary artists.


Abstract Several physical systems, such as nonrelativistic and relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), radiation MHD, electromagnetics, and incompressible hydrodynamics, satisfy Stoke's law type equations for the divergence-free evolution of vector fields. In this paper we present a full-fledged scheme for the second-order accurate, divergence-free evolution of vector fields on an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hierarchy. We focus here on adaptive mesh MHD. However, the scheme has applicability to the other systems of equations mentioned above. The scheme is based on making a significant advance in the divergence-free reconstruction of vector fields. In that sense, it complements the earlier work of D. S. Balsara and D. S. Spicer (1999, J. Comput. Phys. 7 , 270) where we discussed the divergence-free time-update of vector fields which satisfy Stoke's law type evolution equations. Our advance in divergence-free reconstruction of vector fields is such that it reduces to the total variation diminishing (TVD) property for one-dimensional evolution and yet goes beyond it in multiple dimensions. For that reason, it is extremely suitable for the construction of higher order Godunov schemes for MHD. Both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional reconstruction strategies are developed. A slight extension of the divergence-free reconstruction procedure yields a divergence-free prolongation strategy for prolonging magnetic fields on AMR hierarchies. Divergence-free restriction is also discussed. Because our work is based on an integral formulation, divergence-free restriction and prolongation can be carried out on AMR meshes with any integral refinement ratio, though we specialize the expressions for the most popular situation where the refinement ratio is two. Furthermore, we pay attention to the fact that in order to efficiently evolve the MHD equations on AMR hierarchies, the refined meshes must evolve in time with time steps that are a fraction of their parent mesh's time step. An electric field correction strategy is presented for use on AMR meshes. The electric field correction strategy helps preserve the divergence-free evolution of the magnetic field even when the time steps are subcycled on refined meshes. The above-mentioned innovations have been implemented in Balsara's RIEMANN framework for parallel, self-adaptive computational astrophysics, which supports both nonrelativistic and relativistic MHD. Several rigorous, three-dimensional AMR-MHD test problems with strong discontinuities have been run with the RIEMANN framework showing that the strategy works very well. In our AMR-MHD scheme, the adaptive mesh hierarchy can change in response to discontinuities that move rapidly with respect to the mesh. Time-step subcycling permits efficient processing of the AMR hierarchy. Our AMR-MHD scheme parallelizes very well as shown by Balsara and Norton [8].


Using a software experimental design strategy and through 25 experiments, steam exploded hemp bast fibers (HBF) as well as their shives were cationized by the exhaustion method using 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride solution. The results obtained revealed that at pH 13, raising the temperature of a bath containing 100 g/L cationizing agent aqueous solution at liquor to substrate ratio 1/15 to 80°C for 90 min produces the cationized forms of HBFs as well as their shives with percent nitrogen content 0.2240 and 0.4893 respectively. The statistical analysis for the results indicated that the percent nitrogen content is significantly influenced by factors of time, pH, and primarily the cationizing agent concentration. The cationized forms of HBFs as well as their shives, having amino contents 76 and 104 mequiv/100 g respectively, were characterized by studying their potentiometric titration and were analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis. Both of these cationized substrates were utilized as anion exchangers for adsorption of permanganate and dichromate anions from their acidic aqueous solutions. Adsorption dynamics of the removal of such anions were first-order reactions whereas the adsorption isotherms showed that the adsorption of those anions on all the aforementioned anion exchangers was favorable. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007


In Sweden, there is a great demand for construction. At the same time, construction companies must increase their profitability. This requires the development of systems for improved communication and interaction. Especially now when the industry is facing massive retirements, there is a risk that knowledge will be lost. To ensure quality the companies also need to involve their employees so they take greater responsibility. The intention with the report is to study the possibilities for construction companies to create a more efficient building process through making better use of the employees' qualifications. Problems with communication, planning and the working environment have been identified in the background of this report and they have been the starting point for this report. Representatives from six construction companies, of different sizes and in different stages of development, have been interviewed. This method was chosen in order to give a broad picture of how the construction industry can be more efficient. The research question is based on the idea that a construction company could use their employees' qualifications better, by improving communication and interaction. This statement is shown to be true and improvement can be achieved by applying different efficiency concepts and their recommended actions through activities. Most efficiency concepts advocate experience feedback and regular meetings. Regular meetings was one of the activities that was most used and which also was adapted to the company's own organisation. The activities that were shown to be the most profitable to invest in are experience feedback, visual communication and joint planning of work preparations. Joint planning and experience feedback throughout the building process are excellent ways to improve the use of available knowledge. The results of this report are of importance for construction companies who have problems with communication and interaction. To succeed with this strategy, the company should also be imbued with the ambition to constantly evolve. Because a key point to improve efficiency is to create a work environment that engages employees and gives them the opportunity to contribute to the development. (Less)


Abstract Biofilms are complex tri-dimensional structures that encase microbial cells in an extracellular matrix comprising self-produced polymeric substances. The matrix rich in extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) contributes to the unique features of biofilm lifestyle and structure, enhancing microbial accretion, biofilm virulence, and antimicrobial resistance. The role of the EPS matrix of biofilms growing on biotic surfaces, especially dental surfaces, is largely unravelled. To date, there is a lack of a broad overview of existing literature concerning the relationship between the EPS matrix and the dental implant environment and its role in implant-related infections. Here, we discuss recent advances in the critical role of the EPS matrix on biofilm growth and virulence on the dental implant surface and its effect on the etiopathogenesis and progression of implant-related infections. Similar to other biofilms associated with human diseases/conditions, EPS-enriched biofilms on implant surfaces promote microbial accumulation, microbiological shift, cross-kingdom interaction, antimicrobial resistance, biofilm virulence, and, consequently, peri-implant tissue damage. But intriguingly, the protagonism of EPS role on implant-related infections and the development of matrix-target therapeutic strategies has been neglected. Finally, we highlight the need for more in-depth analyses of polymicrobial interactions within EPS matrix and EPS-targeting technologies' rationale for disrupting the complex biofilm microenvironment with more outstanding translation to implant applications in the near future.


How can digital methods be used to conceptualize historical research projects, including their teams, approaches, methods, and outputs? What methodologies can be used to synthesize and analyze archival records, workshop plans, photographic evidence, and oral histories? This co-authored paper describes an ongoing effort by a collaborative group* to understand and recover the work of Father Roberto Busa, commonly thought to be the "founding father" of Digital Humanities. Starting in 1949, Roberto Busa, S.J., began a landmark collaboration with IBM to build a lemmatized concordance to the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 1956 Busa founded the world's first humanities computing center in Gallarate, Italy, located after 1961 in a former textile factory stocked with rows of IBM punched-card machines. This was CAAL, the Centro per L'Automazione dell'Analisi Letteraria—the Center for the Automation of Literary Analysis. There Busa and his mostly female student operators processed the monumental Index Thomisticus, a selection of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other texts, from 1961-1967 (Terras and Nyhan, 2016; Jones 2016). However, there is much that is still unknown about Busa's research approach and methods. We aim to recover what Busa and his operators did. By repurposing punched-card office machinery for literary data processing, Busa created an important pre-computing technology platform for humanities research, one which has become obscured over time. We aim to reverse engineer and reconstruct not just a particular technology (punched-card machines) but that first humanities computing center as a whole. By doing so, we will explore methods that can be useful for other historians as they look back upon site-specific projects and groups, using digital tools and methods to effectively interleave and investigate historical data sources. Jeffrey Schnapp of Harvard's metaLAB has remarked that "every cultural object is a network" (Schnapp, 2015). Reverse engineering involves taking apart a device or system not to replicate it but in order to better understand its design and purpose, its networked relations. The goal in this case is to break down and experimentally reconstruct the networked cultural objects--including specific machines, architecture, infrastructure, and human operators--that amount to the components of that Italian humanities computing center, and in that way to model a more capacious idea of "digitization" itself. We make use of a cluster of convergent practices:


In this paper we use an approximate analytical solution to show the influence of tuning delay on the system performance under different network conditions and characteristics such as number of wavelength channels and offered load. We also examine the effect of average packet delay and tuning time on receiver throughput. Finally, we demonstrate the channel blocking probability versus network offered load characteristics


We report the synthesis and radioligand binding analysis of a series of naphthalenic melatonin receptor ligands, N-[2-(7-alkoxy-2-methoxy-1-naphthyl)ethyl]propionamide. This series of ligands exhibits subpicomolar binding affinity to both MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors expressed in chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.


In this study, we propose a new approach to extract monophonic melody from MIDI files and provide a comparison of existing methods. Our approach is based on the elimination of MIDI channels those do not contain melodic information. First, MIDI channels are clustered depending on pitch histogram. Afterwards, a channel is selected from each cluster as representative and remaining channels and their notes are removed. Finally, skyline algorithm is applied on the modified MIDI set to ensure accuracy of monophonic melody. We evaluated our approach within a test bed of MIDI files, composed of variable music styles. Both our approach and the results from experiments are presented in detail.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006

3974

Introduction: Metastasis is the main cause of death in breast cancer. A better understanding of the metastatic process is needed if these deaths are to be prevented. Breast Cancer Metastasis Suppressor 1 gene (BRMS1) inhibits the ability of multiple human and murine cancer cell lines to metastasize to lymph node (LN) and lung. Comparison of mRNA expression in metastatic MDA-MB-435 human breast carcinoma cells (435) and metastasis-suppressed BRMS1 transfectants (435/BRMS1) showed a marked (>90%) reduction of osteopontin (OPN) mRNA and protein expression. OPN expression is associated with disease progression in patients, with higher levels of OPN produced by cancer cells associated with poorer patient survival. This work tests the hypothesis that restoration of OPN levels in 435/BRMS1 would be accompanied by regaining of metastatic capability. Methods: Neomycin-resistant 435/BRMS1 cells were transfected with either full-length OPN cDNA or a vector only plasmid (pcDNA3.1+) and single colonies were selected by hygromycin resistance. Stable colonies were selected to create pooled populations of OPN over-expressing (435/BRMS1/OPN) and vector control (435/BRMS1/VC) cell lines, which were assessed in vitro (colony formation in soft agar). In vivo , parental 435, 435/BRMS1/VC, and 435/BRMS1/OPN cells were implanted into the left thoracic mammary fat pad of female athymic mice. Primary tumors were allowed to grow for 8 wk prior to resection. The mice were then left for a further 8 weeks or until moribund. Metastatic tumor burden (tumor area/organ total area) was calculated from analysis of histological slides using Image software from the National Institutes of Health. Results: Re-expression of OPN in BRMS1 expressing breast cancer cells was achieved and resulted in increased number and size of colonies in soft agar. Quantification of total metastatic burden within LN and lung revealed that re-expression of OPN significantly increased (p < 0.05) metastatic tumor burden within the LN but not in lung. In LN, metastatic burden was 76% for 435, 2% for 435/BRMS1, and 35% for 435/BRMS1/OPN cells. In lung, metastatic burden was 38% for 435, 1% for 435/BRMS1, and 3% for 435/BRMS1/OPN cells. Conclusion: Re-expression of OPN in 435/BRMS1 cells increased number and size of colonies in soft agar, thus OPN down-regulation by BRMS1 may be responsible for decreased anchorage independent growth in vitro . Mice injected with 435/BRMS1/OPN cells developed significantly more LN, but not lung, metastases than 435/BRMS1 cells. Thus, OPN down-regulation by BRMS1 may be responsible, in part, for decreased LN metastatic burden but did not appear to be involved in decreased lung metastatic burden. These novel studies clarify one mechanism by which BRMS1 can suppress metastasis, which may lead to new therapeutic approaches for suppressing breast cancer metastasis based on this understanding.