Many patterns in nature exhibit self-similarity: they can be compactly described via self-referential transformations. Said patterns commonly appear in natural and artificial objects, such as molecules, shorelines, galaxies and even images. In this work, we investigate the role of learning in the automated discovery of self-similarity and in its utilization for downstream tasks. To this end, we design a novel class of implicit operators, Neural Collages, which (1) represent data as the parameters of a self-referential, structured transformation, and (2) employ hypernetworks to amortize the cost of finding these parameters to a single forward pass. We investigate how to leverage the representations produced by Neural Collages in various tasks, including data compression and generation. Neural Collages image compressors are orders of magnitude faster than other self-similarity-based algorithms during encoding and offer compression rates competitive with implicit methods. Finally, we showcase applications of Neural Collages for fractal art and as deep generative models.


Using a medium suitable for continuous subculture of Pityrosporum ovale , the following observations have been made about this organism: The organism grows well in the pH range 7.5-8.3 and gradually acidifies the medium. Ammonium chloride and several amino acids stimulate growth but exogeneous vitamins seem relatively ineffective in promoting growth. Cysteine, as a sole source of amino nitrogen, does not support growth, possibly because of release of inhibitory sulfur-containing substances. This organism is incapable of solubilizing wool keratin. It can, however, utilize amino nitrogen-containing substances released from hard keratin by hydrolysis. Human serum temporarily inhibits the growth of P ovale. The inhibitory capacity is similar to that directed against Cryptococcus neoformans by human serum. P ovale elaborates substances that substantially inhibit the growth of all dermatophyte organisms so far investigated.


This paper illustrates the results of a research effort to apply mobile agent technology in network management for the frame relay network The paper implemented a Java based mobile agent network management approach in the frame relay network by using Teema, a unique agent execution platform. The agent network management performance is simulated in a number of scenarios. It is then contrasted with the SNMP client-server paradigm. The bandwidth expenditure and cost in each scenario is compared and contrasted to the client-server paradigm. The results in the paper suggest that mobile agent technology is well suited to address some client-server management paradigm limitations on frame relay network topology and that the agents have better performance in a series of cases.


We study the dynamics of a class of reversible vector fields having eigenvalues (0 ,α i, −αi) around their symmetric equilibria. We give a complete list of all normal forms for such vector fields, their versal unfoldings, and the corresponding bifurcation diagrams of the codimensional-one case. We also obtain some important conclusions on the existence of homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits, invariant tori and symmetric periodic orbits. AMS classification scheme numbers: 34K18, 37C29, 34K17, 37G10


Clustering is an effective approach for managing nodes in wireless sensor networks(WSN). In this paper, we consider selfish avoidance clustering in WSN. A differential game model is proposed to stimulate forwarding. Based on the payoff value of the differential game, called Forwarding Contribution(FC) in this paper, a centralized clustering algorithm is proposed. Mathematical proof shows that our algorithm can ensure connection between cluster heads(CHs), and also shows that FC value can reasonably reflect energy consumption in terms of competition while considering forwarding efficiency. Simulation on the lifetime of network is performed, and the results illustrate that our algorithm is selfish avoidance while the clustering approaches according to residual energy are seriously influenced by selfishness.


Seed dispersal is one of the most important mechanisms shaping biodiversity, and animals are one of the key dispersal vectors. Animal seed dispersal can directly or indirectly be altered by invasive organisms through the establishment of new or the disruption of existing seed dispersal interactions. So far it is known for a few gastropod species that they ingest and defecate viable plant seeds and consequently act as seed dispersers, referred to as gastropodochory. In a multi-species experiment, consisting of five different plant species and four different gastropod species, we tested with a fully crossed design whether gastropodochory is a general mechanism across native gastropod species, and whether it is altered by the invasive alien slug species Arion lusitanicus. Specifically, we hypothesized that a) native gastropod species consume the seeds from all tested plant species in equal numbers (have no preference), b) the voracious invasive alien slug A. lusitanicus – similarly to its herbivore behaviour – consumes a higher amount of seeds than native gastropods, and that c) seed viability is equal among different gastropod species after gut passage. As expected all tested gastropod species consumed all tested plant species. Against our expectation there was a difference in the amount of consumed seeds, with the largest and native mollusk Helix pomatia consuming most seeds, followed by the invasive slug and the other gastropods. Seed damage and germination rates did not differ after gut passage through different native species, but seed damage was significantly higher after gut passage through the invasive slug A. lusitanicus, and their germination rates were significantly reduced.


Bundling, a practice which has increased dramatically in the television and cable industries in recent years, occurs when program distributors package groups of movies and episodes of series, and then sell licenses to use these packages to TV stations and cable channels. Typically, such bundled packages include both highly desirable and less desirable films or episodes of off-network series. Bundling can easily turn into block booking, the illegal practice of making programming available in indivisible units that harm competition. Litigation continues to occur in the motion picture industry as a result of block booking and is beginning to occur in the cable industry, where it is often called "tying." Tying occurs when a programming service requires a system to take an unwanted channel to attain a desired channel; litigation is being directed at services tying cable programs, motion picture studios, and cable operators. Such practices limit the ability of programmers to negotiate prices based on the economic forces of supply and demand. As a result, many stations are forced to pay higher pric!es for products they would prefer to reject. In addition, bundling and block booking limit the ability to bargain for discounts for using programming in several markets in which a broadcaster may own properties and to barter advertising time for programming. With mergers such as that of Time and Warner Communications creating vertical integration in the programming industry, the linkages of program production, distribution, and exhibition grow stronger and provide more incentive for distributors to engage in economic practices that disadvantage local firms who provide delivery to audiences. (NKA) ***********************************t*********************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************_**************


In the present study, the aqueous extract of Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp seed was evaluated for its hepatoprotective effect on etahnol induced acute liver damage on Wistar albino rats. The degree of protection was measured by using biochemical parameters such as serum glutamate oxalate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (TB), superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT) levels. Ethanol induced group had enhanced levels of SGPT, SGOT, ALP, TB & LPO and decreased levels of GSH, SOD and CAT when compared with control group. Treatment with silymarin, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg of Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp seed extract had significantly brought down the elevated levels of SGPT, SGOT, ALP, TB & LPO and an increase in the levels of GSH, SOD, LPO and CAT. The results showed that aqueous extract of Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp seeds possesses significant hepatoprotective activity.

Key words: Ethanol, Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp, Hepatotoxicity, Wistar albino rat


Dark matter may induce apparent temporal variations in the physical "constants", including the electromagnetic fine-structure constant and fermion masses. In particular, a coherently oscillating classical dark-matter field may induce apparent oscillations of physical constants in time, while the passage of macroscopic dark-matter objects (such as topological defects) may induce apparent transient variations in the physical constants. In this paper, we point out several new signatures of the aforementioned types of dark matter that can arise due to the geometric asymmetry created by the beam-splitter in a two-arm laser interferometer. These new signatures include dark-matter-induced time-varying size changes of a freely-suspended beam-splitter and associated time-varying shifts of the main reflecting surface of the beam-splitter that splits and recombines the laser beam, as well as time-varying refractive-index changes in the freely-suspended beam-splitter and time-varying size changes of freely-suspended arm mirrors. We demonstrate that existing ground-based experiments already have sufficient sensitivity to probe extensive regions of unconstrained parameter space in models involving oscillating scalar dark-matter fields and domain walls composed of scalar fields. In the case of oscillating dark-matter fields, Michelson interferometers $-$ in particular, the GEO600 detector $-$ are especially sensitive. The sensitivity of Fabry-Perot-Michelson interferometers, including LIGO, VIRGO and KAGRA, to oscillating dark-matter fields can be significantly increased by making the thicknesses of the freely-suspended Fabry-Perot arm mirrors different in the two arms. We also discuss how small-scale Michelson interferometers, such as the Fermilab holometer, could be used to perform resonant narrowband searches for oscillating dark-matter fields with enhanced sensitivity to dark matter.


We analyze correctness of implementations of the snapshot data structure in terms of linearizability. We show that such implementations can be verified in polynomial time. Additionally, we identify a set of representative executions for testing and show that the correctness of each of these executions can be validated in linear time. These results present a significant speedup considering that verifying linearizability of implementations of concurrent data structures, in general, is EXPSPACE-complete in the number of program-states, and testing linearizability is NP-complete in the length of the tested execution. The crux of our approach is identifying a class of executions, which we call simple , such that a snapshot implementation is linearizable if and only if all of its simple executions are linearizable. We then divide all possible non-linearizable simple executions into three categories and construct a small automaton that recognizes each category. We describe two implementations (one for verification and one for testing) of an automata-based approach that we develop based on this result and an evaluation that demonstrates significant improvements over existing tools. For verification, we show that restricting a state-of-the-art tool to analyzing only simple executions saves resources and allows the analysis of more complex cases. Specifically, restricting attention to simple executions finds bugs in 27 instances, whereas, without this restriction, we were only able to find 14 of the 30 bugs in the instances we examined. We also show that our technique accelerates testing performance significantly. Specifically, our implementation solves the complete set of 900 problems we generated, whereas the state-of-the-art linearizability testing tool solves only 554 problems.


The pseudopotential method has been used to investigate the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of La1−xEuxGaO3 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1) within the scheme of generalized gradient approximation. The spin-polarized calculations demonstrate that the ground state is an antiferromagnetic insulator for x ≤ 0.5, while it is ferromagnetic half-metal at x > 0.5. The substitutions of magnetic Eu ions for non-magnetic La ions produce and strength spin polarization, which forcefully urges the system from the insulator to the half metal. Meanwhile, Eu doping strengthens a stoner mechanism for ferromagnetism of La1−xEuxGaO3 (x = 0.75 and 1), which may lead to a rapid increasing in the total magnetic moment and therefore, antiferromagnetic–ferromagnetic transition happens.


Europe has been hit hard by the financial and economic crisis, and there is no fast solution in view. The problem facing the EU is a problem of governance both technically and politically. Most actors, with the possible exception of the ECB, are in disarray because they are caught between the necessity to act and the political reluctance to acknowledge fully the consequences of a multi-level governance system, notably democratic legitimacy and accountability. The discrepancy between political rhetoric and actual practices during the crisis appears as a new form of government by stealth. There is not yet an obvious way out of this morass. The first one seems the easiest as it would be nothing more than 'muddling through' as usual, whereas the second option, a two-speed Europe, though more politically attractive, is technically very difficult to implement institutionally. The third possible solution is paradoxically the one that surreptitiously persists at present: a 'federalism of executives' that is both unmanageable in the long run and unacceptable from a democratic point of view.


The rapid development of technologies relating to telemedicine has brought with it new opportunities and potential particularly for use in time critical settings such as emergency care. It is also thought that telemedicine may help prevent attendance for minor illness or injury to major hospital emergency departments. We reviewed the evidence for telemedicine based approaches to emergency and acute healthcare settings in comparison to face to face patient care. Searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed and the Cochrane Database. In total, seven studies involving 958 patients with an acute or emergency medical presentation were identified. The quality of included trials was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool. Outcome data were pooled under four headings: time from symptom onset to consultation, patient satisfaction, mean duration of consultation and accuracy of diagnosis. During this review no results were found for a specific comparison between patient journey time to main unit and standard treatment intervention compared to telemedicine administered at a satellite clinic or facility. Further evidence is needed regarding the efficacy of telemedicine with regard to unnecessary patient recall and the possible difficulty it presents in clinician agreement rates within diagnostic and patient management decision making. In addition greater focus could be given to the patient and practitioner satisfaction rates as well as further examination of possible time saving in response rates and implementation of appropriate treatment with the use of telemedicine.


Active learning is a paradigm that significantly enhances the performance of machine learning models when acquiring labeled data is expensive. While several benchmarks exist for evaluating active learning strategies, their findings exhibit some misalignment. This discrepancy motivates us to develop a transparent and reproducible benchmark for the community. Our efforts result in an open-sourced implementation (https://github.com/ariapoy/active-learning-benchmark) that is reliable and extensible for future research. By conducting thorough re-benchmarking experiments, we have not only rectified misconfigurations in existing benchmark but also shed light on the under-explored issue of model compatibility, which directly causes the observed discrepancy. Resolving the discrepancy reassures that the uncertainty sampling strategy of active learning remains an effective and preferred choice for most datasets. Our experience highlights the importance of dedicating research efforts towards re-benchmarking existing benchmarks to produce more credible results and gain deeper insights.


Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) significantly impacts many veterans. Although PTSD has been linked to alterations in the fear brain network, the disorder likely involves alterations in both the fear and anxiety networks. Fear involves responses to imminent, predictable threat and is driven by the amygdala, whereas anxiety involves responses to potential, unpredictable threat and engages the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). The BNST has been implicated in PTSD, but the role of the BNST in combat veterans with PTSD has yet to be examined. Identifying alterations in BNST responses to unpredictable threat could provide important new targets for treatment. The current study examined whether veterans with PTSD have altered BNST or amygdala responses (function and connectivity) to unpredictable and predictable threat. The fMRI task involved viewing predictable threat cues followed by threat images, predictable neutral cues followed by neutral images, and unpredictable threat cues followed by either a threat or neutral image. Participants included 32 combat-exposed veterans with PTSD and 13 combat-exposed controls without PTSD. Across all conditions, veterans with PTSD had heightened BNST activation and displayed stronger BNST and amygdala connectivity with multiple fear and anxiety regions (hypothalamus, hippocampus, insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex) relative to controls. In contrast, combat controls showed a pattern of stronger connectivity during neutral conditions (e.g., BNST-vmPFC), which may suggest a neural signature of resilience to developing PTSD, ηp 2 = .087-.527, ps < .001. These findings have implications for understanding fear and anxiety networks that may contribute to the development and maintenance of PTSD.


Abstract
Purpose:
This study is aimed at reviewing the different clinical and theoretic aspects of syndromes involving compression of the median nerve in order to distinguish carpal tunnel syndrome from other compressions more proximate to the median nerve.

Source of data:
All of the studies and data pertinent to the article came from research indexed in MEDLINE between 1966 and 1988 and from reference volumes dealing with the subject of the article.

Results:
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most frequent compression of the median nerve. However, compressions at the elbow under the struthers ligament, in the forearm under the musculus pronator teres and the biceps and a compression of the anterior branch of the median nerve can lead to symptoms and indications resembling those of carpal tunnel syndrome. There are some orthopedic tests and neurological evaluations that enable us to make a precise diagnosis and find the exact site of the nerve compression (electromyography and nerve conduction speed).

Conclusion:
Given indications and symptoms of impairment of the median nerve, we must ensure that the diagnosis is precise and the site of the compression mechanism of the median nerve has been identified. This enables us to avoid ineffective treatments. The chiropractor has all of the knowledge necessary to make the right diagnosis and to guide the patient toward the most appropriate intervention.


We have developed a multimodal optical system for simultaneous optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) imaging, and demonstrate its capability for high-speed co-registered micro-anatomical and biochemical tissue imaging.


A new semi-insulation structure in which one isolated island is connected to the substrate was proposed. Based on this semi-insulation structure, an advanced BCD technology which can integrate a vertical device without extra internal interconnection structure was presented. The manufacturing of the new semi-insulation structure employed multi-epitaxy and selectively multi-doping. Isolated islands are insulated with the substrate by reverse-biased PN junctions. Adjacent isolated islands are insulated by isolation wall or deep dielectric trenches. The proposed semi-insulation structure and devices fixed in it were simulated through two-dimensional numerical computer simulators. Based on the new BCD technology, a smart power integrated circuit was designed and fabricated. The simulated and tested results of Vertical DMOS, MOSFETs, BJTs, resistors and diodes indicated that the proposed semi-insulation structure is reasonable and the advanced BCD technology is validated.


Theory – In this research the term STEM is defined as Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. There is an underrepresentation of women in the STEM related work fields. In the literature, authors have different opinions on the explanation of gender diversity. This research focused on the role of work-life balance policies in this issue. Work-life balance (WLB) in this research is defined as the balance between the quality of working life and the quality of life. WLB policies could contribute to a better balance between work and life. Three of the five elements of WLB policies has been used as basis for the analysis in this study. These three elements are: child and dependent-care benefits, flexible working conditions and leave options.
Methods - An explorative qualitative research has been conducted. Vacancies are used as data. In total 262 vacancies were collected as data input for the analysis. These vacancies came from four different vacancy sites and the vacancies were selected at random. ATLAS.ti was used to analyze the data with the content analysis technique. Codes and sub-codes were used during this process.
Findings – We found a poor integration of work-life balance policies in the analyzed vacancies. In most of the vacancies the terms of employment were described too general or in some cases not described at all. However, we also noticed that some vacancy sites used attention rules for gender management.
Discussion – The results concerning WLB policies in vacancy texts are disappointing. However, we found that our findings support research which looks to gender wording in text of job advertisements. Companies who wants to diversify their job candidates pool need to carefully re-consider the text they write in their vacancy texts.
Conclusion – Writing the right vacancy text could play an important role in reducing gender inequality in STEM related work fields, because writing the right vacancy text could attract more women to apply to the job. Although companies may not be aware of this at all, even the use of words in a vacancy text could play a role.


A method of calculating photon doses in heterogeneous media incorporating electron transport is studied. The dose is represented as the convolution of kerma with an exponential longitudinal electron spread function which describes the penetration of electrons from one medium to another. At large distances from an interface, the dose approaches an asymptotic value equal to the kerma multiplied by a constant describing the degree of longitudinal and lateral electron equilibrium. For the simple situations studied, this asymptotic dose is adequately described by O'Connor's scaling theorem. The method is compared with both Monte Carlo calculations and measurements for a 15-MV photon beam for various geometries and field sizes. It predicts the dose in regions of electron disequilibrium to within 2% in most cases. In situations of extreme electron disequilibrium, such as within low-density regions at high energies and small field sizes, this represents a significant improvement over many existing techniques.


The Brief Treatment Programme for Alcohol Dependence allocated 122 clients randomly to three different forms of brief therapy. Prior to allocation clients were asked what their preference would have been had allocation not been random. This study posed the question: did clients receiving their preferred treatment have a better outcome than those who did not? Also examined were differences in the treatment process variables of perceived effectiveness, satisfaction, rapport, engagement and number of sessions attended. The results were that there was no difference in either outcome or treatment process according to whether or not clients were allocated to their treatment of preference. It is concluded that these findings reinforce both the ethicality of the randomized controlled trial as a methodology for examining differential treatment outcomes in individual brief treatment of between one and five sessions for alcohol dependence and the validity of these findings as they might relate to real clinical settings. Finally, it is suggested that other researchers consider the inclusion of questions related to client preference.


Paraxial fields polarized in the transverse plane and represented in the polar coordinate system are expanded in an azimuthal Fourier series. For series terms with spiraling phases, the radial and azimuthal components are shown to mix during propagation. For simple rod lasers with thermally induced birefringence, this property may cause the dominant mode to be of mixed polarization rather than purely radial polarization. An explanation is given in terms of the properties of scalar field propagators and the way in which they combine to propagate the vector field components. Comparisons to other recent predictions show that the theory is correct, and the method provides a basis for understanding the complex results.


Difference evaluations can effectively shape agent feedback in multiagent learning systems, and have provided excellent results in a variety of domains, including air traffic control and distributed sensor network control. In addition to empirical evidence, there is theoretical evidence demonstrating how difference evaluations help shape agent utilities/objectives in order to promote system-wide coordination. However, analytically calculating difference evaluation functions requires knowledge of the states of all agents in the system, as well as the mathematical form of the system evaluation function. In practice, neither of these elements are typically available. In this work, we demonstrate that each agent can locally approximate difference evaluations using only local state and action information, as well as a broadcast value (rather than the mathematical form) of the system evaluation function, allowing for difference evaluations to be implemented in multiagent systems where global state information is unavailable. This approximation technique is tested in a multiagent congestion problem, and the results demonstrate that approximate difference evaluations perform similarly to analytically computed difference evaluations, while using far less system information.


Pregnancy is among the risk factors for mechanical valve thrombosis, and even though thrombolytic therapy is contraindicated during pregnancy, it may be used in the treatment of this life-threatening complication. This case report describes a pregnant patient, whose echocardiogram showed evident gradient increase on her mechanical prosthetic mitral valve, and who was treated successfully with tissue plasminogen activator for mechanical valve thrombosis.


Objectives: To determine the impact of NHIS, this study conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature. Methods: A broad literature search was undertaken on Google Web and Google Scholar for studies published between 2013 and 2018. A total of fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Thirteen studies are qualitative, and one is quantitative. They included neither experiment nor quasi-experimental design in the review. Results: Outcomes observed in the review were summarised qualitatively owning to study sample, data collection technique and impact measures. Generally, most studies reported the impact of NHIS on various variables; the most significant impact was on financial protection and healthcare utilisation. Other impacts observed were of mixed outcomes and of low quality. Conclusion: The impacts recorded in this review showed that workers in the formal sector are the beneficiaries while the poor informal sector workers are excluded from the services of NHIS. The Nigerian government needs to reform the NHIS to include the poor if it is serious about enhancing Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC). Keywords: Enrolees, NHIS, systematic review


OBJECTIVE
Deescalation began in May 2020 increases social interaction, which has an influence on COVID-19 epidemiological surveillance. The aim of this study was the characterization of COVID-19 cases detected during this period.

METHODS
We analyzed certain variables of interest coming from the epidemiological surveys carried out in an area of Madrid during May 2020, and stratified the results depending on its temporal relation with the deescalation. Prevalence for each category of response and average duration in minutes of the telephonic call were calculated. Confidence intervals were estimated at 95%.

RESULTS
We included 167 cases, being 30.5% of them incident and 49.1% prevalent. The main source of infection was home (38.0%; CI 95% 31.4-46.2). Regarding healthcare and social care workers, the main source of infection was workplace (93.0%; 85.4-100). Average number of close contacts per case was 2.0 (1.8-2.2), being 1.5 (1.0-2.0) among pre-deescalation incident cases and 2.4 (1.8-3.0) among those post-deescalation. Average duration of each survey was 35.9 minutes (32.2-38.9), being 32.1 (24.4-39.8) among pre-deescalation incident cases and 37.0 (29.6-44.4) among those post-deescalation. Most of the contacts were household, both before and after beginning of deescalation.

CONCLUSIONS
Home is the most prevalent place for the acquisition of the infection among general population, while workplace is the most prevalent among healthcare and social care workers. The initial phase of deescalation do not represents a change regarding sources of infection, but it may increase the number of close contacts.


An association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the HLA antigen DR4 supports the view that genes in the HLA region are important in susceptibility to this disease. To further define the basis for genetic susceptibility to RA, we analyzed HLA haplotype sharing among affected and unaffected individuals in 29 multiple-case families with definite or classic RA. We have observed a non-random distribution of HLA haplotypes to unaffected as compared with affected offspring in sibships containing two or more affected individuals having 3 of 4 parental haplotypes. These data support the view that susceptibility to RA is determined, at least in part, by genes in the HLA region of chromosome 6.


Colchicaceae (Liliales) comprise c. 250 species and 15–21 genera of rhizomatous or cormous perennials and are distributed through temperate and tropical Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. They have been traditionally divided into two subfamilies, but this division is still unclear and the phylogenetic relationships among members of the family and the sister relationships of the family have been debated. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the expanded circumscription of Colchicum, Gloriosa and Wurmbea to include Androcymbium, Littonia and Onixotis plus Neodregea, respectively, is unavoidable. In this study, sequences of three plastid genes, atpB, matK and rbcL, were analysed to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships in Colchicaceae. The matK region was the most variable and provided the most potentially parsimony-informative sites. We also conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses using the combined data with sequences for three non-coding regions generated by Vinnersten and Reeves. Our results strongly support the monophyly of Colchicaceae and the redefined circumscription to include two subfamilies, Wurmbeoideae and Uvularioideae. The Uvularia-Disporum clade, i.e. Uvularioideae, is sister to the rest of Colchicaceae and differentiated from Burchardia, previously suggested to be sister to the rest of Colchicaceae. In our analysis, Burchardia is placed in Wurmbeoideae. A close relationship between Tripladenia and Schelhammera was strongly supported and these are transferred to Wurmbeoideae from Uvularioideae. The six tribes sensu Vinnersten and Manning were shown to be monophyletic. Our results support the expanded circumscription of Colchicum (including Androcymbium) and Gloriosa (including Littonia), but the circumscription of Wurmbea and related genera requires further study. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 172, 255–269.


The Antagonistic Effect of AtCCR4a Upon Drought or Heat Stress Conditions Climate changes are expected to increase the severity of environmental adversities to plants, such as changes in rainfall regimes and the occurrence of more extreme temperatures, imposing a major risk to the productivity of agricultural crops. Throughout evolution, plants have evolved elegant mechanisms to cope with different adverse conditions, through the activation of different signaling pathways. The occurrence of abiotic stresses, such as osmotic stress or endoplasmic reticulum stress, tend to activate specific cellular pathways, such as the death cell signaling pathway mediated by proteins that contain DCD/NRP domains. The AtNRP1 and AtNRP2 proteins, components of the pathway in Arabidopsis, have been characterized as effectors of the programmed cell death process by the breakdown of the vacuolar membrane. Understanding how this pathway is integrated into cellular stability is essential, which justifies checking the predicted and not yet functionally characterized interactions among the components of the pathway with other proteins, such as AtCCR4a, a deadenylase that is both active in mRNA processing and in sucrose/starch metabolism. Given this context, we aimed to investigate the interaction between AtNRP2 and AtCCR4a, and its role during heat and drought stresses. We did not observe its direct involvement in the NRP-signaling pathway, however AtCCR4a was induced by osmotic and heat stresses. Furthermore, AtCCR4a disruption provides a drastically heat stress-sensitive phenotype, leading to reductions in photosynthetic pigment contents days after exposure to stress and negative changes in carbohydrate metabolism during this condition. Surprisingly, AtCCR4a disruption also promotes a more tolerant phenotype to water deficit, contributing to greater maintenance of relative water contents in leaf tissues and plant survival rate. These results indicate that AtCCR4a may have an antagonistic function in stress-responsive pathways, probably by regulating at a post-transcriptional level the expression of certain genes and/or by selecting specific target mRNAs.


Recently, efficient fine-tuning of large-scale pre-trained models has attracted increasing research interests, where linear probing (LP) as a fundamental module is involved in exploiting the final representations for task-dependent classification. However, most of the existing methods focus on how to effectively introduce a few of learnable parameters, and little work pays attention to the commonly used LP module. In this paper, we propose a novel Moment Probing (MP) method to further explore the potential of LP. Distinguished from LP which builds a linear classification head based on the mean of final features (e.g., word tokens for ViT) or classification tokens, our MP performs a linear classifier on feature distribution, which provides the stronger representation ability by exploiting richer statistical information inherent in features. Specifically, we represent feature distribution by its characteristic function, which is efficiently approximated by using first- and second-order moments of features. Furthermore, we propose a multi-head convolutional cross-covariance (MHC$^3$) to compute second-order moments in an efficient and effective manner. By considering that MP could affect feature learning, we introduce a partially shared module to learn two recalibrating parameters (PSRP) for backbones based on MP, namely MP$_{+}$. Extensive experiments on ten benchmarks using various models show that our MP significantly outperforms LP and is competitive with counterparts at less training cost, while our MP$_{+}$ achieves state-of-the-art performance.


Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received Sep 11, 2021 Revised Oct 12, 2021 Accepted Nov 19, 2021 The background of this research is the problem caused by the policy of the zoning radius system that regulates the admission of new students. The policy of this system cannot be denied that students who have achieved things are undervalued because they do not have the opportunity to study at the school of their choice. This results in a reduced student interest in learning. Based on this phenomenon, this study aims to: 1) determine the policy of implementing the zoning radius system; 2) determine the improvement of the quality of education with the policy of implementing the zoning radius system. This qualitative research uses interview, observation, and documentation data collection techniques. The collected data was then analyzed using only qualitative data analysis techniques. The location of this research is Madarasah Aliyah Negeri Rejang Lebong. The sources of data and informants selected were the principal, parents of students represented by the head of the school committee, and the teacher council. The results showed that the perspective of education with a zoning radius system was not very relevant to the location of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri Rejang Lebong in particular, because many students had difficulty accessing the best educational services. Education must be accessible to all people, regardless of the student's location of origin and be non-discriminatory in providing services.


This study aims to determine the interpersonal communication of husband and wife in preventing divorce. The location of research in Ponorogo Regency with the subject of research five couples who have been divorced by Ponorogo Religious Court. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative with data collection techniques through interviews, observation and documentation. The results showed that interpersonal communication husband and wife less well awakened due to disharmony interpersonal relationships in the family. Factors that lead to disharmony interpersonal relationships in the family is the attitude of disbelief between husband and wife caused by lack of honesty and mutual attitude of each partner in the family causing interpersonal conflict and lead to divorce. This study provides recommendations to the community, especially couples to build good interpersonal communication in the family by always putting honest and open attitude so that any problems that arise in the family can be resolved properly.


We report on recent results for strongly frustrated quantum J1 - J2 antiferromagnets in dimensionality d = 1, 2, 3 obtained by the coupled cluster method (CCM). We demonstrate that the CCM in high orders of approximation allows us to investigate quantum phase transitions driven by frustration and to discuss novel quantum ground states. In detail we consider the ground-state properties of (i) the Heisenberg spin-1/2 antiferromagnet on the cubic lattice in d = 1, 2, 3, and use the results for the energy, the sublattice magnetization and the spin stiffness as a benchmark test for the precision of the method; (ii) coupled frustrated spin chains (the quasi-one-dimensional J1 - J2 model) and discuss the influence of the quantum fluctuations and the interchain coupling on the incommensurate spiral state present in the classical model; (iii) the Shastry-Sutherland antiferromagnet on the square lattice; and (iv) a stacked frustrated square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet (the quasi-two-dimensional J1 - J2 model), and discuss the influence of the interlayer coupling on the quantum paramagnetic ground-state phase that is present for the strictly two-dimensional model.


This paper presents a new approach to diagnose broken rotor bar fault in induction motor using envelope analysis. A dynamic model of induction motor is developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Wavelet Transform and envelope analysis used to obtain statistical parameters maximum, median, minimum. Depending on these parameters, Support Vector Machine predicts the machine is healthy or not.


The erector spinae plane (ESP) block can be used to reduce pain and opioid requirements after abdominal surgery. We evaluated the effect of the ESP block on postoperative pain score, analgesic use, and quality of recovery (QoR) score in patients undergoing laparoscopy. Fifty-nine patients undergoing elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery were randomly assigned to control (n = 30) or ESPB (n = 29) groups after anesthesia induction. In the ESPB group, an ultrasound-guided ESP block was performed immediately after induction using 20 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine bilaterally. The primary outcome was the postoperative pain score, which was evaluated using the 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS) (0 = no pain, 10 = worst imaginable pain), in the recovery room. NRS "at rest" and "on cough" and total dose of fentanyl rescue (in the recovery room) as well as NRS "at rest" and the cumulative administered fentanyl dose of patient-controlled analgesia (24 h post-surgery) were significantly lower in the ESPB group than in the control group. The postoperative QoR score did not differ between the groups. Bilateral ESP block after induction reduced pain scores and opioid requirements for 24 h postoperatively but did not improve the QoR in patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal surgery.


Vertical transmission of Leishmania infantum was demonstrated in domestic mice captured close to the home of a patient with leishmaniasis. Leishmania infantum DNA was detected in 88.9% of synanthropic Mus musculus adult rodents and 29.2% of their unborn foetuses. Mother-to-infant transmission was observed in all females whose gestational stage was sufficiently advanced to allow foetal analysis (foetal length 2 to 2.5 cm). The infection rate in foetal samples ranged from 11.1%-50.0%, with parasite loads of up to 6,481 parasites/5mg tissue. A low density of Phlebotomus perniciosus was also found (0.2 specimen/CDC trap). Six infected mice captured in March were only 1.5 months old and could thus not have had contact with the vector. Vertical transmission thus appears to play a greater role in the spread of leishmaniasis than previously thought, particularly since rodents are natural hosts for the parasite and are prolific in nature.


Microorganisms that produce 5-methyluridine (ribothymidine) directly from purine nucleosides and thymine were screened from our stock cultures. Of the 400 strains tested, Erwinia carotovora AJ- 2992 was found to possess the most potent ability as to production of 5-methyluridine from guanosine and thymine. In the presence of intact cells of Er. carotovora AJ-2992 as the enzyme source, 222 mm 5-methyluridine was produced from 300 mm guanosine and 300 mm thymine at 60°C on 48 hr incubation. The enzymatic production of 5-methyluridine by Er. carotovora AJ-2992 was found to involve the following two successive reactions via ribose-1-phosphate as an intermediate: phosphorolysis of purine nucleosides to ribose-1-phosphate and purine bases by purine nucleoside phosphorylase, followed by condensation of ribose-1-phosphate and thymine into 5-methyluridine by pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase.


Obesity represents a major challenge to the pharmaceutical community due to the minimal availability of anti-obesity drugs and the drawbacks of current weight-loss agents. The study described herein presents lupine oil, in two pharmaceutical formulations, as a potential anti-obesity agent via its effect on different physiological, biochemical, and hormonal parameters. Rats were divided into two groups; one group was continued on a standard commercial rodent diet and served as the non-obese control. The other group was fed a high-fat diet for 7 weeks to prepare an obese rat model. Then, the obese rats were divided into groups to receive 100 mg/kg of the crude lupine oil or nanoemulsion for 10 or 20 days. Lupine oil showed a potent body weight-reducing effect and improved insulin resistance. The oil altered obesity-induced hyperlipidemia and it enhanced the leptin/adiponectin/AMPK hormonal system in epididymal fat, serum, and liver, to which all the above physiological activities could be attributed. The nanoemulsion formulation of lupine oil significantly amplified the activity for all the above physiological and hormonal parameters when compared to the crude oil formulation. Lupine oil nanoemulsion could be used as a potential drug against diet-induced obesity.


In this paper, the global residue harmonic balance method is applied to obtain the approximate periodic solution and frequency for a well-known system of strongly nonlinear oscillator in engineering. *is method can improve accuracy by considering all the residual errors in deriving each order approximation. With this procedure, the expressions of the higher-order approximate solution and corresponding frequency for the considered system can be determined easily.*e comparison of the obtained results with previously existing and corresponding exact solutions shows the high accuracy and efficiency of the method.


Instagram, an online photo-sharing platform, has gained increasing popularity. It allows users to take photos, apply digital filters and share them with friends instantaneously by using mobile devices.Instagram provides users with the functionality to associate their photos with points of interest, and it thus becomes feasible to study the association between points of interest and Instagram photos. However, no previous work studies the association. In this paper, we propose to study the problem of mapping Instagram photos to points of interest. To understand the problem, we analyze Instagram datasets, and report our findings, which also characterize the challenges of the problem. To address the challenges, we propose to model the mapping problem as a ranking problem, and develop a method to learn a ranking function by exploiting the textual, visual and user information of photos. To maximize the prediction effectiveness for textual and visual information, and incorporate the users' visiting preferences, we propose three subobjectives for learning the parameters of the proposed ranking function. Experimental results on two sets of Instagram data show that the proposed method substantially outperforms existing methods that are adapted to handle the problem.


'Bubbles' and 'holes' in the sun's diffuse outer layer apparently can cause as much disturbance in the earth's magnetic field as solar flares. Bubblelike clouds of erupting gas in the sun's tenuous halo, the corona, appear to be associated with the two largest storms reported so far during the present 11-year sunspot cycle. In addition to these coronal 'transients,' there are long-lived sources of high-speed particle streams, called coronal 'holes,' whose relationship to the sunspot cycle has just been described mathematically by a team of investigators at the Space Environment Laboratory (NOAA) in Boulder.

Solar flares, with their spectacular outbursts of hot gases, have a strong, but often overlooked, rival in the production of magnetic storms, namely, coronal transients. These powerful particle eruptions lack the fiery sendoff typical of solar flares, and they are often marked simply by the sudden disappearance of dark bands or 'filaments' of gas that are supported in the corona by strong magnetic fields.


Undersea systems are the defining example of dense, long-haul WDM transmission. Exploding demand for international capacity drives innovation in both technology and commercial strategies for new systems. This makes it essential to have fast and accurate computer modeling tools and laboratory systems prototypes to aid the system design. In this paper we discuss the use of simulations in conjunction with loop experiments for system design verification.


I provide a narrative of the emergence of an expressly articulated "political science" in the Scottish Enlightenment. Political science was designed by Hume, Smith, and others to advance both a Newtonian method for the study of politics and a politics of moderation whose tasks included a critique of enthusiasm. In this way, political science, moderation, and (anti)enthusiasm were conceptually connected. The emergence of political science, understood in this way, required a number of conceptual changes in a structure of argument shaped largely by Locke. These conceptual changes, in turn, fixed a rhetorical framework for persistent debates over the methodological and political identity of political science, even as ideology literally replaced enthusiasm. These persistent debates reveal the relevance of the history of political science as a forum for remembrance, reflection, and critique.


TO THE EDITOR: Ketoconazole is an imidazole derivative commonly used as an oral antifungal drug because it inhibits ergosterol synthesis in the membrane of fungi.' In 1980 Willemsems reported that it blocks the steroidogenesis in mammalian cells! At least three cytochrome P-450-dependent enzymes have been shown to be inhibited by ketoconazole: 17-20 desmolase, II beta-hydroxylase, and 17 alphahydroxylase.v' In this way the drug deceases testicular testosterone production" and hydrocortisone response to adrenocorticotropic hormone in humans" which is why it has been used successfully in the treatment of Cushing's disease.':" Wehave treated with ketoconazole a 35-year-oldman with bilateral adrenal hyperplasia and excessproduction of both hydrocortisone and aldosterone. He was admitted to our hospital for treatment of hypertension. A year before he exhibited muscle weakness, polyuria, and moderate hypertension unresponsive to conventional treatment. On physical examination he had a blood pressure of 160/100 mm Hg, the only other relevant clinical sign being central obesity. Plasma sodium was 134 mEq/L and potassium 3.4 mEq/L. Urinary sodium was 30 mEq/24 h and potassium 98 mEq124 h. The basal plasma aldosterone levelwas 262pg/ml (normal < 260 pg/ml); a second reading with the patient in an upright posture after receiving furosemide showed 437 pg/rnl, and after an infusionofNaClO.9% (2000ml NaCI0.9%150mmolover4h) it was219pg/ml (abnormal lack of suppression). Plasma hydrocortisone levelswere 16, 18, 14, and 13I'g/dL at 8, 12,20, and 24 h, respectively (abnormal rhythm), and the urinary hydrocortisone was 411 mg124 h. An abdominal computed tomography scan showed bilateral enlargement of adrenal glands with a nodular appearance. Scintiscanning with 6-iodomethyl 19-norcholesterol after dexamethasone suppression showed a symmetrical uptake of the tracer by the glands. All these tests confirmed the diagnosis of idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA) with a moderate hypersecretion of hydrocortisone. After an initial response of blood pressure to treatment with spironolactone 300 mg/d, the therapeutic effect leveled off, so we initiated treatment with ketoconazole 800 rng/d. One month later, his blood pressure was within the normal range. Basal aldosterone level was 67 pg/ml and 59 pg/ml with the patient in an upright posture after receiving furosemide. Urinary hydrocortisone fell to 56 mg/24 h. Unfortunately, the patient did not tolerate the drug well (peeling of the skin on the hands and feet, increase of hepatic enzymes, and gastric intolerance) and it had to be withdrawn. Hypertension then returned to previous levels. Hypertension in patients with IHA is controlled after adrenalectomy in only 32 percent of cases," so a trial of medical treatment before adopting this course of action is recommended. Spironolactone is normally used for this purpose, but in several cases an "escape" of hyperaldosteronism to the effect of the drug is seen. Treatment with ketoconazole at a dose of 800 mg/d or perhaps less could be a valid alternative to spironolactone in these patients if it is tolerated.


In radio astronomy, our observation sources' emission are sometimes more weaker than RFIs' (Radio Frequency Interference), so RFIs' removing is very important in getting useful and valuable information from these sources. A new FPGA based method for nature noise reduction and RFIs removal is proposed in this paper. First we analyze the different Nature noise condition with different positions and generating mechanisms. Secondly, we analyze the different RFI forms, there are three RFI styles, and giving the different influences to radio astronomy observation. Finally, we use the different digital filters' assembly forms in FPGA to remove the influence which different RFI pulling into the Nyquist bandwidth.


On Oct. 20, 1943 we successfully removed an aneurysm of the thoracic aorta measuring 11 by 8 cm., together with a 7.5 cm. length of the aorta. We are reporting this case because of its historical interest from the physiologic, medical and surgical points of view, since we can find no record in which an aneurysm of the thoracic or abdominal aorta has been successfully removed or in which the thoracic aorta has been successfully ligated. Kummel1reported in 1914 that he had resected a fist sized aneurysm of the lower thoracic aorta and closed the 10 centimeter long defect in the aorta with two rows of continuous sutures, hemorrhage having been controlled during this phase of the operation by a twelve minute digital compression of the aorta both above and below the aneurysm. After the operation pulsation was good in the lower extremities but the patient soon died


Based on the daily average data of city air quality index in Henan province in 2017, utilizing geostatistical analysis and spatial analysis methods, this paper studies the correlations of air quality among cities, the provincial distribution characteristics of air quality, and the spatial relationship between air quality and topography, explores the evolution mechanism and internal mechanism of air quality in the province. The research shows that: City air quality in the province has obvious spatial agglomeration characteristics, the air quality index shows continuous block distribution. The local air quality index is inversely proportional to the topography elevation, and the overall difference of the air quality index is large. There are clear interactions between cities, the air quality indices between adjacent cities have strong spatial correlations, affected by the terrain and distance between cities. There are two independent air circulation systems and five air quality correlation belts, closely related to the topographic distribution in the province.


To clarify the change of glucose and lipids metabolism in patients with liver disease undergoing upper abdominal operation, we examined the serum level of glucose, total ketone body, free fatty acid and l-lactate. At the end of the operation, 1-lactate level increased and total ketone body level elevation was suppressed as the bleeding increased. Also in patients undergoing hepatectomy, total ketone body level elevation was suppressed. From these results, we concluded that gluconeogenesis and utilization of fatty acid in the liver were augmented. These metabolic changes were not different between the group infused with lactated Ringer and the group infused with acetated Ringer.


It is possible to notice a newspaper reports that remind us of presence of sport hooliganism problem every day. It is possible to recognize different aspects of that phenomena. According to Freud, destructive energy connected with Thanathos have to be constantly directed from individual to outside world to avoid self-destruction. Aggressive behavior is an instrument of throwing out of destructive energy, tension reduction and leading to catharsis. Mass-media are totally integrated in society today, and society can not exist without them. The same case is with sport and sport manifestations that rise up to whole movements and partially owing to media, are held up on cult level. Anyway, it is obvious situation that media are not unique cause of hooliganism and other similar acting in sport. They are only one of number factors that influence hooliganism and destructive behavior.


In vivo diagnostic imaging of bacterial infections is currently reliant on targeting their metabolic pathways, an ineffective method to identify microbial species with low metabolic activity. Here we establish HS-198 as a small molecule-fluorescent conjugate that selectively targets the highly conserved bacterial protein, HtpG (High temperature protein G), within B. burgdorferi, the bacteria responsible for Lyme Disease. We describe the use of HS-198 to target morphologic forms of B. burgdorferi in both the logarithmic growth phase and the metabolically dormant stationary phase. Furthermore, in a murine infection model, systemically injected HS-198 identified B. burgdorferi as revealed by imaging in post necropsy tissue sections. These findings demonstrate how small molecule probes directed at conserved bacterial protein targets can function to identify the microbe using non-invasive imaging and potentially as scaffolds to deliver antimicrobial agents to the pathogen.


Stereotactic biopsy of surgically unamenable intracranial lesions has been performed in our Neurosurgical Division since 1977. Riechert's apparatus is employed. An originally developed biopsy instrument and its advantages are described. Stereotactic coordinates of the biopsy site are found by CT scanner data using the technique described earlier by us. The series consists of 20 patients in whom a variable number of biopsy samples (from 1 to 5) was taken. Mortality and morbidity were nil. In 2 cases the stereotactic exploration led to a therapeutic maneuver: a cystic craniopharingioma and a cerebellar hematoma were extirpated. The clinical, neurological and histological features of 5 paradigmatic cases are illustrated. The relevance of histological diagnosis for adequate treatment is stressed. The indications for this surgical procedure are discussed.


Rehabilitation of an edentulous posterior maxilla with dental implants is challenging, and sinus floor augmentation could be considered as an important surgical procedure for bone augmentation in this region before implant placement. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is a new-generation platelet concentrate with simplified processing: its application in sinus floor augmentation has been widely investigated in literature. However, the biological properties and actual efficacy of this product remain controversial. This study assessed the effect of sinus floor augmentation with PRF versus freeze-dried bone allograft (FDBA) on stability of one-stage dental implants. This split-mouth randomized clinical trial evaluated 10 patients who required bilateral sinus floor augmentation. PRF and L-PRF membrane were used in one quadrant while FDBA and collagen membrane were used in the other quadrant. Implant stability was assessed by resonance frequency analysis (RFA) immediately, and 2, 4, and 6 months after implant placement. The implant stability quotient (ISQ) was compared over time and between the two groups using repeated measures ANOVA and independent sample t-test. The mean ISQ significantly increased over time in both groups (p < 0.001). The increase was greater in the PRF group (p < 0.05). Within the limitations of this study, PRF yielded superior results compared with FDBA regarding the stability of one-stage dental implants.


An application of findings and methods of chemical engineering to improvement of chemical process safety and loss prevention is discussed. Current trends in chemical engineering are discussed with respect to a challenge for chemical engineers in an effort to improve chemical process safety. The characteristics and the state of the art in the Czech Republic are presented. The paper brings information on research of chemical process safety in the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic with an accent on safe disposal of persistant organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls.


Background Workplace violence is a leading cause of occupational death and injury worldwide, impacting all industries and occupations. Businesses can reduce the burden of violence by implementing comprehensive prevention programs. However, the majority of businesses globally have not implemented these. One successful model uses an interdisciplinary threat management team to prioritize prevention strategies and to identify, investigate, and respond to potential threats. Objective Using data from a wide range of work settings in the United States, we examined characteristics of violent events, types of existing prevention strategies, a model for a comprehensive threat management program, and an evaluation of this model. Methods Data were collected from several study phases. To describe types of violent events and their outcomes, workplace violent event data were collected from a large multinational company and a large University. To identify the types of prevention strategies implemented, 164 large and mid-sized businesses in the US were surveyed. A model strategy for threat management was developed and evaluated in a large multinational company in the United States. Results The most common types of workplace events included threatening behavior/bullying (43.2%), behavioral issue/suicidal (27.8%), assault (21.5%), and partner violence/stalking (6.1%). Smaller businesses reported a higher prevalence of bullying, while communicated threats were more common in large businesses. Large businesses were more likely to have violence prevention programs in place than mid-sized businesses. For example, more than 90% of large businesses reported having threat management teams compared with 74% of mid-sized businesses. Training in a model strategy for threat management led to significant increases in investigated events, leading to referrals for support and corrective action to remedy the threat. Conclusion Violence prevention strategies can reduce the burden of workplace violence. Filling gaps in small and mid-sized businesses is a priority, as is understanding dynamics of workplace violence globally.


This article explores a scenario where digital tools of music production, distribution and consumption are prominent, but the role of the Internet has been less significant. This tends to reveal the importance of the physical aspects of digital technologies, an area that has to date been under-explored. Based on work centred on the creation and distribution of recorded popular music in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea, small home-based recording studios and mobile phones are discussed as pivotal technologies. In just a few years, the chain of production, distribution and consumption of popular music in Papua New Guinea has moved from studios, cassettes and cassette players to laptops, SD cards and phones. Production has moved from centralised and professional to more widespread and amateur. Sharing takes place through the exchange of digital music files (usually in the mp3 format) via Bluetooth networking, and the exchange of portable digital media such as Secure Digital (SD) cards. This raises concerns about the ethics of file sharing as part of ethnomusicological research practice. It is also suggested that, due to the increasingly non-commercial nature of this scene, a movement away from the language of industry is timely. Consequently, production, distribution and consumption are more appropriately referred to as creation, sharing and listening/using. Two main conclusions are explored. Firstly, it is argued that the value of local knowledge is intensified under conditions of increasingly distributed, amateur production, and that this activity reinforces the importance of ethnomusicological research approaches that have traditionally been focused more on performance. The second concerns the extent and nature of the commodification of music in Papua New Guinea, and how this raises issues of economic justice for local producers.


We studied eel population characteristics (size classes, densities and body condition) in the lower Loire River floodplain (France) to evaluate the effects of longitudinal and lateral gradients. A total of 36 sites were electrofished in June 2005. The sites were grouped first into three river segments according to the distance inland corresponding to a longitudinal gradient and secondly into three lateral connectivity categories. Results indicate that small eels, especially those ≤300 mm, were very abundant downstream but density rapidly decreased upstream. In addition, eels ≤150 mm tended to be most abundant in connected waterbodies. Conversely, the distribution of larger eels was quite uniform across both dimensions. Eel condition decreased upstream. In parallel, in downstream river segment, eels had a lower condition in disconnected waterbodies than in connected ones. Eel specialists still have only a longitudinal perception of eel habitat. Our results suggest that lateral gradients should be also taken into consideration


The behavioral and dynamic implications of an ERP deployment are, to say the least, not well understood. Getting the switches set to enable the ERP software to go live is tedious. But the difficult part is understanding all of the dynamic interactions that accrue as a consequence. Connectionist and causal models are proposed in this article to facilitate an understanding of the dynamics and to enable control of the information-enhanced processes to take place. The connectionist model facilitates the understanding of the dynamic behavioral implications of the larger ERP implementation installation per se. The underlying connectionist model will observe and detect information transfers and workflow. Once maps of the total infrastructure are determined by the models, an analyst can suggest improvements. The models become decision support aids for process analysts in situations where ideal process flows/information transfers are sought. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]


Background/Objectives: The inertial effects exerted on the supporting frame of a spatial mechanism depend upon the distribution of mass of various links for a particular geometry. The main objective of the present work is to provide a suitable mass distribution to reduce shaking forces and shaking moments. Methods/Statistical Analysis: In the present paper a Generalized Slider Crank Mechanism is analyzed. A geometrical model of seven points is used to represent the mass and moment of inertia of each link. The masses at the seven points are chosen in such a way that the masses on positive and negative sides of each of the three co-ordinate axis are equal but different from the masses located on the other two axes. The seventh point mass is taken at the origin. Each of the point masses are taken to vary between 0.01 and 0.99 times the link mass. Findings and Improvements: The decrease in the shaking moment achieved is found to be due to the overall decrease in the position-vectors of the individual point masses from the origin of the fixed co-ordinate system. Slight reduction in the shaking force is also observed. All the seven point masses considered are positive which differs from the earlier model where negative masses are also allowed.


The place of Mexico in the world according to Octavio Paz. An understanding of the viceregal stageOctavio Paz's position in the history of Mexico and the formation of its identity has shaped, to a large extent, public opinion, yet there are aspects that are rather unknown. His reflection on the Christian contribution of the Spanish presence is often overlooked, as well as the very nature of the viceroyalty and the integration of the various components of that society. The paper consists basically of bringing together the thoughts of Paz, scattered in writings of very different times, that show these neglected positions.


Care for the elderly population in the United States is fast becoming an issue many families are facing. This study investigated the relationship between gender and willingness of college students to care for aging parents by surveying 24 male and female undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. It was hypothesized that female college students would be more willing than men to care for aging parents in the assistance categories of personal hygiene and housework. Survey data was statistically analyzed using cross-tabulations, and mean comparisons. Results indicated that males are more willing to provide care in the categories of personal hygiene and housework. These findings did not support the hypothesis of females being more willing to provide care; the implications are that the traditional roles and stereotypes need to be


Virtual auditory environments refer to a procedure in which auditory environments are created by means of a computer model (Lehnert & Blauert 1991). These artificial environments are perceived as being natural and they create the impression of being present in another physical space. The sense of tele-presence can greatly be improved by making these environments interactive, that is, the subject is allowed to move and act naturally in such an environment. To this end the behaviour of the subject, namely the rotations and translations of the head, has to be monitored and reacted on by the computer model. In the course of the European ESPRIT research project SCATIS (Spatially Coordinated Auditory/Tactile Interactive Scenario) a system, the SCAT-LAB, is under development which generates interactive virtual environments for the tactile and the auditory modality. In this paper some of the design aspects for the development of the auditory part of the SCAT-LAB are presented. Although being taken from a specific project, most of the results are regarded as being quite general for the task of creating interactive virtual environments with today's technology.<<ETX>>


Existing methods that use a fringe projection technique for prosthetic designs produce good results for the trunk and lower limbs; however, the devices used for this purpose are expensive. This paper investigates the use of an inexpensive passive method involving 3D surface reconstruction from video images taken at multiple views. The method that focuses on fitting the reference model of an object to the target data is presented. For an upper dummy limb, the fitting of the model with the data shows a satisfactory result. The results of 15 measurements of different length between both reconstructed and actual dummy limb are highly correlate. The methodology developed is shown to be useful for prosthetic designers as an alternative to manual impression during the design.


A review of the psychometric properties of the Abel Assessment for Interest in Paraphilias (AAIP) is presented. The data supporting the AAIP's history, purpose, data, reliability, validity, and norms are reported, with the conclusion that its use with adults is tenuous at best and its use with adolescents is as yet unsupported. Pragmatic concerns are noted, along with recommendations for further research.


Liquid crystals (LCs) are soft but smart materials that can adjust its chemical or physical properties in response to various external stimuli. Using these materials to construct soft actuators and robots, referred as LC actuators and robots, is expected to replace current machinery part, obtaining lighter and smaller equipment with adjustable and complex functions. Especially, combining these LC actuator and robots with existing virtual reality and augmented reality technologies will produce a new world of mixed reality (MR) with the visual, auditory, and somatosensory interaction. In this review, the recent work on responsive LC actuators and robots is introduced, emphasizing on their potentials in haptic use. By discussing their programmable control via suitable stimuli, the LC actuators and robots are summarized for mechanical outputs, environmental mimic, and fine‐tuning of surface texture and roughness. It is anticipated that the continuous development on LC actuators and robots will accelerate the MR technology toward practical application.


The purpose of the present paper is to describe the transformation of a photopic ocular visibility curve into a photopic retinal visibility curve by applying suitable corrections for the absorption and reflection of light by the ocular media of the human eye. An examination of the photopic retinal visibility curve thus attained permits certain tentative conclusions to be drawn concerning the nature of the visual process at relatively high intensities of illumination. The relative sensitivity of the human eye to light of different wavelengths at relatively high levels of illumination has been the subject of numerous investigations.1The results of these experiments may be expressed in terms of "visibility" or "luminosity" curves. An ocular visibility curve is determined by finding, for different wavelengths of light, the amount of energy to which the eye must be subjected in order to produce a given sensation of brightness. From determinations made while


Fibrates are derivative of fibric acid and broad spectrum drugs which are commonly used in the treatment of dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia. Side effects are often related with striated muscles, kidney and liver. Rhabdomyolysis developing with striated muscle destruction is potentially the most lethal of these side effects. Although several case reports of rhabdomyolysis have been reported due to the combination of statin and fenofibrate, fenofibrate alone rarely causes rhabdomyolysis. The purposes of this paper are to present a patient whom we diagnosed with acute renal injury due to use of fenofibrate in order to emphasize the importance of questioning drugs which have been used, and to review management of rhabdomyolysis due to fenofibrate use.


Advanced gravitational wave detectors, currently under construction, are expected to directly observe gravitational wave signals of astrophysical origin. The Einstein Telescope (ET), a third-generation gravitational wave detector, has been proposed in order to fully open up the emerging field of gravitational wave astronomy. In this paper we describe sensitivity models for ET and investigate potential limits imposed by fundamental noise sources. A special focus is set on evaluating the frequency band below 10 Hz where a complex mixture of seismic, gravity gradient, suspension thermal and radiation pressure noise dominates. We develop the most accurate sensitivity model, referred to as ET-D, for a third-generation detector so far, including the most relevant fundamental noise contributions.


Endothelin-1 (ET-1) regulates vascular tone in congestive heart failure and modulates renal function. Its role in patients with normal left ventricular (LV) function and its renal effects are unclear. Cardiac and renal hemodynamics were studied in 24 patients with normal LV function and coronary arteries after single-dose, double-blind, randomized administration of TAK-044 (25, 50, or 100 mg, i.v.), an ET(A/B)-receptor antagonist, or placebo. Hemodynamics were monitored using Swan-Ganz and arterial catheters, and ET levels were measured. Renal function was assessed by clearance techniques. In the absence of a dose-response relation, TAK-044 patients were analyzed as a single group. Most hemodynamic effects occurred during the first 4 h. TAK-044 reduced mean arterial (-9.3 mm Hg, p < 0.001), pulmonary (-1.8 mm Hg, p = 0.01), and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (-1.6 mm Hg, p < 0.001) between 30 min and 4 h. Mean reduction in systemic vascular resistance was 279 dyne/s/cm2 (p < 0.001), whereas heart rate increased 6.1 beats/min (p < 0.001) and cardiac index by 0.37 L/m2 (p = 0.01). Stroke volume index, right atrial pressure, and pulmonary vascular resistance did not change. TAK-044 increased renal plasma flow in proportion to the increase in cardiac output (+119 ml/min, 4 h after TAK-044; p < 0.05) and ET-1 levels (2.5-fold; p < 0.05). No serious side effects were noted. In patients with normal cardiac function, ET-receptor blockade causes vasodilation and reduces systemic but not pulmonary vascular resistance and increases cardiac index and renal plasma flow.


Desktop Grids harvest the computing power of idle desktop computers whether these are volunteer or deployed at an institution. Allowing foreign applications to run on these resources requires the sender of the application to be trusted, but trust in goodwill is never enough. An efficient solution is to provide a secure isolated execution environment ("sandbox"), which does not constrain any additional burden neither on administrators nor on users. Currently Desktop Grids do not provide such facility. In this paper we investigate methods and mechanisms that enable the use of virtual machines as part of a security infrastructure for Desktop Grid clients to provide a sandbox for running (untrusted) applications. We define and analyze the requirements for any platform independent and transparent sandbox for Desktop Grids. We detail a prototype, which we built based on our findings and we give a performance evaluation.


There are 21 contributors to the 26 chapters of this book. Because many chapters have apparently been presented originally as papers, it is advantageous that many of the chapters have summaries or conclusions. Some techniques are more historical than current, and in some instances they are not clearly explained. Each chapter includes a good list of primarily current references. Fifteen chapters are devoted to irradiation, five to physical modalities of electricity (iontophoresis, galvanic surgery, epilation, electrocautery, and electrosurgery), two to phototherapy, and one each to lasers, plasma torch, ultrasound, and cryosurgery. In all, 184 pages are concerned with ionizing radiation, whereas only 97 pages deal with nonionizing therapy modalities. The nonionizing modalities have been neglected in the dermatologic literature, and their inclusion serves a great purpose to the student, resident, practitioner, and researcher in dermatology. Because of this neglect, however, these facets of therapy should have been more thoroughly discussed,


In this paper, a turbo-based distributed joint source-channel coding scheme, for efficient compression and communication of two dependent sources with time memory over noisy channels, is presented. Specifically, we consider the asymmetric case for two binary sources, where one of the sources is available at the decoder as side information. The problem is of particular interest for low complexity compression and communication in data gathering sensor network and multimedia applications. Aiming at exploiting the spatial dependency of the sources, first, a distributed joint source-channel turbo (DJSCT) decoder is developed. Then, a novel decoding scheme is proposed, which benefits from both time memory and spatial dependency between samples of the sources. The proposed decoder is composed of two DJSCT constituent decoders and a maximum a-posteriori constituent decoder, which operate in an iterative manner. As the results validate, the proposed schemes provide effective solutions for compression and robust reconstruction of distributed dependent sources with time memory.


With the rapid development of Internet, network security becomes more serious problem. Traditional technology can not meet the demand of scalable distributed network security, and distributed intrusion detection architecture can solve the problems. However, present intrusion detection systems still have many problems such as accuracy, reliability and adaptability. This paper discusses the present situation of intrusion detection and analyzes the problems that distributed intrusion detection exists and propose some technology and researches in point.


In our previous study, we have found increased serum levels of HMGB1 in patients with Henoch– Schonlein purpura (HSP), allergic vasculitis (AV), and urticarial vasculitis (UV) and altered HMGB1 distribution in lesional skin in patients with HSP. HMGB1 plays a pro-inflammatory role in the pathogenesis of HSP. To further investigate the role of HMGB1 in the pathogenic mechanism of vasculitis, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of HMGB1 blockades (including anti-HMGB1 mAb and glycyrrhizin) in a mouse model of a cutaneous reverse passive Arthus (RPA) reaction. A total of 36 balb/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: the control group, IC model group, HMGB1 monoclonal antibody (anti-HMGB1-mAb) group and the glycyrrhizin group, with nine mice in each group. A cutaneous RPA reaction mouse model was established by injections of the OVA antibody and the OVA antigen. Mice of the anti-HMGB1-mAb group and glycyrrhizin group were pre-treated with anti-HMGB1 mAb or glycyrrhizin, respectively, before the RPA reaction. Our results indicated that HMGB1 blockades (anti-HMGB1 mAb and glycyrrhizin) obviously extenuated the severity of vasculitis skin damage and improved the histological evolvement of inflammatory cells infiltration, vascular fibroid necrosis, and vasodilation in a cutaneous RPA reaction mouse model. In addition, HMGB1 blockades reduced the infiltration of neutrophils, DCs, and T cells and decreased the mRNA expression of IL-6 and CCL5 in skin lesions in the cutaneous RPA reaction mouse model. We suggest that HMGB1 blockades may represent a new direction for the treatment of cutaneous vasculitis.


: Narrative studies related to focus worked on the study of the narrator, as an important structural element in the structure of the storytelling, a thorough study showing his position of what he tells, and his total or partial knowledge of events, his location from them, and his awareness of them, and these studies moved according to two directions: the intellectual-cognitive direction, and the artistic-aesthetic direction, and talked about two types of focus: (internal focus and external focus), thus it was a wide field for technical studies that were not concerned with the human and the psychological aspects of the narrator, social and intellectual aspects related to it. Thus, the narrator remained a narrative technique that is nothing more than a means of conveying the facts of the narration, and the perspective of depicting events . This research comes to present a reading in a new dimension of the narrator's dimensions at the internal level, which does not cancel the two dimensions: intellectual and artistic, and does not replace them with it, but rather it complements and deepens their endeavors, and this new dimension is the psychological dimension that is concerned with the emotional and personal states of the narrator, and it tracks its emotions as influencing factors in the narrative process and the justification for events and an explanation of behavior within the textual body. It is no secret that the relationship between the narrator's psychology and language is rooted in the field of literary creativity. The research applied this perspective to texts from the Syrian short story between 1995 - 2005 AD, given the technical and cognitive development it reached, which gives an applied model that clarifies the importance of the ideas contained in this research and justifies the theoretical aspect from which it was launched. The research ends with a set of results that enrich the narrative studies .


ABSTRACT A three-dimensional (3D) cryoelectron microscopy reconstruction of the prototype Atadenovirus (OAdV [an ovine adenovirus isolate]) showing information at a 10.6-Å resolution (0.5 Fourier shell correlation) was derived by single-particle analysis. This is the first 3D structure solved for any adenovirus that is not a Mastadenovirus, allowing cross-genus comparisons between structures and the assignment of genus-specific capsid proteins. Viable OAdV mutants that lacked the genus-specific LH3 and p32k proteins in purified virions were also generated. Negatively stained 3D reconstructions of these mutants were used to identify the location of protein LH3 and infer that of p32k within the capsid. The key finding was that LH3 is a critical protein that holds the outer capsid of the virus together. In its absence, the outer viral capsid is unstable. LH3 is located in the same position among the hexon subunits as its protein IX equivalent from mastadenoviruses but sits on top of the hexon trimers, forming prominent "knobs" on the virion surface that visually distinguish OAdV from other known AdVs. Electron density was also assigned to hexon and penton subunits and to proteins IIIa and VIII. There was good correspondence between OAdV density and human AdV hexon structures, which also validated the significant differences that were observed between the penton base protein structures.


Concept maps were used as a tool to solve problems in earth science and as a way to help students organize their ideas as a part of a three-part model, Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS). Concept maps also were used to augment the National Science Foundation's (NSF) program — Full Option Science System (FOSS) for 3rd grade elementary students. We used two methods of assessment, Ruiz-Primo et al. (1997) and Novak & Gowin (1984). The results of the pre-post concept map assessment demonstrated that the students increased their content knowledge. Both the Novak and Ruiz-Primo methods showed an increase in accuracy of relationships and complexity of understanding of earth materials pre to post instruction. We also showed that the REAPS model enhanced the teacher's ability to teach the FOSS Earth Materials Unit and at the same time meet the Arizona State Standards in science and other non-science standards such as art, through model building. We concluded that to facilitate the use of concept maps in the classroom, teachers need more training and a simplified scoring system so they can easily score their students' progress when doing concept maps. From the practical point of view, we consider that more training and incorporation of practical activities is needed to prepare the students for concept mapping. Further research is needed to examine these possibilities.


INTRODUCTION: Handoffs and transitions of care have been a central part of patient safety goals at John Peter Smith Hospital. With twice daily shift changes for physician and nurses, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology introduced a new interdisciplinary team transition of care system. Initial anecdotal feedback suggested that the handoff process was suboptimal and communication efforts could be improved. The purpose of the study was to evaluate attitudes of faculty, residents, and nursing staff about a transition of care system and identify opportunities to improve the safety and quality of care involving antepartum, postpartum, and gynecology patients.


New forms of governance, regional strategic platforms and partnerships should overcome administrative, political and financial obstacles in a country in transition which is in a less advanced position compared to Western Europe. SEE1 countries have not been successful in completing a complex transition and transformation process towards the membership in European Union but also in embracing ICTs to the maximum extent possible as a new development opportunity in the era of globalization. The main goal of this paper is to examine the economic, political, organizational and social conditions necessary for a successful implementation of new forms of governance in Serbia and SEE countries. In this paper we also explore the emerged forms of e-Governance in Serbia having in mind that this process cuts across a broad range of technical, legal, economic and institutional issues. Our aim is to identify the key gaps and obstacles for evolving and developing new forms of governance in countries which had been to a large extent shaped in the period of communist rule. These countries are not ready for at least some elements of new modes of governance. Therefore, there is need to re-establish existing modes of governance through strengthening and reforming institutional and judiciary system, improving the quality of legislation and providing institutional, political, managerial and especially technical support for these actions. Today's governments face an important challenge, not only in terms of providing better information to citizens through the Internet, but also in terms of increasing productivity and reducing cost. The Internet is a mediating and disruptive technology that should have a crucial impact on improving e-Governance in SEE countries. SEE countries must aim to foster Internet infrastructure development and to implement higher bandwidth services which will enhance e-Government services. Despite the current factors and trends in SEE countries that contribute to the future Internet growth, we have witnessed a gap between those who have and those who do not have the possibility to use the Internet related technology and services. One of the major obstacles in accelerating progress is lack of competencies or knowledge on the part of leaders at various government and entrepreneur levels to design and implement successful e-Governance initiatives, particularly in the area of e-Democracy and e-Inclusion, which specifically aim at strengthening Human Governance. The absence of training and educational programs and intra-regional knowledge transfer mechanisms are key issues to be addressed. The Democratic and Human Governance dimension of ICT remains a serious challenge, with major progress still to be made. Such areas of e-Democracy as e-Participation, e-Inclusion, e-Transparency that are being emphasized by the EU i20102 strategic framework are not being properly addressed. This is partly because e-governance is neither fully understood nor prioritized by policy makers, government senior executives, and development practitioners. In order to foster economic development and apply local assets, knowledge and skills SEE countries must generate and exploit new forms of governance, partnerships and entrepreneurship. The SEE countries have to facilitate development of e-Government system in order to create efficient and effective government.


Traditional image inpainting algorithms suffer from large computational costs,duration of run,and complexity. This paper proposes an efficient wavelet image inpainting algorithm based on pixel weight to overcome these challenges. First,the damaged image is decomposed by wavelet transformation and the regions to be inpainted are quickly located. Then,the pixel weights are calculated according to both the regions to be inpainted and the adjacent pixels around it. Subsequently,the calculated pixel weights and the known neighborhood pixels are used to finish the inpainting of the damaged pixels. Finally,the inpainted image is obtained by wavelet reconstruction. Simulation results show that the speed of the proposed algorithm is remarkably faster than that of the traditional inpainting algorithm,and the complexity also significantly decreases,under similar inpainted image visualization effect. Therefore,the proposed algorithm is very suitable for use in efficient real-time image inpainting scenarios.


This study was conducted to determine factors influencing the intensity of BRRI cultivar adoption in the Aus season on farm households in the Jamalpur district. The data were collected through structured questionnaires from 200 randomly selected rice farmers from three upazilas in the Jamalpur district. The study employed descriptive statistics and Tobit-censored regression to determine the adoption and the intensity of the adoption. In addition, ten FGDs and expert panel interviews were conducted to verify the collected data. The results show that 88.04% of the area in Jamalpur district was cultivated with rice varieties developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), with an average yield of 3.85 t/ha during the Aus season. The findings of the Tobit censored regression indicate that schooling, distance to the local market, distance to UAO, training, price variation, taste and preference, number of cultivated varieties, and yield variability were the significant factors of the intensity of BRRI variety adoption in the Aus season. The study's results suggested that breeders should also emphasise farmers' choices while developing varieties. In addition to developing new rice varieties, BRRI, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Agricultural Corporation (BADC), and other seed-producing organisations need to work together to provide the farmers with good-quality seeds of BRRI varieties, which will increase the country's total production and thus help to ensure food safety.


Q. Why are there so many books about strategy? A. Because it is a subject we know so little about. There is an element of truth in this old joke. Strategy is both amorphous and important. Unlike most other subjects in business and management, it has no agreed beginning and certainly no end. It is difficult even to determine when "business policy" became "strategy", or whether strategy is the superset of organizational behaviour, human resources, marketing, operations, information systems, finance, accounting, and leadership, or a subset of each. Selecting an approach – and a textbook – involves a baffling array of choices. We can choose from a huge assortment of cookbooks, too numerous to mention, offering recipes like 200g of PEST, 350g of SWOT, Five Forces, three (or four) Generic Strategies, and a sprinkling of Value Chain. What students remember is often just the shopping list, because they leave our kitchens before the warm and enticing smells start to waft from the strategy oven. This review explores the issues in selecting a strategy text.


I describe the seventh species of nurse-frog (Allobates) from the Madeira River basin in Brazilian Amazonia. The new species is distinguished from similar congeneric species by its small body size (snout-to-vent length ranging between 14.0-14.7 mm in adult males and between 14.7-14.9 mm in adult females), by the absence of dark brown regular shapes (e.g. hourglass, "X" or polygon-like marks) on the dorsum, by the absence of transverse dark bars on the dorsal surface of the thigh, and by the light gray to white ventral surfaces, light to dark gray only on throat in live male and female specimens. Males have a distinctive advertisement call characterized by the emission of long (7-11 s) trills of short notes (0.04 s in average) with dominant frequency at 5.9-6.3 kHz and emission rate ranging between 6.7-8.7 notes/s. DNA barcode analyses based on a fragment of the 16S rDNA mitochondrial gene provides additional support to the recognition of the new taxon, which is probably distributed on the east riverbank of the Madeira River, in the interfluve between the Aripuanã and Ji-Paraná rivers.


Background: Gut flora has long been suspected to play a role in colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis. Elegant experiments have substantiated such claims with the use of single pathogenic bacteria in germ free colon cancer mouse models. Here we run a comprehensive taxonomic, metagenomic and metabolomics analysis of stool samples from healthy and colon adenoma African American (AA) patients to define further this role. Patients & Methods: DNA extracts from stool samples of 6 healthy and 6 colon adenoma patients were used for the taxonomic and metagenomic analysis. The sequencing was done using a 454 pyrosequencer and the generated data was processed using informatics pipeline for phylogenetic bacterial affiliation and for bacterial functions assignment. For the metabolomics analysis, 10 fecal water extracts from healthy individuals and 10 from colon adenoma patients were analysed for their metabolites' contents using NMR spectrometry. Results: The analysis of 16S-rDNA sequences revealed the existence of 22 groups of bacteria. A phylogenetic clustering revealed colon adenoma cases clustering together. Most predominant groups in both sets of samples were Clostridia and Bacteroides. No Lactobacilli or Bifidobacteria (good bacteria) were detected. The synergistetes_Dynergistia group -involved in gastrointestinal infections and Firmicutes phylum: Firmicutes group - involved in energy resorption and obesity were 20 and 10 folds more prevalent in adenoma patients, respectively. Bacteria TM7 group that contain active agents in IBD was 5 folds more represented in the control compared to the adenoma group. The metagenomic experiment have led to the generation of about 100,000 reads per sample, 80% of which were successfully annotated. Among the annotated functions, many were differentially present in the colon adenoma compared to healthy individuals. The metabolomics analysis led to a strong clustering of the adenoma samples metabolomes further consolidating the role of bacteria and their metabolites in colon cancer pathology. Conclusion: Our taxonomic, metagenomic and metabolomics analysis have led the presence of clear differential profiles in colon adenoma patients vs. healthy persons. Lack of detection of "good bacteria" (Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria) in this study defines already a first level of intervention in this high risk CRC population. A comprehensive analysis of all the results is underway to bridge the Taxo, Meta and metabolomics data. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4414. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4414