The intrinsic binding ability of 7 natural peptides (oxytocin, arg8 -vasopressin, bradykinin, angiotensin-I, substance-P, somatostatin, and neurotensin) with copper in 2 different oxidation states (CuI/II ) derived from different Cu+/2+ precursor sources have been investigated for their charge-dependent binding characteristics. The peptide-CuI/II complexes, [M - (n-1)H + nCuI ] and [M - (2n-1)H + nCuII ], are prepared/generated by the reaction of peptides with CuI solution/Cu-target and CuSO4 solution and are analyzed by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The MALDI mass spectra of both [M - (n-1)H + nCuI ] and [M - (2n-1)H + nCuII ] complexes show no mass shift due to the loss of ─H atoms in the main chain ─NH of these peptides by Cu+ and Cu2+ deprotonation. The measured m/z value indicates the reduction of CuI/II oxidation state into Cu0 during MALDI processes. The number and relative abundance of Cu+ bound to the peptides are greater compared with the Cu2+ bound peptides. Oxytocin, arg8 -vasopressin, bradykinin, substance-P, and somatostatin show the binding of 5Cu+ , and angiotensin-I and neurotensin show the binding of 7Cu+ from both CuI and Cu targets, while bradykinin shows the binding of 2Cu2+ , oxytocin, arg8 -vasopressin, angiotensin-I, and substance-P; somatostatin shows the binding of 3Cu2+ ; and neurotensin shows 4Cu2+ binding. The binding of more Cu+ with these small peptides signifies that the bonding characteristics of both Cu+ and Cu2+ are different. The amino acid residues responsible for the binding of both Cu+ and Cu2+ in these peptides have been identified based on the density functional theory computed binding energy values of Cu+ and the fragment transformation method predicted binding preference of Cu2+ for individual amino acids.


Within our laboratory a need arose to develop a rapid, quantitative analysis for the constituents in water-based, poly(vinyl acetate) (PVA) adhesives. These materials exhibit several problems for infrared quantitative analysis. The first problem area is reproducibility in the preparation of the sample for infrared measurement. Water, as the base, precludes the use of the more common window materials (i.e., KBr, KCl) due to their water solubility. One simple remedy to this problem is to cast a film onto a secondary support, typically a glass plate, remove the dried film, and obtain a spectrum by direct transmission. Alternatively, non-water-soluble window materials such as AgCl may be used. These materials permit the film to be cast directly onto the window surface and eliminate at least a portion of the sample handling. Although these two methods are well suited for obtaining a qualitative IR spectrum of the adhesive constituents, quantitation remains a problem. To quantitate a mixture, spectral bands must be selected which are preferably unique to the components of interest or which at least increase linearly in absorbance with concentration. Spectra obtained by direct transmission through a polymer film are generally too intense to meet these criteria. While ultrathin films offer a possible solution, film uniformity and surface defects can become significant problems as the thickness of the film is decreased. One method which alleviates the reproducibility problems in the aforementioned techniques is Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR). An advantage of internal reflectance spectroscopy is that the penetration depth of the infrared radiation, which is wavelength dependent but reproducible for a given angle of incidence, generally does not exceed a few micrometers. By maintaining the sample thickness greater than the effective penetration depth, only the sample surface in contact with the ATR crystal is important. Consequently, surface defects can be minimized by normal maintenance of the crystal.


The leading cause of death from colorectal cancer is metastasis. The five year survival rate drops from 95% when the disease is at the localized stage to approximately 12% when metastasis has occurred. Because of its asymptomatic progression, metastasis is often detected at the final stage when little can be done, and little is now regarding the mechanisms that direct the early steps when intervention can potentially have an impact on its progression. In order to elucidate the mechanisms, we developed a mouse model of CRC metastasis to the liver, the frequent target organ of metastasis by cecum implantation of CT26 mouse colon adenocarcinoma cells into immunocompetent host Balb/cByJ mice. This model can recapitulate disease progression from the growth of the primary tumor to establishment of metastatic lesions within a defined time frame. Using this model, we isolated isogenic cell lines that gave rise to a high frequency of spontaneous metastasis to the liver. Implantation of the most highly metastatic CT26-FL3 cell line gave rise to liver metastasis in 90% of host mice, ten-fold higher than the parental CT26 cell line, in as early as 10 days. Initial characterization revealed that these cells expressed elevated levels of genes whose products promoted invasion, migration, and mobilization of bone marrow derived cells (BMDCs) to the pre-metastatic liver. We determined the genetic signatures of the CT26 and CT26-FL3 cells and that of the pre-metastatic and metastatic liver environment by microarray analyses to identify genes that might mediate the crosstalk between the primary tumor and target organ to promote progression of liver metastasis. The results identified genes encoding proteins that might act as potent effectors of the immune response that are induced in the early stage of metastasis. We characterize these proteins and assess their potential as viable biomarkers for early diagnosis of metastatic disease or as targets to deter metastatic progression. Our mouse model, therefore, can be an important platform to characterize metastatic cells and to elucidate tumor-host interactions and mechanisms that drive liver metastasis of CRC. In addition, it can be a valuable tool for pre-clinical evaluation of therapies targeted against metastatic CRC. Citation Format: Maria Marjorette O. Pena, Yu Zhang, Celestia Davis. Characterization of tumor-host interactions that promote liver metastasis of colorectal cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: The Translational Impact of Model Organisms in Cancer; Nov 5-8, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2014;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B27.


Measuring the minimum‐joint‐space‐width (mJSW) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Roentgen stereophotogrammetric analysis (RSA) provides valuable information on polyethylene wear, a leading cause for TKA failure. Most existing studies use non‐weight‐bearing (NWB) patient positioning. The latter may compromise mJSW measurements due to knee laxity with subsequent non‐contact between the TKA components. We investigated the difference in mJSW between weight‐bearing (WB) and NWB images and the association with mediolateral (ML) knee stability. At one‐year follow‐up, 23 TKAs were included from an ongoing RSA study, and ML stability was evaluated. For each examination, the mJSW and femoral‐tibial contact locations were measured. A linear regression model was used to analyze the association between the mJSW difference (NWB–WB) with the ML stability and contact locations. The mean mJSW difference was 0.28 mm medially and 0.20 mm laterally. Four TKAs had medium (5–9°) and 19 TKAs had high (<5°) ML stability. A higher mJSW difference was found for TKAs with medium stability (0.36 mm, P = 0.01). In conclusion, mJSW measurements in existing (NWB) RSA studies are influenced by knee laxity, but may still provide information on wear progression based on TKA with high ML stability. A direct comparison of mJSW measurements from WB and NWB data is not possible. © 2014 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 32:613–617, 2014.


Dielectrically loaded antennas meet growing interest in wireless and satellite communication due to small dimensions, controllable properties and perfect protection from damages even in the case of explosions. Real construction can be computed using time domain finite difference methods, but those methods meet big difficulties in dynamic problems. The generalized eigenfunction method applied earlier to diffraction problems and in laser theory can help to find within the reasonably limited amount of calculation not only static but dynamic characteristics of antennas. The importance of the dynamic analysis is easily seen from the presented figures, which show big changes in antenna parameters in the case of transmission (or reception) of short pulses. For high bit rate communication systems the detailed analysis of such changes is of vital importance.


Background: There are 200-600 million betel quid (BQ) chewers in the world. BQ increases oral cancer risk. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is responsible for matrix degradation, cancer invasion and metastasis. Whether areca nut extract (ANE), a BQ component, stimulates MMP-9 secretion, and the related signaling pathways awaits investigation. Results: ANE (but not arecoline) stimulated MMP-9 production of gingival keratinocytes and SAS cancer epithelial cells. ANE stimulated TGF-β1, p-Smad2, and p-TAK1 protein expression. ANE-induced MMP-9 production/expression in SAS cells can be attenuated by SB431542 (ALK5/Smad2 inhibitor), 5Z-7-Oxozeaenol (TAK1 inhibitor), catalase, PD153035 (EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor), AG490 (JAK inhibitor), U0126 (MEK/ERK inhibitor), LY294002 (PI3K/Akt inhibitor), betel leaf (PBL) extract, and hydroxychavicol (HC, a PBL component), and melatonin, but not by aspirin. Conclusions: AN components contribute to oral carcinogenesis by stimulating MMP-9 secretion, thus enhancing tumor invasion/metastasis. These events are related to reactive oxygen species, TGF-β1, Smad2-dependent and –independent signaling, but not COX. These signaling molecules can be biomarkers of BQ carcinogenesis. PBL, HC and melatonin and other targeting therapy can be used for oral cancer treatment. Methods: ANE-induced MMP-9 expression/secretion of oral epithelial cells and related TGF-β1, Smad-dependent and –independent signaling were studied by MTT assay, RT-PCR, western blotting, immunofluorescent staining, and ELISA.


The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of essential and non-essential metals in sesame seeds ( Sesamum indicum L.). Six sesame seed samples (three red and three white) were purchased randomly from six shops in Sheraro, Tigray, Ethiopia. The levels of Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in the sesame samples were determined by FAAS. 5 g of dried and homogenized samples were digested using 30 mL of HNO 3 (70%) and 25 mL of HCl (37%) at 120 o C for 5 hours. The efficiency of the procedure was validated by spiking and the percent recovery for all studied metals varied from 90-120%. The mean levels of the metals (mg/kg) were found in the ranges 35.5-43.1, 58.1-67.0, 15.3-21.3, 0.202-0.262 and 0.08-0.114 for Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb, respectively. Analysis of variance at 95% confidence level indicated significant variations only for Cu and Zn. Thus, the sesame seeds analyzed are safe for human consumption. KEY WORDS : Sesamum indicum L., Essential metals, Non-essential metals, FAAS, Shiraro, Tigray (Ethiopia) Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019 , 33(2), 191-202. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i2.1


Objective To evaluate oral and nasal halitosis parameters in patients with and without clefts. Design Randomized and prospective study. Patients with and without clefts were evaluated as to oral and nasal halitosis. Setting University of São Paulo, Bauru Dental School and Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies, Bauru, Brazil. Patients Twelve patients with clefts and 12 without clefts were evaluated, and no exclusion criteria were followed. Interventions Nasal and oral halitosis were measured with the use of a portable sulfide monitor during a single visit. Results One hundred percent of the patients with clefts had altered values for volatile sulfur compounds. Only 33.3% of the patients without clefts had at least one strong value for nasal halimeter measurements, and 58.3% of these patients showed alteration in the nasal values. Statistical evaluation, made using the Mann-Whitney U test, classifying the nasal halimeter values as normal, weak, and strong, showing a statistical significant group difference (p = .003). There was no significant difference in the oral halimeter values between the two groups. Conclusions Patients with cleft lip and palate had a tendency to present higher values for the nasal halimeter measurements, when compared with patients without clefts.


physicians, nurses and technicians is obligatorily. Indication for HHD is the intention of a medical and psychic stable patient, to perform the dialysis himself without complications and become an integrated part of the therapy. Daily home haemodialysis (DHHD) is performed in patients with high technical understanding using specific equipment. DHHD has considerable advantages: the patient can dialyze himself without assistant, the residual renal function is preserved for longer time, and because of that, less fluid and diet restrictions are necessary. Although the blood pressure is better controlled, less antihypertensive drugs are needed and left ventricular hypertrophy is reduced. The number of phosphate binders per day is diminished as well as the dose of erythropoietin. There are no serious problems concerning the vascular access in spite of doubling the number of shunt punctures; high efficacy of dialysis treatment is achieved. The patients report better quality of life. HHD is the best schedule for the optimal social and medical rehabilitation of dialysis patients.


The cross-section ratio R b = σ (e + e − → b¯b) /σ (e + e − → q¯q) and the bottom and charm forward-backward asymmetries A bFB and A cFB are measured using event samples collected by the OPAL detector at centre-of-mass energies between 130 and 189 GeV. Events with bottom quark production are selected with a secondary vertex tag, and a hemisphere charge algorithm is used to extract A bFB . In addition, the bottom and charm asymmetries are measured using leptons from semileptonic decays of heavy hadrons and pions from D ∗ + → D 0 π + decays. The results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.


PurposeThis article investigates recent studies of construction law in different areas, including civil engineering; construction building technology; transportation; multidisciplinary studies and the environment, as well as their changing trends in the years between 2000 and 2019.Design/methodology/approachThe transformation trend of construction law is investigated based on collecting main keywords from the Web of Science (WoS) database selectively from different viewpoints and using Scientometric Analysis by CiteSpace and HistCite software. The top journals, top universities, and the most active countries in publishing and expanding construction law, keyword co-occurrence network, top keywords with the strongest citation bursts, cluster analysis, the most cited articles are determined both generally and yearly.FindingsBy interpreting the Scientometric results, focal points of legal issues and their changing trends during the last two decades are reviewed. Scholars' data concerning interesting topics, construction law industry future needs, knowledge gaps, and speculation about future views and direction are obtained.Research limitations/implicationsRestrictions on data search, limiting the category of studies to a specific domain, and limiting research time to 20 years are some limitations of this article.Social implicationsAll these results address legal issues, comprehensive laws, plenary contracts, and efficient dispute resolution based on cultures and themes.Originality/valueGiven the importance of legal issues at all stages of the construction cycle, a review of this multidisciplinary and new science over the past two decades can provide hot issues, knowledge gaps, and a better view of the future.


BACKGROUND
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generally present in the workplace environment as complex mixtures and often difficult to identify a priori.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study is to evaluate the level and coverage of occupational exposure to PAHs in Italy.

METHODS
Data were collected from exposure registries of companies with mandatory reporting to the National Workers' Compensation Authority. Statistical analyses were carried out on the retrieved information and the number of workers potentially exposed was estimated for some industrial sectors.

RESULTS
Overall 12,849 measurements of exposure levels to individual PAHs were selected from the database of registries in the period 1996-2010. Most exposures occurred in the manufacture of chemicals (N = 5,383, 51%), and the occupational group most frequently measured was chemical-processing-plant operator (N = 3,930, 31%). Measurements were associated to various PAHs, including benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, and benzo[j]fluoranthene. Overall, 39,230 workers were estimated as potentially at risk of exposure to PAHs in the selected industrial sectors.

CONCLUSIONS
This study summarized data recorded in the Italian occupational exposure database and identified specific exposure patterns to PAHs. The systematic recording of occupational exposures is a source of data that allows the recognition, control, and prevention of high-risk situations for workers' health.


Objectives; To assess the staffing gap by cadre in the health facilities, determining the proportion of health workers motivated and assessing the factors associated with their motivation Study design; Descriptive cross sectional study Settings; Moshi Rural district Results; It was found that the staffing gap were 42.3%, 38.2% and 46.2% in the hospitals, health centres and dispensaries respectively. Comparison was made between the public, private and religious health facilities. It was found that 21.2%, 62.5% and 95.8% of health workers from public, private and religious health facilities respectively reported of presence of enough working equipment in their health facilities. In addition 36.1%, 54.3% and 81.6% of health workers from public, private and religious health facilities were being promoted when deserving. From the information above it is evident that health workers from religious health facilities have the highest level of motivation, those from the private health facilities are moderately motivated while those from public health facilities are poorly motivated. Conclusion and Recommendations Motivation of health workers and availability of working equipments in Moshi rural is highest in religious health facilities, moderate in private health facilities and lowest in public health facilities . Efforts should be made to find affordable means of motivating the rural health workers so as to improve their performance and ultimately the health status of Tanzanians.


Recent contributions in the field of human capital have pointed out the role played by parental background as an element of intergenerational transmission of it. Both parental human capital and job qualification affect offspring educational choice hence job performance. Aim of this paper is to analyse empirically this type of interaction. Observed variables measuring parental background and individual schooling explain both individual labour income and professional qualification through three latent variables representing family features, total human capital and job market performance. Results show that there exists a statistically significative influence of parental background on individual investment in schooling and from it to job market performance; this concludes for an intergenerational transmission of human capital and income, hence for a persistence in income and schooling inequality.


In this paper, we consider the problem of pricing the spectrum usage in a cognitive radio network. In such a network, where licensed/primary users (who has the right to use the spectrum) and the unlicensed/secondary users coexist, a secondary spectrum market can be established where the primary network service provider charges the secondary users for the usage of the spectrum, while the secondary users also compete with each other for the access. Several important questions arise regarding the operation of such spectrum market: 1) how the spectrum should be priced; 2) how the secondary users should distributedly access the spectrum based on the spectrum price. To answer these questions, we interpret the available spectrum in the network as the aggregated interference tolerable at the receivers of the primary users, and introduce the notion of a market equilibrium in which the prices of the spectrum/interference are set correctly such that 1) the supply of the spectrum equals the demand of the spectrum, and 2) the secondary network is stable. We also developed an algorithm to distributedly compute such market equilibrium, and proved its convergence.


Aeronautical Journal October 1974 Library Reports Theory and analysis of plates: classical and numerical methods. Rudolph Szilard. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. 1974. 724 pp. £13.00. To be reviewed. Magnetic and Electric Suspensions. R. H. Frazier et al. MIT Press, London. 1974. £10.00. 365 pp. Illustrated. To be reviewed. Linear methods of applied analysis. Allan M. Krall. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, London. 1973. 706 pp. U.S. $9.50. To be reviewed. Engineering Mathematics. A. C. Bajpai et al. John Wiley & Sons, London. 1974. 793 pp. Illustrated. £7.75. To be reviewed. The Dangerous Sky, D. H. Robinson. G. T. Foulis, Henleyon-Thames. 1973. 292 pp. Illustrated. £5.35. To be reviewed. Recent Developments in Shock Tube Research. Proceedings of the Ninth Shock Tube Symposium, Stanford University, 1973. D. Bershader and W. Griffith (Editors). Stamford University Press, California. 1973. 830 pp. Illustrated. £16.00. This conference was held on the eve of the 75th birthday of Shock Tube Research. A paper by Hans W. Liepmann "Cryogenic Fluid Mechanics" commemorated the earliest known experimental demonstration of a shock tube. Other papers dealt with the study of gas lasers, sonic booms, the extension of chemical kinetic measurements to both very low and very high temperatures and the applications to the complex problems of gas-particle interactions encountered in air pollution by soot and aerosols.


Autobiographical memory (AM) performance in individuals with depressive symptoms has repeatedly been shown to be overgeneral (OGM) in nature, and characterized by summaries of repeated events or long periods of time rather than a single event tied to a unique spatial and temporal context. The present body of work was designed to address the metamnemonic aspects of AM performance in dysphoric individuals, with the underlying motivation being that OGM may not be a unique phenomenon specific to depression or AM, and that it may reflect a more general pattern of memory impairment. The studies presented herein examine various aspects of metamemory and other memory processes that may offer a parsimonious account of OGM as poor event memory in general, rather than a specific standalone finding. In Study 1 several metamnemonic processes were investigated using a quantity-accuracy profile approach. Here, the results showed that performance between dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants was nearly indistinguishable on measures of calibration, resolution, grain-size setting, and criterion setting, suggesting that these aspects of metamemory are intact in dysphoria for immediately tested material. Study 2 examined whether it is possible to "create" OGMs by employing a delay manipulation for both autobiographical (3 day delay) and laboratory-based events (7 day delay). Indeed, the results from this study showed that the performance on both tasks declines for both groups, but that this effect was of a greater magnitude in the dysphoric group. Critically, no differences emerged for immediately tested information. Finally, Study 3 examined the role of working memory and memory search strategies in the recollection of autobiographically relevant information. The results from Study 3 showed that dysphoric individuals may engage in a less organized search strategy than non-dysphoric participants as exhibited by a tendency to switch set in the midst of thematically related information. Taken as a whole, these data indicate that OGM may be attributable to deficits in memory search strategies in conjunction with memories that may be more prone to decay and/or forgetting, suggesting that OGM may not be a depression-specific phenomenon, but rather the downstream deficit of degraded memory representation.


A female patient died after aspiration of a barium-containing contrast medium as a result of ARDS in spite of intensive medical care. In cases of aspiration, the degree of aspiration should be documented by X-ray as soon as possible in order to decide upon the extent of specific suction measure. Lethalities after aspiration may be more frequent than can be assumed from the reports in the literature.


TSMV is an extension of NuSMV, the open-source symbolic model checker, aimed at dealing with timed versions of (models of) circuits, PLC controllers, protocols, etc. The underlying model is an extension of Kripke structures, where every transition carries an integer duration (possibly zero). This simple model supports efficient symbolic algorithms for RTCTL formulae.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
The laryngeal tie-forward procedure (LTFP) is becoming widely used for correction of dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) despite the absence of an evidence-based assessment of its efficacy.

HYPOTHESES
The LTFP returns racing performance to preoperative baseline levels and to that of matched controls; and post operative laryngohyoid position is associated with post operative performance.

DESIGN AND POPULATION
Case-controlled study of racehorses undergoing a LTFP for dorsal displacement of the soft palate at Cornell University between October 2002 and June 2007.

METHODS
The presence of at least one post operative start and race earnings ($) were used as outcome variables. Controls were matched by age, breed and sex from the third race prior to surgery. A novel radiographic reference system was used to determine laryngohyoid position pre- and post operatively. Data for definitively and presumptively diagnosed cases were analysed separately.

RESULTS
During the study interval, 263 racehorses presented, of which 106 were included in the study; 36 had a definitive diagnosis of DDSP and 70 a presumptive diagnosis. Treated horses were equally likely to race post operatively as controls in the equivalent race. Treated horses had significantly lower earnings in the race before surgery than matched controls. The procedure moved the basihyoid bone dorsally and caudally and the larynx dorsally and rostrally. A more dorsal post operative basihyoid position and more dorsal and less rostral laryngeal position were associated with an increased probability of racing post operatively.

CONCLUSIONS
Horses undergoing a LTFP are as likely to race post operatively as matched controls. The procedure restores race earnings to preoperative baseline levels and to those of matched controls.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE
This study provides strong evidence supporting the use of the LTFP in racehorses. Further work is needed to determine the relationship between laryngohyoid conformation and nasopharyngeal stability in horses.


Cold spraying is well known as an attractive coating process that prevents degradation of materials, such as oxidation, decomposition and undesirable reaction due to overheating. High velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying has been recognized as the most popular technique in particular to produce tungsten carbide (WC) cermet coatings in industrial fields. However, the degradation of WC cermet occurs using HVOF that is quite different from sintered hard metal, which can be defined as an ideal material. Thus, low temperature processes, such as cold and warm spraying, are actively researched to achieve WC cermet coatings, similar to sintered one. In this study, influence of gas conditions in cold spraying on WC cermet coatings has been investigated, where WC-Co, WC-CrC-Ni and WC-Fe alloy are selected. The study reveals that nitrogen gas is effective to form thick, dense and hard coatings of WC-CrC-Ni and WC-Fe alloy compared to helium gas. This suggests optimal temperature and velocity of powder jet has been formed when using nitrogen gas.


We report ultrafast third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of several chalcogenide glasses GeSx (x = 1.8, 2.0, 2.5) measured by femtosecond time-resolved optical Kerr gate technique at 820 nm. The third-order nonlinear susceptibility of GeS1.8 glass is determined to be as large as 1.41×10−12 esu, which is the maximum value of the third order nonlinear susceptibility χ(3) for the three compositions investigated. The symmetric Gauss profiles of optical Kerr signals reveal the nature of ultrafast nonlinear response of these samples, which are originated from the ultrafast polarization of the electron clouds. By detailed microstructural analysis of these glasses based on the chain-crossing model (CCM) and the random-covalent-network model (RCNM), it can be concluded that χ(3) value of GeSx glasses can be enhanced greatly by S–S covalent bonds or S3Ge–GeS3 ethane-like units.


A novel actinomycete, strain ST1-08T, was isolated from the stem of Stemona sp. in Thailand. The taxonomic position of this isolate was determined by using a polyphasic approach. Strain ST1-08T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan, and arabinose and galactose as diagnostic sugars of the whole-cell hydrolysate, which are typical properties of members of the genus Amycolatopsis. Strain ST1-08T grew at 15-40 °C, pH 6-9 and on 5 % (w/v) NaCl. Gelatin liquefaction, starch hydrolysis and skimmed milk peptonization were positive. The strain utilized l-arabinose, d-glucose, glycerol, myo-inositol, d-mannitol and l-rhamnose. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9(H4) and the major cellular fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0.The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, hydroxyl-phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylglycerol. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the strain was closely related to Amycolatopsis pretoriensis JCM 12673T (98.99 %) and Amycolatopsis lexingtonensis JCM 12672T (98.87 %). The DNA G+C content of strain ST1-08T was 71.2 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness values among strain ST1-08T, A. pretoriensis JCM 12673T and A. lexingtonensis JCM 12672T were lower than 70 %, the cut-off level for assigning strains to the same species. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain ST1-08T represents a novel species of the genus Amycolatopsis, for which the name Amycolatopsis stemonae is proposed. The type strain is ST1-08T( = JCM 30050T = PCU 339T = TISTR 2278T).


A method to evaluate the physical realizability of an arbitrary three-dimensional vectorial field distribution in the focal area is proposed. A parameter that measures the similarity between the designed (target) field and the physically achievable beam is provided. This analysis is carried out within the framework of the closest electromagnetic field to a given vectorial function, and the procedure is applied to two illustrative cases.


ABSTRACT On the margins of Zimbabwe's expanding capital Harare, the ruling ZANU–PF party promotes a view of access to urban land, housing and security as 'gift', conditional on demonstrations of party loyalty. This article discusses contestation over this form of partisan citizenship, making the following broader arguments. First, it argues that the notion of partisan citizenship draws attention to the role of party political affiliation as a source of differential entitlements in illiberal democracies, countering a tendency to emphasise ethno-regional, racialized or religious communal identities as the primary sources of graduated citizenship in Africa. Second, it casts clientelist subjection as a contextual and contentious domain of ideas and action, rather than presenting it as cultural persistence or reducing it solely to material bargaining. Third, the article uses the Zimbabwean case to caution against a tendency within debates over southern urbanism to celebrate land occupations and informal construction as political resistance and route to full citizenship. In these ways, the article offers partisan citizenship as a means of taking forward debates over re-configurations of citizenship in Africa's illiberal democracies and the politics of precarious peripheries in the urbanising global South more broadly.


Relationships between morphological features of human skeletal nasal protrusion, latitude, and climate were investigated. Craniofacial dimensions and indices determined by Woo and Morant (1934) on a world sample of 55 skeletal populations were used as dependent variables. Sample sizes were as low as 39 in some calculations because either skeletal or geographic data were missing. Thirteen climatically related averaged variables, for each population's provenience, were the independent variables. Multivariate techniques of bivariate correlation, multiple regression, and partial correlation were applied. A strong, Statistically significant cline of increasing nose protrusion, with decreasing absolute humidity and with increasing latitude, was found. Cold climatic variables appeared to be of greater importance than warm measures. Similarly, absolute humidity was found to be a much better predictor of nose protrusion than was relative humidity.


The overwhelming majority of cutaneous neoplasms with melanocytic differentiation are nevi, melanomas, or less commonly melanocytomas. Nevertheless, there is also a group of mesenchymal neoplasms with genuine melanocytic differentiation which can create diagnostic difficulties with significant repercussions. These can rarely present as primary or metastatic cutaneous lesions. The ones that are relevant to a dermatopathologist include malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumor, perivascular epithelioid cell neoplasm, and clear cell sarcoma. This work will provide a thorough review of clinical presentation, morphologic and immunohistochemical features as well as molecular pathogenesis of these tumors. We hope to familiarize the general dermatopathology readership with a group of neoplasms of mesenchymal lineage exhibiting melanocytic differentiation and ultimately avoid diagnostic misadventures.


Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) the mathematician, physicist, and theologian, is often considered as an example of classical French prose. Pascal's primary scientific contribution was the principle of hydrostatics, known as Pascal's Law. Furthermore, he is also regarded as one of the most important French philosophers, principally due to his publication: "Pensées". There is documentation affirming that Pascal suffered from visual migraines with recurring headaches, episodes of blindness in half of his visual field, zigzag, fortification spectra, and other visual hallucinations. It has been hypothesised that these migraine aura experiences acted as a source of inspiration for Pascal's philosophical reflections. Pascal's sudden religious conversion, probably the most decisive moment in Pascal's personal life, during the night of the 23rd to 24th of November 1654, was accompanied by a lighted vision which he interpreted as fire convincing him of God's "reality and presence". This experience may have been triggered by the effects of a migraine aura attack. This spiritual epiphany led him to dedicate the rest of his life to religious and philosophical interests.


On 1 April 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence was 20 years old. This is an anniversary worth noting, if for no other reason than how remarkable it is for a National Health Service quango (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation) to be still standing two decades after its inception. There are more reasons for marking and celebrating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's 20-year run. In the intervening years, the Institute has done much to advance the health of the UK population. It has achieved an international reputation for robust and fair healthcare prioritisation that is widely viewed as setting the global standard. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence built this reputation not only through the rigorous development and application of scientific methods to guide its work but also through its efforts to articulate the underpinning social and ethical values that provide its decisions with robust justification. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's reputation also rests on its commitment to transparency, accountability and inclusiveness in facilitating public and patient input in its deliberations.


Obesity again has become the center of attention due to its growing incidence experienced in the last decade and its strong coherence to cardiovascular diseases. Especially abdominal obesity together with dyslipidemia featuring hypertonia, hyperglycemia, high level of triglycerides, and low level of HDL3 cholesterol accounts for cardiovascular risks. The independent and comprehensive term metabolic  syndrome is used for their frequent collective occurrence and combination. In the past years, the term cardiometabolic risk was created by considering other cardiovascular factors besides the components of the syndrome. Increase in the number of the obese was observed in military organizations world- wide, too. Parallel to obesity, there is a growing number of both professional and contracted servicemen in the Hungarian Defence Force exposed to the increased danger of cardiometabolic disease according to the  metabolic syndrome criteria's. The efficient reduction of cardiometabolic risk is possible with appropriate prevention strategies. The  population's primary and secondary prevention starts in primary care with the involvement of family doctors, but it is also a fundamental responsibility in the military healthcare system in order to preserve a force fit to fight.


The mitochondrial chaperones heat shock protein 10 (HSP10) and 60 enable proper protein folding and thereby facilitate mitochondrial function. Previously, we demonstrated a reduction of hypothalamic Hsp60 gene expression in type 2 diabetic mice and patients which caused mitochondrial dysfunction and central insulin resistance. Mitochondrial HSP10 is also reduced in brains of db/db mice. However, the effects of reduced HSP10 expression in brain on metabolism and insulin sensitivity are unknown. Thus, we generated a shRNA-mediated knockdown (KD) of Hsp10 in the hypothalamic murine cell line Clu183 and investigated cellular stress responses, mitochondrial function and insulin signaling. 50% KD of HSP10 in vitro causes impaired mitochondrial dynamics and reduced mitochondrial count, but increases mitochondria-endoplasmatic reticulum (ER) contact sites. These cells exhibit reduced mitochondrial respiration and mild oxidative stress represented by a 35% decrease of protein amount of SOD2 along with about 20% decreased protein amounts of subunits of the electron transport chain complexes IV and II. Notably, HSP10 KD induces ER stress shown by the increased gene expression of Chop and increased phosphorylation of IRE1(S724). Most importantly, KD of HSP10 induces acute insulin resistance shown by reduced phosphorylation of IRS-1(Y612) and AKT/PKB(S473) after 5 min of 10 nM insulin stimulation. Preliminary data of a lentiviral-mediated KD approach of Hsp10 in the mediobasal hypothalamus in C57BL/6N mice revealed an unexpected 11% reduction in liver weight partly due to reduced hepatic glycogen content compared to control mice. Consistently, hepatic gene expression of Pepck, which is suppressed by insulin, was increased in Hsp10 KD mice by 60%. In conclusion, we identified an unexpected role of Hsp10 in regulating hypothalamic mitochondrial function, insulin sensitivity and liver function. Thus, hypothalamic Hsp10 may present a novel regulator of the brain-liver crosstalk. Disclosure K. Wardelmann: None. J. Castro: None. M. Rath: None. J. Weis: None. A. Schuermann: None. A. Kleinridders: None.


The majority of artificial intelligence research, as it relates from which to biological senses has been focused on vision. The recent explosion of machine learning and in particular, deep learning, can be partially attributed to the release of high quality data sets for algorithms from which to model the world on. Thus, most of these datasets are comprised of images. We believe that focusing on sensorimotor systems and tactile feedback will create algorithms that better mimic human intelligence. Here we present SenseNet: a collection of tactile simulators and a large scale dataset of 3D objects for manipulation. SenseNet was created for the purpose of researching and training Artificial Intelligences (AIs) to interact with the environment via sensorimotor neural systems and tactile feedback. We aim to accelerate that same explosion in image processing, but for the domain of tactile feedback and sensorimotor research. We hope that SenseNet can offer researchers in both the machine learning and computational neuroscience communities brand new opportunities and avenues to explore.


The pineal hormone melatonin (MLT) is a derivative of the amino acid L -tryptophan and controls the circadian diurnal rhythm and the seasonal bio-rhythm. Exogenous administration is aimed at alleviating sleep-related dysfunctions and jet lag, as it decreases sleep-onset latency, increases total sleep time and improves overall sleep quality. Besides these indications, MLT has been shown to have other actions, such as antioxidant, immune enhancement and anticancer. It has also been shown to be useful against cardiovascular, neurological and psychi-atric diseases. In the context of this work, a review of the related literature on the modified release of MLT from its per os administered formulations is presented, including the utilization of the design of experiments (DoE) for the selection of the optimal composition of melatonin formulations. The chapter offers an account of the recent advantages on MLT's solid dosage forms suitable for treating sleep disorders, referring either to its onset or maintenance.


The present paper describes a double coil-delivered microcatheter technique used in combination with a balloon-assisted technique to treat a patient with a large, wide-necked basilar tip aneurysm with detachable coil treatment. The aneurysm was completely occluded using this technique. There was no recanalization or any neurological deterioration within 12 months of embolization.


Advances in the performance of electronic devices have resulted in high input/output counts both at the chip and the package level, which has led to the development of new packaging technologies that can accommodate these high counts. This paper presents and analyzes a novel method for the placement of ball grid array (BGA) bonding pads and routing wires on printed circuit boards to maximize signal density, which ultimately reduces the number of circuit board layers needed for routing. This method has been termed as the "balls shifted as needed" method and all the ball placement/trace routing designs shown in this paper are based on this method. We also present a performance metric defined as the number of balls routed out divided by the area of package footprint on the circuit board, and we compare various placement/routing schemes using this method.


The popularity of nanotechnology-based sensing technologies has rapidly expanded within the past decade. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is one such technique capable of chemically specific and highly sensitive measurements. The careful preparation of SERS-active nanoprobes is immensely vital for biological applications where nanoprobes are exposed to harsh ionic and protein rich microenvironments. Encapsulation of optical reporter molecules via layer-by-layer (LbL) polyelectrolyte wrapping is an emerging technique that also permits facile modification of surface chemistry and charge. LbL wrapping can be performed within a few hours and does not require the use of organic solvents or hazardous silanes. Nonetheless, the stability of its products requires further characterization and analysis. In this study, Raman-active methylene blue molecules were electrostatically encapsulated within alternating layers of cationic and anionic polyelectrolytes surrounding gold nanospheres. We observed molecular diffusion of methylene blue through polyelectrolyte layers by monitoring the change in SERS intensity over a period of more than 5 weeks. To minimize diffusion and improve the long-term storage stability of our nanoprobes, two additional nanoprobe preparation techniques were performed: thiol coating and cross-linking of the outer polyelectrolyte layer. In both cases, molecular diffusion is significantly diminished.


Advanced nuclear reactors use large pool of water inventory with an immersed heat exchanger to remove decay heat especially in the case of Station Black Out (SBO). The isolation condenser (IC) immersed in Gravity Driven Water Pool (GDWP) of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is an example of such systems. Heat rejected by the IC is absorbed in the pool. As a result, water density decreases and moves towards the free surface of pool causing layers of hot water piling up over colder one giving rise to stratified water inventory. consequently, the pool at the free surface starts boiling before the grace period (7 days). In the present paper, thermal stratification has been modeled in a power to volume scaled experimental setup. The study is focused on investigating the effect of heater orientation on suppression of thermal stratification in the pool for both the cases of with and without shrouds around heat exchanger.


This paper proposes a plant growth-based optimization approach for capacitor placement in power systems. The method characterizes the growth mechanism of a plant phototropism, where a larger morphactin concentration of a node indicates a higher probability of new branch growth. The growth of a plant phototropism is mimicked in a function optimization process that is useful for capacitor placement. Through this capacitor allocation, the line loss and carbon dioxide emissions of the grid can be both reduced. The proposed method is validated using example grids and a part of the Taipower Company system. Test results confirm the feasibility of the method.


We present and analyse microwave dielectric response data under magnetic field in the Peierls ordered state of the quasi-one-dimensional two-chain organic conductor (Per)2[Pt(S2C2(CN)2)2]. The data are shown to provide a unique opportunity to extract the full-temperature profile of the Peierls gap under field. Quantitative agreement with the fluctuation-free mean-field theory is found.


The chemical nature of 25 distinct carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) epitopes, which were recognized by 57 different monoclonal antibodies and categorized into 7 groups (Groups A to G) in terms of domain structure of the CEA molecule, was analyzed and the findings obtained were compared with the results of our previous studies using recombinant CEA proteins. All 21 epitopes of Groups A to F defined by 48 MAbs were resistant to periodate oxidation and were to a greater or lesser extent retained after deglycosylation of CEA, indicating that they are all protein in nature. The 21 epitopes were detected in recombinant CEA proteins expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Seven of the 21 epitopes of protein nature were partially or completely sensitive to reduction and alkylation of CEA and not detected or only slightly revealed in the recombinant CEA proteins expressed in E. coli, indicating that those epitopes are dependent on the tertiary structure of the peptide chain, which is formed by disulfide bonds. All 4 epitopes of Group G defined by 9 MAbs were sensitive to mild periodate oxidation and deglycosylation, but resistant to reduction and alkylation and to digestion with pepsin or pronase, indicating that those 4 epitopes are carbohydrate in nature. Although none of the 4 epitopes of Group G were detected in the recombinant CEA proteins expressed in E. coli, two were detected in those expressed in CHO cells. The biochemical studies reported here thus provide information as to the nature of the epitopes on the CEA molecule and help form the basis for selecting the anti-CEA MAbs for use in biological study and potential clinical applications of CEA.


Teacher–student relationships are an important part of students' interpersonal context at school that impacts their academic development. This study extended prior research into teacher–student relationships by exploring the relative balance of negative and positive teacher–student relationships in high school students' academic lives (in each of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography subjects). Also examined was the role of this relational balance in predicting students' school engagement (operationalized by academic participation, enjoyment, and aspirations). The study involved a longitudinal sample of 2,079 students from 18 high schools. Findings identified a significant linear (main) effect, with an increase in the number of positive relationships (relative to negative relationships) with teachers predicting greater school engagement. This was accompanied by a significant curvilinear effect. Specifically, (a) when the relational balance became predominantly negative, students' engagement was lower, but did not decline with an increasing number of negative teacher–student relationships, and (b) when the relational balance became predominantly positive, students' engagement was higher and became increasingly more so as the number of positive teacher–student relationships outnumbered the negative. We conclude that the enhancing properties of positive teacher–student relationships seem to outweigh the limiting (or narrowing) properties of negative teacher–student relationships. Further, there is cumulative engagement yield through increasing the number of positive teacher–student relationships across students' school subjects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


Netrins are a family of extracellular proteins that function as chemotropic guidance cues for migrating cells and axons during neural development. In visual system development, Netrin-1 has been shown to play a key role in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon growth and synaptogenesis where presynaptic RGC axons form partnerships with the dendrites of tectal neurons. However, the signals that guide the dendrites of tectal neurons and facilitate connections between these postsynaptic cells and RGC axons are yet unknown. This work in collaboration with other lab members has explored the dynamic cellular mechanisms by which netrin-1 influences visual circuit formation, particularly those that impact postsynaptic neuronal morphology, connectivity, and function during retinotectal wiring. Immunohistochemistry reveals that netrin-1 and its receptors DCC and UNC5 are expressed in the optic tectum at the developmental stage when circuit formation occurs. Time-lapse in vivo imaging of individual Xenopus laevis optic tectal neurons co-expressing tdTomato and PSD95-GFP revealed rapid remodeling and reorganization of dendritic arbors following acute manipulations in netrin-1 levels. Within four hours of treatment, tectal injection of recombinant netrin-1 or sequestration of endogenous netrin with an UNC-5 receptor ectodomain induced significant changes in the directionality and orientation of dendrite growth and in the maintenance of already established dendrites away from the tectal neuropil, demonstrating that relative levels of netrin are important for these functions. In contrast, altering DCC-mediated netrin signaling with function blocking antibodies induced postsynaptic specialization remodeling and changed growth directionality by turning stable dendrites. Reducing netrin signaling also decreased avoidance behavior in a visually guided task, suggesting that netrin is essential for emergent visual system function. In vivo 2 Photon imaging examining the cell autonomous effects of translation blocking morpholino oligonucleotides to netrin receptors UNC5 and DCC in single cell electroporated neurons revealed altered neuronal morphologies, decreases in branch length and number, and changes to the directionality of treated dendritic arbors. Together the findings in the following chapters suggest netrin mediated DCC and UNC5 signaling play a critical role in the normal development of vertebrate central neuron dendritic arbors during the establishment of the functional visual system.


After the Bali bombing on 12 October 2002, once the survivors had been treated or evacuated, many dead, severely burned and fragmented bodies were left. Formal identification was required before any remains could be released to grieving families. Australia sent a team to assist the Indonesians in this daunting and disturbing task. The "disaster victim identification" process eventually confirmed 202 people as dead, including 88 Australians. Personal and professional relationships between the Indonesians and our team were important factors in our acceptance into the Indonesian emergency response.


Owing to their energy level splitting in the meV range, large graphene quantum dots (size ~100 nm) are very attractive candidates for THz technology. Whereas their electronic properties have been widely studied by transport measurements, only very few works have been focused on their interaction with THz radiation. Here, we report a theoretical and experimental investigation of the optical properties at THz frequencies of large graphene quantum dots. Using a tight-binding modeling, we show the existence of spatially extended mixed-states that should couple efficiently to THz photons. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate THz optical absorption of an array of circular 75 nm-diameter graphene quantum dots at 4K and 300K.


&NA; The failing kidneys of critically ill patients and their ability to recover are profoundly influenced by the kind of renal replacement therapy provided. Much evidence suggests that intermittent hemodialysis and the hemodynamic changes associated with it are injurious to the failing (and recovering) kidneys, whereas this is not the case for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). In addition, the use of CRRT allows the physician to intervene much earlier in the course of renal failure and thereby prevent major physiological derangements from taking place. Such derangements are likely to adversely affect renal recovery. The ability to safely prevent, rather than merely treat, derangements of homeostasis has redefined the criteria for initiating dialytic therapy in the intensive care unit. Furthermore, the superiority of CRRT can be demonstrated at all levels of physiological control, confirming that adequacy of dialysis can be approximated by CRRT but not by intermittent hemodialysis. Finally, CRRT circuits can be modified and technology altered to increase the depth of blood purification. New developments in this area directed at a broad anti‐inflammatory effect as well as the provision of CRRT show promise and are being tested in pilot human studies.


Paintings have high cultural and commercial value, so that needs to be preserved. Many techniques have been attempted to analyze properties of paintings, including X-ray analysis and optical coherence tomography (OCT) methods, and enable conservation of paintings from forgeries. In this paper, we suggest a simple and accurate optical analysis system to protect them from counterfeit which is comprised of fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) and line laser-based topographic analysis. The system is designed to fully cover the whole area of paintings regardless of its size for the accurate analysis. For additional assessments, a line laser-based high resolved OCT was utilized. Some forgeries were created by the experts from the three different styles of genuine paintings for the experiments. After measuring surface properties of paintings, we could observe the results from the genuine works and the forgeries have the distinctive characteristics. The forgeries could be distinguished maximally 76.5% with obtained RGB spectra by FORS and 100% by topographic analysis. Through the several executions, the reliability of the system was confirmed. We could verify that the measurement system is worthwhile for the conservation of the valuable paintings. To store the surface information of the paintings in micron scale, we created a numerical database. Consequently, we secured the databases of three different famous Korean paintings for accurate authenticity.


Image reconstruction from projections is a key problem in medical image analysis. In this paper, we cast image reconstruction from projections as a multi-objective problem. It is essential to choose some proper objective functions of the problem. We choose the square error, smoothness of the reconstructed image, and the maximum entropy as our objective functions of the problem. Then we introduce a hybrid algorithm comprising of multi-objective genetic and local search algorithms to reconstruct the image. Our algorithm has remarkable global performance. Our experiments show that we can get different results when we give different weights to different objective functions. We can also control the noise by giving different weights on different objective function. At the same time, we can adjust the parameter to let it have good local performance. Though the computation demands of the hybrid algorithm tends to be larger because of the random search of the GA, it is really a common feature of the global optimization method. Our results show that the hybrid algorithm is a more effective than the conventional method. We think our method is very promising for the medical imaging field.


The phase transitions in unpoled lead-free (1−x)(Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3–xBaTiO3 (x = 0.06 and 0.11) ceramics are investigated using hot-stage transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is found that large ferroelectric domains in both ceramics start to disappear around Td, the depolarization temperature. After the transition, both compositions exhibit the P4bm tetragonal symmetry in the form of nanodomains. The structural transition observed by the in situTEM experiments seems to be gradual and occurs within a temperature range of several tens of degrees, in contrast to the sharp anomaly at Td revealed by the dielectric characterization. With further increasing temperature, no structural change was observed for both compositions across TRE, where the dielectric frequency dispersion vanishes, and Tm, where the dielectric permittivity reaches maximum. The tetragonal-to-cubic transition is diffuse and takes place in a broad temperature window well above both TRE and Tm. These results of structural phase transitions are summarized in a phase diagram with its composition range covering the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB).


A medium-access protocol called time-slot switching (TSS) is proposed for use in optical-fiber local area networks. This protocol incorporates features of time division, space division, and time compression for users to share a common medium. Very-large-integration (VLSI) CMOS electric crosspoints are used to switch traffic within individual time slots. With these features, data, voice, and video services can all be combined in a single network. In addition, the speed of the electronics can be maximized to match the available optical bandwidth. Operational principles of the TSS protocol are explained. A performance analysis is presented to show the tradeoffs among traffic capacity, frame guard time, blocking probability, and the results show that TSS is more attractive than broadcast protocols for voice traffic or constant-rate data traffic. An approach to integrating voice, data, and video traffic within TSS is also described. >


Interpretation of radiolucent foreign bodies (FBs) is a common task charged to pediatric radiologists. The use of a motion compensated technique to decrease breathing motion on images would greatly decrease overall exposure to ionizing radiation and increase access to treatment yielding a great impact on clinical care. This study reports on the methodology and materials used to construct an in-house anthropomorphic phantom for investigating image quality in digital tomosynthesis protocols for volumetric imaging of the pediatric airway. Availability and cost of possible substitute materials were considered and simplifying assumptions were made. Two different modular phantoms were assembled in coronal slab layers using materials designed to approximate a one- and three-year-old thorax at diagnostic photon energies for use with digital tomosynthesis protocols such as those offered on GE's VolumeRAD application. Exposures were made using both phantoms with inserted food particles inside an oscillating airway. The goal of the phantom is to help evaluate (1) whether the currently used protocol is sufficient to image the airway despite breathing motion and (2) whether it is not, to find the optimal protocol by testing various commercially available protocols using this phantom. The affordable construction of the pediatric sized phantom aimed at optimizing GE's VolumeRAD protocol for airway foreign body imaging is demonstrated in this study which can be used to test VolumeRAD's ability to image the airways with and without a low-density foreign body within the airways.


BACKGROUND The Condensin II complex9s known function is in chromosomal segregation and assembly. Leiserson et al. demonstrated that Condensin II was enriched for mutations in a pan-cancer sweep, particularly lung cancer; one gene, NCAPH2, had a notable mutation cluster. Venet et al. created metaPCNA, a robust proliferation-based gene expression (GE) signature from 36 tissues, which includes 4 Condensin genes. This suggests that Condensin II expression is correlated with proliferation. We hypothesize that Condensin II influences cancer proliferation in two ways, and demonstrate evidence for the first: 1) rare stabilizing subunit mutations or 2) pairing of high Condensin II expression with a driver mutation that affects pathways controlling Condensin II activity. METHODS Using the TCGA lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) gene expression dataset (n=571), we calculated the Condensin II index (mean expression of 5 genes) and the metaPCNA index (median expression of 131 genes). Pearson correlation between indices was calculated to assess information overlap between gene signatures. For outcome assessments, scores were split into tertile labels (high, middle, low). Linear-by-linear testing was assessed for score agreement. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of the top 2,500 most variant genes with samples labeled by index tertile inclusion was completed for both indices. After noting the similarity between indices, we tested Condensin II as a driver of proliferation by running overexpression assays using the rate limiting subunit of the complex, NCAPH2. Plasmids with NCAPH2, both wildtype and engineered to have the R551P mutation identified by Leiserson, were transfected into RPE1 cells, a telomere elongation immortalized cell line with a 'normal9 proliferation profile. We had 3 conditions 1) myc-tagged control, 2) wild-type NCAPH2, and 3) R551P mutated NCAPH2, utilizing Incucyte imaging for 3 days after a 1-day rest to assess the proliferation of cells. RESULTS The Condensin II index and metaPCNA index were strongly associated (correlation = 0.85). Cluster analysis by either the metaPCNA or Condensin II index demonstrated that the lowest tertile tends to separate from the middle and highest tertile. Samples had a high overlap of tertile labels between the 2 indices (n labels matched =406, n not matched = 165, z= 18.57, p= A 72-hour time course of the 3 transfected cell lines demonstrated that overexpression of R551P mutated NCAPH2was associated with an increase in proliferation, while wild-type NCAPH2did not differ significantly from the myc-tagged control. CONCLUSIONS Condensin II index is a simple, 5-gene signature strongly associated with a known proliferation signature and tumor expression patterns. A potentially stabilizing mutation to NCAPH2, R551P, increases proliferation potential in cell line experimentation, but overexpression of wild-type NCAPH2does not. Condensin II may be a driver of cancer proliferation. Citation Format: Ellen L. Nutter, Emily S. Weyburne, Jeffrey Thompson, Jennifer A. Doherty, Giovanni Bosco. Condensin II complex as a potential driver of cancer proliferation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4310.


This paper considers the effect of web slip over the rollers on the span tension dynamics. In classical development of the web span tension dynamics, it is assumed that there is strict adhesion between the web and the surface of the roller and thus, there is no slip-page between the web and the roller. As a result of this assumption, effect of tension disturbances in downstream spans on the upstream span tension is precluded. However, in practice, perfect adhesion between the web and roller surface is seldom achieved and tension disturbances propagate upstream also. Though web span tension dynamic models that include slippage between web and roller are proposed, these models rely to a great extent on numerical computation of slip arc angles and are prohibitively complex to be of practical use. This paper proposes an alternative, simple approach for developing web span tension dynamics to include the effect of web slip.© 2005 ASME


All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a natural ligand for the retinoic acid receptors (RARs), induces clinical remission in most acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients through the induction of differentiation and/or eradication of leukemia-initiating cells. Here, we identify a novel natural ent-kaurene diterpenoid derived from Isodon pharicus leaves, called pharicin B, that can rapidly stabilize RAR-α protein in various acute myeloid leukemic (AML) cell lines and primary leukemic cells from AML patients, even in the presence of ATRA, which is known to induce the loss of RAR-α protein. Pharicin B also enhances ATRA-dependent the transcriptional activity of RAR-α protein in the promyelocytic leukemia-RARα-positive APL cell line NB4 cells. We also showed that pharicin B presents a synergistic or additive differentiation-enhancing effect when used in combination with ATRA in several AML cell lines and, especially, some primary leukemic cells from APL patients. In addition, pharicin B can overcome retinoid resistance in 2 of 3 NB4-derived ATRA-resistant subclones. These findings provide a good example for chemical biology-based investigations of pathophysiological and therapeutic significances of RAR-α and PML-RAR-α proteins. The effectiveness of the ATRA/pharicin B combination warrants further investigation on their use as a therapeutic strategy for AML patients.


Background— Eplerenone is known to reduce time to first hospitalization for heart failure or cardiovascular death in patients with heart failure and mild symptoms. In chronic diseases such as heart failure, characterized by repeat hospitalizations, analyzing all heart failure hospitalizations, not just the first, should give a more complete picture of treatment benefits. Methods and Results— The Eplerenone in Mild Patients Hospitalization and SurvIval Study in Heart Failure (EMPHASIS-HF) trial compared eplerenone with placebo in 2737 patients with mild heart failure, followed for a median 2.08 years (interquartile range, 1.08–3.10 years). Data were collected on all hospitalizations, with a focus on those due to heart failure. Heart failure hospitalization rates in the eplerenone and placebo groups were 10.70 and 16.99 per 100 patient-years, respectively. Allowing for skewness in the frequency of hospitalizations by using the negative binomial generalized linear model, the rate ratio (eplerenone versus placebo) was 0.53 (95% confidence interval, 0.42–0.66; P<0.0001). A plot of cumulative hospitalization rates over time revealed that most of the reduced risk on eplerenone occurred in the first year of follow-up. Several baseline variables strongly predicted the risk of hospitalization. More complex statistical methods, adjusting for mortality (as informative censoring), made a negligible difference in these findings. Conclusions— Eplerenone markedly reduces the risk of heart failure hospitalizations in patients with heart failure and mild symptoms to a greater extent than is captured by only studying the time to first hospitalization. Future clinical trials in heart failure would gain from incorporating repeat hospitalizations into their primary evaluation of treatment effects. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00232180.


Wheeze and shortness of breath are a common reason for admission to hospital but the cause of which is not always immediately apparent. We present a case of a patient with respiratory distress, wheeze and chest tightness on a background of well controlled asthma and androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. The patient was provisionally treated as an asthma exacerbation but point of care ultrasound (POCUS) performed soon after admission revealed severe LV impairment and 'wet lungs' in keeping with acute decompensated heart failure. The case highlights the importance of POCUS to differentiate between different causes of wheeze in the acute setting and we discuss the diagnostic approach to the patient with suspected heart failure.


In this paper we discuss energy storage requirements for EUSALP region in Europe. EUSALP is an Alpine region that includes the entirety Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and Lichtenstein, as well as parts of France, Germany, and Italy. A model is presented that facilitates the estimation of the required technical amounts of energy storage and installed power of pumped storage hydropower plants. The aim of the model is to estimate the requirements of energy storage to assist in setting guidelines for stable and reliable future electric energy supply in the EUSALP region. The model is based on currently known patterns of energy consumption and generation and available information on the future increase of renewable electric generation capacity, energy consumption, and the introduction of electromobility within all EUSALP regions. The hourly balance of generation, demand, and storage within a selected future year is assumed. The results are presented such that a mix of scenarios is addressed. Among them are installed generation capacity, installed pumped hydro storage power, selection of photovoltaic and wind electric energy generation ratio, the charging of a selected percentage of electric cars, flexible run-of-river hydro electric energy generation, import/export, generation by nuclear and backup fossil fuel sources, and a selection of disturbances. Results show that energy storage capacities must be increased by a large margin regardless of the choice of demand site management strategies or flexible electric car charging. Around a requisite 10-fold increase in pumped storage hydropower capacity is estimated, while the estimated increase in required energy storage is even higher. Daily and seasonal variations are also discussed. Further, the amount of surplus electric energy generation is presented and discussed.


A frequency/voltage conversion circuit for alternating current electrogravimetric measurements based on quartz crystal microbalance oscillators is proposed. This circuit improves the sensitivity and the bandwidth of the conversion systems proposed until now. Static and dynamic calibration results of the circuit are reported. These results prove its reliability for alternating current-electrogravimetric measurements and will allow the development of new applications in various electrochemical fields.


The atomic force microscope (AFM) [1] is a mechanical microscope capable of producing three-dimensional images of a wide variety of sample surfaces with nanometer precision in air, vacuum, or liquid environments. This article provides an overview of the AFM and its three main modes of operation, with a focus on the tapping mode of operation. The challenges associated with obtaining high-speed images with a tapping-mode AFM while minimizing image artifacts are outlined and control techniques that have been developed to overcome these challenges are reviewed.


Photosynthesis is a technique for converting light energy into chemical energy that is both efficient and sustainable. Chlorophyll in energy-transducing photosynthetic organisms is unique because of their distinctive structure and composition. In photobioelectrochemical research, the chlorophyll's quantum trapping efficiency is attractive. Chlorophyll from Spirulina platensis is demonstrated to communicate directly with TiO2-modified Indium Thin Oxide (ITO) to generate electricity without the use of any mediator. TiO2-modified ITO with a chlorophyll concentration of 100 % generated the greatest power density and photocurrent of approximately 178.15 mW/m2 and 596.92 mA/m2 from water oxidation under light among all the other materials. While the sensitivity with light was 0.885 mA/m2.lux, and Jmax value was 1085 mA/m2. Furthermore, the power and photocurrent density as a function of chlorophyll content are studied. The polarizability and Van der Waals interaction of TiO2 and chlorophyll are crucial in enhancing electron transport in photo-bioelectrochemical systems. As a result, this anode structure has the potential to be improved and used to generate even more energy.


Abstract In this work, an investigation was performed to assess the feasibility of passive gamma-ray spectrometry using adaptive digital pulse processing for online interrogation of pebble bed reactor (PBR) fuel. This work incorporates the physics of the radiation emission phenomenon with advanced pulse processing techniques to develop a high-resolution gamma-spectrometry system capable of handling ultrahigh count rates in various applications of nuclear science and technology. Computational modeling was used to simulate the irradiation of PBR fuel and to design the adaptive digital pulse processing–based gamma-ray spectrometry system. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to study the gamma-ray spectra of the PBR fuel and to perform coupled photon-electron transport analysis to calculate the pulse-height spectrum of PBR fuel. A Monte Carlo computer routine was used to predict the effect of pulse pileup at high-count-rate conditions. This code utilizes the random interval distribution function based on Poisson statistics to simulate the pileup behavior. Combined with pileup logic, a recursive trapezoid filter with adaptive shaping parameters was implemented to simulate the pileup behavior of a digital gamma-ray spectrometry system. The adaptive shaping algorithm selects the rise time of the trapezoid shaping filter based on the separation between the input pulses for each incoming signal. The simulation results using the proposed adaptive digital pulse processing demonstrated that with the improved energy resolution, the burnup information can be more accurately determined on a pebble-by-pebble basis as compared to fixed shaping, and tasks related to in-core fuel management, safeguards, and waste management become feasible to perform efficiently and accurately.


Metabolism of macrophage (MO) membrane phospholipids produces key mediators of inflammation and major second messengers that modulate inflammatory responses during sepsis. Sphingomyelin is a major class of phospholipid that releases ceramide and sphingosine. This study was designed to investigate the involvement of sphingomyelin metabolites in MO activation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Rabbit alveolar MO were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage and exposed to C6-ceramide, a cell-permeable analogue of natural ceramide, or sphingosine in the presence of Escherichia coli LPS (100 ng/mL). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) mRNA expression was measured by Northern blot assays. Total nuclear extract was harvested for the measurement of nuclear factor KB (NFkappaB) with electrophoretic mobility shift assays. MO TNF production was measured by L929 bioassays. C-6 ceramide did not have any effects on MO TNF production or TNF mRNA expression with or without LPS stimulation. Inhibition of ceramide metabolism with 1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (PDMP), or N-oleoyl-ethanolamine (NOE) also did not induce TNF mRNA or TNF production. In comparison, sphingosine inhibited TNF mRNA expression as well as TNF production of LPS-stimulated MO. LPS-induced MO NFkappaB activity was also reduced by sphingosine. Our data indicate that ceramide alone has no effect on macrophage activity, but its metabolite sphingosine down-regulates MO activation induced by LPS stimulation. Therefore, the sphingomyelin pathway is involved in the regulation of MO activation.


Natalizumab, a highly effective disease modifying drug used in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), is associated with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a fatal intracerebral demyelinating disease caused by the JC virus that can be worsened with concurrent use of steorids. Stopping natalizumab in the context of PML can cause immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) that can be treated with steroids. IRIS can be indistinguishable from PML on MRI - thus causing a clinical conundrum. We describe a woman with RRMS on Natalizumab who developed dysarthria and right-sided hemiparesis. MRI demonstrated non-enhancing peridentate white matter signal abnormality in the right middle cerebellar peduncle (RMCP). Cerebrospinal fluid JC virus DNA was >1 million copies/ml. PML was diagnosed and Natalizumab withdrawn. Four weeks later she developed bulbar weakness and left-sided hemiparesis despite falling JC virus DNA. Repeat MRI demonstrated new extensive pontine changes consistent with PML-IRIS. FDG-PET imaging confirmed focal areas of hypometabolism at the original site of PML and multiple areas of hypermetabolism in the left pons and middle cerebellar peduncle, suggestive of IRIS. Her clinical deterioration was attributed to IRIS and Prednisolone was commenced. In this case FDG-PET scanning helped distinguish between PML and IRIS, guiding patient management.


Security of a computer system has been traditionally related to the security of the software or the information being processed. The underlying hardware used for information processing has been considered trusted. The emergence of hardware Trojan attacks violates this root of trust. These attacks, in the form of malicious modifications of electronic hardware at different stages of its life cycle, pose major security concerns in the electronics industry. An adversary can mount such an attack with an objective to cause operational failure or to leak secret information from inside a chip-e.g., the key in a cryptographic chip, during field operation. Global economic trend that encourages increased reliance on untrusted entities in the hardware design and fabrication process is rapidly enhancing the vulnerability to such attacks. In this paper, we analyze the threat of hardware Trojan attacks; present attack models, types, and scenarios; discuss different forms of protection approaches, both proactive and reactive; and describe emerging attack modes, defenses, and future research pathways.


Drag-reducing polymers (DRP) increase tissue perfusion at constant driving pressure. We sought to evaluate the effects of small-volume resuscitation with a solution containing a DRP in a rat model of hemorrhage. Anesthetized rats were hemorrhaged at a constant rate over 25 min. In protocol A, total blood loss was 2.45 mL/100 g, whereas in protocol B, total blood loss was 3.15 mL/100 g. Five minutes after hemorrhage, the animals were resuscitated with 7 mL/kg of either normal saline (NS) or NS containing 50 μg/mL of an aloe vera-derived DRP. In protocol B, a third group (CON) was not resuscitated. Whole-body O2 consumption (Vo2) and CO2 production (Vco2) were measured using indirect calorimetry. In protocol A, 5/10 rats in the NS group and 8/10 rats in the DRP group survived for 4 h (P = 0.14). Mean arterial pressure was higher in the DRP-treated group than in the NS-treated group 45 min after resuscitation (89 ± 8 vs. 68 ± 5 mmHg, respectively; P < 0.05). In protocol B, survival rates over 2 h in the DRP, NS, and CON groups were 5/15, 1/14, and 0/7, respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with NS-treated rats, those resuscitated with DRP achieved a higher peak Vo2 (9.0 ± 1.0 vs. 6,3 ± 1.0 mL/kg/min) and Vco2 (9.0 ± 1.1 vs. 6.0 ± 1.0 mL/kg/min) after resuscitation. We conclude that resuscitation with a small volume of DRP prolongs survival in rats with lethal hemorrhagic shock.


With 6.1M potential votes affected, felon disenfranchisement policies clearly have far reaching effects on the composition of the federal, state, and local governments in our nation, and so they continue to be a point of contention in the US. Some of the current literature is written from a criminal justice perspective with focuses on the policy's impact on reintegration and recidivism, but much of the research is politically oriented, some even questioning the status of our democracy. Though there have been many challenges, the perspective of the federal government is that the practice is Constitutionally sound, leaving it up to the states to determine policy and resulting in a wide variety of policies. Political factors such as citizen ideology, party competition, and especially political culture have a significant impact on the level of restrictiveness of a states felon voting policies. Further, Lieske's new measure of political culture outperforms the older Elazar/Sharkansky measure in predicting the severity of felon disenfranchisements policies.


In an autopsy case of a 35 year old Japanese hemophiliac with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), many multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) were observed throughout the central nervous system. Immunohistochemically, MGCs possessed surface and cytoplasmic macrophage antigens expressed in the late stage of differentiation indicating them to be macrophages in the terminal stage of differentiation. Fine nuclear extensions connecting one nucleus (or lobe) to another were often observed in the MGCs. This feature was interpreted as multilobulation and considered to be a morphological characteristic of MGCs in AIDS encephalopathy. Similarity between MGCs in AIDS encephalopathy and highly lobulated lymphocytes in adult T cell leukemia is discussed.


Nowadays various kinds of anomalies are prohibiting the widely used Internet from offering normal services. Within them a novel anomaly is caused by bandwidth attacks. To defense these threats many detecting schemes are essentially based on unidirectional checking of traffic changes. When legitimately abrupt changes appear, they might result in false alarms. In this paper we consider the problem from the bidirectional-traffic view and analyze the traffic characteristics by checking the input/output traffic characteristics of the protected network node. We have analyzed the relationship between input and output traffic volume pairs in the simulation traffic and studied them both under normal and abnormal cases. Based on these analyses, we've proposed a heuristic DDoS flooding attack detection method and showed a verifying simulation as well.


Programmed death (PD)-1 plays a prominent role in the induction and maintenance of peripheral tolerance. The biochemical mechanisms via which PD-1 mediates its inhibitory function remain poorly understood. The cytoplamsic tail of PD-1 contains two structural motifs, an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motif (ITSM). It has been reported that SHP-2 tyrosine phosphatase constitutively interacts with PD-1 ITSM and is involved in PD-1-mediated inhibitory function. We sought to identify the nature of PD-1: SHP-2 interaction and to determine whether other TCR-proximal signaling molecules might interact with PD-1 cytoplasmic tail. SHP-2 has two SH2 domains (N-SH2 and C-SH2) and one PTP domain. To identify the region of SHP-2 that interacts with PD-1 we generated five different GST-fusion proteins in which GST was fused with either SHP-2 full length (FL), SHP-2-N-SH2, SHP-2-C-SH2, SHP-2-ΔN-SH2 (lacking the N-terminus SH2 domain) or SHP-2-PTP. Pull down assays with each GST-fusion protein using lysates from naive and activated primary human T cells revealed that PD-1 interacted with GST-SHP-2 fusion protein only after T cell activation along with simultaneous PD-1 ligation. This interaction was mediated selectively via the SH2 domains of SHP-2, indicating that PD-1 requires prior tyrosine phosphorylation in order to undergo interaction with SHP-2. To identify the mechanism of PD-1 tyrosine phosphorylation governing PD-1: SHP-2 interaction, we used COS cells to express PD-1 along with either empty vector, the TCR proximal tyrosine kinase Fyn, or a kinase inactive mutant of Fyn, followed by pull down with each SHP-2-GST fusion protein. No interaction between PD-1 and SHP-2-GST fusion proteins was detected in lysates from COS cells expressing empty vector or kinase inactive Fyn mutant. In contrast, in the presence of active Fyn, PD-1 underwent tyrosine phosphorylation and was able to interact with GST fusion proteins of SHP-2-FL, SHP-2-N-SH2, SHP-2-C-SH2 and SHP-2-ΔN-SH2 but not SHP-2-PTP, providing evidence that PD-1: SHP-2 interaction requires tyrosine phosphorylation of PD-1 by Src family kinases for subsequent SH2-mediated recruitment of SHP-2. To determine the structural and functional role of each individual tyrosine in the ITIM and the ITSM of PD-1 cytoplasmic tail in PD-1: SHP-2 interaction in vivo, we used Jurkat T cells to express cDNA of either PD-1 wild type, PD-1 with the ITIM tyrosine mutated to phenylalanine (PD-1.Y223F), PD-1 with the ITSM tyrosine mutated to phenylalanine (PD-1.Y248F) or PD-1 with both ITIM and ITSM tyrosines mutated to phenylalanine (PD-1.Y223F/Y248F). After activation, PD-1 wild type underwent tyrosine phosphorylation and developed a robust interaction with SHP-2. PD-1.Y223F retained the ability to undergo interaction with SHP-2 after activation, whereas PD-1.Y248F and PD-1.Y223F/Y248F were unable to interact with SHP-2. We examined whether the PD-1 cytopasmic phosphotyrosines might interact with other SH2 domain containing proteins with critical role in T cell activation. We determined that after T cell activation, PD-1 displayed interaction with ZAP-70 and with activated Lck as determined by PD-1 immunoprecipitation followed by immunoblot with antibodies specific for ZAP-70 and for the activation-specific phospho-LckY394. These interactions remained unaffected in T cells expressing PD-1.Y223F but were abrogated in T cells expressing PD-1.Y248F or PD-1.Y223F/Y248F indicating a mandatory role of phosphorylated ITSM but not ITIM for these associations. However, despite their distinct ability to mediate interactions of PD-1 with SHP-2, Lck and ZAP-70, both phosphorylated ITSM and ITIM had a mandatory role in the inhibitory effect of PD-1 on T cell activation. In T cells expressing either PD-1.Y223F or PD-1.Y248F, PD-1-mediated inhibition of IL-2 production was diminished by 50%, but was almost abrogated in T cells expressing the double mutant PD-1.Y223F/Y248F. Our results indicate that the cytoplasmic tail of PD-1 requires tyrosine phosphorylation in order to mediate phosphorylation-dependent interactions and inhibition on T cell activation. Although phosphorylation-dependent interactions of PD-1 with SHP-2, ZAP-70 and Lck involve Y248 in the ITSM, yet unidentified interactions of Y223 in the ITIM are mandatory for PD-1-mediated inhibitory function on T cell activation.

Disclosures: Freeman: Boehringer-Ingelheim: Patents & Royalties; Bristol-Myers-Squibb/Medarex: Patents & Royalties; Roche/Genentech: Patents & Royalties; Merck: Patents & Royalties; EMD-Serrono: Patents & Royalties; Amplimmune: Patents & Royalties; CoStim Pharmaceuticals: Patents & Royalties; Costim Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.


It is suggested that porphyry copper deposits and Kuroko-type massive sulfide deposits are incompatible because the former are generated beneath andesitic-dacitic stratovolcanoes, whereas the latter are precipitated during or after rhyolitic to rhyodacitic volcanism within resurgent calderas. Episodes of lithospheric tension in subduction-related arcs may favor cauldron subsidence at the expense of stratovolcano development.


generative amplifier are of 1.2 mJ, at a repetition rate of 2 Hz, with fluctuations of 25% caused by instabilities in the pump energy. After compression, the radiation is frequency tripled, obtaining a 20 pJ seed at A = 248 nm for ultraviolet amplification. The first KrF" excimer amplifier (Lambda Physik 201 MSC EMG) is arranged in a double-pass off-axis geometry4 to achieve optimum amplification over the whole beam dimension. After this first stage, the pulse energies are measured to be, on average, 3.5 mJ. The amplified pulse duration is measured to be 190 fs with use of a twophoton fluorescence technique in fused silica. To ensure good spatial quality in the UV, the beam is spatially filtered both before and after the first KrF* amplifier. The final amplification is obtained by means of a large aperture (10-cm) excimer amplifier' operated at relatively low pressure and low gain to reduce wave-front distorsions and ASE. The pulses, produced at a repetition rate of 0.4 Hz, exhibit a 10-shot average energy above 0.5 J, with peak recorded shots of 0.75 J. Characterization of the spectral and temporal features of the final pulse are presently underway. From the previous performance of the system, there is reason to believe that there will not be considerable broadening of the pulse through the final amplification stage, thus giving evidence for a femtosecond ultraviolet laser system that operating in the 2-3 Terawatt power level range.


Summary form only given. Among the few potential broadband access schemes, the coherent dense WDM technology is advantageous to provide a system with very small channel spacing, easy channel selection, and massive-user support due to its superior receiving sensitivity and electronic tuning and filtering capability. The authors report the demonstration of a prototype access network with multiple wavelength channels and users using tunable coherent transceivers operating under a counter-receiving heterodyne detection system.


The anomalous enhancement of fluctuations during gain switching of semiconductor lasers is considered. An extension of the quasi-deterministic theory is performed to account for the nonlinear dynamics of the process. The results are in quantitative agreement with those of a computer simulation of the Langevin rate equations describing the process.


A use of spreadsheets to model special relativistic phenomena is presented, based on the connection between electric and magnetic fields in special relativity, suitable for use with A-level students. The time dilation equation is used to carry out transformations between reference frames that show the connection between the fields quantitatively and allow further investigations to be carried out.


This report describes the development of the necessary and needed wind and solar datasets used in the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (WWSIS).


In this paper, an adaptive serious game-based functional rehabilitation system was proposed. This system provides each patient with the appropriate game during his rehabilitation sessions. The game's complexity, speed, and level vary according to patients' facial emotions. Moreover, two modules were presented namely: Convolutional Neural Networks-based motion recognition module which analyzes the patient's facial emotions and the Virtual Reality-based serious game module that retrieves the updated emotion's data and provides the patient's suitable game so that he/she can perform rehabilitation gestures in good conditions. When a patient expresses emotions of stress or tiredness, the first module analyzes this situation and sends a notification to use the same game but with less complexity, or another game. Preliminary tests of the system were carried out on three patients and the feedback is very encouraging.


ABSTRACT Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of induced vertical disparity on horizontal fusional reserves at near. Materials and Methods: In 170 healthy subjects wearing best corrective refraction, the negative and positive horizontal fusional reserves were measured with base-in (BI) and base-out (BO) prisms, respectively, in the presence of 0.5 prism diopters (∆) and 1∆ vertical prisms placed in trial frames in front of the right eye. The prism power was slowly increased step by step until the subject reported sustained blur, break, and recovery. These were compared to horizontal fusional reserves in the same subjects without a vertical prism. Data were analyzed in SPSS.17 software using a repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Induced vertical disparity decreased negative fusional reserves (NFR) horizontally and was more significant with 1∆ vertical disparity (P<0.001). There were significant differences between the blur (P<0.001), break (P<0.001), and recovery (P<0.001) for NFR before and after induced vertical disparity and no significant difference between blur (P=0.173) and recovery points (P=0.261) with a marginal difference for break points (P=0.045) for the positive fusional reserves (PFR). Conclusion: Inducing vertical disparity even with small magnitudes affects all 3 aspects (blur, break, and recovery) of horizontal negative fusional reserves while only break is affected in positive fusional reserves. These changes are statistically significant but do not seem to be clinically significant except for cases accompanied by symptoms.


SMALL BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRY GROWTH ENVIRONMENTS The notion that the growth stage of an industry may affect the competitive strategies of firms has received much attention in the literature.1 But until recently, prescriptions for success have been developed primarily for growth environments, the implication being that firms should avoid non-growth industries.2 Researchers have now begun to explore viable strategies for the maturity and decline phases as well. A general conclusion is that while high volume and high market share are desirable components of effective strategies in a growth environment, in the maturity and decline phases, firms should attempt to pursue high-profit strategies, even if that means lower volume.3 1 C. R. Anderson and C. P. Zeithaml, "Stage of the Product Life Cycle, Business Strategy, and Business Performance,' Academy of Management Journal, vol. 27 (1984), pp. 5-24; W. K. Hall, "Survival Strategies in a Hostile Environment,' Harvard Business Review, vol. 58 (1980), pp. 75-87; D. C. Hambrick, I. C. Macmillan, and D. L. Day, "Strategic Attributes and Performance in the BCG Matrix--A PIMS-Based Analysis of Industrial Product Businesses,' Academy of Management Journal, vol. 25 (1982), pp. 510-531; R. G. Hammermesh and S. B. Silk, "How to Compete in Stagnant Industries,' Harvard Business Review, vol. 57 (1979), pp. 161-168; K. R. Harrigan, "Strategies for Declining Industries,' Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 1 (1980), pp. 20-34; C. W. Hofer, "Toward a Contingency Theory of Business Strategy,' Academy of Management Journal, vol. 18 (1975), pp. 784. 810; M. E. Porter, Competitive Advantage (New York: Free Press, 1985); and M. E. Porter, Competitive Strategy (New York; Free Press, 1980). 2 B. Hedley, "Strategy and the "Business Portfolio,'' Long-Range Planning, vol. 10 (1977), pp. 9-15; and B. Henderson, Henderson on Corporate Stragegy (Cambridge, Mass; Abt Books, 1979). 3 Hall, "Survival Strategies'; Hammermesh and Silk, "How to Compete'; Hambrick, et al., "Strategic Attributes'; Harrigan, "Strategies for Declining Industries'; and Porter, Competitive Strategy. Much of this research has been done for large firms, and it is not clear how well these prescriptions apply to small businesses. Therefore, this article presents the results of an empirical study of profitable small business strategies under conditions of growth, maturity, and decline. RELATED RESEARCH Previous researchers distinguish three main stages of industry growth: (1) growth, (2) maturity, and (3) decline. The business or competitive strategies that help firms to achieve profits are thought to differ under each of these stages.4 The findings of previous research on strategies adopted by large businesses under different growth conditions are summarized in table 1. 4 Anderson and Zeithaml, "Stage of the Product Life Cycle'; Hambrick, et al., "Strategic Attributes'; Hofer, "Toward a Contingency Theory'; and Porter, Competitive Strategy. In growth industries, the overall competitive pressure is limited, and a firm has a comparatively broad range of choices among strategies. Many researchers imply that this is the most hospitable environment in which to operate and earn profits. The "learning curve' is a major tool for the large firm to use to gain competitive advantage; hence high market share is often helpful. One interesting result is that while resource efficiencies, product quality, market share, and high levels of future-oriented investments have commonly been employed as strategies in growth industries, they have had little impact on profit performance. In mature industries, the environment presents severe competitive pressures. High market share firms are thus thought to be better off emphasizing resource efficiency and avoiding investments, while the low market share firm is usually advised to seek profitability through product differentiation, market segmentation, and the technological superiority of its products and services. …