Background

As Malaria cases are continuously reported across the globe, epidemiological and integral approaches should be considered for an optimal stratification on endemic areas for elimination goal. In Central America, a 75% reduction in malaria incidence has been reported between 2000 and 2015, similarly, in Honduras, more than 75% of total cases in 2016 were concentrated in 7 municipalities, mainly in Gracias Dios department. Achieve malaria elimination in Honduras demands the implementation of strategies to identify main hotspots.
Methods

Based on WHO guidelines, local malaria epidemiological data from case-based surveillance system of the Ministry of Health between January and December 2016 were analysed. Furthermore, on field evaluations were carried out in Puerto Lempira municipality, Gracias a Dios department to an analysis validation. Finally, a set of epidemiological components were generated and proposed together with risk-factor description and proposed actions for health system improvement.
Results

On 2016, Gracias a Dios reported 61% of total malaria cases in Honduras; based on our analysis, 12 micro-areas were identified, including epidemiological, entomological, and socio-demographic information from local technicians.
Conclusions

Malaria elimination in endemic areas urges implementation of different strategies, here we show the on-field micro-stratification process of 12 "micro-areas" carried out in one endemic department of Honduras. This information provides a more targeted strategy for diagnosis, treatment, and vector control interventions for malaria elimination goal in Honduras.


The possibility of using the Harrington's desirability function as a tool for integrated quality assessment of combined packaging material, developed on the basis of natural components (paper, chitosan, wax), was considered. The stages of integrated assessment using the Harrington's method were determined. Its appropriateness for assessing the quality of multilayer packaging materials was noted. The conducted integrated quality assessment of the developed combined packaging material, using the Harrington's method, confirmed the appropriateness of using three wax layers in material. In accordance with the Harrington's desirability scale, the designed packaging material has a "good" mark. It was found that for preserving fruit and vegetable pastes and sauces the combined packaging material should have steam-proof properties up to 2kg/m 2 , water absorption - no more than 0.1%, adhesion - no less than 25 MPa.


The present volume presents, like the preceding ones, detailed reviews with extensive bibliographies of recent developments within selected sections of the vast domain of biophysics. It also resembles the earlier volumes in that a large part of the space is dedicated to the uses of radiation and radioisotopes in research and to various radiation effects. The first paper, by G. S. Stent and C. R. Fuerst, deals with the genetic and physiologic effects of radiophosphorus incorporated in viruses and bacteria. It describes a number of beautiful experiments leading to the at first sight astonishing result that the effects considered are not primarily ordinary radiation effects of beta rays but effects caused by the disruption of DNA molecules when phosphorus atoms in the molecules are transformed into recoiling sulphur atoms. In the next paper, by D. Carlstrom, apparatus and methods for roentgen-diffraction structure analysis on a microscale are described and examples of medical applications are given. J. H. Taylor writes on autoradiography with tritium; this contribution is noteworthy for the great resolution of the excellent films, in which the activity in single chromosomes can be studied. L. E. Lipetz reviews the electrical and chemical phenomena following optical or electrical stimulation of facet eyes of horseshoe crabs, which for technical reasons are suitable for such studies. The bearing of the results for an appreciation of corresponding processes in the eyes of higher animals and man is discussed. A paper by N. N. Livshits on the physiologic effects of radiation on the central nervous system is of particular interest. Mainly but by no means exclusively on the basis of Russian work, various effects, such as changes in conditioned and unconditioned reflexes, EEG, and the metabolism of different substances, are reported in detail. The central nervous system appears to be considerably more sensitive to radiation than was earlier assumed, and in many cases unexpectedly low doses may produce significant effects. D. Gitlin and C. H. Janeway write on isotope studies of plasma proteins with emphasis on their own work with radio-iodine. These experiments concern the diffusion of proteins between extraand intravascular spaces and their degradation under normal and pathologic conditions. The last paper, by L. W. Law, deals with radiation carcinogenesis, a subject of great topical interest due to the general concern over the possibly evil effects of radioactive fall-out and the medical use of roentgen radiation. The author clearly shows the great difficulties in arriving at a well-founded opinion in these matters and rightly criticizes the bold statements often scattered about. While containing much more biology and medicine than physics the book should still prove most useful also to physicists interested in the subjects treated. Sven Benner


The cellular and subcellular localizations of annexins I, IV, and VI in the rabbit tracheal and alveolar epithelia were studied by performing immunofluorescence labeling on thin frozen sections of these tissues, using specific monoclonal antibodies. Annexin I was highly expressed by ciliated cells, where it was concentrated in the cilia but was also present along the basolateral domain of the plasma membrane and in the nuclei. It was also abundant in the cytoplasm of type II pneumocytes and alveolar macrophages. Either one or both of these alveolar cells might be capable of secreting a very small amount of annexin I, which was found to be associated with the surfactant layer. Annexin IV was synthesized by all the lung epithelial cells. It was associated with the plasma membrane basolateral domain in ciliated cells and with either the apical or basal domain of plasma membrane in type I pneumocytes, whereas it was cytoplasmic in goblet cells and type II pneumocytes. Annexin VI was expressed only by alveolar endothelial cells, where it was probably cytoplasmic. None of these three annexins seem to be expressed in the nondifferentiated tracheal basal epithelial cells.


The rather poor students' performances and the reluctance of students to attend courses were the motives for a project that entails the redesign of conventional statistics courses, into courses designed according to the characteristics of a competence-based approach that integrates research methods, statistics and psychology subjects into holistic authentic tasks throughout the psychology curriculum. This paper presents the findings of the first redesigned course. The competence-based course resulted, compared to the conventional course, into higher students' performance and higher scores on learning competences, attitudes and motivation.


Lys606, one of the two highly conserved lysine residues in maize C4-form phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), was converted to Asn, Glu or Arg by site-directed mutagenesis. Resulted mutant enzymes expressed using pET system [Dong, L.-Y. et al. (1997) Biosci. Biotech, Biochem. 61:545] were purified by one step procedure through nickel-chelate affinity chromatography to a purity of about 95%. The replacement of Lys606 by Arg had little effect on the kinetic and allosteric properties of the resulting mutant enzyme. In contrast, the maximum velocities (Vmax) were decreased to 22% and 2% of that of wild-type PEPC upon the substitution of Lys606 by Asn and Glu, respectively. The value of S0.5(HCO3-) was increased 21-25 fold by the replacements, whereas the S0.5(Mg2+) and S0.5(PEP) values were increased only 5-8 fold. The extents of activation of mutant enzymes by glucose 6-phosphate and glycine were 2 to 3-fold higher than those of wild-type enzyme. The mutant enzymes showed less sensitivity to malate inhibition, compared with the wild-type enzyme. The results suggested that the Lys606 is not obligatory for the enzyme activity, but may be involved in the bicarbonate-binding and contribute somehow to the allosteric regulatory properties.


Maternal metabolites influence the size of newborns independently of maternal body mass index (BMI) and glycemia, highlighting the importance of maternal metabolism on offspring outcomes. This study examined associations of maternal metabolites during pregnancy with childhood adiposity, and cord blood metabolites with childhood adiposity using phenotype and metabolomic data from the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study and the HAPO Follow-Up Study. The maternal metabolites analyses included 2324 mother–offspring pairs, while the cord blood metabolites analyses included 937 offspring. Multiple logistic and linear regression were used to examine associations between primary predictors, maternal or cord blood metabolites, and childhood adiposity outcomes. Multiple maternal fasting and 1 hr metabolites were significantly associated with childhood adiposity outcomes in Model 1 but were no longer significant after adjusting for maternal BMI and/or maternal glycemia. In the fully adjusted model, fasting lactose levels were negatively associated with child BMI z-scores and waist circumference, while fasting urea levels were positively associated with waist circumference. One-hour methionine was positively associated with fat-free mass. There were no significant associations between cord blood metabolites and childhood adiposity outcomes. Few metabolites were associated with childhood adiposity outcomes after adjusting for maternal BMI and glucose, suggesting that maternal BMI accounts for the association between maternal metabolites and childhood adiposity.


Indonesia is a country which has so many ethnicities, tribes, cultures, languages, andreligions. Such diversity is prone to conflict and discord and therefore, there must be asystematic, programmed, integrated, and sustainable effort to maintain the integrity of thenation and as a multicultural country.A step to be taken to realize it is by planting a multicultural understanding to thesociety. Planting a multicultural understanding is not intended to eliminate differences but toeliminate bias, develop dialogs and get to know the differences among them, so that mutualrespect and appreciation can be achieved. One form of planting a multicultural understandingcan be a dakwah activity which applies a cultural approach that is grounded in universalvalues of humanity.


The purpose of this study is to review the effect of the fourth industrial revolution on robotics of tourism industry in Japan. The related cases were taken and briefly reviewed. The findings suggested that the communication channel between the central government and public sector resulted in the current top leader in the relevant around the world.


The purpose of this research is to explore and distinguish the importance of relative factors which determine ports competitiveness from ports users' perspective. Port users were defined into three groups, that is, shipping liners, freight forwarders and shippers, and they will be investigated in this study. The results regarding to the importance of various factors relied on the questionnaire from professionals and staffs in this industry based on their different angles by using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) model. Then, the results of survey were used for measuring European Top 4 ports, port of Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp and Bremerhaven were listed to be considered as the target ports. The potential influential factors are geographical location, physical infrastructure, hinterland connection, technological infrastructure, port management and administration and terminal cost. The importance of these factors are various from different users' requirements and expectations on port services. Hinterland connection is a common focus of all parties' concerns, port efficiency and infrastructure construction are still the main targets that ports are struggling for and the exploration and usage of information technology is beneficial for improving operational efficiency of ports to some extent. Conclusions finally were drawn based on the analysis which can be used as benchmark to measure ports performance and their competitors as well, in order to realize which aspects should be put much attention for further improvement.


Purpose of review Loss of organ function is a critical issue that threatens a patient's life. Currently, the only available treatment is organ transplantation; however, shortage of donor organs, histocompatibility, and life-long immunosuppression present major challenges. Three-dimensional bioprinting technology holds a promising solution for treating organ failure by fabricating autologous tissues and organs for transplantation. To biofabricate a functional tissue, target-cell types are combined with an appropriate biomaterial for structural support and a bioink that supports cell function and maturation. Bioprinted structures can mimic the native tissue shape and functionality. Recent findings The main goal of three-dimensional bioprinting is to produce functional tissues/organs; however, whole organ printing has not been achieved. There have been recent advances in the successful three-dimensional bioprinting of numerous tissues. This review will discuss the types of bioprinters, biomaterials, bioinks, and the fabrication of various constructs for repair of vascular, cartilage, skin, cardiac, and liver tissues. These bioprinted tissue constructs have the potential to be used to treat tissues and organs that have been damaged by injury or disease. Summary Three-dimensional bioprinting technology offers the ability to fabricate three-dimensional tissue structures with high precision, fidelity, and stability at human clinical scale. The creation of complex tissue architectures with heterogeneous compositions has the potential to revolutionize transplantation of tissues and organs.


This paper proposes a method for improving the diversity of the Pareto front in a fast elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), which is an evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithm. Conventional NSGA-II has excellent convergence to the Pareto front, but it has been reported that for some test cases, it does not produce a more diverse solution distribution than the strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm 2 (SPEA2). To avoid this problem, we propose a method that stores an archive of dominated solutions that may be effective in improving diversity in the conventional search process when used for genetic operations. We experimentally compare this approach with the conventional method on the typical multi-objective test problems ZDT1, ZDT2, and ZDT3. By evaluating the performance based on Pareto front diagrams and hypervolume values, we show that the proposed method is effective at improving the diversity at both ends of Pareto optimal front and the uniformity of the solution distribution.


Pulmonary oxygen uptake, heart rate (HR), and deoxyhemoglobin (HHb) kinetics were studied in a group of older adults exercising in hypoxic conditions. Fourteen healthy older adults (aged 66 ± 6 years) performed 4 exercise sessions that consisted of (i) an incremental test to exhaustion on a cycloergometer while breathing normoxic room air (fractional inspired oxygen (FiO(2)) = 20.9% O(2)); (ii) an incremental test to exhaustion on a cycloergometer while breathing hypoxic room air (FiO(2) = 15% O(2)); (iii) 3 repeated square wave cycling exercises at moderate intensity while breathing normoxic room air; and (iv) 3 repeated square wave cycling exercises at moderate intensity while breathing hypoxic room air. During all exercise sessions, pulmonary gas exchange was measured breath-by-breath; HHb was determined on the vastus lateralis muscle by near-infrared spectroscopy; and HR was collected beat-by-beat. The pulomary oxygen uptake kinetics became slower in hypoxia (31 ± 9 s) than in normoxia (27 ± 7 s) because of an increased mismatching between O(2) delivery to O(2) utilization at the level of the muscle. The HR and HHb kinetics did not change between hypoxia and normoxia.


Precision measurements provide a critical test of the consistency and limits of validity of the Standard Model (SM) and could point toward New Physics and constrain the parameters of the extensions of the SM. The ultimate aim is to measure directly the electroweak mixing angle ($\theta_\mathrm{W}$) and the mass of the $W$ boson
($m_W$) with a precision that is competitive with the global fit uncertainties. To achieve an excellent understanding of experimental and parton distribution function uncertainties affecting the determination of $\sin^2\theta_\mathrm{W}$ and $m_W$, a rich program of $Z$ and $W$ boson studies are performed, including the measurements of differential production cross-sections as a function of various kinematic variables (like the transverse boson momenta, rapidity and additional jet variables), the $Z\rightarrow\ell^+\ell^-$ angular coefficients and forward - backward asymmetry as well as the $W$ boson production charge asymmetry. Recent results using the LHC Run 1 and Run 2 data are summarised in this article from the ATLAS and CMS collaborations.


A 23-day marine geophysical expedition in the summer of 1996 revealed a previously unidentified strike-slip fault zone within 60–100 km of the densely populated northern coast of Puerto Rico. The purpose of the expedition, which was held aboard the U.S. research vessel Maurice Ewing, was to map the northeastern portion of the North America Caribbean plate boundary.

The 3000-km-long North America-Caribbean plate boundary stretches from Guatemala to the Lesser Antilles arc. The dominantly left-lateral strike-slip boundary accommodates slow (1–2.6 cm/yr) eastward motion of the Caribbean plate relative to North America. Distributed interplate motion in the region generates large earthquakes (Figure 1, inset). In 1976, an M 7.5 left-lateral, strike-slip earthquake in Guatemala killed approximately 23,000 people and left a quarter of the nation's population homeless.


Evolution of trends in the realm of computer aided architectural design (CAAD) has seen the convergence of technologies – complementing traditional tools with emerging sciences like Information Technology (IT) and multimedia applications. This applique of technologies has not just expanded the scope and enhanced the realm of CAAD research and practice, but is also breaking new frontiers. This creative nexus will be realised at the 7th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research In Asia (CAADRIA 2002) to be held at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, Malaysia, between 18th-20th April, 2002. CAADRIA 2002's theme, "Redefining Content", seeks to recognise and infuse these emerging components in the field of architecture and design with a holistic approach towards online, digital and interactive systems. The 41 papers compiled were selected through a blind review process conducted by an international review panel. To reflect the multi-disciplinary nature of this year's conference, the chapters are arranged topically to facilitate the in-depth study of key components. The component sessions include: // Web Design, Database and Networks // CAD, Modelling and Tools // Collaborative Design, Creative Design and Case Reasoning // Simulation and Prototyping // Virtual Environment and Knowledge Management // Design Education, Teaching and Learning /// We believe that this specialised approach will provide a deeper and more illuminating feel of the various components and their critical convergence in the field of architecture and design.


A fuel cell, an energy transducer, can convert chemical energy into electrical energy. In this work, graphite felt (GF) loaded with polypyrrole (PPy) and carboxylic carbon nanotubes (CNTs-COOH) was used as a cathode (GF/PPy/CNTs-COOH) in a double-chamber nonbiofuel cell (D-nBFC) to remove Cr(VI) efficiently. Therein, Na2S2O3 in an alkaline solution and Cr(VI) in a strongly acidic solution were employed as anode and cathode solutions, respectively. An agar salt bridge, consisting of saturated KCl solution, was used to transport ions between the anode and cathode. This system suggested that the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) could reach 99.6%. The maximum current, power, and power density could achieve 136.8 μA, 18.7 μW, and 20.8 mW/m2 at 90 min, respectively. Additionally, GF/PPy/CNTs-COOH also had good electrocatalytic stability and reusability after four cycles, which played an important role in the development of the D-nBFC system. Therefore, this study provides an environmentally friendly and efficient method to remove Cr(VI) and generate electricity simultaneously.


Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which consists of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism, is a potentially fatal disease. According to the Western literature, DVT of lower limb veins is one of the most common complications following total hip and knee arthroplasty and surgeries for lower limb fractures. Very few studies have been published from India on the subject and very little is known about the true incidence of the condition. The issue has acquired greater significance in Indian subjects in recent times as there is a manifold increase in the number of joint replacement surgeries and surgeries for lower limb fractures. There are no clear guidelines regarding the prophylaxis for VTE for Indian patients. Materials and Methods: We carried out a prospective study to determine the incidence of DVT. Present study included 125 patients undergoing total knee and hip joint arthroplasty and surgeries for fractures of the lower limb over a three-year period. All the patients underwent duplex ultrasonography between the seventh and 14th postoperative day. No mechanical or chemical form of DVT prophylaxis was used. Results: Only nine patients (7.2%) showed sonographic evidence of DVT and the majority of them resolved without treatment. There was no case of pulmonary embolism. Conclusion: DVT following total joint arthroplasty and surgery for lower limb fractures in Indian patients is not as common as reported in the Western literature. A high level of suspicion and close clinical monitoring is mandatory, routine chemoprophylaxis is perhaps not justified in every patient undergoing lower limb surgery in our opinion. More trials involving a larger number of patients and at multi centers, in future, would be required to confirm the findings of our study.


Abstract An experiment was conducted to evaluate whether dietary reduction and sex class affect nutrient intake, digestibility, purine derivative (PD) excretion and heat tolerance coefficient in lambs. Thirty-five hair lambs (14.5 ± 0.89 kg initial body weight (BW), 2 months old) were used in a completely randomized study with a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, three sex classes (11 intact males, 12 castrated males and 12 females) and three levels of feeding (ad libitum, 300 and 600 g/kg/dry matter (DM) feed restriction) for 120 days. Intact and castrated males showed higher intakes of DM and neutral detergent fibre corrected for ash and protein (NDFap) than females. At 300 g/kg/DM feed restriction, NDFap digestibility was lower in intact males than in other classes; however, no differences were found between classes when subjected to ad libitum feeding or 600 g/kg/DM. The basal endogenous nitrogen and endogenous urinary losses were highest in intact males. Allantoin, uric acid and PD excretion, as well as PD absorption and microbial protein production were lowest in the animals subjected to 600 g/kg/DM feed restriction. Microbial protein synthesis (MPS) was highest in animals subjected to 600 g/kg/DM feed restriction. The lowest temperatures were observed in animals subjected to 600 g/kg/DM feed restriction. The heat tolerance coefficient was highest in animals subjected to 600 g/kg/DM feed restriction. In conclusion, feed restriction reduced the time spent on feeding and rumination but increased the digestibility of DM. The restriction level of 600 g/kg/DM maximized MPS and infrared thermography indicated an elevated heat tolerance coefficient.


The paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the research themes and trends in e-commerce research based on the co-word analysis. 17,417 keywords were collected from 3,289 academic articles published in the selected seven leading journals in the field of e-commerce from 2001 to 2020 to examine the core research themes and trends over the two-time spans of years 2001-2010 and 2011-2022. Some research themes have kept their continuity in 20 years, indicating that the research themes in the e-commerce research have maintained temporal continuity. At the same time, the research themes in the e-commerce field have evolved with technology development and diffusion. This research provides useful suggestions for the future research direction for scholars in the e-commerce field.


This is a tutorial article that reviews the use of partitioned analysis procedures for the analysis of coupled dynamical systems. Attention is focused on the computational simulation of systems in which a structure is a major component. Important applications in that class are provided by thermomechanics, fluid-structure interaction and control-structure interaction. In the partitioned solution approach, systems are spatially decomposed into partitions. This decomposition is driven by physical or computational considerations. The solution is separately advanced in time over each partition. Interaction effects are accounted for by transmission and synchronization of coupled state variables. Recent developments in the use of this approach for multilevel decomposition aimed at massively parallel computation are discussed.


Using gene array analysis, we found that thioredoxin (TRX) binding protein-2 (TBP-2) was down-regulated during osteoclast (OC) differentiation. TBP-2 is a negative regulator of TRX, a small protein with a redox-active dithiol active site. TRX enhances DNA binding of redox-sensitve transcription factors such as NF?B and AP-1. OC were generated on dentine slices using human CFU-GM precursor cells treated with RANKL and M-CSF. At 4 days of culture, efficient (>80%) infection with adenovirus expressing galactosidase (AdLacZ) was achieved. Infection with adenovirus expressing TBP-2 (AdTBP-2) for 14 days resulted in 66% reduction in the total TRAP+ area and 50% reduction in OC numbers as compared to the AdLacZ control. The size of OC formed in the presence of AdTBP-2 was reduced by 66% and they contained fewer nuclei. Resorption of dentine was inhibited by 80%. In mature OC infected with AdTBP-2, RANKL-induced NF?B activation was reduced by 63% and Western analysis demonstrated markedly increased expression of TBP-2 protein. We have shown that the over-expression of TBP-2, a gene down-regulated during OC formation, inhibits OC differentiation and NF?B activation. These results are consistent with the known function of TBP-2 as a negative regulator of TRX and the importance of the redox-sensitive transcription factor NF?B in osteoclastogenesis.


There were found out the connections of the activity of the Sun and smoke of forest fires with the incidence of various forms of benign and malignant neoplasms in the population of young children 0-4 years old, in Khabarovsk Region, Russia. Thus, it was determined that so-called "sporadic" fluctuations in the incidence of neoplasms in the child population are not random. They are caused by long multi-year cycles of changes in the complex of environmental factors. The authors identified this phenomenon as "Alternative oncogenesis", meaning by it the predominant occurrence of various forms of neoplasms in a certain period of time due to a change in the parameters of the complex of environmental factors. A proposed hypothesis is: ecologically linked oxidative stress as a cause of the epigenomic modulation leading to an imbalance between semaphorins and integrins that brings to oncogenesis.


The antianemic effect of a multicomponent sausage product was studied in the experiment on noninbred male white rats (4 groups of animals, 10 rats in each), the experiment continued 90 days. The stimulatory effect of this product on hemopoiesis was recorded both in the test animals (with anemia) and controls (with no anemia), that was, obviously, connected with the inclusion of by-products of animal origin into the new sausage product, which are characterized by high levels of hemostimulatory factors.


The pre-compliance tests of electromagnetic immunity are at present a crucial issue for all major automotive manufacturers. In current practice, there are two basic ways to implement these tests. The first one is based on significant simplification of measurement methods and the subsequent transformation of results for relevant estimation of certification measurement results. The second is based on the application of numerical methods and the calculation of the electric field intensity distribution in the car body. The question, however, remains the degree of correlation between these methods, especially when confronting the results of certification measurement. This article provides an overview of the results obtained using both methods and offers an innovative view of the method of comparison using the FSV.


Background: Mutational screening of the CDH1 gene is a standard treatment for patients who meet the criteria for Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC). In this framework, the classification of variants found in this gene is a crucial step for the clinical management of patients at high risk for HDGC. The aim of this study was to identify CDH1 as well as CTNNA1 mutation profiles predisposing to HDGC from Tunisia. Methods: Thirty four cases were included for this purpose with a mean age at diagnosis of 48 years old. We performed Sanger Sequencing for the entire coding sequence of both genes and MLPA (Multiplex Ligation Probe Amplification) assay to investigate large rearrangements of the CDH1 gene. Results: As a result, three cases (8.82%) carried probably pathogenic variants in the CDH1 gene. These variants involves a novel splice alteration, a missense located in exon 14 detected by Sanger Sequencing and a large rearrangement detected by MLPA assay.Conclusion: Our results suggest that the CDH1 p.G761R variant is probably pathogenic and involved in the conformational space shift of the protein. Molecular modeling analysis highlights a putative influence on the conformational properties of the Juxta-Membrane Domain core (JMD) that could result in destabilizing the protein-protein complexes and therefore impacting the downstream pathways. Also, a large deletion from the 5' locus including exons 1 and 2 of the CDH1 gene implicating the signal peptide and a part of the precursor domain of the protein. These findings highlight the critical importance of screening for large CDH1 rearrangements as well as mutations for the management of HDGC families and individuals at high risk for more personalised medicine. We therefore suggest a revision of the status of p.G761R mutation from Variant of Unknown Significance (VUS) to likely pathogenic.


Relativizing statements in Higher-Order Logic (HOL) from types to sets is useful for improving productivity when working with HOL-based interactive theorem provers such as HOL4, HOL Light and Isabelle/HOL. This paper provides the first comprehensive definition and study of types-to-sets relativization in HOL, done in the more general form of types-to-PERs (partial equivalence relations). We prove that, for a large practical fragment of HOL which includes container types such as datatypes and codatatypes, types-to-PERs relativization is admissible, in that the provability of the original, type-based statement implies the provability of its relativized, PER-based counterpart. Our results also imply the admissibility of a previously proposed axiomatic extension of HOL with local type definitions. We have implemented types-to-PERs relativization as an Isabelle tool that performs relativization of HOL theorems on demand.


Generalized flag structures occur naturally in the modern geometry. By extending a well-known Stefan's statement on generalized foliations we show that such structures admit distinguished charts. Several examples are included.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a future value stream map of the system and patient pathway with lean health care application tools in terms of quality improvement (QI) in order to decrease the non-value-added activities for patients, doctors, and nurses for a radiology unit in a public hospital based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from personal observations, information technologies unit, and authorized employees. In order to measure subprocesses, some qualitative data are transformed into quantitative data via authorized employees' experiences. Moreover, data tracking and keeping systems are too poor for revealing the current situation.

Findings

The current value stream map of the system of the radiology department of a public education and research hospital was analyzed and the future value stream map of the system and patient pathway was redesigned with lean health care application tools in terms of QI.

Research limitations/implications

The greatest limitation is the resistant to change and fear of talking on mistakes and low performances.

Originality/value

This paper states an example of a current and future value stream map showing step by step where the bottlenecks are and how these can be improved and what specific benefits will this analysis bring to the health care system. It will be useful for both academicians and practitioners on how to apply lean to health care.


Urban commercial
banks are regional banks which have gained tremendous importance in the last
two decades in China. There is, however, a lack of research on regional
banking, especially on the Chinese regional banking industry. Therefore, using
an innovative spatial approach, this paper investigates the efficiency of 65
Chinese urban commercial banks across 26 regions during 2013 to 2017. A Key
finding for our sample is the significant spatial dependence of loans of
Chinese urban commercial banks with their neighbouring regions' banks. Short-run efficiency is increasing during the research
period. For regions with less than three urban commercial banks, the
average efficiencies are stable and relatively high. However, regions with more
banks have both the highest and lowest efficient banks existing at same time.
These interesting results fit with the development process of Chinese urban
commercial banking, which the market restructure has contributed to banks'
efficiency


WHO calls the case of HIV/AIDS as an iceberg phenomenon, especially in countries that have not yet carried out HIV testing evenly, including Indonesia. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia reports that the rate of increase in new cases of HIV/AIDS is accelerating, especially in the last 3 years. This study aims to analyze the effect of group education (simulation model) on information disclosure and efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission for HIV/AIDS risk groups in Malang, Indonesia, using pre-test and post-test group design. The population of this study was all people at risk of HIV/AIDS, who had a special group and had names in the community: IGAMA (Malang gay bond), IWAMA (Malang Transgender Association), Penasun (syringe users), Sadar Hati (narcotics users), Paramita (commercial sex vendor) in Malang City, with 140 people. The sample of this study was the risk group with HIV/AIDS in the working area of Arjuno Health Center and Dinoyo Health Center, Malang, with a sample size of 30 from IGAMA, Penasun, and Sadar Hati. The results showed that: 1) information disclosure before and after group education was> 90% quite disclosure; 2) prevention of transmission before intervention was 56% good, and after intervention increased to 83%. The results of the paired sample t-test showed that: 1) there was difference in information disclosure between before and after the intervention (p-value = 0.001); 2) there was difference in HIV/AIDS transmission prevention between before and after administration of intervention (p-value = 0.002).


Abstract Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs may be repurposed against those diseases, for which their therapeutic action has not been described. The present study deals with repurposing FDA-approved drugs for selective targeting of protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) for anti-cancer activity, through a two-tier (Cell and Target) model hybridization protocol implemented with support vector machine-based learning method. The hybridization was done as per rules of reaction kinetics. The hybridization process was facilitated as a standalone application for free access at https://github.com/undwivedi/Akt-Selective.git. The selectivity of the ligands for PKB/Akt binding was also evaluated on the basis of mitophagy system model for anti-apoptotic activity. Screening of the FDA-approved drug library, using the developed H- SAR model, led to identification of four compounds (Cas nos. 94749-08-3, 57808-66-9, 62-13-5, 76-43-7), bearing the selectivity for PKB/Akt. Since, the identified compounds have already crossed the barriers of absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity in clinical trials, therefore are safe to be considered for repurposing individually or in combination with other drugs. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma


This reflection aimed to show the productive restructuring dimensions achieved in Brazilian healthcare, discussing the nexuses between this phenomenon and the work in obstetrical nursing. Its construction was based on articles about productive restructuring and health available in the Virtual Health Library, reflecting the consequences on this speciality's caregiving process. We observed that the productive restructuring in health care may be seen under the health system management and work organization viewpoints. Despite the negative impacts in the field of work, there has been an appreciation of living labor in obstetrics in a context favorable to changes in labor care, through the introduction of obstetrical nursing and implementation of health care technologies. We conclude that, besides the focus on living labor and soft technologies, such concepts comprise technological innovation, as they have changed and resignified the way of providing care, thus beginning the process of the inversion of the technological core in obstetrics.


The structure and lattice dynamics of CuInSe2 were studied using ab initio calculations. The phonon dispersion relations and phonon density of states were calculated using the direct method. The results are in good agreement with recently obtained inelastic neutron scattering data.


Abstract An integrated effort by the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) Team to develop an experiment vehicle or extended-length test assembly for the VTR experiments is led by Idaho National Laboratory and supported by an industrial partner, General Atomics, and university partners, including Texas A&M University, University of Michigan, Oregon State University, University of Houston, and University of Idaho. The focus of the effort is to design a helium gas-cooled cartridge loop (GCL) to assist with the testing of fuels, materials, and instrumentation to further support development of advanced reactor systems. This study is divided into two parts. Part I provides the functional requirements and critical irradiation data needs for advancing gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR) technologies. The objective of Part I is to describe the overall preliminary conceptual design of the VTR helium cartridge loop, the design of a fission product venting system, thermal-hydraulic effects of flow direction, and gamma-heating generation in the cartridge. This paper, Part II, includes the measurement techniques being developed to measure the thermophysical properties of the different materials that make up the GCL, as well as the instrumentation and control system within the cartridge required for advancing GFR technologies. The purpose of Part II is to describe the functionality and efficacy of the measuring systems being developed to support the GCL. These systems include (a) a unique measurement platform that joins ion irradiation and a laser beam with an infrared camera and X-ray detection equipment developed and used to investigate more accurately and efficiently the influence of radiation and fission gases on the material properties under high temperatures; (b) a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to demonstrate its capability of monitoring possible fuel failure by detecting sub–part-per-million levels of xenon in the helium coolant stream, providing experimental data to better understand the interactions of fuel elements and coolant at high temperature, pressure, and fast neutron flux; (c) fiber-optic sensors with the ability to measure both the temperature demonstrated using a three-dimensional printed heat exchanger and, potentially, the strain in harsh environments; and (d) surface emissivity measurement test rigs to understand the effect of temperature, radiation, and surface finish on the silicon carbide cladding surface emissivity. Additional analyses and development, as well as integrated out-of-pile testing, are planned to demonstrate and validate the accuracy of the measuring systems and instrumentation in a more prototypic environment prior to their implementation into the VTR.


Being ostracized and resulting in interpersonal or organizational deviance is a pinching topic in research as well as in the practical world. Purpose. The present study analyses the relationship between workplace ostracism and two types of workplace deviance, i.e., interpersonal deviance (workplace incivility, workplace bullying, violence, workplace harassment, social undermining, organizational mobbing) and organizational deviance (work behavior deviated from certain norms), and examines theunexplored moderating role of self-esteem between these relationships. Study design. The respondents of the study were various managerial level employees from the food and textile sectors of Pakistan. Data from 380 employees were collected through a closed-ended, self-administered five-point Likert scaleusing employee intercept convenience-based sampling technique due to unavailability of the samplingframe. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was utilized through SmartPLS software for quantitative results. Findings. Findings of the study revealed that ostracism isa significant factor in interpersonal and organizational deviance, but it seemed that organizational deviance is more strongly affected by ostracism. The subsequent results also justify that self-esteem is avaluable factor for these circumstances of deviance and ostracism. These findings direct the practitioners to nurture a positive work environment to mitigate the negative impact of ostracism. Value of results. Furthermore, off the job, social interactions and activities may bring employees closer to each other, reducing the chances of ostracism and raising self-esteem in employees.


Recently, cloud computing technologies have been employed for large-scale machine-to-machine (M2M) systems, as they could potentially offer better solutions for managing monitoring data and analytics applications to support the needs of different consumers. However, there exist complex relationships between monitored objects, monitoring data, analysis features, and stakeholders in M2M that require efficient ways to handle these complex relationships. This paper presents techniques for linking and managing monitored objects, sustainability monitoring data and analytics applications for different stakeholders in cloud-based M2M systems. We describe a Platform-as-a-Service for sustainability governance that implements these techniques. We also illustrate our prototype based on a real-world cloud system for facility monitoring.


Background: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has been shown to reduce intubation and in-hospital mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF). However, little information exists on the outcomes following discharge. A study was undertaken to examine the rates of readmission, recurrent AHRF, and death following discharge and the risk factors associated with them. Methods: A cohort of COPD patients with AHRF who survived after treatment with NIV in a respiratory high dependency unit was prospectively followed from July 2001 to October 2002. The times to readmission, first recurrent AHRF, and death were recorded and analysed against potential risk factors collected during the index admission. Results: One hundred and ten patients (87 men) of mean (SD) age 73.2 (7.6) years survived AHRF after NIV during the study period. One year after discharge 79.9% had been readmitted, 63.3% had another life threatening event, and 49.1% had died. Survivors spent a median of 12% of the subsequent year in hospital. The number of days in hospital in the previous year (p = 0.016) and a low Katz score (p = 0.018) predicted early readmission; home oxygen use (p = 0.002), APACHE II score (p = 0.006), and a lower body mass index (p = 0.041) predicted early recurrent AHRF or death; the MRC dyspnoea score (p,0.001) predicted early death. Conclusions: COPD patients with AHRF who survive following treatment with NIV have a high risk of readmission and life threatening events. Further studies are urgently needed to devise strategies to reduce readmission and life threatening events in this group of patients.


The authors analyze voting results for capital allocations from a student-managed fund over a period of three academic years. Primarily, they test for impacts of current and recent market activity on student votes. The fund is managed under the principle of value investing with a long-term investment horizon. A significant relationship between broad market conditions and student votes would support a distinct behavioral influence on the process. They largely find no significant influences from market returns or volatility on the voting results, which suggests students vote on their perception of the merits of the proposal instead of either intentionally or subconsciously allowing market activity to influence their decisions. In the framework of this specific fund, this result corresponds to the fundamentals of value investing and aligns with the educational goal of the program. In ancillary results, the authors find that proposals to buy (acquire a position) are more difficult to pass than those to sell.


Health insurance reform for children younger than 6 years of age was implemented in 2005. The study aimed to describe the health insurance card status, health care services use, and associated factors. The cross-sectional study was conducted with 210 Hmong mothers of children younger than 6 years of age, and of those, 118 mothers having an ill child in the previous 4 weeks were selected in this study. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were applied to predict the associated factors. In all, 42.9% of children had health insurance cards and 45.8% ill children accessed public health facilities. The factors included children's age, mothers' knowledge of the free health care policy, mothers' knowledge about one sign of lung infection of their children associated with health insurance status, and health care services use. In conclusion, the 2005 reform of child health insurance policy has brought a modest impact on insurance coverage of children younger than 6 years of age and health care services use. Mothers' knowledge of free health care policy should be improved.


Groundwater fluctuation in coastal aquifers depends on a number of processes which interact with each other in a complex way. In this work, we analyzed the response of the groundwater's quality and quantity indicators of Troia costal aquifer to several forcing factors. Troia peninsula is underlayed by a multi-layer aquifer consisting of an upper phreatic layer freshwater porous aquifer, a salt water sandy layer with interbeded clay lenses and a deeper semi-confined karst aquifer. This study focuses on the upper aquifer region (10m depth), where influences of oceanic and atmospheric drivers are expected to be strongest. Groundwater data was collected from a borehole located approx. 200m from the shoreline. Hourly records of the piezometric level, conductivity, and temperature data from the hydrological year 2006-2007 were related to data of barometric pressure, rainfall and tides using correlation and singular spectral analytical methods. All variables (precipitation, barometric pressure and tidal cycles) uniquely affect the groundwater's level and quality with different magnitudes and time scales. Regarding the long-term and larger scales, precipitation seems to be the most influential factor, contributing to 46 % of the variability of the groundwater time series. This percentage of variabillity is due the seasonality of the water cycle, with 29% related to the semi-annual cycle and 17% related to the quarterly cycle. The barometric pressure seems to affect the groundwater in similar scales as the precipitation, however tidal cycles have a much smaller impact. The tidal data was modelled with WxTides software with an interval of 15 minutes. The cyclic patterns of semidiurnal and fortnightly tidalinduced sea level changes can clearly be observed in the records of the groundwater level throughout the entire time series. Tides and groundwater level present a maximum positive correlation coefficient of 0.58 in the month of August, when other forcing factors, such as precipitation, are the lowest. Groundwater level displays a 16-day time lag with the precipitation, a two-day time lag with the barometric pressure and a two-hour time lag with the modelled tides. The correlations and lags found in this study are being used as a basis for ongoing research on the complexity of groundwater level oscillations in littoral zones. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 – IDL.


This photo essay is excerpted from Gitmo at Home, Gitmo at Play, an investigation of daily life for both prisoners and guards at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where nobody has chosen to live, and where photographs of faces are forbidden by military regulation. Since the first "War on Terror" prisons opened on January 11, 2002, 780 men have been held at "Gitmo," the vast majority without charge or trial of any kind. As of autumn 2016, most have been cleared and released: 61 men remain held, including 33 cleared for transfer, 10 convicted in military commissions, and 28 designated as "forever prisoners," destined to remain held indefinitely. Gitmo at Home, Gitmo at Play is one chapter in a larger body of work investigating the peculiarly American normalization of offshore extrajudicial detention.


Nanostructured coatings of Al2O3 and ZrO2 (1.5% Y2O5) are produced by suspension plasma spraying, introducing the liquid feedstock internally into the central part of three converging plasma jets of a Mettech Axial III torch (Northwest Mettech Corp.). Spraying nanosized ceramic powders in a liquid carrier can yield thinner coatings with more refined microstructures than conventional plasma spraying. In-flight particle states are measured for a number of plasma conditions of varying torch current, gas flow rates and compositions (Ar, H2, N2), and related to the resulting microstructure and phase composition in the coatings, as determined by EDS, SEM and XRD. Results show that particle velocities up to 600 m/sec can be reached, yielding high impact velocities and cooling rates. Some comparison is made to previous work performed using external injection of a suspension droplet stream into a conventional dc plasma flame. At optimized conditions, dense γ-Al2O3 deposits with an average crystallite size below 30 nm are obtained at deposition efficiency above 80%, which was not previously attainable. Eutectic alumina-zirconia composite coatings with a finely layered lamellar structure are also realized. The laminates have potential advantages as thermal barrier coatings with beneficial properties arising from nano-composite components.


The recent intensification of both intersecting inequalities and demands for change calls for an intersectional approach which can account for the complexity of factors and processes structuring social relations, risk and outcomes. Yet intersectionality is thought to be a challenging theory to apply, and represents a puzzle to policymakers and practitioners navigating policy area and equality strand silos. Based on the first empirical study internationally to explore how both practitioners and policymakers themselves understand how to operationalise 'intersectionality', this article establishes different ways in which the theory of intersectionality is applied in practice. 'Intersectionality' is understood and used in five contradicting ways in UK equality organising and policy, an integral insight because some of these advance intersectional justice while others serve to further entrench inequalities. This typology is proposed as a heuristic to analyse the ways in which intersectionality may be institutionalised in other countries and sectors, and their outcomes, discursive and material.


The results of massively parallel three-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations of the perpendicular intersection of extended dislocations in copper are reported. The intersection process, which involves three of the four possible 111 glide planes in the face-centered cubic lattice, begins with junction formation, followed by unzipping, partial dislocation bowing, cutting, and, finally, unit jog formation. The investigation provides insights into this complex atomistic process, which is currently not accessible to experimental investigation.


SUMMARY The capacity of isolated microsomes to alter mutagenicity for bacteria of the primary carcinogen, TV-methyl-//-nitro-yV-nitrosoguanidine, and the secondary one, dimethylnitrosa- mine, was studied. Microsomal inactivation of N-melhyl-N1-nitro-TV-nitrosoguanidine and activation of dimethylnitrosamine were decreased by protein- and protein-choline-deficient diets, and this decrease paralleled the reduction in microsomal cytochrome P-450 content produced by these diets. The results obtained with this in vitro assay indicate that the status of the microsomal biotransformation system that can be influenced by nutritional factors determines the mutagenicity of the primary and secondary carcinogens tested.


In feminism's perception, gender is only a product of culture (nature), that is, only the "perception" of the Society or even a myth for what is called the patent (natural) attitude of men and women. Interchangeable and non-permanent genders can be changed with some of the paradigms of thinking that form the basis of the culture of society. The pattern of family communication is very important in the acceptance and delivery that occurs between family members. How parents apply parenting patterns in the family will make the self-concept of their children. How individuals seek themselves is called self-concept . This study aims to: (1) Learning individual communication in the formation of individual gender identity (2) Knowing the communication patterns of transgender members (3) Knowing patterns of family communication in transgender individuals. Several institutions in this study; (1). Open and appropriate communication for transgender individual families has self-construction with a gender role. So that the family and the social environment are able to provide the correct gender understanding and provide a variety of gender assignments are correct. (2) The inaccessible family communication of transgender individuals has self-construction with two gender stages. Dramaturgy on the frontstage of the true gender role will be released in the family environment, backstage will be displayed outside the family circle. (3) A linear and unusable pattern of communication in transgender individuals has many masks. Dramaturgy on the frontstage is enhanced on the video lot will be more difficult to correct the actual gender game. Keywords : transgender, self-construction, family communication


Plagiarism is taking credit for someone's intellectual work or ideas in assignments. It is an academically dishonest act. This tutorial defines plagiarism and helps increase skills to recognize and avoid plagiarism.


Abstract:In her book Towards a Natural Narratology, Fludernik defined narrativity through the notion of experientiality. This essay argues that, despite the success of Natural Narratology, the significance of experience has not yet been fully charted out in narratology. A look at philosophical discussions shows that experience need not be pitted against plot. The phenomenological tradition in particular has highlighted the temporal dimension of experience. Encompassing the temporal dynamics of narrative as well the role of consciousness, the concept of experience may help overcome some of the shortcomings of approaches that focus on fictional minds and tend to downplay plot.


With the implementation of "The Belt and Road" policy and increasing investment, there will be a large number of large-scaled construction projects (LSCP) in China. However, the comprehensive benefit of most LSCP is not satisfactory because of concerning more about the economic benefits. It makes the sustainability of LSCP concerned about. In order to ensure the sustainable development, the evaluation of the comprehensive benefit of LSCP should be carried out. Based on comprehensive literature review and content analysis, 30 influence factors of comprehensive benefit evaluation for LSCP are identified. The evaluation index system of 17 factors containing three subsystems of social, economic and environmental benefit is established through factor analysis. Entropy method is used to determine weights of each indicator, and then synthetic evaluation model is put up. This paper selects a practical case, Lieder Village reconstruction in Guangzhou, to calculate the synthetic evaluation value using fuzzy theory. The evaluation results are satisfactory and in line with reality. It shows that the evaluation index system and synthetic evaluation model has a certain reference value for analysis of comprehensive benefit and can help for enhancing the construction and management level of LSCP and promoting the sustainable development of LSCP.


Continuous measurements of the energy balance were made during the 1991 growing season over a dwarf willow-birch forest located near Churchill, Manitoba. Intensive measurements of stomatal conductance for several species were taken on three fair-weather days. These represented a wide range of air temperatures and leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficits and allowed the quantification of the surface-atmosphere interaction. Modelling evaporation on a 0-5 h basis can be performed accurately using a modified version of the Penman-Monteith combination model coupled to a submodel of stomatal conductance. With a vegetated surface cover of about 90 per cent at full leafing, vegetation plays an important role in the overall moisture flux because 80 per cent is a result of transpiration. Simulating various vegetation-change scenarios shows that species composition, through differences in stomatal behaviour, has a marked effect on evaporation.


Abstract. Immersive technologies like Virtual or Augmented Reality (VR/AR) are lately becoming more and more popular in wide range of scientific applications. These technologies provide the most immersive way to present spatial data such as point clouds or 3D models. This type of solutions also has significant potential for virtual presentation of cultural heritage. Combination of high-quality photogrammetric 3D models, virtual reality technologies and an advanced visualization engine may bring effect in the form of a nearly real-world experience which may be very useful in terms of popularization as well as research in the area of cultural heritage. In this paper we would like to present results of experimental approach to establish VR system for the Museum of King John III's Palace at Wilanów in Warsaw, Poland.


Debates about how coevolution of sexual traits and preferences might promote evolutionary diversification have permeated speciation research for over a century. Recent work demonstrates that the expression of such traits can be sensitive to variation in the social environment. Here, we examined social flexibility in a sexually selected male trait—cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles—in the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus and tested whether population genetic divergence predicts the extent or direction of social flexibility in allopatric populations. We manipulated male crickets' social environments during rearing and then characterized CHC profiles. CHC signatures varied considerably across populations and also in response to the social environment, but our prediction that increased social flexibility would be selected in more recently founded populations exposed to fluctuating demographic environments was unsupported. Furthermore, models examining the influence of drift and selection failed to support a role of sexual selection in driving population divergence in CHC profiles. Variation in social environments might alter the dynamics of sexual selection, but our results align with theoretical predictions that the role social flexibility plays in modulating evolutionary divergence depends critically on whether responses to variation in the social environment are homogeneous across populations, or whether gene by social environment interactions occur.


The floating-point implementation of a function on an interval often reduces to polynomial approximation, the polynomial being typically provided by Remez algorithm. However, the floating-point evaluation of a Remez polynomial sometimes leads to catastrophic cancellations. This happens when some of the polynomial coefficients are verysmall in magnitude with respects to others. In this case, it is better to force these coefficients to zero, which also reduces the operation count. This technique, classically used for odd or even functions, may be generalized to a much larger class of functions. An algorithm is presented that forces to zero the smaller coefficients of the initial polynomial thanks to a modified Remez algorithm targeting an incomplete monomial basis. One advantage of this technique is that it is purely numerical, the function being used as a numerical black box. This algorithm is implemented within a larger polynomial implementation tool that is demonstrated on a range of examples, resulting in polynomials with less coefficients than those obtained theusual way.


OpenAdap.net is an Open Source project aimed at breaking the barriers existing in the flow of data access and data processing. The infrastructure will make possible the dissemination of resources like knowledge, tools or data, their exposure to evaluation in ways that might be unanticipated and hence support the emergence of communities of users around a specific domain. The architecture is designed by analogy with a virtual distributed operating system in which the dynamic resources are presented as files in a structured virtual file system featuring ownership and access permissions. OpenAdap.net will be open to exploitation during Q3 2006 by networked organisations and alliances taking into account the vital issue of Internet security and privacy.


California's nursery and floral industry is the largest in the United States with a farm value for product sales totaling $3.78 billion in 2009. When floral and nursery product sales are combined, the industry ranks second among all California agricultural products, following the dairy industry. Production is in 55 of California's 58 counties, although 16 counties account for more than 87% of the value of production. San Diego County dominates the industry with annual sales over $1 billion in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Since its 2008 and 2009 sales increased while California's statewide sales decreased, San Diego County increased its share of California sales from 26% in 2007 to 30.3% in 2009. California is the largest single retail market for lawn and garden products in the United States, accounting for 7.6-10.4% of estimated total annual U.S. sales since 1997. Total 2009 California retail sales of lawn, garden, and floral products were estimated at more than $9.3 billion. The recession of 2008 and 2009 had a significant impact on retail sales and retail outlets. California florists' sales plunged almost 62%, from a high of $1.2 billion in 2007 to $461 million in 2009. Farm and garden store sales also decreased 25.3% from 2007 to 2009. A regional economic model is used to trace the direct, indirect, and induced effects of California nursery and floral production and lawn and garden retailing through the California economy.


Foodborne Campylobacter infections pose a serious threat to public health worldwide. However, the occurrence and characteristics of Campylobacter in food animals and products remain largely unknown in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and genetic profiles (sequence types, STs) of Campylobacter isolated from feces of pigs and dairy and beef cattle in Tanzania. Overall, 259 (~30%) of 864 samples were positive for Campylobacter spp, which were detected in 32.5, 35.4, and 19.6% of the pig, dairy, and beef cattle samples, respectively. Multiplex PCR analysis identified 64.5 and 29.3% of the Campylobacter isolates as C. coli and C. jejuni, respectively. The majority (91.9%) of the isolates from pig samples were identified as C. coli, while C. jejuni accounted for 65.5% of the isolates from cattle. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disk diffusion assay and the broth microdilution method revealed resistance to: ampicillin (Amp) (70.3% and 75.7%, respectively), gentamicin (Gen) (1.8% and 12.6%), streptomycin (Str) (65.8 and 74.8%), erythromycin (Ery) (41.4 and 48.7%), tetracycline (Tet) (18.9 and 23.4%), and ciprofloxacin (Cip) (14.4 and 7.2%). Resistance to nalidixic acid (Nal) (39.6%), azithromycin (Azm) (13.5%), and chloramphenicol (Chl) (4.5%) was determined using the disk diffusion assay only, while resistance to tylosin (Tyl) (38.7%) was quantified using the broth microdilution method. Multilocus sequence typing of 111 Campylobacter isolates resulted in the identification of 48 STs (26 C. jejuni and 22 C. coli) of which seven were novel (six C. jejuni and one C. coli). Taken together, this study revealed the high prevalence, genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter in important food animals in Tanzania, which highlights the urgent need for the surveillance and control of Campylobacter in this country.


In previous studies transcriptional intermediary factor 1alpha (TIF1alpha) was identified as a direct binding partner and potential transcriptional coactivator for nuclear receptors (NRs) but its overexpression inhibited, rather than enhanced, transcriptional activation by NRs. Here we show that TIF1alpha bound to and enhanced the function of the C-terminal activation domain (AD) of coactivator associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1) and the N-terminal AD of glucocorticoid receptor-interacting protein 1 (GRIP1). Furthermore, although TIF1alpha had little or no NR coactivator activity by itself, it cooperated synergistically with GRIP1 and CARM1 to enhance NR-mediated transcription. Inhibition of endogenous TIF1alpha expression reduced transcriptional activation by the GRIP1 N-terminal domain but not by the CARM1 C-terminal domain, suggesting that TIF1alpha may be more important for mediating the activity of the former than the latter. Reduction of endogenous TIF1alpha levels also compromised the androgen-dependent induction of an endogenous target gene of the androgen receptor. Finally, TIF1alpha formed a ternary complex with the GRIP1 N-terminal and CARM1 C-terminal domains. Thus, we conclude that TIF1alpha cooperates with NR coactivators GRIP1 and CARM1 by forming a stable ternary complex with them and enhancing the AD function of one or both of them.


The study evaluates the effects of phosphorus fertilizer on the growth, leaf and yield components of Sesamum radiatum under basal application of nitrogen fertilizer. The field experiments were carried out concurrently at two locations viz, experimental field of National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) Ibadan; Western region of Nigeria and Research Farm of the Bio-fuel and Alternate Renewable Energy Ltd., Edidi, Kwara State in the southern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria in 2014. Treatment consisted of four rates of phosphorus fertilizer (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 ) arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), replicated three times. Seeds were sown at inter and intra-row spacing of 50 x 40 cm. Results revealed that application of phosphorus fertilizer improved growth, leaf and yield components of Sesamum radiatum at the two locations. 90 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 and 60 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 proved to be optimum at Ibadan and Edidi respectively but the mean values of the two locations showed that 90 kg P 2 O 5  ha -1 was appropriate with basal application of 80 kg N ha -1 . Keywords:  Sesamum radiatum , Phosphorus fertilizer, Seed


Conclusion.The two imprints from Arpachiyah and Brak constitute the earliest evidence of the cultivation of Linum. Basing the evaluation of the collected material upon the seed dimensions we may establish two different lines, one pertaining to irrigated land and the other to natural precipitation (Table 8). The maximum seed length for the upland rainwatered areas is 4.03 mm, while for the irrigation areas the maximum lengths show progressive increase, viz., Ur, 4.39, Hama 4.76 and 4.94, Egypt 5.12, and Nimrud 6.20 mm, the last dimension calculated by adding one sixth to the length of the carbonized seeds. The other line proceeded from the foothill country in the East along unknown routes into Central Europe and shows for the first thousand years the following lengths: 3.84 (Switzerland), 3.90 (Italy), 3.84 (Holland), and 4.03 mm (England). In spite of any possible misjudgement by comparison of imprints with actual seeds the difference in length is so small that we must conclude that it is the same species that occurs all the way from Kurdistan to England. The Arpachiyah and Brak are unique not only by being the earliest of all, but also by having been established in the only area here discussed in which a wild species is distributed which stands up to all claims one might make on the progenitor of the cultivated Linum, in respect to general morphology and seed anatomy as well as chromosome number. Thus it seems justified to regard L. bienne as the progenitor of the cultivated L. usitatissimum, whether it is encountered in ancient Egypt or in the Swiss piledwellings. Thus also the Neolithic Swiss Linum may justly bear the specific name usitatissimum. There is, incidentally, no reason to expect that the early Near Eastern imprints will forever remain the earliest evidence; Linum bienne was surely domesticated long before the Halaf culture emerged.Following the propounded route of introduction of the Danish prehistoric Linum against the current, one arrives at the result that eastern Europe, which today is the centre of the world's flax production, was the direct source of the ancient Danish Linum. lts life form is as yet unknown because no material for study of roots and stems has been discovered in Danish prehistoric deposits. We know that the piledwelling Linum was winter-annual like its Near Eastern progenitor; the western branch of this group was presumably of the same biological type since on its way from Switzerland to England it cannot have passed through areas with a strikingly different climate which could have brought about a change in this respect. Thus we may reckon with all Central-Western European Linum having been winter-annual until otherwise proved, up to the time when the Hallstatt and LaTene influences during the first millennium B. C. broke down the regional barriers of the Bronze Age.On the Russian steppes, on the other hand, the summer is very hot but not dry enough to bring about premature ripening in Linum. Here the biological change-over may have taken place which caused the plant during a brief vegetation period to develop the simple stem with the long fibres beyond the hot irrigation lands. Consequently, the Danish lron Age Linum may have been summer-annual, but still it is worth considering the possibility that the striking racial difference revealed by the dimensions of the Østerbølle and the Alrum seeds is an indication of both biological types having been grown in Jutland at the same time.When and how the eastern European Linum reached its outpost cannot be suggested; it is for future research to solve this problem. The mapping out of the necessary route backwards to the south-east can be done only on the basis of new finds in the relevant areas, but even so it is tempting to try to picture the migrations within the obscure triangle Kurdistan-Switzerland-Poland:Agriculture reached Europe during the fifth millennium B. C., probably by coastal traffic from the eastern Mediterranean to the Aegean region, Greece and western Anatolia. One branch proceeded up along the Danube and to that we presumably owe the Central European Linum. Another may have gone north and skirted the west coast of the Black Sea into Russia, and here Linum found favourable conditions. During the first millennium B. C. the widespread Hallstatt migrations and infiltrations from Central Europe touched the Russian cultural area and among other innovations spread the Linum of the East which was probably summer-annual, to Central and Western Europe and Denmark. Even in our day, Poland, the former "Baltic Countries" and Central Russia constitute the core of the Linum cultivation of this continent and may thus be considered its optimum ecological region under European precipitation conditions.To paleoethnobotanical research the sporadic occurrence of traces of prehistoric Linum has hitherto presented an unsurmountable difficulty. The figures here compiled, and the constellation of finds seems to me to throw a new light on the dark path of the cultivated Linum, and, although the details of the problem are still unsolved, we have at least some indication of the direction of further endeavours. In collaboration the archaeologist and the botanist may achieve much by following this track, and instead of being a drawback to the understanding of its occurrence, this double-existence of Linum during European prehistory may prove to be a most valuable indicator of man's cultural relations in those far-off days.Hans Helbaek


An information system is typically developed by a team of information systems (IS) professionals. Research shows that teams staffed with the right people are more likely to be effective and efficient. There is a paucity of study that examines the important traits of IS professionals in team contexts. The objective of this research is to identify and understand the important characteristics of good team members in software development projects. We applied an established psychological technique (Repertory Grid) to guide our interviews with 21 experienced IS professionals, who have had extensive experience in software development teams. The comprehensive list of important characteristics was analysed qualitatively using open coding method of grounded theory. Fifty‐nine unique characteristics were identified and classified into eight categories. Among them, attitude/motivation, knowledge, interpersonal/communication skills, and working/cognitive ability were perceived by research participants to be the most important categories. Our study provides a context‐specific (i.e. software development team) evaluation of important characteristics of IS professionals. The results have significant implications for IS recruiting, IS training, IS staffing, and IS human resource management. Our study also supplements the research on management of IS development teams.


Effectiveness of cardiovascular drugs in the treatment of several cardiovascular diseases is widely demonstrated. These drugs may be the source of potentially serious adverse events in the old individuals and fear of these events may partly explain why beta-blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors are underused in elders with heart failure. Cardiovascular drugs should be prescribed using safe practices, including dose adjustment taking into account the renal function and the search for conditions like orthostatic hypotension or conduction disorders. Cardiovascular drugs prescribing must be done according to evidence-based medicine in the elderly. The doses must be adjusted individually, taking into account the objectives and target doses, as the individual parameters as creatinine clearance, hydration status, blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension.


ABSTRACT Within the domain of Information Systems, assumptions around sociotechnical change cohesively build on establishing a stable and balanced relationship between the social and technical structures. When these structures become too rigid, revolutionary moments that punctuate the status quo are required for the structures to accommodate to a new situation. Approaching sociotechnical change with "punctuation of equilibrium" is becoming increasingly ineffective. In line with rising instability and rapid digital development, we argue that new sociotechnical change approaches are needed. In this paper we investigate how individual knowledge workers respond to the increasingly complex challenges they face when orchestrating social and technical structures to support efficient and creative knowledge work. We suggest a new perspective that covers an unstable equilibrium emerging from the interplay between individuals and their usage of "the collection of rigid and flexible workplace technologies". Our study is based on data from interviews made with 40 knowledge professionals over a period of three years, inquiring into individual experiences with sociotechnical change. Our study reveals contradictory patterns of both technological-individualisation and -socialisation. A universal generative mechanism emerges when these patterns complement each other and generates continuous change that seems to diminish inertia from rigid structures while also intensifying agile responses.


Equiangular tight frames have applications in communications, signal processing, and coding theory. Previous work demonstrates that few real equiangular tight frames exist for most pairs (n,d). This work compares three stochastic solutions to the frame design problem, specifically, the problem of designing real equiangular tight frames by minimizing the subspace minor angle sum-squared error. Numerical experiments show that particle swarm optimization outperforms genetic algorithms and the cross-entropy method for equiangular tight frame constructions for pairs (d+1,d) with d less than nine and specific pairs (n,d) where an equiangular tight frame is known to exist.


Nurse practitioners (NPs) have become integral players in the current healthcare system. Some schools admit students with bachelor's degrees in other fields without prior nursing experience into accelerated BS-to-graduate NP programs. The purpose of this study is to examine healthcare providers' perceptions regarding these non-nurse college graduates (NNCGs) functioning as nurse practitioners. The literature review revealed no prior qualitative investigation examining healthcare providers' perceptions of NNCGs. This study elicited a textual response to an open-ended question. Criteria for inclusion included ages 21 and older and licensure in nursing (RN) or medicine (MD or DO). Fourteen textural responses were analyzed. An adaptation of Colaizzi's method of data analysis was used to extract and describe themes. The four thematic categories that emerged from the data included: "Role Complexity," "Experience as Teacher" "System Savvy," and "On the Plus Side," The results of this study will be used in the development of an instrument to be used in a quantitative investigation.


Large wood of oak trees (Quercus spp.) has resided in the streams and sediments of north Missouri, USA for many thousands of years. This wood affords the opportunity to compare a chronosequence of differences in wood density over a very long period. We analyzed the relationship between the age (residence time) and density of heartwood from oak boles using tree-ring and 14C dating methods and discuss their implications. The residence time of large oak wood (> 25 cm diameter) sampled in the streams and sediments ranged from less than 14 years to more than 12,320 years. The oak wood ranged in density from 0.82 g cm-3 for a tree that had recently fallen into the stream to 0.14 g cm-3 for ancient oak wood. Two regression equations relate age (residence time) and density of oak wood and explain 88 percent of the variance in the dependent variables. Equation 1, heartwood density = age, can be used for studies in carbon cycling, wood as invertebrate habitat, or other questions related to the density and ecology of wood in streams such as wood retention and export. Equation 2, age = heartwood density, can be used for estimating when oak wood was formed on a very coarse scale over many thousands of years.


In April 2009, the Chinese government unveiled a plan for a comprehensive overhaul of the country's medical system. This dramatic moment was preceded by public debate, as well as government introduction of forums for public participation, which allowed diverse social groups to provide feedback on the policymaking process. Tracing the origins and outcome of the debate and public participation, we ask whether this debate and participation go beyond consultation and could be regarded as deliberation. Finally, we attempt to evaluate whether this process could precipitate a democratic transition. We contend that the government introduced participatory forums for the purpose of conducting consultation, yet the design of the arenas for consultation created some space for limited deliberation. We conclude that this process is not likely to produce a democratic transition, but argue that it may contribute to better governance, as consultation may generate popular expectations for inclusion and responsiveness.


In order to investigate the role of infectious agents in the aetiology of lower respiratory tract disease in Thoroughbred racehorses, a matched case-control study was conducted. Cases were identified by the presence of coughing, and were compared to a control population matched on time of sample collection and location within the same training establishment. Tracheal wash samples were collected from 100 cases and 148 controls. Case horses were more likely than controls to have endoscopic and cytological evidence of airway inflammation. There was no significant association between serological evidence of infection by commonly implicated respiratory viruses and coughing. Similarly, mycoplasma were rarely isolated and were not associated with disease. In contrast, there was a strong association between isolation of greater than a total of 10(3) colony-forming units/ml of tracheal wash and coughing. Individual bacterial species associated with disease included Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus suis, Streptococcus sanguis, Pasteurella spp and Bordetella bronchiseptica. This study provides evidence of the role of bacterial infection in the aetiology of lower respiratory tract inflammation in racehorses. However, in 58% of cases, few or no bacteria were isolated. Hence, at the time of identification of disease, there was no evidence of viral, bacterial or mycoplasmal infection in the majority of coughing horses. The aetiology of the signs observed in these horses requires further investigation.


A bacterial strain C3 screened from the activated sludge was found capable of aerobic denitrification and the denitrifying capability of the strain was studied in batch culture under aerobic condition. The results showed that the nitrate in the culture could be efficiently removed by strain C3 and the nitrogen removal rate was up to above 90%. According to the morphological observation, physiological biochemical test and sequence analysis of the 16S rDNA, strain C3 was identified as Pseudomonas sp.. And the phylogentic position of the strain was performed based on the phylogenetic tree. The factors affecting aerobic denitrificatrion by strain C3 were also discussed. The results indicated that the most suitable temperature and pH value for aerobic denitrification were 30 degrees C and 7.0, respectively. The denitrification performance of strain C3 was almost not affected by the presence of oxygen and the strain C3 had a higher tolerance of dissolved oxygen concentration than other aerobic denitrifiers reported previously. The optimal C/N ratio was 5.5 - 6.0 and nearly complete denitrification can be obtained at the range of C/N ratio.


the aim of this study was to assess the relationship between low assertiveness and illicit drug use among high school students, and to determine which of the assertive characteristics such as behavioral control, recognition and acceptance of others, effective coping with problems and interpersonal differences, perceived self-efficacy in problem solving, verbal expression skills and positive affect in dealing with problems, acted as predictors of consumption. the research used a nonexperimental cross-sectional and ex post facto design. By means of a non-probabilistic sampling technique, 1492 high school students were selected from schools located in high risk areas for drug consumption and were surveyed through the Assertive Factors Assessment Scale [EFA for its Spanish acronym], validated with Mexican adolescent population. The students were divided in two groups, the illicit drug users and the non-drug users. after comparing the assertive characteristics between both groups, it was found that Non-drug users have more effective strategies for coping with problems, a perception of higher self-efficacy in solving problems, higher behavioral control, greater recognition and acceptance of others, better verbal expression skills and a more effective emotional management. it also found by logistic regression analysis that behavioral control and recognition and acceptance of others were factors most likely to serve as protective factors of illicit drug use. Results confirm the importance of communication skills, impulse control and emotional management for establishing more satisfying relationships and coping with access to tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs.


There have been analyzed the main quality parameters of 27 wheat samples from Romanian crops, of the years 2010 and 2011, namely: Humidity (%), Hectolitric mass (kg / hl), Falling number (sec), Protein content (%), Wet gluten content (%) and Gluten Index. Afterwards, the wheat samples were ground on the Chopen pilot-type mill and the al veografic parameters were determined from the resulting flour: Resistance (P, mm), Extensibility (L, mm), Mec hanical Work (W, 10E-4J), Elasticity index (Ie,%), Gluten Extensibility index and the P/L report. The wheat samples taken for analysis were scanned using a commercial scanner, at a resolution of 200 dpi. The obtained results were examined with a specific software, used for the analysis of ImageJ image. For each image we determined the color histogram with the specific parameters: R, G, B, Brightness and Fractal Dimension. Our results have shown highly significant correlations between the color histogram parameters (Brightness, R, G, B) and the alveografic parameters, namely: Resistance (-0.64< r < – 0.72), Mechanical work (- .62 < r < -0.64) and the P/L ratio (-0.62 < r < -0.68). No significant correlations were found between color parameters of the image analysis and the physical and chemical parameters of the wheat. Models of multiple regression have been described for the prediction of alveografic parameters P, W and P/L, based on the color parameters. The results suggest an interesting potential for including the image analysis in a coherent assessment procedure of the wheat, but in order to validate this conclusion, there are necessary further experimental researches.


A localization system to estimate the position as well as movement direction of mobile robots is proposed in this paper. This system implements a camera fixed on a robot and color patches evenly distributed and mounted on the planar ceiling. Different permutations of patch colors code information about robot localization. Thus, extraction of color information from patch images leads to estimation of robot position. Additionally, simple geometric indicators are combined with patch colors to estimate robot`s movement direction. Since only the distribution of patch colors has to be known, the analysis of patch images to is relatively fast and simple. The proposed robot localization system has been successfully tested for navigation of sample mobile robot. Obtained test results indicate the robustness and reliability of proposed technique for robot navigation.


ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the challenges embedded in the conflict between the right to accessible education, which implies a prohibition on discriminatory practices in school admission, and the right to adaptable education, which accommodates children's cultural affiliations. It shows that a normative lens, which examines the ways by which legal rules correspond to conflicting rights and interests, cannot fully capture the tension between legal prohibitions on discrimination in education and the sociocultural norms in religious communities. Thus, the paper offers a socio-legal lens, which focuses on the context of admission policies to Jewish religious schools. Based on three test cases of admission policies to Jewish religious schools in Israel, England, and Flanders, Belgium, the paper demonstrates how the legal rules regulating the admission policies are influenced by social forces. In Israel and England, these forces have facilitated a descent down slippery slope, originating with religious criteria, but concluding with discriminatory criteria. They also shaped admission practices reflecting the asymmetric power relations between the institutional school systems and individual families. The paper highlights the benefits of the Belgian policy, which proscribes religious classification of school candidates. This policy circumvents the ambiguous distinction between religion, ethnicity, and social class, and expands educational choices.


The successful management of cancer-related nausea and vomiting is dependent upon many factors. An understanding of the various pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions serve as the foundation for symptom control. The most important variable, however, is the nurse's commitment to alleviate these symptoms. Such commitment requires flexibility, tenacity, and a willingness to serve as a patient advocate. Regardless of the care setting, the nurse remains in a pivotal position to facilitate the optimal management of symptoms. Tremendous opportunities exist for nurses to collaborate across a variety of settings in order to ensure continuity. Such continuity enhances patient care but most important assures individuals (and their significant others) that their history is known and that they do not have to fear poor emetic control because of caregiver ignorance. The ability to initiate or support behavioral interventions demonstrates the nurse's commitment to holistic care. Such holism is the foundation and reward of cancer nursing practice.


L. ZHANG, J. XU AND R. G. BIRCH. 1998. Albicidins are important factors in systemic pathogenesis by Xanthomonas albilineans, which causes the devastating leaf scald disease of sugar cane. They are also of substantial interest as antibiotics that selectively block prokaryote DNA replication. Albicidin biosynthesis is highly sensitive to medium composition. An optimized, chemically defined medium (SMG3) yielded 30‐fold more albicidin from half the accumulated biomass, relative to sucrose peptone (SP) medium. Phosphate starvation stimulated albicidin production in SMG3 and SP media. Addition of other amino acids, ammonium ions or peptones to the defined medium increased the growth rate of X. albilineans XA3, but differentially inhibited albicidin biosynthesis. Knowledge of these factors indicates new approaches to understanding mechanisms of pathogenesis and resistance to sugar cane leaf scald disease, and to strain improvement for production of albicidin antibiotics.


We treated 28 cases of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with neutropenia by very low-dose GM-CSF (0.25 or 0.5 micrograms/kg/day). Median age was 69 years. Nine patients had RA, 18 had RAEB, and one had RARS. Eighteen patients had absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) < or = 0.5 x 10(9)/l, and ten had ANC between 0.5 and 1.0 x 10(9)/l. Ten patients had experienced > or = WHO grade II infection(s) during the preceding 3 months. Eighteen patients (64%) had a response (i.e. ANC at least doubled and > or = 1 x 10(9)/l after 1 month), including 4/8 patients treated at 0.25 mu/kg/day, and 14/20 treated at 0.5 microgram/kg/day (difference not significant). Two of the non-responders obtained a response after dose escalation to 0.5 and 1 microgram/kg/day, respectively. The only prognostic factor of response was FAB subtype (10/11 responses in patients with RA or RARS, vs. 8/17 in RAEB, p = 0.04). Patients with ANC < or = 0.5 x 10(9)/l had a 55% (10/18) response rate, which was not significantly lower than the 80% (8/10) response rate observed in patients with ANC > 0.5 x 10(9)/l. Side-effects were generally moderate, except in three patients where the drug had to be discontinued, including the only patient who progressed to AML. In responders, GM-CSF was continued during 2 to 14 months (median 6), and the response persisted in all but one case, who relapsed after 60 days of treatment. During follow-up, only one responder had > or = WHO grade II infections, as compared to five of the non-responders (of whom two had fatal infectious episodes). In conclusion, very low-dose GM-CSF can durably increase ANC in about two thirds of MDS with neutropenia. Although it remains to be shown in randomized trials that it can reduce the incidence of infections and improve survival in MDS, very low-dose GM-CSF may be an interesting approach in MDS, associated to reasonable cost.


Pleurotus sajor-caju, a nutrient rich mushroom was cultivated on four different substrates, viz. Paddy straw, Wheat straw, Apple leaf and Chinar leaf substrates. It was observed that its yield or biological efficiency was maximum on Paddy straw followed by Wheat straw, Apple leaves and Chinar leaves. It was also observed that P. sajor-caju gave the maximum yield in the first flush followed by second, third and fourth flush except in case of Chinar leaves where the yield obtained in second flush was comparatively higher than first flush.


In the paper the modeling and the analysis of the multi-class traffic flow focusing on the cruising of the look-ahead controlled vehicles are presented. The look-ahead controlled vehicles optimize their speed profile based on the energy consumption and traveling time minimization performances, considering the forthcoming terrain characteristics, speed limits and traffic environment. Therefore, the speed profile of the look-ahead controlled vehicles can significantly differ from the speed selection strategy of the conventional vehicles. The increasing number of cruise controlled vehicles can modify the dynamics of the traffic, the average speed and the critical density/speed parameters. Moreover, the cruising of the numerous look-ahead controlled vehicles can have an impact on the energy consumption of the vehicles in the entire traffic. The paper presents the modeling and analysis of the mixed-traffic based on various simulation scenarios. During the analysis VISSIM software is used, with which the effect of the look-ahead vehicles on the traffic is examined. The contribution of the paper can be used in the coordination of the look-ahead controlled vehicles and traffic control systems. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 20th EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting.