We examine a model of a perfect competitive homogeneous good market with a network structure. Such a structure is typically important for energy resources: natural gas, oil and electricity. Local markets are connected by transmission lines with limited capacities and given cost functions for capacity increments. We consider the total welfare optimization problem and provide a method that determines optimal investments in the transmission system expansion for some types of the networks. In particular, we study the case where the market is divided into two submarkets with binding transmission line flow constraints between the submarkets. We obtain efficient algorithms for determination of the transmission systems optimal expansion. We conclude with the impact of the results and the outlook to future studies.


A child was born at the 37th week of pregnancy with hydrops fetalis. Hydramnios and hydrothorax had been proven by fetal ultrasonography. No fetal or maternal etiology was found. At age 4 days, at the beginning of enteral nutrition, the pleural effusion became characteristic of chylothorax. Recovery occurred after 2 weeks of parenteral nutrition. Chylothorax might be an unrecognized etiology of non immune hydrops fetalis. The relationships between both conditions and the interest of prenatal treatment are discussed.


We propose an approach to discover class-specific pixels for the weakly-supervised semantic segmentation task. We show that properly combining saliency and attention maps allows us to obtain reliable cues capable of significantly boosting the performance. First, we propose a simple yet powerful hierarchical approach to discover the class-agnostic salient regions, obtained using a salient object detector, which otherwise would be ignored. Second, we use fully convolutional attention maps to reliably localize the class-specific regions in a given image. We combine these two cues to discover class-specific pixels which are then used as an approximate ground truth for training a CNN. While solving the weakly supervised semantic segmentation task, we ensure that the image-level classification task is also solved in order to enforce the CNN to assign at least one pixel to each object present in the image. Experimentally, on the PASCAL VOC12 val and test sets, we obtain the mIoU of 60.8% and 61.9%, achieving the performance gains of 5.1% and 5.2% compared to the published state-of-the-art results. The code is made publicly available.


BACKGROUND
The aims of this study have been elaborated below: (1) to enumerate the common causes of acute abdominal emergencies by ultrasonography in paediatric patients; (2) to establish the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasonography in evaluation of acute abdominal conditions in children and to illustrate the associated ultrasonographic findings; (3) and, to discuss the role of ultrasonography in guiding the mode of intervention in these cases.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
This prospective study of ultrasonographic examination in 146 paediatric patients presenting with acute onset abdominal pain at the emergency/paediatric outpatient department section of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College & Hospital, Aligarh, between June 2006 and December 2007, using 3.75 MHz and 8 MHz transducers of the ADARA (Siemens) machine.

RESULTS
Common causes of acute abdominal emergencies in pediatric patients as noted on ultrasonography included nonspecific pain (28%), abdominal abscess (21%), acute appendicitis (7%) and intussusception (7%). Ultrasonography was diagnostic in 45.2% cases and supportive in 12.3% of the cases. As for as the final outcome, ultrasonography prevented surgery in almost 20% cases and laparotomy was avoided in 7% of the patients as ultrasound guided interventions in the form of abscess aspiration were carried out.

CONCLUSION
Ultrasonography evaluation of children with acute abdominal pain, helps in making significant changes in the management plan of the patients, and also reveals various clinically unsuspected diseases.


The transcription factor MYC has fundamental roles in proliferation, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, and stem cell pluripotency. Over the last 30 years extensive information has been gathered on the numerous cofactors that interact with MYC and the target genes that are regulated by MYC as a means of understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling its diverse roles. Despite significant advances and perhaps because the amount of information learned about MYC is overwhelming, there has been little consensus on the molecular functions of MYC that mediate its critical biological roles. In this perspective, the major MYC cofactors that regulate the various transcriptional activities of MYC, including canonical and noncanonical transactivation and transcriptional repression, will be reviewed and a model of how these transcriptional mechanisms control MYC-mediated proliferation, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis will be presented. The basis of the model is that a variety of cofactors form dynamic MYC transcriptional complexes that can switch the molecular and biological functions of MYC to yield a diverse range of outcomes in a cell-type- and context-dependent fashion.


PURPOSE
Although many outcome prediction models based on dose-volume information have been proposed, it is well known that the prognosis may be affected also by multiple clinical factors. The purpose of this study is to predict the survival time after radiotherapy for high-grade glioma patients based on features including clinical and dose-volume histogram (DVH) information.

METHODS
A total of 35 patients with high-grade glioma (oligodendroglioma: 2, anaplastic astrocytoma: 3, glioblastoma: 30) were selected in this study. All patients were treated with prescribed dose of 30-80 Gy after surgical resection or biopsy from 2006 to 2013 at The University of Tokyo Hospital. All cases were randomly separated into training dataset (30 cases) and test dataset (5 cases). The survival time after radiotherapy was predicted based on a multiple linear regression analysis and artificial neural network (ANN) by using 204 candidate features. The candidate features included the 12 clinical features (tumor location, extent of surgical resection, treatment duration of radiotherapy, etc.), and the 192 DVH features (maximum dose, minimum dose, D95, V60, etc.). The effective features for the prediction were selected according to a step-wise method by using 30 training cases. The prediction accuracy was evaluated by a coefficient of determination (R2 ) between the predicted and actual survival time for the training and test dataset.

RESULTS
In the multiple regression analysis, the value of R2 between the predicted and actual survival time was 0.460 for the training dataset and 0.375 for the test dataset. On the other hand, in the ANN analysis, the value of R2 was 0.806 for the training dataset and 0.811 for the test dataset.

CONCLUSION
Although a large number of patients would be needed for more accurate and robust prediction, our preliminary Result showed the potential to predict the outcome in the patients with high-grade glioma. This work was partly supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program(No. 23003) and Grant-in-aid from the JSPS Fellows.


In the article by Huits and colleagues (1), the authors report someminor corrections. The country of exposure for one of the patients was Comoros, not Cambodia. Changes have therefore been made to the abstract and Results section to correct the count and frequency of exposure in Southeast Asia (Cambodia) from 21 patients (24%) to 20 patients (23%). Table 2 describes the demographic characteristics, travel details, and medical history of patients with complicated dengue reported to GeoSentinel, 2007–2022, and now shows that the region of exposure was Southeast Asia for 20 patients (23%) and subSaharan Africa for 11 patients (13%). Appendix Table 1 lists the countries of dengue virus exposure among patients reported to GeoSentinel, 2007–2022, and now shows the corrected counts per country (Cambodia, 3 patients [4%], and Comoros, 2 patients [2%]). The reason for travel for 1 patient listed as "visiting friends and relatives"was changed to "plannedmedical care"; for another patient, "unknown travel reason" was changed to "migration." These corrections changed the denominator for reason for travel, causing the proportion for tourism listed in the abstract and Results section to change from 46% to 45%; the counts and frequencies of travel to visit friends and relatives among cases changed from 27 patients (32%) to 26 patients (30%). Table 2 was changed accordingly and now shows a corrected denominator for reason for travel of 86 ("missing data, 1 [1%]" was removed). Also in Table 2, tourism as a reason for travel was corrected to 45% and visiting friends and relatives was corrected to 26 patients (30%). "Planned medical care" (1 patient [1%]) and "migration" (1 patient [1%]) were also added as reasons for travel. In addition, a random error in classifying the reason for travel for a secondary dengue case was corrected; "student travel" was changed to "migration." "Migration" was added to reasons for travel under the Secondary Infection column in Appendix Table 2, which lists the baseline characteristics and frequencies of warning signs and criteria of severity in primary and secondary dengue virus infections reported to GeoSentinel, 2007–2022. Appendix Table 2 now shows the following data reported as count/number of records available for analysis (percentage) under reasons for travel in the Secondary Infection column: tourism, 1/12 (8%); business, 3/12 (25%); visiting friends and relatives, 5/12 (42%); humanitarian aid/missionary/volunteer, 1/12 (8%); student, 0/12 (0%); expatriate, 1/12 (8%); andmigration, 1/12 (8%). Lastly, the affiliation for author Federico Gobbi, MD, PhD, has been changed to remove "Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy." It now reads "IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Verona, Italy." None of these revisions substantively changed the results or conclusions of this article.


Moderate thrombocytopenia is a frequent finding in cirrhosis of the liver and well tolerated in most instances. The pathophysiology of thrombocytopenia in liver disease has long been associated with the concept of hypersplenism, where portal hypertension was thought to cause pooling and sequestration of all corpuscular elements of the blood, predominantly thrombocytes in the enlarged spleen. The concept of hypersplenism was never proven beyond any doubt but was widely accepted for the lack of alternative explanations. With the discovery of the lineage-specific cytokine thrombopoietin (TPO) the missing link between hepatocellular function and thrombopoiesis was found. TPO is predominantly produced by the liver and constitutively expressed by hepatocytes. TPO production in humans is dependent on functional liver cell mass and is reduced when liver cell mass is severely damaged. This leads to reduced thrombopoiesis in the bone marrow and consequently to thrombocytopenia in the peripheral blood of patients with advanced-stage liver disease. With recombinant TPOs in development, patients with liver disease and TPO seem to be the ideal target population for this drug. Once the efficacy of thrombopoietin in patients with liver disease is proven, a potent yet safe drug may be available to treat cirrhotic patients undergoing invasive or surgical procedures, during bleeding episodes or when undergoing therapy with myelosuppressive drugs such as interferon-alpha.


The inaccuracy of the array amplitude, phase and location is formulated as a tolerance problem, and the mutual coupling is computed by the moment method. An accurate optimum design method for parallel dipole array is presented. The factors affecting the realizable high performance of the antenna are discussed and mathematically formulated. For the parallel dipole array, the worst-case tolerance optimization method is used for the design and the mutual coupling effect is considered by means of a transformation.


The ongoing development of digital television to provide hundreds of channels, plus the provision of Internet services through domestic televisions with interactivity via the subscribers' telephone line (or very soon, return satellite signal) is but the beginning of a process of integration between television and Internet services that heralds new dimensions to entertainment and e-commerce. The advent of mass home storage technology: personal video recorders (PVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD), also heralds a related revolution (www.durlacher.com). In most countries, mass culture is still driven by television rather than the Internet, and thus changes in access to the former remain much more influential. Even if all this only heralds a further dumbing-down of the mass media, what could it mean for forms of e-learning such as educational broadcasting or online learning? The article reports on some of the leading-edge developments and seeks to provide insights into the impact that the integration of television and video with Internet protocols will have on the provision of educational opportunities, and how educators might prepare themselves and their institutions for the revolution ahead.


The choice of a human body model for a simulated automotive impact scenario must take into account both accurate model response and computational efficiency as key factors. This study presents a "modular numerical human body modeling" approach which allows the creation of a customized human body model of a 50th percentile male (size and weight), where the various body parts are modeled with different levels of complexity (multi-body and finite element) and can be easily swapped depending on the application. Implementation of this modeling technique has been performed by modularizing the MADYMO facet human body model, with focus on the pelvis and legs. Two component models have been attached: (1) a detailed facet pelvis and leg model of increased complexity, and (2) a full finite element pelvis and leg model. All models were subjected to various pendulum impacts for validation of the modular components and analysis of the resulting computational benefits. Copyright © 2007 SAE International.


Accurate and robust real-time map generation onboard of a fixed-wing UAV is essential for obstacle avoidance, path planning, and critical maneuvers such as autonomous take-off and landing. Due to the computational constraints, the required robustness and reliability, it remains a challenge to deploy a fixed-wing UAV with an online-capable, accurate and robust map generation framework. While photogrammetric approaches have underlying assumptions on the structure and the view of the camera, generic simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approaches are computationally demanding. This paper presents a framework that uses the autopilot's state estimate as a prior for sliding window bundle adjustment and map generation. Our approach outputs an accurate geo-referenced dense point-cloud which was validated in simulation on a synthetic dataset and on two real-world scenarios based on ground control points.


OBJECTIVE: Antipsychotic medications are used by increasing numbers of women of reproductive age. The safety of these medications during pregnancy has not been well described. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of the adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes associated with exposure to antipsychotics during pregnancy. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Reprotox, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched to identify potential studies for inclusion. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: Case–control or cohort studies estimating adverse birth outcomes associated with antipsychotic exposure during pregnancy were included. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were used for dichotomous outcomes and weighted mean differences were used for neonatal birth weight and gestational age. Thirteen cohort studies, including 6,289 antipsychotic-exposed and 1,618,039 unexposed pregnancies, were included. TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: Antipsychotic exposure was associated with an increased risk of major malformations (absolute risk difference [ARD] 0.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.00–0.05, P=.04, Z=2.06), heart defects (ARD 0.01, 95% CI 0.00–0.01, P<.001, Z=3.44), preterm delivery (ARD 0.05, 95% CI 0.03–0.08, P<.001, Z=4.10), small-for-gestational-age births (ARD 0.05, 95% CI 0.02–0.09, P=.006, Z=2.74), elective termination (ARD 0.09, 95% CI 0.05–0.13, P<.001, Z=4.69), and decreased birth weight (weighted mean difference −57.89 g, 95% CI −103.69 to −12.10 g, P=.01). There was no significant difference in the risk of major malformations (test for subgroup differences: &khgr;²=0.07, degrees of freedom=1, P=.79) between typical (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.21–1.99, P=.006) and atypical (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.66–2.93, P=.38) antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotic exposure was not associated with risk of large-for-gestational-age births, stillbirth, and spontaneous abortion. Although antipsychotic exposure during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes, this association does not necessarily imply causation. This analysis was limited by the small number of included studies and limited adjustment in studies for possible confounders. CONCLUSION: Women requiring antipsychotic treatment during pregnancy appear at higher risk of adverse birth outcomes, regardless of causation, and may benefit from close monitoring and minimization of other potential risk factors during pregnancy.


Monthly mean wind fields from the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS1) scatterometer are presented. A banded structure which resembles the satellite subtrack is clearly and consistently apparent in the isotachs as well as the u and v components of the rou- tinely produced fields. The structure also appears in the means of data from other polar-orbit- ing satellites and instruments. An experiment is designed to trace the cause of the banded structure. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts gridded surface wind analyses are used as a control set. These analyses are also sampled with the ERS1 temporal- spatial sampling pattern to form a simulated scatterometer wind set. Both sets are used to cre- ate monthly averages. The banded structures appear in the monthly mean simulated data but do not appear in the control set. It is concluded that the source of the banded structure lies in the spatial and temporal sampling of the polar-orbiting satellite which results in undersam- pling. The problem involves multiple timescales and space scales, oversampling and under- sampling in space, aliasing in the time and space domains, and preferentially sampled variability. It is shown that commonly used spatial smoothers (or filters), while producing visually pleasing results, also significantly bias the true mean. A three-dimensional spatial- temporal interpolator is designed and used to determine the mean field. It is found to produce satisfactory monthly means from both simulated and real ERS1 data. The implications to cli- mate studies involving polar-orbiting satellite data are discussed.


In this paper, the reliability of computation of ON/OFF-programmable cellular nonlinear networks (CNNs) is analyzed. This paper redefines the classical concept of robustness (tolerance to physical imperfections) in ON/OFF-programmable CNNs so that it can be used to predict the computation reliability of a physical realization. Also, a systematic approach to improve robustness is described, and guidelines for optimizing reliability with the given resources are given. Random mismatch is identified as the main source of errors in a physical realization. At the presence of random mismatch, we describe the probability of a cell producing an error with specific inputs and the error probability when processing random data. In addition, we show how the error probability could be defined in case the cell needs to work correctly with all possible input combinations.


Under conditions of applicability, the rules of legal systems can be branded as invalid or valid. On the other hand, the ?unfair? qualifying for standards, the legal and political systems has become an element of external rating, then, given the potential ambiguity of the term ?justice?, its use was avoided to not fall into subjectivism due the principles of legality and legal certainty. However, the history of legal systems, attached to a political and legal culture, has demonstrated the existence of legal regulations on unfair end. With an analytical, synthetic, and pragmatic methodology, from the kind of research that warrants the Philosophy of Law, the extremely unfair law formula will be discussed and the way to generalize it will be examined from the claim of universality of human rights.


This paper proposes a comprehensive approach for bulk power system reliability assessment. Specifically, a framework of security-constrained adequacy evaluation (SCAE) based on analytical techniques is developed to assess the ability of a bulk power system to supply electric load while satisfying security constraints. This approach encompasses three main steps: (a) critical contingency selection, (b) effects analysis, and (c) reliability index computation. Based on an advanced single-phase quadratized power flow, a state linearization approach is developed to improve contingency selection accuracy, and a non-divergent optimal quadratized power flow (NDOQPF) algorithm is proposed to perform contingency effects analysis realistically and efficiently while assuring the convergence of power flow solution. The NDOQPF algorithm is also capable of solving the RTO/ISO operational model in the deregulated environment. In addition, a breaker-oriented system network model is developed, based on which the SCAE framework can include the effects of protection system hidden failures on bulk power system reliability as well. The comprehensive approach is demonstrated with IEEE reliability test systems.


IN RECENT years there has been a growing tendency among members of professional groups to advise and even urge early institutionalization of mentally subnormal children, especially the Mongoloids. The resultant pressure brought to bear on institutions for the mentally subnormal has forced those facilities to accept and provide for infants, many only a few days old. It is the purpose of this paper to point out that such advice may not only be ill advised but may even be harmful to both the parents and the child. Every administrator of such an institution has had the experience of interviewing a distraught and frantic father whose wife has just given birth to a Mongoloid child. Too often he has been urged by the attending physician to take immediate steps toward institutionalization. He has been warned, for example, that should the child be taken home, the normal strong attachment between mother and


Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer desire peer support and require support programs that address their unique needs. This study investigated the need for, and barriers to, peer support and preferences for digital peer navigation among AYA. A cross-sectional survey was administered to AYA, diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15–39, at a cancer center and through social media. Descriptive summary statistics were calculated. Participants (n = 436) were on average 31.2 years (SD = 6.3), 3.3 years since-diagnosis (SD = 3.8), and 65% (n = 218) were women. Over three-quaters (n = 291, 76.6%) desired peer support from cancer peers, but 41.4% (n = 157) had not accessed peer support. Main access barriers were: Inconvenience of in-person support groups (n = 284, 76.1%), finding AYA with whom they could relate (n = 268, 72.4%), and finding AYA-specific support programs (n = 261, 70.4%). Eighty-two percent (n = 310) desired support from a peer navigator through a digital app, and 63% (n = 231) were interested in being a peer navigator. Participants indicated a greater need for emotional (n = 329, 90.1%) and informational support (n = 326, 89.1%) than companionship (n = 284, 78.0%) or practical support (n = 269, 73.6%) from a peer navigator. Foremost peer matching characteristics were cancer-type (n = 329, 88.4%), specific concerns (n = 317, 86.1%), and age-at-diagnosis (n = 316, 86.1%). A digital peer navigation program was desired by over 80% of a large Canadian sample of AYA and could potentially overcome the barriers AYA experience in accessing peer support. The design of a peer navigation program for AYA should consider the matching characteristics and multidimensional support needs of AYA.


Developmental Dyslexia (DD) is a complex, cognitive disorder which is characterised by an impairment in reading despite adequate educational, motivational and intellectual opportunities. Family and twin studies have shown that this common neurodevelopmental disorder has a highly heritable component. The aim of this thesis was to identify novel susceptibility variants for DD using several approaches. A candidate gene study was conducted, testing variants within the genes CDC42, PRTG, KIAA0319L, DCDC2b and RIOK3 for association with DD in the Cardiff case-control sample. None of the variants within these genes showed a significant association withDD. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted in collaboration with other groups as part of the NeuroDys consortium, using DD cases from Europe and population controls. 27 of the most significant SNPs identified were selected and genotyped in a larger replication sample. 8 of these showed a significant association with DD, with the most interesting SNPs within the gene SNX29. An additional GWAS was conducted by the NeuroDys consortium in the form of a pooling study using a larger array. 38 of the most significant SNPs identified were selected for individual genotyping after which 14 remained significant, with the most interesting within the genes TMC1 and WDR78. Another GWAS was conducted in the form of a pooling study using the Cardiff cases and screened controls only. 57 of the most significant SNPs identified were selected for individual genotyping of which 54 remained significant. This study highlighted a number of interesting genes and demonstrated the effect of using a homogeneous case-control sample when conducting pooling studies. Analysis of copy number variants (CNVs) was also conducted using data from the initial NeuroDys GWAS. This study highlighted the technical issues that can affect the outcome of such studies. As such, the CNVs in this study need to be validated before these results can be relied upon. To conclude, some interesting variants have been identified in this thesis but further work is required to confirm these findings.


A battery-powered miniaturized electroporation (EP) system was designed and fabricated to tackle the challenging DNA transfection of stem cells. The system consists of a programmable mini-electroporator and a micro EP chip. Large statistical data of loading efficiency for five different size molecules and cell viability were determined under various voltage and duration in this system for HeLa cell and MEF cell line. Based on more than 2,000 single-cell electroporation experiments, an EP phase diagram for MEF cells have been generated for the first time. It can be used to significantly increase the in-situ gene transfer efficiency. In addition, the EP boundary curve for MEF cells can be described by a simple empirical formula. Comparing to the conventional instrument, the miniaturized electroporation system can greatly shorten the experimental time. We also proposed a new system for continuous online monitoring in-situ gene expression, which is still in progress,


When used within 11 weeks of diet "cafeteria diet" in spontaneously-hypertensive animals could lead to an increase in systolic blood pressure by 9%, sustained hyperglycemia, increased blood concentrations of triglycerides and cholesterol, as well as an increase in the relative content of visceral fat. In normotensive animals line Wistar-Kyoto prolonged use of "cafeteria diet" was accompanied only by an increase in blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides. Thus, the spontaneously hypertensive animals, the application of high-calorie diet demonstrated by three criteria pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome: hyperglycemia, hypertension and visceral obesity, which allows you to use the model for the study of drugs aimed at treatment of metabolic syndrome.


The aim of our present study is to assess the estrous cycle of mice fed refined high sugar diet (fructose), unrefined high sugar diet (palm jagerry), unrefined oil diet (unrefined sesame oil), refined oil (refined sesame oil) diet. Thirty Female albino mice of age, 21 days were randomly divided into five groups. The mice are fed unrefined high sugar diet, refined high sugar diet, unrefined oil diet, refined oil diet taps water ad libitum. The stage of the cyclist was determined by daily observation of vaginal smear. It was observed that mice fed high fructose diet shows significant decrease in the number of estrous cycle with concomitant significant increase in the duration of diestrus phase. Alterations in estrous cycle were also observed in metestrus and diestrus phases of unrefined and refined oil diet group mice. The present study concludes that mice fed refined high sugar diet exhibit irregular cycle.


The use of photochromes for the implementation of molecular logic operations is a very promising approach toward molecular computing. This statement is based on a) the possibility of operating such molecular devices exclusively with photonic signals and b) spatiotemporally and remotely controlled switching, which is characteristic for photochromes. Herein, a brief overview of the application of simple photochromes and multi-photochromic conjugates for the small-scale functional integration of complicated logic circuits is given. This complements and extends efforts to design molecular photochromic memories for data storage described by many research groups worldwide.


Despite recent evidence suggesting that adult trematodes require oxygen for the generation of bioenergy and eggshells, information on the molecular mechanism by which the parasites acquire oxygen remains largely elusive. In this study, the structural and expressional features of globin genes identified in Clonorchis sinensis, a carcinogenic trematode parasite that invades the hypoxic biliary tracts of mammalian hosts, were investigated to gain insight into the molecules that enable oxygen metabolism. The number of globin paralogs substantially differed among parasitic platyhelminths, ranging from one to five genes, and the C. sinensis genome encoded at least five globin genes. The expression of these Clonorchis genes, named CsMb (CsMb1—CsMb3), CsNgb, and CsGbX, according to their preferential similarity patterns toward respective globin subfamilies, exponentially increased in the worms coinciding with their sexual maturation, after being downregulated in early juveniles compared to those in metacercariae. The CsMb1 protein was detected throughout the parenchymal region of adult worms as well as in excretory-secretory products, whereas the other proteins were localized exclusively in the sexual organs and intrauterine eggs. Stimuli generated by exogenous oxygen, nitric oxide (NO), and nitrite as well as co-incubation with human cholangiocytes variously affected globin gene expression in live C. sinensis adults. Together with the specific histological distributions, these hypoxia-induced patterns may suggest that oxygen molecules transported by CsMb1 from host environments are provided to cells in the parenchyma and intrauterine eggs/sex organs of the worms for energy metabolism and/or, more importantly, eggshell formation by CsMb1 and CsMb3, respectively. Other globin homologs are likely to perform non-respiratory functions. Based on the responsive expression profile against nitrosative stress, an oxygenated form of secreted CsMb1 is suggested to play a pivotal role in parasite survival by scavenging NO generated by host immune cells via its NO dioxygenase activity.


Parent Management Training (PMT) has been shown to be an empirically supported intervention in ameliorating antisocial behaviour problems. Less evidence is available to demonstrate the effectiveness of PMT in routine public-health-oriented community-based settings where the presence of comorbid disorders complicates the picture. The current study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of PMT as a treatment for primary school-age children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and comorbid disorders offered by clinical staff as part of clinical practice. An Australian sample of 94 parents of children diagnosed with ODD by structured interview was provided with eight sessions of PMT. Measures used to assess changes in child behaviour symptoms were the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, the Parent Stress Index Child Domain, and the Child Behavior Checklist. Clinically relevant and statistically significant outcome results were found at posttreatment and at 5 months follow-up. There was a reduction in child symptomatology but no evidence of any effect of comorbidity on outcome. These findings are important for the clinical field as they show that PMT is a robust intervention suitable for routine clinical practice even when comorbid disorders are present in addition to ODD.


There is a tremendous growth in Indian power system since independence in 1947. An indicator of the growth is the Installed generating capacity which has increased from 1362 MW in December'1947 to - 1,15,000 MW by end of 2004. Indian power system has a hierarchical system. It consists of distribution Utilities i.e. State Electricity Boards (SEB)/Private companies, Central transmission utilities, Central Generation utility and Independent Power Producers; all combined together form the Regional Power System. Seeing the vast geographical stretch of India, there are five such regions. They are namely Northern Region, Southern Region, Eastern, Western Region and North Eastern Region. These Regional Grids have problems primarily due to insufficient installed generating and transmission capacity and is further aggravated because of inadequate reactive power compensation resulting in prolonged low/high voltage operations. High complexity of power system under resource deficit condition makes the interconnected Grid Operation a great challenge. POWERGRID, in the capacity of Central Transmission Utility (CTU) is entrusted the responsibility of Regional Grid Operation and has taken up this challenging task of maintaining the quality of bulk supply in the Region with inadequate margins in generation and transmission. POWERGRID has implemented the concept of Unified Load Despatch and Communication (ULDC) Schemes for reliable and integrated operation of regional grids. This scheme has already been implemented in Northern, Southern and North-Eastern Regional grids while it is under implementation in other Regions.


Deep neural networks are increasingly being used for the analysis of medical images. However, most works neglect the uncertainty in the model's prediction. We propose an uncertainty-aware deep kernel learning model which permits the estimation of the uncertainty in the prediction by a pipeline of a Convolutional Neural Network and a sparse Gaussian Process. Furthermore, we adapt different pre-training methods to investigate their impacts on the proposed model. We apply our approach to Bone Age Prediction and Lesion Localization. In most cases, the proposed model shows better performance compared to common architectures. More importantly, our model expresses systematically higher confidence in more accurate predictions and less confidence in less accurate ones. Our model can also be used to detect challenging and controversial test samples. Compared to related methods such as Monte-Carlo Dropout, our approach derives the uncertainty information in a purely analytical fashion and is thus computationally more efficient.


Three Banksia spp. accounted for 80% of the aerial biomass of scrub-heath on deep sand. Reproductive structures contributed relatively more than leaves or stems to biomass of a non-sprouting Banksia, which also retained most of its dead leaves, than to the two resprouting species. Sclerophyllous hemicryptophytes accounted for only 1% of the aerial biomass. Litter contributed 19% of above-ground dead plus live phytomass and was poorly decomposed. The overall root f shoot ratio, to a depth of 2.5 m, was a high 2.35. Rootstocks, laterals and proteoid roots made major contributions to below-ground phytomass even though they were confined to the uppermost 15 cm of soil. Despite an exponential decline in root mass with depth, the gradient was less than in related ecosystems due to the abundance of well developed tap roots and vertical laterals (sinkers) to a depth of at least 5 m.


Objective Analyze the risk for perioperative complications associated with body mass index (BMI) class in patients undergoing head and neck free flap reconstruction. Study Design and Setting Retrospective cohort study. Subjects and Methods The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database was queried for all cases of head and neck free flaps between 2005 and 2014 (N = 2187). This population was stratified into underweight, normal-weight, overweight, and obese BMI cohorts. Groups were compared for demographics, comorbidities, and procedure-related variables. Rates of postoperative complications were compared between groups using χ2 and binary logistic regression analyses. Results Underweight patients (n = 160) had significantly higher rates of numerous comorbidities, including disseminated cancer, preoperative chemotherapy, and anemia, while obese patients (n = 447) had higher rates of diabetes and hypertension. Rates of overall surgical complications, medical complications, and flap loss were insignificantly different between BMI groups. Following regression, obese BMI was protective for perioperative transfusion requirement (odds ratio [OR] = 0.63, P = .001), while underweight status conferred increased risk (OR = 2.43, P < .001). Recent weight loss was found to be an independent predictor of perioperative cardiac arrest (OR = 3.16, P = .006) while underweight BMI was not (OR = 1.21, P = .763). However, both weight loss and underweight status were associated with significantly increased risk for 30-day mortality (OR = 4.48, P = .032; OR = 4.02, P = .010, respectively). Conclusion Obesity does not increase the risk for postoperative complications in head and neck free flap surgery and may be protective in some cases. When assessing a patient's fitness for surgery, underweight status or recent weight loss may suggest a reduced ability to tolerate extensive free flap reconstruction.


Preimplantation development is a crucial step for successful implantation and pregnancy. Although both compaction and blastocyst formation have been extensively studied, mechanisms regulating the early cell division stages before compaction have remained unclear. Here, we show that extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase function is required for early embryonic cell division before compaction. Our analysis demonstrates that inhibition of ERK activation in late two-cell-stage embryos leads to a reversible arrest in the G2 phase at the four-cell stage. The G2-arrested four-cell-stage embryos showed weakened cell-cell adhesion as compared with control embryos. Remarkably, microarray analyses showed that most of the programmed changes of upregulated and downregulated gene expression during the four- to eight-cell stages proceeded normally in four-cell-stage-arrested embryos that were subsequently released to resume development; however, the expression profiles of a proportion of genes in these embryos closely paralleled the stages of embryonic rather than normal development. These parallel genes included the genes encoding intercellular adhesion molecules, whose expression appeared to be positively regulated by the ERK pathway. We also show that, whereas ERK inactivation in eight-cell-stage embryos did not lead to cell division arrest, it did cause this arrest when cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion was disrupted. These results demonstrate an essential role of ERK function in two-cell to eight-cell-stage embryos, and suggest a loose parallelism between the gene expression programs and the developmental stages before compaction.


This paper argues that psychoanalysis is not dead, but in the process of being revived in a more cogent and less erroneous form so it may thrive in the twentieth century. The weak adaptive position is seen as the key error in mainstream psychoanalytic theory. Erroneous concepts, like the primacy of inner fantasies and memories in emotional life and the role of so-called transferences in psychotherapy, have been derived from this base. Affording current psychoanalytic thinking a strong adaptive position that sees coping with environmental impingements as the primary task of the human emotion-processing mind sets straight many existing misconceptions. Revising psychoanalysis in light of a strong adaptive position brings it into line with the theory of evolution, the basic theory of biology. It also clarifies the nature of dreams and leads to the creation of a quantitative, mathematically based, formal science of psychoanalysis replete with laws and regularities. Also explored is the neglect of the emotion-processing mind and efforts to overshadow mental concepts with ideas about the brain from neuroscience. The dangers of this loss of mind are reviewed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role played by existential death anxiety in the perpetuation of the errors rife in classical psychoanalytic thinking. Lessening our use of denial mechanisms in response to death anxieties is a key requisite for advancing psychodynamic theories in the next one hundred years.


IMPORTANCE
The growing demand for organs continues to outpace supply. This gap is most pronounced in minority populations, who constitute more than 40% of the organ waiting list. Hispanic Americans are particularly less likely to donate compared with other minorities for reasons that remain poorly understood and difficult to change.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether outreach interventions that target Hispanic Americans improve organ donation outcomes.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Prospective before-after study of 4 southern California neighborhoods with a high percentage of Hispanic American residents. We conducted cross-sectional telephone surveys before and 2 years after outreach interventions. Respondents 18 years or older were drawn randomly from lists of Hispanic surnames. Awareness, perceptions, and beliefs regarding organ donation and intent to donate were measured and compared before and after interventions.

INTERVENTION
Television and radio commercials about organ donation and educational programs at 5 high schools and 4 Catholic churches.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Number of survey participants who specify intent to donate.

RESULTS
A total of 402 preintervention and 654 postintervention individuals participated in the surveys. We observed a significant increase in awareness of and knowledge about organ donation and a significant increase in the intent to donate (17.7% vs 12.1%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.55 [95% CI, 1.06-2.26; P = .02]).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Focused donor outreach programs sustain awareness and knowledge and can significantly improve intent to donate organs in the Hispanic American population. These programs should continue to be evaluated and implemented to influence donor registration.


Field studies were conducted in Fall 1991 and 1992 to determine 1) if cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. Botrytis Group) could be precision-seeded to a stand without subsequent thinning and 2) the optimum seed spacing necessary to directly seed cauliflower to a stand. Seed spacings of 10, 20, and 30 cm at one seed per hill and 30 cm at two seeds per hill were evaluated for effect on yield, head weight, plant population, and early harvest percentage. As evaluated in the laboratory, seeder precision (accuracy) was good in regard to seed counts and spacing measurements at the various seed spacings. In the field, seeder precision varied in distribution patterns among seed spacings and years. Cauliflower directly seeded at one seed per hill and a 20-cm spacing produced yields and head weights similar to cauliflower seeded 10 cm apart and thinned to 30 cm-the seeding method currently used by some commercial operators.


Rapid and continuing developments in electronics make it necessary to revise constantly the teaching of electronics and to replace obsolescent laboratory exercises. The author describes a new exercise which believes helps students' (and lecturers') understanding of negative feedback. A power amplifier is constructed from an operational amplifier (op. amp.) together with a complementary pair of transistors as an output stage. To make the exercise more realistic a low impedance (8 Omega ) loudspeaker is used as the load. The amplifier is developed and tested stage by stage, and at each stage the defects apparent at the previous stage are eliminated.


Background. Difficult peripheral intravenous cannulation (DPIVC) is associated with serious complications related to vascular access. These complications might be avoided if the risk factors were identified previously, enabling the detection of potentially difficult situations at an early stage. The aim of this study is to consider these risk factors, to determine the influence of the hospital setting, to examine the association between DPIVC and the different techniques of catheter insertion and to analyse the importance of the clinician's experience in this context. Methods. Case-control study following a previously published protocol, conducted in 48 units of eight public hospitals in Spain. Adult patients requiring a peripheral intravenous cannula were prospectively included in the study population during their hospital stay. Over a period of 11 months, for consecutive eligible patients, nurses in each participating unit recorded data on their assessment of the vascular access performed and the technique used. Variables related to these medical personnel were also recorded. One of the researchers reviewed the patients' clinical history to compile the relevant health variables and to characterise the healthcare process. The statistical analysis included association tests among the main study variables. The risk factors were analysed using bivariate logistic regression. The variables found to be statistically significant were included in a multivariate logistic regression model incorporating each of the healthcare environments identified. Results. The study population was composed of 2662 patients, of whom 221 (8.3%) presented with DPIVC. A previous history of difficulty, the presence of non-palpable veins, acute upper limb alterations and punctures in the ante-cubital fossa were found to be independent risk factors for DPIVC. Differences were found in the frequency of occurrence of DPIVC and in some risk factors, according to the healthcare context. The variables related to the characteristics of the hospital personnel did not influence the study event. Conclusion: The present study identifies four independent risk factors for DPIVC that can be incorporated into algorithms aimed at preventing its occurrence and facilitating the referral of patients to vascular access specialist teams.


Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) mediate the survival and pathogenicity of Gram negative bacteria. The biogenesis of these proteins, however, presents problems as they must be transported to, inserted and folded correctly in the outer membrane in the absence of ATP. This problem is resolved by the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex: a ~203 kDa complex of five proteins (BamA-E) that enables the membrane insertion and folding of substrate OMPs on a physiological timescale. Despite available crystal structures, the mechanism of this vital protein complex remains poorly understood.
In this thesis I use a variety of structural and biochemical tools to probe the nature of BAM-assisted OMP folding, particularly the role of BamA dynamics. Successful purification of the intact BAM complex in the detergent DDM allowed the first cryo-electron microscopy structure of the complex to be obtained, at a resolution of 4.9 A. This reveals the intact BAM complex with BamA in a laterally-open conformation in which the first (β1) and last (β16) strands of the barrel are no longer hydrogen bonded.
In addition, biochemical assays provide the first in vitro evidence of the functional importance of BamA lateral gating in OMP folding. These assays demonstrate that in a reconstituted system utilising the BAM complex, inhibiting the lateral gating of BamA by incorporating new disulphide bonds diminishes the ability of BAM to assist substrate folding. This is shown with two different OMP substrates, tOmpA (the β-barrel domain of OmpA) and OmpT. In synthetic lipids, however, the presence of prefolded BamA is sufficient to aid substrate folding and inhibition of lateral gating by disulphide bonding in this case does not diminish the catalytic effect. The results indicate that BamA likely adopts different roles depending on substrate and lipid.
Furthermore, this thesis discusses preliminary experiments towards determining the significance of the β-signal: a conserved sequence found towards the C-terminus of OMPs hypothesised to be important for recognition by BamA. The results show that while some mutations may slow the protein's intrinsic folding into the membrane they do not affect the apparent BamA-catalysed folding rate. However, other single amino-acid substitutions appear to incur a large energetic penalty, rendering the protein incapable of adopting its stable β-barrel structure. Combined, the data allow us to begin dissecting the mechanism of BAM-assisted folding of OMPs, particularly the role of BamA in passive membrane destabilization or active lateral opening.


It is shown that, for a realistic problem, how to construct the Cellular Automata rules and what can be done once these rules are given We have constituted the model of nonequilibrium phase by the Cellular Automata approach. A mean-field-like approximation is discussed and its predictions are compared with the exact numerical results for the model.


Investigation of geometric effects on confined droplets is important for the fundamental understanding of the ubiquitous wetting phenomena in nature as well as for a variety of practical applications. In this study, the effect of geometric confinement on the wetting behavior of a droplet confined between two parallel rigid planes was investigated. The closed solutions of the Young-Laplace equation were derived through an analytical method. These solutions are applicable for arbitrary values of the contact angles and the ratio of the size of the droplet to the separation of the planes. For completely nonwetting and wetting cases, an asymptotic method was employed, and the sophisticated analytical solutions of the Laplace pressure, droplet volume, surface energy, and capillary force were expressed as functions of the size and the separation of the droplet in a simple way. In order to check the applicability of the results, experiments were designed to counteract the gravity of the droplets. The asymptotic results not only quantitatively agree well with the theoretical and experimental results over a large range of the parameter space, but also provide a straightforward view for reflecting the effect of the geometric confinement on the wetting behaviors of droplets.


Solid resin rods including ceramics nanoparticles were fed successfully into a Rokide flame gun to create dense coated layers without micro cracks and pores applying for electric, magnetic and dielectric components. In this investigation, alumina particles of 170 nm in average diameter were dispersed into acrylic liquid resin at 40 % in volume fraction. The paste materials was injected into an brass mold of φ4 ~ 200 mm in inner dimension and thermally cured through heating at 120 °C for 60 min. Formed solid rods were fed coaxially into an oxyacetylene gas flame by using the Rokide spraying system. Sprayed particles were collected in a water bath for microstructure observations by a scanning electron microscope and crystal phase analyses by an X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Fine ceramics layer formations will be discussed systematically by the feeding speed of solid rods and gas flame condition of air pressure and oxygen pressure.


Pattern Discovery and Compression in Finite State Transducers Giancarlo Schrementi Indiana University Michael Gasser Indiana University Abstract: Human languages are able to efficiently encode our environment because of their ability to recognize patterns in semantics and translate those patterns into a compressed syntax. This work describes evolving finite state transducers to efficiently encode their environment. The transducers are evolved using a genetic algorithm that makes use of the minimum description length (MDL) principal [1] to determine fitness. The MDL principle rewards transducers that produce compact, distinct encodings that the inverted form of the transducer is able to unambigu- ously decode. The environment that the transducers are encoding is a regular language that has structure for the transducers to discover and capture in their encodings. We show that this emphasis on successful decoding provides the genetic algorithm a strong incentive to find encodings that capture the structure inherent in the environment. The transducers are able to identify common components in the environment and distinctly represent them. [1] Jorma Rissanen. Modeling by the shortest data description. Automatica, 14:465471, 1978.


A low-power, reliable and re-configurable clock recovery circuit for UHF RFID transponders for the EPC Class-1 Generation-2 standard is proposed. Based on a digital frequency-locked loop, the clock recovery circuit uses timing information available in the downlink data, namely, the pulse intervals of the PIE-coded data, to calibrate an oscillator's output frequency to meet the stringent frequency accuracy requirement of the standard. Fabricated in a 0.18-¿m standard CMOS technology, the clock recovery circuit provides a calibrated frequency of 2.56 MHz with a frequency deviation within the range from -3.2% to +1.2% over process, supply voltage and temperature variations. The chip has an active area of 0.22 ¿m2, operates from a supply voltage from 0.75 V to 1.3 V, and consumes less than 2 ¿W for a 1-V supply.


1 Donaghy L, Gros F, Amiot L, Mary C, Malliard A, Guiguen C, Gangneux J-P. Elevated levels of soluble non-classical major histocompatibility class 1 molecule human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-G in the blood of HIV-infected patients with or without visceral leishmaniasis. Clin Exp Immunol 2007; 147:236–40. 2 De L. Karlson T, Whiting CV, Bland PW. Proinflammatory cytokine synthesis by mucosal fibroblasts from mouse colitis is enhanced by interferon-g-mediated up-regulation of CD40 signalling. Clin Exp Immunol 2007; 147:313–23. Clinical and Experimental Immunology CORRIGENDA doi:10.1111/j.1365-2249.2007.03343.x


It is usually assumed that WIMPs interact through spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions. Interactions which carry additional powers of the momentum transfer, q2, are assumed to be too small to be relevant. In theories with new particles at the ~ GeV scale, however, these q2-dependent interactions can be large, and, in some cases dominate over the standard interactions. This leads to new phenomenology in direct detection experiments. Recoil spectra peak at non-zero energies, and the relative strengths of different experiments can be significantly altered. We present a simple parameterization for models of this type which captures much of the interesting phenomenology and allows a comparison between experiments. As an application, we find that dark matter with momentum dependent interactions coupling to the spin of the proton can reconcile the DAMA annual modulation result with other experiments.


Memory is an important part of any electronic device. In today's world static random access memory (SRAM) is widely used as memory. The major issues for design of SRAM are power loss, delay and stability. This paper presents a modified form of a symmetric eight-transistor SRAM bit-cell. In this paper transmission gate has been used as access transistor which provides rail-to-rail swing. Moreover, power consumption is reduced using gated ground technique. There is 32% power reduction in the proposed cell. All simulation are carried out in Spectre simulator of Cadence Virtuoso tool in 45nm technology process. All the circuits are operated at supply voltage of 1.3V.


Directing the emission from optical emitters is highly desired for efficient detection and, by reciprocity, efficient excitation as well. As a scattering process, Raman benefits from directivity enhancements in both excitation and emission. Here we demonstrate directivity enhanced Raman scattering (DERS) using a nanoantenna fabricated by focused ion beam milling. The nanoantenna uses a resonant ring-reflector to shape the emitted beam and achieve DERS-this configuration is most similar to a waveguide antenna. The ring reflector boosts the measured Raman signal by a factor of 5.5 (as compared to the ground plane alone), and these findings are in quantitative agreement with comprehensive numerical simulations. The present design is nearly optimal in the sense that almost all the beam power is coupled into the numerical aperture of the microscope. Furthermore, the emission is directed out of the plane, so that this design can be used to achieve DERS using conventional Raman microscopes, which has yet to be achieved with Yagi-Uda and traveling wave antenna designs.


Classical beta spectra calculations are briefly described, highlighting the usual assumptions and limitations. To go beyond these usual assumptions, the numerical resolution of the Dirac equation for the atomic and beta electrons is necessary. This allowed us to determine the parameters λ i involved in the theoretical shape factors exactly. A systematic comparison between theoretical and experimental shape factors led us to disqualify the usual λ i = 1 assumption for all forbidden transitions. The usual ξ -approximation was proved to be incorrect for numerous first forbidden non-unique transitions, and for all higherorder non-unique transitions. A more accurate screening correction was defined and the atomic exchange effect was taken into account, an effect which is always neglected in usual calculations. The beta spectra of 63 Ni and 241 Pu, recently measured down to very low energies, are well reproduced in our calculations. The exchange effect was demonstrated to have a great influence on the spectral shape within this energy range.


Areal coatings of 304 and 316 marine grade stainless steel were made on flat mild steel substrates using a low-pressure friction surfacing technique and various deposition configurations. The maximum through-thickness tensile bond strength obtained for such coatings was 890 MPa (1.3x105 psi). Gaps or cracks or both between strips of deposited material were not eliminated completely during the manufacture of these coatings. Consequently, the overlay coatings described in this paper, which were made using a range of overlapping and non-overlapping deposition configurations, are primarily suitable for applications in noncorrosive environments.


Increased energy demands are driving the development of new power generation technologies with high efficient. Direct fired fuel cell turbine hybrid systems are one such development, which have the potential to dramatically increase power generation efficiency, quickly respond to transient loads (and are generally flexible), and offer fast start up times. However, traditional control techniques are often inadequate in these systems because of extremely high nonlinearities and coupling between system parameters. In this work, we develop multi-objective neural network controller via neuroevolution and the Pareto Concavity Elimination Transformation (PaCcET). In order for the training process to be computationally tractable, we develop a computationally efficient plant simulator based on physical plant data, allowing for rapid fitness assignment. Results demonstrate that the multi-objective algorithm is able to develop a Pareto front of control policies which represent tradeoffs between tracking desired turbine speed profiles and minimizing transient operation of the fuel cell.


The glucose and insulin-dependent long-term regulation of fatty acid synthase was studied in primary cultures of hepatocytes from adult female rats. Under basic culture conditions, i.e. 5.5 mM glucose and 0.5 nM insulin, the enzyme activity was continuously decreased over 6 days. In the presence of 100 nM insulin this decrease was reduced but it was not prevented. Enhancement of glucose to 20 mM was followed by an increase of the enzyme activity; after 5 days of treatment the activity was three times higher than under basic culture conditions. The simultaneous presence of 20 mM glucose and of 100 nM insulin resulted in a much more pronounced increase of the activity; after 5 days of treatment the activity was eight times higher than under basic culture conditions. The enhancement was prevented by inhibition of glycolysis. This may indicate that the increase of fatty acid synthase was mediated by a metabolite of glucose rather than by glucose itself. The coordinate regulation of fatty acid synthase and of other lipogenic enzymes was specific as demonstrated by comparison with the activity of lactate dehydrogenase and with synthesis and degradation of cytosolic proteins. The enhancement of the enzyme protein, demonstrated by rocket immunoelectrophoresis, was due to an increase in the rate of enzyme synthesis by 600% as well as to a prolongation of the apparent half-life of the enzyme by 50% (45 h).


Design exploration is an important step in the engineering design process. This involves the search for design/s that meet the specified design criteria and accomplishes the predefined objective/s. In recent years, machine learning-based approaches have been widely used in engineering design problems. This paper showcases Artificial Neural Network (ANN) architecture applied to an engineering design problem to explore and identify improved design solutions. The case problem of this study is the design of flexible disc elements used in disc couplings. We are required to improve the design of the disc elements by lowering the mass and stress without lowering the torque transmission and misalignment capability. To accomplish this objective, we employ ANN coupled with genetic algorithm in the design exploration step to identify designs that meet the specified criteria (torque and misalignment) while having minimum mass and stress. The results are comparable to the optimized results obtained from the traditional response surface method. This can have huge advantage when we are evaluating conceptual designs against multiple conflicting requirements.


In this work, we used simultaneously the reaction ensemble Monte Carlo (ReMC) method and the adaptive Erpenbeck equation of state (AE-EOS) method to directly calculate the thermodynamic and chemical equilibria of mixtures of detonation products on the Hugoniot curve. The ReMC method [W. R. Smith and B. Triska, J. Chem. Phys. 100, 3019 (1994)] allows us to reach the chemical equilibrium of a reacting mixture, and the AE-EOS method [J. J. Erpenbeck, Phys. Rev. A 46, 6406 (1992)] constrains the system to satisfy the Hugoniot relation. Once the Hugoniot curve of the detonation product mixture is established, the Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) state of the explosive can be determined. A NPT simulation at P(CJ) and T(CJ) is then performed in order to calculate direct thermodynamic properties and the following derivative properties of the system using a fluctuation method: calorific capacities, sound velocity, and Gruneisen coefficient. As the chemical composition fluctuates, and the number of particles is not necessarily constant in this ensemble, a fluctuation formula has been developed to take into account the fluctuations of mole number and composition. This type of calculation has been applied to several usual energetic materials: nitromethane, tetranitromethane, hexanitroethane, PETN, and RDX.


We call network of automata a family of partially synchronised automata, i.e. a family of deterministic automata which are synchronised via shared letters, and evolve independently otherwise. We address the problem of uniform random sampling of words recognised by a network of automata.
To that purpose, we define the reduced automaton of the model, which involves only the product of the synchronised part of the component automata. We provide uniform sampling algorithms which are polynomial with respect to the size of the reduced automaton, greatly improving on the best known algorithms. Our sampling algorithms rely on combinatorial and probabilistic methods and are of three different types: exact, Boltzmann and Parry sampling.


The problem of protecting digital content software, video, documents, music, etc. – from illegal redistribution by an authorized user, is the focus of considerable industrial and academic effort. In the absence of special-purpose tamperproof hardware, the problem has no cryptographically secure solution: once a legitimate user has purchased the cent ent, the user, by definition, has access to the material and can therefore capture it and redistribute it. A number of techniques have been suggested or are currently employed to make redistribution either inconvenient or traceable. In this paper we introduce digital signets, a new technique for protecting digital content from illegal redistribution. The work motivates the study of the previously unexamined class of incompressible functions, analysis of which adds a cryptographic twist to communication complexity.


Measles (rubeola) is a highly contagious vaccine-preventable disease caused by the measles virus-a virus of the Paramyxoviridae family. The illness typically begins with fever, runny nose, cough, and pathognomonic enanthem (Koplik spots) followed by a characteristic erythematous, maculopapular rash. The rash classically begins on the face and becomes more confluent as it spreads cephalocaudally. Laboratory confirmation of measles virus infection can be based on a positive serological test for measles-specific immunoglobulin M antibody, a four-fold or greater increase in measles-specific immunoglobulin G between acute and convalescent sera, isolation of measles virus in culture, or detection of measles virus ribonucleic acid by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Complications occur in 10% to 40% of patients, and treatment is mainly symptomatic. Bacterial superinfections, if present, should be properly treated with antibiotics. To eradicate measles, universal childhood immunisation and vaccination of all susceptible individuals with measles vaccine would be ideal. In developed countries, routine immunisation with measles-containing vaccine is recommended, with the first and second doses at ages 12 to 15 months and 4 to 6 years, respectively. The World Health Organization recommends that the first and second doses of measles-containing vaccine be given at ages 9 months and 15 to 18 months, respectively, in countries with high rates of measles transmission.


Scotland has some of the worst reported health in the developed world. In comparison to England and Wales it has higher mortality rates, as well as higher incidence and prevalence of heart disease, many cancers (especially lung cancer) and deaths from suicides, accidents and alcohol. Scotland also has some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK, with most being concentrated in Glasgow. The link between poor health and neighbourhood deprivation is well documented but research has also shown that neighbourhood deprivation does not explain the higher levels of mortality in Glasgow compared to similarly the deprived post industrial cities of Liverpool and Manchester. The distribution or patterning of deprived neighbourhoods in Glasgow may in part be an explanation for differences between health outcomes in Glasgow and similar deprived post industrial cities. Using a combination of mortality, deprivation and contextual data at a neighbourhood level this study examines: the extent to which the distribution or patterning of deprived neighbourhoods is associated with differing neighbourhood health outcomes; whether any variance in the patterning of deprived neighbourhoods in the three cities can be detected; and more specifically, whether the difference in patterning of deprived neighbourhoods is in part an explanation for the poorer health experienced in Glasgow compared to Liverpool and Manchester?


Genetic Algorithm (GAs) is used to solve optimization problems. It is depended on the selection operator, crossover and mutation rates. In this paper Roulette Wheel Selection (RWS) operator with different crossover & mutation probabilities, is used to solve well known optimization problem Traveling Salesmen Problem (TSP). We have compared the results of RWS with another selection method Stochastic Universal Selection(SUS), which demonstrate that the SUS is better for small number of cities; but as the number of cities increases RWS is far much better than SUS. We have also compared the results with a variation between mutation & crossover probability which concludes that mutation is more effective for decimal chromosome. We have proposed a new crossover operator which is variation of Order Crossover (OX) and found results are better than existing crossover operator.


This work aims to encourage the use of natural materials for advanced energy applications, such as proton exchange membranes in fuel cells. Herein, a new conductive membrane produced from cassava liquid waste was used to overcome environmental pollution and the global crisis of energy. The membrane was phosphorylated through a microwave-assisted method with different phosphoric acid, (H3PO4) concentrations (10–60 mmol). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), swelling behavior test, and contact angle measurement were carried out on the membrane doped with different H3PO4 levels. The phosphorylated NdC (nata de cassava) membrane doped with 20 mmol (NdC20) H3PO4 was successfully modified and significantly achieved proton conductivity (maximum conductivity up to 7.9 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 80 °C). In addition, the fabricated MEA was assembled using an NdC20 membrane with 60 wt% Pt/C loading of 0.5 mg cm−2 for the anode and cathode. Results revealed that a high power density of 25 mW cm−2 was obtained at 40 °C operating temperature for a single-cell performance test. Thus, this membrane has the potential to be used as a proton exchange membrane because it is environment-friendly and inexpensive for fuel cell applications.


Fractionated CyberKnife radiosurgery (CKRS) treatment for acoustic neuromas may reduce the risk of long-term radiation toxicity to nearby critical structures compared to that of single-fraction radiosurgery. However, tumor control rates and clinical outcomes after CKRS for acoustic neuromas are not well described. We retrospectively reviewed all acoustic neuroma patients treated with CKRS (2004-2011) in a prospectively maintained clinical and radiographic database. Treatment failure, the need for additional surgical intervention, was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. For 119 treated patients, median values were 49 months (range, 6-133 months) of follow-up, 1.6 cm3 (range, 0.02-17 cm3) tumor volume, and 18 Gy (range, 13-25 Gy) prescribed dose delivered in 3 fractions (range, 1-5 fractions). Thirty-five of 59 patients (59%) with pre-radiosurgery serviceable hearing (American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery class A or B) maintained serviceable hearing at the last audio follow-up (median, 21 months). Two of 111 patients (2%) with facial nerve function House-Brackmann (HB) grade ≤3 progressed to HB grade >3 after radiosurgery. Koos grade IV was predictive of radiographic tumor growth after radiosurgery compared to grades I to III (p = 0.02). Treatment failure occurred in 9 of 119 patients (8%); median time to failure was 29 months (range, 4-70 months). The actuarial rates of tumor control at 1, 3, 5, and 7 years were 96%, 94%, 88%, and 88%, respectively. CKRS affords effective tumor control for acoustic neuromas with an acceptable rate of hearing preservation. Further studies are needed to compare CKRS to single-fraction radiosurgery for acoustic neuromas.


During the last few years, the complexity and size of the digital systems has increased so drastically, that almost every stage in the design flow has changed significantly. In that flow, simulation used to be the most common technique to guarantee the correctness of a digital system.
Formal verification provides a different approach to validate a system. It allows to reason formally about its behavior. The implementation of a system is checked against the specification of the properties to be satisfied. The most common paradigms are based on theorem proving, model checking and language containment. Typically, a digital system is modeled as a collection of interacting subsystems. As new subsystems are added the number of states may grow exponentially. This is known as the state domain explosion problem.
Abstract interpretation is one approach to alleviate the state domain explosion problem. The main idea is to interpret the behavior of a system in a different abstracted (and therefore simplified) system with fewer states.
The challenges for these techniques are the range of applicability and the degree of automation provided to the designer. So far, automatic abstraction techniques have been applied in very specific examples, and usually require the user intervention to guide the process.
This dissertation proposes an automatic abstraction paradigm to verify generic digital systems. First, an abstraction theory in the context of model checking of the $\mu$-calculus logic is presented. Necessary conditions are given for an abstraction to provide a conservative answer to the verification problem. Second, a practical implementation is presented of the concepts developed in the theory. The algorithm first computes an initial approximation to the model checking problem. Then, if required, the approximation is refined until a conclusive result is obtained. The algorithm has been integrated in VIS (Verification Interacting with Synthesis) a tool for the verification of digital systems.
To show its applicability, the tool has been successfully applied to the verification of some real life examples. A system controlling a metal processing plant, and a model of the Ethernet protocol, have been successfully verified applying the abstraction techniques discussed in this dissertation.


One of the hardest problems in science is the symbol grounding problem, a question that has intrigued philosophers and linguists for more than a century. With the rise of artificial intelligence, the question has become very actual, especially within the field of robotics. The problem is that an agent, be it a robot or a human, perceives the world in analogue signals. Yet humans have the ability to categorise the world in symbols that they, for instance, may use for language. This book presents a series of experiments in which two robots try to solve the symbol grounding problem. The experiments are based on the language game paradigm, and involve real mobile robots that are able to develop a grounded lexicon about the objects that they can detect in their world. Crucially, neither the lexicon nor the ontology of the robots has been preprogrammed, so the experiments demonstrate how a population of embodied language users can develop their own vocabularies from scratch.


Thyroglobulin (Tg) was obtained by fine needle aspiration from patients with untreated hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease and untreated hypothyroidism to determine whether alterations in its T4 and T3 content could account for the disproportionately high serum T3 compared to serum T4 found in both diseases. For comparison aspiration was performed from normal thyroid tissue in euthyroid patients operated for solitary thyroid lesions. The average amounts of Tg aspirated were: normal 177 +/- 52 (SE) micrograms, n = 7, hyperthyroidism 82 +/- 32 micrograms (n = 8); hypothyroidism 4.6 +/- 1.9 micrograms, n = 9. The iodothyronine content of Tg was, normal, T4 3.7 +/- 0.5 mol/mol, T3 0.28 +/- 0.04 mol/mol, T4/T3 13.7 +/- 1.4; hyperthyroidism, T4 3.8 +/- 1.0, T3 0.59 +/- 0.15, T4/T3 6.8 +/- 1.1; hypothyroidism, T4 3.3 +/- 0.5, T3 0.54 +/- 0.09, T4/T3 6.8 +/- 0.7. The iodine content of Tg was 28 +/- 3.1 atoms/mol in the euthyroid subjects and 31 +/- 7.3 atoms/mol in hyperthyroid patients. Hence, both untreated hyperthyroidism and untreated hypothyroidism were characterized by Tg with a normal T4 but a relatively high T3 content. This is probably related to the prolonged hyperstimulation of functioning follicular cells present in both diseases. The relatively high T3 content of Tg could not alone explain the relatively high T3 production compared to T4 production in these two thyroid diseases.


A wavelet-based approach to scalable multi-view video coding (MVC) is examined in this paper. A 4-D wavelet transform is used to decorrelate the multi-view video data temporally, view-directionally, and spatially for efficient compression. Motion compensated temporal filtering (MCTF) is applied to each video sequence of each camera to exploit temporal correlation and inter-view dependencies are exploited with disparity compensated view filtering (DCVF). Together with a 2-D spatial wavelet transform the 4-D wavelet transform is constituted. The open-loop structure of the decomposition, together with embedded quantization and coding, allows for the construction of a bitstream which is fully scalable in temporal, view-directional, spatial and quality dimension. Results for scalable decoding in all dimensions are given, as well as comparisons to simulcast coding and state-of-the-art non-scalable multi-view video coding. Further, a significant coding gain is shown when the sequences are pre-processed with an algorithm for cross-view illumination compensation based on histogram matching.


New developments in various spheres of the sciences have produced many commercial products and as well increased the risk to human health and environmental pollution.For example, packaging materials such as bisphenol and paraffin's have been found to migrate into food materials and also reacts with food components such as proteins. Pesticides such as chlorpyrifos and penconazole residues have been found in wines. Identifying and characterizing these materials require fast and accurate analytical instrumentation and techniques such as gas chromatography chemical ionization,(GC/CIMS). The GC/CIMS technique is based on ion molecule reactions and its usefulness depends on the types of reactions and also on the rates of its reaction. Sample ion/sample molecule (SIMS)reactions occur frequently under chemical ionization,CI, conditions with large sample size polar compounds and are useful in determining thermochemical parameters such as bimolecular rate of reactions, structure of compounds,sequence of reactions and in forming MH+ ions for molecular weight determination. SIMS reactions of polyethylene glycol and its derivatives under CI and FT/ICR are made in this report.


ABSTRACT This study highlights how constructs of importance to management in Africa – ambidextrous leadership and team learning – can extend or modify our existing management theories. Adopting an exploratory design with an interpretive philosophy, this study explores how supermarket store managers engage their subordinates in team learning sessions to enable their collective ambidexterity, facilitated by the presence of reflective conversations (RC) and ambidextrous human resource management (HRM) policies and practices. Based on our raw data, we develop a process-based model that shows how ambidextrous leadership behaviors can help develop team-level ambidexterity, including the supporting roles of RC and ambidextrous HRM practices in the process. This model thus seeks to motivate theoretically future ambidexterity research in Africa, as the theoretical ideas and themes in this study can be replicated and be broadly applied to future ambidexterity research on the continent. This model will, therefore, contribute to the theoretical development of African management literature and, accordingly, adds significant value to the mainstream ambidexterity literature.


In outlining the background he observes that in 1966-1967, the Chinese seemed to identify more with the N.L.F. and its strategy than with the northerners 'who seemed to have lost their revolutionary ardour of the early 1950s and had opted after 1956 for a milder form of socialism than that espoused by Chairman Mao Tse-tung'. This thought stays with him in describing the pattern of relationships that emerged in 1970 and Dr. O'Neill highlights the differences in the stand, the ceremonials and the language used by Peking when dealing with the DRVN and with the PRG. The author also implies that China and the PRG share the common aim of limiting Hanoi's field of influence. This however is not altogether borne out by the fullsome support given by the Chinese to the cause of Vietnamese unity. Indeed, at the time of the mini-summit, the Chinese were very careful to talk of the 'four delegations of the three countries'. The author concludes that 1970 was a year of great significance in the relations between Peking and Hanoi, during which the rapprochement begun in September 1969 with a visit by Premier Chou En-lai


Abstract This article examines selected examples of art made in South Africa which employ Christian imagery for the purposes of engaging with political and social commentary. Works made during the apartheid era by Azaria Mbatha, Charles Nkosi and Paul Stopforth are discussed briefly and compared to the more critical approach found in post-apartheid works by Diane Victor, Conrad Botes and Wim Botha. Christian iconography is a useful communicative tool because it has permeated many cultures over centuries, and the meanings it carries are thus accessible to large numbers of people. Examples made during the apartheid regime in South Africa appear to adapt the Christian message to support a political agenda, while those made in the transitional phase (from the late 1980s) and after the dismantling of apartheid are more critical of both religious constructs and politics, and could be termed 'transgressive'. Working in light of Foucault's idea of an 'ontology of the present' I investigate the ways in which religious iconography has been implicated in the regulation of society, by revealing how subversive appropriations of Christian imagery expose these controls and offer a critique of mechanisms which produce normative 'truths'.


Background: Ultrasound (US)-guided techniques for peripheral nerve blockade have revealed that intraneural injections are relatively frequent and not necessarily associated with neurological deficits. Objectives: To evaluate the short-term effects of deliberate injections performed under direct vision in two different sites of the sciatic nerve (ScN). Material and Methods: Seventy-two New Zealand white rabbits randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups (n = 18) were employed. All procedures were conducted at a proximal femoral level where the ScN incorporates the common peroneal nerve and the tibial nerve (TN). Fixed volumes of 0.5 ml of saline solution (ES group) or bupivacaine 0.75% (EB group) were administered extrafascicularly inside the paraneurium of the ScN or intrafascicularly (IS and IB groups) under the epineurium of the TN. Cross-sectional area (CSA) and relative echogenicity (RE) of the entire ScN were determined by US before injections, after injections, and at 3 and 7 days. ScN samples were obtained for structural and ultrastructural histopathological studies. Proprioceptive, sensorial, and motor function were clinically evaluated on a daily basis. Results: The CSA of the ScN increased significantly immediately after injections when compared with pre-injection values in all groups (p < 0.05). The RE of the ScN decreased in relation to pre-injection values in all groups (p < 0.05). The CSA and RE of the ScN returned to normal values 7 days after injections in almost all groups. Injected nerves showed histological signs of mild perineural inflammation. Histopathological scores were not significantly different between groups (p > 0.05). The architecture of the ScN was preserved in all rabbits at 3 days and in 31/32 rabbits at 7 days. A focal area of damaged nerve fibers with degeneration of the axons and myelin sheath affecting the TN was observed in one rabbit of the IB group. Nerve function was not clinically impaired in any case. Conclusion: Despite the lack of severe nerve disruption observed in most rabbits, the evidence of a focal area of damaged nerve fibers in one rabbit injected intrafascicularly with bupivacaine confirms that intrafascicular injections should be avoided as they may increase the risk of nerve damage.


Summary
Infectivity assays of rice dwarf virus (RDV) were done by the fluorescent antibody focus counting technique on vector cell monolayers of the green rice leafhopper, Nephotettix cincticeps. The focus count method was shown to be an accurate and quantitative method for determining RDV infectivities. The optimal pH value for inoculation was about 6.0 in a solution containing 0.1 m-histidine HCl and 0.01 m-MgCl2. Below pH 5.5 and above 6.5, the infectivity of RDV dropped rapidly. The optimal adsorption period at 28 °C was dependent upon the RDV concentration. Optimal periods for adsorption with relative RDV concentrations of 10-3, 10-4 and 10-4.5 were about 60, 90 and 120 min, respectively. The period from virion adsorption to penetration into the cell was about 90 to 120 min. Infective progeny virions were first detected 12 h after the initial inoculation. From 12 to 20 h, the growth rate of the virus in the cells was exponential with a doubling time of about 96 min, and then from 20 to 28 h there was little or no further increase in infective virus. When the infectivities of the same inocula were compared by using the focus count and vector insect injection methods, the dilution endpoints were approx. 10-6 and 10-4, respectively. The focus count assay method was thus about 100 times more sensitive than vector injection.


We investigate the role supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic played in U.S. producer price index (PPI) inflation. We exploit pre-pandemic cross-industry variation in sourcing patterns across countries and interact it with measures of international supply chain bottlenecks during the pandemic. We show that exposure to global supply chain disruptions played a significant role in U.S. cross-industry PPI inflation between January and November 2021. If bottlenecks had followed the same path as in 2019, PPI inflation in the manufacturing sector would have been 2 percentage points lower in January 2021 and 20 percentage points lower in November 2021. (JEL F13, F14, F44)


This paper presents an efficiency comparison and verification of two types of Brushless DC (BLDC) motors and drives combination. The trapezoidal BLDC motor is excited by trapezoidal drive and sinusoidal BLDC motor is excited by sinusoidal drive. In air conditioner fan motor system, the sinusoidal type of BLDC motor with sinusoidal drive is applied. However, the DC link voltage of the motor is high and thus demands for high power consumption. Furthermore, the sinusoidal drive use vector control which is complicated to be implemented and make the driver high cost. Therefore, further improvement in energy consumption and drive system is required by develop combination of trapezoidal BLDC motor with trapezoidal drive. Thus, these two combination motors and drives required for efficiency comparison. The motors drives are simulated by using MATLAB and then their efficiencies are measured. At the end of this paper, the results show that the trapezoidal BLDC motor with trapezoidal drive offers higher efficiency compared to sinusoidal BLDC motor with vector control drive. It indicates that the developed drive system is considerable to be applied in the air conditioner fan motor system.


A structured chemical platform based on chitosan, an amine-rich polysaccharide, is presented as an alternative chemistry to functionalize solid support (in this case, glass slides) for grafting biomolecules. This approach has been adopted for generating arrays using amino-modified oligonucleotides with two different lengths (25-mer and 70-mer) for different purposes. Results using these chitosan-activated surfaces indicate high oligonucleotide loading capacity, good availability to hybridization against targets, and effectiveness in enzyme-mediated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection procedures by DNA polymerase and DNA ligase enzymes with low background. Universal arrays have been prepared and extensively used with excellent results in different applications. The chitosan-treated surfaces were also evaluated for their performance in a gene expression experiment.


This paper proposes a new tabu search based method for service restoration in distribution systems. The formulation of the service restoration may be expressed as a combinatorial optimization problem for determining a new route with switches to recover the service in an outage area. It aims at minimizing an outage area and equalizing the power source margins in the recovered areas as well as computational efficiency. In this paper, a new method is proposed to integrate parallel tabu search (PTS) with ordinal optimization (OO) in distribution system service restoration. PTS has better performance than TS in terms of solution quality and computational time. OO contributes to the reduction of computational effort in selecting solution candidates in the neighborhood of TS. In other words, it plays an important role to improve computational as a complementary tool efficiently. The proposed method is successfully applied to a 138-node system.


As an essential component in power applications, magnetic cores and their design play an important role in achieving high efficiency and high power density. Accurate measurement of the core loss is important for inductor and power converter optimization. Loss measurement depends on exactly determining the phase angle between the voltage and the current. However, measurement errors can be introduced due to the discrepancies in propagation delays in the voltage and current sensors. In addition, the propagation delay is frequency-dependent but has a large influence in the MHz range and above. Previously, several methods have been proposed to compensate for this discrepancy, but they are time-consuming and can result in large measurement errors. In this article, a characterization method for core loss based on a vector network analyzer (VNA) and an impedance converter is proposed to accurately measure the phase discrepancies between voltage and current sensors. The proposed method is experimentally verified up to 15 MHz with a three-coil test setup.


Two examples, not connected at present, from author's papers [gr-qc/0207017]) are considered here in which a physical model has discrete symmetries and additional non-observable coordinates or parameters. Then it is possible to introduce some apparent continuous symmetries of the model for an observer which cannot know values of these additional quantities.


The possible transition from a subset of fatty streaks to fibrous plaques in human atherosclerosis has long been postulated, but transitional features in lesions have rarely been demonstrated. We examined human aortic fatty streaks to determine whether significant tendencies toward intimal thickening and toward deep extracellular lipid deposition might be found. To provide accurate ultrastructural assessment of lipid, tissues were processed by new electron microscopic cytochemical techniques. Unilateral fatty streaks exhibited a 60% increase in intimal thickness when compared to contralateral control tissue. Fat droplets in intimal cells accounted for approximately half of the increase; nonfat portions of cells and extracellular matrix accounted for the remainder. Six of 32 fatty streaks (19%) contained cholesterol clefts, which were found in the musculo-elastic (deep) layer of the intima or in the tunica media. Volume fractions occupied by cells in deep intima were reduced when cholesterol clefts were evident, suggesting loss of cells in early core regions. Light and electron microscopy showed structures consistent with lipid-rich core regions in lesions with cholesterol clefts and in a few lesions without cholesterol clefts. The findings of intimal thickening, core region formation, and disappearance of intimal cells constitute new evidence that some fatty streaks are progressive lesions and sites of eventual fibrous plaque development. The findings also suggest that the lipid-rich core region does not originate primarily from the debris of dead foam cells in the superficial intima, but instead arises from lipids accumulating gradually in the extracellular matrix of the deep intima.


WIESE, F. & KROGER, B. Evidence for a shallowing event in the Upper Turonian (Cretaceous) Mytiloides scupini Zone of northern Germany. Acta Geologica Polonica, 48 (3), 265-284. Warszawa. Based on the evidence of a regression in the Late Turonian (Cretaceous) scupini Zone of the Miinster land Cretaceous Basin (Westphalia), the exposures Nettlingen and GroB-Flothe are investigated in order to discover whether or not a comparable event can be observed in Lower Saxony. The lithologi cal and faunal investigation of the two localities show this to be the case. This regressive event is inter preted to be the expression of a sequence boundary, separating two 3rd order sea-level cycles. The lower sequence, the base of which is located above the main Hyphantoceras Event in the middle Late Turonian of northern Germany, is termed the "flexuosum Sequence". The sequence above the sequen ce boundary, which ranges into the Lower Coniacian Cremnoceramus deformis Zone, spans approxi mately the reported range of Didymotis costatus. It is, therefore, named the "Didymotis Sequence". It can be shown that the observed sequence boundary can also be recognized in Spain, southern England, Poland and the Czech Republic.


Radiation resistance represents an imperative obstacle in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer, which remains difficult to overcome. Here, we explored the anti-proliferative and migration-inhibiting properties of the natural product shikonin on a radiation-resistant human colon carcinoma cell line (SNU-C5RR). Shikonin reduced the viability of these cells in a dose-dependent manner; 38 μM of shikonin was determined as the half-maximal inhibitory concentration. Shikonin induced apoptotic cell death, as demonstrated by increased apoptotic body formation and the number of TUNEL-positive cells. Moreover, shikonin enhanced mitochondrial membrane depolarization and Bax expression and also decreased Bcl-2 expression with translocation of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol. In addition, shikonin activated mitogen-activated protein kinases, and their specific inhibitors reduced the cytotoxic effects of shikonin. Additionally, shikonin decreased the migration of SNU-C5RR cells via the upregulation of E-cadherin and downregulation of N-cadherin. Taken together, these results suggest that shikonin induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and attenuates epithelial-mesenchymal transition in SNU-C5RR cells.


Nowadays data mining become one of the technologies that paly major effect on business intelligence. However, to be able to use the data mining outcome the user should go through many process such as classified data. Classification of data is processing data and organize them in specific categorize to be use in most effective and efficient use. In data mining one technique is not applicable to be applied to all the datasets. This paper showing the difference result of applying different techniques on the same data. This paper evaluates the performance of different classification techniques using different datasets. In this study four data classification techniques have chosen. They are as follow, BayesNet, NaiveBayes, Multilayer perceptron and J48. The selected data classification techniques performance tested under two parameters, the time taken to build the model of the dataset and the percentage of accuracy to classify the dataset in the correct classification. The experiments are carried out using Weka 3.8 software. The results in the paper demonstrate that the efficiency of Multilayer Perceptron classifier in overall the best accuracy performance to classify the instances, and NaiveBayes classifiers were the worst outcome of accuracy to classifying the instance for each dataset.