This paper studies the problem of a monopolist who sells a network good through a price posting scheme. The scheme posts a price of every possible allocation for each buyer, who are then asked to report their private information to the seller. The seller then implements the allocation based on the reports. The social choice functions that are ex post implementable through such a sales scheme are characterized, and the conditions are identified under which the revenue maximizing scheme has the property that the price of a larger network is more affordable than that of a smaller network.


BACKGROUND
Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor from the para follicular C cells of the thyroid gland. It occurs either sporadically or as part of an inherited syndrome. It is caused by an autosomal dominant mutation in the RET (Rearranged during Transfection) proto-oncogene.

METHODS
The studied population consisted of 47 patients diagnosed with MTC in a specific population of northwest Iran along with their three children. Blood samples were collected from all subjects, genomic DNA was extracted and RET exons 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16 were analyzed using PCR and direct sequencing.

RESULTS
32 missense mutations were identified in exons 10 (6.25%) and 11 (84.4%). Moreover, two novel mutations in codon 595 in exon 10 (E595D and E595A) and a new mutation in codon 689 exon 11 (S689T) were detected, and a new nucleotide change was found in exon 11 (T675T). Four different polymorphisms were also identified in exons 11, 13, 14, and 15. Based on our data, the frequency profile of RET mutations in the Azari population of Iran with MTC is 61.7%. The most frequent mutation in our population was C364G, whereas in most populations it is C634R.

CONCLUSIONS
These results underline the importance of the genetic background of family members of any patient with MTC.


State-of-the-art kitchen design strongly reflects the 21st century lifestyle. Now, more than ever, the kitchen really is the heart of the home, and there's a kitchen to suit every personality and design sensibility. The aim of this comprehensive selection of new designs is to showcase the best of what is happening in kitchens today. This book features the innovative use of materials by brands like Boffi, as well as original and alternative use of space by architects such as Messana O?Rorke. ? This survey explores the limits of what's possible in kitchen design ? A thorough sourcebook combining the practical and the aesthetic aspects of designing a kitchen


Dried blood spots (DBS) and dried milk spots (DMS) represent convenient matrices for collecting and storing human samples. However, the use of these sample types for researching lipid metabolism remains relatively poorly explored, and especially the efficiency of lipid extraction is unclear. A visual inspection of punched DBSs after standard extraction suggests that the samples remain largely intact. DMSs comprise a dense aggregate of milk fat globules on one side of the card, suggesting that the lipid fraction may be physically inaccessible. This led us to the hypotheses that decoagulating may facilitate lipid extraction from both DBSs and DMSs. We tested decoagulation using a mixture of strong chaeotropes (guanidine and thiourea) in both DBS and DMS in the context of high throughput lipidomics (96/384w plate). Extraction of lipids from DMSs was tested with established extractions and one novel solvent mixture in a high throughput format. We found that exposure of DBSs to chaeotropes facilitated collection of the lipid fraction but was ineffective for DMSs. The lipid fraction of DMSs was best isolated without water, using a mixture of xylene/methanol/isopropanol (1:2:4). We conclude that decoagulation is essential for efficient extraction of lipids from DBSs and that a non-aqueous procedure using a spectrum of solvents is the best procedure for extracting lipids from DMSs. These methods represent convenient steps that are compatible with the sample structure and type, and with high throughput lipidomics. Highlights The efficiency of lipid extractions on dried milk and dried blood spots was tested The number of lipid variables and the total signal strength were used as objective measures Decoagulation of dried blood spots improved extraction efficiency A mixture of xylene, methanol and isopropanol isolates the lipid fraction best from DMSs An aqueous extraction using dichloromethane was the most efficient method for isolating lipids from DBSs


Various efforts and campaigns have been carried out by the government to encourage the acceptance of freshwater fish meal by the public. The objectives of this study were to assess the acceptance of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) students towards freshwater fish meal and to determine the factors that influence freshwater fish meal intake. A total of 232 students were randomly chosen from faculties in UKM (Bangi campus). Besides of students, food handlers of UKM's Cafeteria were also involved in this study. Questionnaire were used to assess level of understanding and acceptability of students towards freshwater fish, frequency of freshwater fish meal intake and the factors that affect their intake. The extent of availability and variety of freshwater fish meal was identified by observations at selected cafeterias in UKM. Majority of respondents (95.7%) were aware of freshwater fish in general but only 55.6% of the respondents know the type or species of freshwater fish. Results showed that majority of respondents (63.3%) choose fresh water fish as meal. Chi Squared Test showed that there were significant associations between religion and race with respondents' selection of freshwater fish as a meal (p < 0.05). Catfish (51.9%) was the most prefered fresh water fish by respondents. Meals most favored by majority of  respondents (36.2%) were fried freshwater fish. Majority of respondents (43.2%) like to eat freshwater fish due to the taste factor. Most cafeterias in UKM sell freshwater fish dishes. This is mainly because they want to add variation in the menu sold in their cafeterias. A total of 69.2% of the cafeterias reported students' acceptance on freshwater fish meals were very good but only for selected freshwater fish meal. This study provides useful information to the government on the acceptibility and awareness among university students towards freshwater fish and also to assist food handler of UKM's Cafeteria in preparation of freshwater fish meals that are suitable with the students' preference. DOI :  http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jskm-1201-2014-08


The world is struggling against extreme droughts, heavy rain, and heat waves because of climate change. These abnormal climate cause urban flood, urban heat island, and water pollution and shortage and these natural disasters not only threaten citizen's health and amenity but also negatively affect cities economically, environmentally, and socially. Thus, this paper discusses about green infrastructure as the water sensitive urban design strategy in terms of sustainable stormwater management in the era of climate change. To do this, this paper reviews concept, context, and current trends of green infrastructure as water sensitive urban design strategy and this paper examines relations between green infrastructure and sustainable stormwater management. And then this paper analyzes various case studies on green infrastructure as water sensitive urban design strategy for sustainable stromwater management, which are categorized by city-scale's case studies such as Kallang River Bishan Park and Tanner Springs Park, site and building-scale's case studies such as Mount Tabor School rain garden, Sidwell Friends School wetlands, and California Academy of Sciences green roof, and street-scale's case studies such as NE Siskiyou Green Street, SW 12th Avenue Green Street, and Taylor 28 Green Street. After analyzing these various case studies of green infrastructure as water sensitive urban design strategy, this paper draws water sensitive urban design strategies for sustainable stormwater management. The result of analysis is as follows. Firstly, water sensitive urban design strategy for sustainable stormwater management contains various green infrastructure elements such as urabn wetlands, stormwater parks, eco-streams, green roofs, rain gardens, bio-swales, buffer strips, stormwater planters, permeable pavings, and cisterns. Secondly, these various green infrastructure elements could be applied on the various types of land-use such as buildings, roofs, roads, streets, and parking lots as well as green and water space in urban areas. Thirdly, these multi-dimensional green infrastructure could evaporate, infiltrate, filtrate, and reuse stormwater ecologically through vegetation, soil, and minerals which is applied on green infrastructure. Fourth, these biological green infrastructure could be linked and connected each other to supply more environmental benefits such as urban flood prevention, water purification, and habitat supply for plants and animals than to be applied alone on the various types of land-use. Eventually, these water sensitive urban design strategies as green infrastructure could restore ecologically urban hydrological cycle which is distorted by indiscriminate urban development and could enhance urban biodiversity which is destroyed by massive urban sprawl.


The quasi-magnetostatic (briefly, magnetostatic) microwave propagation in a long, circular cross section waveguide having a metallic wall that is filled with an anisotropic uniaxial magnetic medium (here, a metamaterial consisting of split-ring resonators) is studied. Such waves do not exist in the case of a hollow metallic waveguide or a metallic waveguide filled with an isotropic medium. Physically, the present magnetostatic waves owe their existence to the anisotropic property of the system, where in the absence of this property, these magnetostatic waves disappear. A theoretical analysis is carried out and characteristics of these magnetostatic microwaves in circular metallic waveguides filled with uniaxial negative permeability media are determined. The presented results include the dispersion relation of magnetostatic waves and their corresponding cutoff frequencies, group velocities, transverse modal field distributions, power flows, and stored energies.


Abstract Epimedii Herba (EH) has been used in traditional Asian medicine to treat hemiplegia following stroke. Icariin, its major active component, is used as a quality-control marker and for its various pharmacological effects. We hypothesized that icariin would show protective effects following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The TBI mouse model was induced using a controlled cortical impact method. Body weight, brain damage, motor function, and cognitive function were evaluated. Synaptogenesis markers were analyzed to investigate potential mechanisms of action. The animals were divided into six groups: sham, control, minocycline-treated group, and icariin-treated (3, 10, and 30 mg/kg, p. o.) groups. The icariin 30 mg/kg-treated group regained body weight at 7 and 8 d post TBI. Icariin 30 mg/kg- and 10 mg/kg-treated groups showed enhanced sensory-motor function at 8 d post TBI in rotarod and balance beam tests. Icariin-treated groups showed increased recognition index in the novel object recognition test at all doses and increased spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze test at 30 mg/kg. Icariin upregulated brain-derived neurotrophic factor, synaptophysin and postsynaptic density protein 95 expressions. However, no protective effects against brain damage or neuronal death were observed. The current results provide a basis for using icariin following TBI and suggest that it could be a candidate for the development of therapeutic agents for functional recovery after TBI.


In vitro and in vivo models are efficiently used systems in neuroscience research to study the brain in normal or pathological conditions. There are many advantages to these systems, yet they also have significant limitations. In vitro cell cultures offer the opportunity to investigate the cell basics or primary response of a cell population against any treatment. However, these models do not always predict in vivo behavior. In vivo animal studies constitute the most realistic platform for research and therapeutic approaches, yet they are laborious, open to secondary complications and painful or stressful for the animals from an ethical point of view. Organotypic brain slice cultures provide an in vivo-like environment since they maintain three-dimensional cytoarchitecture of the brain thus enable to study many cell types in one system and allow precise control of the microenvironment. In this review, we will focus on the history and key features of organotypic brain slice cultures as well as its preparation.


Abstract Hyperspectral remote sensing combined with advanced image processing techniques is an efficient tool for the identification of agricultural crops. In our study we pursued spectral analysis on a relatively small sample area using low number of training points to examine the potential of high resolution imagery. Spectral separability measurements were applied to reveal spectral overlapping between 4 crop species and for the discrimination we also used statistical comparisons such as plotting the PC values and calculating standard deviation of single band reflectance values on our classes. These statistical results were proven to be good indicators of spectral similarity and potential confusion of data samples. The classification of Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) had an overall accuracy of 72% for the four species where the poorest results were obtained from the test points of garlic and sugar beet. Comparing the statistical analyses we concluded that spectral homogeneity does not necessarily have influence on the accuracy of mapping, whereas separability scores strongly correlate with classification results, implying also that preliminary statistical assessments can improve the efficiency of training site selection and provide useful information to specify some technical requirements of airborne hyperspectral surveys.


Cardiovascular disease and oxidative stress are involved in aging. Aging causes many alterations in myochardial functions and metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aging on heart functions, total antioxidant capacity and membrane lipid composition and the effects of oral administration of ginger and lipoic acid for 30 days. The levels of serum lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase and heart antioxidant capacity exhibited marked alterations in normal senile female rats. The treatment of ginger and lipoic acid for 30 days improved these alterations. Furthermore, the relationship between membrane lipid composition and aging was detected. There were significant increases in lauric and myristic acids and significant decrease in arachidic acid in senile rats. On the other hand, the unsaturated fatty acids (olic, linoleic, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were significantly decreased. Ginger treatment showed significant decreases in saturated fatty acids. In lipoic acid treated group, there was a significant improvement in the level of unsaturated fatty acids (EPA and DHA) as compared with normal senile female rats. In conclusion, ginger and lipoic acid may have ameliorative effect of heart functions, total antioxidant capacity and membrane free fatty acids in old female rats.


GaN epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy using as the nitrogen source were found to contain hydrogen. We further notice that the background electron concentration in GaN can be correlated with the amount of hydrogen contaminant. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of the N 1s peak reveal that hydrogen is bound to nitrogen. This will make the corresponding Ga atom see insufficient N counterpart, as can be inferred from the XPS Ga 3d spectrum. We then think that nitrogen in the lattice terminated by hydrogen is an effective nitrogen vacancy and hence a donor accounting for the background electrons.


Pemphigus was treated in 270 patients during the 40-year period before the introduction of steroid therapy and has been treated with steroids in 52 patients during a 4-year period since that time. The initial site of the bullae was the oral mucosa in nearly 55% of the cases. The mortality rate before steroids was more than 90%; in the steroid-treated series it was 33%. The steroids used were corticotropin, cortisone, hydrocortisone, and prednisone, and in the dosages needed to control the pemphigus they generally produced the characteristic side-effects, such as moon facies, hyperpigmentation, and psychotic symptoms. Two patients so treated died of gastrointestinal hemorrhages, which had not been observed in the presteroid series. Despite these disadvantages steroid therapy is at present the treatment of choice for pemphigus.


Purpose
International Business Strategies (IBS) literature deliberated on the strategic planning and strategy implementation of home country firms in foreign markets. IBS had become a very potent growth strategy for firms. IBS as a body of knowledge had become substantial in the last few decades of research. To this end, and as a complex field of study, this paper aims to conceptually map this IBS literature. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present a visual mapping of intellectual structure in two dimensions and to identify the subfields of IBS through co-citation analysis.

Design/methodology/approach
All the citation documents were included in the Web of Knowledge (WoK) database between the years 1993 and 2018. For the multivariate analysis, this study applied a sequence of statistical analyses including factor analysis, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Through these techniques, this research study tried to summarize the condition and status of IBS research by classifying the IBS literature into four categories.

Findings
IBS literature has been classified into four categories, namely, evolutionary aspects of IBS; firm strategic objectives and IBS; institutional theory and IBS in emerging economies; and foreign market entry strategies for internationalization.

Research limitations/implications
Based upon the basis of the analysis of extant research in IBS, the current and future extension research topics have been presented. This would help future researchers to understand the white spots for undertaking research in future.

Originality/value
This was one of the very first studies that mapped the International Business Strategy literature and categorized IBS literature.


Abstract Many spiders eat mosquitoes, but a spider is not automatically a mosquito specialist if it eats mosquitoes, or even if it primarily eats mosquitoes. Instead, specialization pertains to predators being adaptively fine tuned to specific types of prey. It is important to keep this basic meaning of specialization conceptually distinct from diet breadth (stenophagy versus euryphagy), adaptive trade-offs and other sister topics. Here we review the biology of Evarcha culicivora Wesolowska & Jackson 2003 and Paracyrba wanlessi Żabka & Kovac 1996 (Salticidae), two spider species that can be characterized, in their own individual ways, as being mosquito specialists. However, simply calling these species mosquito specialists can be misleading. Details matter, with some of the most important of these details pertaining to the different ways E. culicivora and P. wanlessi classify mosquitoes. The way these species classify, and specialize on, mosquitoes includes fine-tuned prey-choice behavior, special feature-detection mechanisms, deployment of selective attention and other behavioral and cognitive capacities that can be understood only on the basis of appropriately designed experiments.


Gain monitoring by detecting the spontaneous emission (SE) emitted by 0.98- mu m laser diode (LD) pumped erbium-doped fiber amplifiers was investigated using three erbium-doped fibers (EDF's) with different absorption coefficients at 1.55 mu m ( alpha ). Unfavorable 0.98- mu m scattered light was observed and removed by an optical filter. The minimum gain accuracy was less than +or-0.21 dB for EDF-b ( alpha =1.5 dB/m) with launched pump powers (P/sub p/) from 10 to 30 mW. The minimum gain reproducibility over a 9-h period was +or- 0.015 dB for EDF-a ( alpha =3.3 dB/m) at P/sub p/=20 mW.<<ETX>>


This contribution examines the potential of object-based image analysis (OBIA) for archaeological predictive modeling starting from elevation data, by testing a ruleset for the location of "control places" on two test areas in the Alpine environment (northern Italy). The ruleset was developed on the western Asiago Plateau (Vicenza Province, Veneto) and subsequently re-applied (semi)automatically in the Isarco Valley (South Tirol). Firstly, we considered the physiographic, climatic, and morphological characteristics of the selected areas and we applied 3 DTM processing techniques: Slope, local dominance, and solar radiation. Subsequently, we employed an object-based approach to classification. Solar radiation, local dominance, and slope were visualized as a three-layer RGB image that was segmented with the multiresolution algorithm. The classification was implemented with a ruleset that selected only image–objects with high local dominance and solar radiation, but low slope, which were considered more suitable parameters for human occupation. The classification returned five areas on the Asiago Plateau that were remotely and ground controlled, confirming anthropic exploitation covering a time span from protohistory (2nd-1st millennium BC) to the First World War. Subsequently, the same model was applied to the Isarco Valley to verify the replicability of the method. The procedure resulted in 36 potential control places which find good correspondence with the archaeological sites discovered in the area. Previously unknown contexts were further controlled using very high-resolution (VHR) aerial images and digital terrain model (DTM) data, which often suggested a possible (pre-proto)historic human frequentation. The outcomes of the analysis proved the feasibility of the approach, which can be exported and applied to similar mountainous landscapes for site predictivity analysis.


Photoconductive antennas (PCAs) based on nanoplasmonic gratings contact electrodes have been proposed to satisfy the demand for high power, efficiency and responsivity terahertz (THz) sources. Reducing the average photo-generated carrier transport path to the photoconductor contact electrodes was previously considered the dominant mechanism to improve PCAs' power. However, considering the bias in a real device, the electric field between gratings is limited and the role of surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) field enhancement is more important in improving THz radiation. This paper, based on SPR, analyzes the interaction between incident light and substrate in nano cylinder array PCAs and clearly shows that the SPR can enhance the light absorption in the substrate. After the optimization of the structure size, the proposed structure can offer 87% optical transmission into GaAs substrate. Compared with conventional PCAs, the optical transmission into the substrate will increase 5.8 times and the enhancement factor of substrate absorption will reach 13.7 respectively.


Case-based reasoning (CBR) has been proposed as an expert system approach that may overcome a number of limitations of standard rule-based expert systems. A generic CBR shell that runs on a Zenith 386 PC with expanded memory has been developed. A case-based reasoning system uses innovative techniques in the storage and retrieval of data. Cases are retrieved via specified attributes, or characteristics of the case. Klein Associates has completed a CBR shell which allows fast retrieval of multiple cases from a large number of stored cases. The shell is named PROSPER (problem solving using prior experience and reasoning). Several applications are described: a project to estimate the survivability/vulnerability of underground concrete structures, a study showing the feasibility of using CBR to help aeronautical design engineers identify and retrieve prior designs, a project to use CBR to estimate cost and effort for manufacturing parts, and a study of the feasibility of using CBR to estimate manpower, personnel, and training (MPT) requirements for new systems early in preconcept design.<<ETX>>


Mathematical modelling of cellular processes is crucial for the understanding of the cell or organism as a whole. Genome‐wide observations, at the levels of the transcriptome, proteome and metabolome, provide a high coverage of the molecular constituents of the system in study. Time‐course experiments are important for gaining insight into a system's dynamics and are needed for mathematical modelling. In time‐course experiments it is crucial to use efficient and fast sampling techniques. We evaluated several techniques to sample and process yeast cultures for parallel analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome. The evaluation was made by measuring the quality of the RNA obtained with UV‐spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis and microarray hybridization. The protocol developed involves rapid collection by spraying the sample into −40 °C tricine‐buffered methanol (as previously described for yeast metabolome analysis), followed by the separation of cells from the culture medium in low‐temperature rapid centrifugation. Removal of the residual methanol is carried out by freeze‐drying the pellet at −35 °C. RNA and metabolites can then be extracted from the same freeze‐dried sample obtained with this procedure. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Rectifiers composed of diodes or thyristors have many harmonics in line currents. Recently, PWM converters have been actively studied to reduce the harmonics. In order to put them into practical use, not only PWM control method but also the following control methods must be established.(1) Method for reducing the capacity of dc link capacitor.(2) Restarting method from instantaneous power interruption.For reducing the capacity of do link capacitor, it is necessary to suppress the fluctuation of dc link voltage at a sudden change of load. In this paper, the load is inverter for variable speed induction motor drives. The load current of converter, that is the inverter input current, is detected without delay time and ripple by multiplying the inverter output currents or motor currents and the inverter PWM signals. By adding the detected signal to do link voltage control loop as a compensating component, the fluctuation of dc link voltage at a sudden load change can be suppressed. As a result, the capacity of the dc link capacitor or can be reduced to smaller than one-fifth of that in the conventional diode rectifier. For restarting from instantaneous power interruption, the very simple control method is proposed. When the dc link voltage becomes low limitation value setted at a little bit lower than that obtained in diode rectifier in the period of power interruption, the PWM signals to converter are blocked. After recovery from power interruption, when the dc link voltage reaches the low limitation value, the PWM control signals are supplied to the converter again and it is restarted the operation. From the experimental results, it was confirmed that the PWM converter can be restarted from the instantaneous power interruption very smoothly.


Aggregation mechanisms in food colloids and the role of biopolymers, A. Lips et al conformation and physical properties of the bacterial polysaccharides gelan, welan and rhamsan, G. Robinson et al probe studies of the gelation of gelatin using the forced rayleigh scattering technique, W.G. Griffin and M.C.A. Griffin interactions between small amphipathic molecules and proteins, M.N. Jones and A. Brass surface adsorption studies of amino-acids and proteins at a platinum electrode, S. G. Roscoe recent development in polyelectrolyte adsorption - theory and experiment, G.J. Fleer preliminary studies of B-lactoglobulin adsorbed on polystyrene latex, A.R. Mackie et al dimensions and possible structures of milk proteins at oil-water interfaces, D.G. Dalgleish and J. Leaver phase diagrams of mixed soybean phospholipids, B. Bergenstahl stability of food emulsions containing both protein and polysaccharide, E. Dickinson and S.R. Euston importance of peptides for food emulsion stability, Z.U. Haque function of l-tending emulsifiers and proteins in whappable emulsions, J.M.M. Westerbeek and A. Prins monitoring crystallization in simple and mixed oil-in-water emulsions using ultrasonic velocity measurement, E. Dickinson et al reactivity of food preservatives in dispersed systems, B.L. Wedzicha et al coalescence of beer foan initiated by lipid material, A. D. Ronteltap et al biochemical and physical analysis of beers - roles for macromolecular species in foam stabilization at dispense, T.J. Leeson et al on static drainage of protein-stabilized foams, G. Narsimhan factors affecting the formation and stabilization of high-fat forms, E.C. Needs and B. E. Brooker behaviour of low-calorie spreads based on protein-stabilized oil-in-water systems, G. Muschiolik creaming in flocculated oil-in-water emulsions, S. J. Gouldby et al computer simulations of the flow of deformable particles, G.C. Barker and M.J. Grimson molecular diffusion at interfaces and its relationship to disperse phase stability, D.C. Clarks et al melting and glass/rubber transitions of starch polysaccharides, M. A. Whittam et al calormetric study of the glass transition occurring in sucrose solutions, M.J. Izzard et al small-angle X-ray scattering and differential scanning calorimetry from starch and retrograded starch, R. E. Cameron and A.M. Donald weak and strong polysaccharide gels, V.J. Morris structural and mechanical properties of biopolymer gels, A.H. Clark mixed gels formed with konjac mannan and xanthan gum, P. A. Williams et al flow and viscoelastic properties of mixed xanthan and galactomannan sytsems, J.L. Doublier and G. Llamas concentration dependence on gelation time, S.B. Ross-Murphy. Part contents.


Sports attracted a lot of people to watch various games all over the world. India is not an exception. Among various games, cricket has special attention. Cricket in India contributes to the Indian economy on a large scale. Cricket is also known for the broad amount of data gathered for each team, season, and player. Hence, cricket is a perfect domain to work on various data analysis and machine learning approaches to acquire useful insights and information. In this paper, algorithms were used to enhance the output of the team in a sports league, particularly, IPL (cricket). It reflects the performance of the team on a deeper analysis of the requirements of T20 cricket.


The development of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/mass spectrometry (MS) methods for the simultaneous detection and quantification of a broad spectrum of mycotoxins has facilitated the screening of a larger number of samples for contamination with a wide array of less well-known "emerging" mycotoxins and other metabolites. In this study, 83 samples of feed and feed raw materials were analysed. All of them were found to contain seven to 69 metabolites. The total number of detected metabolites amounts to 139. Fusarium mycotoxins were most common, but a number of Alternaria toxins also occurred very often. Furthermore, two so-called masked mycotoxins (i.e., mycotoxin conjugates), namely deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (75% positives) and zearalenone-4-sulfate (49% positives), were frequently detected. Although the observed median concentrations of the individual analytes were generally in the low μg/kg range, evaluating the toxicological potential of a given sample is difficult. Toxicity data on less well-known mycotoxins and other detected metabolites are notoriously scarce, as an overview on the available information on the most commonly detected metabolites shows. Besides, the possible synergistic effects of co-occurring substances have to be considered.


The benefits of utilizing spatial context in fast object detection algorithms have been studied extensively. Detectors increase inference speed by doing a single forward pass per image which means they implicitly use contextual reasoning for their predictions. However, one can show that an adversary can design adversarial patches which do not overlap with any objects of interest in the scene and exploit contextual reasoning to fool standard detectors. In this paper, we examine this problem and design category specific adversarial patches which make a widely used object detector like YOLO blind to an attacker chosen object category. We also show that limiting the use of spatial context during object detector training improves robustness to such adversaries. We believe the existence of context based adversarial attacks is concerning since the adversarial patch can affect predictions without being in vicinity of any objects of interest. Hence, defending against such attacks becomes challenging and we urge the research community to give attention to this vulnerability.


EGF receptor signalling plays diverse inductive roles during development. To achieve this, its activity must be carefully regulated in a variety of ways to control the time, pattern, intensity and duration of signalling. We show that the cell surface protein Echinoid is required to moderate Egfr signalling during R8 photoreceptor selection by the proneural gene atonal during Drosophila eye development. In echinoid mutants, Egfr signalling is increased during R8 formation, and this causes isolated R8 cells to be replaced by groups of two or three cells. This mutant phenotype resembles the normal inductive function of Egfr in other developmental contexts, particularly during atonal-controlled neural recruitment of chordotonal sense organ precursors. We suggest that echinoid acts to prevent a similar inductive outcome of Egfr signalling during R8 selection.


Many students currently are enrolled in colleges and universities across the country with language disorders and/or learning disabilities (LLD). The majority of these students struggle with writing, creating a need to identify and provide them with writing intervention services. Speech–language pathologists (SLPs) may provide this intervention; however, many report lacking the confidence, training, and experience to assess and treat writing difficulties in this or any population (Fallon & Katz, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide information that will assist SLPs and other professionals to identify the writing problems of college students with LLD and develop individualized treatment plans for them. Specifically, information is provided relating to (a) the types of writing difficulties typically seen in this population, (b) the best methods of assessing the writing problems of this population, (c) how to develop and provide individualized therapy for these individuals, and (d) the types of accommodations that can be used with this population.


Brain abscess after rhinosinusitis is uncommon in clinical practice today, as a result of improvement in diagnosis as well as the increased use and efficacy of antibiotic treatment of rhinosinusitis. The role of expanded endoscopic endonasal approaches in treating skull base pathologies has significantly increased over the last decade, along with greater knowledge of the ventral anatomy of this region, offering a new method of brain abscess treatment. We present the case of a 24-year-old man with brain abscess secondary to acute sinusitis that was drained with an endoscopic endonasal approach. We discuss the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and appropriate treatment available in the literature.


The Spiritual Gospel: the Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel in the Early Church. By Maurice F. Wiles. Pp. x+182. London: Cambridge University Press, i960. 25s. This study is an examination not of the Fourth Gospel itself but of the use made of it by some of the Greek Fathers, chiefly Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria, and, among others, Chrysostom. The first five chapters go together, dealing with the authorship and purpose of the Gospel as the Fathers saw them; the contrast between the Fourth Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels; the problem of historicity and symbolism; the 'signs' of the Fourth Gospel and its leading ideas, all as understood by the Fathers mentioned. The sixth chapter deals with the Fourth Gospel and the Gnostics and shows Mr. Wiles's familiarity with the recently-discovered Gnostic writings as well as with older Gnostic material. The seventh and eighth chapters discuss Christological interpretation in the third and fourth centuries and the Christological exegesis of Theodore and Cyril. Every theological student knows of the conflicting Christologies of Antioch and Alexandria: while the one maintained that Christ's atoning work has meaning only if it was wrought through Christ's complete manhood, the other asserted that the redemption of human nature, effected by the Incarnation (and the Cross and Resurrection), was the victory of God's Word, who by taking human nature personally loosed it from sin, corruption and death: the one insisted that the two natures in Christ, human and divine, and their experiences must be kept whole and distinct, the union between the two natures being best expressed in terms of 'indwelling'; the other affirmed that the union is due to the Word of God, Christ, being the subject of all acts of the Incarnate, and that references in the Gospels to his manhood are not to be sharply distinguished from those to his divinity, though some of them can be applied to him only in so far as self-limitation was necessary for him by reason ofhis manhood. In this book it is seen how carefully and acutely the texts of the Fourth Gospel bearing on these issues were treated by the Fathers. One lays down this book with a sense of gratitude for the life and work of Origen and for the biblical theology (if not the life) of Cyril, and also to Mr. Wiles for showing how these Fathers based their views on their interpretations of texts taken usually from the Fourth Gospel. The bibliography and indices are as good as the rest of the book.


ABSTRACT Cannabis has long been widely used throughout the prenatal period. However, motives for prenatal cannabis use (PCU) have not been comprehensively examined. Stigmatization has been identified as a barrier to therapeutic cannabis use and related physician communication. Such stigma may be particularly salient in the context of PCU. One hundred and three women who reported current or past pregnancy were recruited online. Participants completed a survey querying prenatal experiences, substance use, and attitudes toward PCU. PCU was reported by 35 (34%) respondents. Treating nausea and vomiting of pregnancy was the most frequently reported reason for PCU (89%), and 24 (69%) reported substituting cannabis for pharmaceutical drugs. Sixty-two percent of PCU participants and 31% of non-PCU participants indicated discomfort discussing PCU with their physician, and 74% of PCU participants and 27% of non-PCU participants indicated they would not disclose PCU to their physician if it occurred in future pregnancies. Our findings suggest that PCU may reflect primarily therapeutic motives of relieving symptoms of morning sickness, nausea, low appetite, pain, and substituting for other prescription medications. Respondents reported discomfort discussing PCU with physicians, which was more pronounced among respondents with lived experience of PCU. Findings suggest PCU might best be evaluated within a therapeutic framework and highlight the importance of efforts to enhance patient-caregiver communication regarding PCU.


PURPOSES: Evaluation of thermal conductivity and convection properties of asphalt mixture by using thermodynamics. METHODS: In this research, temperature prediction model based on thermodynamics is derived for asphalt mixture in transient state and it is verified with laboratory test results. RESULTS: The derived temperature prediction model shows good agreement with laboratory test results. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the derived model based on thermodynamics and thermal properties in the literature are good enough to capture temperature variation in laboratory test. The approach based on thermodynamics can be applied to more complex temperature simulations.


Risk factors predictive of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization in 786 of 910 nursing home residents were evaluated. A customized questionnaire was completed by theresidents, who were screened for MRSA. The risk factors significantly associated with MRSA colonization were male sex, age >80 years, residence in the nursing home for <six months, hospitalization during the previous 6 months, peripheral vascular disease, pressure sores, steroid therapy, poor general skin condition, antibiotic therapy during the previous three months and a mental test score of O14. Multivariate analysis identified male sex and pressure sores as independent variables.


Economic indicators, such as GDP, do not measure all dimensions of society's progress. Hundreds of alternative measurement systems have been proposed to measure sustainable development. This paper argues for harmonization of these methods, and facilitates this discussion by providing a detailed comparison of country-level measures. The analysis includes 55 systems (12 composite indicators and 43 sustainable development indicator (SDI) sets). The analysis shows that SDI sets are more common than composite indicators. This paper also shows that composite indicators generally focus on environmental themes, while SDI sets are broader in scope through inclusion of more social themes. Overall, we find a great degree of agreement on the most popular indicators and themes in SDI sets. However, we do find that certain indicators are more prevalent in higher and lower income countries. The article emphasizes the need for harmonization of measurement systems, but also shows the importance of flexibility at the country level. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment


We study the convergence properties of decentralized fictitious play (DFP) for the class of near-potential games where the incentives of agents are nearly aligned with a potential function. In DFP, agents share information only with their current neighbors in a sequence of time-varying networks, keep estimates of other agents' empirical frequencies, and take actions to maximize their expected utility functions computed with respect to the estimated empirical frequencies. We show that empirical frequencies of actions converge to a set of strategies with potential function values that are larger than the potential function values obtained by approximate Nash equilibria of the potential game. This result establishes that DFP has identical convergence guarantees in near-potential games as the standard fictitious play in which agents observe the past actions of all the other agents.


There are many automatic approaches for generating matches between ontologies and schemas. However, these techniques are far from perfect and when the use case requires an accurate matching, humans must be involved in the process. Yet, involving the users in creating matchings presents its own problems. Users have trouble understanding the relationships between large ontologies and schemas and their concepts, remembering what they have looked at and executed, understanding output from the automatic algorithm, remembering why they performed an operation, reversing their decisions, and gathering evidence to support their decisions. Recently, researchers have been investigating these issues and developing tools to help users overcome these difficulties. In this chapter, we present some of the latest work related to human-guided ontology matching. Specifically, we discuss the cognitive difficulties users face with creating ontology matchings, the latest visual tools for assisting users with matching tasks, Web 2.0 approaches, common themes, challenges, and the next steps.


Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, a tropical blooming species of cyanobacterium (blue-green alga), was isolated from the domestic water supply reservoir on Palm Island, a continental island off the tropical northeast coast of Australia. This species, not previously known to be toxic, was shown to be severely hepatotoxic for mice. The 50% lethal dose at 24 h after injection was found to be 64 +/- 5 mg of freeze-dried culture per kg of mouse. The principal lesion produced was centrilobular to massive hepatocyte necrosis, but various degrees of injury were also seen in the kidneys, adrenal glands, lungs, and intestine. The possible implication of this finding in relation to an incident of hepatoenteritis in humans living on the island is discussed.


Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) results from the destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Viruses have been suggested as one of the possible causes. The evidence for viruses comes largely from experiments in animals, but several studies in humans also point to viruses as a trigger of this disease in some cases. Encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus, Mengovirus (2T), and Coxsackie B4 virus infect and destroy pancreatic beta cells when inoculated into mice. This results in hypoinsulinemia and hyperglycemia. The development of EMC virus–induced diabetes is dependent on the genetic background of the host and genetic makeup of the virus. Animals with diabetes for several months show some long-term complications, including glomerulosclerosis, ocular changes, and decreased bone formation and mineralization in addition to acute metabolic changes. EMC virus–induced diabetes can be prevented by a live-attenuated vaccine. The capacity of Coxsackie B4 virus to induce diabetes is also influenced by the genetic background of the host. However, Mengovirus-induced diabetes is not dependent on the genetic background of the host. In contrast to the EMC, Mengo, and Coxsackie B4 viruses, reovirus type 1 seems to be somehow associated with an autoimmune response producing a diabetes-like syndrome in suckling mice. This virus produces an autoimmune polyendocrinopathy that results in very mild and transient glucose intolerance. Several common human viruses including mumps, Coxsackie B3 and B4 viruses, and reovirus type 3 can infect human beta cells in culture and destroy them. A variant of Coxsackie B4 virus has been isolated from the pancreas of a child who died of acute-onset IDDM. Serologic studies revealed a rise in the titer of neutralizing antibody to the virus. This virus produced diabetes when inoculated into certain inbred strains of mice. Support for the idea that viruses can trigger some cases of diabetes in man has been strengthened lately by additional case reports and epidemiologic studies. However, it is evident that diabetes is not a common consequence of virus infection. In conclusion, based on the experiments in mice and studies in humans, it appears that at least an occasional case of IDDM may be triggered by a viral infection.


B7 proteins CD80 (B7-1) and CD86 (B7-2) are expressed on most antigen-presenting cells and provide critical co-stimulatory or inhibitory input to T cells via their T-cell-expressed receptors: CD28 and CTLA-4. CD28 is expressed on effector T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), and CD28-dependent signals are required for optimum activation of effector T cell functions. CD28 ligation on effector T cells leads to formation of distinct molecular patterns and induction of cytoskeletal rearrangements at the immunological synapse (IS). CD28 plays a critical role in recruitment of protein kinase C (PKC)-θ to the effector T cell IS. CTLA-4 is constitutively expressed on the surface of Tregs, but it is expressed on effector T cells only after activation. As CTLA-4 binds to B7 proteins with significantly higher affinity than CD28, B7 ligand recognition by cells expressing both receptors leads to displacement of CD28 and PKC-θ from the IS. In Tregs, B7 ligand recognition leads to recruitment of CTLA-4 and PKC-η to the IS. CTLA-4 plays a role in regulation of T effector and Treg IS stability and cell motility. Due to their important roles in regulating T-cell-mediated responses, B7 receptors are emerging as important drug targets in oncology. In this review, we present an integrated summary of current knowledge about the role of B7 family receptor–ligand interactions in the regulation of spatial and temporal IS dynamics in effector and Tregs.


1,2-dichloropropane (1,2-DCP) was reclassified recently by IARC as a Group 1 carcinogen based on epidemiological studies on an outbreak of cholangiocarcinoma in offset-printing workers exposed to 1,2-DCP in Japan. However, the underlying mechanism of 1,2-DCP-induced cholangiocarcinoma remains obscure. A previous whole-genome mutation analysis of cholangiocarcinoma of 4 cases exposed to 1,2-DCP suggested the involvement of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), based on specific signatures of mutation patterns. The objective of the present study is to determine whether exposure to 1,2-DCP induces expression of AID in human cholangiocytes. Human MMNK-1 cholangiocytes, differentiated THP-1 macrophages, and co-cultures of MMNK-1/THP-1 cells were exposed to 1,2-DCP at different concentrations and time intervals. The mRNA expression levels of AID and related genes were quantified by real-time PCR. Protein expression was measured by immunostaining. Alkaline Comet assay was performed to examine DNA damage. The results showed that 1,2-DCP alone did not change AID expression in MMNK-1 cholangiocytes. 1,2-DCP significantly increased pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α expression in THP-1 macrophages. TNF-α treatment upregulated expression of AID, NF-κB, and IκB in MMNK-1 cholangiocytes. SN50, a NF-κB inhibitor, significantly downregulated TNF-α-induced AID expression, suggesting the involvement of NF-κB pathway in TNF-α-induced AID expression. Exposure to 1,2-DCP significantly increased AID expression in MMNK-1 cholangiocytes co-cultured with THP-1 macrophages. Comet assay showed that 1,2-DCP-induced DNA damage in MMNK-1 cholangiocytes, as indicated by increased tail DNA% and tail moment, was enhanced when co-cultured with macrophages. The results suggest that inflammatory response of macrophages and consequent aberrant AID expression or DNA damage in the cholangiocytes underlie the mechanism of 1,2-DCP-induced cholangiocarcinoma in humans.


In the present article the author analyzes the threat of cyberespionage caused by a wide circulation of information technologies, analyzes possible methods counteraction.


Mortality rates for people with chronic kidney disease are worse than most cancers. High symptom burden, multiple comorbidities and advanced age are common among people receiving renal care. It is, therefore, not surprising that among the nephrology community, awareness is growing regarding the need for nephrology palliative care. This article offers a perspective of the current "state of the art" of nephrology palliative care and its relationship to nephrology nursing. A literature review and communication with experts in the field inform this perspective. Understanding the emerging field of nephrology palliative care gives nephrology nurses a clearer position from which to rethink their role in integrating nephrology and palliative care. Implementing compassionate, ethical and effective palliative care for patients and families living with kidney disease offers hope for improved quality of living and of dying for these patients and their families, and for the renal professionals who care for them.


The Task Committee on Lightweight Alloys has prepared this guide for the design of transmission towers. The Executive Committee of the Structural Division decided that no specification shall be issued in the name of, nor endorsed by, the Structural Division of ASCE. Specifications may be prepared by Task Committees of the Structural Division, ASCE, working alone or jointly with other groups. This guide is concerned with the design of transmission towers, for all voltage levels, constructed from aluminum in the alloy 6061-T6. The methods may also be extended to cover other alloys. Fasteners are usually bolts of either aluminum or protected steel. Fabrication and testing methods are also considered. The guide should be considered as one means of designing a tower which will sustain the specified ultimate loads without significant permanent deformation.


Chlorantraniliprole (CAP) is an insecticide widely used to control the small white butterfly (SWB), Pieris rapae. Exposure to CAP can cause oxidative injury in SWB; however, it is unclear if antioxidant enzymes are involved in the defense process. In this study, a thioredoxin peroxidase (PrTPX1) gene was identified from SWB by using a homology search method. The gene encoded a 195 amino-acid PrTPX1 protein. Sequence characteristics and phylogenetic analysis indicated that PrTPX1 was a typical "2-Cys" TPX, and the PrTPX1 gene consisted of four exons and three introns. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that the messenger RNA levels of PrTPX1 were highest in third-, fourth- and fifth-instar larval stages and in the larval midgut. Treatment with sublethal doses (LD20 and LD50 ) of CAP for 6, 12, 18, and 24 h resulted in increased H2 O2 concentration in SWB larvae, indicating insecticide-induced oxidative stress. The transcriptional levels of PrTPX1 were significantly enhanced in larvae exposed to CAP. Recombinant PrTPX1 protein was expressed in Escherichia coli. Enzymatic assay revealed that the protein displayed antioxidant activity and was able to protect against oxidative challenge. These results indicated that PrTPX1 plays an important role in oxidative stress responses and may contribute to the CAP tolerance in SWB.


Twenty-three children with pulmonary stenosis were studied by means of displacement tracings taken over the right ventricle. The transducer was selected to pick up vibrations in the ultra-low frequency or palpable range. The patients were studied by cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography.Criteria previously established for normal children were applied to the patients with pulmonary stenosis. These provide a measure of the duration and relative height of the out-ward movement associated with ventricular systole.Recordings of precordial movement over the right ventricle in all of five children with severe pulmonary stenosis were abnormal by these criteria. Patients with mild pulmonary stenosis were normal in six of seven cases. An intermediate group (right ventricular peak pressures 60 to 100 mm. Hg) had abnormal records in seven of 11 instances. The "a" waveresulting from atrial contraction was exaggerated in severe pulmonary stenosis and was larger than normal in many of the mild and moderate cases.Recordings of precordial movement in pulmonary stenosis, though nonspecific in morphology, are nevertheless useful as an index of severity of the lesion, in timing phases of the cardiac cycle, in following the progress of cases before and after surgical interference, and as a method of improving appreciation of palpable phenomena at the bedside.


abstract This article explores the experiences of a group of men who dress and construct their bodies and identities as 'feminine'. The article engages with and interprets the social, political, psychological and economic consequences of these constructions. The research suggests that even though participants present or express 'alternative' forms of masculinity and femininity in contemporary South Africa, established norms of hegemonic masculinity and femininity go relatively unchallenged by the participants' same-sex relationships. The article illustrates that gender and sex as flip sides of a coin is a simplistic construction. The argument motivates that future research should be conducted that provides additional insights into the gendered identities which these 'women' have internalised, reproduced, and possibly challenged in their everyday lives.


While traditional neoclassical economics view the individual entrepreneur as source of competitiveness, and the market economy as source of economic growth, it has recently been recognised that collective leadership and entrepreneurial activity are often at least as important. Also, knowledge has replaced physical capital as the main source of competitiveness and creation of a competitive advantage over other firms through networks and knowledge sharing. However, it is often unclear how this knowledge can be gained. Some authors contest the neoclassical individualistic view and consider that networks and industrial clusters can foster such knowledge exchanges. We hypothesised that the IT sector would be interested in collective ways of accessing knowledge, and sought to determine what modes of governance or intermediaries could make this happen. The paper analyses these intermediaries and their contributions to the IT/multimedia/gaming sector in Montreal, the cluster policy which favours knowledge exchanges, the collective over the individual.


We conducted a field experiment at the geotechnical research soil site #1 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and recorded 9-C seismic data along a short line traverse 90 m in length using a multicomponent vibrator source named Microvibe and a landstreamer receiver array with 48 3-C 28-Hz geophones at 0.75-m intervals. The receiver spread length is 35.25 m, and the near-offset is 1.50 m. We used three source and three receiver orientations — vertical (V), inline-horizontal (H1), and transverse-horizontal (H2). We identified several reflection wave modes in the field records — PP, PS, SP, and SS, in addition to refracted waves, and Rayleigh-mode and Love-mode surface waves. We computed the semblance spectra of the selected shot records and ascertained the wave modes based on the semblance peaks. We then performed CMP stacking of each of the 9-C data sets using the PP, PS/SP, and SS stacking velocities. This field test convincingly demonstrates that there is no pure P- or S-wave land seismic source — any source type can generate any combination of wave modes — PP, PS, SP, and SS, and partitioning of the source energy depends on the source orientation and VP/VS ratio. All three receiver orientations will capture all reflected wave modes — PP, PS, SP, and SS — but with varying strength. The magnitude of the reflection amplitude captured by one of the three receiver orientations will depend on the reflector depth, source-receiver offset, and the near-surface P- and S-wave velocities in the vicinity of the receiver location. The most prominent PP reflection energy is recorded by the VV source-receiver orientation, whereas the most prominent SS reflection energy is recorded by the H2H2 source-receiver orientation. Additionally, the optimum source-receiver orientation for PS reflection mode is VH1, and the optimum source-receiver orientation for SP reflection mode is H1V.


This study is aiming to investigate the factors that affect consumers' online purchase intention through social network sites (SNSs).Theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) were utilized to develop the conceptual framework. Two constructs namely perceived usefulness and behavior intention in addition to the relevant literature on social media and trust was tested. particularly, this study examines i) effects of social media(SM) on trust; ii) effects of trust on perceived usefulness; iii) effects of perceived usefulness and trust on purchase intentions. Data were gathered from 42 graduates and undergraduate students using the stratified sampling method were analyzed using structural equation modeling and partial least square method.The data obtained from the questionnaire show that social media facilitates social interaction between consumers, which increases the trust level and intention to purchase. The results also revealed that trust was the most dominant construct had a statistically significant effect (α=0.05) on behavioral intention to purchase on the Internet, followed by perceived usefulness of a website. For this study, results, along with practical implications and recommended future research directions were discussed.


At fields up to 80 kv/cm, the dark conduction obeys Ohm's law, and the gamma-ray induced and the ultra-violet photo-injected currents do not saturate for a wide range of temperatures. The induced and the injected currents are proportional to the intensity of radiation. lt is suggested that the dark conduction is associated with the presence of irremovable impurities, and that the small fluctuation of conduction current is attributed to the electrons being irregularly trapped and thermally released during their drift toward the anode. The factors influencing the mobilities of positive and negative charge carriers are discussed.


The technique of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has been in use for almost a decade, but its effect on survival has not yet been established. It is however the most accurate method for staging patients with primary cutaneous melanoma who lack clinical evidence of metastatic disease. This article discusses the rationale and logistics of SLN biopsy, and the management strategies that can be employed in those patients who are SLN positive. Future therapeutic trial in patients with primary cutaneous melanoma will only be meaningful if the SLN status of the subjects is established.


In return for the collision response of bridge girder with shearkey subjected to seismic loads, a simplified dynamic model has been built by using the finite element analysis program Ansys/Ls-dyna. Based on the analysis of calculation results, the motion feature of this model is unfolded. Also, the stress response and characteristic at the bottom of shearkeys are analyzed, which are the most important parameters reflecting the cracking of shearkeys. Furthermore, the deformation of rubber bearing is elaborated to illustrate the collision of bridge girder with shearkeys. Finally, other key properties about the bridge girder of this collision system are addressed.


The influence of the Sc cation substituent on the structural and luminescence properties of GAGG:Ce crystals was studied. Unit cell parameters and space groups were obtained using XRD analysis. The chemical compositions of the crystals were determined using SEM-EDX and TEM-EDX techniques. Structures were refined by the Rietveld method and the distribution of Al/Ga/Sc cations between octahedral and tetrahedral sites was obtained. The influence of Sc on the electronic band structure and the energy of the 4f and 5d Ce3+ levels is shown. The modification of the band structure induced by the Sc electronic states results in the suppression of Gd emission and enhancement of Ce3+ emission at low temperatures. The Ce3+ emission decay is accelerated under high-energy excitation of the Sc-containing GAGG compound.


The reaction of peri-substituted anthracenediones with sodium dithionite in dimethylformamide and water has been investigated. The system selectively reduces the carbonyl group flanked by the peri substituents of the anthracenediones to give the corresponding 4,5-disubstituted 9(10H)-anthracenones and thus provides a route to anthracenones which are otherwise difficult to obtain. Many functional groups can be tolerated, the reaction is compatible with the presence of peri alkoxy groups and unsaturated side chains of the starting anthracenediones, and the reduction does not go beyond the anthracenone stage. However, the formation of anthracenones depends on the nature of the peri substituents. No products were obtained from the 1,8-dimethyl-substituted anthracenedione and the parent compound with no substituents.


We describe our work on creating a system that selects appropriate clinical trials by automating the evaluation of eligibility criteria. We developed a data model of eligibility for breast cancer clinical trials, upon which the criteria were encoded. Standard vocabularies are utilized to represent concepts used in the system, and retrieve their hierarchical relationships. The system incorporates Bayesian networks to handle missing patient information. Protocols are ranked by the belief that the patient is eligible for each of them. In a preliminary evaluation, we found good agreement (kappa 0.86) between the system and an independent physician in selection of protocols, but poor agreement (kappa 0.24) in protocol ranking. We conclude that our approach is feasible, and potentially useful in assisting both physicians and patients in the task of selecting appropriate trials.


We have established an easily reversible acute heart failure model in beagle canines by reversible aortic or mitral regurgitation (AR or MR). To cause reversible AR, a basket catheter was inserted into the left ventricle from the apex and fixed at the aortic valve in 10 canines. To cause MR, a basket catheter was inserted into the left atrium via the pulmonary vein and fixed at the mitral valve in 10 canines. The regurgitation by AR or MR was caused by extending the tip basket wire, and the recovery from the regurgitation was immediately possible by closing it. Left atrial pressure (LAP), right atrial pressure (RAP) and pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) were increased significantly during AR or MR, and decreased to the normal level after the release of AR or MR. Using these reversible acute heart failure models, the effects of both advancing and restoring acute heart failure by the secretion of ANP were examined by observing the changes of ANP concentration and its molecular forms in the plasma and left atrial tissue in the same canine. Plasma ANP concentration showed a reversible change. In group analysis, plasma ANP concentration did not correlate with LAP or RAP, but in each canine it showed high correlations with LAP (r = 0.70 approximately 0.94, 0.82 +/- 0.07) and RAP (r = 0.60 approximately 0.93, 0.79 +/- 0.08), having a different slope in each regression line. The ANP concentration in the atrial tissue was decreased during AR or MR, but the low level was maintained after AR or MR. The main molecular form of ANP in the plasma was alpha-ANP and that in the tissue was gamma-ANP. In summary, the tissue storage of ANP was decreased because the ANP secretion caused by stimulation of acute heart failure exceeded its production. The ANP secretion was decreased by the subsequent elimination of heart failure, but the production was not stimulated rapidly, because the tissue content remained unchanged.


The wireless sensor network is rapidly growing field as many sensor manufacturers are focusing on technological research and improvements in wireless sensing technology. Recent advances in wireless sensor network have led to many new protocols specifically designed for routing to reduce energy consumption, increase life time of sensor network, reduce overhead and so on. Routing protocols are different depending on applications. In this paper routing protocol that are different for symmetric and asymmetric links and discuss about synonyms of different routing protocols. Routing protocols are different depending on applications. There are two routing Protocols for asymmetric sensor network they are LayHet and EgyHet for providing energy efficient routing. LayHet is a layer-based routing protocol that finds the Shortest path and minimize the number of broadcasting. EgyHet is the energy-based routing protocol finds the highest energy among all nodes in network and routing take place. Provide the energy efficient routing and assured delivery rate.


UTH1 and SIM1 are two of four 'SUN' genes (SIM1, UTH1, NCA3 and SUN4/SCW3) whose products are involved in different cellular processes such as DNA replication, lifespan, mitochondrial biogenesis or cell septation. UTH1 or SIM1 inactivation did not affect cell growth, shape or nuclear migration, whereas the double null mutant presented phenotypes of numerous binucleate cells and benomyl sensitivity, suggesting that microtubule function could be altered; the uth1Deltasim1Delta strain also presented defects which could be related to the Ras/cAMP pathway: pet phenotype, heat shock sensitivity, inability to store glycogen, sensitivity to starvation and failure of spores to germinate. These observations suggested that Uth1p could be involved as a connection step between pathways controlling growth and those controlling division.


Introduction: In previous work, we have shown the synergistic effects of combinations of vitamins A, D2, and D3 in reducing the proliferation of HCT-116 colon cancer cells. This combination also induced apoptosis and altered gene expression patterns as determined by transcriptomic profiling. Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of vitamins A and D in HCT-116 Crl:NU(NCr)-Foxn1nu mouse xenographs. Also, to determine potential mechanisms of action using miRNA-seq and correlated these data with results from RNA-seq.Methods: HCT-116 colon cancer cells were cultured and used for the xenograph study. Crl:NU(NCr)-Male Foxn1nu mice were injected subcutaneously with HCT-116-cells (1 X 106 in 100 µl 50% Matrigel and Sterile PBS), and after 7 days, were treated with vitamin A and D in feed for 21 days. The mice were imaged on day 28, sacrificed and the tumors were excised and measured. RNA was isolated from the HCT-116 cells and tumors, and RNA-seq and miRNA-seq were performed.Results: There was a concentration-dependent reduction in the HCT-116 colon cancer cell viability after treatment with vitamin A and D combinations. In Crl:NU(NCr)-Foxn1nu mice injected with HCT-116 colon tumor cells, treatment with vitamin A (25,000 IU) and vitamin D (4,000 IU) or vitamin A (35,000 IU) and vitamin D (5,000 IU) for 21 days significantly reduced tumor growth by ~38% and ~58%, respectively (p < 0.001). In the HCT-116 cells and excised tumors, treatment upregulated the expression of Bim, Bax, p53, and PTEN, and downregulated AXIN2, ID2 and DDX20 mRNAs, all well-known pro-apoptotic proteins, tumor suppressors, and molecules involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of miRNA-seq paired with RNA-seq showed correlations between miRNAs expression and expression of these genes. For example, miRNA-mRNA correlation pairing showed that treatment downregulated miR-30c-3p and miR-125b-3p which was associated with upregulated TP53. Upregulation of the tumor suppressor PTEN was associated with the downregulation of eleven miRNAs, including oncogenic miR17 and miR21.Conclusion: The results suggest that the combinations of vitamins A and D reduced the HCT-116 tumor burden in mice and altered the expression of miRNAs directly associated with genes in the apoptosis, tumor suppression, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathways. The data supports the hypothesis that vitamin A and D combinations impact multiple cancer signaling pathways and thus may be more effective in the treatment and prevention of cancer, as well as reducing cancer metastasis.   Keywords: apoptosis, cholcalciferol, colon cancer, DDX20, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, ergocalciferol, p53, RNA-seq, miRNA-seq, PTEN, synergism, transcriptome


ABSTRACT
A 41-year-old man with 1-year history of hypertension was discovered to have a right adrenal mass on abdominal ultrasound. Contrast CT was performed to discriminate malignant from benign tumor, which revealed tumors of right adrenal gland and prostate. 18F-FDG PET/CT scan was performed for lesion characterization, and ruling out any distant metastasis. PET/CT scan showed high uptake in the right adrenal and prostatic lesions, which were surgically approved as adrenocortical carcinoma and primary prostatic synovial sarcoma.


Catastrophic forgetting, the main challenge of Class Incremental Learning, is closely related to the classifier's bias due to imbalanced data, and most researchers resort to empirical techniques to remove the bias. Such anti-bias tricks share many ideas with the field of Class Imbalanced Learning, which encourages us to reflect on why these tricks work, and how we can design more principled solutions from a different perspective. In this paper, we comprehensively analyze the connections and seek possible collaborations between these two fields, i.e. Class Incremental Learning and Class Imbalanced Learning. Specifically, we first provide a panoramic view of recent bias correction tricks from the perspective of handling class imbalance. Then, we show that an adapted post-scaling technique which originates from Class Imbalanced Learning is on par with or even outperforms SOTA Class Incremental Learning method. Visualization via violin plots and polar charts further sheds light on how SOTA methods address the class imbalance problem from a more intuitive geometric perspective. These findings may encourage further infiltration between the two closely connected fields, but also raise concerns about whether it is correct that Class Incremental Learning degenerates into a class imbalance problem.


Teacher preparation programs provide numerous teaching and learning opportunities for pre-service teachers; however, participating in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting is not an experience that can be guaranteed. Leading and participating in IEP meetings are a responsibility that all special education teachers will be held accountable for, but many pre-service teachers will never be able to observe a real IEP meeting before entering the field. In this qualitative case study, the researcher utilizes a simulated IEP meeting to provide pre-service teachers with experience in participating in an IEP meeting prior to entering the profession. The case study method is utilized to examine the perceptions and experiences of pre-service teachers following the simulated IEP meeting experience. Findings in this study support the use of role-play in developing a greater understanding of the IEP process, from program development to the IEP meeting itself.


The term analytic information theory has been coined to describe problems of information theory studied by analytic tools. The approach of applying tools from analysis of algorithms to problems of source coding and, in general, to information theory lies at the crossroad of computer science and information theory. Combining the tools from both areas often provides powerful results, such as computer scientist Abraham Lempel and information theorist Jacob Ziv working together in the late 1970s to develop compression algorithms that are now widely referred to as Lempel-Ziv algorithms and are the basis of the ZIP compression still used extensively in computing today. This monograph surveys the use of these techniques for the rigorous analysis of code redundancy for known sources in lossless data compression. A separate chapter is devoted to precise analyses of each of three types of lossless data compression schemes, namely fixed-to-variable length codes, variable-to-fixed length codes, and variable-to-variable length codes. Each one of these schemes is described in detail, building upon work done in the latter part of the 20th century to present new and powerful techniques. For the first time, this survey presents redundancy for universal variable-to-fixed and variable-to-variable length codes in a comprehensive and coherent manner. The monograph will be of interest to computer scientists and information theorists working on modern coding techniques. Written by two leading experts, it provides the reader with a unique, succinct starting point for their own research into the area.


Mammalian fertilization is the net result of a highly programmed sequence of molecular events that collectively result in the union of two radically different looking haploid cells, sperm and egg, to form a diploid zygote. For successful fertilization, sperm cells undergo continuous modifications during their formation in the testis, maturation in the epididymis, and capacitation in the female genital tract. Only capacitated acrosome-intact spermatozoa are capable of binding to the egg's extracellular coat, the zona pellucida (ZP) in a receptor-ligand manner. The species-specific irreversible binding of the opposite gametes elevates intrasperm Ca2+ and triggers a signal transduction cascade that results in the fusion of the sperm plasma membrane and outer acrosomal membrane at multiple sites (i.e., induction of the acrosomal reaction) and the secretion of acrosomal contents. The hydrolytic action of the acrosomal enzymes (i.e., glycohydrolases, proteinases etc.) released at the site of sperm-egg binding along with the hyperactivated beat pattern of the bound spermatozoon, are important factors that regulate its penetration of the ZP and fertilization of the egg. In this article, we intend to discuss data from this and other laboratories that provide useful insights into biology underlying sperm development in the testis, maturation in the epididymis, capacitation in the female genital tract, sperm-egg interaction, and induction of the acrosome reaction (AR) before the acrosome reacted sperm can fertilize an egg. Our intention is also to discuss how Ca2+ signaling cascades regulate sperm functions and male fertility. Finally, we will discuss sperm molecules that are under intensive research to regulate male fertility.


North Korea's self-justification is needed for realization of North Korea's change. As North Korean political system is also inevitable change, decision of change only rest on North Korea. So It is important to confronting and interpreting their history. AS perception on present and future is not alter unless changing viewpoint on the past, it is essential to new interpretaion on their history for searching new way and modifying past policy. In this way, Kim Il Song's memoir With The Century has many important meanings. From the this book, there is possible of having different interpretaions on various version. This book can cause basis on flexible action for changing of North Korae if it sounds paradoxical. In other words, awareness of history restricted by the Juche ideology can makes new representation by authority on Kim Il Song. With The Century has three features. First, This book narrates history of North Korea's national liberation movement on the view of national united front and reinterpretes nationalism. The reason is connected on change of policy toward South Korea. North Korea have nothing to do but carry out the policy on the defensive instead of last policy on the viewpoint of the 'united front ' because of attaining their goals of survival strategy of political system. With a view to embracing change of policy toward South Korea, The North Korea justify enhancing relations of South Korea by the means of nationalism. Second, This book has new point of view about different group of communist who were judged by communalism. The reason is likely that North Korea want interpret political system's change as historical inheritance by embracing different groups of Kim Il Song. In fact, Thinking of group criticized of communalsim by Kim Il Song sheds new light. Third, The relation of North Korea, China and the Soviet Union is described realistically. Especially, this book criticizes the Soviet Union intensively but don't criticize China's case directly. This description reflects the North Korea's condition which is urgently needed of support of other country after the post-cold war era. The North Korea's historical group is going to be change after With The Century. History Science, revised edition of History of the liberation combat against Japan, The History of Korean LabourParty in 2004 has showed flexible historical recognition. This change is important in implying possiblity of interation with South Korea historical recognization. It seems to be so weakly 'outgrowth' but the meaning of 'outgrowth' is new sign. The change of new sign can take root in the ground of peace and coexistence between North Korea and South Korea only by continuous managing and concerning..


Abstract The lunar semidiurnal barometric tide L2 and the solar 24-, 12-, and 8-hr. oscillations of the surface pressure have been determined for 10 stations in Australia and on adjacent islands. At Rabaul and Moresby L2 is considerably smaller than elsewhere in these latitudes. The characteristic annual variation of the phase—late high tide during the D season—is found at most Australian stations. But the annual amplitude minimum occurs only at half the Australian stations during this season, contrary to the behavior of L2 over most of the globe.


The radioprotection of dilute aqueous solutions of the enzyme papain, and of suspensions of Serratia marcescens by the sulfhydryl compound, dithiothreitol, has been demonstrated. The results are considered in terms of the stability of this compound to air oxidation and its free radical reactivity. It has been shown that radical scavenging and radical repair processes are the major causes of the observed radioprotective effect. The effect of medium and of the saturating gas on the radioprotective action of dithiothreitol toward Serratia marcescens is discussed.


This Wind Powering America brochure provides the perspectives on the benefits of wind power from 10 U.S. citizens from different sectors of society, including ranching, utility commissioner, parent, Native American, farmer/county commissioner, business owner, and independent turbine operator. It also provides basic facts about wind power, contacts for information about wind power, and a brief description of the Wind Powering America Initiative, its goals and its benefits.


Like conventional transplants, immunosuppression is required to facilitate survival and function of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) derivatives after implantation into xenogeneic recipients. We have previously reported that T cells alone are sufficient to reject allogeneic murine ESC derivatives; and strategies that inhibit T‐cell activation, including coreceptor and costimulation blockade, prevent hESC derivatives from being rejected. This study aimed to investigate, in addition to T cells, whether macrophages contribute to transplant rejection of hESC xenografts with nonobese diabetic (NOD)/SCID mice that lack functional T and B cells but have macrophages. We show that acute rejection against hESC‐derived endothelial cells (hESC‐ECs) was mediated, to some degree, by infiltrating macrophages that phagocytosed them. Transgenic expression of murine CD47 on cell surface of hESC‐ECs mitigates macrophage‐mediated phagocytosis and improves their survival after transplantation. Our results highlight that innate immune cells, such as macrophages, can reject hESC derivatives, raising concern against the use of NOD/SCID as transplant recipients for testing in vivo function of hESC‐derived tissues. Augmenting CD47 signaling promotes survival and function of hESC derivatives after xenogeneic transplantation.—Leung, C. S., Li, J., Xu, F., Wong, A. S. L., Lui, K. O. Ectopic expression of recipient CD47 inhibits mouse macrophage‐mediated immune rejection against human stem cell transplants. FASEB J. 33, 484–193 (2019). www.fasebj.org


Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a controversial, relatively rare and potentially fatal drug side effect which occurs with the use of neuroleptics and other drugs that adversely affect the dopamine system. To our knowledge there has been no previous report on NMS from Ethiopia. We present a case here and stress the need for early detection of this potentially fatal condition. The case is a 14 year old manic patient who while under inpatient treatment at Amanuel Hospital between November 19, 1997 and February 13, 1998 exhibited fever, muscular rigidity, autonomic instability and some laboratory evidences of muscular destruction which are said to be typical features of NMS. The patient was receiving chlorpromazine until four days prior to the onset of the symptoms when haloperidol was added. There was no other physical condition by which these clinical features could be explained. The symptoms resolved within 2 weeks by simple drug withdrawal and supportive treatment.


Neurodegeneration
The neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia are most commonly caused by a mutation in the C9orf72 gene. The mutation is an expanded hexanucleotide repeat in a noncoding region. The expanded repeat produces sense and antisense RNA transcripts, which accumulate in patient cells and appear to sequester RNA-binding proteins. The sense and antisense transcripts are also translated into dipeptide repeat proteins, which are aggregation-prone and accumulate in the brain and spinal cord. Last, loss of function from reduced expression of C9orf72 in neurons and glia could contribute to the disease. Kramer et al. targeted both sense and antisense repeats by blocking a single gene called SPT4 , which mitigated degeneration in human cells by reducing all three types of pathologies.

Science , this issue p. [708][1]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf7791


Book Review of Quantum Processes, Systems and Information by Benjamin Schumacher & Michael Westmoreland This is a textbook aimed at advanced undergraduate students that brings together more traditional quantum mechanics topics and quantum information theory. The book is novel both in this focus and its presentation of the material. The first five chapters discuss the basics of quantum theory using three isomorphic two-level systems: a photon in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, a spin 1⁄2 particle and a two-level atom. These chapters also develop basic quantum information concepts such as the entropy of a message, interpreting unitary time evolution in terms of information capacity and the difference between distinct and distinguishable states in terms of the basic decoding and distinguishability theorems. The text then continues (chapters 6–9) with two-particle states, including entanglement, hidden variables, the no-cloning theorem, density operators and open systems. The transition to continuous systems, the starting point for many quantum mechanics textbooks, is made only in chapter 10, and the following chapters include standard wave mechanics found in many texts. The final three chapters revert the focus back to quantum information processing.


Recent studies have shown the beneficial impact of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) on autoimmunity and allograft rejection. To investigate whether statins are capable of protecting from acute graft vs host disease (aGVHD) we utilized an established murine model (FVB/N->Balb/c) across major MHC barriers. Type II statins were potent inducers of a T-helper cell (Th)-2 cytokine profile in the adoptively transferred T cells upon exposure in vitro or in vivo. Expansion of alloreactive luciferase transgenic T cells as measured by total body light emission was significantly reduced by donor pre-treatment (10mg/kg bodyweight) or in vitro T cell treatment (10nM) with atorvastatin (AT vs PBS; p=0.0008) and fluvastatin (FLU vs PBS; p=0.0007). The beneficial effect of statin treatment translated into significantly reduced aGvHD lethality in statin as compared to PBS treated animals. Th-2 biased donor T cells could be tracked until day 15 after BMT by intracellular cytokine staining and FACS analysis. Host treatment prior to transplantation induced down-regulation of the costimulatory molecules CD40, CD80 and CD86 and MHC class II on recipient APCs and enhanced the protective statin effect when donor and recipient were treated (survival AT vs PBS, p=0.0012). Induction of the Th-2 cytokine profile was still permissive for in vivo graft vs leukemia effects by cytolytic effector function of CD8 + T cells against A20 B-cell lymphoma cells as assessed by bioluminescence imaging, FACS, histology and survival. In vitro CD8 + T cells derived from AT treated animals displayed equal cytolytic activity against Yac1 T-cell lymphoma cells as compared to T cells derived from PBS treated animals. Mechanistically we identified a role for the STAT-6 pathway in statin induced Th-2 induction as aGvHD protection was partially reversed with STAT-6 −/− donors. The in vivo statin effect could be antagonized by L-mevalonate indicating the relevance of the mevalonate pathway for statin mediated aGvHD protection. Since L-mevalonate produced by the HMG-CoA reductase is the precursor of non steroidal isoprenoid compounds, such as farnesyl pyrophosphate and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, the statin impact on prenylation status of critical signaling proteins in alloreactive T cells was determined by Western blot. In vitro AT treatment reduced the levels of RAP-1, RhoB and Ras prenylation in allo-antigen exposed T cells and abrogated expression of T-bet which is critical for Th1 induction. We conclude that type II statins have significant protective impact on aGvHD lethality by Th-2 cytokine induction and inhibition of an uncontrolled Th-1 response, which is of great clinical relevance given the widespread use and well defined toxicity profile of these agents.


Based on the middle semester examination results of the students XI MIA 5 in SMAN 8 Surabaya showed that some participants scored less than 75 . The students got the score because they find the difficulty to understand the instructions and text content. Therefore, the new learning technique is needed, which fit with the student's character and the materials. Cooperative Learning Structures could solve these problem. In Cooperative Learning Structures, the students learn together, a student will be a tutor, while others will be a tutee. After the first task was finished, they changes the role for the second task. This research as conducted to find out the results study on the reading comprehension using Cooperative Learning Structures. This problem of research is "how is the learning results of reading comprehension in eleventh grade by using Cooperative Learning Structures?" . this research has purpose to know the result of the reading comprehension. It used qualitative – descriptive research, and the data were collected through test results and questionnaires. The result shows that Cooperative Learning Structures technique helps the students to understand the texts. At the first meeting, the students got an average value of 74, it means that the  KKM has not reached. But the second meeting, they reached 83,3 , it means better than the first time. The third meeting got the students 89. The fourth meeting they reached 86. In the questionnaire, the students explained that Cooperative Learning Structures made them more interesting to learn Germany. From the research and the student's answer in questionnaire , application of the learning technique can be summarized, that Cooperative Learning Structures technique can be applied to improve reading comprehension of the students. Keywords: Cooperative Learning Structures, the learning results, reading comprehension.


The study investigated on soil nutrients in agriculture practiced high, medium high, medium low and low land at Kalihati upazila of Tangail district during October 2017 to June 2018. Thirty soil samples were collected from different land types at the study area and analyzed at Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) to determine soil nutrient status. The soil parameters under investigation included pH, organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), available zinc (Zn), available iron (Fe), available manganese (Mn), available boron (B), exchangeable potassium (K), exchangeable calcium (Ca) and exchangeable magnesium (Mg). Results indicated that many of the soil nutrient levels decreased such as pH (5.63 to 6.40), P (3.50 to 23.20 µg g-1), Zn (3.27 to 3.60 µg g-1), Mn (21.12 to 57.90 µg g-1), B (0.17 to 0.60 µg g-1), K (0.18 to 0.30 meq 100g-1) and Ca (5.75 to 9.10 meq 100g-1). On the contrary, the average content of OM (2.30 to 1.40%), Fe (248.22 to 161.10 µg g-1) and Mg (2.07 to 1.80 meq 100g-1) were increased. Total N content status did not change much (0.12%). Soil nutrients like those that available Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg contents were found above optimum level (very high) but OM and N status found below optimum level (low, very low and medium). Nutrient concentrations below optimum levels may limit crop yield. Updated knowledge about soil nutrient status needs to be provided for the farmers so that they can use necessary amount of fertilizers and avoid applying excess amount of fertilizers.


Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae) is a perennial cosmopolitan species traditionally used for blood clotting and healing of wound. The powdered leaves were successively extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol to give 1.55, 2.16, and 8.2%, yield, respectively. Silica gel column chromatography afforded one phenylpropanoid derivative named verbascoside. The structure of the compound was determined using spectroscopic methods (UVVis, IR, NMR). The extracts, and verbascoside were evaluated invitro for antibacterial activities by using the disc diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumania and Proteus miabilis. The promising inhibition zone (20 mm) was observed by verbascoside against S. aureus compared to standard Ciprofloxacin (23 mm). The radical scavenging activity of the methanol and ethyl acetate extract, and verbascoside compounds were 64.2%, 79.2 and 83.9, respectively suggesting that verbascoside displayed powerful radical scavenging activity indicating the potential of the plant as herbal remedies.


The spectrum of antimony was recorded in the 300–2040 Å region on a 3-m normal incidence spectrograph. Three odd configurations 5p3, 5s5p5d and 5s5p6s of Sb III were investigated. 34 out of possible 35 levels of these configurations have been established. 114 lines have been classified in this spectrum. The Hartree–Fock calculations with relativistic corrections and parametric levels fitting calculations were carried out to interpret the spectrum satisfactorily.


With the development of artificial intelligence, deep-learning-based cryptanalysis has been actively studied. There are many cryptanalysis techniques. Among them, cryptanalysis was performed to recover the secret key used for cryptography encryption using known plaintext. In this paper, we propose a cryptanalysis method based on state-of-art deep learning technologies (e.g., residual connections and gated linear units) for lightweight block ciphers (e.g., S-DES, S-AES, and S-SPECK). The number of parameters required for training is significantly reduced by 93.16%, and the average of bit accuracy probability increased by about 5.3% compared with previous the-state-of-art work. In addition, cryptanalysis for S-AES and S-SPECK was possible with up to 12-bit and 6-bit keys, respectively. Through this experiment, we confirmed that the-state-of-art deep-learning-based key recovery techniques for modern cryptography algorithms with the full round and the full key are practically infeasible.


The length-weight relationships were estimated for two creek associated mangrove fishes caught in Gorai creek, Mumbai, North-Western part of Maharashtra, India using dol nets. The dol net fishing took place from August, 2019 to July, 2020 in monthly intervals, using dol nets of equipped with mesh size of 280 mm at mouth part and 20 mm at cod end part of the dol net. The dol nets fabricated with nylon multifilament were operated from 6 to 25 m depth for 3–6 h each time deployed in 15 fishing trials. The total length and total weight of the combined sex group was recorded by using the logarithmic transformed data, linear regression analysis was performed to calculate a and b values for two fish species to establish length-weight relationships with respective coefficient of correlation and the 95% confidence intervals. A new maximum total length was recorded for two creek associated mangrove fishes, viz., Escualosa thoracata (10.1 cm) and Bregmaceros mcclellandi (10.5 cm).


Article History ABSTRACT Can Tho University, as a key university in the Mekong Delta region, has strived to exploit E-learning in order to create opportunities and advances to meet learning demands of students inside and outside the region. The paper, based on the university's E-learning model, analyzes and assesses the reality and proposes some policies to develop this form of training to become one of the common practices of training in the coming time, creating more opportunities for people and communities to participate in a learning society, following the inevitable future trend. Received: January 17, 2020 Accepted: February 26, 2020 Published: March 30, 2020


Male advertisement vocalization in frogs is known to be one of the energetically most expensive activities of ectothermic vertebrates. Glucocorticoids have marked effects on energy metabolism, and, generally, plasma concentrations of glucocorticoids increase during the course of prolonged exercise bouts. Androgen concentrations are also known to vary considerably among breeding male frogs. Intraspecific and interspecific comparisons were used to test for a relationship among androgen concentration, corticosterone concentration, testis mass, and the energetics of vocalization in natural populations of calling male frogs. The results of this study indicate that: (1) intraspecific variation in androgen and corticosteroid concentrations in breeding male frogs is positively correlated as a result of both interindividual variation in the amount of performed vocalization and the relationship between calling effort of an individual male and the level of calling in other males, (2) interspecific variation in corticosteroid concentration of calling male frogs is correlated with the relative energy expended in the species-specific vocalization, and (3) when differences in testis mass are controlled for, vocalization effort is correlated with androgen concentration among species of breeding male frogs. These findings are in contrast to some recent work reported from laboratory experiments on calling frogs.