At Benchmark Electronics business is soaring and large customer orders are received, and Benchmark corporate indicated it wants to improve its European footprint by expanding business in Almelo. Due to the increasing number of customer orders the workload in the production process significantly and lead to Benchmark needing to focus more on managing their capacity resources. In the past Benchmark was only focused on its material requirements planning [MRP], because long lead times and high quality standards of production parts are the main constraint on their production planning. But due to the new flow of incoming production orders also capacity is becoming a game-breaking constraint. To manage this new constraint Benchmark started applying capacity planning techniques by expanding the use of their ERP system from just MRP applications to MRP II modules.
Though Benchmark started on planning their capacity resources and control its production process, Benchmark still experiences difficulty on transforming their aggregated production planning and transform it into a detailed planning. This leads to lots of rescheduling actions and on-time-delivery dates not being met. Furthermore managing and controlling the work orders on the production floor is hard due to lack of insight in the production status and due to the fact that the production plan is adjusted and priorities changing on a daily basis. One of the main reasons for these problems is the absence of relevant and accurate information on many variables in the ERP system. Due to this production cannot be controlled using the system, and lots of human interference and actions are needed to control it.
The problems stated above are widely recognized in the literature on production planning and control. Lots of companies, mainly small and medium sized companies, experience similar problems. The purpose of this research is to identify the underlying causes of the problems, and develop a conceptual model based on suggestions in academic literature regarding production planning and control systems that will help solve these problems. This led to the following (main) research question that needed to be answered;
''Which logistical concept model can Benchmark Electronics use best to improve production planning and control manageability and on-time-delivery performance, and which recommendations (based on this model) can we make regarding changes that Benchmark needs to make?''
In this research we focused mainly on the Surface-Mounting-Device and Hand-mounting part of the production, and less on the box build and clean room departments. After reviewing the literature and analyzing the current Benchmark situation three causes for the problems regarding the production planning and controlling were identified. [1] The first is that there is a misfit between the production planning environment and the production planning and control method used to control the system. [2] The second is that Benchmark is making their production planning unnecessarily complex by fragmenting the process, by splitting the process and manage these parts independently. [3] And the third reason is the use of ERP for every aspect of the process, which makes managing the process very labor intensive.
Based on these suggestions from the literature a conceptual model is constructed, which is presented in chapter 6, that suggests that the use of ERP should be constrained to just material requirements planning. Furthermore the concept of workload control approach should be used to plan production capacity and control the production process. This approach conceptualizes the job shop as a queuing system, and focuses on controlling the lengths of these queues. In this report an attempt is made to transform the conceptual model in a production planning and control methodology and a set of associated heuristics and rules. The theory of constraints is used to replace the sophisticated heuristics from the workload control concept, to make the concept more applicable to Benchmark. Though a lot of research has been performed on the concept of workload control, academic professionals have to do some sufficient research to bring theory closer to practice.
The applicability of the workload control concept in the Benchmark environment is proven. A challenge for Benchmark regarding implementation is that no detailed roadmap is available in the literature. Lots of research regarding parameter setting still needs to be done. However this does not mean that implementation can be started. Regarding implementation we propose the following first steps that should be taken by Benchmark.
[1] Benchmark supply chain management needs to decide whether or not they want to adapt their production planning and control approach. Top management support is one of the key factors for successful implementation. Support from top management can be achieved by focusing on the improvements that can be achieved by implementing workload control. For better understanding the link between the well know philosophy lean manufacturing and workload control need to be emphasized. We advise Benchmark Electronics to find other companies that have already implemented the concept, so the concept is clear and implications are known.
[2] If Benchmark is willing to change this approach we advise an external consultant that helps to implement the presented approach. It is a major change within the Benchmark production planning and control approach, that requires a lot of effort from the Benchmark staff. The process of implementation takes around 2-4 years, and no implementation roadmap is available. This makes it very hard for Benchmark to successfully implement the proposed model. Some general implementation issues from other cases are gathered and mentioned in section 6.3.
[3] Get control over the work-in-progress levels by planning the main bottlenecks in the system. The provided conceptual model can help Benchmark to further improve the production process, but is not able to solve the imbalance between production in- and outflow of orders. Therefore this imbalance should be resolved, this should be done based on information that is accurate, and can be done using simple tools in Excel. More detailed methodology for this is presented in section 6.2.3.
Further recommendations are made regarding how the production planning and control processes should be managed. Even if Benchmark decides not to change their current approach some useful recommendations and suggestions are made in section 7.2.


The steady-state performance, including harmonic losses and torques, of synchronous machines excited with voltage source inverters is investigated. A frequency-domain solution is presented that uses the Fourier series of the inverter's line-to- neutral voltage and the d-q equivalent circuit for the synchronous machine. The method for calculating the Fourier series of the inverter line-to-neutral voltage only requires the dc link voltage and the switch times for the inverter switching elements. It is shown that a single-frequency harmonic stator voltage causes a harmonic stator current of two frequencies due to the nonsymmetry of a salient pole or nonsalient pole synchronous machine. The analysis has been embodied in a library of Fortran computer programs. Program output includes the Fourier series of inverter output voltage, inverter link current, feedback diode current, Fourier series of stator current, peak stator current, average and peak electromagnetic torque, and I2R losses in the machine windings. Also available are plots of the instantaneous voltages, currents, and electromagnetic torque. Experimental waveforms of a laboratory voltage source inverter/synchronous machine drive system are included for comparison purposes.


Rapid increase in the number of universities in Turkey resulted in competition among higher education institutes to recruit the best students. Student requirements are important information for universities because if universities have a better understanding of students' requirements, they would be in a better position to recruit them and manage the educational service quality. Th e purpose of this study is to determine the most important requirements of engineering students in a Turkish university. Th e proposed methodology integrates Service Quality (SERVQUAL), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methods. Results show that (1) engineering students value contemporary education system more than traditional education system (2) they are demanding partnership from their instructors based on trust, respect and guidance (3) curriculum should be designed with courses that are industry oriented, interactive and case study based with practical information provided to participate in real-life engineering projects. In addition, institutions should recognize the importance of investing in academic faculty when they are trying to improve the quality of their programs and recruit the best students.


Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been applied to the analysis of heavy metals in liquid samples. A new approach was presented to lower the limit of detection (LOD) and minimize the sample matrix effects, in which dried wood pellets absorbed the given amounts of Cr standard solutions and then were baked because they have stronger and rapid absorption properties for liquid samples as well as simple elemental compositions. In this work, we have taken a typical heavy metal Cr element as an example, and investigated the spectral feasibility of Cr solutions and dried wood pellets before and after absorbing Cr solutions at the same experimental conditions. The results were demonstrated to successfully produce a superior analytical response for heavy metal elements by using wood pellet as sample matrix according to the obtained LOD of 0.07 ppm for Cr element in solutions.


BACKGROUND
Cancer patients often experience symptoms such as anorexia, anxiety and insomnia, which can impact their quality of life. Randomized placebo-controlled trials support prophylactic use of olanzapine for the prevention of nausea and vomiting due to moderate and high-emetic risk chemotherapy. In the setting of palliative care, olanzapine is increasingly utilized as an off-label treatment of symptoms including anorexia-cachexia, anxiety, and insomnia. The following case reports will highlight the potential benefits and risks of off-label olanzapine use for symptom management in cancer patients.

CASE DESCRIPTION
Patient 1 is a female in her 70s with stage IV infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the right breast was having trouble tolerating treatment with letrozole, palbociclib, and denosumab due to uncontrolled nausea resulting in weight loss. Her nausea was refractory to multiple anti-emetics. Low dose olanzapine (2.5 mg) prevented nausea and allowed her to tolerate treatment. Patient 2 is a male in his 50s with renal cell carcinoma, who was receiving treatment with cabozantinib, presented with uncontrolled pain improved with opioid rotation from oxycodone to morphine. He was also experiencing uncontrolled anxiety despite treatment with alprazolam. Alprazolam was weaned and replaced with olanzapine resulting in improvement of his symptoms. Patient 3 is a male in his 60s with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who presented with muscle weakness and fatigue resulting in discontinuation of gemcitabine plus cisplatin. He also had symptoms of depression, poor appetite, and sleep problems. He was prescribed short course of dexamethasone 4 mg by mouth twice daily and olanzapine 5 mg by mouth nightly to improve symptoms. One week after, he presented with confusion and workup revealed hyperammonia which was treated with lactulose, which led to the return of baseline mentation.

CONCLUSIONS
Olanzapine antagonizes multiple receptors and has potential to treat a host of symptoms including nausea, anorexia, anxiety, and insomnia, but healthcare providers should be mindful of potential risks and unclear benefits for off-label indications. More research and funding are needed evaluating off-label use of olanzapine for palliation of symptoms in cancer patients who are often frail and susceptible to adverse events.


Forest regeneration is the process by which new tree seedlings become entrenched after forest trees have been harvested or destroyed by fire, insects, or diseases. The process is key to sustainable forestry and can be accomplished through natural regeneration, which occurs when new seedlings or sprouts are produced by trees left on or near the site. The study is to calculate the regeneration status of the tree species in community-managed forests. The sampling points were generated by using the random table. The sample quadrate size was taken 20m×20m for a tree, 5m×5m for a sapling, and 1m×1m for the seedling. In five community forests, altogether 30 quadrates were taken for a tree, 60 nested quadrates were taken for a sapling and 120 nested quadrates were taken for a seedling. The tree layer, sapling layer and seedling layer were differentiated by taking reference tothe Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) class. An individual having DBH ≥ 5cm is considered a tree, an individual having DBH value between 1cm to < 5cm is considered a sapling, and individuals having 1cm to < 5cm DBH are considered as a seedling. The DBH distribution curve was obtained by plotting diameter class in x- axis and density on y- axis. All studied community forests are mixed forest dominated by tree species Castanopsis indica, Diospyros embryopteris (Diospyros malabarica), Shorea robusta, and Schima wallichii (Schima wallichii choisy). The regeneration potential of the Tilahar community forest(CF) is found high despite high grazing and other human intervention. The DBH class distribution curve of tree species is found as inverse J-shape, indicating that the overall forest has a sustainable regeneration.


Alopecia is the medical word for baldness or hair loss. It is a health complaint in which hair is lost from certain or all extents of the body, frequently from the scalp. Generally, hair loss can be perceived owed to hereditary and metabolic disorders like hypo and hyperthyroidism, chemical exposures, medicines, environmental triggers, nutritional deficiency, long illness or severe stress etc. Drugs concerning to these sorts are such as anticancer, immunosuppressants, hypoglycemic, oral contraceptives, and NSAIDs. Based on hair loss outline and origins, alopecia is alienated into innumerable sorts. The two notable forms i.e. Androgenetic alopecia and Alopecia areata and further negligible forms like Chemotherapy alopecia, Trichotillomania etc. Even though several synthetic therapies such as Corticosteroids, dithranol, tretinoin, minoxidil and other drugs are obtainable in the market for the Alopecia cure yet even a single or multiple drug treatments not only if adequate and everlasting aftermath to the Alopecia patients. Abundant side effects are accompanying with the deployment of these synthetic medications such as erythema, pruritis, itching, dermatitis, scaling etc. To astounded concern of Hair loss, we are aiming on the Natural remedies and nanoparticles formulation of them based on abundant outcomes, which are portentous that herbs are operative for the alopecia management. The foreseen mechanisms of exploit for these herbal medicines are Nutritional assistance, Aromatherapy, 5-α-Reductase blockers and DHT blockers. Nanoparticles possess various advantages like enhanced penetration, improved bioavailability, specific targeting and amplified resistance. Natural drugs are having innumerable benefits while employing them, such as easy obtainability, amenability with patient, rarer side effects, less cost and acting by more than a single mechanism of action for supervision of Alopecia. So the nanoparticles of herbal remedies are beneficial for effective treatment of alopecia.


ABSTRACT Objectives: This study examined effects of a social intervention on depressive symptoms, melancholy, loneliness, and perceived togetherness in community-dwelling Finnish older people. Method: Promotion of mental well-being in older people (GoodMood; ISRCTN78426775) was a single-blinded randomized control trial lasting 1.5 years. Two hundred and twenty-three persons aged 75–79 years reporting symptoms of loneliness or melancholy were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group was allowed to choose among supervised exercise, social activity, or personal counseling. Follow-up measurements were conducted at the end of 6-month intervention, and at 3, 6, and 12 months post intervention. Results: Number of depressive symptoms remained unchanged, while loneliness and melancholy decreased in both the intervention and control groups during the study (p < 0.001). Social integration increased in the intervention group but not in controls (p = 0.041). Attachment and guidance increased in both groups (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The intervention did not alleviate depressed mood. Positive changes over time were observed in loneliness, feelings of melancholy, attachment, and guidance but these occurred independently of the intervention. Our secondary analysis suggests that the intervention increased perceived social integration. In sum, the effects of the intervention were moderate only and did not expedite further overcoming depressive mood or loneliness.


Exotic properties are predicted to be functionalized by the adsorption of non-magnetic Ge atom on the two-dimensional GaN (2D–GaN) monolayer. They include the existence of spin filtering, high magnetism and continuous emission of electromagnetic radiation. A comprehensive ab-initio study of structural, electronic, magnetic and optical properties of 2D–GaN monolayer possessing several Ge atoms as adsorbents has been performed. We employ the norm-conserving pseudopotentials for atoms and plane waves in a generalised gradient approximation within density functional theory (DFT). The semiconducting pure GaN monolayer is converted into a metallic one in far 2-Ge atoms adsorbed above Ga in 2D-GaN monolayer systems. The behaviour of magnetism is found to be site-independent. The binding energies per adatom of the Ge-atoms adsorbed above N are larger than those of the Ge-atoms adsorbed above Ga atoms. Along with the main strong absorption lying in the ultraviolet region in all the Ge-adsorbed GaN monolayers, strong continuous absorption from the far infrared region to the visible region has been seen in some systems. These systems may be useful for development of light-emitting devices that will emit in various regions of the energy spectrum including visible region. The emission in the deep ultraviolet region may also be used for sterilization, water purification, etc.


Abstract. We present a new near-global coupled biogeochemical ocean-circulation model configuration. The configuration features a horizontal discretization with a grid spacing of less than 11 km in the Southern Ocean and gradually coarsens in meridional direction to more than 200 km at 64° N where the model is bounded by a solid wall. The underlying code framework is GFDL's Modular Ocean Model coupled to the Biology Light Iron Nutrients and Gasses (BLING) ecosystem model of Galbraith et al. (2010). The configuration is cutting-edge in that it features both a relatively equilibrated oceanic carbon inventory and a realistic representation of eddy kinetic energy – a combination that has, to-date, been precluded by prohibitive computational cost. Results from a simulation with climatological forcing and a sensitivity experiment with increasing winds suggest that the configuration is suited to explore Southern Ocean Carbon uptake dynamics on decadal timescales. Further, the fidelity of simulated bottom water temperatures off and on the Antarctic Shelf suggest that the configuration may be used to provide boundary conditions to ice-sheet models. The configuration is dubbed MOMSO a Modular Ocean Model Southern Ocean configuration.


This article situates localized Vietnamese practices of geomancy within the broader history of land-use right reforms in the postreform era. On the immediate level, geomancy appears to represent individualized attempts to reconstruct private homes and cultivate personal landscapes—a seemingly bottom-up phenomenon. Situating these seemingly individualized practices within the larger social, political, legal, and economic landscape, however, shows that they cannot be decoupled from top-down processes driving the privatization of property relations. Combining thick description with a critical study of the structures impinging on Vietnamese real estate markets shows that seemingly bottom-up challenges to the state are in fact linked to much more top-down dynamics. The case of geomancy shows that analysis of individual actions must always pay attention to the way such actions are often linked to pathways of power that flow up, down, and sideways. While Vietnamese market-oriented socialism is not always described as neoliberal, this article shows that the anthropological critique of neoliberalism offers an important model and method for understanding the situated context of geomancy within the larger transformations gripping Vietnam today.


The object of this essay is to analyze a basic part of the work of the Spanish, Granada-born poet, Elena Martin Vivaldi, as well as her opinions and arguments about children's literature. We start with the idea in the poetic work of Martin Vivaldi that there are some poems that stand out and could be aimed towards a children´s audience because of their subject matter, intention, and even their genesis. In this sense we want to reflect on the real possibilities that the work of this Spanish poet can connect with readers of different ages, and we suggest a corpus close to the taste of the youngest readers.


Washing hands with soap is a healthy behavior that has been scientifically proven to prevent diseases such as diarrhea. Improper handwashing with soap is still found in students in grades 1,2 and 3 at SDN Bleberan, Jatirejo Subdistrict, Mojokerto Regency. Because these children are very vulnerable to disease, awareness is needed that the importance of handwashing with soap is applied in everyday life. On 1 August 2019, a healthy life socialization session was held by washing hands with soap. This research aims to increase the awareness of students in Bleberan Public Elementary School related to healthy living by washing their hands with soap. The data collection method in this study is by observation and interviews with partners namely Bleberan Public Elementary School.


Abstract Two studies investigated how authenticity is believed to change over time. We tested for two possible trajectories: (1) A simple positive linear progression driven by self-enhancement motives and (2) a linear progression followed by a plateau indicative of the end of the history illusion. Across both studies, participants completed measures of perceived authenticity for different points in their lives. Study 1 was over a relatively short period of time. Study 2 was over the course of the lifespan. Both studies revealed upward linear trends suggesting that participants believe they are becoming more authentic over time. Study 2 also revealed that people perceive particularly high rates of change in the recent past and near future. The preponderance of evidence favored the self-enhancement perspective.


Introduction: We previously described a subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) termed activated B-cell-like (ABC) DLBCL that depends on NF-κB activity for survival, and showed that a specific small molecule inhibitor of the upstream kinase IKKβ is selectively toxic to this subgroup of lymphoma. Methods: To identify proteins or pathways whose inhibition may synergize with the toxicity of IKKβ inhibition in ABC DLBCL, we performed an "RNAi sensitization" screen with an RNA interference library, directed against 500 protein kinases, in the presence of the specific IKKβ inhibitor in an ABC DLBCL cell line. Results: Short hairpin RNA (shRNAs) targeting IKKα, a component of the IKK complex, enhanced killing by the IKKβ inhibitor in ABC DLBCL cell lines but not other lymphoma cell lines. Gene expression profiling and NF-κB-specific reporter assays showed that IKKα shRNA affects the classical NF-κB pathway, further inhibiting the phosphorylation of IκBα only in the presence of the specific IKKβ inhibitor. Further studies in physiologic models of lymphocyte stimulation showed that compensatory IKKα activity occurs in other settings. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that loss-of-function screens in the presence of a defined inhibitor can identify therapeutic targets in cancers, providing a rationale for combination therapies targeting multiple pathways critical to an individual cancer.


The CANDU 9 shield cooling system was designed and layout with the objective of promoting natural circulation on loss of forced flow. In the present study, the shield cooling natural circulation was analyzed using verified the thermal-hydraulic code when the coolant pump or the heat exchanger was lost. This study showed that thermosyphoning cooled the end shields and prevented the end shields and the reserve water tank from boiling for at least 8 hours on loss of the shield cooling pumps but the heat exchangers still operational. With the loss of both pumps and heat exchangers, the end shields remain subcooled for up to 4 hours. To enhance thermosyphoning, the bypass connection to the line from the reserve water tank should be relocated to a point as low as possible.


BACKGROUND
To examine the safety and clinical efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided radioactive iodine-125 (125I) seeds implantation for patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A group of 26 patients with pathologically confirmed unresectable pancreatic cancer underwent percutaneous CT-guided 125I seeds implantation. Part of them received transarterial chemotherapy and/or percutaneous transhepatic cholangial drainage before or after seeds implantation. The primary endpoints were the objective response rates, local control rates, and overall survival.

RESULTS
CT scan 2 months after treatment revealed complete response (CR) in 8 patients, partial response (PR) in 9 patients. Overall response rate (CR + PR) is 65.38%. Local control rate was 88.46%. Median survival of the whole group was 15.3 months, whereas for Stage III and IV was 17.6 and 9.1 months, respectively. The estimated 1-year survival was 30.77%.

CONCLUSIONS
We consider CT-guided 125I seeds implantation as a safe, effective, uncomplicated treatment for unresectable pancreatic cancer.


Backgrounds: Ebstein's anomaly of tricuspid valve is a rare congenital heart anomaly. Surgical implantation of artefi cial tricuspid valve is a standard treatment modality. Common late complication of such surgical procedure is artefi cial valve thrombosis. Th is is a life threatening condition, which demands surgical intervention promptly. Conclusions: In following article, we describe a case of a patient with Ebstein's anomaly and late artefi cial tricuspid valve thrombosis. Th e case was complicated with a mild form of haemophilia C, a rare coagulation disorder. Genetic analysis was also performed.


This chapter explores Paets's composition of elements from the Pia Desideria. It focuses on how Paets's works related to the Ignatian tradition of meditation. The chapter discusses the two most common strategies in the appropriation and adaptation of the Pia Desideria in various European countries, before focusing on the third strategy Paets appears to have employed. After that, the origins and backgrounds of Paets's strategy and literary products in the Dutch Republic is explored, as will the impact Paets's works seem to have had in the Dutch Republic. By combining picturae, mottoes and prose fragments, Paets developed his own idiosyncratic strategy in appropriating Pia Desideria features. Rogier is considered as the historian 'most responsible for shaping the historiography of Dutch Catholicism. Keywords:Dutch Catholicism; Pia Desideria; Pieter Paets


Merkel cell carcinoma represents a neuroendocrine tumour which can grow rapidly and metastasizes early. The median age of patients is 75-80 years. Given the continuously rising population age Merkel cell carcinoma is diagnosed more often. Besides surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy immunooncology plays an important role in the treatment of this aggressive tumour.


In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for robust audio watermarking in image using wavelet transform based on an image texture. The algorithm is based on decomposition of images using Daubechies wavelet basis. The technique proposed in this paper resolves the problem of severe distortion caused by watermarking audio in an image by developing a scaling function that achieves maximum robustness and transparency prior to its embedding. The property of texture is used as a criterion to identify the target area for embedding the watermark. The security of the algorithm is enhanced by performing a random permutation of the watermark. The random arrangement of the indices serves as a secret key. This technique is a blind watermarking scheme and the extraction procedure can be performed without the original host image.The experimental results demonstrate that watermark is imperceptible and prevents audio file from audible distortion.


In many insects, individuals primed with low doses of pathogens live longer after being exposed to the same pathogen later in life. Yet, our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological history of priming of immune response in natural insect populations is limited. Previous work demonstrated population-, sex- and- stage specific variation in the survival benefit of priming response in flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) infected with their natural pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis. However, the evolutionary forces responsible for this natural variation remained unclear. Here, we tested whether the strength of the priming response (measured as the survival benefit after priming and subsequent infection relative to unprimed controls) was associated with multiple fitness parameters across 10 flour beetle populations. Our results suggest two major selective pressures that may explain the observed inter-population variation in priming: (A) Basal pathogen susceptibility – populations that were more susceptible to infection produced a stronger priming response, and (B) Reproductive success – populations where primed females produced more offspring had lower survival benefit, suggesting a trade-off between priming response and reproduction. Our work is the first empirical demonstration of multiple selective pressures that may govern the adaptive evolution of immune priming in the wild. We hope that this motivates further experiments to establish the role of pathogen-imposed selection and fitness costs in the evolution of priming in natural insect populations.


Scrapie is an neurodegenerative and infectious disease that affects sheep and goats. The purpose of this study is to compare both tecniques, ELISA and IHC, to determine the application factibility giving the conditions of the laboratory in the country. To develop this assay, fourty obex samples were taken from sheep of the XII Region of Chile and were processed for both techniques ELISA and IHC. The results showed 100% of the samples negative for Scrapie, using both diagnostic methods. Based in obtained and previously reported results, ELISA technique can be recommended to use in massive screening, since yields reliable and rapid test results and IHC is a confirmatory technique. Both techniques are necessary in the creation of current epidemiological surveillance programs in Chile. ELISA and IHC are easily performed given the current laboratories conditions of the Chilean country.


Why has the Labour Party in Britain been unable to take advantage of the historic opportunity presented by the global financial crisis to press its case for radical socio-economic reform? Why, despite more than a decade of Tory austerity and genuine signs of social crisis, does it find
 itself behind in the polls to a Conservative Party openly committed to shrinking the state and providing further tax cuts to the rich? In this short article, we reflect upon the history of the political left in Britain, and suggest that the liberalization of the left ‐ and the long-running
 marginalization of the working classes, their concerns and their real-world experiences ‐ reveals an underlying antagonism that is driving many voters supportive of interventionist economic policies but suspicious of the left's cultural agenda into the hands of the political right.


Understanding of the formation mechanism of dioxins in the sintering bed is of importance in developing countermeasures to reduce the emission of dioxins from sintering plants. This research has clarified the behavior and the possible mechanism of dioxin formation and the relation to Cl and Cu components in the sintering bed by conducting a series of quenching tests utilizing sintering pots.The progress of flame front was quenched by terminating the air supply, then introducing N2 gas in the reverse direction when the sintering process progressed halfway through the test pots, specifically to the position of the thermocouples. The primary specimens were obtained from the raw mixture zone situated beneath the combustion interface for chemical analysis.Concentrations of dioxins, Cl and Cu were found at the depth of 10-20 mm beneath the combustion interface in raw mixture zone. This was considered to be the site of dioxin synthesis. Slight increase of dioxins in the wet zone was related to dioxin vaporizing from the site of the synthesis, then to be trapped in this zone. Significant amounts of dioxins escaping into the outlet gas at and after burn through point could be explained by both the releasing of trapped dioxins and the acceleration of the synthesizing process attributable to the increased concentration of Cl and Cu.


Small defects are commonly found on the surfaces of composite restorations--especially in stress-bearing areas. Sealant application may reduce the wear rates of these restorations. This five-year study assesses the effect of sealant application on interfacial staining, clinical wear, marginal integrity and surface texture.


An investigation into the use of Lewis base catalysis for the enantioselective chlorolactonization of 1,2-disubstituted alkenoic acids is described. Two mechanistically distinct reaction pathways for catalytic chlorolactonization have been identified. Mechanistic investigation revealed that tertiary amines predominately operate as Brønsted rather than Lewis bases. Two potential modes of activation have been identified that involve donation of electron density of the carboxylate to the C=C bond as well hydrogen bonding to the chlorinating agent. Sulfur- and selenium-based additives operate under Lewis base catalysis; however, due to the instability of the intermediate benzylic chloriranium ion, chlorolactonization suffers from low chemo-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities. Independent generation of the benzylic chloriranium ion shows that it is in equilibrium with an open cation, which leads to low specificities in the nucleophilic capture of the intermediate.


BACKGROUND
More than 14,000 women in the United States die of ovarian cancer (OC) every year. Disparities in survival have been observed by race and socioeconomic status (SES), and vary spatially even after adjusting for treatment received. This study aimed to determine the impact of geographic location on receiving treatment adherent to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for OC, independent of other predictors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Women diagnosed with all stages of epithelial OC (1996-2014) were identified through the California Cancer Registry. Generalized additive models, smoothing for residential location, were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for receiving nonadherent care throughout California. We assessed the impact of distance traveled for care, distance to closest high-quality hospital, race/ethnicity, and SES on receipt of quality care, adjusting for demographic and cancer characteristics and stratifying by disease stage.

RESULTS
Of 29,844 patients with OC, 11,419 (38.3%) received guideline-adherent care. ORs for nonadherent care were lower in northern California and higher in Kern and Los Angeles counties. Magnitudes of associations with location varied by stage (OR range, 0.45-2.19). Living farther from a high-quality hospital increased the odds of receiving nonadherent care (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.29), but travel >32 km to receive care was associated with decreased odds (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.70-0.84). American Indian/other women were more likely to travel greater distances to receive care. Women in the highest SES quintile, those with Medicare insurance, and women of non-Hispanic black race were less likely to travel far. Patients who were Asian/Pacific Islander lived the closest to a high-quality hospital.

CONCLUSIONS
Among California women diagnosed with OC, living closer to a high-quality center was associated with receiving adherent care. Non-Hispanic black women were less likely to receive adherent care, and women with lower SES lived farthest from high-quality hospitals. Geographic location in California is an independent predictor of adherence to NCCN Guidelines for OC.


Premise Cunoniaceae are a family of shrubs and trees with 27 genera and ca. 335 species, mostly confined to tropical and wet temperate zones of the southern hemisphere. There are several known issues regarding generic limits, and the family also displays a number of intriguing long‐range disjunctions. Methods We performed a phylogenomic study using the universal Angiosperms353 probe set for targeted sequence capture. We sampled 37 species covering all genera in the Cunoniaceae, and those in the three closely related families of the crown Oxalidales (Brunelliaceae, Cephalotaceae, and Elaeocarpaceae). We also performed analyses for molecular dating and ancestral area reconstruction. Results We recovered the topology (Cunoniaceae, (Cephalotaceae, (Brunelliaceae, Elaeocarpaceae))) and a well‐resolved genus‐level phylogeny of Cunoniaceae with strongly supported clades corresponding to all previously recognized tribes. As previously suspected, the genera Ackama and Weinmannia were recovered as paraphyletic. Australasia was inferred as the likely ancestral area for the family. Conclusions The current distribution of Cunoniaceae is best explained by long‐distance dispersal with a few possible cases of Australasian–American vicariance events. Extinctions may have been important in determining the mostly Oceanian distribution of this family while some genera in the tribe Cunonieae and in New Caledonia have undergone recent bursts of diversification. New generic diagnoses, 80 new combinations, and one new name are provided for a recircumscribed Ackama (including Spiraeopsis), a much smaller Weinmannia (mostly New World), and a resurrected Pterophylla to accommodate Old World taxa previously in Weinmannia.


Amyloidosis is a rare group of disorders characterized by the extracellular deposition of misfolded protein aggregates that interfere with the function of the tissue affected. In some patients, the presenting symptom of monoclonal gammopathies, such as multiple myeloma, can be a gastrointestinal bleed with a further report of amyloidosis in gastrointestinal samples. In all the cases the pathology report is read as AL (light chain) amyloidosis. We present a case of a 57-year-old male patient with no medical history who debuted with gastrointestinal bleeding. A colonoscopy revealed a colonic ulcer with a pathologic diagnosis of amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis. Further investigation led to the finding of multiple myeloma (MM) with no evidence of systemic amyloidosis. Although there is little evidence in the literature of the association or even causative relationship between multiple myeloma and AA amyloidosis, our case highlights the importance of searching for an underlying monoclonal gammopathy like MM in a patient with a confirmed diagnosis of AA amyloidosis.


Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a breathing disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of upper-airway collapse, resulting in intermittent hypoxia (IH) during sleep. Experimental studies with animals and cellular models have indicated that IH leads to attenuation of glucose-induced insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells and to enhancement of insulin resistance in peripheral tissues and cells, such as the liver (hepatocytes), adipose tissue (adipocytes), and skeletal muscles (myocytes), both of which could lead to obesity. Although obesity is widely recognized as a major factor in SAS, it is controversial whether the development of SAS could contribute directly to obesity, and the effect of IH on the expression of appetite regulatory genes remains elusive. Appetite is regulated appropriately by both the hypothalamus and the gut as a gut–brain axis driven by differential neural and hormonal signals. In this review, we summarized the recent epidemiological findings on the relationship between SAS and feeding behavior and focused on the anorexigenic effects of IH on the gut–brain axis by the IH-induced up-regulation of proopiomelanocortin and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript in neuronal cells and the IH-induced up-regulation of peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide-1 and neurotensin in enteroendocrine cells and their molecular mechanisms.


This paper presents a formal framework for identifying and filtering SPIT calls (SPam in Internet Telephony) in an outbound scenario with provable optimal performance. In so doing, our work is largely different from related previous work: our goal is to rigorously formalize the problem in terms of mathematical decision theory, find the optimal solution to the problem, and derive concrete bounds for its expected loss (number of mistakes the SPIT filter will make in the worst case). This goal is achieved by considering an abstracted scenario amenable to theoretical analysis, namely SPIT detection in an outbound scenario with pure sources. Our methodology is to first define the cost of making an error (false positive and false negative), apply Wald's sequential probability ratio test to the individual sources, and then determine analytically error probabilities such that the resulting expected loss is minimized. The benefits of our approach are: (1) the method is optimal (in a sense defined in the paper); (2) the method does not rely on manual tuning and tweaking of parameters but is completely self-contained and mathematically justified; (3) the method is computationally simple and scalable. These are desirable features that would make our method a component of choice in larger, autonomic frameworks.


The paper conceptualises and presages 'soft law' as widely adopted and followed despite lacking a coercive and legal force. However, since legal standards are susceptible to cooperation network tendencies. It is evident that a substantial part of 'soft law' today, in an impressionistic way, describes part of tomorrow's 'hard law'. In this sense, the normative emission of international institutions is playing a catalytic role in the process. Since the cooperation tendencies often occur when the value of a standard to a user increases as the number of other agents using the same standard grows, which in turn draws more users to the standard, as seen in the case of memorandum of understanding (MoUs). In this regard, the paper argues that many areas of 'soft law' exhibit strong cooperation tendencies, which induce voluntary adoption and even compliance. As the tendencies of 'soft law' are gaining grounds, despite having crucial implications for global governance. This is because it is difficult to identify among the codified principles, the ones that already belongs to lexlata and those still to be considered as lexferenda. Since the codifying bodies find 'soft law' to be reliable indicators of actual trends in contemporary international lawmaking. From this, the paper emphasizes that 'soft law' may represent opportunities for the promotion of international norms that can further the legalisation of international relations. As it is considered part of a continuum of international legal mechanisms, contributing to the development of international law, creating stability and expectation in international relations, and facilitating international cooperation. Thus, it is a nonbinding instrument with a robust persuasive force within the international community. From these, the paper examines the double impact of memorandum of understandings as 'soft law' in the likesof binding registrable instruments and non-binding instruments, focusing on MoUs as a tool for 'soft cooperation'.


A phylogenetic analysis using a combination of mitochondrial (COI, 16S) and nuclear markers (ITS2, 28S) indicated that Punctoidea, as previously interpreted, is polyphyletic. It comprises two main groups, containing northern hemisphere (Laurasian) and predominantly southern hemisphere (Gondwanan) taxa respectively, treated here as separate superfamilies. Within Punctoidea sensu stricto, Punctidae, Cystopeltidae and Endodontidae form separate monophyletic clades, but Charopidae, as currently interpreted, is paraphyletic. Most of the charopid taxa that we sequenced, including Charopa coma (Gray, 1843) and other Charopinae, grouped in a clade with Punctidae but some charopid taxa from Australia and South America grouped with Cystopeltidae. Cystopeltidae previously contained a single Australia-endemic genus, Cystopelta Tate, 1881, but our analysis suggests that it is considerably more diverse taxonomically and has a much wider distribution. For taxonomic stability, we suggest that Charopidae be retained as a family-level group for now, pending further study of the systematic relationships of its constituent taxa. A new superfamily, Discoidea, is erected here for two Northern Hemisphere families, Discidae and Oreohelicidae, which were previously assigned to Punctoidea. The North American species Radiodomus abietum, previously in Charopidae, is also here assigned to Discoidea. The phylogenetic relationships of Helicodiscidae, previously assigned to Punctoidea, were not fully resolved in our analysis, but the family is apparently closely related to Arionoidea Gray, 1840 and infraorder Limacoidei.


Part 1 What government does, and how it does it: what government does - the functions of government, the tools of government. Part 2 Organizations and the role of government's structure: organization theory - foundations - the structural approach to large organizations, systems theory, the humanist challenge, the pluralist challenge, the challenge of third-party administration organization theory - strategies and tactics for administration reform - reform in America, conflicting theories, all the world's a stage the executive branch - executive branch components, direction of the executive branch organization problems - the search for effective organization, reorganization. Part 3 People in government organizations: the civil service - public employment, managing the system, position classification, staffing, pay, employee rights and obligations the higher public service - how elite is the elite?, the mix of political and career officials, political executives, the senior executive service, pay. Part 4 Government decisions - making and implementing them: decision making - basic problems, rational decision making, bargaining, participative decision making, public choice, limits on decision making budgeting - the role of the budget, budget making, budget appropriation, budget execution implementation - judging program success and failure, problems of performance, intergovernmental relations, contracting, the government's dilemma, the importance of feedback. Part 5 Administration in a democracy: legislative control of administration - the paradox of oversight, committee oversight of administration, the general accounting office, the legislative veto regulation and the courts - the regulatory task, regulatory procedure, courts' regulation of the regulators, presidential regulation of the regulators conclusion - bureaucratic accountability, ethics, the public service.


Indirect taxes are an important element in stabilization tax packages that aim at raising revenue in the short run. This paper evaluates, by using a general equilibrium model, alternative instruments of indirect taxation in middle-income developing countries. It uses data for Thailand as an illustration and examines the effects on revenue, efficiency, equity, and international competitiveness. The paper shows that the interaction between taxes and distortions caused by various policies can be important for revenue and efficiency. It also reveals significant backward shifting and a link between outward-looking supply-side tax policies and trade policies in industrial countries.


The outer membrane protein (OMP), plasmid, and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Pasteurella haemolytica serotypes 1 through 12, a bovine isolate of P multocida, a chicken isolate of P multocida, and an unidentified Pasteurella species of bovine origin were examined. Isolates of P haemolytica serotypes belonging to the same biotype possessed similar OMP profiles. Biotype A isolates contained 2 prominent OMP of 43 kilodaltons (kD) and 29 kD, whereas biotype-T serotypes contained 3 major OMP of 43, 36, and 25 kD. The major OMP profiles of the 2 P multocida isolates and the unidentified Pasteurella species were different from each other and from P haemolytica isolates. Plasmid DNA screening indicated both plasmid-containing and plasmid-free P haemolytica and P multocida isolates. Multiple drug resistance was found in pasteurellae isolates with and without plasmids. However, a relationship between drug resistance and plasmid isolation was found in 3 of 4 haemolytica serotype 1 field isolates, all of which contained a 2.51-megadalton plasmid and had multiple drug resistance for benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline.


Abstract : This report results from a contract tasking Manchester Informatics Ltd as follows: The grantee will investigate relevance determination for reasoning on systems that contain more than 100,000 first-order axioms. Relevance determination refers to techniques for examining very large knowledge bases to distinguish between relevant, possibly relevant, and not relevant information. The best existing approaches (from other researchers) are unable to cope with knowledge bases of 10,000 axioms. He will investigate these techniques in two phases. First, at six-months he will deliver an extension to his existing system, Vampire, capable of resolving queries within seconds on knowledge bases over 30,000 axioms. By the conclusion of the research, he will improve his relevance filtering techniques to enable Vampire to reason on knowledge bases with over 100,000 axioms within seconds. Complete details described in the attached technical proposal. We tested the new strategy again to find out inconsistencies in SUMO 1.72 with row variables expanded to sequences of the length 50 (that is, a knowledge base with about 30,000 first-order axioms). When we used the negation of an axiom causing inconsistency as the query, inconsistency was always proved in less than one second. We believe query answering can be done much faster in less than 0.1 second. Our experiments discovered the following problem. When a knowledge base contains many similar atoms (e.g., ground facts with the instance predicate) just passing the knowledge base to Vampire's kernel may take over a second. After profiling, we have found out that the time is essentially spent not on query answering at all but on building some indexes. Indexes in Vampire were not designed with the aim of handling large signatures and should be reimplemented for experiments with anthologies. Moreover, we think that indexes should be pre-compiled rather than built by the kernel. However, this is a subject for a future research.


To determine a possible relationship between organismal and molecular evolution, the divergence patterns of gene families were examined by taking special notice of functional difference, tissue distribution, and intracellular localization of the members. A phylogenetic analysis of 25 different gene families revealed interesting patterns of divergence of these families: Most gene duplications giving rise to different functions antedate the vertebrates-arthropods separation. On the other hand, in a group of members carrying virtually identical function to one another but differing in tissue distribution (tissue-specific isoform), most gene duplications have occurred independently in each of vertebrates and arthropods after the separation of the two animal groups. In family members encoding molecules localizing in cell compartments (compartmentalized isoforms), the gene duplications antedate the animals-fungi separation. In the cases of the Ca2+ pump and rab subfamilies, the compartmentalized isoforms were shown to have diverged during the early evolution of eukaryotes. A phylogenetic analysis of the tissue-specific isoforms from 26 different subfamilies revealed extensive gene duplications and rapid rates of amino acid substitutions in the early evolution of chordates before the separation of fishes and tetrapods. On the contrary, the genetic variations are relatively low in the later period. This pattern of evolution observed at the molecular level is correlated well with that of tissue evolution based on fossil evidence and morphological data, and thus evolution at the two levels may be related.


3-Methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (MCCase) is a mitochondrial biotin-containing enzyme whose metabolic function is not well understood in plants. In soybean (Glycine max) seedlings the organ-specific and developmentally induced changes in MCCase expression are regulated by mechanisms that control the accumulation of MCCase mRNA and the activity of the enzyme. During soybean cotyledon development, when seed-storage proteins are degraded, leucine (Leu) accumulation peaks transiently at 8 d after planting. The coincidence between peak MCCase expression and the decline in Leu content provides correlative evidence that MCCase is involved in the mitochondrial catabolism of Leu. Direct evidence for this conclusion was obtained from radiotracer metabolic studies using extracts from isolated mitochondria. These experiments traced the metabolic fate of [U-14C]Leu and NaH14CO3, the latter of which was incorporated into methylglutaconyl-coenzyme A (CoA) via MCCase. These studies directly demonstrate that plant mitochondria can catabolize Leu via the following scheme: Leu --> alpha-ketoisocaproate --> isovaleryl-CoA --> 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA --> 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA --> 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA --> acetoacetate + acetyl-CoA. These findings demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that the enzymes responsible for Leu catabolism are present in plant mitochondria. We conclude that a primary metabolic role of MCCase in plants is the catabolism of Leu.


We report our result of the reinforced sternal closure in 51 consecutive patients. We applied a new type of absorbable radiopaque pins (Super FIXSORB) composed of poly-lactide acid and hydroxyapatite, in addition to conventional stainless steel wires. The risk scores of our patients were calculated from the simplified risk scoring system for major infection based on the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Cardiac Database. The expected probability of infection is significantly higher than the actual infection rate in our patients. Our procedure may contribute to minimizing the fatal sternal complication particularly in high-risk patients.


In the wake of its 2001 economic crisis, Argentina implemented a series of emergency measures. These measures - terminating the peso's peg to the U.S. dollar and freezing the gas tariff adjustment mechanism - seriously impaired the foreign investment, which had been lured to Argentina by the privatization of the gas industry, and other government measures promoting foreign investment in the 1990s. Injured foreign investors sought compensation through arbitration and filed claims for damages against the Republic of Argentina by referring to the relevant provisions under the bilateral investment treaties (BITs) between their respective home countries and Argentina. In the series of arbitration cases, Argentina sought to justify the emergency steps it had taken in response to the economic crisis by invoking the doctrine of state of necessity under customary international law and the security interest clause under the relevant BIT. Arbitral tribunals were split in their decisions on such claims. Some tribunals dismissed them, while others accepted or suggested the possibility of accepting Argentina's defenses. The tribunals were inconsistent with one another both in interpretation of law and evaluation of the facts with respect to the relationship between customary international law and BITs, the seriousness of the crisis, the degree to which the Argentine government contributed to the crisis, and the existence of a state of necessity to justify the emergency measures taken by Argentina. Such confusion among arbitration decisions is attributable to the fact that the quoted exception/exemption provisions are extremely generally termed, and that these provisions are, in principle, intended for situations constituting grave and imminent peril in political or military terms and do not necessarily apply in the case of economic difficulties. As evidenced by the series of Argentine cases, such shortcomings of the aforesaid general exception/exemption provisions as an economic safeguard clause could discourage host countries from making significant commitments in investment treaties and, contrary to the intended purpose of such treaties, undermine the predictability of the investment environment. Furthermore, the legitimacy of the arbitral tribunals interpreting and applying the exception/exemption provisions - or even the entire investment arbitration system - could be seriously undermined. In order to solve these problems, future investment treaties should include an economic safeguard clause that is viable in light of the recognition that an investment treaty plays a crucial role in protecting investments, particularly in developing countries whose economic bases remain vulnerable. Such a clause has already been included in the draft text of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) negotiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as in some progressive and recent BITs. However, it is necessary to create a more comprehensive institutional mechanism capable of efficiently responding to economic crises by taking into consideration the implications of the Argentine incidents, as well as trade remedies under international trade law.


The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and associated diseases such as cancers are substantially increasing worldwide. About 80% of the patients with pancreatic cancer have glucose metabolism alterations. This suggests an association between type 2 DM and pancreatic cancer risk and progression. There are hypotheses that show metabolic links between the diseases, due to insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, low grade chronic inflammation, and alteration in the insulin-insulin-like growth factor axis. The use of diabetes medications can influence the extent of carcinogenesis of the pancreas. This study briefly reviews recent literature on investigation of metabolic link of type 2 DM, risk of carcinogenesis of the pancreas and their association, as well as the current understanding of metabolic pathways implicated in metabolism and cellular growth. The main finding of this review, although there are discrepancies, is that according to most research long-term DM does not raise the risk of pancreatic cancer. The longest duration of DM may reflect hypoinsulinemia due to treatment for hyperglycemia, but recent onset diabetes was associated with increased risk for pancreatic cancer due to hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia. In conclusion, the review demonstrates that type 2 DM and the duration of diabetes pose a risk for pancreatic carcinogenesis, and that there is biological link between the diseases.


This research has been conducted to explore certain elements of Islamic business ethics and the roles they adopt to shape particular types of organisational culture, and thus the impact of organisational culture on attitudes toward strategic growth amongst a very specific population, which are SMEs that are owned or managed by Muslims in the UK. Previous research showed that a better understanding of organisational culture, and its main components, leads to effective and successful planning to achieve strategic changes. The research has been conducted based on a mixed methodology, combining qualitative and quantitative methods of research. The research began positively with a conceptual and theoretical model reflecting the author's research methodology approach. However, one part of the conceptual model, the "elements of Islamic business ethics factor" was ambiguous, because there were fewer contributions to be found in this area. Therefore, a set of in-depth, semi-structured interviews was planned to identify and clarify this part, followed by a well-designed questionnaire that was distributed across the whole UK. Principally, the elements of Islamic business ethics were discovered within the first stage, and many of the participants have mentioned the important impact of Islamic business ethics on shaping particular types of organisational culture, specifically, when the owner or manager has a strong spirituality. Moreover, the statistical results show that the type of organisational culture plays a significant role on the owner or manager's attitude to attain a certain alternative plan for strategic growth.


In this article, a method is proposed to conduct a global sensitivity analysis of epistemic uncertainty on both system input and system structure, which is very common in early stage of system development, using Dempster-Shafer theory (DST). In system reliability assessment, the input corresponds to component reliability and system structure is given by system reliability function, cut sets, or truth table. A method to propagate real-number mass function through set-valued mappings is introduced and applied on system reliability calculation. Secondly, we propose a method to model uncertain system with multiple possible structures and how to obtain the mass function of system level reliability. Finally, we propose an indicator for global sensibility analysis. Our method is illustrated, and its efficacy is proved by numerical application on two case studies.


With the aid of an original installation there was simultaneously measured aggregation, reaction of release of adenine nucleotides, and redistribution of calcium (by fluorescence of calcium-sensitive probe of chlortetracyclin) in one sample of the suspension of washed platelets of rabbit. For the first time there was found an increase in the intensity of fluorescence in the presence of ADP-induced aggregation which continued long after the platelets desaggregation. The obtained results suggest that this increase indicating the redistribution of calcium ions in cells, is associated with the refractory state of the platelets.


Chemical, physical, and barrier properties of flaxseed mucilage-based films were investigated to determine the appropriate applications for coating or packaging of food or bioproducts. The film samples were formed via casting with the addition of glycerol as a plasticizer up to a maximum of 5 wt.%. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra showed an increase of intensity in the –OH stretching vibration region and the appearance of a new peak at 2883.1 cm-1 in the plasticized film samples. These changes may indicate possible interactions between the mucilage and glycerol. With increasing glycerol concentration, the water activity decreased, while the moisture content and water solubility increased. With regard to barrier properties, the water vapour permeability (WVP) and oxygen permeability (OP) notably increased with increasing glycerol content. With these high WVP and OP values, the films can be potentially extended for coating or packaging fresh produce.


The most difficult problem in shallow underwater acoustic communications is considered to be the time-varying multipath propagation because it impacts negatively on data rates. At high data rates the intersymbol interference requires adaptive algorithms on the receiver side that lead to computationally intensive and complex signal processing. A novel technique called time-reversal acoustics (TRA) can environmentally adapt the acoustic propagation effects of a complex medium in order to focus energy at a particular target range and depth. Using TRA, the multipath structure is reduced because all the propagation paths add coherently at the intended target location. This property of time-reversal acoustics suggests a potential application in the field of noncoherent acoustic communications. This work presents results of a tank scale experiment using an algorithm for rapid transmission of binary data in a complex underwater environment with the TRA approach. A simple 15-symbol code provides an example of the simplicity and feasibility of the approach. Covert coding due to the inherent scrambling induced by the environment at points other than the intended receiver is also investigated. The experiments described suggest a high potential in data rate for the time-reversal approach in underwater acoustic communications while keeping the computational complexity low.


BACKGROUND
Regulation of sodium chloride transport in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron is essential for fluid homeostasis and BP control. The chloride-bicarbonate exchanger pendrin in β-intercalated cells, along with sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC) in distal convoluted tubules, complementarily regulate sodium chloride handling, which is controlled by the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

METHODS
Using mice with mineralocorticoid receptor deletion in intercalated cells, we examined the mechanism and roles of pendrin upregulation via mineralocorticoid receptor in two different models of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation. We also used aldosterone-treated NCC knockout mice to examine the role of pendrin regulation in salt-sensitive hypertension.

RESULTS
Deletion of mineralocorticoid receptor in intercalated cells suppressed the increase in renal pendrin expression induced by either exogenous angiotensin II infusion or endogenous angiotensin II upregulation via salt restriction. When fed a low-salt diet, intercalated cell-specific mineralocorticoid receptor knockout mice with suppression of pendrin upregulation showed BP reduction that was attenuated by compensatory activation of NCC. In contrast, upregulation of pendrin induced by aldosterone excess combined with a high-salt diet was scarcely affected by deletion of mineralocorticoid receptor in intercalated cells, but depended instead on hypokalemic alkalosis through the activated mineralocorticoid receptor-epithelial sodium channel cascade in principal cells. In aldosterone-treated NCC knockout mice showing upregulation of pendrin, potassium supplementation corrected alkalosis and inhibited the pendrin upregulation, thereby lowering BP.

CONCLUSIONS
In conjunction with NCC, the two pathways of pendrin upregulation, induced by angiotensin II through mineralocorticoid receptor activation in intercalated cells and by alkalosis through mineralocorticoid receptor activation in principal cells, play important roles in fluid homeostasis during salt depletion and salt-sensitive hypertension mediated by aldosterone excess.


Vascular endothelium was investigated by indirect immunofluorescence and immunoautoradiography for the possible presence of spectrin-like molecules. Antibodies were raised against electrophoretically purified rat, rabbit, and bovine red blood cell spectrin and against rabbit brain fodrin. Antibody specificity was assessed by immunoblotting and double-diffusion technique. Homogenates of endothelial cells freshly isolated from heart microvasculature or aorta, as well as cultured aortic endothelial cells, were analyzed by gel electrophoresis. Immunoautoradiograms of gels incubated with spectrin specific antibody, followed by radio-labeled protein A, revealed two bands of electrophoretic mobility similar to that of the alpha- and beta-subunits of spectrin. Indirect immunofluorescence of endothelial cells, both in situ and in vitro, showed the existence of a protein which cross-reacted with the antibodies against spectrin and fodrin. Controls, in which endothelial cells were exposed to spectrin antibody absorbed with pure spectrin or preimmune serum, were negative. These findings indicate that endothelial cells express a protein antigenically related to the spectrin family; both spectrin- and fodrin-like molecules, in various proportions, may coexist. In the endothelial cell, these proteins may play an important role in modulation of the cytoskeleton in response to various stimuli, and in maintaining the biochemically differentiated microdomains of plasmalemma.


The Dirac Hamiltonian formalism is applied to a system in (2+1)-dimensions consisting of a Dirac field ψ minimally coupled to Chern-Simons U(1) and SO(2, 1) connections, A and ω, respectively. This theory is connected to a supersymmetric Chern-Simons form in which the gravitino has been projected out (unconventional supersymmetry) and, in the case of a flat background, corresponds to the low energy limit of graphene. The separation between first-class and second-class constraints is performed explicitly, and both the field equations and gauge symmetries of the Lagrangian formalism are fully recovered. The degrees of freedom of the theory in generic sectors shows that the propagating states correspond to fermionic modes in the background determined by the geometry of the graphene sheet and the nondynamical electromagnetic field. This is shown for the following canonical sectors: i) a conformally invariant generic description where the spinor field and the dreibein are locally rescaled; ii) a specific configuration for the Dirac fermion consistent with its spin, where Weyl symmetry is exchanged by time reparametrizations; iii) the vacuum sector ψ = 0, which is of interest for perturbation theory. For the latter the analysis is adapted to the case of manifolds with boundary, and the corresponding Dirac brackets together with the centrally extended charge algebra are found. Finally, the SU(2) generalization of the gauge group is briefly treated, yielding analogous conclusions for the degrees of freedom.


The hydrodynamic stability of viscous flow between rotating cylinders with superposed axial flow has been studied experimentally. The experiments were confined to the case where the outer cylinder is at rest and the gap between cylinders is small. Particular attention has been given to small rates of axial flow. The results compare satisfactorily with Chandrasekhar's perturbation theory valid under these conditions.


In companies with good corporate governance decisions are made not only for achieving economic objectives, in the strict meaning of this concept, but also because of protecting the interests of the stakeholders. One of the most important characteristics of companies with good corporate management is their commitment to maintain a high degree of transparency, demonstrated by consistently reporting of their situation. In the terminology of corporate governance, one of the most important form of transparency is disclosure of data and information for companies.
Through transparent disclosure of financial statements, the companies inform stakeholders about the financial position and performance, changes in equity and cash flows, as well as the accounting policies used in disclosures of operating activities in the reporting period. Through the opinion of the independent external auditor, stakeholders are informed whether the financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted financial reporting framework and applicable legislation.
Companies clinging to quality corporate governance are introducing control and informative systems, to maintain the high level of quality of its products and services, as well as quality prepared financial statements, for which the external auditors provide a positive opinion. From this reason the paper presents research on the quality of corporate governance in Republic of Macedonia, through the prism of the reports of the independent auditors, by analyzing the audit reports of 100 companies listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange. Keywords: corporate governance, reporting, transparency, decisions, smallest risk


Many creativity methods follow similar structures and principles. Design Patterns capture such invariants of proven good practices and discuss why, when and how creative thinking methods match various situations of collaboration. Moreover patterns connect different forms with each other. Once we understand the underlying structures of creative thinking processes we can facilitate digital tools to support them. While such tools can foster the effective application of established methods and even change their properties, tools can also enable new patterns of collaboration.


Objective: The aim of this study was to use ultrasonography for the diagnosis and confirmation of Pulled Elbow treatment. Place and Duration: In the Orthopedic Unit II and Radiology Department of Nishter hospital Multan for oneyear duration. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study started in March 2019 and lasts until March 2020. The results were then recorded by the doctor on the checklist and introduced the SPSS software (version 20) for further analysis. Results: The study studied 60 children with elbow injuries. 27 (45%) were girls (women) and 33 (55%) there were children (boys). This means a higher level of injury in men than in women. The highest incidence of elbow injuries was observed in children from 3 years of age (15%). For the approval of the treatment, it was noted that the accuracy of the ultrasonic method is 92%. Conclusion: In this study, it is aimed at confirming the method of treatment according to the result of ultrasound performed after treatment. As a result, the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound was achieved by more than 90% with confirmation of the treatment method for the treatment of the towed elbow. keywords: ultrasound, X-ray, elbow injury Corresponding author:


This paper investigates the effects of the ratio of positive-to-negative samples on the sensitivity, specificity, and concordance. When the class sizes in the training samples are not equal, the classification rule derived will favor the majority class and result in a low sensitivity on the minority class prediction. We propose an ensemble classification approach to adjust for differential class sizes in a binary classifier system. An ensemble classifier consists of a set of base classifiers; its prediction rule is based on a summary measure of individual classifications by the base classifiers. Two re-sampling methods, augmentation and abatement, are proposed to generate different bootstrap samples of equal class size to build the base classifiers. The augmentation method balances the two class sizes by bootstrapping additional samples from the minority class, whereas the abatement method balances the two class sizes by sampling only a subset of samples from the majority class. The proposed procedure is applied to a data set to predict estrogen receptor binding activity and to a data set to predict animal liver carcinogenicity using SAR (structure-activity relationship) models as base classifiers. The abatement method appears to perform well in balancing sensitivity and specificity.


Microstructure of α‐GaN films grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire substrates using low temperature AlN (or GaN) buffer layers has been studied by transmission electron microscopy. The defects which penetrate the GaN films are predominantly perfect edge dislocations with Burgers vectors of the 1/3〈1120〉 type, lying along the [0001] growth direction. The main sources of threading dislocations are the low angle grain boundaries, formed during coalescence of islands at the initial stages of GaN growth. The grain sizes range from 50 to 500 nm, with in‐plane misorientations of less than 3°. The nature of these threading dislocations suggests that the defect density would not likely decrease appreciably at increasing film thickness, and the suppression of these dislocations could be more difficult.


Time‐dependent effects of laser exposures on rhesus monkey retinal ganglion cells were studied with a Q‐switched, doubled Nd:glass laser, which produced 20 nsec pulses of 530‐nm light, and a continuous‐wave (CW) argon laser (514.5 nm), which produced exposures of 0.1‐msec to 0.1‐sec duration. Ganglion cell activity was recorded in situ by means of an intraocular electrode. Ganglion cells exposed to a single 20‐nsec exposure, at a sublesion intensity, produced a 60–90 sec discharge of action potentials and exhibited a 2 log or greater elevation of light threshold, depending on beam size and intensity. At equivalent energy levels, the longer exposures produced the same or slightly weaker effects. This result is not as straightforward as it seems. Submillisecond flashes bleach no more than 50% of the visual pigment because of photoregeneration. The Dowling‐Rushton relation predicts that a 50% bleach should produce only a 1.5 log loss of cone sensitivity. Exposures longer than 1 msec should not photoregenerate pigment (ie, more pigment will be bleached for a given exposure intensity). In view of the probable differences in pigment bleaching, it appears that the Q‐switched laser light adapts the cells out of proportion to the visual pigment actually bleached—a single‐cell analogue of Rushton's "theta" effect.


Group Health Cooperative, following the lead of the American Heart Association (AHA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), has identified inactivity as one of the most significant risk factors for the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). This paper reports on the programs being developed at Group Health Cooperative to address inactivity. A clinical tool designed to make fitness testing and comprehensive exercise counseling practical in routine primary care was designed and piloted. The fitness test was based on the One-Mile Walk Test, with computerization of the results analysis and reporting. The test helped the physician assess the patient's current exercise habits and physical fitness in terms of Vo2max (maximal oxygen consumption). The computer program showed the patient and the physician how the individual's Vo2max compared to norms for the patient's age and gender. The program provided comprehensive written exercise counseling and individualized advice about activity and fitness based on the patient's current exercise habits. The test cost little to administer, and helped reduce the time and effort of the primary physician in providing exercise counseling, while making optimal use of the physician's power to motivate. Exercise counseling is a very cost-effective preventive intervention. We believe that an organized and systematic exercise counseling program, together with a program for measuring fitness, would be the most effective intervention. Evidence indicates that effective exercise counseling should result in substantial reduction in disease in our population.


Aim: Diabetes mellitus (DM), being a risk factor for periodontal disease, affects various cellular functions, and it plays an important role in periodontal regeneration. However, the effect of hyperglycemia on Gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs) is unclear. We aim at investigating the effect of hyperglycemia on stem cell markers of GMSCs compared with normoglycemic conditions. Materials and Methods: An ex vivo pilot study was conducted by obtaining primary gingival tissues from subjects. Subjects from the outpatient department of periodontology were randomly selected according to the criteria. Three subjects with an HbA1c of >6.5 were selected as the test group, and three subjects with an HbA1c <6 served as controls. The tissue was enzymatically digested in 0.5 mg/mL collagenase (Sigma-Aldrich) and cultured in Knockout Dulbecco's Modified Eagles Medium (DMEM - KO medium, Life Technologies). MSC-like cells isolated were examined under a microscope and investigated for specific cell surface antigens CD73, CD90, CD105, CD34, CD45, HLA ABC, and HLA DR by using flow cytometry. Data were analyzed by a two-tailed non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test using SPS software. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The immunophenotype characterization in both test and control exhibited positive expression of CD73 (94.95%,95.93%), CD90 (98.05%, 88.53%), CD105 (73.97%, 73.88%), and HLA ABC (98.83%,98.16%) and negative expression of CD34 (0.02%,0.10%), CD45(0.57%,1.72%), and HLA DR (0.64%, 2.57%). Statistical analysis by the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test did not reveal any statistically significant difference in the expression. Conclusion: GMSCs from the hyperglycemic environment retained their stem cell characteristics by positive expression of CD73, CD90, CD105, and HLA ABC, and negative expression of CD34, CD45, and HLA DR.


This article presents a multimodal exploratory study aimed at searching for evidence that can guide us in the adoption and/or improvement of appropriate theoretical–methodological approaches for studying the role of the spatiality/spatialisation of sound and the cognitive/affective empathic processes involved in the acousmatic experience. For this purpose, controlled listening sessions were conducted in which fragments of different loudspeaker music were presented. The subjects reported their emotional experience and the degree of familiarity they assigned to each sound fragment. Specific questions for the acousmatic fragments inquire into the potential relationships between the sound stimulus and the emotion declared by the subjects. From these experiences, qualitative reports were obtained through a semi-structured interview, and electrodermal activity (EDA) logs were recorded in parallel for an intended group. Based on these results, it is argued that spatiality might be linked to a complex cognitive–affective response from the listeners and emerges as a distinctive element of the meaning that the listeners ascribe to their acousmatic musical experience.


A two-wavelength wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) CATV transport system that employed polarization modulation (PoIM) technique to reduce the self-phase modulation (SPM) and crosstalk is proposed and demonstrated. In contrast to a two-wavelength WDM CATV transport system used intensity modulation (IM) technique, good performances of composite second order (CSO) and composite triple beat (CTB) were obtained accompanied by acceptable carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) value in our proposed system over a 100-km single-mode fiber (SMF) transmission


This paper investigates a negative externality of new business creation. When being perceived as a good manager is a necessary condition to establish a firm in the future, we show that a priori talented managers may indulge in undertaking risky projects now. Indeed, such a choice renders more difficult the updating of believes process regarding their actual types. Unfortunately, this in turn leads them to perform less effort, which comes at the expense of economic efficiency. Hence, the career concerns we examine do not discipline good managers. However, we show that employers can reduce managerial slack by resorting to financial markets monitoring.


This research analyzes how type of household registration, which reflects the degree of government control, affects compliance with China's "one child" policy for women at risk during the first decade of implementation. Although socioeconomic and cultural factors have significant effects on four fertility events after first live birth, household registration type is the most important. Furthermore, household registration type interacts with urbanization in such a way that the modernization influence associated with urbanization is more evident for women under less government control. The notable success of China's family planning program is linked to its unique system of government control.


The advantages in speed and accuracy of the combined Vincent-Coca technic for the grouping and direct matching of blood prior to transfusion have been emphasized in a recent report from the Cincinnati General Hospital. 1 Since the adoption of this method as a routine we have relied successfully on one minute macroscopic grouping in more than 3,000 consecutive blood transfusions. However, the serums used during this time have excelled the requirements of Coca's grade I 2 (table 1). The safety of rapid open macroscopic grouping depends entirely on the use of test serums of extremely high hemagglutinin titer. Donors whose serum meets these standards are rare, and finding them is accomplished only after considerable search. Consequently a method for concentrating the hemagglutinins in serum is highly desirable. Artificial concentration by alternate freezing and thawing has been proposed by Terry. 3 The lyophile method of drying serum as reported by Flosdorf


Free-living cells of Rhizobium leguminosarum 3841 have inducible oxidation systems for the catabolism of histidine, malonate, p-hydroxybenzoate, glycerol, mannitol and sorbitol. In addition to p-hydroxybenzoate, strain 3841 is able to use a variety of other aromatic substrates as sole carbon source. Cultured free-living bacteria of this strain have constitutive systems for the catabolism of acetate, pyruvate, succinate, fumarate, malate, glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, ribose and arabinose. However, isolated pea bacteroids of the same strain are unable to oxidize monosaccharides or disaccharides although they can oxidize the organic acids succinate, fumarate, malate and pyruvate.


Nephropathia Epidemica (NE), a mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and linked to hantavirus infection, is endemic in the Republic of Tatarstan. Several genetic markers of HFRS severity have been identified previously, including human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complexes and nucleotide polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) gene. Still, our understanding of the genetic markers of NE severity remains incomplete. The frequency of the C–C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) gene wild type and gene with 32-base-pair deletion (Δ32CCR5) genotypes in 98 NE samples and 592 controls was analyzed using PCR. Along with the serum levels of 94 analytes, a lack of differences in the CCR5 genotype distribution between NE cases and the general population suggests that the CCR5 genotype does not affect susceptibility to hantavirus infection. However, in NE cases, significant variation in the serum levels of the host matrix metalloproteases between functional CCR5 homozygous and Δ32CCR5 heterozygous patients was detected. Also, the oliguric phase was longer, while thrombocyte counts were lower in functional CCR5 homozygous as compared to heterozygous NE cases. Our data, for the first time, presents the potential role of the CCR5 receptor genotype in NE pathogenesis. Our data suggests that NE pathogenesis in functional CCR5 homozygous and heterozygous NE patients differs, where homozygous cases may have more disintegration of the extracellular matrix and potentially more severe disease.


&NA; Congenital pseudoarthrosis of the tibia remains one of the most difficult conditions to treat in orthopedic surgery. Seven cases were treated in our hospital by different methods. Three out of seven patients were healed, two of these refractured. At follow‐up, the success rate was 14% (one out of seven cases). It is our recommendation that early primary amputation with an appropriate prosthesis should be considered, and that the final evaluation should not be based on obtaining bone union, but on the level of function of the lower extremity.


Rape mythologies about the "stranger lurking in the bushes" continue to inform attitudes and decisions by law enforcement personnel, judges, and juries. These archaic stereotypes prejudice sexual assault victims by conditioning factfinders to distrust rape allegations lacking corroborative evidence of a physical struggle with a stranger. In reality, over three-quarters of all sexual assaults in the United States are committed by someone known to the victim; more often than not the victim and perpetrator live, work, or attend school together. Given the perpetuation of rape myths, the incarceration rate for these "acquaintance rape" offenders currently stands at less than 1%. The failure of the criminal justice system to protect sexual assault victims from perpetrators with ongoing access to their victims puts victims at genuine risk of future harm. Moreover, existing civil restraining order statutes remain largely unavailable to sexual assault victims, because these statutes either require the presence of a romantic relationship or impose an unattainably high burden of proof for victims with little extrinsic evidence of physical assault. This Article advocates for a new Sexual Assault Protection Order that imposes no relationship requirement, operates under a lower burden of proof, and provides carefully-tailored prospective relief specifically designed for sexual assault victims. This Article also considers the constitutional concerns of critics who argue that restraining order hearings impermissibly adjudicate criminal guilt under more permissive civil procedures. The Article concludes by balancing these competing concerns, and recommending a model Sexual Assault Protection Order that can both provide tangible, attainable protection remedies to victims and adequately protect the rights of the accused.


Introduction: Ovarian cyst is a common clinical problem affecting women of all age groups. Laparoscopy should be considered as an alternative to laparotomy in the management of benign ovarian cysts. The aim of this study is to determine the safety, efficacy and outcome of laparoscopic surgery for benign ovarian cysts.
Materials and Method: A Prospective observational study has been carried out during the period of Jun 2016 to May 2019 in combined military hospital Dhaka. Total 107 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for benign ovarian cysts during this period were included in this study.
Results: The maximum number of women was in the 21-30 year- old age groups. Majority were endometriotic cyst (45.79%) followed by perovarian cysts (14.01%) and dermoid cysts (12.14%). The diameter ranges from 4-15 cm.and most of them were unilateral (91.5%). Ovarian cystectomy is the most commonly performed procedure (88.78%). Mean duration of surgery was 62.75 minutes. Complications were also fewer like postoperative fever (22.2%), and trocar site infection.(11.2 %). None of the pts required conversion to laparotomy.
Conclusion: With a careful preoperative screening the laparoscopic surgery is a safe and effective treatment for benign ovarian cyst Laparoscopic surgery seems to offer significant advantages such as less adverse effects, reduced hospital stay and better quality of life.
JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 15, No 2 (December) 2019: 209-2012


This work aims to assess the hydrocarbon generator potential of the Upper Paleocene sedimentary rocks, supported by stratigraphic, geochemical and palynological data, taken from samples belonging to different wells located along the Llanos Foothills and Llanos Basin. The geochemical data and facies interpretation of these samples allows conclude that most of the wells are in immature state, with the exception of the well number 4, which ranges in early maturity state. The best geochemical properties of the rocks are located northern of the study area, where the average thickness of the muddy facies of the Upper Paleocene interval reach about 100 feet, in contrast to the Central region, where the thicknesses are generally higher (up to 250 feet), but the quality of the geochemical parameters decreases.


It is self-evident that the game changer of our modern world – the "internet" has endowed the twenty first century man with enormous potentials and possibilities. Ranging from enhanced capabilities in business (e-business), governance (e-governance), politics, social interaction and information exchange. The internet has indeed shrinked the global distance that once posed a great barrier and limited man's endeavours in the preceding centuries.
Amidst the great advantages derivable from the use of internet for various purposes lie inherent security threats. To a large extent, these security hindrances have been addressed in advanced nations of the world, as a result, internet phenomenon has pervaded all aspects of the advanced nations economy. This is evident in different electronic platforms that are available for the delivery of various products and services. On the contrary, the application of internet in various aspects of commerce has been hampered by the challenges of security limitations due to identity issues in the developing/emerging economies. Due to these security threats, business owners and the general public in less-developed world demonstrate great sense of apathy in the use of available electronic options for the purpose of commerce.
Against the backdrop of the above, and the poor infrastructure basis of the developing nations, this research paper analyses and proposes the implementation of multimodal biometric technology frameworks with novel server architecture to tackle the security threats inherent with e-commerce in the developing world.


Serum antibody response to plasmodial antigens was investigated in 97 Thai patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria. No difference in immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels was detected between groups without or with cerebral manifestations of malaria (n = 40). In patients with the most severe form of the disease, i.e., those who died despite adequate therapy (n = 12), antibody detected in the immunofluorescent-antibody test was found at lower levels than in those who recovered (geometric means: IgG = 1/420 versus 1/3,800; IgM = 1/15 versus 1/70); similarly, precipitating malarial antibodies were present in only 1 of these 12 patients, while they were detectable in 65 of the remaining 85 patients (76.5%). In contrast, anticytomegalovirus antibody levels were similar in the different groups of patients. Results show that depression of antibody response may extend to antiplasmodial responses during severe malaria. The link between fatality and a low level of antibody production suggests that an appropriate immune response to malarial antigens may be required to achieve recovery with drug treatment and provides a new direction for malaria therapy research.


A lethal dose of X irradiation can be made sublethal by the fractionation of a dose into a series of smaller doses separated by adequate time intervals. The results reported here demonstrate how an environmental stress, such as cold, may affect this mitigating action of dose fractionation. Rats were maintained at 6 C while receiving a total dose of 600 r in one or eight exposures with various intervals between exposures. A greater interval was required between radiation exposures at 6 C than at 23 C to reduce the lethal response following irradiation. From the results of the food consumption measurements, it appears that cold exposure emphasizes the consequence of the reduced food intake which follows daily doses of 75 r in the rat. The irradiated rat was able to increase the amount of food consumed during cold exposure; however, the increase was not sufficient for adaptation. The lowered consumption which followed eight daily 75-r exposures was sufficient to cause death in pair-fed rats maintained at 6 C, but not at 23 C.


Introduction: In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the current therapies do not target pulmonary vascular remodeling (PVR), the main cause of the disease. Type I cytokine receptors (TypeIR) are known to be overexpressed in PAH pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PA-SMCs) and involved in PVR. Aims and Objectives: To assess whether the regulation of TypeIR intracellular trafficking is altered in PAH, leading to TypeIR overexpression and PVR. Methods: We studied TypeIR trafficking through the main regulatory proteins ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8) and ring finger protein (RNF)41. In PAH patients and in controls, we performed in situ immunostaining in lung samples and western blotting in primary cultures of PA-SMCs isolated from human tissues. We transfected human PA-SMCs with siRNA against USP8 and RNF41 in vitro. In two experimental models, the monocrotaline- and chronic hypoxia-induced PAH, we performed hemodynamic measurements followed by in situ immunostaining and western blotting analysis in lung tissues. Results: We showed an increased USP8 and decreased RNF41 expression in PAH lungs compared to controls, and a similar shift in USP8/RNF41 ratio at the protein level in PAH PA-SMCs compared to controls (n=10). We modulated USP8/RNF41 ratio with siRNAs and restored TypeIR expression and its signalling (n=5). Consistent with our human in situ and in vitro results, we confirmed the altered USP8/RNF41 ratio in the two in vivo models (n=8 and n=5). Conclusions: TypeIR intracellular trafficking regulation is altered in PAH patients compared to controls, due to a shift in USP8/RNF41 ratio. Restoring USP8/RNF41 ratio in PA-SMCs may represent a potential target in PAH.


Field strength prediction is a central task for the planning of mobile communication systems. The decisive advantage in using neural networks for field strength predictions is given by the possibility of deriving training patterns directly from measurements. This allows the system to become very flexible and adapt to arbitrary environment. Owing to the highly parallel structure of the processing fast prediction systems seem to be possible in the future. First results of a training by measurement data show the feasibility of this approach.