Introduction: Implementation of contextually appropriate, evidence-based, expert-recommended stroke prevention guideline is particularly important in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), which bear disproportional larger burden of stroke while possessing fewer resources. Focus therefore, should be on approaches enabling healthcare systems to improve control of vascular risk factors. Objective: We aimed to compare important features of stroke prevention guidelines between LMICs and High Income Countries (HICs). Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, AJOL, SciELO, and LILACS databases for stroke prevention guidelines published between January 2005 and December 2015 by country. Primary search items included: "Stroke" and "Guidelines". We critically appraised the articles for evidence level, issuance frequency and implementation aspects to clinical practice. Results: Among 45 stroke prevention guidelines published, 28 (62%) met eligibility criteria: 7 from LMICs (25%) and 21 from HICs (75%). LMIC-issued guidelines were less likely to have conflict of interest declarations (57% vs. 100%, p=0.01), involve high quality systematic reviews (57% vs. 95%, p= 0.03), had good dissemination channels (14% vs 71%, p=0.02). The patient views and preferences were the most significant stakeholder considerations in HICs (43%, p=0.04) compared with LMICs. Conclusion: The quality and quantity of stroke prevention guidelines in LMICs are less than those of HICs and need to be significantly improved upon.


BACKGROUND
Hand grip strength could be influenced by gender, age and handedness.

AIM
To describe differences in grip strength for age, gender and upper extremity handedness in non-disabled community-dwelling older adults.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We studied 47 males aged 72.3 ± 5.6 years and 69 females 72.4 ± 6.0 years who were divided in two age groups (65-70 and ≥ 71 years old). Grip strength was determined by a standardized protocol using a hand dynamometer.

RESULTS
There was an inverse correlation between grip strength and age in both hands only among men (p ≤ 0.05). When analyzing both genders, there was a significant inverse correlation between grip strength and age only in the dominant hand (p ≤ 0.05). Strength was higher in the dominant hand in both genders (p ≤ 0.05). It was also higher in men, compared to women in the two age groups studied (p ≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Grip strength is higher in men than women, it decreases with age and is higher in the dominant hand.


The Mattagami Formation is of variable thickness, consisting of several hundred feet of interbedded sands, clays and lignites. Spores and pollen from near the top of the formation indicate a late Middle or Late Albian age. Other palynologic studies suggest that deposition of the lower part of the formation commenced in Aptian or Early Albian times.


Purpose:  The incorporation of environmental objective into the conventional supplier selection practices is crucial for corporations seeking to promote green supply chain management (GSCM). Challenges and risks associated with green supplier selection have been broadly recognized by procurement and supplier management professionals. This paper aims to solve a Tetra " S" (SSSS) problem based on a fuzzy multi-objective optimization with genetic algorithm in a holistic supply chain environment. In this empirical study, a mathematical model with fuzzy coefficients is considered for sustainable strategic supplier selection (SSSS) problem and a corresponding model is developed to tackle this problem. Design/methodology/approach: Sustainable strategic supplier selection (SSSS) decisions are typically multi-objectives in nature and it is an important part of green production and supply chain management for many firms. The proposed uncertain model is transferred into deterministic model by applying the expected value mesurement (EVM) and genetic algorithm with weighted sum approach for solving the multi-objective problem. This research focus on a multi-objective optimization model for minimizing lean cost, maximizing sustainable service and greener product quality level. Finally, a mathematical case of textile sector is presented to exemplify the effectiveness of the proposed model with a sensitivity analysis. Findings: This study makes a certain contribution by introducing the Tetra 'S' concept in both the theoretical and practical research related to multi-objective optimization as well as in the study of sustainable strategic supplier selection (SSSS) under uncertain environment. Our results suggest that decision makers tend to select strategic supplier first then enhance the sustainability. Research limitations/implications: Although the fuzzy expected value model (EVM) with fuzzy coefficients constructed in present research should be helpful for solving real world problems. A detailed comparative analysis by using other algorithms is necessary for solving similar problems of agriculture, pharmaceutical, chemicals and services sectors in future. Practical implications: It can help the decision makers for ordering to different supplier for managing supply chain performance in efficient and effective manner. From the procurement and engineering perspectives, minimizing cost, sustaining the quality level and meeting production time line is the main consideration for selecting the supplier. Empirically, this can facilitate engineers to reduce production costs and at the same time improve the product quality. Originality/value: In this paper, we developed a novel multi-objective programming model based on genetic algorithm to select sustainable strategic supplier (SSSS) under fuzzy environment. The algorithm was tested and applied to solve a real case of textile sector in Pakistan. The experimental results and comparative sensitivity analysis illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed model.


A preliminary study of whole air measurements within a snowpack in the subalpine forest of Colorado found that lower snow layers and underlying soil were a strong source of chemically active trace gases (VOC). The emissions of trace gases were correlated with emissions of radiatively active greenhouse gases (CO2 and N2O) through the snowpack. Carbon dioxide was enhanced in the lower snowpack to over 1000 ppmv, similar to previous studies, which have shown that a thermal insulation of snow covering the soil leads to enhanced emissions of CO2 equivalent to a large fraction of annual respiration. Comparable enhancements of several VOCs reached 1275, 1670, and 1000 pptv for methyl chloride, propane, and α‐pinene, respectively. The measurements are limited to a one‐day pilot study, however, considering that previous studies have reported significant CO2 emissions through snowpacks any emissions of VOC may also be important on a local or potentially global scale.


In this work, nano V/TiO2 catalysts at different molar ratios were prepared and fabricated as the electrocatalytic electrodes for electrocatalytic degradation. The effect of the vanadium doping on the surface morphology, microstructural, and specific surface area of V/TiO2 catalysts was probed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) x-ray diffractometer (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), respectively. Afterward, the solution of Acid Red 27 (AR 27, one kind of azo dye) was treated by an electrocatalytic system in which the nano V/TiO2 electrode was employed as the anode and graphite as the cathode. Results demonstrate that AR 27 can be effectively degraded by the nano V/TiO2 electrodes; the highest removal efficiency of color and total organic carbon (TOC) reached 99% and 76%, respectively, under 0.10 VT (molar ratio of vanadium to titanium) condition. The nano V/TiO2 electrode with high specific surface area facilitated the electrocatalytic degradation. The current density of 25 mA cm−2 was found to be the optimum operation for this electrocatalytic system whereas the oxygen was increased with the current density. The electricity consumption of pure TiO2 and nano V/TiO2 electrode in this electrocatalytic system was around 0.11 kWh L−1 and 0.02 kWh L−1, respectively. This implies that the nano V/TiO2 electrode possesses both high degradation and energy saving features. Moreover, the nono V/TiO2 electrode shows its possible repeated utilization.


most popular type of pesticide is the organophosphate (OP) family, which effectively eliminates pests owing to its acute neurotoxicity. Organophosphorus hydrolase is a bacterial enzyme that is capable of degrading a wide range of neurotoxic organophosphate nerve agents. Organophosphorus hydrolase of Kocuria sp was isolated but its protein is not having any predicted 3-Dimentional structure available in PDB (Protein databank) as elucidated by X-ray crystallography or NMR. Its structure was determined in silico by sequence homology. The gene sequence of the Organophosphorus hydrolase of Kocuria sp was known and its protein sequence was subjected to PSI-BLAST at NCBI. There was neither identical sequence available nor the nearest neighbour in the blast analysis. Then an alternative method for finding the homologous protein i.e., fold prediction method was used. The generated model was subjected to several repeated cycles of energy minimization using SPDBV software and the final model was subjected to stereo chemical evaluation. The homology modeled structure of the Organophosphorus hydrolase of Kocuria sp was docked by different OP by Molgro virtual docker and the data were presented.


Ultrasound (US) is a widely available, low-cost, non-invasive, and safe medical imaging method that enables real-time observation. Ultrasound offers several advantages for dentomaxillofacial images, such as portability, the possibility of dynamic and repeated examinations, patient comfort, and availability. It is a useful tool for recognizing the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) structures and their involvement during the course of different pathological processes, such as articular disk displacement, joint effusion and cortical erosion. In addition to its diagnostic use, US has been proposed as an auxiliary tool in minimally invasive procedures for arthrogenic temporomandibular disorders (TMD) to achieve an accurate puncture, recognize joint spaces and reduce surgical trauma. While US is widely used for large joints to visualize internal structures and guide the injection, this technique has only recently gained popularity for the TMJ procedures. Hence, the literature on this topic is scarce. The present review describes the potential advantages and the clinical technique of US guidance for TMJ arthrocentesis and intra-articular injection (IAI).


As the popularity of smart phone, Web 2.0 data, and 3G mobile networks, people are getting used to search for information from the Internet anytime and everywhere. However, typing text query on mobile device and digesting a large number of retrieved user-generated data are both inconvenient for users. To overcome these troubles, we develop a wearable system, Le Festin, which is a shop sign recognition assisted food recommendation system. In Le Festin, food recommendation list and restaurant-related information can be easily obtained by just snapping restaurant signboard. The system is composed of two main techniques: Chinese character recognition (CCR) and blog mining. We integrate a powerful CCR algorithm which has the accuracy about 90% and propose a new blog mining method which is combined with food name extraction and sentiment analysis. By merging the above two functions, a convenient system is built.


According to the sealing requirements of engine casing, using NX software to establish three-dimensional solid model of the engine box. Designing two seals suppress schemes basing on analyzing the characteristics of the case structure, one of seal is using two pins on one side to localize, the other is using cylinder to top tight and fasten, Clarifying the reasons for the using the former scheme have a lower cost. At the same time analysesing of the forces and deformation of the former scheme using finite element analysis software and the NX software, results proved that the pressure scheme can meet the actual needs of the program. It illustrated the composition of the basic principles of manual pressure and hydraulic system, verifed the feasibility of the seal program using experiment, providing reference for the experimental program of hydrostatic pressure in the future.


Traumatic brain injury (TBI) consists of a primary and a secondary insult characterized by a biochemical cascade that plays a crucial role in cell death in the brain. Despite the major improvements in the acute care of head injury victims, no effective strategies exist for preventing the secondary injury cascade. This lack of success might be due to that most treatments are aimed at targeting neuronal population, even if studies show that astrocytes play a key role after a brain damage. In this work, we propose a new model of in vitro traumatic brain-like injury and use paracrine factors released by human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) as a neuroprotective strategy. Our results demonstrate that hMSC-conditioned medium increased wound closure and proliferation at 12 h and reduced superoxide production to control conditions. This was accompanied by changes in cell morphology and polarity index, as both parameters reflect the ability of cells to migrate toward the wound. These findings indicate that hMSC is an important regulator of oxidative stress production, enhances cells migration, and shall be considered as a useful neuroprotective approach for brain recovery following injury.


T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a type of aggressive leukemia with inferior prognosis. While activating mutations of NOTCH1 are observed in most T-ALL cases, these mutations alone are not sufficient to drive the full development of T-ALL. β-Arrestins (ARRBs) are versatile and multifunctional adapter proteins that regulate diverse cellular functions, including promoting the development of cancer. However, the role of ARRBs in T-ALL have largely remained elusive. In this study, we showed that ARRB1 is expressed at low levels in assayed T-ALL clinical samples and cell lines. Exogenous ARRB1 expression inhibited T-ALL proliferation and improved the survival of T-ALL xenograft animals. ARRB1 facilitated NOTCH1 ubiquitination and degradation through interactions with NOTCH1 and DTX1. Mechanistically, the oncogenic microRNA (oncomiR) miR-223 targeted the 3'-UTR of ARRB1 (BUTR) and inhibited its expression in T-ALL. Furthermore, overexpression of the ARRB1-derived miR-223 sponge BUTR suppressed T-ALL cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. Collectively, these results demonstrate that ARRB1 acts as a tumor suppressor in T-ALL by promoting NOTCH1 degradation, which is inhibited by elevated miR-223, suggesting that ARRB1 may serve as a valid drug target in the development of novel T-ALL therapeutics.


MicroRNAs can coordinately repress multiple target genes and interfere with the biological functions of the cell, such as proliferation and apoptosis. In the present study, we report that miR-200b was downregulated in malignant glioma cell lines and specimens. Overexpression of miR-200b suppressed the proliferation and colony for- mation of glioma cells. An oncogene encoding cAMP responsive element-binding protein 1 (CREB1), which has been shown to be an important transcription factor involved in the proliferation, survival, and metastasis of tumor cells, was here confirmed as a direct target gene of miR-200b. CREB1 was also found to be present at a high level in human glioma tissues. This was inversely corre- lated with miR-200b expression. Ectopic expression of CREB1 attenuated the growth suppressive phenotypes of glioma cells caused by miR-200b. These results indicate that miR-200b targets the CREB1 gene and suppresses glioma cell growth, suggesting that miR-200b shows tumor-suppressive activity in human malignant glioma.


This article aims to analyse the key assumptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Furthermore it discusses issues related to its practical implementation and its role in the realisation of sustainable development. The article adopts the theory that although the concept of corporate social responsibility is based on different theoretical grounds to that of the concept of sustainable development, they have a commonality and their key objective is to undertake actions to improve the quality of life for people on a global scale.


ABSTRACT Local people's'participation is highly recommended in protected areas (PAs) management. This study aimed at understanding local people's participation as "means" or tool and "ends" or empowerment in the management of Kinabalu National Park (KNP) in Sabah state of Malaysia and the Kayan Mentarang National Park (KMNP) in North Kalimantan of Indonesia, two important PAs located in the Heart of Borneo. Following Bali Guidelines by UNEP, three important aspects of public participation at the local level were evaluated by deploying qualitative research methods for key-informant interviews (KII), focus group discussions (FGD), and content analysis of policy documents. In KMNP, policies and legal framework primarily supported local peoples' participation as "means" in park management, which was also revealed from interviews with KII and in FGD. Local communities had access to surrounding natural resources for livelihoods which is considered to be participation as "ends." There was no policy support for formal participation of local people in KNP management, but recent informal permission to use designated park areas for farming and eco-tourism can be seen participation as "means" and as "ends." To achieve both of "means" and "ends" fully, participation needs to be integrated into national parks' legal system.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

A considerable body of evidence indicates that many cancers are hierarchically organized and driven by cancer stem cells (CSCs) that have the ability to self-renew and to generate heterogeneous populations of tumor bulk. Preclinical studies have also demonstrated that CSCs mediate tumor metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. As a result of substantial studies to identify CSCs markers and related pathways, agents developed to target CSCs are in early stage clinical trials. Given the clinical importance of CSCs, there is an urgency to develop the methodology to assay these cells. In this study, we explored CSCs heterogeneity at the single cell level using C1 and BioMark HD technologies. Cancer stem cells from MCF7 and SUM159 breast cancer cell lines were sorted by MoFlo XDP based CSCs marker including CD44, CD24 and ALDH1 immunophenotyping. Sorted cells were then separately loaded onto the C1 chip and studied by C1 instrument that isolates up to 96 single cells and performs lysis, RNA release, reverse transcription, and finally cDNA preamplification of up to 96 gene transcripts for each single cell. We selected the 96 genes based on important genetic pathways, EMT and CSCs markers, and also genes identified in the expression array data to be differentially expressed in CD44+/CD24- and or ALDH+ primary breast tumor samples. Following C1 preamplification, we analyzed the mRNA expression levels of 96 genes on each of the isolated single cells by BioMark HD instrument which generates nearly 10,000 qPCR data points in a single run using a 96x96 chip. Results showed that more than one population exist with significant differences in mRNA expression levels of certain genes such as CAPRIN2, TM4SF1, NECAB3, PPL, TSPAN6, STAP2, FAM46C, TCEA3, TPSB2 and FCN1, as well as IL6, GATA3, KI67, PCNA, EZH2, and MET in seemingly homogenous populations of ALDH+ and ALDH-(CD44+/CD24- in MCF7 cells) CSCs. In addition, a distinct pattern of gene expression for sorted luminal MCF7 in comparison to basal SUM159 cells was observed for epithelial versus mesenchymal markers such as CDH1, CDH2, KRT7, KRT19, EpCAM, and Vimentin genes. We have recently reported that breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) exist in inter-convertible EMT/MET states characterized by distinct genes and biomarker expression. Using this methodology of single cell analysis, we found that these CSC populations still display significant heterogeneity in mRNA expression. This technique of single cell multiplex gene expression analysis, along with a microfluidic method for a label-free cell sorting is currently under optimization to be used for isolation and molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood samples of breast cancer patients as a means of liquid biopsy. Altogether, results of this and similar studies on single CSCs have considerable clinical implications in cancer diagnosis and prognosis, as well as in the successful targeted therapy of cancer stem cells.

Citation Format: Ebrahim Azizi, Shamileh Fouladdel, Yadwinder S. Deol, Jonathan Bender, Sean McDermott, Hui Jiang, Mary Sehl, Shawn G. Clouthier, Sunitha Nagrath, Max S. Wicha. Exploring cancer stem cells heterogeneity via single cell multiplex gene expression analysis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1943. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1943


The paper presents an advanced three-phase active PFC power converter with three-phase diode rectifier cascaded four-switch boost chopper. Its operating principle is described in detail as compared with the circuit operations of two conventional three-phase PFC power rectifiers; one switch boost chopper type and two switch boost chopper type. The operating characteristics of four switch boost chopper type three-phase PFC power converter are described from a practical point of view, being compared with those of one switch boost and two switch boost chopper type PFC converter topologies.


We first state that our presentation in DIS2018 conference includes two aspects of research: the underlying events and the photon structure which has been published in the earlier DIS proceeding in 2016, so in this proceeding, we will focus on the study of underlying events. In high energy physics, the underlying event is everything except the two outgoing hard scattered jets, it includes the contributions from beam remnant as well as initial and final-state radiation. The behavior of underlying event at a future Electron Ion Collider (EIC) is studied in this proceeding. We apply both "region method" and "off-axis method" to measure the underlying event with pseudo data generated from PYTHIA. It indicates that these two methods are consistent, and the final results are comparable with those measured from STAR at similar center-mass energy.


According to the city energy consumption character in China, this article forms a city energy conservation evaluation index system. It contains 27 indexes in 3 levels and 4 parts about industry, building, city transportation and residential consumption. According to some standard, the article divides city energy conservation level into 4 classes and forms energy conservation evaluation model. In the end, it takes one city as an example to carry on empirical research. The analysis result basically reflects the actual condition of the city energy consumption and indicates the feasibility of the estimate method.


The research is carried out in the area of model adequacy assessment and analysis of simulation results. The aim of this research is to explore the applicability of process mining techniques for model verification and validation, and results analysis of discrete-event system simulation models. The adequacy assessment of the simulation model is the final stage of its development and has the objective to check the compliance of the model with its research objectives and to assess the reliability and statistical characteristics of the results obtained during the model experiments. In this paper the adequacy of the particular simulation model is checked for compliance with the real system from the point of view of the behaviour. The process mining is considered as a technique for simulated behaviour analysis. The simulation runs provided events lists for event log extraction. Further processing of event log resulted in positive objective conclusion on the investigated model behaviour adequacy, as well as outlined the potential direction to develop the objective adequacy assessment scheme for simulation models.


We investigated the water use of Caatinga vegetation, the largest seasonally dry forest in South America. We identified and analysed the environmental phenological drivers in woody species and their relationship with transpiration. To monitor the phenological evolution, we used remote sensing indices at different spatial and temporal scales: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and green chromatic coordinate (GCC). To represent the phenology, we used the GCC extracted from in-situ automated digital camera images; indices calculated based on sensors included NDVI, SAVI and GCC from Sentinel-2A and B satellites images, and NDVI products MYD13Q1 and MOD13Q1 from a moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS). Environmental drivers included continuously monitored rainfall, air temperature, soil moisture, net radiation, and vapour pressure deficit. To monitor soil water status and vegetation water use, we installed soil moisture sensors along three soil profiles and sap flow sensors for five plant species. Our study demonstrated that the near-surface GCC data played an important role in permitting individual monitoring of species, whereas the species' sap flow data correlated better with NDVI, SAVI, and GCC than with species' near-surface GCC. The wood density appeared to affect the transpiration cessation times in the dry season, given that species with the lowest wood density reach negligible values of transpiration earlier in the season than those with high woody density. Our results show that soil water availability was the main limiting factor for transpiration during more than 80% of the year, and that both the phenological response and water use are directly related to water availability when relative saturation of the soil profile fell below 0.25.


The decarbonisation of the economy is a well-established international trend in environmental research. Decarbonisation is normally defined as a decreasing carbon intensity of the economy, measured by dividing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with the gross domestic product (GDP). The paper compares two aspects of the carbon intensity of the economy: (1) The total CO2 emission intensity of the economy and (2) the transport CO2 emission intensity of the economy. Data is gathered from the current fifteen European Union (EU15) countries from 1960 to 1999. The countries are grouped by cluster analysis and regional patterns of the groupings are analysed. It can be concluded that while the total CO2 intensity of the economy has decreased, the transport CO2 intensity has in fact increased in the EU15 countries. Regarding the whole period, only Ireland and Austria showed decreasing transport CO2 intensity. It seems, that in the 1990?s a change in the trend was achieved also in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and United Kingdom. In the United States, transport CO2 intensity began to decrease already in the mid 1970?s, but still in 1999 the figures were approximately two times greater than that of the EU15. Key words: carbon dioxide emissions, transport, carbon intensity, european union


Aim: The aim of the reserch is to explore the possibility of integrating Sciences and Humanities in the Faculty of Education using Ecocriticism books and literary workshops with didactic activities of interdisciplinary nature.
Methods: The experience was carried out with 100 students of the Faculty of Education of the University of Valencia from the subjects "Natural Sciences for teachers" and "Literary training for teachers", where different didactic activities around two literary works, a novel and a short story, were proposed.
Results: After the activities, the vast mayority of the students consider that Literature can help to learn Science. 41'7% of the students of "Literary training for teachers" and 62.5% of "Natural Sciences for teachers" consider the integration of Sciences and Humanities in class "very important"; and 55.6% and 29.2% "quite important". More than 90% of the students said they were "very" or "quite" conscious of sustainability and environmental protection, although the percentages vary slightly between the two classes.
Conclusion: With this study we have shown that Ecocriticism and Education are two interlinked concepts, in the same way that literature and society are. Using the socializing function of literature is when we can have greater educational performance in the current classrooms, because it allows the students to connect their reality with the texts. These ecocriticism works are a first-order didactic resource to raise awareness about environmental and sustainability problems in pre-service teachers that will transmit the message to their future students.


The European Union has implemented demand push and technology pull policies to foster innovation on the energy and resource efficiency of capital goods. The state of the art of general equilibrium modelling applied to environmental policy rarely treats product and process innovation separately and product quality is, in the best case, exogenous. We develop a dynamic multi-sector CGE model that distinguishes between R&D-based process innovation for all firms, endogenous product innovation in the capital goods sector and adoption decisions with respect to the installation of new capital vintages in the rest of the economy. Our results support the previous literature in finding that aggregate innovation declines following an energy tax but whereas process innovation is reduced, product innovation actually rises. We find that demand pull policies are less effective than product-related R&D subsidies to reduce aggregate energy intensity.


Abstract : 12AH sealed silver-zinc cells of standard construction when cycled at 120? F had poor capacity maintenance, due to separator deterioration. Cells cycled at room temperature showed poor charge acceptance at high rates of charge. Studies of the reaction of oxygen with zinc in 12AH cells indicate that the maximum overcharge rate possible with standard construction is 60-90ma or 1.2-1.8 ma/sq. in. The recombination reaction was found to be limited by the diffusion of oxygen through the electrolye. In the range of concentrations tested, 26.5-44% KOH, the lower the concentration the greater the rate of recombination. Data are presented on the physical, chemical and electrical properties of separators and interseparators. The use of one layer of high resistance membrane as a separator is not feasible. Most of the cells built with a single turn of Radiation Application, Inc. irradiated polyethylene shorted during the first charge. Positive electrode surface areas were studied by double layer capacitance. The result indicated that the area increase takes place during discharge. (Author)


With an ageing population an increasing number of patients with a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator will present at radiotherapy units due to malignancy. Two separate questionnaires concerning routines of departments treating this population were sent to Danish implanting cardiology centers and to radiotherapy departments. Differences in the handling of these patients were found. Removal of the devices and monitoring of the patients is assessed on a highly individual basis. In the absence of updated official guidelines, departments treating these patients should produce local instructions.


Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a relatively rare malignancy but the most common cause of soft tissue sarcoma in children. It can present anywhere in the body, but most seen in the extremities, head, neck and genitourinary organs. The two most common types of RMS are embryonal RMS and the more aggressive kind, the alveolar RMS. Development of RMS occurring after trauma is uncommon but as children are readily prone for lumps and bumps due to their adventurous and playful nature, it is much important to always keep in mind the possibility of malicious causes of swelling as any delay in diagnosis directly affects the outcome of the disease. Here we present an infant who presented with symptoms suggestive of post trauma swelling but later was confirmed as embryonal RMS. The child underwent chemotherapy as the treatment of option.


Cryomassage in combined treatment of 100 patients operated for discogenic neuropathy produced a pronounced vasotropic effect. The authors have determined optimal zones for cryomassage application and order of its usage with some physical factors.


Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) results in inhibition of tumor growth in various types of cancers, but the mechanism(s) by which PPAR-gamma induces growth arrest has not been completely defined. In a recent study, we demonstrate that treatment of A549 (human non small cell lung cancer cell line) tumor-bearing SCID mice with PPAR-gamma ligands troglitazone (Tro) and pioglitazone significantly inhibits primary tumor growth. In this study, immunohistochemical analysis of Tro-treated and Pio-treated tumors with factor VIII antibody revealed a significant reduction in blood vessel density compared to tumors in control animals, suggesting inhibition of angiogenesis. Further analysis showed that treatment of A549 cells in vitro with Tro or transient transfection of A549 cells with constitutively active PPAR-gamma (VP16-PPAR-gamma) construct blocked the production of the angiogenic ELR+CXC chemokines IL-8 (CXCL8), ENA-78 (CXCL5), and Gro-alpha (CXCL1). Similarly, an inhibitor of NF-kappa B activation (PDTC) also blocked CXCL8, CXCL5, and CXCL1 production, consistent with their NF-kappa B-dependent regulation. Conditioned media from A549 cells induce human microvascular endothelial cell (HMVEC) chemotaxis. However, conditioned media from Tro-treated A549 cells induced significantly less HMVEC chemotaxis compared to untreated A549 cells. Furthermore, PPAR-gamma activation inhibited NF-kappa B transcriptional activity, as assessed by TransAM reporter gene assay. Collectively, our data suggest that PPAR-gamma ligands can inhibit tumor-associated angiogenesis by blocking the production of ELR+CXC chemokines, which is mediated through antagonizing NF-kappaB activation. These antiangiogenic effects likely contribute to the inhibition of primary tumor growth by PPAR-gamma ligands.


Tooth malposition negatively affects the outcome of root coverage procedures, limiting chances for complete root coverage (CRC). This case series introduces a combined orthodontic-mucogingival approach for the treatment of deep (> 4 mm) isolated gingival recession defects affecting mandibular incisors with a buccally displaced root. Twenty patients were treated with a novel orthodontic device (FZ Root Torque Controller) for selective correction of tooth malposition at the affected site, turning all isolated recessions into Miller Classes I and II. Subsequent surgical treatment of the gingival recession with a vertically-coronally advanced flap plus a connective tissue graft achieved 90% CRC at the 1-year follow-up, with a recession reduction of 5.6 ± 1.5 mm, a 1.24 ± 0.24 mm increase in gingival thickness, and improved esthetic outcomes.


The VirG (IcsA) protein of Shigella is required for recruitment of host actin filament (F-actin) by intracellularly motile bacteria. An N-terminal 80-kDa VirG portion (α-domain) is exposed on the bacterial surface, while the following C-terminal 37-kDa portion (β-core) is embedded in the outer membrane. Here, we report that the surface exposed α-domain of VirG possesses two distinct functional domains; one is the N-terminal two-thirds portion of the α-domain which is required for eliciting F-actin assembly on the bacteria in infected cells, and the other one is the rest of the C-terminal portion of the VirG α-domain, which is essential for the asymmetric distribution of VirG on the bacterial surface. Furthermore, we found that vinculin, an actin-binding cytoskeletal protein, accumulates on the surface of bacteria expressing VirG in infected cells, and that the distribution of vinculin coincided with the distribution of VirG and assembled F-actin. The vinculin accumulation depended on the expression of the α-domain VirG portion required for F-actin assembly, but the recruitment of vinculin on Shigella appeared prior to the appearance of F-actin in the infected cells. Analysis of proteins interacting with VirG using Xenopus laevis eggs extracts revealed that vinculin was a protein that bound to the α-domain portion. This was further confirmed using purified chicken gizzard vinculin, in that the 95-kDa vinculin head part, but not the 30-kDa tail part, directly bound to the α-domain portion. These results suggest a possible role for vinculin in recruitment of F-actin to the VirG moiety exposed on Shigella in infected mammalian cells.


This paper tries to justify the relevance of an introductory course in Mathematical Logic in the Philosophy curriculum for analyzing philosophical arguments in natural language. It is argued that the representation of the structure of natural language arguments in Freeman's diagramming system can provide an intuitive foundation for the inferential processes involved in the use of First Order Logic natural deduction rules.


InN/In nanocomposites with periodical In inclusions amounting up to 30% of the total volume exhibit bright emission near 0.7 eV explicitly associated with In clusters. Its energy and intensity depend on the In amount. The principal absorption edge in the semiconductor host, as given by a photovoltaic response, is markedly higher than the onset of thermally detected absorption. These findings, being strongly suggestive of plasmon-dominated emission and absorption, are discussed in terms of electromagnetic enhancement taking into account the In parallel-band transitions.


In this paper we study the relationship between labor market institutions and monetary policy. We use a simple macroeconomic framework to show how optimal monetary policy rules depend on labor institutions (labor adjustment costs, and nominal and real wage rigitidy) and social preferences regarding inflation, employment, and real wages. We also calibrate our model to compute how the change in social welfare brought about by giving up monetary policy as a result of joining the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) depends on institutions and preferences. We then use the calibrated model to analyze how EMU affects the incentives for labor market reform, both for reforms that increase the economy's adjustment potential and for those that affect the long-run unemployment rate.


Parallel computers are diicult to program eeciently. We believe that a good way to help programmers write eecient programs is to provide them with tools that show them how their programs behave on a parallel computer. Data distribution is the major performance factor of data-parallel programs and so automatic data layout for High Performance Fortran programs has been studied by many researchers recently. The communication volume induced by a data distribution is a good estimator of the eeciency of this data distribution. We present here a symbolic method to compute the communication volume generated by a given data distribution during the program writing phase (before compilation). We stay machine-independent to assure portability. Our goal is to help the programmer understand the data movements its program generates and thus nd a good data distribution. Our method is based on parametric polyhedral computations. It can be applied to a large class of regular codes.


The aim of our study was to assess the impact of whole blood lead (Pb-B) levels on changes in peripheral blood morphology and selected biochemical parameters, and the severity of depression in peri-menopausal women at risk of metabolic syndrome (pre-MetS) or with metabolic syndrome (MetS). The study involved 233 women from the general population of the West Pomeranian Province (Poland) aged 44–65 years. The intensity of menopausal symptoms and the severity of depression was examined using the Blatt–Kupperman Index (KI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). C-reactive protein (CRP), insulin, glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglyceride levels (TG), cortisol, morphology of blood cells and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and Pb-B was measured. Women with MetS had higher levels of glucose, HbA1C, HDL, LDL, TG, cortisol, insulin and higher HOMA-IR. No significant differences in Pb-B were observed between pre-MetS and the control group, and between pre-MetS and the MetS group. A significant correlation was noticed between Pb-B vs. the percentage of monocytes in blood, and blood cortisol levels in women with MetS; Pb-B vs. lymphocyte count and HbA1C in the pre-MetS group, as well as in the BDI scores between the MetS and pre-MetS group. We cannot clearly state that exposure to Pb is an environmental factor that can be considered as a risk factor for MetS in this studied group.


This paper reports a novel method for identification of two aliphatic position isomers between α-ketoglutaric acid (α-KA) and β-ketoglutaric acid (β-KA) by their different perturbation effects on a Briggs-Rauscher oscillating system, in which tetraaza-macrocyclic complex [NiL](ClO4)2 is used as the catalyst. The ligand L in the complex is 5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene. The experimental results have shown that addition of α-KA into the system does not affect the oscillating patterns, while the presence of β-KA in a dynamic system influences the oscillatory amplitude. A more interesting feature is that, in the presence of a higher concentration of β-KA, there are damped oscillations after the initial spike, followed by quenching (more exactly: very small oscillations) of the oscillations before the subsequent regeneration of oscillations. A qualitative approach was thus established by employing a Briggs-Rauscher system for identification of these two isomers. The concentrations of these two isomers that can be distinguished lie over the range between 5.0 × 10(-6) and 2.5 × 10(-3) mol/L. A reaction mechanism based on the FCA model has been proposed. An explanation is that β-KA reacts with HOO(•) radicals to form acetone, whereas the α-KA does not.


Educating future engineers to effectively reason through complex ethical decisions encountered in the design and development of new technologies is a critical and relevant challenge. However, a coherent framework to analyze ethical issues with emerging technologies has not been widely adopted. Over three years, we developed and tested an innovative approach to teaching ethical reasoning that integrates a reflexive process of evaluation in a cyber-enabled learning environment. We posited that ethics should: be taught as a reasoning process; allow significant interaction between students; and include reflective application of ethical principles as part of a coherent, reflexive framework. To respond to this need, we developed: a) a pedagogical framework for ethics education of Scaffolded, Interactive, and Reflective Analysis (SIRA) that extends beyond case-based analyses; b) a coherent ethical reasoning approach, Reflexive Principlism (RP), applicable within engineering; and c) four case-based modules, integrating the SIRA/RP approach, with a novel, multimedia learning platform, each deliverable in a hybrid format for stand-alone course or embedded curricular applications. Previously, we have demonstrated that ethical reasoning scores of engineering students increase significantly as a result of participating in our SIRA/RP courses. In this paper, we explore the research question: "Which characteristics of the SIRA approach contribute to changes in ethical reasoning." To assess our framework we designed a SIRA assessment scale that uses student reported ratings of effectiveness of the scaffolding, interactivity, and reflective analysis characteristics of the course. After pilot-testing and refinement, the 12-item scale and sub-scales were found to be highly consistent (α = .847). To determine which SIRA characteristics contributed to increased ethical reasoning scores we ran a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with satisfaction and SIRA efficacy scores as predictors. Controlling for GPA, course semester, and native language, we modeled pre-course satisfaction with the quality of ethics education and ethical concepts taught, and the SIRA subscales for scaffolding, interactivity, and reflectivity. The model was statistically significant in predicting ethical reasoning scores, accounting for 32% of the variance in the data. The strongest predictor was the reflectivity component of our framework (ß=.433), indicating that reflectivity elements of the course are significantly important to ethical reasoning change. We also analyzed student rankings of activities associated with the learning framework. Findings indicate that our integration of novel multimedia presentations of the case studies and the case study discussions were the two most important activities contributing to engagement, understanding, critical thinking, and guiding decision-making. These findings suggest that a coherent pedagogical framework grounded in reflexive principlism and emphasizing interactivity and reflectivity can effectively enhance the ethical reasoning of future engineers in a cyber-enabled delivery of just four cases, in as little as eight weeks. We contribute an evidence-based solution to address curricular needs of engineering ethics, and extend understanding of contributing factors to ethical reasoning development. ASSESSING SIRA FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING ETHICAL REASONING


With the recent trend of promoting Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to first-class citizens in accelerating compute-intensive applications in networking, cloud services and artificial intelligence, FPGAs face two major challenges in sustaining competitive advantages in performance and energy efficiency for diverse cloud workloads: 1) limited configuration capability for supporting light-weight computations/on-chip data storage to accelerate emerging search-/data-intensive applications. 2) lack of architectural support to hide reconfiguration overhead for assisting virtualization in a cloud computing environment. In this paper, we propose a reconfigurable memory-oriented computing fabric, namely Liquid Silicon-Monona (L-Si), enabled by emerging nonvolatile memory technology i.e. RRAM, to address these two challenges. Specifically, L-Si addresses the first challenge by virtue of a new architecture comprising a 2D array of physically identical but functionally-configurable building blocks. It, for the first time, extends the configuration capabilities of existing FPGAs from computation to the whole spectrum ranging from computation to data storage. It allows users to better customize hardware by flexibly partitioning hardware resources between computation and memory, greatly benefiting emerging search- and data-intensive applications. To address the second challenge, L-Si provides scalable multi-context architectural support to minimize reconfiguration overhead for assisting virtualization. In addition, we provide compiler support to facilitate the programming of applications written in high-level programming languages (e.g. OpenCL) and frameworks (e.g. TensorFlow, MapReduce) while fully exploiting the unique architectural capability of L-Si. Our evaluation results show L-Si achieves 99.6% area reduction, 1.43× throughput improvement and 94.0% power reduction on search-intensive benchmarks, as compared with the FPGA baseline. For neural network benchmarks, on average, L-Si achieves 52.3× speedup, 113.9× energy reduction and 81% area reduction over the FPGA baseline. In addition, the multi-context architecture of L-Si reduces the context switching time to - 10ns, compared with an off-the-shelf FPGA (∼100ms), greatly facilitating virtualization.


The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of HIV/AIDS on academic performance of preschool children. Since HIV/AIDS was discovered in 1981, more than 60million people have lost their lives to the virus. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, nearly 34 million are currently living with HIV/AIDS, including nearly 3 million children under the age of 15. The sample comprised 15 teachers, 18 parents and 18 pre-school children. Data was collected by use of questionnaires, interviews and observation which was analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The study found that children living with HIV/AIDS are faced with challenges such as absenteeism from school, school dropout, a lack of basic human needs, child labour and stigmatization. The study concluded that the most vulnerable children were those that were caring for their ailing parents and child-headed families, and that children with HIV/AIDS perform poorly in schools. The study recommends that the government of Kenya should provide free pre-school education, provide learning resources, child friendly environment and relief food to people with HIV/AIDS.


Cross Border Higher Education (CBHE) is one of the issues of the present knowledge era. As knowledge transmission is becoming increasingly borderless, we understand that the forces of globalisation, neo-liberal principles and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) are the three important driving factors for this development in cross-border education and higher education is the most affected area by this development. The huge higher education potentials of China and India have greatly attracted cross-border providers and in recent years there has been remarkable growth in the CBHE of these two countries. The accession of China and India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the agreement on GATS allowed the free entry of for-profit cross-border educational providers both in and out. Both of these countries have encountered several problems in dealing with the CBHE. In response, they have taken some measures in recent years to regulate and manage CBHE. However, we understand that many things are not yet clear. We also became more curious recently to know how these two countries differ and resemble one another in dealing with CBHE. In this paper we would like to understand and compare the similarities and the differences in the ways that China and India organise and manage the CBHE. (DIPF/Orig.)


Power consumption reduction is a challenge nowadays. Techniques for dynamic and static power minimization have been proposed, but most of them are very time consuming. This work proposes an algorithm for reducing static power, which can be perfectly inserted in the conventional design flow for integrated systems considering an open source environment (open access infrastructure). The proposed approach, based on a Dual-Threshold technique, replaces part of the cells of the circuit by cells with a higher threshold voltage without resulting in timing violations in the circuit. The decision to replace a cell is based on timing estimates of the circuit modeling with the cell replacement, before it is actually replaced. The fact that only some cells are replaced every iteration results in a reduction of the runtime of the algorithm. Additionally, results showed a reduction in static power up to 39.28%, when applying the proposed approach in the ISCAS85 benchmark circuits.


The Unified Modeling Language (UML) (OMG 2001) provides a standardized collection of notations for describing artifacts in a software-intensive system. Each UML notation represents a particular viewpoint of a software (sub)system. For example, UML sequence diagrams describe system behavior in terms of the interaction scenarios between multiple objects. UML statecharts, on the other hand, describe the behavior of a single object. The UML constraint language, OCL, (Warmer &Kleppe 1999), describes model entities in a declarative fashion. Software developers typically use a variety of notations for behavioral modeling but currently have no way to maintain the consistency between viewpoints. Ultimately, if behavioral models are going to be used in simulation or implementation, the various notations must be merged together. (Whittle & Schumann 2000) presents an algorithm for synthesizing UML statecharts from a (possibly conflicting) set of scenarios (sequence diagrams) and propositional OCL constraints. This algorithm is a step towards the goal of semi-automated merging of model viewpoints. The importance of generating behavioral descriptions directly from expected scenarios of system behavior was noted as early as 1987 in Harel's original paper on statecharts (Harel 1987):


In this article, a nonlinear continuum damage mechanics(CDM) model is developed to assess the low cycle fatigue damage of a steam turbine rotor. Two simulation experiments are carried out to introduce theory of CDM. First one makes an effective validation of its serviceability in thermal engineering, and the second one calculates the low cycle fatigue damage on the rotor of a domestic 300 MW steam turbine unit. Based on the relation of the cyclic stress-strain, a conservative character of present continuum damage mechanics model is exhibited. The calculation results are compared with those of the linear accumulation model, thermal entropy model and practical test data. Comparison results indicates that present nonlinear CDM model is able to describe the damage accumulation of turbine rotor more precisely and reasonably in practical thermal engineering.


Three‐dimensional (3D) modeling provides a suitable context for the improvement of students' higher order thinking skills as it involves challenging and complex learning tasks. For students to succeed in difficult learning tasks, it is necessary to determine the effects of the scaffolding type given to the students in the learning process. This study asserts that reflective and supportive scaffolding has a critical effect on the dependent variables. Reflective scaffolding enables students to explain their reflective processes and clarify their reflective behavior, using personal reflection as a learning tool. Supportive scaffolding provides a process to develop knowledge and guidance on what participants should consider. This study compares the effects of different scaffolding types (reflective or supportive), students' prior knowledge on students' use of metacognitive strategies, spatial ability self‐efficacy, and spatial anxiety in the 3D computer‐aided design course. A pretest and posttest 2 x 2 x 2 factorial quasi‐experimental model was used in the study. This study was carried out with 118 undergraduate mechanical engineering students. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used in the analysis of the data. The results showed that the supportive scaffolding group scored higher in the metacognitive strategies variable than the reflective scaffolding group. The supportive scaffolding group showed higher spatial ability than the reflective scaffolding group. This study provides engineering educators with an overview of the use of scaffolding types, their effects on the effectiveness of learning environments, and the design of these environments.


OBJECTIVE
Diagnostic shifts have been prospectively examined in the short term, but the long-term stability of diagnoses has rarely been evaluated. The authors examined diagnostic shifts over a 10-year follow-up period.

METHOD
A cohort of 470 first-admission patients with psychotic disorders was systematically assessed at baseline and at 6-month, 2-year, and 10-year follow-ups. Longitudinal best-estimate consensus diagnoses were formulated after each assessment.

RESULTS
At baseline, the diagnostic distribution was 29.6% schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 21.1% bipolar disorder with psychotic features, 17.0% major depression with psychotic features, 2.4% substance-induced psychosis, and 27.9% other psychoses. At year 10, the distribution changed to 49.8%, 24.0%, 11.1%, 7.0%, and 8.1%, respectively. Overall, diagnoses were changed for 50.7% of study participants at some point during the study. Most participants who were initially diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder retained the diagnosis at year 10 (89.2% and 77.8%, respectively). However, 32.0% of participants (N=98) originally given a non-schizophrenia diagnosis had gradually shifted to a schizophrenia diagnosis by year 10. The second largest shift was to bipolar disorder (10.7% of those not given this diagnosis at baseline). Changes in the clinical picture explained many diagnostic shifts. In particular, poorer functioning and greater negative and psychotic symptom ratings predicted a subsequent shift to schizophrenia. Better functioning and lower negative and depressive symptom ratings predicted the shift to bipolar disorder.

CONCLUSIONS
First-admission patients with psychotic disorders run the risk of being misclassified at early stages in the illness course, including more than 2 years after first hospitalization. Diagnosis should be reassessed at all follow-up points.


Abstract Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian shallow marine rocks in the Pequop Mountains of northeastern Nevada contain an abundance of fossils, especially fusulinids and fasciculate corals. As the composite stratigraphic section in this area represents the most nearly complete sequence of this type of corals anywhere in the Cordilleran miogeocline, this study was undertaken to document their occurrence sequentially. This information should be useful for comparison with other sections in the miogeocline containing similar corals. Only one species of Durhamina is present in the Gzhelian rocks. Durhamina, Heintzella, and Paraheritschioides occur in the Asselian rocks, and all of these genera plus Wilsonastraea are present in the Sakmarian part of the section. Corals in the Artinskian and Kungurian are represented by an advanced species of Durhamina and the very advanced durhaminid, Sandolasma. Newly described species are: Durhamina primitiva, D. snyderi, Sandolasma perplexa, Heintzella davydovi, Paraheritschioides nevadaensis, and Wilsonastraea fraseri.


This paper attempts to review epidemiological studies of oral cancer and precancer in Malaysia. The defmitions of prevalence, incidence, risk habits and oral cancer and precancers were discussed to better understand' the different types of studies conducted, which would be important in making comparisons between studies. Currently, epidemiological data on oral cancer in Malaysia are sketchy. The only incidence data for oral cancer in Malaysia was reported by Hirayama in 1966, 35 years ago. He estimated that 3.1 new cases per 100,000 population were diagnosed for the year 1963. A number of histopathological data of oral and maxillofacial biopsies were reported. Oral cancer accounted for one-fifth of all oral biopsies. A national study on oral mucosal lesions in Malaysia carried out in 1993/4 reported that there was a variation seen in the occurrence of oral premalignancy among the ethnic groups. The Indians and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak were identified as high risk groups for oral cancer and precancer. It was also observed that both of the ethnic groups chewed betel quid. In conclusion, the epidemiological studies have provided useful data, which may be used in planning for future oral health programmes and research towards enhancing Malaysia's on-going effort in preventing the occurrence of these diseases.


The first New World amber member of the family Lucanidae is described from the Dominican Republic. Its age is presumed to be Miocene (20-30 million YBP). It is also the fourth known amber species, the second Miocene fossil species, the second fossil species in the subfamily Syndesinae, and the first species (fossil or extant) of Lucanidae from the entire Caribbean. It is especially interesting because it is a member of the Australasian genus Syndesus MacLeay. Other such disjunct Dominican amber insect fossils are also discussed.


One of the various male strategies to prevent or impede female remating is the production of a mating plug that covers the female genital opening or remains inside of the female genital tract after mating. Such structures have been described for many species in many animal taxa; however, in most cases, we know little or nothing about their specific adaptive value. Our investigations demonstrate that females of the dwarf spider species Oedothorax retusus (Westring, 1851) (Linyphiidae, Erigoninae) exhibit a substance on one or both of her paired genital openings only after copulation. We performed double-mating trials and forced the second male to mate into the previously used or unused spermathecal duct of the female by amputating one of his paired male gonopods (pedipalps). Furthermore, to investigate whether the duration of the first mating has an effect on the size and efficiency of the mating plug, we interrupted first matings after either 1 or 3 min, categorized plug size and recorded mating behaviour of subsequent males. The amount of secretion transferred was larger in long compared to short copulations. A long first copulation successfully prevented subsequent males from mating into the used ducts, whereas mating success after short first matings was similar to matings into unused copulatory ducts of the females. The present study demonstrates that a male O. retusus can prevent a rival from transferring sperm into the same spermatheca by applying a mating plug, but only if he mates for long enough. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 574–583.


The boron supply to plants can be accomplished by the soil, by foliar application or by treatment of the seeds. Seed treatment advantages are: application uniformity, readiness for plant use and reduction of the application costs. Theoretically, the initial reserve of boron can be increased by application in the seeds. However, high boron concentrations close to the seeds interfere with germination. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the germination of seeds treated with increasing doses of B and to estimate the maximum dose that can be applied to the seeds without affecting the germination and the initial development of corn seedlings. In the first experiment, the treatments of seeds were constituted by doses of 0; 1; 2; 3 and 4 g kg -1 boron. Starting from the results obtained in this experiment, the second experiment was defined with the treatments of seeds with doses of 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 g kg-1 .The results indicated that seeds which did not receive boron had 96% germination of 5 days after the planting. However, the seeds treated with doses above 0.04 g kg-1 of boron decreased their initial development. Those effects were more accentuated with the increase in the doses of boron. The dose 4 g kg-1 boron caused toxicity to the seeds, which did not germinate. Boron concentration superior to 300 mg kg-1 provided plants with visual symptoms of boron toxicity, characterized by a rosy coloration leading to pale coloration of the seedlings.


Purpose: To evaluate long-term results of meniscal repair during arthroscopic ACL reconstruction. Materials and methods: 45 patients who underwent meniscal repair during arthroscopic ACL reconstruction between 2007 and 2013 by the same surgeon were included in the study. In total, fifty meniscus were repaired (26 medial and 24 lateral). Procedures included use of one up to four Fast-Fix implants (Smith & Nephew). In five cases both medial and lateral meniscus were repaired. Cincinnati, IKDC and Lysholm scales were used for long-term outcome analysis. Results: 19 male and 26 female patients were included in the study aging from 15 to 59 years (mean age 33,2±1,5). Median time from injury to surgical procedure was zero months (ranging zero to one). Mean time from surgery to scale analysis was 55,9±3 months (ranged 20-102). Median Cincinnati score was 97 (ranged 90-100), with excellent results in 93% of cases (43 patients) and good results in 7% (3 patients). Median IKDC score was 90,8 (ranged 86,2-95,4), with excellent outcomes in 51% of cases (23 patients), good in 33% (15 patients) and satisfactory in 16% (7 patients). Median Lysholm score was 95 (ranged 90-100), with excellent outcomes in 76% of cases (34 patients) and good in 24% (11 patients). Authors identified no statistical differences when comparing survey results in age, sex and time from trauma to surgery. Conclusions: Results of the present study match the data from orthopedic literature that prove meniscal repair as a safe and efficient procedure with good and excellent outcomes. All-inside meniscal repair can be used irrespectively of patients' age and is efficient even in case of delayed procedures.


This study aimed to determine the changes in the eating behaviours of university students during the lockdown due to COVID-19. A total of 118 students were invited to fill an electronic questionnaire regarding eating behaviour before and after the onset of the lockdown. Participants significantly scored higher "before" than "during" the lockdown for the item "consuming unhealthy food". Moreover, "eating snacks between meals", "eating irregular meals" and "soft drinks consumption" items increased significantly during the lockdown. Male participants showed a significant decrease in eating unhealthy food compared to female participants, while other eating patterns have similar trend. During the lockdown, city residents have significant increases in the frequency of eating regular meals, eating snacks between meals, frequency of soft drinks consumption and consuming 3 meals daily. City-outsiders have significant increases in consuming snacks between meals and significant decrease in soft drinks consumption. Generally, diet intake, irregular, extra meal and snacks have increased during the lockdown. Variations with regard to eating behaviours were dependant on gender. City residents eating behaviour was different may be due to availability of food items and variations in social life.


ABSTRACT Despite having disproportionately high rates of substance use disorder and co-occurring health and mental health issues compared to the general population, transgender individuals experience significant barriers to accessing and engaging in addiction treatment programs. Inpatient addiction treatment centers were originally designed to treat substance-dependent heterosexual cisgender populations and, as such, feature gender-segregated housing, bathrooms, and treatment sessions. The heteronormative structural and programmatic barriers, combined with exposures to stigmatic and prejudicial attitudes, may dissuade transgender populations from benefiting from the addiction treatment they so direly need. The purpose of this article is to examine the current policy debate surrounding the rights of transgender individuals in public accommodations in the context of inpatient addiction treatment centers.


Studying the performance of industrial companies in difficult economic conditions represents an actual scientific objective given that Russian companies are faced to identify new ways of development in the conditions of sanctions of the Russian economy and instability of economic development. The article includes generalization of the factors and conditions determining "difficult economic conditions"; definition of threats and opportunities of the Russian industrial companies; the description of the strategies already accepted by the companies in difficult economic conditions The article also includes the comparative analysis of substantial aspects of strategy of the Russian industrial companies. It appears that the most widespread strategy applied by the Russian industrial companies in the conditions of recession, especially in short-term perspective is the retrenchment strategy. The imposed sanctions and the state policy of import substitution are regarded as the stimulus for the industrial companies to revise the structure of the asset portfolio, to focus on reduction of operational costs and divestment of non-core assets. At the same time, the reduction of costs and assets reduces further capability of the industrial companies for growth and development when the conditions improve and revert to positive trend. The analysis of the strategies of Russian industrial companies identified four groups of strategies applied in difficult economic conditions: moderate product diversification; group protective diversification; rationalising diversification; conservative rationalization. It should be noted that no clear significant relationships were found between recession strategy types and recovery performance. This highlights the diversity of business responses to recession conditions and the uncertainty of subsequent performance outcomes.


The feasibility study of healing stages after fracture has been performed in this paper. The ultra-wide band (UWB) pulsed radar technique has been applied to monitor the healing stages in the way of numerical approach and simulation study as a proof of concept. The healing stages can be monitored by looking at the changes in amplitude of reflected pulse.


Developing strategies to effectively discriminate between different quantum states is a fundamental issue in quantum information and communication. The actual realization of generally optimal protocols in this task is often limited by the need of supplemental resources and very complex receivers. We have experimentally implemented two discrimination schemes in a minimum-error scenario based on a receiver featured by a network structure and a dynamical processing of information. The first protocol implemented in our experiment, directly inspired to a recent theoretical proposal, achieves binary optimal discrimination, while the second one provides a novel approach to multi-state quantum discrimination, relying on the dynamical features of the network-like receiver. This strategy exploits the arrival time degree of freedom as an encoding variable, achieving optimal results, without the need for supplemental systems or devices. Our results further reveal the potential of dynamical approaches to quantum state discrimination tasks, providing a possible starting point for efficient alternatives to current experimental strategies.


The case of a woman with SLE and protein-losing enteropathy secondary to intestinal lymphangiectasia is described. Corticosteroid therapy improved all clinical symptoms, laboratorial findings and intestinal histological alterations.


This paper traces the evolution of litigative efforts to structurally reform state and local indigent defense systems, focusing on the potential of modern class action lawsuits to overcome political process failures at the policy-making and policy-implementation stages. While in Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court substantially expanded counsel rights for indigent defendants, it did not reach the difficult question of how such rights ought to be administered. The task of operationalizing and giving content to the Gideon right to counsel therefore fell upon state and local policy-makers. As some jurisdictions failed to respond to growing pressures on traditional indigent defense systems by allocating greater resources to the defense function, defense advocates increasingly turned to litigation as a means of compelling legislative action and overcoming existing political process failures. This paper provides a brief historical overview of the growing pressures on state and local indigent defense systems. It then discusses the changing litigative approaches to reform which have evolved in response to the growing indigent defense crisis, focusing on modern injunction-centered class action suits. After considering a series of case studies in Stinson v. Fulton County, Best v. Grant County, Doyle v. Allegheny County Salary Board, and Rivera v. Rowland, this paper discusses the relative advantages of class actions seeking detailed judicial orders as compared with other forms of litigative reform efforts, such as those seeking judicial declarations of unconstitutionality or narrowly tailored injunctive orders. It ultimately concludes that modern class action lawsuits have the unique capacity to generate sustained reform by altering public opinion, changing legislative incentives, fostering cooperation building, and generating court-enforceable settlements. This paper is also available at the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse (search for case studies).


Culicover & Jackendoff (1997) argue that 'left-subordinating' and-constructions (e.g. You drink one more can of beer and I'm leaving) should be differently represented in the dimensions of syntax and semantics, being coordinate in the former, and subordinate in the latter. Here we expand on their point by showing that their case is not an isolated one, but that there are many other instances of coordination-subordination mismatches. We will show that these facts make sense within a theory of grammar such as Autolexical Grammar (Sadock 1991) in which the autonomy of different components of grammar is assumed. Given such a view it is possible to postulate primitive notions of coordination and subordination that apply equally well to various components of grammar and thus predict the possibility of coordination-subordination mismatches.


The nine-phase six-terminal induction machine (IM) has been recently proposed as a promising contender to the conventional asymmetrical six-phase type in terms of torque density, stator winding simplicity, and fault-tolerant capability. The stator is composed of nine phases, which are connected in a fashion to only provide six stator terminals. Therefore, this connection combines the high performance of a nine-phase winding with the terminal behavior of a six-phase machine. This paper introduces the machine mathematical model based on the vector space decomposition (VSD) modeling approach. The required current and voltage sequence transformation matrices are derived such that the machine is mathematically regarded as an equivalent six-phase IM with only three decoupled subspaces. This way, the same VSD-based controller structures conventionally applied to six-phase-based systems can be preserved. A 1.5-hp prototype IM is used to experimentally validate the machine model under both healthy and open-phase conditions.


Solid polymer electrolytes are a crucial class of compounds in the next-generation solid-state lithium batteries featured by high safety and extraordinary energy density. This review highlights the importance of carbonyl-coordinating polymer-based solid polymer electrolytes in next-generation safe and high–energy density lithium metal batteries, unraveling their synthesis, sustainability, and electrochemical performance. With the massive consumption of fossil fuel in vehicles nowadays, the resulted air pollution and greenhouse gases issue have now aroused the global interest on the replacement of the internal combustion engines with engine systems using renewable energy. Thus, the commercial electric vehicle market is growing fast. As the requirement for longer driving distances and higher safety in commercial electric vehicles becomes more demanding, great endeavors have been devoted to developing the next-generation solid-state lithium metal batteries using high-voltage cathode materials, e.g., high nickel (Ni) ternary active materials, LiCoO_2, and spinel LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O_4. However, the most extensively investigated solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are based on polyether-based polymers, especially the archetypal poly(ethylene oxide), which are still suffering from low ionic conductivity (10^−7 to 10^−6 S/cm at room temperature), limited lithium ion transference number (<0.2), and narrow electrochemical stability window (<3.9 V), restricting this type of SPEs from realizing their full potential for the next-generation lithium-based energy storage technologies. As a promising class of alternative polymer hosts for SPEs, carbonyl-coordinating polymers have been extensively researched, exhibiting unique and promising electrochemical properties. Herein, the synthesis, sustainability, and electrochemical performance of carbonyl-coordinating SPEs for high-voltage solid-state lithium batteries will be reviewed.


Inclusive archaeology: Buzzword or regional product? In this article, I explore the meaning of the buzzword 'inclusivity' in the context of archaeology and argue for a more inclusive relationship between archaeology and the public. By reflecting on the demographics of the 'archaeological' public and the position of archaeology in society, I will further emphasize the necessity and value of a more inclusive and democratic approach to archaeology. Following this, I will reflect on some of the experiences and lessons learned in regard to inclusive archaeology in the province of Groningen. Drawing from case studies, I illustrate a regional tradition of 'inclusive archaeology' – the 'Groningen model' – that is characterized by its emphasis on participatory archaeology. Inclusive archaeology is thus, in the Groningen context, not a mere 'buzzword' but, in fact, a true 'regional product.'


ConspectusTyrosine sulfation is a post-translational modification (PTM) that modulates function by mediating key protein-protein interactions. One of the early proteins shown to possess this PTM was hirudin, produced in the salivary glands of the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis, whereby tyrosine sulfation led to a ∼10-fold improvement in α-thrombin inhibitory activity. Outside of this pioneering discovery, the involvement of tyrosine sulfation in modulating the activity of salivary proteins from other hematophagous organisms was unknown. We hypothesized that the intrinsic instability of the tyrosine sulfate functionality, particularly under the acidic conditions used to isolate and analyze peptides and proteins, has led to poor detection during the isolation and/or expression of these molecules.Herein, we summarize our efforts to interrogate the functional role of tyrosine sulfation in the thrombin inhibitory and anticoagulant activity of salivary peptides and proteins from a range of different blood feeding organisms, including leeches, ticks, mosquitoes, and flies. Specifically, we have harnessed synthetic chemistry to efficiently generate homogeneously sulfated peptides and proteins for detailed structure-function studies both in vitro and in vivo.Our studies began with the leech protein hirudin P6 (from Hirudinaria manillensis), which is both sulfated on tyrosine and O-glycosylated at a nearby threonine residue. Synthetically, this was achieved through solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) with a late-stage on-resin sulfation, followed by native chemical ligation and a folding step to generate six differentially modified variants of hirudin P6 to assess the functional interplay between O-glycosylation and tyrosine sulfation. A one-pot, kinetically controlled ligation of three peptide fragments was used to assemble homogeneously sulfoforms of madanin-1 and chimadanin from the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis. Dual tyrosine sulfation at two distinct sites was shown to increase the thrombin inhibitory activity by up to 3 orders of magnitude through a novel interaction with exosite II of thrombin. The diselenide-selenoester ligation developed by our lab provided us with a means to rapidly assemble a library of different sulfated tick anticoagulant proteins: the andersonins, hyalomins, madanin-like proteins, and hemeathrins, thus enabling the generation of key structure-activity data on this family of proteins. We have also confirmed the presence of tyrosine sulfation in the anticoagulant proteins of Anopheles mosquitoes (anophelins) and the Tsetse fly (TTI) via insect expression and mass spectrometric analysis. These molecules were subsequently synthesized and assessed for thrombin inhibitory and anticoagulant activity. Activity was significantly improved by the addition of tyrosine sulfate modifications and led to molecules with potent antithrombotic activity in an in vivo murine thrombosis model.The Account concludes with our most recent work on the design of trivalent hybrids that tandemly occupy the active site and both exosites (I and II) of α-thrombin, with a TTI-anophelin hybrid (Ki = 20 fM against α-thrombin) being one of the most potent protease inhibitors and anticoagulants ever generated. Taken together, this Account highlights the importance of the tyrosine sulfate post-translational modification within salivary proteins from blood feeding organisms for enhancing anticoagulant activity. This work lays the foundation for exploiting native or engineered variants as therapeutic leads for thrombotic disorders in the future.


This paper provides a methodological critique of an influential method for assessing the impact on the Unfunded Accrued Liabilities (UAL) of the gap between assumed and actual investment returns over extended periods, and offers a sound replacement. The method in question simply sums over time the components of the annual actuarial gain/loss report. This implicitly assumes that in the counterfactual exercise, the interest on the additional UAL is covered dollar-for-dollar by amortization. But under actual funding formulas amortization usually varies less than interest. This means there are large intertemporal interactions between the gap in investment returns and subsequent shortfalls between contributions and interest. Using the actual funding formula in the counterfactual can lead to much higher estimates of the UAL impact of the gap in investment returns because it does not assume away these interactions. This method can more accurately inform policy-makers, regarding the importance of cutting the assumed rate of return.


Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT) is currently the only curative treatment for thalassemia major (TM). Cord blood (CB) from a sibling has different characteristics from marrow and has potential advantages and disadvantages as a stem cell source.
 Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of fresh cord blood transplantation (F-CBT) from the matched human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling donors in 35 children (median age at transplantation: 4 years, range:1-7 years) with β-TM from June 2010 to December 2016. The conditioning protocol included intravenous busulfan, cyclophosphamide, fludarabine, and thiotepa.
 Results:The median collected CB volume was 130ml (range: 79-209ml). The median infused total nucleated cell (TNC) dose was 9.38×107/kg (range: 2.73-18.91×107/kg). One patient had graft failure (GF) on +30day after F-CBT and one patient died from respiratory and heart failure that developed from a pulmonary infection. Of the 33 patients who had a successful engraftment, two patients developed grade II~III acute graft-versus-host disease(GVHD); and one with grade I extensive chronic GVHD was observed during the long-term follow-up period. The median time to neutrophil recovery was +27 days (range: +14 to +49days). The platelet and hemoglobin engraftment times were +33 days (range: +19 to +73 days) and +26 days (range: +11 to +74 days), respectively. All the patients were followed up by December 31, 2017; the median follow-up time was 45 months, and the estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) and TM-free survival (TFS) of F-CBT were 97.1% and 94.2%, respectively.
 Conclusions: F-CBT from a matched HLA-identical sibling donor is an effective treatment option for β-TM in children with less GVHD.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Abstract Environmental exposure to endotoxin, Fel d I (cat) allergen and Der p I (house dust mite) allergen have been associated with asthma symptoms and have been measured in the environment using various sampling methods, including the electrostatic dust collector. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether levels of endotoxin and allergens were detectable in electrostatic dust collectors and to examine the correlation of allergen and endotoxin levels between electrostatic dust collectors and vacuum sampling methods (floor dust and mattress dust). Electrostatic cloths, bedroom floor dust and mattress dust samples from a subset of 60 homes were randomly selected from the Health of Occupants of Mouldy Homes study for allergen and endotoxin analysis. Fel d I and Der p I allergens were analyzed by double monoclonal antibody ELISA and endotoxin by the kinetic Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay. An enhanced ELISA method was used to analyze Der p I in the electrostatic cloths. Endotoxin was detected in all samples, however Fel d I and Der p I were not detected in all electrostatic dust collector samples (detection in 53% and 15% of cloths respectively). No correlations were found between cloth and dust samples for endotoxin or Der p I, but moderate-to-strong correlations were found between all three sampling methods for Fel d I (rs = 0.612–0.715, p < 0.001). Poor correlation was found between floor dust and mattress dust samples for Der p I (rs = 0.256, p = 0.048). Electrostatic dust collectors may provide a way to measure airborne dust and allergen. Given the moderate-to-low correlations with vacuum dust sampling, this may present a unique measurement system which, when collected alongside traditional vacuum dust sampling, could provide additional exposure measures. Further studies are required to correlate endotoxin and allergen levels measured by electrostatic dust collector with air sampling and to explore the relationships between these bioaerosols, environmental factors and asthma.


BACKGROUND
Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is an effective method to cure both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in certain centres.

AIM
To assess the results of RFCA in VA at Siriraj Hospital.

METHOD
Electrophysiologic study, mapping, using both earliest endocardial activation and pace mapping, and ablation were performed.

RESULTS
Thirty patients with symptomatic VA underwent RFCA. The mean age was 44 years. Eight patients had underlying heart disease (two prolapsed mitral valve, three myocarditis, two dilated cardiomyopathy and one mitral stenosis). Thirty-six morphologies of VA were detected from the study. Thirty-three morphologic tachycardias attempted were successfully ablated; 17, 10 and six were right VT, left VT and premature ventricular contraction (PVC), respectively. Failure of ablation occurred in one patient with left VT. Only minor complications occurred in this study. There was no difference in cycle length and endocardial activation time between right and left VT. 12/12 identical pace mapping was more easily performed in right VT than in left VT. The fluoroscopic and procedure times in left VT were significantly longer than in right VT. Relapse occurred in six patients. Re-ablation was successfully performed in four patients, giving a final success rate of 93%.

CONCLUSION
RFCA is an effective treatment and should be considered as an alternative method to cure VT and refractory PVC.


Tackling unemployment through vocationalisation of education is a strategy that has worked in countries such as United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Mozambique among others.  It is in the light of this that the study sought to evaluate the methods of teaching Home Science in secondary schools for the purpose of informing policy on quality education delivery in vocational education. Home Science is a vocational subject which, if effectively taught; impacts learners with practical skills and attitudes necessary in equipping graduates with the ability to transform themselves into self-employed citizens. This study sought to investigate the influence of classroom practice of home science on youth employability in Kakamega County. Specifically, the study sought to create sensitization on the problem of unemployment  among the youths in Kakamega County and to identify the competencies developed through Home Science that are related to employability in Kakamega County. The study adopted a descriptive survey design in which 188 respondents were sampled to take part. Respondents were identified from Secondary Schools in Kakamega Central teaching Home Science subject. Respondents from the study included students, Home Science teachers and head teachers. The study used questionnaires for Home Science teachers and students and an interview schedule for head teachers in collecting data. To ascertain validity of data collection instruments, a pilot study was undertaken before administering the instruments to respondents and feedback from the pilot study informed the corrections in the data collection instruments. Reliability of data collection instruments was ascertained through the use of test-retest method where Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was computed and found to be reliable.   Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in the process of data analysis. Study data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0 for windows. Descriptive statistics included frequencies and percentages. These were used to summarize and describe the study data. Inferential statistics used in the study included regression analysis, t-test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Chi-Square. Inferential statistics were used to determine independence of scores and relationships between and among study variables. All statistical procedures were computed at 95% confidence level. Study findings revealed that unemployment levels were significantly high among secondary school leavers. The study also revealed a statistically insignificant positive relationship between Home Science skills and employability among the youth in Kakamega County. Keywords: Home Science, Employability, Youth


A review of the literature gives one the impression that emphysema of the head and neck following tonsillectomy occurs infrequently. The youngest case found in the literature is that of a boy, aged 7, reported by Stein, 1 and the only other cases reported occurring in children are those of a boy, aged 10, and a girl, aged 12, described by Richards. 2 The following three cases occurred within a period of one year: Case 1. —J. F., a boy, aged 2 years, presented no abnormal conditions other than large infected tonsils and a moderate amount of adenoid tissue. He was a neurotic child and he screamed with fear when the anesthetic was administered. Following the removal of the right tonsil, considerable swelling of the right side of his face and scalp was noticed. Crepitation was present throughout this swollen area, and crepitation was readily elicited in the neck and


BACKGROUND Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a renal cause of non-anion-gap metabolic acidosis characterized by low urinary ammonia excretion. This condition has a low prevalence, and various congenital and acquired etiologies. To date, only a few cases of idiopathic RTA uncovered during pregnancy have been reported. CASE SUMMARY A previously healthy 32-year-old Korean woman at 30 wk of gestation was admitted to Pusan National University Hospital with preterm labor. At admission, the patient presented with hypokalemia, non-anion-gap metabolic acidosis, and nephrocalcinosis. Distal RTA was diagnosed based on laboratory blood and urine findings and imaging examinations. Various tests, including next-generation gene sequencing panels for nephropathy, were performed to determine the etiology of the disease, which indicated that it was idiopathic. The patient received sodium bicarbonate and potassium chloride supplementation. After 3 wk, she delivered a baby who was subsequently diagnosed with corpus callosum agenesis and colpocephaly. During regular follow-ups for 6 mo postpartum, her hypokalemia and metabolic acidosis were gradually resolved, and medications eventually discontinued. CONCLUSION Herein we describe a case of idiopathic distal RTA discovered during pregnancy. Hypokalemia and metabolic acidosis resolved spontaneously after delivery.


Self-esteem is an important component and should be present in a child. With the self-esteem in children, the spirit of enthusiasm and self motivation in children will present itself. Improve self-esteem in children ought to be used as an early reflection of the parents, because many things can happen when children feel powerless or inferior. In addition to the family, school is the child's immediate environment. For that schools have to provide personal guidance programs, social services are administered by the guidance and counseling program. School elements are closely associated with the development of self-esteem of children is especially homeroom teacher. Given the importance of self-esteem in the optimization of child development, for it in this article will be described in detail discussion on the matter.


The risk of noncompliance with rules and regulations in solid-organ transplantation is significant and may lead to probation, suspension, or program closure. Transplant program leadership is responsible for ensuring that programs and centers are in compliance with regulations and data reporting requirements. As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services prepare to implement new rules and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations positions itself to join the certification process for transplant programs, heightened awareness and vigilance by all members of the transplant community are warranted. This article aims to inform transplant team members, particularly transplant program leaders, of the various regulatory bodies that oversee solid-organ transplantation, as well as these bodies' responsibilities and current agendas. Information is also included to help leaders continuously prepare their programs for site visits and audits by these oversight bodies.


We prove that the growth constants for nearest-neighbour lattice trees and lattice (bond) animals on the integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$ are asymptotic to $2de$ as the dimension goes to infinity, and that their critical one-point functions converge to $e$. Similar results are obtained in dimensions $d > 8$ in the limit of increasingly spread-out models; in this case the result for the growth constant is a special case of previous results of M. Penrose. The proof is elementary, once we apply previous results of T. Hara and G. Slade obtained using the lace expansion.


Agritourism is a consumer-driven innovation that producers are exploring as a means to diversify and grow farm-based revenues. In order to help guide management and policy decisions, we conduct an exploratory spatial data analysis and find that travel infrastructure, region and rurality, characteristics of the local economy, and proximity to outdoor attractions are all significantly associated with the probability of a county being an agritourism hot spot. Mapping our primary spatial analysis' residuals, we further identify counties with unique agritourism market conditions as a starting point to identify best practices that other regions interested in agritourism development might follow.


Due to low Fe bioavailability and low consumption per meal, lentil must be fortified to contribute significant bioavailable Fe in the Bangladeshi diet. Moreover, since red lentil is dehulled prior to consumption, an opportunity exists at this point to fortify lentil with Fe. Thus, in the present study, lentil was Fe-fortified (using a fortificant Fe concentration of 2800 µg g−1) and used in 30 traditional Bangladeshi meals with broad differences in concentrations of iron, phytic acid (PA), and relative Fe bioavailability (RFeB%). Fortification with NaFeEDTA increased the iron concentration in lentil from 60 to 439 µg g−1 and resulted in a 79% increase in the amount of available Fe as estimated by Caco-2 cell ferritin formation. Phytic acid levels were reduced from 6.2 to 4.6 mg g−1 when fortified lentil was added, thereby reducing the PA:Fe molar ratio from 8.8 to 0.9. This effect was presumably due to dephytinization of fortified lentil during the fortification process. A significant (p ≤ 0.01) Pearson correlation was observed between Fe concentration and RFeB% and between RFeB% and PA:Fe molar ratio in meals with fortified lentil, but not for the meal with unfortified lentil. In conclusion, fortified lentil can contribute significant bioavailable Fe to populations at risk of Fe deficiency.


Over the last decade, Turkish film industry has demonstrated itself to be exceptionally competitive in the local market. The popularity of Turkish films has been increasing steadily; in 2008, 60% of the tickets sold were for local releases. Concurrent with these developments, Tekfen Corporation built and opened Antalya Studios in the late 1990s, near the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya. Despite the surge in local production however, ten years and only a few films later, the studios are no longer in use. Instead, the center for these productions is Istanbul, the country's cultural and economic capital. However, there are no major studio facilities in the city, and the studios that do exist are used largely for television and advertising productions. Feature films often employ actual locations, a practice that has created a new genre in the form of youth comedies set in Mediterranean summer resorts. Location shooting creates a dilemma for the industry; filming outside of Istanbul helps in lowering costs and provides a greater variety of backgrounds, but at the same time, adopting this practice requires filmmakers to let go of the opportunities provided by the city due to the agglomerative qualities, the synergy created by the co-existence of production companies, television networks and the advertising industry. Within or around the city, there are still no plans for the construction of a proper studio; instead, abandoned industrial areas such as a former shoe factory have been converted into production spaces. In this paper, I will be investigating the existing structures in the industry, aiming to clarify how – or even if – this dilemma is possible to solve.