PURPOSE
To evaluate the prognostic impact of peritoneal washing cytology in patients with endometrial and ovarian cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively identified 86 individuals with ovarian carcinomas, ovarian borderline tumors and endometrial adenocarcinomas. The patients had been treated at Shahid Sadoughi Hospital and Ramazanzadeh Radiotherapy Center, Yazd, Iran between 2004 and 2012. Survival differences were determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression method. A p<0.05 value was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS
There were 36 patients with ovarian carcinomas, 4 with borderline ovarian tumors and 46 with endometrial carcinomas. The mean age of the patients was 53.8±15.2 years. In patients with ovarian carcinoma the overall survival in the negative cytology group was better than the patients with positive cytology although this difference failed to reach statistical significance (p=0.30). At 0 to 50 months the overall survival was better in patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma and negative cytology than the patients with positive cytology but then it decreased (p=0.85). At 15 to 60 months patients with FIGO 2009 stage IA-II endometrial andocarcinoma and negative peritoneal cytology had a superior survival rate compared to 1988 IIIA and positive cytology only, although this difference failed to reach statistical significance(p=0.94). Multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazards model showed that stage and peritoneal cytology were predictors of death.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results show good correlation of peritoneal cytology with prognosis in patients with ovarian carcinoma. In endometrial carcinoma it had prognostic importance. Additional research is warranted.


This article examines the representation of provincial political culture and practices in selected fictional works of two prominent Mexican writers of the late nineteenth century: Emilio Rabasa and Heriberto Frías. Particular focus is given to Rabasa's portrait of a fictional pronunciamiento, a widespread form of political protest and negotiation in nineteenth-century Mexico that has recently been subject to historiographical re-evaluation, and Frías's exploration of the 1893 rebellion of Tomóchic. Rabasa's fiction supports the development of a political system that imposes the national will upon the unruly provinces by portraying the pronunciamiento as a destructive and chaotic practice, founded in the political ignorance of its participants. Frías's work, on the other hand, questions the validity of the national enterprise by framing the Tomóchic rebellion as the consequence of a national political system that had disengaged with local and regional voices.


Conventional pharmacotherapy of severe asthma and status asthmaticus includes beta2-sympathomimetics, theophylline, corticosteroids and occasionally topical anticholinergics (ipratropium bromide). Since hypoxemia is the most severe phenomenon in status asthmaticus the administration of oxygen is mandatory. However, if the bronchodilating therapy fails and hypoxemia continues, usually respiratory failure develops due to progressive respiratory muscle failure. An increasing PaCO(2) and respiratory acidosis are indications for mechanical ventilatory support to unload the failing respiratory pump. Nowadays, there is increasing consensus that ventilatory support should be administered primarily as non-invasive ventilation (NIV) via a face mask1. However, in a significant number of patients with severe asthma NIV is either contraindicated or insufficient. In this case usually the patient must be endotracheally intubated and mechanically ventilated "invasively". Intubation and ventilation of patients with severe asthma or status asthmaticus is associated with a high incidence of complications compared to patients ventilated for other causes of respiratory failure2,3. Therefore the risks of invasive mechanical ventilation have to be weighted carefully to ongoing conservative therapy and NIV. Cardiopulmonary arrest and severe hypoxemia in spite of O2 supplement and NIV are absolute criteria for intubation and ventilation. Mostly deterioration in mental status and exhaustion are the clinical findings leading to mechanical ventilation. Decision is guided rather by the course of the deterioration (how fast the patient's condition is worsening) than by pathological values alone. An increased PaCO(2) with moderate respiratory acidosis alone is not per se an indication for mechanical ventilation. However, a continuously rising PaCO(2) or the development of a severe metabolic acidosis after 1 hour of NIV is a strong argument for invasive mechanical ventilation. Other criteria are evidence of cardiac failure with fall in pulse volume and dysrhythmias, pneumomediastinum or pneumothorax (which has to be drained before mechanical ventilation!).


In this paper we describe the routine photometric calibration of data taken with the VIRCAM instrument on the ESO VISTA telescope. The broadband ZYJHKs data are directly calibrated from 2MASS point sources visible in every VISTA image. We present the empirical transformations between the 2MASS and VISTA, and WFCAM and VISTA, photometric systems for regions of low reddening. We investigate the long-term performance of VISTA+VIRCAM. An investigation of the dependence of the photometric calibration on interstellar reddening leads to these conclusions: (1) For all broadband filters, a linear colour-dependent correction compensates the gross effects of reddening where $E(B-V)<5.0$. (2) For $Z$ and $Y$, there is a significantly larger scatter above E(B-V)=5.0, and insufficient measurements to adequately constrain the relation beyond this value. (3) The $JHK\!s$ filters can be corrected to a few percent up to E(B-V)=10.0. We analyse spatial systematics over month-long timescales, both inter- and intra-detector and show that these are present only at very low levels in VISTA. We monitor and remove residual detector-to-detector offsets. We compare the calibration of the main pipeline products: pawprints and tiles. We show how variable seeing and transparency affect the final calibration accuracy of VISTA tiles, and discuss a technique, {\it grouting}, for mitigating these effects. Comparison between repeated reference fields is used to demonstrate that the VISTA photometry is precise to better than $\simeq2\%$ for the $Y$$J$$H$$Ks$ bands and $3\%$ for the $Z$ bands. Finally we present empirically determined offsets to transform VISTA magnitudes into a true Vega system.


A review of the development of the metal on metal bearing couple for hip replacment, issues with the current metal on metal designs, a closer look at the immunological response to metal wear debris and current guidance on monitoring. Discussion regarding outcomes for revision surgery.


Unlike the market slowdown of industrial robots, service & entertainment robots have been highly regarded by most robotics reseach and market research agencies. In this study we developed a music playing robot (which can also work as a service robot) for public performance. The research is mainly focused on the mechanical and electrical control of piano-playing robot, the exploration of correlations among music theory, rhythm and piano keys, and eventually the research on playing skill of keyboard instrument. The piano-playing robot is capable of control linear motor, servo-motor and pneumatic devices in accordance with the notes and rhythm in order to drive the mechanical structure to proper positions for pressing the keys and generating music. The devices used for this robot are mainly crucial components produced by HIWIN Technology Corp. The design of robotic hand is based on the direction of anthropomorphic hand such that five fingers will be used for playing piano. The finger actuations include actions of finger rotation, finger pressing, and finger lifting; time required for these 3 stages must meet the requirement of rhythm. The purpose of entertainment robot can be achieved by playing electric piano with robotic hand, and we hope this research can contribute to the development of domestic entertainment music playing robots.


The most established technique for the identification at biometric access control systems is the human fingerprint. While every human fingerprint is unique, fingerprints can be faked very easily by using thin layer fakes. Because commercial fingerprint scanners use only a two-dimensional image acquisition of the finger surface, they can only hardly differentiate between real fingerprints and fingerprint fakes applied on thin layer materials. A Swept Source OCT system with an A-line rate of 20 kHz and a lateral and axial resolution of approximately 13 μm, a centre wavelength of 1320 nm and a band width of 120 nm (FWHM) was used to acquire fingerprints and finger tips with overlying fakes. Three-dimensional volume stacks with dimensions of 4.5 mm x 4 mm x 2 mm were acquired. The layering arrangement of the imaged finger tips and faked finger tips was analyzed and subsequently classified into real and faked fingerprints. Additionally, sweat gland ducts were detected and consulted for the classification. The manual classification between real fingerprints and faked fingerprints results in almost 100 % correctness. The outer as well as the internal fingerprint can be recognized in all real human fingers, whereby this was not possible in the image stacks of the faked fingerprints. Furthermore, in all image stacks of real human fingers the sweat gland ducts were detected. The number of sweat gland ducts differs between the test persons. The typical helix shape of the ducts was observed. In contrast, in images of faked fingerprints we observe abnormal layer arrangements and no sweat gland ducts connecting the papillae of the outer fingerprint and the internal fingerprint. We demonstrated that OCT is a very useful tool to enhance the performance of biometric control systems concerning attacks by thin layer fingerprint fakes.


This study was conducted on the knowledge, attitude and practice of reproductive health right among women attending antenatal clinic in state specialist hospital Maiduguri, Borno state with the aim of ascertaining the level of knowledge, attitude, practice and factors affecting the practice of reproductive health right. Furthermore, descriptive survey was adopted for the study where self-constructed questionnaires were distributed to 171 respondents on a face to face basis who were recruited using convenience non sampling technique. The data collected from the 165 returned questionnaires was analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 20 and presented in tables. The results revealed a low level of knowledge, neutral attitude and a very low level of practice of reproductive health right. More so, religion culture, low level of education, poor socio-economic status, ignorance and fear were the factors hindering the practice of reproductive health right among women. Therefore, hospital policies and guidelines are needed to promote and maintain respondents' knowledge, attitude and practice of reproductive health right.


We discuss how references and citations within a document to particular sources can be verified and guaranteed. When a document refers through a quotation to another document, the reader should be able to verify that the reference is correct and that any quotation correctly represents the original text. The mechanism we describe enables the authentication of such quotations. It consists of: • A notation to be used when expressing quotations. This notation allows a controlled degree of freedom to make alterations from the original text. • Different means to check the correctness of such quotations with respect to the cited documents and to quotation rules.


BACKGROUND
Quality of life (QOL) is suboptimal in end-stage renal disease. However, studies indicate that QOL is already impaired prior to the initiation of renal replacement therapy, implying that the initial decline originates in the chronic kidney disease (CKD) phase of the renal disease trajectory. Given the significance of QOL as a clinical outcome, there is a paucity of QOL research in CKD.

AIMS
To measure QOL at three distinct phases (based on creatinine clearance-Ccr) of the disease trajectory in CKD: normal renal function (NRF) with underlying renal disease, moderate CKD, and advanced CKD (Ccr > or = 75, 40-60, and < or = 30 ml/minute, respectively), and to establish if QOL is different between these groups.

METHODS
Data was collected from 25 patients from each of the Ccr bands (N = 75). We measured self-reported QOL (Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-SEIQOL), uraemic symptoms (Leicester Uraemic Symptom Scale-LUSS), and laboratory variables.

RESULTS
SEIQOL was significantly lower (p < 0.001), and symptom number, frequency, and intrusiveness significantly higher (all p < 0.001) in the advanced CKD group when compared to the NRF group. Although SEIQOL and symptom intrusiveness did not differ between the advanced and moderate CKD groups, SEIQOL was significantly lower (p < 0.05) and symptom intrusiveness significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the moderate CKD group when compared to the NRF group.

CONCLUSION
QOL is already impaired in moderate CKD. The significant difference in QOL and symptom intrusiveness between the moderate CKD and NRF groups may denote a causal relationship between symptom intrusiveness and QOL early in CKD.


Dramatic change in health care has challenged traditional medical staff governance and leadership. The role of medical staff leaders, particularly the chief of staff, and of the medical executive committee is explored through a national panel survey.


Background : Traditional knowledge has played a vital role socio-economic development of rural and tribal regions of the world. The new era technical knowhow coupled with traditional knowledge is paying way to sustainable use of natural resources. This study aimed to document the traditional art of making Pullian from wheat grass which finds its origin in one of the remotest tribal valley in the cold deserts of the Great Himalayas. Methods : Data was collected from nine major villages in and around Sechu Tuan Nalla wildlife sanctuary (STNWLS). In each village nearly twenty members of the society comprising of both elderly and young population were interviewed for the art of Pullian making and its potential role in socio-economic development of the region.  Results : The results showed that people of villages in and around STNWLS over hundreds of years have developed unique methods to survive in this harsh and remote region of the world. Pullian , a kind a feet covering or a shoe is made by the people of Pangwal tribe inhabiting these villages. Apart from using Pullian for household use, this unique type of shoe is also used by the locals to walk on snow during the winters. Conclusions : The present paper is an attempt to bring to light the immense potential of traditional knowledge of tribal people. This art of shoe making from wheat grass by the Pangwal tribe inhabiting in and around STWLS, Pangi, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India can potentially contribute in setting up of small scale, non-polluting, agro-based household industries in the region. Thereby, helping in raising the per capita income of the tribal people. Keywords : Triticum , Pangi, ethnobotany, agro-based, Sechu.


This paper introduces studies conducted with musicians that aim to understand modes of human-robot interaction, situated between automation and human augmentation. Our robotic guitar system used for the study consists of various sound generating mechanisms, either driven by software or by a musician directly. The control mechanism allows the musician to have a varying degree of agency over the overall musical direction. We present interviews and discussions on open-ended experiments conducted with music students and musicians. The outcome of this research includes new modes of playing the guitar given the robotic capabilities, and an understanding of how automation can be integrated into instrument-playing processes. The results present insights into how a human-machine hybrid system can increase the efficacy of training or exploration, without compromising human engagement with a task.


Vascular injury during lumbar laminectomy is an uncommon event. It is most often secondary to a biting instrument, such as a pituitary rongeur. Its diagnosis must be made rapidly in order to save the patient from exsanguination. This is well within the province of the general surgeon, who should be prepared to treat it at any time.


Entomophthoromycosis is a rare fungal infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue occurring predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions. In children, it mostly affects the lower half of the body. With this, we report a case of Entomophthoromycosis in a 6-year-old girl who presented late with extensive involvement of the upper half of the body. She responded well to treatment with potassium iodide and itraconazole. We also reviewed cases of Entomophthoromycosis reported in children.


The article discusses the conceptualisation of fundamental concepts referring to interdependence between security and the economy. The concept of economic security that is dominant in Polish literature on the subject is in most cases identified with macroeconomic disequilibrium and instability. This makes it primarily an economic category. Hence the need to develop a catalogue of risks that are more extensively and comprehensively associated with national security. The article outlines two approaches to these issues. The sectoral approach delineates subcategories of security by industries and sectors of the economy (e.g. energy security). The problem approach singles out individual risk factors understood as mechanisms and phenomena carrying threats to the critical processes in the state. Basing on the problem approach, a catalogue of economic risk factors has been proposed: ownership structure, access to sensitive information and espionage, dependency on key raw materials, dependency on suppliers, state interventionism, corruption and fraud, social and economic instability, dependency on external decision-making centres, difficulties with financing security structures, and immigration.


Since the pioneering studies on polarization dynamics of two counter-propagating beams in nonlinear optical fibers [1–2], different processes of polarization attraction have been identified in isotropic fiber, but also in highly, weakly and randomly birefringent fibers. In this framework, the polarization attraction requires a fully polarized pump wave, which plays the role of a natural attractor for an arbitrary polarized incoming beam. Subsequently, this phenomenon has been observed using a single wave interacting with its own back-reflected wave in a feedback loop configuration [3].


The p-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl group serves as a participating
group in the stereoselective formation of 2-amino-β-glucosides and as
an N-protecting group which can be readily removed either by
hydrogenolysis or by reaction with sodium dithionite under neutral
conditions.


This letter proposes a low-computational Bayesian algorithm for noisy sparse recovery in the context of one bit compressed sensing with sensing matrix perturbation. The proposed algorithm which is called BHT-MLE comprises a sparse support detector and an amplitude estimator. The support detector utilizes Bayesian hypothesis test, while the amplitude estimator uses an ML estimator which is obtained by solving a convex optimization problem. Simulation results show that BHT-MLE algorithm offers more reconstruction accuracy than that of an ML estimator (MLE) at a low computational cost.


Herbal medication and natural products have been successfully demonstrated to have general health beneficial effects.  The bioactivities of flaxseed (linum usitatissimum) extract have been reported, as previous studies have shown that l. usitatissimum extract has many health and beneficial effects such as antimicrobial, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effect. L. usitatissimum extract makes a great skin wound healing agent in addition to that it has good effect on the oral cavity in treating ulcers and general oral health benefits. L. usitatissimum is extracted using ethanol in three different concentration via soxhlet method, gas chromatography mass spectrum (GC-MS) is used to illustrate the components of l. usitatissimum extract. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay is used to assess the oral fibroblasts cell viability in three different time lines. The results illustrate the major component present in l. usitatissimum extract and the effect of the different ethanol concentrations of flaxseed extract on oral fibroblasts human cell line. L. usitatissimum extract show proliferating effect, the 70% flaxseed ethanolic extract produced the highest proliferating effect on fibroblast cells at 24 hours followed by 100% followed by 90% ethanol flaxseed extract, at 48 hours and 72 hours 100% ethanoic extract produced the highest proliferating effect followed by 70% then 90% ethanol flaxseed extract. The results show proliferating effect by l. usitatissimum extract on human oral fibroblast cell line.


Activation of the transcription factor STAT3 promotes the feed-forward production of prostaglandins in response to cortisol during labor. Labor, STAT! The glucocorticoid cortisol has anti-inflammatory effects in many tissues of the body. However, in fetal membranes during labor, cortisol is associated with increased activity of the inflammatory enzyme COX-2, which produces prostaglandins that promote reproductive smooth muscle changes in the mother that enable delivery. Using primary human amnion fibroblasts from full-term births from patients who delivered after active labor or through nonlabor cesarean sections, Wang et al. found that the interaction of the glucocorticoid receptor and the transcription factor STAT3 at the gene encoding COX-2 mediates an autocrine feed-forward loop that amplifies cortisol-triggered prostaglandin production. The findings identify a mechanism linking cortisol to inflammatory prostaglandin production in the amnion. The induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and subsequent production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by cortisol in the amnion contrast with the effect of cortisol on most other tissues, but this proinflammatory effect of cortisol may be a key event in human parturition (labor). We evaluated the underlying mechanism activated by cortisol in primary human amnion fibroblasts. Exposure of the amnion fibroblasts to cortisol led to the activation of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)–protein kinase A (PKA) pathway, which induced the phosphorylation of the kinase SRC and STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3). STAT3 interacted with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and the transcription factor CREB-1 (cAMP response element–binding protein 1) at the promoter of the gene encoding COX-2, which promoted the production of the secreted prostaglandin PGE2. PGE2 activates the prostaglandin receptors EP2 and EP4, which stimulate cAMP-PKA signaling. Thus, cortisol reinforced the activation of cAMP-PKA signaling through an SRC–STAT3–COX-2–PGE2–mediated feedback loop. Inhibiting STAT3, SRC, or the cAMP-PKA pathway attenuated the cortisol-stimulated induction of COX-2 and PGE2 production in amnion fibroblasts. In human amnion tissue, the amount of phosphorylated STAT3 correlated positively with that of cortisol, COX-2, and PGE2, and all were more abundant in tissue obtained after active labor than in tissue obtained from cesarean surgeries in the absence of labor. These results indicated that the coordinated recruitment of STAT3, CREB-1, and GR to the promoter of the gene encoding COX-2 contributes to the feed-forward induction of COX-2 activity and prostaglandin synthesis in the amnion during parturition.


This paper describes the results of our numerical and experimental studies of the nonlinear bending behavior due to domain wall motion in functionally graded piezoelectric actuator under alternating current electric fields. A nonlinear three-dimensional finite element method is employed to simulate the dynamic response of cantilever functionally graded piezoelectric actuator. A phenomenological model of domain wall motion is used in computation, and the effects of ac electric field amplitude and frequency, number of layers, and property gradation on the deflection and internal stresses of the functionally graded bimorphs are examined. It is shown that the predicted deflection results, obtained from the numerical model, agree well with the corresponding experimental results.


Open valvotomy was successfully performed in neonate with critical aortic stenosis using cardiopulmonary bypass. The baby was referred to our hospital at the age of 24 days with very grave state, and needed intensive care including endotracheal intubation and inotropic support. Critical valvular aortic stenosis was confirmed by echocardiography. Poststenotic dilatation and enough size of short axis LV dimension were reported, and aortic annulus was measured 6 mm in diameter. Without catheterization and angiography, open valvotomy was performed with moderate hypothermia and ischemic arrest using single dose of cold cardioplegia at the age of 29 days. Bicuspid aortic valve was thick and dysplastic with thick gelatinous cusp edge, however commissurotomy was applicable in two direction. The diameter of aortic opening was enlarged from 2 mm to 7 mm. Total bypass and aortic cross clamp time were 78 and 28 minutes respectively. The baby recovered uneventfully and there was no evidence of significant AS or aortic regurgitation in echocardiography 7 months after surgery. Sorts of reoperation for restenosis or regurgitation were reported. The results of reoperation for regurgitation were reported to be poor, especially in young infants who should be performed aortic valve replacement. However, residual AS could be manipulated with re-valvotomy, PVB, apico-aortic conduit or AVR. As the choice of first relief of critical AS without other anatomical disadvantages including hypoplastic left ventricle, endocardial fibroelastosis, and mitral stenosis, it would be crucial for late results to prevent progression of aortic regurgitation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Abstract. Major mass extinctions in the Phanerozoic Eon occurred during abrupt global climate changes accompanied by environmental destruction driven by large volcanic eruptions and projectile impacts. However, relationships between those physical conditions and the magnitude of animal extinctions have not been quantitatively evaluated. My analyses show that the magnitude of major extinctions in marine invertebrates and that of terrestrial tetrapods correlate well with the coincidental anomaly of global and habitat surface temperatures during biotic crises, respectively, regardless of the difference between warming and cooling. More than > 20 % of genera and 40 % of marine species loss correlate to more than 8 °C absolute global surface temperature anomalies. Higher extinction percentages appear in the terrestrial realm than in the marine realm under the same global temperature anomaly due to 2.2 times higher surface temperature anomalies in the terrestrial realm than in the marine realm. Marine animals are more likely than tetrapods to become extinct under a habitat temperature anomaly, possibly due to a higher sensitivity of marine animals to temperature change than terrestrial animals, which have access to places of refuge. These relationships indicate that abrupt changes in climate and environment associated with high energy input by volcanism and impact relate to the magnitude of mass extinctions.


Isolation following infection with methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is not always possible with low birth weight neonates who need nursing in a Special Care Baby Unit.


Essentially two classes of iterative procedures have been proposed in the literature to solve optimal design problems in linear regression: exchange algorithms devoted to the construction of optimal exact designs in a finite design space and methods from convex programming yielding optimal moment matrices only. By simultaneously taking weights and support points as variables the design problem represents a nonconcave, not necessarily differentiable, but Lipschitz continuous maximization problem. We, therefore, adapt bundle trust methods from nondiffer- entiable optimization to the design problem and show their numerical behaviour. Explicit efficiency bounds for the numerical solutions can be given in the case of a regression range with finitely many elements.


A survey was conducted on Heteroptera fauna of Zanjanroud region, in west of Zanjan province during 2006-2007. As many as 1780 specimens were collected from trees, weeds, cereal fields, overwintering places, soil and water. In this study 39 species belonging to 16 families were collected and identified. Three specimens of wihich genus belonging to Lygaeidae, Scutelleridae and Reduviidae were identified at the genus level. Among them The species Anthocoris nemorum (Linnaeus, 1761), Nabis pseudoferus (Romane, 1949), Notonecta viridis (Delcourt, 1909), Velia affinis (Kolenati, 1857), Gerris maculatus (Tamanini, 1946), Hydrometra stagnorum (Linnaeus, 1758), are predators. Species belonging to Pentatomidae had the most frequency. All species are first records from the studied region.


Simulations are widely used. Simulations produce numbers that are deductive demonstrations of what a model says will happen. They produce numerical results that are consistent with the premises of the model used to generate the numbers. These simulated numerical results are not empirical data that address aspects of the world that lies outside the model. In contrast, empirical data are central to the scientific method. When a simulation is substituted for the assessment of hypotheses with real data, a false sense of understanding can ensue and with it a biased perspective on the world. To illustrate the limitations of simulation and their proper role, examples are drawn from simulation studies about score equating.


Tolerance to inguinal hernia repair under local anesthesia was prospectively evaluated in a consecutive series of 41 patients who underwent hernia repair with local infiltration of 0.75 per cent lidocaine. Intraoperative discomfort was measured by an analog visual scale. All complications were also recorded. Mean intraoperative pain was mild (1.6 +/- 1.4). There were two complications. Wound infection and wound hematoma occurred in one patient each. There was no operative mortality. Normal diet was tolerated the day of surgery in 39 patients, and 30 were discharged from the hospital on the same day. Our series supports good tolerance and a low complication rate when inguinal herniorrhaphy is performed under local anesthesia.


Abstract The gamekeeper was an important but controversial presence in the late Victorian and Edwardian countryside. Admired by some for his skills in woodcraft and deep understanding of nature, for others the keeper was much less benign: a destroyer of wildlife; a barrier against wider public access to the land; and the upholder of fiercely contested laws. At a time when debates about the land and its present and future use formed a major part of contemporary political discourse, and when an urbanising society was investing ever more meaning in its idea of the rural, consideration of the keeper takes us beyond the study of field sports towards broader histories of the English countryside and its attendant ruralist culture. Situating the keeper in a dual setting of material production and recreational service provision, the following examines both what he did and was expected to do, and the ways in which this was represented. Not only were keepers active agents in their own representation, eager to project themselves as skilled professionals, they might also elicit support from unusual quarters. As will be seen, keeper representation was as varied as his many roles.


Continuous affect prediction in the wild is a very interesting problem and is challenging as continuous prediction involves heavy computation. This paper presents the methodologies and techniques used in our contribution to predict continuous emotion dimensions i.e., valence and arousal in ABAW competition on Aff-Wild2 database. Aff-Wild2 database consists of videos in the wild labelled for valence and arousal at frame level. Our proposed methodology uses fusion of both audio and video features (multi-modal) extracted using state-of-the-art methods. These audio-video features are used to train a sequence-to-sequence model that is based on Gated Recurrent Units (GRU). We show promising results on validation data with simple architecture. The overall valence and arousal of the proposed approach is 0.22 and 0.34, which is better than the competition baseline of 0.14 and 0.24 respectively.


1. The O2 uptake of sea-urchin spermatozoa, Echinus esculentus , has been reexamined under varying conditions of sperm density, and in the presence of CuCl22H2O and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC).

2. The total O2 uptake of dilute sperm suspensions was previously thought to be higher than that of dense suspensions per unit quantity of spermatozoa (Dilution Effect I). This result is only obtained when the oxygen saturation of the dense suspension is inadequate, which may easily occur as the Q OO2 of sea-urchin spermatozoa may reach 30 at 15.0° C. When oxygen saturation is satisfactory, the total O2 uptake of dense solutions is slightly greater than that of dilute ones. The experiment cannot be done in micro-respirometers of the normal Warburg type unless the density of spermatozoa per ml. suspension is less than about 109 corresponding to an initial semen dilution of 1:20 or 1:25. These figures apply to other manometric experiments on the O2 uptake of sea-urchin spermatozoa using normal amounts of material.

3. When movement ceases, there is a sharp increase in the O2 uptake of the suspension.

4. The addition of seminal plasma to dilute sperm suspensions does not inhibit the increased rate of O2 uptake, per unit quantity of spermatozoa, observed in these suspensions when compared with dense ones (Dilution Effect II). Dilution Effect II is therefore not caused by the dilution of an inhibitory substance in seminal plasma.

5. Sperm suspensions were prepared by diluting semen 1:50 with sea water and allowing them to respire for 45 mm. They were then centrifuged, the supernatant was discarded and the spermatozoa were re-suspended to different densities with sea water. This treatment has the following effects:

( a ) Centrifugation irreversibly damages the spermatozoa and reduces their O2 uptake.

( b ) Removal of the supernatant, which contains seminal plasma, and re-suspension in sea water also reduces O2 uptake.

( c ) The treatment markedly reduces Dilution Effect II.

If the experiment is done in the same way but the suspensions are only allowed to respire for 10 min. before centrifugation, ( a ) and ( b ) are the same, but Dilution Effect II is normal. This shows that during metabolism, a regulatory substance is lost from dilute suspensions, as in mammalian spermatozoa; but this is not the cause of Dilution Effect II.

6. Dilution Effect II, considered as the reduced O2 uptake of dense suspensions, can be reversed by the addition of CuCl22H2O, 1 p.p.m., to the medium.

7. Dilution Effect II can be made to occur in sperm suspensions which do not normally exhibit it, by the addition of DDC, in concentrations as low as 3.64x10-5M (final concentration). The action of DDC is not greater when its concentration is increased to 10-3M, which suggests that in these conditions it acts as a chelating agent and not as a narcotic. For the same reasons its oxidation product, tetra ethyldithiocarbamyl disulphide, is unlikely to be responsible for DDC's inhibitory effect on sperm O2 uptake.

8. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Dilution Effect II is due to the amounts of copper (or possibly zinc) in sea water being inadequate to satisfy the requirements of dense sea-urchin sperm suspensions. This situation is unlikely to arise during natural spawning as sperm densities are too low for the effect to occur in these conditions. Other interpretations of the stimulating action of copper and zinc are discussed.

9. The experiments remove several of the differences hitherto believed to exist between sea-urchin and mammalian spermatozoa.


Energy is a fundamental ingredient in the process of economic development, as it provides essential services that maintain economic activity and the quality of human life. Modern agriculture has become very energy-intensive. The aim of this study was to evaluate energy use in citrus production in the Mazandaran Province in Iran. Data used in this study were obtained from 155 farmers using a face-to-face interview method. The total energy requirement under citrus farming was 17,112.2 MJ ha-1, whereas 36.3 and 33.62% was consumed due to fertilisers and pesticides, respectively. Renewable energy was about 12% of total energy input. The energy ratio, productivities, specific and net energy gain were 1.71, 0.905, 1.104 and 12,251.4 MJ ha-1, respectively. Citrus production needs to improve the efficiency of energy consumption and to employ renewable energy.


Assessing the magnitude of cause-and-effect relations is one of the central challenges found throughout the empirical sciences. The problem of identification of causal effects is concerned with determining whether a causal effect can be computed from a combination of observational data and substantive knowledge about the domain under investigation, which is formally expressed in the form of a causal graph. In many practical settings, however, the knowledge available for the researcher is not strong enough so as to specify a unique causal graph. Another line of investigation attempts to use observational data to learn a qualitative description of the domain called a Markov equivalence class, which is the collection of causal graphs that share the same set of observed features. In this paper, we marry both approaches and study the problem of causal identification from an equivalence class, represented by a partial ancestral graph (PAG). We start by deriving a set of graphical properties of PAGs that are carried over to its induced subgraphs. We then develop an algorithm to compute the effect of an arbitrary set of variables on an arbitrary outcome set. We show that the algorithm is strictly more powerful than the current state of the art found in the literature.


For agents to function effectively in large and open networks, they must ensure that their correspondents, i.e., the agents they interact with, are trustworthy. Since no central authorities may exist, the only way agents can find trustworthy correspondents is by collaborating with others to identify those whose past behavior has been untrustworthy. In other words, finding trustworthy correspondents reduces to the problem of distributed reputation management.Our approach adapts the mathematical theory of evidence to represent and propagate the ratings that agents give to their correspondents. When evaluating the trustworthiness of a correspondent, an agent combines its local evidence (based on direct prior interactions with the correspondent) with the testimonies of other agents regarding the same correspondent. We experimentally studied this approach to establish that some important properties of trust are captured by it.


Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is one of the most cultured fish species over the world with many different breeds and plenty of published protocols for sperm cryopreservation, however, data regarding preservation of gonadal tissue and surrogate production is still missing. A protocol for freezing common carp spermatogonia was developed through varying different factors along a set of serial subsequent experiments. Among the six cryoprotectants tested, the best survival was achieved with dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO). In the next experiment, a wide range of cooling rates (0.5–10 °C/min) and different concentrations of Me2SO were tested resulting in the highest survival using 2 M Me2SO and cooling rate of –1 Q59 A When testing different tissue sizes and incubation times in the cryomedium, the highest viability was observed when incubating 100 mg tissue fragments for 30 min. Finally, sugar supplementation did not yield significant differences. When testing different equilibration (ES) and vitrification solutions (VS) used for needle-immersed vitrification, no significant differences were observed between the tested groups. Additionally, varied exposure time to VS did not improve the vitrification outcome where the viability was 4-fold lower than that of freezing. The functionality of cryopreserved cells was tested by interspecific transplantation into sterilized goldfish recipients. The exogenous origin of the gonads in goldfish recipients was confirmed by molecular markers and incorporation rate was over 40% in both groups at 3 months post transplantation. Results of this study can serve as an alternative way for long-term preservation of germplasm in carp which can be recovered in a surrogate recipient.


ABSTRACT The experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of the quality of different plant residues (wheat straw, legume herbage, mixed herbage) on the microbial biomass and net nitrogen mineralization in bare plots and those planted to dryland rice. Soil organic C, total N and total P ranged, respectively, from 0.59 to 1.02%, 0.06 to 0.17% and 0.016 to 0.019%. Both fractions of inorganic N were more abundant in bare plots (NH4-N 7.0-13.3 μg g−1; NO3-N 1.4-5.1 μg g−1) compared to the vegetated plots (NH4-N 5.2-9.3 μg g−1; NO3-N 0.8-4.1 μg g−1), the maximum values being recorded for the legume treatment and minimum for the control plots. The rate of N-mineralization was higher in vegetated plots (4.7-14.8 μg g−1 mo−1) as compared to the bare plots (4.7-13.5 μg g−1 mo−1); the highest rates were recorded for the legume residue treated soils and lowest for the straw treated soil. Microbial biomass C was highest in the straw treatment (393.73-498.43 μg g−1) and lowest in the control soil (250.60-275.63 μg g−1). Plant biomass and grain yield were maximum in legume treated plots (biomass 273-363 g m−2; grain 225-285 g m−2) and were minimum for control (biomass 182.3-267 g m−2; grain 120-177 g m−2). Thus, the placement of legume residue substantially increased the nutrient supply rate and the yield of dryland rice.


It is emphasized that the Maxwell equations have a peculiar mathematical structure which leads to boundary value problems with an overspecified number of partial differential equations and an underspecified number of boundary conditions. An attempt is made to reduce these boundary value problems to standard mathematical formulations with equal numbers of partial differential equations and boundary conditions. It is demonstrated that these formulations have some attractive features which appreciably facilitate their finite element discretizations. A numerical example involving scattering of plane electromagnetic waves from a perfect conducting thin plate illustrates the discussion. >


The heightened interest in sport shown by politicians, legislators, sponsors and government carries with it an inherent demand to justify long-term sustainability as well as compliance with best-practice corporate governance principles. A questionnaire based on the seven pillars of good corporate governance identified in the King II Report (Institute of Directors, 2002) was administered to the universum (n=90) of South African sport federations registered with the South African Sports Commission with the aim of measuring the compliance of these federations with the principles of good corporate governance on a five-point Likert scale. Results indicated an overall mean compliance score (x) of 3.77 (maximum of 5.00) with the pillars of good corporate governance but a further detailed analysis of all 83 statements in the questionnaire revealed areas of serious concern regarding the subelements of accountability, transparency, social responsibility, independence, fairness and discipline. Keywords : corporate governance, pillars of good corporate governance, compliance, best-practice governance principles South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 27(1) 2005: 11-20


This paper presents a nonparametric identification method for state-space linear parameter-varying (LPV) models using a modified support vector machine (SVM) approach. While most LPV identification schemes in the state-space form fall under the general category of parametric methods, regularization-based SVMs provide a viable alternative to model scheduling dependencies, without the need of specifying the dependency structure and with an attractive bias-variance trade-off. In this paper, a solution is proposed for nonparametric identification of LPV state-space models in terms of least-squares SVMs (LS-SVM) and is then extended in a way that the proposed estimation is robust to errors in the noise model estimation. The so-called instrumental variables (IV) method has been used in linear system identification for quite some time, and has recently seen its application in the identification of both nonlinear and LPV systems in the input-output (IO) form. The IV method reduces the bias in estimated LPV state-space models in case the noise model is not estimated properly or is unknown. In the proposed method of this paper, the attractive bias-variance trade-off properties of LS-SVMs are combined with statistical properties of IV-based methods to give robust estimates of the functional dependencies. Numerical examples are provided to compare the performances of the proposed IV-based technique with the LS-SVM-based LPV model identification methods.


Abstract Parent–child interaction is critical for early language and literacy development. Parent training programs have proliferated to support early interactions. However, many environmental and psychosocial factors can impact the quality of parent–child language and literacy interactions as well as training program outcomes. This preliminary randomized controlled trial examined maternal perceived self-efficacy and locus of control during a language and literacy parent training program. Thirty mother–child dyads (mother age 21–40; children 2;6–4;0) were assigned in parallel to the training or control group. The training was efficacious for mothers and children – training-group dyads made significantly greater gains in maternal strategy use, responsivity, and child print awareness than the control group. Gains were maintained one month post-training. Children whose mothers had more external baseline control perceptions identified significantly fewer print targets at baseline and made greater gains than those with more internal control perceptions. Future directions and implications are discussed.


HVDC transmission lines system has some advantages, but it can generate an effect on the environment nearby due to the corona, especially the ionized field. Based on the electromagnetic field theory, a simple method to analyze the ionized field generated from the bundled conductors of bipolar lines is proposed. And then, after the validity of the method is testified, some examples are analyzed and some conclusions are drawn finally. The results have been used in the design of plusmn800 kV HVDC transmission lines system in China


It is well-known that the service life of reinforced concrete structures may be severely limited by a number of environmental loads such as carbonation and chloride penetration. As a consequence expensive repair measures are frequently necessary at an early stage. Capillary suction is a most effective mechanism to transport ions dissolved in water into the porous structure of concrete. It has been shown recently that impregnation of the surface near zone of concrete with a water repellent agent such as silane prevents uptake of liquid water. In this way an effective chloride barrier can be established. In some cases it may be of advantage to add silane to the fresh concrete in order to prepare an integral water repellent porous material. In this paper results of experimental test series with the aim to study the penetration of dissolved chloride into integral water repellent concrete will be presented. It will be shown that a critical amount of silane has to be added in order to obtain an effective chloride barrier. If less than 1 wt % of a silane emulsion, related to the mass of cement, is added, chloride penetration is in fact hardly reduced. If at least 2 wt % of silane emulsion is added, however, the uptake of water and dissolved chloride by the integral water repellent concrete is reduced considerably. Integral water repellent concrete may be considered to be substantially more durable than normal concrete, even if exposed to an aggressive environment.


We report a first case of Salmonella enteritidis endocarditis involving a bioprosthetic aortic valve. Despite additional native tricuspid valve involvement, the clinical course was favorable using an antibiotic regimen of ciprofloxacin and netilmicin. Although Salmonella prosthetic valve endocarditis is considered an indication for surgical replacement of the prosthesis, this case indicates that prolonged treatment with fluoroquinolones may be an alternative provided that the hemodynamic situation is stable.


Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), a native plant of the Andes, belongs to the family Asteraceae. Four genotypes of yacon obtained from Germany, New Zealand, Ecuador and Bolivia were cultivating on the trial fi elds of Th e Institute of Tropics and Subtropics of CUA during 2001–2004. During this period the growth and development of plants were studied. On the basis of knowledge of morphology and the dynamics of plant development a macrophenological scale (according to BBCH scale) was elaborated, which collects ten principal growth stages: 0 Sprouting, 1 Leaf development, 2 Ramifi cation, 3 Crop cover, 4 Formation of tuberous roots, 5 Bud formation, 6 Flowering, 7 Formation of achenes, 8 Maturity of achenes, 9 Senescence. Prior to reaching full maturity of tuberous roots the vegetation is fi nished as a result of the coming of early autumn frosts. Th e elaboration of a phenological scale could help to contribute to the optimal cultivation method and the dates of agrotechnical interventions in fi eld conditions during the vegetation period. Cultivation of yacon in Czech Republic showed that this crop could be successfully cultivated in the conditions of Central Europe. Th e length of the vegetation period is the only limiting factor, because it is restricted by spring and autumn frosts.


Measuring neutrino interactions with matter is arduous but rewarding. To date, experiments have measured the neutrino-nucleon cross section in the MeV-PeV range, using terrestrial and astrophysical neutrinos. We endeavor to push that measurement to the EeV scale, in order to test competing expectations of the deep structure of nucleons and possibly reveal new neutrino interactions. Cosmogenic neutrinos, long-sought but still undiscovered, provide the only feasible way forward. However, because their flux is low, they have evaded detection so far. Fortunately, upcoming in-ice radio-detection neutrino telescopes, like RNO-G and the radio component of IceCube-Gen2, have a real chance of discovering them in the next 10-20 years. In preparation, we perform the first detailed study of their sensitivity to the deep-inelastic-scattering neutrino-nucleon cross section at EeV energies, extracted from the attenuation of the cosmogenic neutrino flux as it traverses the Earth across different directions. We use up-to-date predictions and tools at every step: in the flux of cosmogenic neutrinos—predicted using recent ultra-high-energy cosmicray measurements—in their propagation inside the Earth—computed using leading and subleading neutrino interactions—and in their detection in radio-based neutrino telescopes—based on advanced simulated detector responses. We report the preliminary sensitivity of IceCube-Gen2.


Using synchrotron powder diffraction data, two new complexes of CdBr2 with 3-fluoroaniline and 4-fluoroaniline were fully characterised with regard to their structure. Their crystal structures were solved and refined by means of powder diffraction techniques. The investigated materials belong to the group of hybrid inorganic–organic coordination polymers. The structures of both compounds are created by the same type, infinite chains formed by CdBr4N2 octahedra. Each cadmium cation is surrounded by four Br− anions, and two N atoms from two fluoroaniline molecules.

The obtained structural data enable us to investigate the influence of the position of the F atom in the aniline ring on the crystal structure, as well as to interpret its thermal stability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The use of holographic interferometry (HI) has been available for whole field testing of components for nearly twenty years. As an experimental technique it was limited to a laboratory environment but with the incorporation of a pulsed laser the possibility existed to attempt this type of analysis on the component operating in its usual environment. This should have provided the scientific and engineering community with the necessary tool to investigate many different difficult problems. The reality is holographic interferometry consumed billions of dollars globally, produced few real results and interest dwindled. Why? A number of reasons have been proposed which include experimental difficulties, data reduction and cost. Combined with the vast research effort in holography, interest in the allied field of speckle interferometry developed a video based technique which could rival holographic interferometry. This technique known as electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI)1 provided equipment with similar capabilities to holographic interferometry but used the television camera directly as the imaging transducer rather than the photographic system. However this technique, which overcame a number of the experimental problems of holographic interferometry, still did not find immediate favour as an analysis tool. The end user was still not hammering on the door of the research laboratories. Laser costs have reduced and supporting digital electronics have substantially reduced to the extent where fully ruggedised commercial ESPI equipment costs approximately $30-50K. This makes it comparable with other experimental analysis packages, the cost argument therefore no longer strictly holds. The availability of image processing computer's has enabled a great deal of research into automated fringe data reduction and analyis, this was reviewed at a recent symposium by the Fringe Analysis Special Interest Group 4. The final major problem now outstanding is the availability of a hand�held portable instrument capable of providing the computer with suitable data. The work this paper reports is an effort in this direction, to produce such a system. The application areas envisaged are: (i) displacement measurement of strain fields (ii) vibration measurement of resonant objects (iii) vibration measurement of non-resonant conditions (iv) refractive index changes in fluids, eg convective heat and fluid flow.


Objective: Government initiatives undertaken to improve the earning potential of disadvantaged unmarried parents assume that job training and additional schooling will strengthen these families, yet alternative models predict that these same interventions could overwhelm couples' limited resources, undermining family stability. Method: We use 3 waves of dyadic data and propensity score analysis to test these competing perspectives by examining the effects of job-related and school-related interventions on 3-year marriage rates. The sample consists of unmarried new parents averaging $20,475 in household income, 52% of whom are African American and 20% of whom are Hispanic/Latino. Results: Marriage rates decreased, from 17% to 10%, for couples in which men participated in school-related interventions. Mediation analyses indicate that school-related interventions reduce the amount of time men spend with their child and the amount of money they contribute to their household, reducing marriage rates in turn. Marriage rates were unaffected by women's participation in school-related interventions, and by men's and women's participation in job-related interventions. Conclusion: Implementing economic interventions that increase income while minimizing demands on the limited resources of economically distressed couples may prove necessary for strengthening society's most vulnerable families.


Aryne insertions into the carbon-iodine bond of heteroaryl iodides has been achieved for the first time. This novel reaction provides an efficient pathway for the synthesis of valuable building blocks 2-iodoheterobiaryls from heteroaryl iodides and o-silylaryl triflates in excellent regioselectivity. The copper(I) catalyst, which bears a N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand, is essential to accomplish the reaction. Control reactions and DFT calculations indicate that the coordination of copper, as a Lewis acid, with nitrogen atoms of heteroaryl iodides mediates the insertion of arynes into heteroaryl carbon-iodine bonds.


Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) on clinical features and neuropsychological profiles of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods We divided the participants into three groups: the ADHD with ODD (ADHD/ODD) (n=36), ADHD without ODD (ADHD/noODD) (n=307), and control groups (n=128). Parents of the participants completed the ADHD Rating Scale, Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Korean Personality Rating Scale for Children (K-PRC), and 10-item mania scale from the Parent General Behavior Inventory (P-GBI-10M). Neuropsychological profiles were assessed using the Advanced Test of Attention (ATA), Children's Color Trails Test, and Stroop Color and Word Test. Results The ADHD/ODD group had more ADHD symptoms and functional impairments in relationships with teachers and peers, and self-esteem than the ADHD/noODD group. The ADHD/ODD group scored higher in Social Communication (p<0.001) and Autistic Mannerisms (p<0.001) subscales of SRS, P-GBI-10M (p<0.001), and Delinquency (p<0.001) and Psychosis (p<0.001) subscales of K-PRC than the ADHD/noODD group. Commission Errors (p<0.001) and Response-Time Variability (p<0.001) in Visual ATA and Commission Errors (p<0.001) in Auditory ATA were significantly higher in the ADHD/ODD group than in the ADHD/noODD group. Conclusion The present study suggests that patients with ADHD with ODD experience more ADHD symptoms and neuropsychological deficits than those with ADHD without ODD. These results also imply that comorbid ODD is associated with greater social impairment and emotional dysregulation.


A conical pyrex plasma source with a conical helicon antenna surrounded by two cylindrically wound solenoids has been used in a helicon double layer thruster (HDLT) arrangement with the aim of investigating a new plasma cavity geometry and imposing a misalignment between the geometric and magnetic axis. An ion beam is measured with an energy analyser placed 6 cm downstream of the source exit for a low pressure argon plasma (∼0.4 mTorr) for various currents in the two solenoids. Operation with current in the exhaust solenoid only also shows the presence of the ion beam. For a given radiofrequency power and similar total solenoidal current, the ion beam current measured downstream of the conical HDLT is about seven times greater than that previously measured downstream of the cylindrical HDLT. This may result from a larger plasma density in the source and from a source peak density shift by about 10 cm towards the tube exit measured in the conical arrangement compared with previous observations in the cylindrical arrangement. When an angle between the geometric and magnetic axis of up to 9° is mechanically imposed, the ion beam is detected for angles less than 5°.


The synthesis and binding properties of squaramide-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles upon coordination with heavy metals in water are described. The nanoparticles feature selective binding towards Hg2+ and Pb2+ cations in the presence of other interfering heavy metals. The binding affinity of the nanoparticles is especially high for mercury and lead cations. The mode of action of the squaramide-coated nanoparticles differs significantly from that of previously reported nanoparticles used as Hg2+ scavengers. The selective Hg2+ sequestering capabilities displayed by the squaramide-coated nanoparticles are related to the formation of organomercury compounds. The solid state structure of the organomercury complex obtained by treatment of a di-squaramide with Hg2+ salts is described, demonstrating the mercuriation of the aryl moiety of dopamine.


This chapter examines how English law defines breach of contract and what the immediate effect of breach is on the validity of the contract, along with the obligations of the parties under the contract. It first considers the core principles underlying the law's approach to defining breach before explaining how the courts assess performance and the consequences of breach, with particular emphasis on cases involving repudiation. It then discusses three types or classes of contractual terms: conditions, warranties, and innominate terms. It also looks at how the law deals with situations of anticipatory breach and concludes with an analysis of the scope and limits of the right of a party to terminate the contract following a repudiatory breach by the other party.


This study explores the crucial relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth, which has become a primary focus for policymakers, economists, and development practitioners worldwide. Financial inclusion aims to provide fair and unrestricted access to financial services, particularly for marginalised populations without traditional banking access. This study investigates how financial inclusion promotes economic growth by empowering individuals and businesses, fostering financial security, and stimulating entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment. Using rigorous analysis methods, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, this study examines the cointegration effect between financial inclusion and economic growth in Malaysia's short- and long-term perspectives. The results indicate a positive impact of financial inclusion on economic growth, mainly through the number of mobile and internet banking transactions (MOBILE), Automatic Teller Machines (ATM), and the number of institutions of commercial banks (ICB). However, compared to other financial inclusion proxies, ICB shows a stronger association with long-term economic growth. Similarly, the initial income (A), trade openness (TRADE), and capital (K) significantly contribute to economic growth in the long run. Interestingly, labour appears to adversely affect economic growth in the long run for both Model 1 and 2. This phenomenon could be attributed to fluctuations in labour market conditions, including changes in workforce skill levels or demographic shifts. The findings underscore the transformative potential of financial inclusion in achieving sustainable development and poverty reduction.


Protooncogene c-fos is induced by activation of adenylate cyclase through the major cAMP-responsive element (CRE) centered at position -60 of the promoter. cAMP induction is followed by a rapid decrease in transcriptional rate, reminiscent of down-regulation after serum stimulation. Fos protein is known to negatively autoregulate serum-induced transcription of c-fos promoter, but whether Fos is responsible for down-regulation of cAMP-induced transcription is unclear. Here we show that Fos is unable to down-regulate CRE-mediated activation. We present evidence that the transcriptional antagonist CRE modulator (CREM) can bind to c-fos CRE and heterodimerize with activator CRE-binding protein, thereby blocking cAMP induction. Furthermore, expression of antisense CREM enhances c-fos basal and cAMP-induced transcription. CREM does not antagonize serum-induced transcription; therefore, we conclude that down-regulation of c-fos is exerted by different effectors, depending upon which signal transduction pathway is activated. We speculate that, by its c-fos down-regulatory function, CREM may act as an antioncogene.


The purpose of this study are to describe how to increase the discipline through individual coaching, to describe whether the application indivindu coaching can improve the performance of teachers, to describe how is the process of applying coaching indivindu to improve discipline and performance of teachers. Data were collected by the instrument scale discipline and teacher performance assessment and observation sheet. Action Research was used in this research. It can be concluded that the discipline and teacher performance increase in cycle 1, 2 and 3. It can be concluded that coaching indivindu can improve discipline and teacher performance. Keywords: discipline, performance, coaching indivindu


The citizen science approach has gained momentum in recent years. It can enable both experts and citizen scientists to co-create new knowledge. Better understanding of local environmental, social, and geographical contexts can help in designing appropriate plans for sustainable development. However, a lack of geospatial data, especially in the context of developing countries, often precludes context-specific development planning. This study therefore tests an innovative approach of volunteer citizen science and an open mapping platform to build resilience to natural hazards in the remote mountainous parts of western Nepal. In this study, citizen scientists and mapping experts jointly mapped two districts of Nepal (Bajhang and Bajura) using the OpenStreetMap (OSM) platform. Remote mapping based on satellite imagery, capacity building, and mobilization of citizen scientists was performed to collect the data. These data were then uploaded to OSM and later retrieved in ArcGIS to produce a usable map that could be exploited as a reference resource for evidence-based decision-making. The collected data are freely accessible to community members as well as government and humanitarian actors, and can be used for development planning and risk reduction. By piloting in two communities of western Nepal, we found that using open data platforms for collecting and analyzing location-based data has a mutual benefit for researchers and communities. Such data could be vital in understanding the local landscape, environmental risk, and distribution of resources. Furthermore, they enable both researchers and local people to transfer technical knowledge, collect location-specific data, and use them for better decision-making.


Sera from rabbits infected with unattenuated Schistosoma mansoni cercariae conferred significant levels of protection against S. mansoni challenge (P < 0.001) after passive transfer to mice. Infected rabbit sera were only effective in conferring protection when transferred during the first week of infection, and were not effective when administered against liver‐stage worms. Immunoglobulins isolated from the infected rabbit sera with Protein A‐Sepharose were shown to be responsible for the transfer of protection to mice. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that the sera were more reactive against the surface of three hour‐old mechanically transformed schistosomula than against the surfaces of lung‐stage schistosomula. The sera from infected rabbits reacted polyspecifically against antigens in cercaria, schistosomula, and the worm and egg stages of the S. mansoni life‐cycle. The host parasite relationship of S. mansoni in the rabbit is discussed.


We revised the zoogeographical distribution of mysids in the south-west Atlantic, from northern Brazil to Argentina (08 to 408S), providing body length, and temperature and salinity range of occurrence for each species. All information concerning mysids from the south-west Atlantic was obtained from published/unpublished studies. Of currently 1128 mysids species described worldwide, only 31 were recorded in the south-west Atlantic which are distributed in 14 genera, 6 subfamilies and one family. This extremely low number of recorded species highlights the need for further studies focusing on mysids in the south-west Atlantic.


Structured product data in the form of attribute/value pairs is the foundation of many e-commerce applications such as faceted product search, product comparison, and product recommendation. Product offers often only contain textual descriptions of the product attributes in the form of titles or free text. Hence, extracting attribute/value pairs from textual product descriptions is an essential enabler for e-commerce applications. In order to excel, state-of-the-art product information extraction methods require large quantities of task-specific training data. The methods also struggle with generalizing to out-of-distribution attributes and attribute values that were not a part of the training data. Due to being pre-trained on huge amounts of text as well as due to emergent effects resulting from the model size, Large Language Models like ChatGPT have the potential to address both of these shortcomings. This paper explores the potential of ChatGPT for extracting attribute/value pairs from product descriptions. We experiment with different zero-shot and few-shot prompt designs. Our results show that ChatGPT achieves a performance similar to a pre-trained language model but requires much smaller amounts of training data and computation for fine-tuning.


Abstract Palaeoecological models are commonly used by palaeontologists and sedimentary geologists to reconstruct ancient palaeoenvironments. In order to illustrate the ways in which palaeoecological models develop as new information is discovered, four examples are discussed: (1) reefs and fossil cold seeps; (2) biofacies models for strata deposited in ancient oxygen-deficient environments; (3) palaeoenvironmental distributions of post-Ordovician stromatolites; and (4) onshore-offshore trends of trace fossils. The development of physical sedimentological and geochemical criteria that can independently be used for evaluating ancient depositional environments provides a base line with which to assess palaeoecological change through geological time. Thus, the possibility now exists to free palaeoecological models and the study of ancient ecology from traditional uniformitarianism and Lyell's dictum that the 'present is the key to the past', so that palaeoecological models may be developed which are useful for segments of time not anchored in the present. This approach will also be essential for evaluating the changing ecology of the past, which at present is only poorly understood. Future development and independent testing of such palaeoecological models will allow a more complete appreciation of the changing roles of environment, ecology and evolution in the history of life.


Collaborative work typically involves both individual and group activities. Individual efforts may be combined through group negotiation processes. Personal perspectives on shared information are thereby intertwined and merged into group understanding. Computer support for personal and group perspectives allows people to view and work on a shared information repository in different contexts. The challenge for perspective mechanisms is how to manage the merging of results from individual perspectives into a consensus. Computer support for negotiation addresses the problem of merging individual results through voting and discussion. The challenge for negotiation mechanisms is how to allow work to continue while issues are being negotiated. WEBGUIDE is a software prototype that combines support for perspectives and negotiation so that individual results can be systematically merged while work continues within personal perspectives. A WEBGUIDE interface has been designed in detail to work out the many issues involved in intertwining perspectives and negotiation mechanisms. The application domain for illustrating WEBGUIDE is the support of web research by teams of middle school students. The WEBGUIDE system makes explicit and scaffolds for these students the structure of web research, team collaboration, personal perspectives, and group negotiation that they may be experiencing for the first time in their lives.


This publication presents a practical experience in implementing fault ride through investigations on a multiphysics power hardware in the loop platform for wind turbine nacelles. Next to the aim of doing full-scale system investigations with the nacelle, the use for system certification is included in the planning. While it is quite clear that such an approach would bring significant advantages compared with in-field testing, it is also important to understand if it is possible to overcome all the challenges from a practical and, in particular, measurement point of view that system level test bench certification implies. This question is analyzed with the support a unique platform developed by the authors in collaboration with other researchers of RWTH Aachen University. The platform is able to support test activities up to 1 MW.


ABSTRACT The Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA) is a network of the Ecosystem Division in the Pacific Science Association's Task Force on Biodiversity. The PABITRA project seeks to develop a network of ocean-to-mountain transects on islands across the Pacific to test hypotheses about biodiversity and promote sustainable use of island ecosystems under the influence of global change. A specific objective of PABITRA was to establish an ocean-to-mountain transect in Fiji with major involvement of the resident islanders. Along this transect, a number of biodiversity study sites were to be selected for further research. The transect was established during two consecutive field workshops, from 18 November to 3 December 2002. Involved were 25 University of the South Pacific (USP) students, eight local faculty including Fiji Government and nongovernmental organization officials, and seven overseas collaborators. The outcome was documented in a 69-page illustrated report issued by the USP Institute of Applied Sciences as well as at a special symposium presented during the 20th Pacific Science Congress in Bangkok (17–21 March 2003) titled "Island Landscapes under Global Change: the PABITRA Project." Seven papers presented by members of the Fijian PABITRA group are published here, following this introductory paper. In addition, five papers introducing PABITRA activities outside Fiji are included in this special issue. The PABITRA project is ongoing and it is hoped that these papers will stimulate broad interest and participation in PABITRA's key objectives of promoting integrative resource management in Pacific Island environments.


The FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) mutation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is associated with poor prognosis. We hypothesized that quizartinib, a selective and potent FLT3 inhibitor, with azacitidine (AZA) or low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) might improve the outcomes in patients with FLT3-ITD-mutated AML. In this open-label phase I/II trial, patients of any age receiving first-salvage treatment for FLT3-ITD AML or age >60 years with untreated myelodysplastic syndrome or AML were treated with quizartinib plus AZA or LDAC. Seventy-three patients were treated (34 frontline, 39 first salvage). With regard to previously untreated patients, the composite response (CRc) rate was 87% (n=13/15: 8 complete responses [CR], 4 CR with incomplete hematologic recovery [CRi], 1 CR without platelet recovery [CRp]) among the patients treated with quizartinib/AZA and 74% (n=14/19: 1 CR, 8 CRi, 5 CRp) among those treated with quizartinib/LDAC. The median overall survival was 19.2 months for the cohort treated with quizartinib/AZA cohort and 8.5 months for the patients treated with quizartinib/LDAC; the corresponding relapse-free survival figures were 10.5 and 6.4 months, respectively. With regard to previously treated patients, the CRc rate was 64% (n=16/25 in the quizartinib/AZA cohort and 29% (n=4/14)) in the quizartinib/LDAC cohort. The median overall survival for patients treated with quizartinib/AZA and quizartinib/LDAC was 12.8 versus 4 months, respectively. QTc prolongation grade 3 occurred in only one patient in each cohort. Quizartinib-based combinations, particularly with AZA, appear effective in both frontline and first salvage therapy for patients with FLT3-ITD-mutated AML and are well tolerated. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01892371.


ABSTRACT Fibrosis, a progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix components, encompasses a wide spectrum of distinct organs, and accounts for an increasing burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite the tremendous clinical impact, the mechanisms governing the fibrotic process are not yet understood, and to date, no clinically reliable therapies for fibrosis have been discovered. Here we applied Regeneration Intelligence, a new bioinformatics software suite for qualitative analysis of intracellular signaling pathway activation using transcriptomic data, to assess a network of molecular signaling in lung and liver fibrosis. In both tissues, our analysis detected major conserved signaling pathways strongly associated with fibrosis, suggesting that some of the pathways identified by our algorithm but not yet wet-lab validated as fibrogenesis related, may be attractive targets for future research. While the majority of significantly disrupted pathways were specific to histologically distinct organs, several pathways have been concurrently activated or downregulated among the hepatic and pulmonary fibrosis samples, providing new evidence of evolutionary conserved pathways that may be relevant as possible therapeutic targets. While future confirmatory studies are warranted to validate these observations, our platform proposes a promising new approach for detecting fibrosis-promoting pathways and tailoring the right therapy to prevent fibrogenesis.


The Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Bikermann (PNPB) model, in which the ions and water molecules are treated as different species with non-uniform sizes and valences with interstitial voids, can describe the steric and correlation effects in ionic solution neglected by the Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Poisson-Boltzmann theories with point charge assumption. In the PNPB model, the electric potential is governed by the fourth-order Poisson-Bikermann (4PBik) equation instead of the Poisson equation so that it can describe the correlation effect. What's more, the steric potential is included in the ionic and water fluxes as well as the equilibrium Fermi-like distributions which characterizes the steric effect quantitatively. In this work, after doing a nondimensionalization step, we analyze the self-adjointness and the kernel of the fourth-order operator of the 4PBik equation. Also, we show the positivity of the void volume function and the convexity of the free energy. Following these properties, the well-posedness of the PNPB model in equilibrium is given. Furthermore, because the PNPB model has an energy dissipated structure, we adopt a finite volume scheme which preserves the energy dissipated property at the semi-discrete level. After that, various numerical investigations are given to show the parameter dependence of the steric effect to the steady state.


Styela plicata (Lesueur, 1823) (Tunicata; Stolidobranchia; Styelidae) is a solitary ascidian with a global distribution. Until recently it had not been observed along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, but is now to be found in many harbors attached to suspended ropes and other artificial structures. In order to monitor the populations of S. plicata , we surveyed eight harbors along the Israeli Mediterranean coast. Our results show that the condition and maintenance of each harbor significantly affected the presence of S. plicata . We also characterized the microbial communities in the tunic of three individuals using 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing and compared them to those in the surrounding seawater, in order to determine whether the symbiotic bacteria may contribute to the successful establishment of this ascidian species. We found 15 bacterial phyla in total, of which 14 were present in the animal hosts: 6 were present in all of the individuals and 4 in two of the individuals. Three of the 15 phyla observed were absent in the surrounding seawater. The high variability among the three hosts suggests a mechanism of horizontal transmission and may play a role in the process of invading new and less tolerant niches.


Nitrogen (N) is a limited nutrient for both plants and herbivores. How plants reallocate N upon herbivore attack is vital for plant tolerance to herbivores. Here we investigated N reallocation in rice during a 2-day herbivore attack by a generalist herbivore Spodoptera litura and 2 days after herbivore removal. Labeled 15 N was translocated during insect attack from feeding-damaged leaves to roots, particularly to young roots. The amounts of chlorophyll and Rubisco were significantly reduced in the attacked leaves. Both free amino acids and nitrate accumulated in the damaged leaves and young roots, while ammonium content was decreased. Activities of nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase were enhanced in feeding-damaged leaves but inhibited in young roots. The expression of amino acid transporters OsAAP6, OsAAT15, and jasmonate-responsive genes OsAOS, OsMAPK3, OsMAPK6 was induced in the damaged leaves. However, 2 days after herbivore removal, N uptake was increased and herbivory-induced 15 N transfer to roots was partially reverted back to the damaged leaves, resulting in N levels in the previously damaged leaves were even higher than that in control leaves. Collectively, our results indicate a dynamic N reallocation in rice responses to insect herbivory.


As a novel multifaceted player in cancer, Pentraxin3(PTX3) was recognized to be a possible factor related with tumor development. Recent researches have indicated that PTX3 is involved in immune response, inflammation, as well as cancer, and is greatly controlled by numerous cytokines. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) is an imperative cytokine that demonstrates an extensive array of biological consequences in gastric cancer advancement. Here, we inspected the expression of PTX3 in gastric carcinoma tissues along with gastric cell lines and established that PTX3 was suggestively inferior in gastric cancer tissue and cells. The treatment of the gastric cell lines BGC-823 as well as SGC-7901 with rhTNF-α caused substantial decrease in the expression of PTX3. Furthermore, PTX3 controlled the capability of cell migration, invasion as well as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in gastric cancer cell lines mediated by TNF-α. Additionally, PTX3 upregulation inhibited tumorigenicity in vivo and could be reversed by exogenous TNF-α. Conversely, overexpression of PTX3 inhibited progress both in vitro as well as in vivo in gastric cancer mediated by TNF-α. Further studies are necessary to demonstrate the mechanism of interaction between PTX3 and cytokines.


This paper deals with a performance comparison of the control algorithm for a variable-thrust solid-propellant rocket motor (VTSRM). To do this, we develop a simulation model of a VTSRM considering characteristic changes in the combustor and design control systems for pressure and thrust. We use three types of control algorithms for the pressure control: classical PID control, feedback linearization control, and fuzzy PID control, and two control algorithms for thrust control: classical PID control and fuzzy PID control. Finally, we compare the performance of each control system through a numerical simulation using step responses. Through this work, we check that feedback linearization is better in pressure control, and fuzzy PID control is more appropriate in thrust control. Especially using fuzzy PID control, we can get fast settling with a small undershoot even if the system is a nonminimum phase system.


In this paper, we realize a non-invasive, bio-compatible, reliable and compact sensor to measure relative humidity (RH) levels by depositing keratin bio-polymer on a dual-polarized ultra wide band (UWB) chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The bio-compatible and hydrophilic properties of keratin make the proposed sensor an appropriate solution for monitoring RH level in different food and pharmaceutical industries, where non-toxic materials are in high demand. The proposed sensor comprises two main parts: a three-armed Fermat spiral resonator and the keratin bio-polymer mounted on the surface of the resonator. Keratin is extracted through the alkaline hydrolysis process and analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods. The three-armed Fermat spiral resonator acts as a scatterer, generating both co- and cross-polarized resonant responses when interrogated by a signal in a UWB frequency range. Having a cross-polarized response increases the robustness of the proposed sensor in the presence of interference and helps enhance the reliability of the sensor by offering three additional parameters. Amplitude, quality factor, and resonant frequencies are three main parameters that have been extracted from the responses of the proposed RH sensor at both co- and cross-polarization by modelling its responses as a function of frequency. To examine the performance of the sensor, laboratory measurements are carried out in the Esky box. The results show that the proposed sensor can be used to monitor RH changes from 54% to 74% at 26° Celsius.


INTRODUCTION AND AIMS
To examine the socio-spatial patterning of off-sale and on-sale alcohol outlets following a policy change that ended prohibition of off-sale outlets in Lubbock, Texas.

DESIGN AND METHODS
The spatial patterning of alcohol outlets by licensing type was examined using the k-function difference (D statistic) to compare the relative degree of spatial aggregation of the two types of alcohol outlets and by the spatial scan statistic to identify statistically significant geographic clusters of outlets. The sociodemographic characteristics of the areas containing clusters of outlets were compared with the rest of the city. In addition, the socioeconomic characteristics of census block groups with and without existing on-sale outlets were compared, as were the socioeconomic characteristics of census block groups with and without the newly issued off-sale licenses.

RESULTS
The existing on-sale premises in Lubbock and the newly established off-sale premises introduced as a result of the 2009 policy change displayed different spatial patterns, with the latter being more spatially dispersed. A large cluster of on-sale outlets identified in the north-east of the city was located in a socially and economically disadvantaged area of the city.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The findings support the view that it is important to understand the local context of deprivation within a city when examining the location of alcohol outlets and add to the existing research by drawing attention to the importance of geographic scale in assessing such relationships.


The siliciclastic Wishart Formation of the Early Proterozoic Labrador trough is a high-energy shelf deposit. Wishart sandstones contain both interstitial chert with textures of void-filling cement and thin chert intercalations contaminated with siliciclastic mud. Although volumetrically minor, these cherts occur in several thin, areally extensive stratigraphic intervals. The Wishart contains intraclasts of both the chert-cemented sandstone and the impure chert layers (as well as several other types of chert sand and gravel). This suggests the cherts formed penecontemporaneously, which is consistent with the absence of any signs of replacement in all but one of the chert types and the clear-cut distinctions between chert types, even where they are side by side in a single thin section. The origin which appears to be most compatible with available evidence is that the cherts represent silica precipitated from thermal waters that rose through the sediments of the Wishart shelf and discharged into suprajacent seawater. A biogenic origin is unlikely in view of the lack of appropriate organisms during the Early Proterozoic and the rapidity with which the cements formed. A volcanogenic origin is unlikely because volcaniclastic textures are plentiful in associated formations but absent from the Wishart. Precipitation induced by evaporative concentration is unlikely in view of the widespread evidence of tidal currents and the lack of evidence of desiccation in the Wishart. Finally, the cherts are not restricted to the lowest-energy facies, and therefore they presumably did not accumulate as a background sediment. Deposition of silica above the sediment/water interface was probably made possible by ambient concentrations of silica that were significantly higher than those of Phanerozoic seawater. Cherts with similar textures occur in other Early Proterozoic sediments, most notably arenitic or granular iron-formations.


This paper investigates the issue of fairness in IEEE 802.11-based multirate wireless local area networks (WLANs). Distributed coordination function, which is the medium-access control (MAC) protocol used in 802.11 WLANs, provides equal long-term channel access probability to competing stations, irrespective of the time required in sending a frame. When equal-sized frames are used and channel conditions are similar, each station, regardless of its data rate, achieves the same throughput. Furthermore, the aggregate throughput is reduced to a level much closer to what one gets when all stations are of lower rate. This anomaly in the performance is a result of unfair channel time allocation for stations when they use multiple data rates. We consider provisioning of time-based fairness in which each station receives an equal share of the wireless channel occupancy time. We demonstrate that under time-based fairness, the throughput that a tagged node achieves in a multirate WLAN with nodes is identical to what it would achieve in a single-rate WLAN with nodes all at the same data rate as the tagged node. Furthermore, we show that under time-based fairness scheme, the ratio of throughputs per station corresponding to two different bit rates is directly proportional to the ratio of their bit rates. We analyze different mechanisms in achieving time-based fairness by using an analytical model. Using Jain's fairness index, optimal MAC parameters required in achieving maximum fairness between slow and fast stations are obtained. The impacts of these mechanisms on throughput of slow and fast stations are explored. We also consider the notion of proportional fairness in a multirate scenario and prove that it is equivalent to fair channel time allocation. Last, our investigation of an alternative fairness criterion also leads us to propose that the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol should be redesigned with temporal fairness as a design objective in avoiding inefficiencies related to the performance anomaly.


COMET is based on an incident flux response expansion method in which nuclear reactor core heterogeneities are explicitly modeled without any spatial homogenization. The method/code performs steady state criticality analysis in water reactors (BWR, PWR and CANDU) as well as prismatic reactor cores typical of fast and thermal gas and liquid metal cores. The method consists of local transport calculations of response functions, a two-level sweeping technique to determine the global eigenvalue and construction of the global fuel pin-power distribution. A stochastic neutron transport method pre-calculates local response expansion coefficients for each unique assembly/block. The use of the stochastic method for computation of the local response functions allows the heterogeneity and geometric complexity of fuel assemblies typical of any reactor to be fully modeled without using homogenized cross sections. Extensive benchmarking work in prismatic fast and thermal reactors as well as operating water reactors (BWR, CANDU and PWR) has demonstrated that COMET has similar accuracy and geometric flexibility as the stochastic method while having computational efficiency that is significantly (2-3 orders of magnitude) faster than conventional fine mesh deterministic transport and whole core stochastic methods. For example, the COMET method has been shown to accurately perform steady state (criticality) analysis in stylized 3-dimensional water reactor cores typical of BWR, PWR, and CANDU. In these cases, COMET determined the eigenvalue of each core with an error on the order of less than 100 pcm from the benchmark Monte Carlo solution, and the normalized pin fission density with an average error of less than 1%. These accurate results have been achieved regardless of the reactor core type and geometry.
In this work, we will describe the latest advancements in the COMET method and demonstrate its computational efficiency and accuracy by comparing its results to those of a direct stochastic reference method for calculating the fuel temperature reactivity coefficient and control rod worth in a new integral inherently safe light water (I2S-LWR) reactor concept. The demonstration will highlight the capability of COMET to accurately calculate reactivity coefficient and control rod worth in addition to providing a detailed solution in the whole reactor core, including individual fuel pin power distribution, in a short period of time without requiring supercomputing resources as is the case with any other neutron transport method/code.


To determine the immunological role played by interleukin (IL)-12 family members in Trypanosoma congolense infection, IL-12p35(-/-), IL-12p40(-/-), and IL-12p35(-/-)/p40(-/-) mice were used. While the latter 2 strains lack all IL-12 homologues, IL-12p35(-/-) mice still produce IL-12p80 homodimers and IL-23. Compared with wild-type mice, all infected IL-12-deficient mouse strains showed prolonged survival, whereas parasitemia levels were unaltered. Interferon (IFN)-gamma production in IL-12-deficient mice was strikingly reduced during the acute and chronic stages of infection, coinciding with significantly reduced chronic-stage hepatocellular damage, as demonstrated by histological analysis and plasma aspartate transaminase measurements. In contrast, IL-10 production was not affected by the absence of IL-12. Taken together, these results show that, during T. congolense infection, the absence of IL-12, but not the IL-12p80 homodimer or IL-23, leads to a reduction in IFN-gamma production, which reduces hepatic pathology and improves host survival in conjunction with IL-10 without negatively affecting parasitemia control.


Palmyra palm (BorassusflabelliferL.), is one of the palm trees highly associated with farmers in agro-forestry system in Indonesia. About 28,068 farmers cultivated 9,355 hectares of palmyra palm in East Java, Indonesia. Two regions which have highest palmyra palm in East Java are Sumenep in Madura islands and Tuban in East java mainland with production areas of about 5,535.70and 1,832.45 hectares respectively. Pasuruan has special and well-known fresh palmyra palm sap, but there is scarcity of data on the number of plants or areas planted. However, development of industries at the area has displaced a large number of palmyras due to land use change.Field surveys were carried out at Gunungsari village, Beji district in Pasuruan, a single village of palmyra in Pasuruan; in the districtsofSemanding and Palang in Tuban, and three districts,Pragaan, Lenteng, and Dungkek in Sumenep. One or two villages in Tuban and Sumenep were selected based on information from local official governments. A total of 180 palmyra farmers comprising of 30 farmers from each study district were interviewed. The interview solicited several information including the use of palmyra plant parts such as leaves, fruits, sap, trunks and other parts. Results of the study showed that there were several differences in the uses of palmyra palm plant parts across three regions in East Java. Uses of leaves, fruits, sap, trunks and other parts of palmyra palm varied in each region both on the type of use and on the percentage of each use. The differences maybe as a result of different cultural characteristics of regions and populations studied. For instance, farmers in Pasuruan and Tubanuse almost all plant parts just like those in East java mainland, and both regions have massive industrial development. Farmers in Sumenep, Maduradifferedmostlyin their use of almost all parts of palmyra plant, especially leaves and sap. Leaves and sap appeared as most used parts in the three regions and have more commercial value than other parts. Uses of plant parts as traditional medicine and processed fruits seemed comparatively low in all the three regions. Based on the differences in characteristics of the utilization of plant parts in three regions of East Java, it appears that Pasuruan is superior in fresh sap; Tuban in fresh fruits and Sumenep Madura with jaggery and palmyra leaf weaving products and raw leaves.