This book is an overview of society in the information age using some examples from Ireland as well as the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries. It is presented as a polemic against uncritical and utopian technological determinism. The 10 chapters of the book are clustered around 5 themes. In Chapter 1, Komito presents his thesis: The "information society" is neither monolithic (which he equates with following the path of the United States) nor an inevitable result of the digital revolution. The next two chapters introduce the basic concepts of information processing and computing by taking the reader on a journey through information processing in animals and humans, nonverbal communication, writing, printing, and various precomputer information technologies leading to the history of computing and an introduction to the concept of technological determinism. The third theme of the book appears in Chapters 4 and 5, in which Komito analyzes the concepts of "information economy" and "postindustrial society" and questions the existence of an "information society." The next theme of the book appears in Chapters 6, 7, and 8. In these chapters Komito discusses regulation, politics, and policy. He links new information and communication technology (ICT) to e-government, freedom of information, censorship, data protection, political participation, information-age work practices, and the digital divide. The final theme of the book, in Chapters 9 and 10, acknowledges that an "information society" does exist and considers the implications for individuals, communities, and cultures. This book strives to address a very broad audience, from the technological neophyte to the sophisticated technological critic. On the one hand, the in-depth discussion of the history of information and ICT in Chapters 2 and 3 suggests that the audience is the university student or general reader. On the other hand, the absence of detailed explanation and documentation of the technological deterministic stance suggests that the reader is assumed to be one who is already familiar with this intellectual debate. On balance, I think the best audience for this book is the 21st-century university student who uncritically assumes a single, inevitable path of technological evolution. Thus, this book could be required reading in a social study of technology course. However, I wish Komito had painted the picture of the "deterministic enemy" in finer detail. The book contains many contestable statements that are not defended by either evidence or logical development. The challenge of an overview book is always how to manage the absence of detail on any one topic. But for a book such as this, ensuring sufficient evidence to support the arguments is particularly challenging. Komoto makes strong statements against technological determinism. I would have preferred that he present the technological determinist view and its apologists before mounting his own attack. For example, I would have liked to have seen the citations to those scholars who believe that information and communications technology (ICT) linked with the information society is a force external to society and beyond its control. Ireland is used as a setting to exemplify information society issues, but so are the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries. As one who has been following—since the 1980s—the sociocultural factors that both motivated and were changed by the creation of an information economy in Ireland (Trauth, 2000), I think this country could have been a fascinating setting for Komito to use in developing his arguments in Chapters 4 and 5. On the face of it, one could draw the conclusion that the transformation of Irish society and economy in the latter half of the 20th century was a direct and inevitable result of the introduction of ICT (in the forms of first electronics manufacturing and offshore data processing, and then software development work). There is concrete evidence


We consider performance modeling of yield learning in semiconductor manufacturing. Attention is restricted to the learning of defect reduction in the wafer fabrication stage of IC production. The performance measures of primary interest are the rate of yield improvement and the return on investment for defect reduction strategies. Based on the inputs from fabs, we describe the defect reduction process and learning cycle, and model it to optimize the economic benefits of fast yield improvement. Potential approaches to analyze the model are proposed. We discuss the impact of resources deployed for yield learning on fab performance.


As the internet usage in Indonesia keep growing rapidly, it creates big opportunities for apparel online shops owner to market their products through many popular online media, especially Instagram. However, many online shop owners have no clue how to market their apparel product effectively via Instagram. Therefore, this research created to analyze the factors that can influence the customers' purchase intention. Those factors are Utilitarian Value of Internet Information Search, Hedonic Value of Internet Information Search, Perceived Benefits of Internet Shopping, Perceived Risk of Internet Shopping, and Online Purchase Experience as the predictors. In addition, realizing the importance of information search as main consideration in purchasing decision, researcher also analyze the use of Online Search Intention as the mediating variable between this relationship. This research conducted by spread questionnaires to 114 apparel online shoppers and analyzed using Path and Sobel analysis. The result of this research shows only Utilitarian Value of Internet Information Search, Hedonic Value of Internet Information Search, and Online Purchase Experience are significant predictors of Online Purchase Intention. In addition, the Sobel test showed that Online Search Intention is not a significant mediating variable in this research. Keywords: Utilitarian Value, Hedonic Value, Perceived Benefit, Perceived Risk, and Purchase Experience


This paper investigates how institutional and macroeconomic factors influence the profit efficiency frontier of Russian banks. We demonstrate that the macroeconomic environment is crucial for constructing the profit frontier. The cargo transportation index, exchange rate, and intermediation ratio have a positive relationship with this efficiency frontier while the share of loan loss provision in the loan portfolio is negatively associated with it. In addition, we find that such institutional determinants as a bank's location, branch network diversity, and ownership type matter for constructing this frontier.


During the last decade the academic world is continuously capitalizing on the use of Internet and web-based learning solutions, because of the simplicity and immediacy in creating, organizing and managing educational material and student data. However, the delivery of educational content to the end-user is characterized by visual presentation and the requirement of some sort of access either wired or wireless to the Internet, which blocks visually impaired individuals or people who don't have access to the Internet in one way or another from accessing educational content. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of the Internet Telephony Learning System (TELS). Besides all other, TELS exploits mature Internet/ web standards and the most popular communication mean in the world, the telephone, to provide audio interactivity between an otherwise traditional web application and the end-user. Unlike other similar applications, TELS does not need any special software or hardware to be accessed and since it is an open source traditional web application it can be custom-tailored to the individual needs of each institution. Since it is accessible to almost every communication device, we argue that it is useful for visually impaired, technologically uneducated, and underprivileged people for accessing information originally intended to be accessed visually via a Personal Computer.


We study the spontaneous motion, binary collisions, and collective dynamics of "polar disks", i.e. specially designed particles which, when vibrated between two horizontal plates, move coherently along a direction strongly correlated to their intrinsic polarity. The motion of our particles, although nominally three-dimensional and complicated, is well accounted for by a two-dimensional persistent random walk. Their binary collisions are spatiotemporally extended events during which multiple actual collisions happen, yielding a weak average effective alignment. We show that this well-controlled, "dry active matter" system can display collective motion with orientationally-ordered regions of the order of the system size. We provide evidence of strong number density fluctuations in the most ordered regimes observed. These results are discussed in the light of the limitations of our system, notably those due to the inevitable presence of walls.


We implemented a statistical model into our protein interaction database for validation of two-hybrid assays of Helicobacter pylori, and prediction of putative protein interactions not yet discovered experimentally. To present the enormous amount of experimental and inferred protein interaction networking maps, the H.pylori Database of Protein Interactomes (hp-DPI) is developed with a succinct yet comprehensive visualization tool integrated with annotation from Genbank, GO, and KEGG. hp-DPI is first built with, but not limited to, H.pylori protein interactions and is expected to naturally include other organisms' protein interacting relationships in the future.


Dutch children temporarily use a possessor se construction with proper/kinship names and pronouns, like dit is Laura-se/opa-se/hem-se jas ('this is Laura's/grandpa's/his coat'). The se possessive is not available in standard Dutch, although examples of it are found on the internet. The se possessive is fully productive with all nouns in Afrikaans.
In standard Dutch prenominal possessive constructions show a wide range of variations and restrictions. Dutch children avoid the complexity of the system, but what makes the children apply the se possessive in the first place? I will show that it is due to three properties specific to Dutch. Nevertheless, the se possessive does not persist in standard Dutch as it did in Afrikaans. The Dutch Achilles' heel might be the early use of weak possessive pronouns.


Background: Alcohol abuse is one of the major causes of death and disability globally; and a key risk factor for health, social, and economic problems in the communities. Consumption of alcohol by Indians has increased drastically due to various factors and in an unrestricted manner; and the age of initiation of drinking is progressively coming down. Objective: To determine the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients coming for treatment of alcohol dependence syndrome in the psychiatry department. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 male outpatients of alcohol dependence syndrome attending the department of psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital. Sociodemographic data and clinical details were recorded with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Nuclear family, family history of alcoholism, unmarried status, higher educational level, unemployment, and peer pressure are the factors significantly associated with early age at first drink and age of dependence on alcohol (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adolescents having a family history of alcoholism are a high-risk group for developing alcohol dependence and should be targeted for intervention strategies. Community based-longitudinal studies are needed to understand multiple factors influencing alcohol use and recommend targeted preventive measures.
Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol dependence syndrome, Peer pressure, Intoxication, Socio-demographic factors


Hip Hop culture in São Paulo (Brazil) and Lisbon (Portugal) is characterized as a social practice that enables greater visibility and assists in identity formation amongst the younger residents of impoverished urban neighbourhoods, often young blacks. Here the hip-hop helps to generate new understandings of self, reduces social stigma and as such, provides an effective tool in the fight against racism and other forms of discrimination and exclusion.
How these individuals define and represent themselves socially? How do they define their representations and practices? What is the impact of such actions in local benefiting communities? The purpose of this work is focused how the young people in São Paulo and Lisbon appropriate of the hip-hop culture in them collective actions, which it will lead them to seek conceptual framework that could direct us to a critical reflection on issues of "belonging", "tradition", "rupture" and "continuity".


Bidduth, Syed, and Samar were dishonorably deported from South Korea about fifteen years ago while they were protesting for the rights of undocumented migrant workers. Since returning to their home countries, Bangladesh and Nepal, they have been practicing modes of solidarity that they learned during the years of struggle. Still, We Are Migrant Workers is a documentary film made to record their personal history, will, and current political projects. This is an interview about the historical background of labor migration in Korea, the struggles of the characters in the film, and the alternatives they have been pursuing in the wake of their deportations.


This essay investigates Emily Dickinson's depictions of Asia by looking at the notion of material, especially narcotic, consumption in five of her poems. Although she rarely travelled, her Asiatic landscape oscillates between literary Orientalism, sensationalist reportage, and patriotic commentaries to account for the geopolitical contestation between Asia, Europe, and the United States. The relationship between the East and the West in the mid-nineteenth century was punctuated by several international encounters, such as the Anglo-Sino Opium Wars and Sino- American peace treaties. These poems of Asian representation, with their focus on the intricate relationship between possession and consumption, especially as seen through the Western employment of Asian workers and consumption of Asian material and cultural goods, reflect Dickinson's deeper understanding of the transglobal interchange of her time. The paper looks at how her Boston Chinese Museum experience, in which opium consumption featured prominently, might have influenced Asiatic representation in her poems. It also examines the depictions of Chinese immigrants in the American West by Dickinson's correspondents, such as Samuel Bowles and Helen Hunt Jackson, to see how they provide a fertile ground for Dickinson to conceive her Asiatic landscapes. By exploring how the social and cultural portrayals of Asia are adopted and appropriated in these poems, the essay suggests that they indicate Dickinson's consistent engagement with an emerging consumer society in America that involved a transglobal circle of production and consumption, and her poems expose its problematic process that promoted international exchange but did not necessarily guarantee equality, progress or liberty. Furthermore, Dickinson's positioning of the United States between the old worlds of Asia and Europe implies her early receptiveness to the patriotic discourses of her time, and her later, more reflective stance on United States culture. Her Asian "consumption" in these poems, particularly her association of Asia with consumerism and narcotic consumption, simultaneously evokes and unsettles the intended control of contemporary Orientalist discourses concerning the racial other.


Concussions have always been common in sports, but the awareness and associated diagnosis of the condition have been trending upward, gaining significant attention through medical literature, news media, and entertainment. Concussion management in the collegiate athlete is of specific concern, as over 460,000 young adults compete in collegiate athletics annually. The NCAA and other groups have strived to provide consensus guidelines, but many student-athletes still are not being managed as recommended. The return to play process should begin only after a student-athlete is symptom free and has returned to his or her baseline functioning. Return to play should follow a progressive, stepwise approach, using uniform steps that have been established through association recommendations. Returning to academics, or return to learn, often proves to be more challenging, as this process requires a multidisciplinary approach involving academic and administrative representatives in addition to the medical team. As further scientific evidence comes out, is it imperative that professionals providing concussion care remain up-to-date on this ever-evolving topic.


A "green" protocol was used for the rapid generation of nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) particles using tea polyphenols. The NZVI particles were subsequently examined for in vitro biocompatibility using the human keratinocyte cell (HaCaT) line as a representative skin exposure model. The cells were exposed to NZVI for time periods of 24 and 48 h. Biocompatibility was assessed using the methyl tetrazolium, or MTS, (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium)) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays to determine in vitro cytotoxicity. The evaluation of mitochondrial function (MTS) and membrane integrity (LDH) in human keratinocytes showed that these "green" synthesized NZVI particles were nontoxic in the human keratinocytes exposed when compared with control samples synthesized using a borohydride protocol. In fact, in most cases, these "green" nanoparticles induced a prolific response in the cellular function even at the highest concentration (100μg ml−1).


We consider the problem of routing in delay tolerant networks deployed in developing regions. Although these environments experience intermittent connectivity (hence the desire to use DTN), in many cases the topology has an underlying stability that we can exploit when designing routing protocols. By making small, yet critical, modifications to classical link state routing, we derive a more effective algorithm capable of leveraging predictions of future link uptimes. We describe a complete and fully-implemented protocol, capable of being deployed in the DTN reference implementation without modification. Using a simulation incorporating real-world network characteristics, we demonstrate that our system operates effectively when conventional routing and forwarding may fail.


A computerized prospective audit was conducted of 500 intestinal anastomoses constructed in 470 operations on 461 consecutive patients between 1 January 1986 and 16 November 1990. All anastomoses were constructed by an open extramucosal method, emphasizing the avoidance of sutures through mucosa and avoiding the use of intestinal clamps. There were 214 men and 247 women, with a median age of 66 years. Clinical anastomotic leakage was detected from 11 (2.2 per cent) of 500 anastomoses. There were 18 (3.8 per cent) deaths resulting from the 470 operations, but only two (0.4 per cent) were associated with anastomotic leakage, which was not the direct cause of death in either. Peritonitis occurred as a consequence of leakage in two (8 per cent) of 26 resections for Crohn's disease, but the patients survived after reoperation. The single‐layer extramucosal technique is probably the safest method available for intestinal suture.


A karyotype 46,XY,20q-(q13 leads to qter) was found in an infant with severe mental deficiency, epilepsy, and the following dysmorphic features : upward slanting palpebral fissures, hypoplastic nasal bridge, bulbous nose, long philtrum, microretrognathia, and aplasia of the middle phalanx of fingers and toes. Adenosine deaminase activity was within the hemizygous range, permitting regional assignment of the ADA locus to 20q13 leads to qter.


The design and experimental characterization of a wireless infrared fast frequency hopping spread spectrum (WIR-FFH-SS) system is presented. The use of spread spectrum techniques on wireless infrared indoor communications reduces the effect of interference present in the infrared channel. It also improves the system performance versus multipath propagation. The use of FH-SS techniques allow the use of code division multiple access (CDMA) strategies for sharing the channel. We have developed and tested a prototype with a bit rate of 1 Mb/s, but it can be easily raised to 4 Mb/s. We also present some results on a simplified synchronization structure for use with reduced-cost domestic equipment. These systems are suitable for different applications at low and medium rates.


Helicobacter pylori is a highly successful bacterium with a high global prevalence and the infection carries significant disease burden. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to eradicate and the main reason for this is growing primary antibiotic resistance rates in a world where antibiotics are frequently prescribed and readily available. Despite knowing much more about the bacterium since its discovery, such as its genomic makeup and pathogenesis, we have seen declining treatment success. Therefore, clinicians today must be prepared to face one, two or even multiple treatment failures, and should be equipped with sufficient knowledge to decide on the appropriate salvage therapy when this happens. This article discusses the factors contributing to treatment failure and reviews the second and third-line treatment strategies that have been investigated. Established empiric second line treatment options include both bismuth based quadruple therapy and levofloxacin based triple therapy. Antibiotic testing is recommended prior to initiating third line treatment. In the event that antibiotic susceptibility testing is unavailable, third line treatment options include rifabutin, rifaximin and sitafloxacin based therapies.


Time-varying channel and dc-offset estimation using superimposed training and first-order statistics are considered. A weighted first-order statistics-based estimator using complex exponential basis expansion model (CE-BEM) is proposed, which explicitly exploits the cyclostationary characteristic of periodic training sequence and extends to time-varying channel estimation. By subtracting the cyclic mean from each data block, only partial unknown data interference is removed to make a tradeoff between interference cancellation and symbol recovery. A theoretical performance analysis is presented. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme has low computational complexity and exhibits good performance in terms of the symbol error rate.


The Golgi lumen is the site of many different glycosylation events, including cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis and lipid glycosylation. Transporters are necessary for the import of the substrates required for glycosylation (nucleotide sugars) from the cytosol where they are synthesized. Plants use four GDP-linked sugars to glycosylate macromolecules: GDP-L-Fucose, GDP-D-Mannose, GDP-L-Galactose and GDP-D-Glucose. Of the predicted fifty-one members of the nucleotide sugar transporter/triose phosphate transporter family in Arabidopsis, only four appear to contain the conserved motif needed for the transport of GDP-linked sugars, GOLGI LOCALIZED NUCLEOTIDE SUGAR TRANSPORTER (GONST) 1-4. Previously, we have demonstrated that GONST1 provides GDP-D-Mannose for glycosylation of a class of sphingolipids, the glycosylinositolphosphorylceramides (GIPCs). Here, we characterize its closest homologue, GONST2, and conclude that it also specifically provides substrate for GIPC glycosylation. Expression of GONST2 driven by the GONST1 promoter is able to rescue the severe growth phenotype of gonst1. Loss of GONST2 exacerbates the gonst1 constitutive hypersensitive response, as well as the reduced cell wall cellulose content. The gonst2 mutant grows normally under standard conditions, but has enhanced resistance to the powdery mildew-causing fungus Golovinomyces orontii.


Physiomics and Pharmacometrics have collaborated to design a new database of anti-cancer drugs and therapeutic treatment information. The objective is to provide a database of anti-neoplastic agents, regimens and combinations for use by clinicians and researchers in oncology. The drugCARD database, accessible through the web, offers data on more than 130 anti-cancer drugs (small molecules and biologics) used in research and in the clinic. It contains information on drug combinations as well as several hundreds of cancer chemotherapy regimens used routinely in the clinic. The data are classified according to tumour type, species and experimental system (in vitro or in vivo). This database will be regularly expanded and curated with the most current information. Individual drug information contained within the database comprises pharmacokinetic profiles, mechanisms of action and resistance, dose-response effect, dosing limits, therapeutic index and immunosuppression data. Drug combinations are also referenced. The database covers synergy or antagonism, and includes the combination therapeutic index and cross-resistance information. Drug combinations where the level of synergy is dependent upon the drug schedule, drug sequence or administration timing are also referenced and thoroughly discussed. The user can browse and compare chemotherapeutic regimens, and analyse the overall drug dose over a course of treatment, by tumour type, in animal and clinical models. Moreover, the database enables users to design new combinations and regimens that obey dosing constraints (such as MLD and MTD), and can be used to determine drug candidates that could be combined with a new chemical or biological entity, given the respective mechanisms of action and other PK/PD data. Data can be exported for analysis in spreadsheets, modelling software or simulation packages. Advanced functions will include the ability to carry out statistical analysis on drug usage and dosing in various contexts. Finally, the database allows the expression and nomenclature of chemotherapy regimens to be standardized, which is of paramount importance in improving efficacy, as well as reducing medication errors (Kohler et al 1998). Citation Format: Eric Fernandez, Jianxiong Pang, Chris Snell, Cathy Derow, Frances Brightman, Christophe Chassagnole, Robert Jackson. drugCARD: a database of anticancer treatment regimens and drug combinations. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5147. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5147


* The work of Dr. Transue on this paper was done with the financial aid of the Office of Naval Research. Banach, S., Th&orie des Operations Lineaires, Warsaw, 1932. Fubini, G., "Sugli integrali multipli," Atti accad. naz. Lincei, Rend., 16 (1907). Hobson, E. W., The Theory of Functions of a Real Variable, Vol. I, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1927. Morse, M., and Transue, W: (1) "Functionals of Bounded Frechet Variation," Can. J. Math., I (1949); (2) "Functionals F Bilinear Over the Product A X B of Two p-Normed Vector Spaces. I. The Representation of F," Ann. Math., 50 (1949); (3) "Functionals F Bilinear Over the Product A X B of Two p-Normed Vector Spaces. II. Admissible Spaces A" (to be published). Saks, S., Theory of the Integral, Warsaw-Lwow, 1937. Tonelli, L., "Sull'integrazione per parti," Atti accad. naz. Lincei, 5, 18 (1909).


Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies are rapidly growing for the treatment of various diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders. Many mAb drug products are sold as prefilled syringes and vials with liquid formulations. Typically, the walls of prefilled syringes are coated with silicone oil to lubricate the surfaces during use. MAbs are surface-active and adsorb to these silicone oil-solution interfaces, which is a potential source of aggregation. We studied formulations containing two different antibodies, mAb1 and mAb2, where mAb1 aggregated more when agitated in the presence of an oil-water interface. This directly correlated with differences in surface activity of the mAbs, studied with interfacial tension, surface mass adsorption, and interfacial rheology. The difference in interfacial properties between the mAbs was further reinforced in the coalescence behavior of oil droplets laden with mAbs. We also looked at the efficacy of surfactants, typically added to stabilize mAb formulations, in lowering adsorption and aggregation of mAbs at oil-water interfaces. We showed the differences between poloxamer-188 and polysorbate-20 in competing with mAbs for adsorption to interfaces and in lowering particulate and overall aggregation. Our results establish a direct correspondence between the adsorption of mAbs at oil-water interfaces and aggregation and the effect of surfactants in lowering aggregation by competitively adsorbing to these interfaces.


This study is about road structure that forms the frame of the spatial structure of traditional villages. Physical analysis of road structure is the most desirable means to understand the thoughts and philosophies of village founders. Thus, based on four stage road hierarchy suggested in previous researches, this study analyzed road structure in terms of cultural social variables and physical variables. According to the results of this study, first, the outer road, which link. a village to another village, were mainly constructed over the opposing mountain (the mountain in front of the village) on the opposite side of the guardian mountain (the mountain in the rear of the village). Second, the approaching road had different functions according to exposure and time. Third, the concepts of front and rear in Sung-Confucianism were also observed in road structure. Fourth, road structure inside a village conformed to the natural landform. Summing up the results of analyzing road structure according to the location characteristic of traditional villages, it was found that the road structure of villages had been influenced by the location characteristic of the village, historical changes, and ruling ideologies.


We study differentially private (DP) machine learning algorithms as instances of noisy fixed-point iterations, in order to derive privacy and utility results from this well-studied framework. We show that this new perspective recovers popular private gradient-based methods like DP-SGD and provides a principled way to design and analyze new private optimization algorithms in a flexible manner. Focusing on the widely-used Alternating Directions Method of Multipliers (ADMM) method, we use our general framework to derive novel private ADMM algorithms for centralized, federated and fully decentralized learning. For these three algorithms, we establish strong privacy guarantees leveraging privacy amplification by iteration and by subsampling. Finally, we provide utility guarantees using a unified analysis that exploits a recent linear convergence result for noisy fixed-point iterations.


Abstract Process capability indices have been widely used in the manufacturing industry providing numerical measures on process performance. The index Cp provides measures on process precision (or product consistency). The index Cpm, sometimes called the Taguchi index, meditates on process centring ability and process loss. Most research work related to Cp and Cpm assumes no gauge measurement errors. This assumption insufficiently reflects real situations even with highly advanced measuring instruments. Conclusions drawn from process capability analysis are therefore unreliable and misleading. In this paper, we conduct sensitivity investigation on process capability Cp and Cpm in the presence of gauge measurement errors. Due to the randomness of variations in the data, we consider capability testing for Cp and Cpm to obtain lower confidence bounds and critical values for true process capability when gauge measurement errors are unavoidable. The results show that the estimator with sample data contaminated by the measurement errors severely underestimates the true capability, resulting in imperceptible smaller test power. To obtain the true process capability, adjusted confidence bounds and critical values are presented to practitioners for their factory applications.


Background: KSP is a mitotic kinesin essential for cell cycle progression. SB-743921 (SB-921), a selective KSP inhibitor, blocks mitotic spindle assembly with cell cycle arrest in mitosis and cell death. Since neurons lack a mitotic spindle, neurotoxicty, common with anti-tubulins, is not expected. In the first-in-humans (FIH) trial, the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was 4 mg/m2 q21 days (d), a dose density of 0.2 mg/m2/d. Since neutropenia was the major dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), with nadir at ~d8 and recovery by ~d15, a q14d schedule without (−GCSF) and with prophylactic G-CSF (+GCSF) is being explored in this trial. Methods: In Phase I of this Phase I/II trial, the MTD of SB-921 (−GCSF) and (+GCSF) will be determined. In Phase II, efficacy and safety of the MTD will be further explored. Eligible patients (pts) have relapsed or refractory Hodgkin (HL) or non-Hodgkin (NHL) lymphoma, aggressive (a) or indolent (i), have had at least 1 prior chemotherapy (CT) regimen, and have relapsed after or were not candidates for autologous stem cell transplant. SB-921 is given to cohorts of 3 on d1/d15 q28d, starting at 2 mg/m2 and escalating by 1 mg/m2. Cohorts expand to 6 if 1/3 pts have DLT. Once DLT (−GCSF) is identified, (+GCSF) dosing begins at the (−GCSF) MTD, escalating in 1 mg/m2 increments until (+GCSF) DLT is identified. Results: The (−GCSF) cohort included 39 pts treated at 6 dose levels (2–7 mg/m2) of SB-921. DLT was reported in 4 pts: 2/10 at 6 mg/m2 (both neutropenia with sepsis) and 2/7 at 7 mg/m2 (both Grade 4 neutropenia lasting >5d). MTD (−GCSF) was 6 mg/m2. Ten pts have been treated with SB-921 (+GCSF) at 6 (n=4), 7 (n=3) and 8 (n=3) mg/m2, with no DLT. Enrollment at 9 mg/m2 is ongoing. Among the first 39 pts treated with SB-921 (−GCSF), mean age was 47 yr, 49% were male, histology was 46% HL, 28% aNHL, and 26% iNHL, 67% had ≥3 prior CT regimens. The most common Grade 3/4 adverse event (AE) was neutropenia (42% of pts treated at or above MTD). Other Grade 3/4 AEs were uncommon. No neuropathy or alopecia >Grade 1 was reported. Demographics and AEs in the (+GCSF) cohort are similar with less Grade 3/4 neutropenia. Two partial responses (PRs) have been reported, both in elderly pts with HL, 1 at 6 mg/m2 (−GCSF) after 2 cycles and 1 at 8 mg/m2 (+GCSF) after 2 cycles. Conclusions: The MTD of SB-921 (−GCSF) on a d1/d15 q28d schedule was 6 mg/m2 (dose density = 0.42 mg/m2/d). The current MTD (+GCSF) is ≥8 mg/m2 and dose escalation is continuing. This dose density (0.57 mg/m2/d) is nearly 3-fold higher than observed in the FIH trial with a q21d schedule (0.2 mg/m2/d). SB-921 is well tolerated with few Grade 3/4 AEs other than hematologic. Activity has been observed in HL, with 2 PRs at doses ≥ the (−GCSF) MTD.


Basal activity of L-cysteine arylamidase, an LH-RH-degrading enzyme, was determined in the hypothalamus of rats at 4 h intervals throughout the 4-day estrus cycle. The activity of the enzyme system fluctuated during the four estrus stages in a circadian rhythm with maximal values in the night and lowest values at noon. The injection of increasing doses of estradiol-17 beta at various estrus stages caused a moderate stimulation of enzyme activity with no relationship to endogenous hormone levels or estrus stage. The highest activation of the hypothalamic enzyme in response to the application of progesterone occurred at such periods of the cycle when endogenous plasma progesterone is known to be low, and vice versa. When luteinizing hormone or prostaglandin E2 were injected i. v. during the various estrus stages maximal stimulation could be observed at diestrus. The LH-RH-degrading L-cystine arylamidase in the hypothalamus of the rat seems to play a modulating role in the regulation of the tonic LH release during the estrus cycle, but apparently does not influence the events governing the preovulatory LH-peak.


Stochastic linear quadratic control problems are considered from the viewpoint of risks. In particular, a worst-case conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) of quadratic objective function is minimized subject to additive disturbances whose first two moments of the distribution are known. The study focuses on three problems of finding the optimal feedback gain that minimizes the quadratic cost of: stationary distribution, one-step, and infinite time horizon. For the stationary distribution problem, it is proved that the optimal control gain that minimizes the worst-case CVaR of the quadratic cost is equivalent to that of the standard (stochastic) linear quadratic regulator. For the one-step problem, an approach to an optimal solution as well as analytical suboptimal solutions are presented. For the infinite time horizon problem, two suboptimal solutions that bound the optimal solution and an approach to an optimal solution for a special case are discussed. The presented theorems are illustrated with numerical examples.


A model reference adaptive control (MRAC)-based current control scheme of a PM synchronous motor with an improved servo performance is presented. Although the predictive current control is known to give ideal transient and steady-state responses among various PWM inverter-fed current control schemes for a PM synchronous motor, its steady-state response may be degraded under the motor parameter variations. To overcome such a limitation, the disturbances caused by the parameter variations will be estimated using an MRAC technique and compensated by a feedforward manner. Thus, the steady-state control performance can be effectively improved, while retaining its good dynamic performance. The proposed control scheme does not require the measurement of the phase voltage unlike the conventional disturbance estimation scheme using observer. This can be an effective way considering the phase voltage contains much harmonics as well as noise. The asymptotic stability of the overall system is proved and the adaptation laws are derived by the Lyapunov stability theory. The proposed scheme is implemented using DSP TMS320C31 and the effectiveness is verified through the comparative simulations and experiments.


Muscle disuse impairs muscle quality, and is associated with increased mortality. Little is known regarding additive effects of multiple bouts of disuse, a common occurrence in patients experiencing multiple surgeries. Mitochondrial quality is vital to muscle health and quality; however, to date mitochondrial quality control has not been investigated following multiple bouts of disuse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate mitochondrial quality controllers during multiple bouts of disuse by hindlimb unloading.

METHODS
Male rats (n~8/group) were assigned to the following groups: hindlimb unloading for 28 days, hindlimb unloading with 56 days of reloading, 2 bouts of hindlimb unloading separated by a recovery phase of 56 days of reloading, 2 bouts of hindlimb unloading and recovery after each disuse, or control animals with no unloading. At designated time points, tissues were collected for mRNA and protein analysis of mitochondrial quality.

RESULTS
Measures of mitochondrial biogenesis, such as PGC-1α, decreased 30-40% with unloading with no differences noted between unloading conditions. Measures of mitochondrial translation, were 40-50% lower in unloading conditions, with no differences noted between bouts of unloading. Measures of mitophagy were 40-50% lower with reloading, with no differences noted between reloading conditions.

CONCLUSION
Disuse causes alterations in measures of mitochondrial quality, however, multiple bouts of disuse does not appear to have additive effects. Novelty: • Disuse atrophy causes multiple alterations to mitochondrial quality control. • With sufficient recovery most detriments to mitochondrial quality control are fixed. • In general, multiple bouts of disuse do not produce additive effects.


John Gabriel Borkman and An Enemy of the People, Theatertreffen, May, 2012A Doll House, Maxim Gorki Theatre, May 4 - 21,2012The situation of professional productions of Ibsen is today totally different in America and Germany, and neither tradition can be said to be very encouraging for those who love and admire the dramatist. In major United States professional theatres, Ibsen is simply no longer done. The productions are imported from elsewhere, usually England or Australia, and these, though often well acted, are both infrequent and highly conventional. In Germany, the situation is almost reversed, but not to the advantage of Ibsen. His plays, along with those of Chekhov, Schiller, and Shakespeare, can be found in the repertoire of almost every major theatre, and it would be a rare week or month in any German city of any size where no Ibsen work could be seen. The Theatertreffen Festival in Berlin, featuring the ten productions from German-speaking Europe considered the best of the previous year, presented two Ibsen works this year. One can hardly image such a competition in America, let alone Ibsen being so prominent in it. On the other hand, these two productions are for the most part such radical reworkings that even their author would have difficulty recognizing them. I guess that I would prefer wildly distorted Ibsen to no Ibsen at all, but it is not a very attractive choice.The John Gabriel Borkman of the Norwegian Vegard Vinge and the German Ida Muller was by far the most talked-about production of the Festival and the one to which tickets were most difficult to obtain. Giving a specific review of this piece is impossible since although it is composed of a number of pre-determined elements that follow a certain sequence, these are selected, arranged and altered in different ways in different performances by the director, improvising the choices on the spot. During its earlier run, also in Berlin, at the Prater, the program was announced to run approximately seven hours, though it is reported to have run anywhere from three to twelve hours. Revived for the Theatertreffen, it was announced to average eleven hours, but usually ran a bit longer, up to sixteen hours in one case. The night I attended it was close to twelve. Since the show begins at 4:30 in the afternoon, this virtually guarantees an early morning ending. Audience members are free to come and go, and most do so, some never returning, so that most nights the original full house (the production always had a waiting list at the Theatertreffen) of around 300 had normally dwindled to 30 or less by the conclusion.This is the fourth Ibsen experiment by Vegard and Muller and their second in Berlin. Last year, also at the Prater, at the same time as the Theatertreffen but not a part of it, they offered a "theatre installation" of The Wild Duck (on which I briefly reported in last year's Ibsen News and Comment), which had many features in common with the current Borkman: cartoon-like settings and costumes; grotesque masks worn by all the characters; obsessive repetition of sequences, lines, or words; the casual mixing of Ibsen's text with all sorts of cultural, political, social, literary and pop culture references; and, above all, the extended use of time. The production was performed only once, and no one saw it all, for it ran continuously, 24 hours a day, for a full week. It was actually performed in the lobby of the Prater, the auditorium then being remodeled, and audience members could observe it from the street through windows into the lobby, under the protection of a temporary shed decorated with pop art cartoons. I do not know if a full week allowed the company to perform their work with all its variations, but I suspect not.Borkman is performed inside the Prater in a more conventional theatre space. The audience enters this space, however, after passing a smaller, enclosed stage-like area seen through peepholes which represents the office of Hinkle, Borkman's successful rival. …


The electrical and mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have a close dependence on the use of modifiers like polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), as well as on the processing techniques to disperse functional charges such as graphene-related materials into the epoxy base. In the present work, reduced graphene oxide (RGO), prepared by a natural antioxidant agent, astaxanthin, was used as a filler material in the epoxy matrix of the carbon fiber composites. The astaxanthin reduction leads to an increase in the sp2 ordering in RGO; some residual epoxy and C-O groups that enhance the interaction with the epoxy matrix remain after reduction. The effects of RGO and PVP-modified RGO (PVP-RGO) fillers with different contents (0.05, 0.1, and 0.15% wt.) on the electrical conductivity, bending properties, and dynamic mechanical properties of CFRP were investigated. The incorporation of 0.15 wt.% RGO with and without PVP-modification, leads to through-the-thickness (Z-direction testing) conductivity values 7.4 and 9.6 times higher than those of the neat composite, respectively. The conductivity tests indicate that the RGO/epoxy composite behaves as a continuous conductor due to the formation of agglomerates of RGO within the matrix, while at the added contents of the PVP-RGO filler, the composite is below the percolation threshold, then conducting by electron tunneling, due to a better dispersion of the PVP-RGO filler within the epoxy matrix. The dynamic mechanical analysis shows that the glass transition temperature is indicative of the interactions among the filler, the epoxy matrix, and the carbon fiber, that is, the PVP-RGO filler increases the chain mobility due to its higher dispersion in the matrix. While Tg of the neat epoxy/CFRP composite is 92.5°C, a minimum Tg of 88.5°C was achieved with a 0.10 % wt. PVP-RGO filler contents, and a maximum Tg of 94.5°C with a 0.15 % wt. of RGO filler amount. For constant filler content (0.15 wt.%), CFRP composite containing RGO and PVP-modified RGO exhibited 9.73% and 13.87% increase in flexural strength values, respectively, compared to the neat composite. The bending test revealed that PVP modification to RGO is beneficial to improve flexural strength of CFRP composites. Graphical Abstract


OBJECTIVE
To determine sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of routine fecal occult blood (FOB) testing on the identification of Bell's Stage II or III necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.

METHODS
Retrospective medical record review of VLBW infants from 2012- 2013 evaluating FOB results and clinical and demographic risk factors. We determined predictive values of positive FOB testing within 48 hours of definite NEC diagnosis. We performed logistic regression analyses for predictors of NEC and for predictors of having positive FOB during NICU admission.

RESULTS
The incidence of NEC in our cohort of 203 infants was 3.9% (n = 8). None had positive FOB results within 48 hours of diagnosis, and only 12.5% had any positive FOB within 7 days. Sensitivity of positive FOB for predicting definite NEC = 0%, specificity = 34.4%, and positive predictive value = 0%. A majority of VLBWs (67.0%) had > one positive FOB result during their NICU course. On logistic regression, intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) infants had significantly higher odds of both developing NEC and of having positive FOB. Positive FOB was not a significant predictor of NEC. Those with lower birth gestational ages had higher odds of positive FOB.

CONCLUSIONS
Positive FOB testing occurred in a majority of VLBW infants, with higher odds in the more preterm and IUGR. However, the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of routine FOB testing for identifying NEC were all very poor. Our data demonstrates that this test offers no advantages in the early diagnosis of NEC.


Flood inundation and retention are key hydrological characteristics of floodplain wetlands. This study developed a methodology for regional estimates of potential floodwater retention under floodplain inundation from ecologically significant flood return periods by coupling remote sensing and geographic information system technologies with spatial hydrological modelling. The Macquarie Marshes in Australia were selected as the case study area. Time series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer 8‐day composite imagery were related to peak flows (Ml day−1) of the 1‐in‐10 return period. Inundation extent in corresponding images was detected using the modified normalised difference water index (mNDWI). The potential maximum soil water retention was derived using a spatial hydrological modelling approach, which is driven by the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS CN) method. Soil and land cover data were collected and intersected to determine spatial distribution of CN using ArcGIS. The CN‐based retention capacity map was then integrated with an inundation extent map to delineate the spatial pattern of retention under inundation. The results have ecological implications in relation to the response of broad eco‐types in wetlands. This study has proved that the integration of remote sensing, geographic information system and spatial hydrologic modelling can be used to provide essential information as inputs to the management of environmental flows in terms of sustaining ecosystem function, biodiversity and habitat suitability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), which combines capture of CO2 from large stationary sources with geological storage, has emerged as an attractive option for emissions reduction. Hydrogen underground storage (HUS) is viewed as an effective strategy for storing large volumes of surplus electrical energy from renewable sources. The objective of this paper is to discuss the opportunities and challenges for adapting petroleum reservoir engineering techniques for the subsurface aspects of CCS and HUS projects based on a critical review of field projects and conceptual studies. Areas of focus include: (a) storage resource estimation, injectivity analysis from field data, dynamic reservoir modeling, and coupled flow and geomechanics for CCS, and (b) well deliverability, dynamics of fluid withdrawal and reactive transdport of hydrogen in-situ for HUS projects. Specifically, our goal is to discuss how traditional workflows for oil and gas applications have been (or could be) modified for CCS projects in deep saline formations and HUS projects in salt caverns or aquifers. We also identify specific areas where reservoir engineering practitioners can add value in CCS and HUS related reservoir analysis and modeling.


Supervising 50 patients with a diagnosis of discirculatory encephalopathy stage I (from age of 45 to 70 years), was held at clinical-neurological examination, psychodiagnostic testing, as well as following systems examination with the use of induced cognitive potentials P300. All patients in line with the standard treatment were treated with the drug «Ceraxon» with dose of 2000 mg for 10 days. The results of the study indicates an improvement in indicators of psychodiagnostic testing revealing the neurophysiological the positive dynamics of the background in the treatment.


The development of new methods for drug elution of graft material, biofiber films and resurfacing of prosthetic graft surfaces offers new opportunities for improvement of graft function in arteriovenous (AV) access. Three areas of research include developing grafts that reduce the development of neointimal hyperplasia, reducing infection and reducing thrombogenicity. The only drug eluting graft presently being used, is the heparin coated expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) graft, which has been shown to decrease the incidence of early thrombosis. New drug eluting grafts include those with paclitaxel and those with antibiotics. The development of a hybrid coated prosthetic graft that can deliver targeted gene therapies holds great promise in the field.


The assessment of external positions and exchange rates is a key mandate of the IMF. This paper presents the updated External Balance Assessment (EBA) framework—a key input in the conduct of multilaterally-consistent external sector assessments of 49 advanced and emerging market economies—following the two rounds of refinements adopted since the framework was introduced in 2012 (as described in Phillips et al., 2013). It also presents new complementary tools for shedding light on the role of structural factors in explaining external imbalances and assessing potential biases in the measurement of external positions. Remaining challenges and areas of future work are also discussed. JEL Classification Numbers: F21, F31, F32, F41, F42, G15, G18, O16, O24.


A robust minimum mean squared error (MMSE) channel estimation algorithm that does not rely on a priori knowledge of the channel statistics gives good results with MC-CDMA systems. The robust MMSE estimator takes advantages of the correlation between all Np pilot-subcarriers and requires one Np/spl times/Np matrix inversion for each pilot symbol of the burst structure. This complexity can be large depending on the number of pilot subcarriers in the system. The paper presents and analyses two low-complexity suboptimal approximations of the robust MMSE channel estimator. A complexity versus performance degradation comparison is done. The performance is presented in terms of mean square error for a 1024 tone MC-CDMA system over ETSI BRAN mobile channel models.


An experimental study was undertaken to investigate the combinational effects of angle of attack and swept angle on the boundary layer behavior of isolated swept wings. Two rectangular thin plates were attached to the wing at both the tip and the root sections to prevent the tip flow and reduce the wall boundary layer effects. And further to eliminate the wing tip vortices. Three swept wings with swept angles of 23, 33 and 40 degrees were tested. The airfoil of wings was similar to NACA 6-series airfoils. The tests were carried out at three angles of attack of -2, 0 and 2 degrees. A 46 probe rake was used to measure the velocity profile on the wing. The measurements were performed at 3 span-wise and at 3 to 5 chord-wise positions on all wings. All tests were conducted at a constant velocity of 50 m/sec corresponding to a Reynolds number of 0.8x10. The velocity on the swept wings can be decomposed to longitudinal and cross flows. The cross flow emerges due to the non-equilibrium of pressure and centrifugal forces. To balance these two forces the outer streamlines should be curved. As the streamlines approach to the wing surface, their radius of curvature decreases. So the cross flow will appear in the vicinity of the centers of curvatures. According to the results, as the angle of attack increases, the cross flow component decreases. The maximum cross flow in the present experiments was obtained at -2 degree angle of attack. The increase in the wing swept angle increases the cross flow strength on the wings. This is due to increase in the tangential component of the oncoming flow, as the wing swept angle increases. The results show that the cross flow strength is nearly constant at the quarter chord line of the wing. The power spectrum analysis showed a frequency mode of about 4 Hz for all conditions tested. This frequency seems to be associated with the cross flow instability. The amplitude of this frequency decreases as the angle of attack increases. It was also observed that the slope of the velocity profile near the surface was greater in the leading edge than that in the trailing edge. This slope showed that at sufficiently large values of x/Croot, the flow becomes turbulent.


In the Late Bronze Age, glass objects were a commodity that often served as high-value gifts exchanged between governing elites. It has been unclear whether Egypt was a site of primary glass production (raw materials were mixed to produce glass) or secondary working (ready-made glass was imported and reworked into artifacts). In her Perspective,
 Jackson
 discusses the latest evidence. She highlights the report by
 Rehren and Pusch, who provide evidence for primary glassmaking in Egypt during the 13th century B.C. This and other studies suggest that in the Late Bronze Age, Egypt was an important center for the manufacture of and trade in glass.


A simple approach to understanding probability theory and the Gaussian process is provided to allow the designer to better understand the principles of designing and evaluating digital transmission. Quantization and sampling errors in the analysis and design of digital systems were discussed. The probability of error, probability of detection, and probability of false alarms are the keys in determining the performance of the receiver. These errors are dependent on the received SNR and the type of modulation used. Error detection and correction were discussed and several approaches were examined to mitigate errors. Theory on pulsed systems, showing time and frequency domain plots, provide knowledge and insight into the design and optimization of digital transceivers.


Abstract—Vehicular communication plays a key role in near-future automotive transport, promising features such as increased traffic safety and wireless software updates. However, vehicular communication can expose drivers' locations and thus poses privacy risks. Many schemes have been proposed to protect privacy in vehicular communication, and their effectiveness is usually evaluated with privacy metrics. However, to the best of our knowledge, (1) different privacy metrics have never been compared to each other, and (2) it is unknown how strong the metrics are. In this paper, we evaluate and compare the strength of 41 privacy metrics in terms of four novel criteria: Privacy metrics should be monotonic, i.e., indicate decreasing privacy for increasing adversary strength; their values should be spread evenly over a large value range to support within-scenario comparability; and they should share a large portion of their value range between traffic conditions to support between-scenario comparability. We evaluate all four criteria on real and synthetic traffic with state-of-the-art adversary models and create a ranking of privacy metrics. Our results indicate that no single metric dominates across all criteria and traffic conditions. We therefore recommend to use metrics suites, i.e., combinations of privacy metrics, when evaluating new privacy-enhancing technologies.


Short‐lived occupational skin symptoms of irritant or urticarial nature were commonly reported among 253 attendants in a clinical study on occupational dermatitis in Danish gardeners and greenhouse workers. Aimed prick or scratch‐patch testing for immediate skin and mucosal symptoms was performed in 105 persons with plants as is. 35 persons (33%) had at least 1 positive reaction and a family history of, or personal, atopy was significantly more prevalent among these compared to attendants with negative reactions. Positive histamine release tests made immunologic etiology probable in Schlumbergera cacti, Stephanotis floribunda, Euphorbia pulcherrima and Gerbera reactions. Other new species implicated in immediate‐type reactions included Ficus pumila, Gardenia jasminoides, Hibiscus rosa‐sinensis, Campanula, Columnea, Epipremnum aureum, Pelargonium and Primula vulgaris. Because of the high prevalence of short‐lived skin symptoms and because contact urticaria may present itself as a dermatitis, it is recommended that one supplement patch tests with tests for immediate reactions.


Apoptosis is a programmed cell death, which plays a important role in normal development and the maintenance of homeostasis of a variety of tissues including cardiovascular system. Apop-1 is a novel protein that induces apoptosis of cultured smooth muscle cells. RT-PCR data showed that Apop-1 is expressed in all the organs tested. Western blotting revealed that Apop-1 protein is localised in mitochondria. Transient transfection experiment showed the apoptosis of Apop-1 can induce release of cytochrome c. The apoptosis may contribute to the loss of VSMC in atherosclerosis, which will influence the stability of atherosclerotic plaques.


Numerous studies show that pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are efficacious and effective in treating depression. Even though that is true for many people, there are some who do not respond to these therapies, whether it is because they possess characteristics that make them resistant to treatment or because the treatment is not acceptable to them. Also, there are other populations for whom research has yet to determine if guideline-level treatment is effective. People with comorbid Axis I disorders, certain minority groups, and children have been under-represented in treatment research. Future research should focus on treatment-resistant depression and special populations that have been understudied.


The transport of corrosion inhibitors in a pipeline carrying crude oil-water mixture has been studied using a transient liquid-liquid two-phase flow model. The fluid flow model (the hydrodynamic model) is based on a two-fluid model of two-phase flow. The model allows simulating the transfer of inhibitor from one phase to another (inhibitor partitioning) under steady-state and transient oil-water flow conditions. Both stratified and dispersed flow patterns can be modeled. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effects of topography of the line, locations of the inhibitor injection point, flow pattern, and partitioning of the inhibitor between the phases on the distribution of inhibitor concentration along the pipeline. The modeling can be used to predict the inhibitor volume needed to be injected (the dose rate) in order to provide the required inhibitor concentration in critical sections of crude-oil pipelines.


Leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) has been reported in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Inhibition of LRRK2 kinase activity is a therapeutic approach that may provide new treatments for PD. In this study, novel LRRK2 inhibitors were identified by performing a docking-based virtual screening (VS). Due to the absence of a crystal structure of LRRK2, homology modeling was adopted to model human LRRK2 kinase domain that binds the inhibitor. Next, a docking-based virtual screening protocol was applied to identify LRRK2 small molecule inhibitors targeting the ATP binding pocket. A total of 28 compounds were selected and subjected to LRRK2 kinase inhibition assay. As a result, two small molecules with novel skeleton, compounds LY2019-005 and LY2019-006, were identified as potential LRRK2 kinase inhibitors with the IC50 of these two compounds against the wild-type and G2019S mutant LRRK2 kinase being 424.40 ± 1.31 nM, 378.80 ± 1.20 nM and 1526.00 ± 0.87 nM, 1165.00 ± 1.18 nM, respectively. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was carried out to reveal the binding mode of the newly identified compound LY2019-005 to the LRRK2 kinase domain. The binding modes indicate that the important hydrogen bond between hinge region (such as Ala1950) and inhibitor is crucial for the inhibition activity. In summary, our study provides a highly efficient way to discover LRRK2 inhibitors, and we find two highly efficient novel LRRK2 inhibitors, which could be helpful for the development of potential drugs targeting LRRK2 in PD therapy.


The purpose of this investigation was to compare the antimicrobial properties of mouse urine and of urea against Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. Nornal urine was found to inhibit the growth of E. coli and P. mirabilis, whereas urine from diuresing animals permitted multiplication of these bacteria. Addition of urea to urine from diuresing animals restored its bactericidal effect on P. mirabilis but not on E. coli. This bactericidal effect on P. mirabilis was dependent on the additive action of high content of urea and high pH and was prevented by the addition of urease inhibitor.


The effect of preferential flow in soil pipes on nitrate retention in riparian zones is poorly understood. The characteristics of soil pipes and their influence on patterns of groundwater transport and nitrate dynamics were studied along four transects in a 1‐ to >3‐m deep layer of peat and marl overlying an oxic sand aquifer in a riparian zone in southern Ontario, Canada. The peat‐marl deposit, which consisted of several horizontal layers with large differences in bulk density, contained soil pipes that were generally 0.1 to 0.2 m in diameter and often extended vertically for 1 to >2 m. Springs that produced overland flow across the riparian area occurred at some sites where pipes extended to the peat surface. Concentrations of NO3−–N (20–30 mg L−1) and dissolved oxygen (DO) (4–6 mg L−1) observed in peat pipe systems and surface springs were similar to values in the underlying sand aquifer, indicating that preferential flow transported groundwater with limited nitrate depletion. Low NO3−–N concentrations of <5 mg L−1 and enriched δ15N values indicated that denitrification was restricted to small areas of the peat where pipes were absent. Groundwater DO concentrations declined rapidly to <2 mg L−1 in the peat matrix adjacent to pipes, whereas high NO3−–N concentrations of >15 mg L−1 extended over a larger zone. Low dissolved organic carbon values at these locations suggest that supplies of organic carbon were not sufficient to support high rates of denitrification, despite low DO conditions. These data indicate that it is important to develop a greater understanding of pipes in peat deposits, which function as sites where the transport of large fluxes of water with low biogeochemical reaction rates can limit the nitrate removal capacity of riparian zones. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The relative importance of heredity and environment in causing malformation of the heart is still uncertain. We hoped that details about the families of our patients might provide some evidence to help in this problem. After a preliminary enquiry about the families of 384 patients, most of whom had Fallot's tetralogy (Polani and Campbell, 1955), we thought it would be more useful to make our enquiries in more homogeneous groups. So far, we have covered 261 patients with persistent ductus arteriosus (Polani and Campbell, 1960) and 151 patients with coarctation of the aorta (Campbell and Polani, 1961). In this paper we are applying the same method to the families of 170 patients with atrial septal defect. We are grateful to Dr. Evan Bedford for sending out our questionnaires to about 100 consecutive patients he had seen at the Middlesex Hospital: the 94 of these who replied (Cases 1-94) and 76 of our own patients (101-176) make up this series. We think that the diagnosis is certain in practically all these, and that the defect was of the ostium secundum type in all but three. In those seen at the Middlesex, it was confirmed by cardiac catheterization or operation in all, and generally by both. In the Guy's patients it was confirmed by catheterization, necropsy, or operation in all but five, in whom there seemed no doubt about the clinical diagnosis. Several had some pulmonary hypertension, but with A.S.D. this is generally a secondary result of the defect: in seven it was severe enough to have lessened the left-to-right shunt and produced a right-to-left shunt as well.


The manipulation of bubbles and the ignition of microplasma within a 200 nL bubble at atmospheric pressure and in an inert silicone oil environment were achieved. Driven by dielectrophoresis (DEP), bubble generation, transportation, mixing, splitting, and expelling were demonstrated. This process facilitated the preparation of various bubbles with tuneable gas compositions. Different gas bubbles, including air, argon (Ar), helium (He), and Ar/He mixtures, were manipulated and ignited to the plasma state by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) within a 50 μm-high gap between parallel plates. Moving and splitting the atmospheric-pressure microplasma in different gas bubbles were achieved by DEP. The excited light of the microplasma was recorded by an optical spectrometer for the optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analyses. The characteristic peaks of air, Ar, and He were observed in the DEP-driven microplasma. With the capability to manipulate bubbles and microplasma, this platform could be used for gas analyses in the future.


The chemokine CXCL14 is a highly conserved, homeostatic chemokine that is constitutively expressed in skin epithelia. Responsible for immune cell recruitment and maturation, as well as impacting epithelial cell motility, CXCL14 contributes to the establishment of immune surveillance within normal epithelial layers. Furthermore, CXCL14 is critical to upregulating major histocompatibility complex class I expression on tumor cells. Given these important roles, CXCL14 is often dysregulated in several types of carcinomas including cervical, colorectal, endometrial, and head and neck cancers. Its disruption has been shown to limit critical antitumor immune regulation and is correlated to poor patient prognosis. However, other studies have found that in certain cancers, namely pancreatic and some breast cancers, overexpression of stromal CXCL14 correlates with poor patient survival due to increased invasiveness. Contributing to the ambiguity CXCL14 plays in cancer is that the native CXCL14 receptor remains uncharacterized, although several candidate receptors have been proposed. Despite the complexity of CXCL14 functions, it remains clear that this chemokine is a key regulatory factor in cancer and represents a potential target for future cancer immunotherapies.


Binary population synthesis calculations and associated predictions, especially event rates, are known to depend on a significant number of input model parameters with different degrees of sensitivity. At the same time, for systems with relatively low formation rates, such simulations are heavily computationally demanding, and therefore the needed explorations of the high-dimensional parameter space require major, often prohibitive, computational resources. In the present study, to better understand several key event rates involving binary evolution and binaries with two compact objects in Milky Way-like galaxies and to provide ways of reducing the computational costs of complete parameter space explorations, (1) we perform a methodical parameter study of the StarTrack population synthesis code, and (2) we develop a formalism and methodology for the derivation of multidimensional fits for event rates. We significantly generalize our earlier study, and we focus on ways of thoroughly assessing the accuracy of the fits. We anticipate that the efficient tools developed here can be applied in lieu of large-scale population calculations and will facilitate the exploration of the dependence of rate predictions on a wide range of binary evolution parameters. Such explorations can then allow one to derive the constraints on these parameters, given empirical rate constraints and accounting for fitting errors. Here we describe in detail the principles and practice behind constructing these fits, estimating their accuracy, and comparing them with observations in a manner that accounts for their errors.


I discuss some properties of spatially dependent chiral condensates, focusing on one-dimensional modulations. After briefly introducing a generic formalism for studying inhomogeneous solutions in dense quark matter, I consider a plane-wave and a sinusoidal ansatz, and discuss the relationship between their order parameters and free energies, as well as a comparison of their dispersion relations. I then introduce a real kink crystal, and discuss its relationship with the sinusoidal ansatz by performing a Fourier analysis of this kind of solution.


Abstract Medicine is expeditiously evolving, and the number of diagnostic opportunities has increased exponentially in the last decade. Electronic medical records (EMRs) have been welcomed in most institutions worldwide following an early period of suspicious behavior. Unfortunately, several cracks dictated the initial approach to hospital systems and leadership incompetency. However, the pathway for a successful decade of EMRs is paved. This narrative review illustrates some principles implementing Epic Beaker software for anatomic pathology in academic medical institutions. Implementing such software improves the diagnostic approach in the division of anatomic pathology because the pathologists can directly access an enormous amount of clinical and radiological information now at their front desk using extremely versatile windows.


Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the association of natural killer (NK) cell recovery with clinical outcomes after unmanipulated haploidentical blood and marrow transplantation. Methods: We sequentially monitored the reconstitution kinetics of circulating NK cells, CD56bright and CD56dim, in 43 patients by flow cytometry, and the functionality recovery of cytokine or cytotoxicity of NK cells by flow cytometry or LDH release assay after transplantation. Results: Reconstitution of NK cells was rapid but accompanied by skewing of cell subsets mainly in CD56bright, which had a greater growing speed. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that dose of CD34+ cells in the allografts was inversely correlated with the ratio of T/NK cells (β=−0.506, P=0.003) and CD56dim/CD56bright cell (β=−0.403, P=0.018) by day 14 after HSCT, and dose of CD3+ T cells in the allografts was also inversely correlated with the ratio CD56dim/CD56bright cells by day 14 after HSCT (β=−0.474, P=0.005). Compared with non-acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) patients, patients with aGVHD had a higher level of NK subsets during week 2 post-transplantation. Cox regression analysis revealed that the patients with more CD56bright NK cells in the recovery stage had a higher survival rate (hazard risk [HR], 0.353; p=0.019) and the patients with higher ratio of T/NK (>1.0) had a higher chance of getting aGVHD (HR, 3.889; p=0.034) and cGVHD (HR, 3.925; p=0.028). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the recovery of NK cells is and can be used as an indicator to predicate the clinical outcomes after unmanipulated haploidentical transplantation.


After a brief discussion of the experimental aspects of a kinetic investigation, the paper reviews the methodology of kinetic analysis, for both single and complex reactions. The necessity of statistical testing of the results is emphasized. Special attention is given to methods for estimating parameters in algebraic and differential equations. Sequential methods for the design of an experimental program aiming at optimal discrimination between rival models and optimal parameter estimation are reviewed and illustrated by means of practical examples.


Professor Perkins has made a unique contribution to the text literature in speech pathology with this volume. Intended for beginning students, the book sets out to present speech pathology from the viewpoints of "its core body of knowledge about speech behavior and its disorders; its interface with tangential fields of study in the biologic, psychologic, and physical sciences; its tools and functions as a clinical profession; and its relations with other health professions." This is an almost impossible encyclopedic task. But, by and large, Perkins has succeeded. To achieve these ends, the book is divided into two major, and more or less independent, sections. In the first, Foundations of Speech Pathology, Perkins summarizes basic information from psychology, linguistics, and acoustics—information of great importance to the basic science of speech communication. More information concerning the anatomy, physiology, and neurology of speech might have been useful here; in addition, relatively little emphasis


A novel infrared photodetector utilizing intersubband electron transitions and plasma wave excitation in a quantum well (QW)-the QW intersubband hot-electron phototransistor (IHEPT)-is proposed and evaluated. It is shown that the excitation of standing plasma waves in the QW base by incident modulated infrared radiation can result in resonant response of IHEPTs. The plasma resonance peaks of the linear responsivity of IHEPTs with a base contact spacing of about 1 /spl mu/m correspond to the terahertz range of modulation (signal) frequencies. The resonant peaks of the responsivity can be tuned by the biasing voltage. The peak value of the IHEPT resonant responsivity can be of the order of the steady-state responsivity of standard QW intersubband infrared photodetectors, significantly exceeding the high-frequency performance of the latter. Relatively large values of the IHEPT resonant responsivity are associated with strong injected current stimulated by the plasma waves in the QW-base. Finally, it is shown that the nonlinear dependence of the injected current on the potential of the QW base results in the variation of the dc current with changing signal amplitude. The nonlinear response current as a function of the modulation frequency also exhibits resonant behavior with the peaks at the plasma resonance frequencies and can be used for the detection of the signal component envelope.


Islamic education philosophy is an educational philosophy based on Quran and al-Sunnah as a source of Islamic teachings. In addition, Islamic education philosophy also adopts sources from others that are not contrary to Islamic teachings. Thus, the source of guidance for Islamic education philosophy consists of two categories: the source of normative and historical sources. Normative sources are sources derived from the Quran and al-Sunnah (nash); while the historical source is a thought about the philosophy of Islamic education adopted from outside of Islamic teachings. Thus, there are three schools in the philosophy of Islamic education: the liberal, conservative, and critical groups that combine the two earlier groups (sholih li kulli zaman wa makan). This paper will discuss the subject matter of Islamic education philosophy and the sources of the three groups of flow by discussing the elements contained in the teachings of Islam, such as God, man, and nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding that the basic principles contained therein can be applied in Islamic education.


Augmented Reality (AR) systems, which utilize optical see-through head-mounted displays, are becoming more common place, with several consumer level options already available, and the promise of additional, more advanced, devices on the horizon. A common factor among current generation optical see-through devices, though, is fixed focal distance to virtual content. While fixed focus is not a concern for video see-through AR, since both virtual and real world imagery are combined into a single image by the display, unequal distances between real world objects and the virtual display screen in optical see-through AR is unavoidable. In this work, we investigate the issue of focus blur, in particular, the blurring caused by simultaneously viewing virtual content and physical objects in the environment at differing focal distances. We additionally examine the application of dynamic sharpening filters as a straight forward, system independent, means for mitigating this effect improving the clarity of defocused AR content. We assess the utility of this method, termed SharpView, by employing an adjustment experiment in which users actively apply varying amounts of sharpening to reduce the perception of blur in AR content shown at four focal disparity levels relative to real world imagery. Our experimental results confirm that dynamic correction schemes are required for adequately addressing the presence of blur in Optical See-Through AR. Furthermore, we validate the ability of our SharpView model to improve the perceived visual clarity of focus blurred content, with optimal performance at focal differences well suited for near field AR applications.


Adult patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) present relatively higher rates of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. Here, we first conducted a systematic literature-based data mining to identify entities linking AD and MDD, including proteins, cells, functional classes, and small molecules. Then we conducted an AD-RNA expression data-based mega-analysis to test the expression variance of the genes that were regulators of MDD. After that, a Fisher Exact test-based pathway enrichment analysis (PEA) was performed to explore the AD-driven MDD-genetic regulators' functionality. We identified 22 AD-driven entities that were up-stream MDD regulators, including 11 genes, seven small molecules, three functional classes, and one cell. AD could exert a promoting effect on the development of MDD. Four of the 11 genes demonstrated significant expression changes in AD patients in favor of the development of MDD. PEA results showed that AD mainly drives cytokine/chemokine regulation and neuroinflammatory response-related pathways to influence the pathological development of MDD. Our results supported the promotion role of AD in the pathological development of MDD, including the regulation of multiple genetic regulators of MDD involved in cytokine/chemokine regulation and inflammatory response.


This paper presents the qualitative investigation and analysis of representations constructed by 29 patients on the experience of their participation in a psychosocial intervention to improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment. The intervention was performed at a reference service in STD/AIDS of the State of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Long, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the patients in order to apprehend, understand and explain the relationship between the patients' everyday life and their adherence to treatment, investigating if, how and why the experience lived during the intervention transfor med this relationship. The resulting qualitative analysis indicates that, by raising the patients' awareness of the importance of (self)care regarding the prescribed and continued use of medication, the intervention enabled the patients to learn their own ways of including adherence in their everyday life, and they may transform it through the improvement in this adherence.


Two variant selection criteria are often used in shape memory alloys (SMAs). One is the maximum resolved shear stress (RSS) criterion and the other is the maximum transformation work criterion. In this paper these two measures are calculated using the crystallographic theory of martensite (CTM) for the shape memory effect (SME) case and the crystallographic theory of martensite + detwinning, distortion and slip (CTM + DDS) for the superelasticity (SE) case. The results are compared with the experimental measurements of a CuAlNi single-crystal SMA. The comparisons show that work is better as a variant selection criterion than RSS. In the SME case, type-II twin variants are more favorable under uniaxial tension; while type-I twin variants are more favorable under uniaxial compression. The calculation also shows that a great tension-compression asymmetry exists in CuAlNi single crystals.


Semantics based on weak admissibility were recently introduced to overcome a problem with selfdefeating arguments that has not been solved for more than 25 years. The recursive definition of weak admissibility mainly relies on the notion of a reduct regarding a set E which only contains arguments which are neither in E, nor attacked by E. At first glance the reduct seems to be tailored for the weaker versions of Dung-style semantics only. In this paper we show that standard Dung semantics can be naturally reformulated using the reduct revealing that this concept is already implicit. We further identify a new abstract principle for semantics, so-called modularization describing how to obtain further extensions given an initial one. Its importance for the study of abstract argumentation semantics is shown by its ability to alternatively characterize classical and non-classical semantics.


A thorough investigation of axially symmetric two-electrode electrostatic lenses is given. The study is based on the analysis of axial potential distributions, according to the principle of synthesis. The aberration coefficients of a large class of axial potential distributions are examined and plotted. General conclusions are drawn for the axial potential functions and electrode shapes that have small aberration coefficients. The electrode shapes of an optimized lens with small spherical aberration are given. General criteria are established for the design of two-electrode lenses.


Purpose - Climate change and carbon footprints are among the most urgent concerns facing society and are key issues of corporate responsibility. The purpose of this study is to assess whether Australian companies have adjusted their footprint-related disclosure responses. Adopting a legitimacy perspective, a key aim is to assess whether pragmatic or moral legitimation approaches dominate by determining whether disclosure tends to be more reflective of symbolism or of apparent behaviour. Design/methodology/approach - Content analysis of the sustainability and annual reports of the ASX's Top 50 companies is undertaken to compare carbon footprint-related disclosures in 2008 and 2005. Their extent and nature (action or symbolism) and the use of attention-attracting devices are reported for the more carbon intensive and less carbon intensive sectors. Findings - Footprint-related disclosure rates are increasing, and disclosure is being signalled more prominently. However, while carbon-intensive sectors appear to be pursuing a moral legitimation strategy underpinned by substantive action, the less intensive sectors are relying more heavily on symbolic disclosure. Research limitations/implications - The sample size is small and comprises only large listed Australian companies. Practical implications - While the carbon-intensive sectors appear to be taking encouraging actions, a regulatory response may be required for the less carbon-intensive sectors to take advantage of their market power to facilitate cooperative carbon reduction with broader constituent groups. Further, incentives for the carbon-intensive sectors may be needed to encourage ongoing efforts to bridge the carbon chasm that is emerging. Originality/value - This study appears to be the first to provide direct Australian evidence on favoured legitimation tactics by assessing the symbolic versus behavioural management implicit in carbon footprint-related disclosures.


Using STM assisted chemical vapor deposition (STM-CVD), we have successfully fabricated what we believe are the finest gratings to date. Our best grating consists of half-micron long evenly spaced lines which have a width of 10 nm and a 10 nm interspacing. The gratings were fabricated on passivated p-type silicon using trimethylaluminum (TMA) as a precursor gas. Although the composition of the nanostructures is not exactly known at this time, we believe that the lines are partially metallic. We made some systematic investigations to optimize the resolution, including studies of the effect of tunneling current, tip speed, tip-sample biasing voltage, and the effect of formation of very fine TMA whiskers on the tip.


We have investigated the somatic activity of the maize Activator (Ac) element in haploid and diploid aspen with the objective of developing an efficient transposon-based system for gene isolation in the model tree species Populus. It was shown that Ac is reinserted, frequently into or near coding regions in aspen, and therefore can be used for gene tagging studies. A number of phenotypic variants were also found following transformation of constructs harbouring the rolC gene. Comparative analyses of T-DNA flanking regions of variants and wild type lines indicate that T-DNA insertion has occurred in or near coding regions. However, the frequency of T-DNA insertion into genes is about one half of the frequency of Ac insertion hitting coding sequences. The results obtained give a proof-of-concept for transposon tagging in a tree system. Given the long generation cycles in tree species, gene tagging strategies are practical only to obtain dominant gain-of-function mutants that do not require selfing or test crossing. In order to obtain recessive loss-of-function mutants, we have regenerated haploid lines from immature pollen. These lines were successfully transformed with a construct containing the rolC transgene from Agrobacterium rhizogenes and Ac element from maize. The results indicate that Ac is also active in haploid aspen and hence can be used in general for gene tagging in trees.


Unilateral-sciatectomy for three months in the frog, Rana cyanophlictis resulted in a substantial increase on unit weight basis in the ascorbic acid (ASA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) contents of the sciatectomized gastrocnemius muscle. Diketogulonic acid (DKA) levels did not vary. On whole muscle-weight basis only the ASA level increased. The AChE activity in sciatectomized muscle is significantly lower than that of the control. Partially purified preparation of the AChE from the sciatectomized muscle showed different kinetics compared to that from innervated control. In vitro additions of ASA in physiological concentration to the enzyme assay medium inhibited the AChE activity significantly and the inhibition was an un-competitive type. Reduced activity of the enzyme has been correlated to the increased concentration of ASA in the sciatectomized muscle.


To discuss the normal mechanism of wound healing (WH), the role of growth factors (GF) in prec-linical and clinical studies and its importance in the healing of abnormal wound therapy. For search, we used the PUBMED and LILACS database, and the following descriptors: skin, wound healing, growth factor and clinical trials. We also prioritized the analysis of the Clinical Trials in the previous 10 years. Although there are many studies being conducted in the pre-clinical phase, we see that there are few studies in the clinical phase. 274 studies were identified, and 58 were selected. After tissue injury, repair occurs through coordinated biological actions that are healing. The importance of the study of healing in the skin is not only because of its anatomical location, easy access and exposure, but also because of its vital function. There is accumulating evidence that the process of healing after injury may be mediated by several GF. However, may this class of molecules even act effectively on the clinical response of this pathological condition? Many preclinical studies (in vitro and in vivo) reinforce the importance and efficacy of GF in the regeneration of damaged skin. Furthermore, recent studies have reported the use in adjuvant or not, of GF in clinical treatment to improve WH in humans. Therefore, we conclude that it seems to be effective by the use of GF in adjuvant or not in WH. However, it still seems to be necessary to carry out more clinical trials in phase I and II.


Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a powerful tool in biological research and has been widely used in the study of biomolecular interactions. SUMOylation is an important post-translational modification that is involved in many key biological processes. As a multi-step cascade reaction, SUMOylation involves multiple enzymes and protein-protein interactions. Here, we report the development of an in vitro FRET-based high-throughput screening (HTS) assay in SUMOylation. This assay is based on steady state and high efficiency of the fluorescent energy transfer between CyPet and YPet fused to SUMO1 and Ubc9, respectively. We optimized the assay and performed a small-scale pilot study to validate the screening platform. Carried out in 384-well plate format, our FRET-based HTS provides a powerful tool for large-scale and high-throughput applications.


A total of 238 sera samples from cases of hepatitis, renal failure, thalassaemia, healthy health care workers (HCWs) & asymptomatic HBsAG carriers coming from central India from July 1992 to June 1998, were screened for anti-delta antibodies. Among 238 subjects, 206 were reactive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) while 32 were HBsAg non-reactive. The prevalence of anti-delta antibodies was low (1.9%) among 54 patients of acute viral hepatitis (AVH) while it was higher (5.7%) among 52 patients of chronic liver disease (CLD). The anti-delta antibodies positivity among 34 patients with hepatic failure was around 15% and all of them were FHF patients. Among multitransfused subjects such as chronic renal failure (CRF) the prevalence of anti-delta antibodies was low (2.3%). None of the apparently healthy HBsAg reactive HCWs and asymptomatic HBV carriers were reactive for anti-delta antibodies. Similarly anti-delta antibodies could not be detected in HBsAg negative viral hepatitis patients. There is a wide variation in the prevalence of anti-delta antibodies in different parts of India. However, overall prevalence of anti-delta antibodies appears to be lower in the Indian population in comparision to western countries.


Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the main therapy for stomach acid disorders to date. The disadvantage of PPI is the difficulty of controlling symptoms at night, such as tightness, chest pain, and coughing cough. Potassium competitive acid blockers (P-CAB) are a new class in the management of stomach acid disorders. Potassium competitive acid blockers work by a different mechanism, which binds non-covalently to H+/K+-ATPase. This mechanism results in a faster, stronger, and long-lasting suppression effect of gastric acid production. Besides being able to cure gastric complaints at night, P-CAB increases the success of Helicobacter pylori eradication. The safety of the use of this P_CAB drug, according to research is quite mild and acceptable. Currently, examples of P-CAB groups on the market are vonoprazan and tegoprazan. This narrative review is intended to provide further insight into this potassium competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) class of drugs.


We optically captured the "as-built" liner geometry of NTLX (near term liner experiments) for Shiva Star using ultra-precision ranging lasers. We subsequently verified the resulting digitized geometry against the 3D CAD model of the part. The results confirmed that the Liner contours are within designed tolerances but revealed subtle fabrication artifacts that would typically go undetected. These features included centimeters long waviness and saddle and bulge regions of 1 micron or less in magnitude. The laser technology typically provided 10 micron spatial resolution with /spl plusmn/12 nanometer ranging precision. Atlas liners in the future may have to be diamond turned and will have the centimeter wavelength and 100 angstrom amplitude requirements. The advantages of using laser technology are (1) it avoids surface damage that may occur with conventional contact probes and (2) dramatically improves spatial resolution over CMM, capacitance and inductance type probes. Our work is the result of a perceived future need to develop precision, non-contact, liner inspection techniques to verify geometry, characterize machining artifacts and map wall thickness on delicate diamond turned surfaces. Capturing "as-built" geometry in a non-contact way coupled with part-to-CAD verification software tools creates a new metrology competency for MST-7.


Gas permeation properties of amine loaded mesoporous silica membranes for CO2 separation were evaluated using a mixture of CO2/N2 under dry and wet conditions. Although the 3-aminopropyl loaded mesoporous silica membrane was highly CO2 selective under dry conditions, its selectivity declined in the presence of water. By contrast, 3-trimethoxysilylpropyl-diethylenetriamine (TA) loaded mesoporous silica membranes showed high CO2 selectivity even under wet conditions. Water condensed within the mesopores inhibited CO2 permeation of the 3-aminopropyl loaded membrane. However, the subnanometer effective pore size of the TA loaded membrane (because of the long molecular length of TA), meant that CO2 molecules still preferentially permeated in the presence of water. The size of mesopores and modifying reagents significantly influences CO2 selectivity. In addition, the affinity between organo-amines and polar molecules may also be exploited to increase selectivity.


The joint limiting distribution of suitably normalized partial sums and maxima in a stationary strong mixing sequence with finite variance is derived. It is found that in the limit the two components are independent. This generalizes Chow and Teugels' result for independent sequences. Motivation for the present study comes from a statistical problem in the analysis of extreme winds.